In the early 1990′s I made my first visit to Bette Bornside yarns in New Orleans. I had some Delta Burke patterns, and wanted to buy the cotton yarn the pattern called for. Bette earned my everlasting respect by telling me that while she could sell it to me, she had knit with that (expensive) cotton, and it would disappoint me by stretching out of shape for all time. She recommended Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece as an alternative. I bought enough for the sweater, but found the pattern to be a p.i.t.a.
The Cotton Fleece languished, auditioning for other sweaters every few years, never being chosen. Finally I fell in love with Samus, and started knitting the cabled band for the bottom. This time it got set aside without frogging. My hip measurement was, after all, obscenely big. It was going to take a long time to knit that puppy!
Then, miracle of miracles, I lost all that weight. The partial cable band was now not just half done, but needed only one more repeat. By July, when I started blogging, I had all the pieces done except one sleeve. Fast forward to the last half of October, when I decided I really should get Samus through blocking before my surgery. That was accomplished, the attached I-cord border was knit all around, and the grosgrain ribbon sewn in the fronts.
End of progress: I hated the idea of the zipper. Didn’t want to sew it, didn’t want to wear it. Then inspiration whispered: pewter clasps. DH said he thought 3 clasps was the magic number, and the Google hunt was on. I placed an order, and the envelope came while I was hospitalized.
That first week home nothing was achieved – no knitting, no reading, just pain meds and sleeping. Two weeks ago, then, I sewed the clasps on, completing the sweater. Here’s the thing: have you ever noticed how the weather changes when you want to take a photo of a finished object? I mean, it’s better than the fabled Indian Rain Dance for ending a drought! Finally, this weekend was cold and windy, but sunny. I give you Samus:
Oh, and the rose is Perfume Delight, a damask rose that lives up to its name. The cooler weather has given us a second season of fabulous blooms here in Louisiana.
