champagne

I don't remember when I last drank champagne. I've never liked it except for some an expensive bottle a French friend gave me at her wedding years and years ago. Every time I've tried it since I just haven't liked it - too sour, too dry, too something.

Test knitting Champagne, Thea Coleman's latest design, on the other hand, was delightful! That link will take you to a page with no pictures, but the pattern will be released within a matter of days, so I've been given the green light to post about it here. (Pattern is live now!) You can check out the project pages of other test knitters in the meantime.

I had Stuart take these pictures a few weeks ago when it was a bazillion degrees outside. I'm surprised you can't see beads of sweat collecting on my brow.

The pattern is fairly complicated, as it turns out. See how the lace panel moves across the front and over the right shoulder? Yeah, that gave me fits. I had the sweater knit almost up to the armholes before accepting once and for all that my row gauge was way tighter than the pattern called for, and continuing on would have ended up in a belly tank - not what I was going for. So I pulled out and re-knit the whole thing and wound up with a much better result.

Here's the back, which is much less complicated because the lace goes straight up without any moving around.

I'm happy with the result on the whole, though if I had to knit this again I would definitely make it a couple of inches longer. Also, I need something nice to wear with it! My default is always jeans, and that gets boring. So I'm taking suggestions here - what should I wear with this bright green tank? I should add that I used Silky Wool (silk/wool/nylon blend) that is actually rather warm, so even though I wore shorts and flip-flops for the photos, the sweater is more of a spring/fall transition item.