Burned.

By Debbie Bliss' Firey Bolero in last summer's Interweave Knits.

This project made me it's bitch for the past couple of weeks. It was languishing on the needles for almost a year before I took pity on it recently. The finishing was kind of arduous, to be honest. Between picking up 250 or so stitches for the ribbed edging, screwing up the short row shaping on the collar and squinting like mad to see everything (still, I love black) it was a rough time. Get this, there weren't corrections for the part I screwed up--there were expanded instructions. Aight, whatevs...

I ain't mad 'atcha, D-Bliss. I didn't get to meet you this week because I was at my father's retirement ceremony, but I heard your fall collection is really something else. I have a newfound appreciation for your simple but totally flattering and wearable garments. And this Cathay! Like I say to customers, it reminds me of a great pair of jeans, soft and sturdy with a little stretch. Perfect.

Most valuable lesson learned--no more stairstep bind-off/decrease edges!! They are impossible to seam to my satisfaction. I've learned several ways to get around them (short rows, slipping first stitch of bind-off group) and thank goodness. I ended up doing a back stitch to seam parts of this puppy, vertical grafting looked like total crap.

This is a picture of the bolero being steam blocked. On my body. It's roasting in here. I'm not smiling, I'm baring my teeth at Summer.

Time to sleep (read: toss and turn and sweat and toss and curse and toss and turn...),

Cirilia

P.S. I'm sorry for not returning comments quickly, I've resolved to be better at that but progess is slow!