Halfway there and an end in sight!

I am amazed at how quickly this sweater is coming together. The Fisherman's Wool is not exceptionally thick, which would normally make for a quick knit, but it is going quickly nonetheless. Maybe it's because I've had a lot of time on my hands to work on it, waiting for Blessing to come.

Here are some photos of it so far:

The top photo is the front of the piece. It is a little narrower than I had hoped, but hopefully after blocking (which will be a new skill to try with this piece), it will lay nicely and be wide enough. 

I made this neckline part of the rectangle of the whole piece, but after my cousin got to try it on, I realized that I should probably taper in the neck just a bit, and make the shoulders a little wider. I will take it out and redo the whole neckline some time in the near future. I would like for it to not curl down like it is now, and hope that blocking and tailoring it a little smaller will fix that.

The second photo is a closeup of the cable pattern I chose. I really like the way it snakes and the multiple pieces, as opposed to just 2 different strands like many cables. I found this pattern on Pinterest and chose #4. It's only 8 rows and then it repeats. I don't plan to use it down the back.

I think it will turn out to be a lovely piece. I bought 3 skeins of the wool, and I have lots left of the first one still, so maybe when I'm finished I'll have enough leftover to make her a scarf or hat, or even some cute armwarmers. We'll see.

If I had to do it over again, I would have doubled the yarn from the beginning and made it just a bit wider. The original sweater was heftier in weight and had some stiffness to it. This one is light and soft, which will be nice, since she'll have to wear something underneath it, and will make it good for fall and spring as well as winter. 

I probably won't be able to finish the sweater for a few weeks, since we have scheduled a c-section for Blessing on Friday. Our little guy will be here before we know it, and our lives will change dramatically for a while. With that in mind, if you are the praying type, please say a prayer for us, that we have a healthy baby boy, my recovery goes smoothly and quickly, and that our transition to a family of 5 is smooth. Thanks for reading and God bless!

P.S. I'll try to post pics of him before too long. I have so many cute projects to photograph him in!

A new project

We finally have everything unpacked and now I'm just sitting around waiting for Blessing to make his move, so I thought I'd get started on a project I have been thinking about for quite a while. One of my Mom's cousins approached me last winter to ask if I would consider making a sweater for her, based on a garment she already owned. I told her I'd give it a shot.

We got together at a family function again this summer (we don't get together with all the distant cousins but a couple times a year) and she brought the sweater so I could get an idea what I was getting into. It's a really pretty vest-type piece, and instead of being a full sweater, it just has tabs on the side. Should be easy-peasy! 

I took it with me, and spent a few weeks looking up pattern ideas before I discovered I couldn't really find a pattern to match what she wanted exactly. She said she wanted "boxy," as this one is very straight, and she didn't mind having a different neckline. I suggested a boat neck, which should be fairly straightforward, because otherwise I would have to do some serious research to shape the shoulders like this sweater. I found a pattern I like, and the cable detail is beautiful for this! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out how to purchase the pattern on Ravelry, as it's part of a collection or a book, but after studying the photo closely, I think I've discovered a way to emulate it without needing one. I noticed the neckline is basically a bind-off with an inch or two of stitches at each end, and then you just pick up the stitches on the other side. Since I won't be working in the round (because of the tabs on the sides), I'll just make it like a large rectangle with the neck hole. At least, that's my plan.

I then spent several more days looking for wool yarn that would give it the stiffness that she wants and the gauge that I want. After several texts and emails, we finally settled on Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Oatmeal.

It's a little bulkier than I would have preferred, but the other yarns we were discussing I would have had to order online without having an example of, and I really dislike doing that. And I got to use all my JoAnn's coupons to get this...

Hopefully it turns out beautifully, and just what she wants. I started on it the other night, but had to stop a few rows in until I decide exactly how I want to do the cable. I'll pick it up again tonight, after I do a little more scouting online for ideas.

I'll probably post photos as it comes along, so I can document what I did as much as show off. I hope to have it finished before Thanksgiving, but I'll probably have to get together with her a couple of times to check and make sure the fit is good. I would not be surprised if I had to take out the neckline a couple of times to get it right.

