So close...

Well, the knitting's done.

At least, I think the knitting's done.

I finished this morning, after kitchenering together the last of 210 pairs of stitches (between the cuffs and the neckline); my kitchenering skills have been honed razor-sharp by now. I'm not sure that I like the way the neck has turned out, so I decided to forgo weaving all of the ends in, in favor of giving it a thorough wet-blocking to see what happens.

This was a tough call, as we're going out this afternoon, and I'd kind of wanted to maybe have the option of wearing the sweater (I can't be the only one who feels this way about a new knitted item, right? It's like, when I was a kid, wanting desperately to wear new shoes home from the shoe store instead of the old ones -- thank goodness mom understood that one)(OK, I admit it, I still like to wear new shoes home from the shoe store, on the rare occasions that I buy any). And while it's warm today, it's not as warm and dry as it has been, so I'm not sure that the sweater will dry in time. But, I decided that I liked the way the stitches looked after I wet blocked the swatch better than I liked them after I steam blocked the sweater earlier this week. So, I soaked it, and put it out in the sun to dry.

It grew. I'm a little nervous about how much it grew, but I guess I'll see what it looks like when I try it on. Meanwhile, here's the concern I have about that neckline.
See what I mean? It's just a little messy. I'm wondering whether it would work to tack down the edging at intervals, to leave the waves like I like so much, but to smooth it out and even it up a little. I may try that, using a fine thread, instead of yarn, just to see what happens.

I still adore that bottom edging, so that's all good. And as a whole, it has the loose, comfortable look I wanted. (But maybe too loose and sloppy?)
I wish it would dry so I can see whether the whole thing is a disaster, or a really good thing. It could go either way at this point. Ah, the excitement of knitting... (Everyone think dry thoughts in my direction, if you don't mind.)

Even if it's not dry, though, we're going to have fun this afternoon, rather inadvertently. A good friend of mine called yesterday to tell me that they had unexpectedly ended up with four extra tickets to the Shanghai Circus, down in San Diego, and could we use the tickets? The answer was a resounding "yes", so we'll be heading out in a little while for a fun afternoon. The girls are currently taking naps, as we went out for a very nice dinner (early birthday) last night, and it lasted past their bedtimes. Between that and a busy week, what with Older Daughter's big history day project, they both needed the rest. (Of course, the naps were preceded by the usual griping and moaning, but the mere fact that the word "nap" engendered tearful fits was a good indication that I was making the right call.) This has given me time to fiddle with the sweater, hang the laundry out (the last load is drying now), and try to catch up on some email and blog reading (note the "try" in there).

All right, I'm off to check on the sweater. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Tomorrow's post with either be one of triumph or tears (anyone here thinking of The Wide World of Sports?). Stay tuned...