Tuesday, January 15, 2008

gathered pullover

I received the perfect amount of yarn in the perfect color for the gathered pullover at Christmas. The yarn (brown sheep "top of the lamb")that it calls for is super well priced so i was curious to find out if it was as itchy as its cousin, brown sheep "lambs pride." i was very pleasantly surprised to find that it is no where near as itchy, likely due to the fact that it is mohair free. it's just 100% wool. wool has the kind of regular itchiness that i don't mind, but the little random pokes from mohair really get to me.

so here is the gathered pullover thus far.

it rolls a lot. a lot. a formal blocking will be necessary on this sweater. i'm soooo in love with that little braid/knot/cable in the center! it was fun to knit and actually got my husband to say "wow, that's impressive"

i know.

the color "appletree" is probably my favorite part of this sweater right now. every time i pick up the sweater to knit i'm like "wow, i love this color" it's a lovely green with a nice bit of blue hue in it and it's so. pretty.

right now i'm singing the praises of this lovely sweater, but i haven't tried it on, and i'm beginning to wonder if maybe it's coming out a little...large? we'll find out soon enough...

Sunday, January 06, 2008

i'm a winner! (and an FO update)

the fabulous tiennie of tienneknits fame gave out tons of prizes and i won one of them!!! what an exciting treat. Is there anything more fun than receiving packages?

this was the lovely prize yarn inside:


Knittery sock yarn in "wildflowers" 70% merino 10% cashmere 20% nylon

THANKS TIENNE!!!

now as you may recall, i was frantically knitting a shawl and the cobblestone in the hopes to finish them in time for christmas morning. the shawl was finished with time to spare!

Shetland triangle, laines du nord mulberry silk, 4 balls, size US8 circs

The cobblestone was not finished in time for Christmas but it was finished before NEXT Christmas which is a new accomplishment for me.

a very successful sweater



Specs:
Pattern: Cobblestone by Jared Flood
Yarn: Queensland Collection Kathmadu aran in dark brown
Needles: US 7 circs
size: smallest size
Mods: i made the sleeves and body longer than the suggested measurements because my husband is thin, but very tall

the husband is concerned that the neck opening is too large, so i will add some elastic to see if that makes it better. if not, i may need to add a few rows and decrease a few more stitches...we'll see. anyway, i'm super duper happy with how the sweater turned out and the husband is very pleased with the sweater as well!