Hi Alison,
Have you been doing any sewing lately? Haven't seen any mention of it lately... I'm kinda feeling a sewing weekend coming up for myself.

cute sweater...

Hi Alison, nice sweater! (Why sleeve hell?)
I looked up the lace sweater pattern I was using for the alpaca and it is from Rowan magazine number 4, yes, four, published in 1988. Really. !! There are two versions, a pullover with a wide neck and a cardigan with a lace collar. Also a pair of mid-thigh length lace pants which always make me laugh. If you want to see it, I can bring the book to Knitsmiths.
The double decrease I have been using lately is: slip 1 tog as if to k; k 1, pass 2 slipped sts over. This should leave the center stitch lying on top.

Adorable! Nice colour combo too.

I really like those two colors together. What is the gauge.

Sign me up for Banff, please!

No, Rebecca, I haven't been doing any sewing. Sew blue is on hiatus until the spring (all my fabric is cotton, so I'm not really motivated to sew something now that I can't wear right now!).

Carrie, all sleeves are hell! ;0) Thanks for sharing the Rowan info. I'd love to see the old pattern.

Melissa, the gauge isn't that bad (I'm knitting tightly on US4s), but for some reason holding this particular yarn makes my hand cramp.

Hey, you could skip sleeve hell and call it a vest! It looks mighty cute, Alison.

Very pretty! I like the colors. Good luck with the sleeves.

Very cute! I wonder if your hand cramps are from the tight gauge or the small needles. I noticed a problem with "knitter's elbow" when I started making all those mittens on a (much) tighter gauge. Do you notice if you hold the needles differently when working on smaller ones? Just curious. and please remind me to give you your ruler on Sunday!

I love this sweater! It's so elegant, and the colors are beautiful together. I wish my nephew were a little less macho, so he could wear something like this. (He's only 11 months old, but boy do personalities reveal themselves early!)