I Told You So

I finished Nell Wednesday night!
Yippee!
This sweater ended up taking me around two years, which is a crying shame, because it's not a hard sweater.

Well, it's not a hard sweater if you are able to work button bands and actually have them come out even.

Otherwise, it will take you a long time.

Of course most of that time will be spent ignoring it because you can't work a button band.

Let's Start Over
(In case you are wondering, I'm on the phone with Hubby in these two pictures.)
I started it in December 2006. The body and sleeves worked up very quickly in a matter of months.
But my idea of "slightly stretched" was not the same as the pattern's idea. And so things ground to a halt as I struggled with the button band.

I set the goal of finishing it for a business trip in June 2008, which didn't work out. Then I set it as my project for the Ravelympics during the Summer Olympics in 2008. That didn't work out either, but at least I got most of the seaming done.

Eventually, I gave up and had the brain wave in January to just sew it shut.

Then other projects distracted me and it continued to languish waiting for me to finish the collar.

But now it's done! I shall wear it on Tuesday at my conference. Everyone I meet will walk away thinking I'm really charming and talented without quite knowing why, when in fact it is the subliminal influence of my beautiful handmade sweater.

(I'm pretty sure the fuzzy face you see is Samson. Under his chin you can see the top of Baru's head. Taking pictures using the camera timer while being swarmed by puppies is not easy.)

To Recap
The pattern is Nell from the Kim Hargreaves Wool Cotton Concertina, which I've heard it now out of print. There are three other patterns that are also very cute which I also wouldn't mind making.
I used the Rowan Wool Cotton called for in the pattern in the "flower" color, which might also be discontinued.

(Hey, I bought all this during my glorious month at Patternworks back in 2004, what do you expect?)

The pattern called for eight balls, but I only seem to have used seven.
Needles US2 and US5. I generally have to go down a needle size on Rowan patterns.

I made the extra small.

And the only modification I made, which is—granted—a major one, was to sew the front shut rather than leaving it a cardigan.

Like I Said
The other day, this finishing stuff business is fun.