Happy Thanksgiving!

I truly can't believe that it's Thanksgiving al-ready!

I woke up feeling so thankful for my family... and have spent the rest of the morning trying to remember that I'm thankful for all these noisy little boys. All here together. Watching football and taunting each other. Throwing footballs (in the living room) and leaving dirty dishes everywhere. Ahhhh... I suppose these will someday be the good ol' days.

I sent one out to clean out a car... and he has mysteriously attracted all his brothers to follow so they are now chasing each other down in the front yard with a nerf football. Sixteen down to six. The older ones teaching the younger ones. And there is laughter. (Of course, I know how this goes... soon there will be tears and wrestling... but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.)

Anyway, I finished a sweater last week but have been slow to post it because I'm so disappointed that I didn't measure better. Or at all.

The pattern (Opulent Raglan) was wonderfully written and a pleasure to knit. I'm sure if I had bothered to check my gauge or pay heed to that nagging feeling that the underarms were a bit snug, it would be perfect. Or maybe if I had a better understanding of my body shape and adjusted the waist shaping accordingly, the waist shaping wouldn't start at my bustline. I'm thinking all these things would've made a difference. But I didn't do any of them so I get what I got so to speak.

Actually, I think this sweater was doomed before I even started. My real problem began in the LYS when I found the yarn I liked (Lana Grossa Cool Wool) but chose a shade of purple that I wasn't completely comfortable with. Don't ask me why. I do things like that quite often, and the LYS owner laughs at me because I'm always exchanging colors the day after I make a purchase. But this time I cast on right away, and spent the next few weeks convincing myself that I liked the color... which was just a bit too plum for my liking.

It's certainly not unwearable, but it's such a great sweater that I wish I had gotten it right. I suppose I could frog and start over, but uh, yeah... that's not gonna happen. It's just not. I'll re-knit the whole thing with a color I like before I do that.

Plus, I've decided to actually learn from my mistakes on this one and use it as a reference for future sweaters.

Oh, and I didn't do the ruffled sleeves because I didn't know if I could pull them off (especially in plum). I'd also like to add some length to the sleeves (but I probably won't do that either). Sigh. Truth be told, I was counting on some major stretching during the soak and block process that just didn't happen. Such is life.

Well our impromptu football game has come to a peaceful end (which never, ever happens so I'll be thankful for that) and they have all crashed back here in the living room... for more professional football. What joy.

Later we will go feast with my family. I'm in charge of bringing bread. Fortunately, my mother is quite aware of my limitations in the kitchen.

I hope you all enjoy your day... and if you have a moment, please share with me what you are thankful for today. Happy Thanksgiving!