Sibling Sweaters

All done. A cute little cardigan for a 2-year-old.

Yarn: Berroco Sox (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Lidores (discontinued), just over 1 skein
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Pattern: Tanis Lavallee's Sunnyside
Mods: I really love the cables that run down the raglan increases. They are divided exactly in half when you split off the sleeves, so I decided to reunite them after the armhole and continue them down the sides of the sweater, which of course you can't see in any of the photos.

This was a fast, easy knit, and results in a great sweater for a little kid. I love that I had enough yarn for two sibling sweaters!

Disappointment

I had gotten just so far, knitting a scarf out of Juniper Moon Findley lace leftovers, when it dawned on me, after a little over one pattern repeat, that it was in no way possible that I was going to get another 16 pattern repeats out of the yarn. I checked other people's projects -- they used 3-5 times the yardage I have. Sure, I could have made a cowl, but I don't wear cowls. It's a nice pattern. I'll make it sometime when I have more yarn. I need to get better about checking the pattern page's yardage against actually completed projects.

In the meantime, I suppose I could make mitts. Who would wear lace-weight orange mitts?

We Have a One-Swan-Wing Situation Here

I miss making that joke with my mom, who knew that The Six Swans was my favorite fairy tale (collected by Grimm but accessed by me via Andrew Lang's Yellow Fairy Book).

I was surprised that the pattern doesn't call for ribbing at the end of the sleeve, but since I only wear loose sleeves myself these days, I can appreciate the choice.

The next sweater endeavors will involve UFOs!

Coming Along

Nearly there. I'll use the same buttons as the larger sweater. All I have to do is the sleeves, and since I don't have to set them in, this should go fast!

Finally

The slowest part of a raglan is the inch or two above the bottom of the arm hole. It makes sense -- this is when the maximum number of stitches are on the needle, and there is considerable suspense involved. If you're knitting from the top down, you're just about to put the sleeve stitches on hold and continue on the body of the sweater, considerably speeding up your progress. If you're knitting from the bottom up, you're going to decrease stitches much more gradually, but you're likely about to start something really interesting for the yoke of the sweater.

In just. a. few. more. inches. Which have taken me an entire week, thanks to my heretofore unsuspected ability to make every knitting mistake possible right when the maximum number of stitches are in play. But I stuck with it, and today, finally, the sleeves are off the needle.

The cables marking the raglan shaping were divided exactly in half by the removal of the sleeve stitches, leaving me toying with the idea of continuing one cable down each side of the sweater. Others have done it. I don't think it adds anything to the sweater, since they're mostly out of sight (and will probably be rubbed by the sleeves), but it's oddly satisfying to contemplate.

What's Black and White and White and Black All Over?

Ages ago I acquired some yarn that was leftover from a friend's project. I get to try out so many interesting fibers that way! This is Ístex's Einband, a lace weight Icelandic single-ply Z-twist yarn in a gradient of colors from black to white.

Having recently finished two sweaters, it was time for something new, and I cast on for the Aranami shawl, reversing the colorway as another Raveler had done, so that my shawl goes from black on the bottom, where the shawl begins, to white on top.

Following the directions, I soon realized I was going to have leftover leftovers (the HORROR!), so I immediately cast on another shawl, this time reversing the gradient from black to white, since this shawl starts at the top. It also begins with an 88-ridge garter tab, which completely astonished me, but it's done and I've moved on. The pattern does not call for multiple colors or a gradient, so I will just add the new shades where they fall and see what develops.

 

The yarn is not as fuzzy as my photography skills; I will do better as it grows. In fact, this yarn is so "crunchy" that I am comforted by the Ístex reassurance that it becomes soft and manageable after washing. That was certainly true of my lopapeysa, done in Léttlopi, their Aran weight yarn!

Lopapeysa

Finished! Aside from the first 4", started and put down in early 2016, it only took me a couple of months to make.

Yarn: Ístex Léttlopi in 1407/Pine Green Heather, 0085/Oatmeal Heather, 0086/Light Beige Heather, and 0867/Dark Brown
Needles: US 9 (5.5mm), US 10 (6.0 mm), US 10 1/2 (6.5 mm)
Pattern: Mary Jane Mucklestone's Stopover
Mods: Cap sleeves, obviously. And the neck ribbing was done on a US 10 circular because my US 9 dpns kept dropping stitches off the ends, and I figured it couldn't make that much difference.

It is now safely packed away for next winter, when I will discover it anew and see just how warm it is.

2019 MDS&W Haul

I went to the festival this year with the single goal of acquiring more Yankee Dyer Yarn. Mission accomplished.

Yankee Dyer Yankee Breeze in Sangria

Yankee Dyer Solo II in Dragonfly

Yankee Dyer Doodlers

I was thinking that I would use the leftover Sangria in the Dragonfly heels and toes, but then realized that the Yankee Breeze is half cotton. The owner was completely blasé about "mixing my bases." I have never done that. But I'm willing to give it a try when the color match is so nice.

My mini-skeins so far have been gradients, which this set definitely is not, but I am intrigued to try something a little more colorful.

In addition, I found an artist who makes custom buttons, an artist who paints pictures with thread, and learned - from touching the real thing - that my cashmere yarn from a long ago MDS&W purchase is probably not actually cashmere.

Finish Line

I pay attention and sweat the small stuff when finishing a project. After all the care to make the knitting look nice, I don't want sloppy seams, wonky necklines, or the wrong buttons. I chose a sweater pattern made of pieces, since I wanted the structural stability that seams give, so I was careful to put all the shaping increases and decreases a stitch in from the edge.

I have a deep and abiding love for the magic of mattress stitch. If only all hand sewing were this magical and invisible.

 

I mattress seamed the bound off shoulders as well, and learned to be careful not to pull the stitches as tight as I usually do -- the size of the surrounding stitches -- because it squished the bound off edges too tightly together on the other side.

 

 It took me three tries to get the neckline right -- I was overthinking it.

 The brown buttons were just right.

I am very pleased with the finished object. And it only took me a month!

Yarn: Berroco Sox (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Lidores (discontinued), just under 2 skeins
Needles: US 1 1/2 (2.5 mm) and US 2 1/2 (3.0 mm)
Pattern: Berroco Design Team's Johnny Boy, in size 6
Mods: Like most people on Ravelry who have made this sweater, I added an extra button and hole in the neckband.