The Jumper Journey Continues

I can't believe it's Friday again, but it is and so it's time to update my jumper diary - very much for my own benefit, so bear with if knitting isn't your thing.

I'm really pleased with how visible progress is. The thing I thought might be an issue working on something this big would be motivation. I'm not a particularly fast knitter but seeing my jumper grow makes me really keen to add a few more rows each day, and whilst it's not happening quickly, it's happening more quickly than I hoped. I think this is partly because with so many repeats in each row the pattern is easier to memorise and I'm not constantly checking back to the pattern to see what to do next. 

On a less positive note, I've found my first serious issue with Mati Ventrillon's pattern writing style; the expected finished length of the jumper isn't given, so it's really hard for me to work out how much longer I need to make it. She does give the desired gauge, and if I'd swatched I would have probably been able to work out from my tension what I was going to get so it's partly on me, but a quick check of other patterns I've got shows that it's routine to indicate length as well as width.

I'll take responsibility for being lazy and not swatching, but an indication of length is the most useful measurement I can think of on a jumper because I'm almost always going to want to knit them longer than the pattern shows and without it, it's hard to work out how much extra yarn I might need. It wouldn't matter so much in a top-down jumper, but now I'm going to have to take this one off the needles and dress it at some point before starting on the arm holes. I'd already added an extra round of pattern at the bottom, but I don't think it will be enough, and keeping track of where I am is going to get harder.

It's not really a big issue though, just something that I'll be aware of in the future. It's also made me think more about how the motifs are working together in this pattern - I like the rhythm and change they have but the colours I chose are not best suited to this layout. If this jumper turns out okay it won't be the last one I knit, I'm already thinking about how I'll do it next time - which is another motivator to keep going. 

My knitting is also gaining weight and mass, so I'm really glad the weather turned cold and wet today - I should get a lot done tonight, and be grateful for the warmth of it on my lap whilst I work, instead of cursing it inwardly as I was the other day. In terms of having a warm jumper for autumn now is a great time to be knitting, but when the temperatures nudge 30 degrees it's not much fun.