WIP Wednesday: Beatnik Sweater (The De-Stresser)

It still feels a little like the twilight zone being home after a very, very stressful last few weeks of school. With finals done (and grades received!) I am so happy to have time to knit again, and to come home to this:

After being in the city most of the year I'm always so happy to be home. I took this picture on a short walk the other day and it was beautiful out.

I've been working on the Beatnik sweater since about March, but in the past week I've really had a chance to get a lot done.

This is the back. I'm considering modifying the sweater and making it a cardigan. I'm just worried that kind of goes against the intended style of the pattern.  At the same time, I know I'll wear it more if it's a cardigan. I'm going to do the sleeves before I work on the front so I'll cross that bridge later.

The cabling is love/hate thing for me. It definitely keeps the sweater interesting and I love watching it grow, but it does get a little tedious to do for two feet. I'm excited to work on the sleeves next.

The color in the first photo is more accurate. I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but in the cable on the middle panel my Vs sometimes get a bit stretched. It almost makes a hole in the fabric. I'm not sure if it's because my tension isn't even or if I'm fighting against the cable too hard when it's on the cable needle. Does anyone else have this problem?

I'm using Ella Rae Amity which is 25% wool and 75% acrylic. I was looking for a relative cheap, washable yarn that was not 100% acrylic. I tried using this yarn on an earlier sweater (see this post) but didn't like the look of the sweater, so I frogged it. This one is coming out much better. I'm excited to see the end result!