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(I can and do button all the buttons, it was just a little warm that day.)
Pattern: owls by Kate Davies, size small
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool in coffee, about a skein and a half (ish)
Needles: 6.5 mm Knit Picks Options circular and plastic 6 mm dpns, Susan Bates or somesuch.
Modifications: Made it a cardigan. Probably increased length. Moved the waist shaping to the sides.
So I definitely love this sweater. It’s warm and cozy and PERFECT for fall weather when the temperature drops to 50 degrees. Plus, it’s super cute. I used a total of 13 smallish plastic tortoise-shell buttons, none of which match because honestly, who the hell has 13 matching buttons in their button stash? I’ll probably leave the owls without button eyes, though I do have some little silver beads that I might sew onto a couple of them.
And as for the yarn: I am a fan. It’s super economical (I paid like $15 for 476 yards of bulky weight goodness) and softens considerably after a bath. I noticed a little bit of growing, but I was actually quite pleased with that because my first sleeve was started too small and I wanted to add a little length. It came out to the perfect length, actually, and I’m super pleased. The yarn is a little pilly, but I suspect that’s because I do dumb things like lean my elbows on rough concrete and whatnot. And in any case, a quite run with a sweater shaver (which I need to procure…) will fix that right up.
All in all, this is a great sweater and I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. Especially since I’ve been wearing it as my outer layer since I sewed on the buttons. Very cozy.
I love mittens. I love making them and having them and wearing them… They can be simple, with a really nice yarn or with a really simple yarn and complex pattern. Fingerless or convertible, red or blue or green or yellow… I love them all. A mitten is the ultimate in small, portable projects. They can be made with almost any weight of yarn and they only take a couple of hours, unlike socks, which have (generally) small gauge and take a fair amount of time. I love mittens. In the last couple of days, I’ve made a couple of pairs:
(Red Fingerless mitts made with Caron Simply Soft Tweed and a bit of wool from a thrift store sweater to work on stranding for my friend Dalia who requested them.)
(Grey Vanna’s Choice and a couple of yards of black Caron Simply Soft for a commission knit. : ) Was paid for these ones, which is lovely. Got to feed the stash somehow.)
And my favorite of my recently completed mittens:
Owls! Or more specifically, Give a Hoot. I modified the pattern a bit, essentially just using my basic mitten pattern and putting the owl cable bit on the back of them. I also made the purl bits around the owl smaller–a selvage of two rows and stitches instead of four. They’re a little bit snug/short, but that’s not really enough to deter me.
Also, the eyes on these are little silver beads–actual silver. I have a bunch of these little beads and am not entirely sure what to do with them all. Maybe I’ll turn some of them into stitch markers. : )
Currently on the needles, I have the second sleeve of a sweater I’ve recently started. It’s the cabled cardigan from the Fall 2006 issue of Knit Simple, which I bought offline several weeks ago. The Ravelry page for the cardigan is here. I’m using Burgundy Vanna’s Choice and doing the sleeves in the round and the body as one piece to cut down on seaming, which I hate. I’m also working on/starting the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat (Rav link) because A, I love hats for the same reasons I love mittens and B, I want to work on colorwork. I’ve recently done Entrelac (just practice) and I can do cables and lace. It seems colorwork is my next big knitting adventure. : )
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 