I Finished Something!!

Oh look, I found my blog. After several botched attempts, I even managed to sign in.

I finished something today. It feels so very good! When life is difficult, I lose my ability to create. Therefore, I stop sewing, knitting and anything else that might be good for me. Currently, I'm not even running. (there was a strange injury one day...but that's another story).

So, I consider it a triumph that I picked up my fabulous green sweater "Bonnie" from the Twist Collective and sewed it together the other day. The collar was even faster than I thought to knit and VWALAA! It is done.

This is the pattern picture--not mine. Though mine looks shockingly similar. I wish that I had great pictures, but I haven't even blocked it yet. I did wear it all day though. Mission Falls Yarn is gushy and quishy and soft--I love it!!

Manly Man Durrow Sweater

Drum Roll Please......

This is my manly, man in all his glory. And new carharts! I finally finished the Durrow Sweater & this was the first day cold enough for him to wear it. I really like how it turned out. I threw out the pattern almost when I began. I followed the cable charts religiously. I knitted the body in the round up to the armpits. Then I knit the sleeves 2 at a time on a long circular needle, also in the round. Then I followed The Sweater Workship by Jacqueline Fee (sp?) and finished with raglan shaping in the round. I added many shortrows in the sleeves to fit over his extra wide, muscular shoulders. Apparently, only being bone & massive muscles makes them a bit squarer than normal. Then I paniced just before starting the collar and thought the back of the neck would be too low so I tossed in a couple more shortrows across the back. In retrospect, I don't think I needed them, but they didn't hurt. Below is a shot of the sweater back. If you can see the shortrows you are a better knitter than I!


Continuing the cables up and over the shoulders emphasized the raglan shaping, but he can pull that off with his shoulders. Overall, a lovely knit & I am ready to start my own sweater! But first to finish the lace neck warmer and the little girl's dress...

isn't he cute!

Christmas Knitting Results

Christmas came & went in a flurry of knitting. I thought I wouldn't have any last minute knitting because I started so early this year. But, I also didn't work on my knitting projects very often that early because, "I have tons of time..."
The boy LOVES his hockey sweater. He informed me that it was more Edmonton Oilers colors than Mustang Hockey colors (his team) but he still liked it. I told him I had planned that. Actually the yarn was stash yarn...but it did seem to fit his personality. I did not finish the hood & pocket on the front and am working diligently to finish that ASAP. He really wants to wear it! As far as first time knitting him clothing other than hats & socks it was a winner!

The Man's sweater Durrow was a bit trickier. I decided to give him the body for Christmas and the sleeves for his birthday in April. This was mainly for my own sanity. This is way too big of a project to not know if it will fit. The goal is a slightly fitted sexy man sweater. So far I think that this will fit the bill nicely. I found it quite humorous that he had no idea I was working on a sweater for him even though many a night I sat in bed next to him, knitting on his sweater. I never lied about it--when he asked what I was knitting on I said, "Oh, another one of my many projects." And he was quite content. Now that he knows about it, he is concerned the sleeves will be too feminine. Egads!! I told him he doesn't have a vote. The superman tshirt was my present to him also. It was supposed to be tight, I will be washing it in hot very soon. (Can you see the trend? Goal: get rock hard muscle man out of baggy shirts into tight ones.)

I saved my favorite project for last...



Ballet slippersocks for my delightful ballerina niece's birthday. She was born Christmas day, 4yrs ago!! I actually finished them in time to send them across the country on time for Christmas. A First! I wanted to make a pair for my little one as well...that will have to be a birthday present. I love these socks. Just love them. Nuff said.

All in all, a delightful knitting season. If I ignore the socks for my sister that did NOT get done on time and I had started them last May. Arg. I am totally embarrased.

Christmas Project Revealed

Here is the front piece of the sweater I am knitting for my son. Now, I realize that the color combo is just a titch on the bright, obnoxious side. It is for a 6 yr old boy. And it is knit completely from my stash. I bought the bright blue wool/cotton blend yarn specifically for the boy a couple years ago at Cordova's finest, The Net Loft. Somehow I knew that obnoxious and blue would be perfect for him.

I am using 3 different yarns. The bright blue Schachenmayr Nomatta Habanera is a 70% wool, 30% cotton yarn. I found it in the ultra clearance bin at The Net Loft. I only have 4+ balls of the blue, hence the creative sidepanels. The brown Angora Soft by Knit One, Crochet Two is a WEBS ultra clearance as well. Only 4-5 balls of the brown in a 45% nylon, 40%viscose & 15% Angora. (I am not sure what I was thinking when I ordered the yarn. Nylon & Viscose??? It must have been the $2/ball and Angora that turned my head. Will I never learn?) I will use brown for the hood & pocket if there is enough. The orange is the good ol' standby Galway 100% wool. Strangly, they all come out to a very similar gauge, so far. I did do a gauge sample. Didn't want to many suprises as I am making up the color changes as yarn remains.

So far the sweater is going very fast. On the back I am knitting in his hockey number 77 in the bright orange. The sleeves will be striped depending on how much yarn I have left of each color. Knowing that I would barely have enough yarn for the entire sweater heavily influenced my decision to make stripes everywhere. Hopefully, no one will be able to tell when I run out of one color before the sweater done.

Now, it is back to the reality that Halloween is not until Friday and my children are already hyped up on candy from the school carnival. By the way, why did no one tell me school carnivals are a mother's worst nightmare? Oh yeah, I knew, but I was swayed out of my stoicism by those big, cute, blue eyes owned & used against me by my son. He just consumed a gummy rat. Arg.