WIP Wednesday: I'm In Sweater Land!

Well, the Outfit Along officially began on June 1st, and I was able to cast on and get going on the 5th. I've been really lucky to have lots of knitting time this weekend, so I have been totally sailing through this sweater. Like for real, I started this 5 days ago and I only have to finish the ribbed bottom and I have finished the body. I've kind of amazed myself actually, lol. 

This is what my Myrna looks like as of this morning :) I've used almost 2 full skeins of my Cascade 220 and I really enjoy this yarn. After finishing a cotton project, I am really appreciating how forgiving wool can be.

It's a little hard to see it because it isn't blocked yet, but this is the eyelet detail along the edges. This sweater also has a very deep V neckline. I guess I never paid enough attention to that in the photos, but I really do like it.

I also love how pretty the waist shaping is :) I know, I'm a nerd, but look at those perfectly even little dashes that slant away from each other - love it!

I have really enjoyed the actual making of this piece - so much so that I didn't stop to try it on until just before the waist shaping ... and it's seriously big. I'm really bummed about it because I made 3 gauge swatches before determining my needle size. The only reason I can think of as to why this happened is that my gauge changes when I have a heavy project going - as in the weight of the project pulls on the stitches as I make them. My vertical gauge is spot on, but my horizontal gauge is 17 stitches per 4 inches instead of 18 like the pattern calls for. And the arm hole are seriously enormous. I know they don't have sleeves yet, so I'm hoping that brings them in more, but I'm still toying with other ideas to shrink this up if it comes down to it. Do you think I could soak it in hot water before blocking it? Do you think that would shrink it up a bit? It's not superwash yarn, so I can't wash and dry it like I would for a cotton garment or something. Anyone out there ever had this problem?

Also, my teddy bear has had to be set aside :( I went to put the pieces together and realized that I didn't properly substitute my yarn so the lighter brown pieces are enormous and there is no way I could put it together as it is. Of course, I don't have any sock weight yarn in the colors I need, so I have to wait until I can get to a store that will have some. So sadly this was not finished in time to give my mom for her b-day like I wanted :( And I was really bummed. But it happens  live and learn!

So that's what I've been working on this week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others have going on!