Sweater Accomplished
As I may have mentioned before I really quite like knitting for my dad. He genuinely likes knitted garments and appreciates the thought, time, and effort taken in creating said items. That being established I have had a few knitting fails over the years. One of my (many but let’s not talk about that) failings as a knitter is my lack of sweater experience. I have knit only a hand full and have a bit of trouble with sizing and seaming. It’s getting better but I’ve had to work my way to this point.
The first thing I knit for my dad on a slightly larger scale was a vest from Son of Stitch and Bitch. It was nice but a little short. The colours I chose were nice but hard to match with a shirt underneath. OK but not spectacular. Second was the Retropolitan Cardigan from the same book. I measured I considered and I knit. Many stripes and I did not carry the colours or knit it in one piece as I can so clearly now see that I should have. There were MILLIONS of ends to be woven in. I finally finished it and it was pretty good except for the arms. My very thin father has broad shoulders and thin arms. Tough to knit for. The sweater fits but the arms kind of look like flying squirrel arms. Unfortunate. He, of course, loves the sweater and wears it quite regularly. I told him it was OK to just wear that one around the house. Again, it functions as it should but lacks quite a bit in style.
This Christmas though, I figured I had it. I picked the pattern from a fantastic book: Queenland Collection Book 9. Many flattering and simple men’s patterns. Fitted, as is the style these days and with patterns I can follow. The sizing is also easy to follow and alter when necessary. I chose a nice green called Shiny Moss in Dream in Colour Classy yarn. A nice thickish yarn so not a painful project and the pattern: Dave. Everything went rather well, I knit it in 1 piece instead of three and the ribbing in the arms made the sweater a perfect fit! Dad loves it, it’s washable, and flattering. I can’t really ask for more in a sweater endeavour. Victory.
(Buttons purchased at Button Button of courses!)
Antler Mittens
This past August in Banff my cousin and I were camping out and I was never so cold in my life! As I shivered in my sleeping bag I had dreams of mittens and a scarf and a hat and some wool socks and…… I thought I would start my new cold summer night wardrobe with some warm mittens with a bit of an earthy feel to them.
That’s right, I just can’t get enough of a little stag cable. It matches my scarf and that makes me happy. One of my many New Year’s resolutions is to get out for a few more walks so I thought I would treat myself to some sumptuous mittens for the wintry air on Burnaby mountain in January and for the icy summer nights in the rockies. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes, the colour is a lovely milk chocolaty brown. The stitch definition is great in this yarn, as needed to help the cables stand out.
The mittens fit snug through the cuff with a little increase after the thumb so that your fingers have some room to wiggle around. I realize some may not appreciate a long cuff like I do, so there are instructions to make it a little shorter.
To make these mittens you will need 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas worsted hand dyes and some 5mm double pointed needles.
To purchase this pattern for $5 you can have it instantly through Ravelry here or you can purchase it though paypalhere and a copy of the pattern will be emailed to you.
