In which the blogger makes a Wayne's World reference.

I've started a secret project. It's the first time I've designed a sweater on my own, and it looks like this: I think that sweater patterns and design notes should be a bit more detailed than this. I have a terrible feeling that Eunny or Stefanie Japel or Grumperina (or any one of the million other brilliant designers whose names escape me at the moment) is going to see this and just fall over laughing. Hi ladies! Yes, I think it's hysterical, too! No, I don't really think this will work, either. I've started work on the Jamesey (again). I had to frog everything I had knit before (a whole 2 inches! Alas!) because I finally did a test swatch, washed it, blasted it in the dryer on high, and discovered that this yarn does not shrink. Apparently the Jo Sharp "Soho Summer" cotton-acrylic blend doesn't shrink in the wash, or my dryer just has a really weak high setting. The pattern takes the shrinkage into account, so now I'm knitting it 15% shorter and praying that the entire sweater -- through some quirk of fiber physics -- doesn't inexplicably shrink after it's sewn together or worse, after it goes to its recipient. (The Jamesey looks smashing against my collection of overdue library books.) I was hesitant to start again because I got a little worried about the color. It's a lovely, dusty, olive green, but I've never seen my brother (the sweater's future wearer) wear this color. So, I broke down, ruined any element of surprise that I had (assuming he doesn't read this), and asked him. Our conversation on AIM went something like this: Me: oh, so, let me ask you Me: hypothetically Me: if one were to make you a knitted gift Me: and one were to make that gift out of some olive green yarn Me: would you hate the color? Brother: No Brother: Hypothetically I would wear it every day Game on!