PALE MINT CASHMERE

 I made this for myself. I have had the yarn over ten years. I sold two of these to women and thought it a girly colour but I have changed my mind and like it for me. 
It is 2 ends of 2/28 mongolian cashmere. That is about 700m/100g, The sweater weighs 406g. I gave it my usual treatment of washing and tumble drying three times. This sweater will now always be able to be washed on the 30c hand cycle and tumble on hot for 45mins without further shrinking. I have done my cashmere sweaters like this for 30 years yet I still not considered to know what I am doing according to some! yes, i have allowed someone to irk me. They wrote on a knitting list I belonged to that I was stupid and ignorant. It wasn't so much the email that bothered me but that NO ONE said anything in defence of me. I said nothing and I left the list soon after but telling the owner what i thought of the appalling treatment I got. There was more to it than this. Like they engaged the writer as if he were the expert and ignored me.Then an innocuous email from me, on another subject entirely, was edited! I realised I wasn't respected at all. It was enough for me that one person was outwardly homophobic toward me and that my wedding was ignored but this email was the final straw. As if I needed another hint that I wasn't welcome. I am annoyed with myself for not having got the message sooner and for feeling rankled by it all in the first place. I don't want to know people like this.

 I do my set in sleeves like a 'half raglan'. I find the math easy to work out and the line much nicer.

 I plan to wear this with a polo(turtle) neck under it. The back and front are shaped the same and using holding position (short rows). I did a graduated tension st st collar, as you can see.

 I always mattress stitch my sweaters, at least the plain ones. I am fussy about seams. I won't use an overlocker (serger), sewing machine or linker. I do it by hand. yes it takes hours. In fact longer than it took to knit but what is the point of knitting it at all if I am not going to do the best finishing I can?