A Foxglove in November?

First of all - a progress report on the Lady NaNoSweMo of the Lake:

This photo taken in the available light at 12 noon today (ie minimal) shows the back, the underarm and the cast on for the right front. I LOVE knitting this sweater and although I have my doubts that it actually contains 50,000 stitches I don't care - I'm just trying to ration myself to knitting it because I like it so much - it is soft and cozy and light and will be just a perfect jacket (I may have said this before but nevermind!)

Last night with fireworks going off just about everywhere around us I had my own mini fireworks as the blues and green suddenly popped out of the brown. Yes it isn't as much of a rainbow feast as Kauni, but it's enough for this colour fanatic and that's what matters right now.

Today was time for something a little different.... all the while I have been enjoying the Lady NaNoSweMo a little coral coloured pile has been glowering at me from the foot of the sofa armed with a shiny red crochet hook. It is true that I abandonned Foxglove last weekend having valiantly sewn seams, tidied up ends and added a huge number of crochet flowers and leaves as an edging. We last saw our intrepid reporter at the left hand side of the neck having run out of flowers and deliberating over a belt.

Now look:

Today I wielded the crochet hook again and came to appreciate that althought I quite like making crochet flowers I do not like edgings that have to be put together piecemeal as you go round without there being any real kind of a plan on how to do this. [Note to Rowan: "using picture as guide" is not a valid instruction when you can't see the picture clearly enough to work out the flower placing - grr].

As you see, this finished Foxglove (for yes, she is finished) has no belt. I finished another 4 flowers, added 5 flowers to the left front and, following some playing around with pins-as-buttons recieved the crucial ruling from H that it looked pretty good as it is and a belt was a bit unnecessary.

The magic that now holds it all together is a series of buttons:

First, on the inside right hand seam we have a button

I didn't make a buttonhole in the left front, I just chose a likely spot and stiched and opening - the yarn is stretchy enough to allow you to do that quite easily.

Then on the bottom of the left front we have a leaf:

Which fits through a leaf on the right front.

And now for my piece de resistance - the front. Now being a very curvy girl I have a hatred of tops that flap open so I have a little button sewn to the inside of the right front.

It is a blue button - but can you see it now:

I can adjust how tightly the top fits (depending on how many sweaters I'm wearing underneath) by changing which bit of the flowers on the left front I use as a buttonhole.

All in all I'm quite please with Foxglove and hopefully when it has had a little bath and block the flowers won't curl so much (I can but hope). It isn't my most favourite sweater ever and part of the reason for that is that it is too big for me across the shoulders - it's only really playing around with the crochet flowers that means that it stays on. There's a simple solution... I should have chosen a smaller size. The Calmer yarn is soft and elastic and nice to wear but it is quite splitty when you knit with it and the elasticity takes some getting used to, particularly on bamboo needles. Still this particular monkey is now off the needles/ the crochet hook and for that I am thankful - no more drated flowers!!

In yet more knitting news I have finished the first of the Monkey socks and C's Christmas scarf is a little longer, neither of which merit photos just yet.

Aaaaargh - my internet connection keeps coming and going all by its sweet self and it's driving me nuts - grrr