hoodie frustration and hoodie elation

The zip-up hoodie is one zipper installation away from being finished. I made two attempts at the i-cord edging, but it muddled the edge of the cable too much. Since I rushed headlong into this project without really thinking, the only thing on the outer edge of the cable is one garter stitch. I'm not really sure what the right answer would have been, since I wanted the cables to meet in the middle, but wanted to prevent the edge from rolling too much. I could have added a ribbed edge, but again, I really wanted the cabled to meet in the center. So I decided to block the thing and hope for the best. I figured I would have to sew the zipper in by hand, since I hardly left myself any room to work with. I finished sewing one side last night, and was pretty pleased with how it looked. It was then that I realized that I purchased a zipper that does NOT separate at the bottom. (sigh...) This is SO like me.

My refuge from this frustration has been a lace hoodie pattern from Rebecca 32. I started this at knitting club last week, and (of course) butchered the lace pattern for the first couple inches. The pattern is knit flat, but I decided to knit in the round and my novice brain has a bit of trouble comprehending what I should do on wrong side rows when knitting in the round if it's not written out for me. The good thing about ripping it all out was that I realized that it would have been way too big, so on my second cast-on I eliminated a couple pattern repeats. It's going smoothly now and I love the way the lace pattern is shaping up.


I plan on finishing the zip-up hoodie by this weekend, as soon as I drag myself to the store to get the correct materials. I swear, this is SO like me...