Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Finished Sweaters- ssh, don't tell my grandkids




I'm using stash yarn for Christmas sweaters this year. Here's Evan's sweater (Gurnsey Gals- ssh, don't tell him that it's a women's design- from The Best of Knitter's Arans & Celtics). I used assorted Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. I followed the pattern pretty closely except that I couldn't get the hang of the yoke pattern on the purl side, so I did each design row twice (it elongated the zig-zag but otherwise didn't change the design). I also had to revamp the Knit and Purl divider rows so that only gold showed on the front. I like how it turned out.


This is the same sweater, done in Knit Picks Bare for my friend Kris's grandson, Connor, who is 10 months old (though the sweater is a size 2). I think the stitching shows up better with the light solid color, but otherwise, I think I like Evan's version (above) better. And yes, I'm giving hand-wash-only sweaters to children. I'm evil that way.




And this is Sophie's sweater. I fell in love with this Dale of Norway pattern (Book 152) but didn't have any babies to knit it for, or the proper yarn. So I delved into the stash and found worsted weight yarns in approximate colors (Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Cascade 220 Quatro, Patons Classic Merino) and used Size 8 needles and the smallest size from the pattern and knitted the sweater. The only real variation I made was to put 2 Ladybug borders in the sleeves, picot edging on the hems, and because the neckline looked too wide, I picked up and knit a 2nd ribbing. I love this sweater, and I think Sophie will too (it's approx a child size 8). I don't like working with 3 strands at once in Fair Isle, so I embroidered the Ladybug dots after I finished the sweater.

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