duck...duck...duck...goose!

Looks like I had nothing to worry about after all.

On Friday, I finished the collar on my Goose sweater (from whence the name of the pattern, I wonder??).

On Saturday, I soaked and blocked it.

Today, between rain storms I tried it on and had my husband take a few pictures.

(The new blogger format keeps going back and forth between centered and left aligned text. I don't know how to change it and it's kind of making me nuts.)

I love this sweater.

I was afraid it would bunch up and fit all weird like a potato sack or something, but it doesn't. It fits extraordinarily well.

Did I mention I love this sweater?

It's soft as all get-out, too. The yarn is RYC Wool Tweed, which I bought just a few months ago at an LYS. I had a gift card from my knitting friend and the yarn was half-price, so I just couldn't resist. Now that my sweater is done, I don't regret it for an instant. It's as comfy as a sweatshirt, and slightly more attractive!

Now, if it weren't all warm and muggy all of a sudden, I could get some wear out of it yet this spring!

My friend who used to be a fashion designer (before she became a music teacher) always compliments my hand-knits (and she is therefore a recipient of some of them!). The other day she was teasing me that I have all these nice sweaters, but I always just wear them with old jeans and plain shirts. I laughed because it's true. Sometimes I think I do have a decent fashion sense deep down, but I just don't care to put in the effort to show it to the world.

Besides, I like jeans. Fortunately, this sweater is the perfect thing to wear with jeans. Casual without being totally frumpy. I love it.

Pattern: Goose by Heidi Kirrmaier (pipibird on Ravelry)
Yarn: RYC Wool Tweed (aran weight), about 8.5 skeins. The color is dark maroon with lots of brightly colored tweed flecks (yellow, red, blue)
Mods: none intentional, but I think my gauge might have been slightly tighter than called for, so it's not as baggy as it would have been otherwise
Comments: Oh, what a fun pattern. The construction is intriguing, for starters. You work from the middle out with exposed seams down the front and back. Sleeve shaping takes place on top from the shoulders down instead of underneath, which is more usual. The neckline, as a I mentioned before, is pretty wide before you knit the collar, but once I had it all done, it worked out wonderfully. I'm looking forward to my next sweater by this designer for sure.