Demi Actually Progresses

I've finished the back and the sleeves, and started on the front of Demi. I had already gotten a lot of the front done, but it was in a smaller size and was starting to look too small. It seems like after I get through one repeat of the pattern, it goes a lot quicker, so I didn't mind too much to rip out the front. I'm surprised with how quickly the progress on this sweater is. I guess it's because it's in worsted weight. I still have some projects that are on #3 needles that I started earlier this year, that still aren't close to getting done. I quit working on them because it became tedious.

Increasing my Stash

I decided I need to work on my two color knitting, so I got the yarn to knit the Manresa legwarmers. I don't know if I'll wear legwarmers, but the pattern seems good, and I want to practice fair isle knitting in the round. A lot of the colorwork I've done is uneven and puckered, and feels awkward, so I want to practice. I'm using Andean Treasure, which is super soft, and fairly cheap, so even if I rarely wear the legwarmers, it won't be a big deal. I've a little bit so far and already the pattern will have to be changed. The needles used are size 7 and that feels too loose to me, since it's a sportweight yarn.
I also got some Andean silk to finally use on Backyard Leaves, from Scarf Style. There are a lot of patterns from that book that I like, and I want to try one before the winter is over. Andean silk is definitely soft and seems like it'll be good for a scarf, but I don't know how well it blocks. It seems like a lot of people have used Andean silk for their Backyard Leaves, so it must work. I only blocked wool and one time, an unfortunate blocking of Wool Ease, where I ruined the scarf. Acrylic won't block, and it got really flat and stretched out, and thin. I don't know what I was thinking, but at least it was only a ribbed scarf.

I've been focusing on the Demi sweater from Rowan Vintage Knits. I didn't finish my Nanowrimo novel since I wanted to work on this sweater instead. The plot didn't work and I just didn't feel like cranking out pages and pages of bad writing. So instead, I made a lot of progress on this sweater. I started out with the small size and realized it looked really small, and decided to start over, after I had almost gotten to the armhole shaping on the back. I wish I would realize things like this earlier. The second try actually went a lot faster, because I got the rhythm of the pattern down, so I didn't need to study the chart so much. My goal is to finish or mostly finish this by the end of December, so I can actually wear this when it's cold. This probably won't happen, but it is a lot faster than I lot it would be, so who knows? I'm using the recommended Yorkshire Tweed Aran in Wild Plum, and the actual color is somewhere in between these two pictures. I like this yarn, even though it isn't all that soft. It seems like it'll be really durable, and I like the tweed effect. I think the part that will be the hardest is the side closure at the neckline.