Holiday Wrap Up

Author: knitting

Jan 4

The Holidays have finally wrapped up and I am taking a moment to catch my breath before taking down all the decorations.  Or maybe I’m just trying to catch my breath from the cold and warm up.  The temperature is hovering in the -10 degrees F range with a wind chill of up to -25 degrees.  Suffice it to say, we’re not going outside unless we have to.  Good thing I made all these great knitted wool things for Christmas. 

Little Girl's Shrug

The first thing I made was a little sweater for Lily.  It’s the Little Girls Shrug from Knitting Pure & Simple.  (Ravelry Link)  I knit it in Plymouth Yarn Company’s Superwash Merino in Pumpkin.  Lily’s favorite color is orange, so I knew this would be a hit.  True to the Pure & Simple label, this is not a complicated sweater to knit.  Lily is small for her age, so I ended up knitting to her chest measurement and just adding length at the bottom in order for it to be more of a sweater than a shrug.    It took just over one skein of yarn.  The button is a wood grain one that I had on hand. 
The day before Christmas Lily started telling me that all the girls in her class have little sweaters with one button at the top.  She described the sweater and compared it to the shrug I had made the girls last year for a wedding.  Lily was very specific that a sweater must have 1 button at the top to keep it closed. 

Little Lily

It was so much fun to see the look on her face when she opened up the sweater.  She did mention that perhaps I could finish the sleeves for her.  You’ve got to love a 4 year old and their sense of style! 
Do you need a little reminder that it does actually get warm in this neck of the woods?  In fact, sometimes it’s warm enough to swim in the Big Lake. 
Lake Superior June 2010
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Pushing Through

Author: knitting

Sep 18

Sorry for the poor color on the photo… I took it in a dark house last night… should have waited for natural light.

You know when you’re working out and you hit the wall and you know that if you can just keep pushing through that you’ll be just fine, you’ll finish the workout?  Well, sometimes knitting it like that too.  I am making 2 little shrugs – girls sizes 2 and 5 – for a wedding that my girls are flowers girls at in early October.  I’ve hit a wall.  A wall of frustration and boredom – normally the kiss of death for any knitting project I take on. 

I started working on the larger shrug (I’ve learned that if I’m to make 2 of anything I should make the larger or more boring of the 2 first) in June.  I got all the pieces knitted and started sewing them together.  But the sleeves didn’t fit quite right.  I figured it was just my poor sewing skills and decided that when I made the second sweater, I would do the sleeves from the top down with a circular needle instead of sewing them in after the fact.  When I started the second sweater I checked gauge (i.e. tension, i.e.stitches per inch) I realized that I was way way off.  Way off.  Wowza, was I off.  So I went down 3 needle sizes, got gauge and called it good.  Now, I’m working on the first sleeve.  I’m sort of winging the decreases and making notes so I can replicate them on the second sleeve.  I’m also trying it on my daughter as I go so I know it’s going to fit (I’ve had to add 4 inches to the sleeve since she’s long and skinny). 

Here’s the problem.  I have 3 weeks until the wedding.  3 weeks to finish one sweater and do the ribbing on the 2nd is not bad.  However, should I go back and reknit the first sweater???  I’m thinking yes.  But what if I run out of time!?  Plus, what I really want to do is knit… something else…

This,

and This,

and This,

oh yes, and This.  (but I’m still searching for the perfect yarn for that)

And that doesn’t even account for Christmas presents that I need to start working on.  Somebody help me!

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