Around our retired house, Fridays are always somewhat of a holiday (the weekend starts on Friday, right?!), and today I’m proud to celebrate this Friday as a holiday for our country. Happy Juneteenth (observed)! This is a relatively “new” holiday for me and I’m looking forward to finding ways to celebrate it in a meaningful way. more meaningful, for sure, than simply responding to Instagram posts and stories. Next year, I hope!

Honestly, I feel a little weird celebrating a knitting finish today … still, it’s a celebration.

with smiles to prove it!

The idea for this sweater started back in February when I laid out four skeins of Berroco Modern Cotton DK in white … without any idea what I’d make. I originally thought something loose and kind of beachy, with maybe some cables? and then church opened up. and I remembered what it was like to be inside, in Air Conditioning. (to be fair, we do have air conditioning in our house, and we do use it, but it’s not anywhere close to “cold” inside). I needed a little white cardigan. I had the yarn. and a quick Ravelry search revealed the perfect pattern. Dune (ahoi) (ravelry link) was not even in my favorites … I have no idea how I missed it! The gauge was spot on, the fiber was a great match, and the design was, of course, just what I wanted.

I cast-on the day after I finished Long Love and it took me three tries to get past the first eyelet row and the short rows. (yikes!) Thankfully, after that, it was smooth sailing. I was pleasantly surprised when I got past the sleeve separation to find out that the eyelets were repeated down the side seams … and the inside of the sleeves. What a fun little detail … and totally not captured in the pattern photos.

The pattern calls for one little button at the waist. I did sew one on

but I’m not sure I’ll use it. As I was wearing it today, I kept it open (I even had it draped over my shoulders at one point).

I don’t think it needs to be closed …

Many of y’all commented on the lovely shaping that the ribbing around the waist provided – it looks even better blocked (even with crazy shadows).

Marc did a great job with the photos, but now I understand why Ankestrick’s pattern photos don’t show the details – they’re pretty much impossible to capture! So I put the sweater back on the dress form and posed a few – the waist shaping in the back, the sleeve eyelet, and the side eyelet.

It’s so pretty!

So yes, this is a celebratory finish … and no more worries about wearing sleeveless to church 😉

and of course there are outtakes … four this time – enjoy!

and happy weekend.