Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Plum Purple

Over the long weekend I picked up some bulky yarn to knit Wenlan Chia's Nimbus Sweater.  It's been in my queue for awhile but the funnel neck always caught me as...a little weird.  That aside I thought it could work out for me or I could always change it to something different.

I picked up Cascade Lana Grande yarn in a dark plum color that is simply beautiful.  (And no my purple loving daughter was not with us; I even opted for it over a pretty green!)  It calls for 4 hanks and I used 2 hanks and maybe 1/4th of the third.  I followed the pattern exactly for size small and the only place where I deviated was the neck.  I was still not sold on the neck and knit it half as 'tall'.  This is where it gets interesting.  Because it's knit only half as tall, it holds its shape and doesn't flop over.



I like the neck a lot better this way.  It isn't fussy, it just is.  I know a lot of people who knit this sweater don't like the holes on the side, but that's honestly my favorite part.  They feel like bubbles traveling up the side.

Since I didn't use all 4 hanks of yarn I found a small project to use with a leftover one.  I love scarves but have a hard time knitting them because it feels like it takes forever.  With bulky yarn and ginormous needles however, this cowl didn't take that long.  I used the pattern Marian from Ravelry and Lana Grande again.






I think it's funny how this pattern calls for you to twist the first stitch so you get the inside out twisty look to it.  This is actually how I began to knit one of my first sweaters many years ago and I couldn't understand how to fix it until much later when I realized I'd have to rip everything out to fix it.  You don't just fix twisted stitches :D

Along with my knitting escapades I made a pumpkin wreath for our front door.




When my husband suggested 4 yards of orange tulle I thought he was crazy!  Turns out 4 yards was about spot on for this amount of fluffiness.  :)

With the pumpkins my husband picked from our tree I made apple muffins last week and tried a new recipe yesterday.  Apple peanut butter cookies!  I think they're tasty as all get out.  My husband gave it a thumbs up but not his favorite cookie.  My piano student said that they're awesome.  :D

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