This project has been providing equal parts og pleasure and pain so far... .
The original idea was to make a sweater for my self, based on the "Hannah"-design by Louisa Harding (as shown above). I liked the shape, the neckline and the pretty "fake plait" ribbing, and the plan was simple: follow the pattern (except knitting in the round instead of back and forth) but make bold stripes instead of the Fair Isle. This way I could get use of my odd balls of cotton and viscose in a simple and almost mindless way. I thought I swatced and ended up with a perfect gauge according to the pattern and then knitted happily away. The yarns at hand made nice surfaces and interesting colour changes. I even spent some of my precious Debbie Bliss Pure Silk for the top of the waist ribbing. This was the pleasure part... Then, after trying the sweater on when I was almost ready for making the arm holes, I thougt the body looked a bit on the baggy side, but convinced myself it would fit properly as soon as I got it seamed up at the shoulders. I knitted on with a growing feeling of doubt. Half pleasure, half pain. Late one night I finished the neckband and finally tried the sweater on again. PAIN!!! Compare the original "Hannah" with my baggy, striped version, and you will know exactely what I mean. And it is a true mystery, as the gauge is still the same as the pattern asks for. Only one solution: Frog the *#§*¤ thing! More Pain!!! But I kept the ribbing, though... it is very flexible and snug because of the plait-construction. So here I go again: narrower stripes this time, and making the sweater a raglan (the seams of joined sleeves would not look neat done in this "hard" yarn lacking flexibility and bounce. I could see it after trying 5 or 6 different ways of seaming the shoulders. Also Pain!!!). I will keep the pretty neckline, though - mixing it with raglan sleeves will be an interesting challenge. Conclusion: this is not longer a Louisa Harding pattern. It is a totally modified pattern and so far it is yet again providing pleasure as I knit up to the joining of sleeves and almost finished the first cuff.
First of all: thank you for all the nice comments lately! In early July I ordered a second hand Elizabeth Zimmerman book from Amazon - and a week later I could happily flicker through my very own copy of "Knitting workshop". The read was amusing - I actually ended up reading the book from cover to cover before casting on the Baby Surprise Jacket a few days later. This was a quick and fascinating knit that turned into a cute little jacket to fit a new born. The yarn is Fabel knit on 3 mm needles. The Heart Hat from the same book will soon be on the needles :o) 
