Is It Still Summer?

The weather this week has proven that it is, indeed, still summer. The campus was abuzz this afternoon, signaling the impending season change. The weather has been so strange this year that I fear we might be in for an early and long winter, but I'm hoping for more of the wonderful fall/spring/early summer mixture of temps we've had. In any case, the calendar hasn't kept me from dreaming up and knitting on some fall sweaters.

The Greatest

Pattern: Buckwheat by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Petite Sock Yarn in Lunar Eclipse (December or January colorway)
Needles: US 6 and US 2.5
Project Page

This is my first sweater for the luvinthemommyhood Summer Sweater KAL this year! Last year I had the incredible fortune to win grand prize in the drawing and that got me...a lot of yarn. :) One thing I won was a gift certificate to Sundara Yarn. Sundara dyes only three colorways each month and she changes them every month. If you love this month's Inspired by Monet colors, for example, you have to get them now because they go away on August 31st. You might get lucky and catch them in the Odds and Ends next month, but why risk it? I fell so in love with the two colorways in December, I think it was, that I bought them both. I bought a deep purple for legwarmers and this light purple-grey. The yardage in every skein is very generous, so I only needed two for this sweater, which I had in mind when I hit "Buy".

I love Veera's patterns. This one has been in my queue for a long time. I think it was the neckline that really sold me. I forgot, however, that I'm slump-shouldered and a bit of a hunchback, so maybe boatnecks aren't my thing. She always uses short-row sleeve caps, too, which I'm also not a fan of, but they fit well enough, so I can't complain. I will complain about the short-row shaping at the shoulders on both the front and back. I get bubbles there because I think my slump-shoulders don't pull the sweater into the right shape. I'd do fewer short-rows there if I knit it again and maybe omit them altogether on the back to draw attention away from my hunchback, which I feel like pokes up out of the neckline more than it ought. All that to say that the yarn and pattern are genius and all of my complaints have to do with the fact that I have terrible posture!

The name has nothing to do with my feelings about the sweater. It's all right, definitely not the greatest. The name comes (as most do) from the name of a song. This one by the stunning Cat Power. Chan Marshall might have the most beautiful singing voice I've ever heard. She's been singing for commercials when not recording and I want to buy every product her voice appears behind. :)

Have you ever finished a sweater that was perfectly functional but didn't really fill you with excitement? Have you grown to love it or do you still feel that way? Does it hide in your closet, or do you wear it fairly often because it is so functional?

Forgive my wordiness today. :P For more FO Friday posts, visit Tami! It's not too late to join in the Summer Sweater KAL, either.