After a few wobbly starts with the lace section, I soon had it memorized and it was smooth sailing from then on. I finished it a bit ago and now that it’s getting chilly I can finally wear it. There are so may reasons why I love this sweater. Besides the pattern being wonderful, the yarn was a dream; rustic and whole-wheaty hearty, just a charming old-fashioned knitting experience that is my kind of heaven. As for the pattern, there were long stretches of soothing stockinette and an interesting bit of lace to keep your eyes on the project. I don’t remember if the pattern called for picking up stitches around the arm scythe and knitting short rows down, but that is what I did and is my preferred type of sleeve construction.

Because the yarn was fun and old-schoolish (toothy and rustic) it’s not particularly soft and imagine I will always wear a tee underneath it to keep the itchies at bay. The color is not really a gray, but more like a light fawn. This was the yarn I bought in Quebec City, and if I understood the saleslady correctly, they used to throw out the fleeces until someone decided to spin yarn from them. The sheep until that time were used for meat only and the wool was considered undesirable which surprises me, because, not even for rugs for heavens sake? Good news, the wool is being used now and came in natural, un-dyed colors; this gray/fawn and a natural white and perhaps a chocolate brown if I remember correctly. I recently returned to Quebec City (wow, twice as crowded as four years ago and it was “off season”, but still a charming little city) and purchased some more, so I have some white and a little bit more of this fawn color. I don’t know what I’ll make but I like having it in my stash. I have the sweater on now and it’s warm and cozy. It has cling and zero drape and I like that.