I FINISHED SOMETHING!!!!

Something from Vogue Knitting, no less. Remember the hex jacket (Russian Coat, according to Vogue), by Norah Gaughan? That one. It's not flattering. But I didn't knit it for flattering, I knit it because it was cool. So in that respect, it was a success.


...FYI, when an empire 'waist' line goes across your boobs? That's not gonna look right.

At least from the back, I look like I have a waist. Sorta. This was always intended as a knock-around-the-house winter cardi, perhaps a run-for-groceries cardi, so fit isn't a huge issue for me. Plus it looks better hanging open.

Other than the fit, which I knew from the get-go was gonna look much like it does now (I'm too long through the waist to look good in empire waist styles - petite women? this one's for you), this was a really cool knit. The modular part on top is all knit together as you go, and the bottom is one giant hexagon that, if you knit the top first, you can do in your sleep. All that was left was an underarm seam and joining the bodice and skirt. That part's - bodice to skirt - a little tricky and takes some fudging. In fact I'd say it's the only tricky-to-hard part on the whole thing.

TECH DETAIL FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT KNIT THIS: I substituted an I module for the H module at the wrist. This shortened the sleeve and made the point fall at the back of the hand instead of the palm. I also did it in garter, which seemed common sense, to avoid it curling up. If you actually knit this pattern, the above will make PERFECT sense by the time you get to the cuffs. Here's a photo, in case anyone wants one.




On a totally different topic, for the people asking about moving, here's the deal. The husbeast retires from the Navy in September of next year. His last day 'on the job', so to speak, is in mid-June, then he's got job-hunting leave and a slew of other similar things. (One of the very few benefits to the military.) So yes, we will be moving out of the bloody swamp. We've both agreed, we're headed north, where there are winters to kill the bugs; we both grew up in Ohio slogging through lake-effect snow, so unless we move to Buffalo (New York, as far as I know the craziest place in the world for lake effect snow), Siberia, or the Rockies, we'll be fine. No, we don't know where we're going yet or where he'll be working, or even what field he'll be working in. (He's amazingly overqualified for all sorts of high-tech industry. Yay.) Yes, we are starting to stress over this.

I have already suggested Canada, Europe, and Australia, and was sneered at soundly. Seriously, though, we'd like to stay within a day's drive of the in-laws and my father (who is in a nursing home and not in good health). Before the economy crashed, I was campaigning actively for Connecticut, where I've got a couple very good friends, but at this stage, a well-paying, safe (heavy industry, the more dangerous job, the better the pay) job anywhere that's not in a swamp.