I'm oddly unenthusiastic about having finished Paprika although I have worn it a lot in the last few days. It fits well and I love the colour, but I don't look at it and think, "Wow, I made that!".
Maybe it's because it was another top-down sweater and I can really feel myself itching it knit something way out of my comfort zone? Maybe it was the yarn - a woolblend which was nice enough and knit up well, but which definitely felt synthetic to my fingers? Maybe I shouldn't expect to be bouncing off the walls everytime I finish something.
Specifics, then. I combined Francis Revisited by Beth Silverstein with Wendy Bernard's Ingenue. I have long wanted to knit both and it seemed like an obvious thing to combine the two patterns as their pattern constructions are very similar. I used most of the pattern from Francis revisited and the edgings from Ingenue. I really like the Ingenue stitch pattern, incidentally, and will use it again in another context.
I aimed for a long-long-sleeved sweater but as per usual I loathe knitting sleeves so these ended up being bracelet-length. Yet again. I also ended up having to stitch the cowl down to the sweater as it just wouldn't flop gracefully. I suspect the choice of edging might have something to do with that.
Verdict: definitely wearable and I think this'll become a winter go-to. I just feel very fneh about it.
What is on my needles now?
Well, I started and finished a pixie-sized Liesl while I was waiting for the weather to give us a photo opportunity for Paprika. Liesl is currently blocking. I may or may not post a photo tomorrow. I am a few rows away from finishing my grandmother's Swallowtail. This means that I'll actually get to cast-on something new very, very soon. I have a few candidates - David's sweater, Topstykke, a hap shawl aka Noget Der Ligner or possibly a Liesl for myself in some Noro Iro I have lying about..
(Hmmmm, funny how non-knitters always tell me that "If you have nothing to knit, my friend might like some potholders." If I have nothing to knit.. who on earth doesn't have an out-of-control list of things they want to knit?)