Orangeade, anyone?

Here's the debut of my Phildar Onde sweater...


Pattern: Phildar Onde sweater (Le Pull Raglan Couleur Orangeade!) from Phildar Tendances Printemps 2004
Yarn - Phil Onde in Orangeade (2 balls) and White (3 balls)

We woke up early today and went to eat breakfast and then made it to the Santa Monica Pier for a stroll. I think we looked like tourists. No, we definitely looked like tourists! Who else would be up at 8 am on a Saturday taking pictures?

I like this sweater but, as usual, there are a couple things that bug me. On the plus side, the yarn knits up very soft and light. It's the perfect cool spring morning sweater. I like the coloration of the yarn. However, the original pattern had a belt buckle above the opening on the top of the front. I didn't have one and I didn't think I could find one so I kept the opening and just knitting the ribbed top in the round. I think I should have just knitted it solid without a hole. Also, I just can't knit ribbing nice. It looks icky. I'm hoping that a run through the washing machine might help the ribbing and the wonky hole.

In the end, I think the success of a sweater for me has to be the whole process: the cost, the knitting and the final product. The cost was very low... I can't remember exactly how much the yarn cost but it wasn't that much. The knitting was somewhat tortuous - size 4 needles and the twine-like yarn made my hands hurt. But the white yarn was easier to knit that the orange yarn - I'm not sure why. Maybe it was psychological. And I will wear this sweater in public, so that's a success, right?

What made me even more happier than finishing this sweater was...

...picking up a new DVR (Tivo) receiver from our cable company this morning! We've been told our lives will never be the same. I will never miss my three favorite TV shows again - Veronica Mars, Battlestar Galactica (stop laughing! it's good!) and Lost.