Lot 665- A Sweater in Pieces

I went through this phase in junior high school where I loved, LOVED... L O V E D the Phantom of the Opera.  LOVED IT.  (Did I mention loved?)  I saw two travelling productions of it.  I had the tape of the full cast recording and I could recite the entire first side.  If I dig deep into the recesses of my mind, I could probably STILL recite a large portion of that production.  The whole point of this is that there's this scene in the beginning where they are selling off the items from the old opera house and when they get to the famous chandelier, (brought down by the Phantom) they say "Lot 665, a Chandelier in pieces..." and thus begins the flashback story of the Phantom of the Opera.  There's this very dramatic piece as the Chandelier is illuminated and the Phantom main theme plays as the Chandelier ascends to the top of the theater.  I would get GOOSE BUMPS hearing this.  I still get goose bumps thinking of this.

The whole point of this ramble is every time I look at the sweater, blocked and ready for seaming... I think "Lot 665, a SWEATER in pieces" and yes, I hear the ominous theme from the Phantom of the Opera.  The only difference here is that I don't get goose bumps, more of a feeling of ennui... like "UGH can't this thing just seam ITSELF!?"

I'm going to do my best to finish the seaming this week- despite my "really not wanting to" attitude.  This won't be "officially done" however for a few weeks as I have placed an order (from Knitpicks of all places) for the perfect buttons to complete it.  But it would still be great to say this is 99.8% done, except for buttons by the end of May.

Speaking of finishing, and looking a little like Mr. Phantom himself, I finished the little stuffed penguin I was making for a little guy's first birthday.

Pattern: Pasha Penguin by Alexandra Virgiel (FREE!)
Yarn: Scap acrylics left over from various WCOBB blankets (mostly Vanna's Choice by Red Heart)
Needles: US 4- I wanted a really tight fabric
Thots: Cute pattern, although I'm a little concerned that I didn't pick up the wrap and turns properly.  The ease and simplicity of the pattern got my thinking it might be fun to make a little "something" and enter it in the "knitted dolls" category of Stampede.  I'm still "ruminating" on that idea and looking for the right inspiration.

I put Mr. Pasha in the fridge because he just looked like he wanted to be in a more "natural" habitat.  Cute project!  I have enough yarn to knit myself a whole pod of penguins!

And, because things have been finishing up smoothly... I also have pretty decent progress on the simple sock made.  I like the fit of the ribbed sock, but I hate how it looks in it's natural, shriveled up state.

Alright... I have procrastinated enough, time to get into the seaming.  Maybe I'll download the Phantom to listen to keep me company while I seam?

PS- Christine and Raoul forever... I never bought into her falling for the creepy masked dude.