Crisp and cool

I could do without the cloudy, but the chilly weather is making me really happy.  Especially because I am hoping to break this bad boy out.....

My finished Tourist Sweater

It looks like a huge project but honestly it didn't take me too terribly long to knit.  Yay for chunky yarn and big needles!  For this project I used Aslan Trends Del Cerro in natural and US size 9 needles.  I knit the size XS and it came out much longer than I had anticipated which is just fine with me!  Too often I will knit something that says tunic and it isn't tunic length at all.

I love the design of the kangaroo pocket with the buttons still running down the side.  In fact the buttons were my favorite feature of this sweater when I was deciding what to knit.  When I was all finished I didn't want just any old buttons and though wood buttons would look best against the cream/natural yarn.  On Etsy I found cute driftwood buttons and they are fantastic!

I was slightly torn on how to do the sleeves.  I love the look of the longer sleeve but I also know that I'm constantly pushing up my sleeves and getting warm and they're tricky.  But I also knew that when I try to do 3/4" sleeves they never quite turn out right.  Somehow with a weird combination of measuring and miscalculation I got it just right.  Imagine that!  :D

Overall I am very happy with how the sweater turned out and am looking forward to enjoying a fall/winter wearing it!

April Wrap up

It hasn't hit  me like a ton of bricks yet that in 19 days (O.o!) there will be no more school, it will officially be summer, it will be three months of children 24/7, it will be three months before one starts kindergarten and the other begins her foray into the education system and three months of what I hope to be some sort of calming down.  I mean summer is all about relaxing, right?  (I hear you laughing in the background :D )

I keep thinking that summer is going to be filled with nonstop activity but really...it's pretty tame in comparison to some people I know.  A few days to celebrate my cousin's wedding,Vacation Bible School, a week of camping, my SIL's wedding...not too much traveling and insanity. 

As you know last week I finished up a sweater and needed something to occupy my hands on the drive out of town Saturday.  I had one leftover skein of Knit Picks Full Circle wool that was just begging to be made into a hat.  I figured why not.  I had already used its other sad leftover half skein to make a Cabbage Patch sweater (I will put the bare bones instructions in another post).

Awhile back I had knit Tiny Owl Knits pattern Orchids and Fairy Lights.  It's a beautiful pattern and I just didn't have enough yarn to do it justice.  It worked okay, but I think I only did half the amount of repeats needed and so it is more of a beret than a beanie.

Original

New version

Looks way better, right?

So now I have no guilt about throwing myself into an intense shawl pattern :D  I also have heard from my friend about what kind of baby sweater she'd prefer and so I'll be peeking around on KnitPicks for a washable yarn since it'd be silly to give her a newborn sweater that will felt :D  Oh!  And I finally got a better picture of my last sweater.  With buttons!  :D