Back in December 2010, I first blogged about knitting a lace weight sweater.  The pattern is called “Hulda”, and it’s from a book called Northern Knits.  I am making it for my sister-in-law Holly so that’s the why of Hulda Holly. I thought about it for awhile because I knew I was going to have to knit it with size 2 needles.  I couldn’t resist trying it though because I was fascinated by the stripes and how the colors were going to be blended.

The stripes are a blend of 3 shades of red, 5 shades of gray, and black.

I started knitting it in 2011.  I know this because I checked ravelry this morning to see if I’d put the details of the project up there.  Sure enough I had – back in October 2011.

I have decided to buckle down and get this thing done.  I am hopeful that it will be “wearable” when I am finished.  I have a few worries.  First, I am hoping I have the gauge right so that it will fit my sister-in-law.  Second, I am hoping she will not want to run when she sees it.  Third, the yarn is not soft.  It’s the opposite of soft, but it’s supposed to soften up when I wash it.  We shall see.

My assistant helped me try to take a couple of pictures of my progress.

Another concern I have about this sweater is the reason I needed Davey to help me take the pictures.  He had to hold down the bottom of the sweater which is really wanting to roll up.  I am hopeful that when I block this I will be able to get the bottom to lie flat.  I will figure out something one way or the other.  Maybe some small fishing weights if necessary – that’d be comfortable.

One final thing – I didn’t have the sense to weave in ends as I was going.

This yarn should weave in nicely though.  It’s almost sticky, and I’d hate to have to try to frog it.  I need to get started on those ends.  I will do better on the sleeves and weave in as I go.

This is a fun project.  The lace weight yarn makes me feel like I am really creating “fabric”.  I love how the colors blend.  It’s all stockinette, but the stripes involve using two different colors on every other row.  I knit one strand with my right hand, and I hold the other strand continental style with my left hand.

I am knitting the first sleeve now and am able to use my favorite Signature dpns which is another plus.

We shall see how it goes.