UFO finished?

I would love to dazzle you with my finishing ability, but this post is really about what happened to cause this sweater to be a UFO. Generally, I am good about finishing things, but I do have a few UFOs tucked under cushions.

A blog from a couple of weeks ago mentioned that I had finished something - this Mozart Cardigan from Knit One Crochet Too. The Paintbox yarn sucked me in the day I saw it at a LYS. The cardigan pattern was there, it was different, I ignored the 'no ruffle (especially around the waist) rule' and brought it all home.

Memory serves that it knit up very quickly and I enjoyed the process of the bobbles and the ruffles. When it came to putting the sleeves in, I bombed! There were two or three sincere attempts, many measurements, and the whole thing went into a bag and literally sat where I could trip over it for almost a full year. A few weeks ago I pulled it out and took out the sleeve bind-off and re-measured...decided to bind off again VERY loosely and go for it one last time - Voila!

This cardigan reinforced the fact that I mostly knit for process. I don't always choose the practical or functional and sometimes get sucked in by the challenge of a stitch pattern or richness of the color the yarn is dyed. I am good with knowing this and accept it whole heartedly. However, I have decided that this year I will make conscience decisions to knit with SOME functionality in mind (thus the change in my pattern for the Briar Rose KAL).

The Mozart Cardigan will suffice and I will wear it, but it will never be my favorite sweater. Thanks to my Hubs who took many photos for this sweater post. I could never have loved any of the photos no matter how good they turned out because of the subject matter.

Note to self: Regardless of the size of the ruffle and the placement, it will always make your butt look bigger!