WIP Wednesday: The Week of Sweaters

I have dubbed this past week as The Week of Sweaters. I managed to finish 2 (!) that I have had in the works for a long time - check back on Friday for at least one of them. I also had several doctor's appointments and other things that involved sitting in a waiting room for extended periods of time, which means I was able to make a surprising amount of progress on my newest sweater project, Emelie.

In any other sweater, I would think this wasn't very much progress, but considering this is fingering weight yarn and I started it 10 days ago, this is pretty remarkable in my book :) This cardigan is knitted from the bottom up, so I have finished the ribbing and I'm into the 3rd repeat of the lace pattern on the front:

I know the pic is crappy, but it is incredibly difficult to photograph black yarn, especially when you're trying to spread out the stitches at the same time, lol. I am really loving this project so far.It's just enough of a pattern to keep it from being boring, and it's just straight knitting or purling in between. I've also decided to eliminate the decreases at the side, so it's made it even easier as there are less instructions to keep track of. Plus, this yarn is straight up heavenly. It is so soft and light weight, I just know I'm going to wear the daylights out of this when its finished. I can't wait! 

I'm also plugging away at a custom order - a friend of mine wanted The Hulk for her son's birthday :) I couldn't find a pattern that I really loved, so I'm making my own. This has proved to be a little frustrating at times, but I like the pieces that I have finished already. I had hoped to make bobble stitch muscles on his chest, but they just looked like he had a cluster of boobs, lol, so I will be making his arms muscly instead. 

Reorganizing and rearranging my sewing room really restored my desire to sew, so I pulled out my crazy print Simplicity 2444 that I cut out weeks ago and got to work. I haven't rushed putting it together in hopes that it will help with my precision - my mantra has been, "Slow and steady wins the race," lol. It must be working because this has been a pain-free project! I marked the pieces and sewed up what you see on Monday night - I think I spent 3 hours on it then - and last night I put in the zipper.

Look at that sexy zipper! This is by far the best zipper I have ever done - it came out perfect! I followed Sunni's Mastering Zipper Techniques free Craftsy class to the letter, and what do you know, it worked! I used knit stay tape at the opening, pressed the seam allowance under, stuck the zipper down with Wonder Tape, and stitched nice and slow. I was so proud, I could've cried, lol. Also, with the zipper in, I tried the dress on ... and it fit! It's a miracle! I've had so many problems with fitting that to see it fit like it should was an amazing boost. I can't wait to finish it up now :)

That's all for me this week :) Check back on Friday for a pretty epic finished object! And head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others are up to.