I like working with the Fisherman's Wool already, compared to the scratchy Alpaca I used for the purple cowl recently. Maybe I'll make my knot bag out of it...

Until next time!

Catching up--part deux

Getting out some of my projects of late from the boxes they've been packed in, I realized I needed to take some photos of my latest projects. I think this should complete the archiving post I started a few weeks ago, so from here on out, I should only be posting current creations.

Here's the first one:

I Love This Yarn, size 9 needles

This is a project I made over a year ago, but due to my lack of enthusiasm for finishing projects, I had it sitting around waiting for the buttons to finish it up for months. I finally finished it over the winter, but I put it in a place I rarely visit and forgot about it, until I unpacked it last week. It was a fun experiment in knitting short rows, and the variegated yarn really makes the pattern stand out well. It is a loose cowl, and I think it'll look nice this winter. I've got 2 more skeins of this yarn, so I will probably end up knitting a hat and some mittens to match at some point.

Red Heart yarn, size 9 needles

This is a hat I knitted recently for Isaac, whose fair isle hat with the same colors is going to be too small this winter. This one is super-stretchy, so it should fit him for a couple of winters (I hope!).

Purl Bee yarn in Shale, size 9 needles

This is an adorable hat I made for Blessing using this pattern. I had to adjust for gauge since my yarn wasn't as thick as the yarn she uses, but it is also very stretchy and will hopefully fit him for the first couple of winters.

This is the previous hat with a keyhole scarf made of the same Shale Purl Bee yarn. I still have quite a bit of both of these yarns left, so I made the following hat as well, to hopefully use up some of the navy, but there's almost a whole skein of it left. 

I love the way this hat turned out, and I tried to use the jogless stripes technique, but I'm still not convinced that makes a difference. The pom makes this hat!

This slouchy hat is the reason I had so much of the shale leftover. I got about two-thirds of the way finished with it, when I ran out. I had to start a new skein and hardly used any of it to finish. I actually didn't plan to make it quite so slouchy, but by the time I finally finished it, I wasn't going to take it out and redo it. Maybe someday I'll have a ton of hair to pile up inside it like a hairnet...

As I mentioned at the top, anything else I post from here on out should be all-new. I've got a cute little stuffed elephant in the works for Blessing that needs a lot of sewing, and hopefully after some trial and error, will turn out to be adorable. I've also got some hats and sweaters I'd like to use up some yarn for, and some household projects to figure out. I don't know how long it will take to get some of these things going, so it might be a while before I have anything worth posting. I'll probably have some adorable pics of my new little dude in his cute little hats, so keep your eyes peeled for those soon :-)

I'm due 2 weeks from today, if I am able to make it that long, so if I don't post before then, I'm probably quite busy getting use to our new life as a family of 5. Take care and see you on the flip side!

Nothing new...

I really wish I had something neat and exciting to post here, but with the Big Move and unpacking over the last few weeks, I just really haven't had time or the energy to make anything. Most of my yarn is packed up in boxes still, waiting to be unpacked in my new craft area, which also needs some work.

I did manage to get some good work in on my ugly square, using up all the yarns my Grandma has given me over the last year or so, and all the scraps I've been collecting as well. It is getting bigger, but I think I'll keep going until it's about a king size comforter. I've got quite a way to go, and I'm not sure if you can notice a difference from the last time I took photos of it.

My days have been filled with taking care of the twins, unpacking, organizing, and preparing for the baby. Hopefully he'll wait a few more weeks to make his debut, so I can be completely unpacked, get all our pictures and shelves hung, and start working on some other, more aesthetic projects around the house. If I do, I'll be sure to post some photos. Otherwise, it may be a while before I get another post up, as I'll be nursing a little human round the clock and trying to stay awake for the twins as well. It'll be tricky, until we get in a rhythm.

Hope to write again soon, with more to say and show you! Until then, we appreciate your prayers for a short labor and healthy baby boy. Take care and God bless!