Tangled Yoke Cardigan, but no tangles, and no yokes

When we last left our hero, hints were made as to projects begun.... So, yeah, I cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. This is in fact the only large fitted project I have yarn for. Deciding to do this was part desire, and part stash busting. I have a bit of history with this pattern.

The Interweave Knits that this pattern came in was the second one I purchased and I fell in love with many of the things inside. But at this point in time, I had only knit scarves, a few toys, a hat, and a pair of socks. I thought jumping to a cardigan might be too much. I discussed this a bit with some ladies at a LYS and they said it would be ok. They recommended a yarn, but since they didn't have enough in the only color I liked, an order was put in. (My mother, btw, purchased the yarn, as I could not bring myself to pay 40+ for a sweater I had to make and that might not fit. I have many hurtles to get over in my yarn purchasing. :) ) The yarn, however, was very late in coming. I called, and waited; family members closer to the LYS than me dropped in. It took over a month. By that time the urge to knit it was over, I was over my head in work and I knew I could never finish before winter was over. So the yarn "cured". It actually never made it into my normal stash. For some reason it was exiled in the "sewing room" with the novelty acrylics bought on sale at the big chain, before I learned of "wool" and it's mystical properties. It was found about a month later, at Christmas. Time + yarn should have equaled WIP, but no. The cardigan had attained epic status. I would never get gauge. I would never be able to follow that pattern. I was sure to end up with a huge bag of frogged yarn. Besides, I had signed up for a KAL in November; my first, and it was set to start in a few weeks. There was no way I could deal with two big projects.

Months past, KALs were signed up for and completed. Patterns were saved and stored for later. Lace weights were horded. Summer began to appear on the horizon. The pattern still intimidated me. I tried to read though it, but everything past the first page looked like gobbledy-gook. (This in itself was actual progress, back in October, I couldn't get past the first paragraph.) But, I thought, I have tackled lace, which many say is difficult, and they included cables, which some say are tedious, and I could read a chart, which many worried over. Maybe, just maybe I could do this.

And so, last Monday evening, I cast on. And now, One week and one day later I have this:I am completely impressed and proud of myself.