kitty: :( my so so, fo

The Specs: Pattern: 443 Phildar Tendances 06 - Pattern 33 Yarn: Knit Picks Main Line - ink Time: 28 hours ( front panels re knit 3 times, sleeves re knit 2 times) Cost: $31.84 (bought on sale when it was $1.98)

Ok. Ok, this fair weather blogger will post about the trials and tribulations of my last project. <I am just not happy with this FO at all>As I wrote before, the sweater is done. The bottle ink colour is not really photographing true to colour, but it is the colour of sumi ink. A very nice black, but a lot of blue green undertones. And every photo I took the colour of my table turned out very yellow even with no flash. Things I changed: 1) Increased the no. of stitches for the top lapel. The pattern called for 110 stitches for all 6 sizes. I couldn't get it to even go 2/3 around the neck opening. 2) The bottom part of the lapel was knit as straight ribbing vs. the one stitch offset in the pattern. This version close mimics the photo in the magazine 3) Changed the decreases in the sleeve openings. 4) Followed the decreases and increase from the back of the sweater vs the way the pattern was written so the front and back matched. Problems: The front edge of the sweater is curling so I need to try to block the heck out of it to get it to behave. Probably possible The big problem is what to do about buttons. The photo of the sweater shows a large area for the button band. In reality with the sweater I knit there is only about 2 inches for the buttons. I may just opt to drop them. The yarn is not to forgiving after ripping out so many times. The back has a much nicer texture and stitch pattern. I still love the yarn, but forgiving it is not. I really love Phildar patterns, mainly because they are written so they are large enough for me. The problem I have run into in the last two I have knitted is that there have been really a lot of issues with the pattern. Some from translation while others probably are lack of test knitting. I will still keep plugging away with them, since they have my size and the designs are lovely. I just wish they were more careful. MG has been nice enough to translate the one that I want to knit next so I am really excited. She is the best. :) Side note: For all my friends who have been asking what I feel about Xbox 360 vs PS3 for this holiday. Check out this link for a comparison of Ridge Racer on both platforms that a Korean blogger wrote and has been translated. It is all in the games!