stash, knit, repeat

I know, I know. Two posts in two days! But I finally finished this, and I just couldn’t wait to show you all.

Pattern: Tomten Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Yarn: Sundara sock yarn, “Bronzed Forest” and “Mossy” (both from Autumn Seasons Collection I)

Time Elapsed: I finished the knitting in around a month of “work time”, but waited ages when I ran out of yarn and then again (for a whole month!) before putting the zipper in the finished product.

Notes/Modifications: I used a smaller gauge than she recommends–fortunately, the pattern is modular. For those interested in the numbers, I cast on 168 stitches and wound up with a 6-12 month size jacket. I lengthened both the body and the sleeves to make it a larger jacket-style sweater.

There is something to be said for writing up a FO entry as soon as you finish a project–I’ve mostly forgotten all of the in-progress stuff for this sweater!

I used two different colors of sock yarn, both from the “Autumn” season of Sundara’s first Season’s Collection. Convinced I’d run out of yarn well before starting the hood, I begged and bought and traded my way through several other hanks of these colors before finding two from the same dye lots. In the end, I needn’t have worried–the sleeves went extremely quickly and I’m sure I would have had enough yarn for the sweater with a mandarin-style collar.

All’s well that ends well, though–with the extras, I’ve already knit Jacob some socks and I have plenty more left. The yarns look gorgeous blended together (I did 2 rows of each and avoided all end-weaving–thanks, Ms. Monster Yarn, for the suggestion!

When I finished the sweater, I knew it needed a zipper. Nothing else would tame Daniel’s adorable pudgy belly so nicely, and nothing else would be half as quick to get on him. Poor Tomten sat for over a month, waiting for its zipper. I finally screwed up my courage last night, and it was far, far easier than I thought it would be to put in.

I guess the only downside to the whole project is that I feel like the shape of the arms is weird when laid out flat. This might be me–looking at the finished product, it seems to me that I should have decreased on the underside of the sleeve instead of the top. But I’m too lazy to check, because it looks just fine when worn.

All in all, this is a very successful first hand-knit for the new addition to our family.

Well, I think so, anyway. And Daniel can’t talk to argue.

Richard Scarry’s “Busy, Busy Town” is the current favorite “read to myself” book around these parts. So of course, I give you the Busy, Busy Sweater:

Pattern: Chunky Cabled Sweater, from “Adorable Knits for Tots”

Yarn: Sublime Cashmerino Aran

Time Elapsed: Somewhere on the order of a month?

Notes/Modifications: I knit the 3 year old size, but lengthened the arms and length to accommodate my lanky toddler. To get the numbers, I measured a sweater that fit him well. All in all, this was a fun knit.

Jacob is a real sweetie about asking me to knit him things, but this time he out-did himself. He followed along on my progress avidly, wanting to know exactly what each piece was and how they would fit together. The morning after I finished the sweater, he retrieved it from my knitting basket, put it on over his existing shirt/sweater combo, and then refused to take it off. It’s gotten nearly daily wear since, excepting the days that reach above 40 degrees.

With all of those cables, in an aran cashmere blend, this is one warm sweater. For all of the apparent complexity, this was actually quite an intuitive knit and after the first couple of repeats of the major cable I didn’t need the chart anymore. (Oh, there’s one mistake in the directions, which is noted on Ravelry–I forget it now, but one of the rows should be a “rest” row and it’s listed as a cabling row instead. Row 6, probably?)

I guess the last thing to talk about is the yarn. The Sublime really lives up to its name in terms of the knitting experience. It’s smooth, it’s shiny, it’s got excellent stitch definition and is gorgeous when cabled. The downside is predictable, too–it’s a bit pilly. Still, I’d definitely work with it again.

Jacob says he’d wear it again, too–this sweater is his “favoritest”.

I wasn’t sure I’d like it, honestly.

Pattern: The Good Luck Cowl

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug, Color 118

Time Elapsed: Under a week

Notes/Modifications: I knit this pattern exactly as written. It is my first cowl, and I was more than dubious about how useful it would be, but one hank of yarn isn’t really enough for a scarf and I knew I wanted this around my face.

The yarn was a gift from the lovely Marlena and I really couldn’t be happier with it. The color is gorgeous, it’s soft but not pilly, it’s springy as all hell.

The pattern was clear, easy, and fun to knit.

And as it turns out, a cowl is really quite a useful thing! At least if you live in Boston.

Two enthusiastic thumbs up!