Finished!

I have finished the Sous Sous Pullover!  It's knit in Madelinetosh Tosh DK in the Fatal Attraction colorway (this is a stunning red!).  I made the Small - it's meant to be oversized, but Fifi is positively swimming in it because she's missing half of her shoulders (no arms).

If you look at the projects on Ravelry and read project notes, there's a lot going on.  I got really freaked out the first time I was knitting this (there was a time deadline) and I quit.  Fortunately, most of the concerns about the pattern aren't actual issues.  The shaping for this sweater is very different from most sweaters, but at least for the small, the directions are overall correct.  (Here is a link to my project page with all of the below notes as well - you will need to be signed into Ravelry to see it.)

That said, I did make a few notes and changes:

• Work the first and last stitches in rib, so the edges match.  The front has this set up for a five stitch edge, which is what I used.  The back has a three stitch edge.  Pick one and stick with it for both pieces so they match.
• Reverse wrap the Yarn Over after the P3tog so it's the same size as it's mate.  Untwist it on the following row.
• Work the twisted stitches in the chart as twisted on both the Right Side and the Wrong Side.
• Work front increases (used for the shaping) as Yarn Overs on Right Side, but twist them on the wrong side to close them up, as either twisted knit or purl in pattern.
• For the back neck - I picked up stitches along the back neck (1 for every 2), then knit the band, attaching it to the back neck, like the edging of a shawl.  Grafted the band to the opposite front when I got there.
• Finally, I sewed the front and back together at the lower sides and then picked up stitches in the round for the sleeves.  I also picked up two fewer stitches than called for to account for the two stitches I would have lost when seaming the sleeves.  Working them in the round seemed easier to my brain than working them flat.

As you can see, there are only minor errata to the actual pattern, that an experienced knitter will correct without a lot of thought.  The pattern itself is correct as far as the big numbers and directions go.  I did knit the front first, marking the beginning of each chart repeat on each side of that row, and when I knit the back I did the same marking of rows.  This helped me count while I was knitting and keep them straight while I was seaming them together.

This was definitely not an auto-pilot sweater, but I'm really happy with the finished garment.  I'm honestly open to knitting it again (I have a dark blue green that I'm thinking about).  I'm glad I stuck with it though and made this!

I've already started another sweater though, and this one is definitely in the auto pilot category!
 

New Socks!

I went ahead and cast on for a new pair of socks after I finished my Mischief Socks, but these have less colorwork.  This is the Astrid Sock, and I'm using Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Charcoal and Dream in Color Smooshy in My Fair Lady.  I plan to skip the colorwork on the foot and just work it in the solid Charcoal.  Theoretically, these should go faster, but the rest of the month is going to be CRAZY around here, plus I'm still working on my Sous Sous pullover, so who knows how long they'll actually take.

Progress

I have finished the back of Sous Sous, and I've actually got it joined to the front at the shoulders!  (I took this picture before finishing the back neck, but all of those yarns have been woven in now.)  Next up are the sleeves.  The pattern is written to knit them to the body of the sweater, flat, then seam them closed, along with the side seams.  I'm playing with the idea of seaming the sides now and knitting the sleeves in the round.  That would eliminate the sleeve seam and it would feel better to wear.  The sleeves are short little things (the body is wide) and don't need the added structure seaming would give, so I'm pretty sure I can get away with it.  I'm going to think about it a bit, but I'm leaning towards working them in the round.

Either way, I hope to get started on the first sleeve this weekend.  The end of this sweater is in sight!  For my next sweater, I want to work a nice top down thing that doesn't take a lot of thought!