The Bill Murray Sweater.

Jobs kill creativity!  Add in a knitting slog and a touch of jealous one-upmanship and you get my weekend.  Never fear though, from that horrible, flaming mess a phoenix will rise!  A phoenix that appears in the shape of BILL MURRAY!

With Rhinebeck and the big sweater deadline approaching, I limited myself to one project over the long weekend.  It was rather dreadful, I went to bed early instead of knitting because I couldn’t bear to work on it one row more.  I couldn’t possibly start another project because I didn’t have time.  There was no way around it.  Deadline knitting means time management isn’t just a thing I say with finger quotes and a strange look on my face.  Having a job is a serious time suck and it was seriously harshing my creative mellow this weekend.  and then this happened…

Serioiusleeee?  I was beat to the punch by a Taylor Swift fan.  That’s a disappointment.  I had high hopes for a Bill Murray sweater.  and now I’ve been relegated to be that knitter who wanted to be like the Taylor Swift knitter.  damn.  #ShakeItOff

Needless to say, my weekend was not the best.  Enter Tuesday morning, when I’m relieved of my work responsibilities!  A chorus of angels appeared!  Suddenly, my beloved free time was back!!!  I have amazing luck, every time I’m let go from a job, it makes me the happiest person in the zip code.  I hope this kind of luck never runs out.  I think of it as the worst things happening to me in the best way possible.

So, there I am feeling pretty good, certainly better!  And then, a friend said the magic words…Art Project!  Yes!  That is just what I need to celebrate my free time…an art project!  It’s time for Bill Murray to come out of the frame and become a garment!  I slept on it, and I think I’ve made some decisions.

There’s me and Bill.  As you can see, he’s huge.  That definitely limits what I can do with it.  And it’s superwash.  Not a great choice for steeking, meaning I can’t really cut away any excess fabric.  And it’s such a light color.  I don’t really want a gigantic off-white sweater?!?  I toyed with the idea of a skirt, but I’d definitely need to line it…not loving that idea.  and then it came to me!  Don’t overthink it, just go simple.  A vest (doesn’t get easier than no sleeves!), similar in shape to the cassette tape vest.

I think less of a shawl collar.  That’s a minor detail at this point.  My basic plan is to pick up stitches along the top & sides, leaving armholes and just work a back & forth.  I’ll use the greys in the portrait, so it won’t be a big off-white sweater, at least not in the front!  I’m thinking maybe a textured stitch, striped seed stitch maybe?  Maybe some short row shaping to keep the collar from being too shawl like?  Who knows but it’s in progress…that’s the main thing!  and what’s the worst that happens?  It’s so horrible that Bill Murray himself calls me, begging for it’s destruction?  That’ll be the day :)