One Sleeve To Go . . .

Finished one sleeve--yay!  And there WILL be enough yarn to finish the other sleeve and to trim out the button bands with a little blue--I'm so pleased!!

One Completed Sleeve

I used the designer's suggested measurements for elbow-length sleeves (approx 8" including the ribbing).  The sleeve should have stopped just before my elbow, but I'm on the short side, so the sleeve falls just past my elbows (which is good since my elbows aren't very pretty--are
elbows ever pretty?).

Sleeve Detail

With a week and a half to go before the end of August, I just may finish this cardigan in time for my self-imposed deadline (of course I've been off this week, so I had extra knitting time.  This pesky thing called work might hinder any quick progress).  When I'm finished, I should definitely consider projects that are small, small and smaller. ;)

Historical Adventures

Main Street at Sherbrooke Village

So we took a trip to a pioneer village and had a blast.  The boys enjoy history--as do I and dear hubby.  Let me tell you that there's nothing so peaceful as a rural setting with lovely artifacts and antiques . . . very, very nice.  And of course, it's neat to watch artisans at work: woodworking, blacksmith, weavers and spinners . . . ah, it all makes the crafter's heart go a quiver.

Sitting Atop an Old Bicycle

We even came home with a book of old-fashioned recipes, a handcrafted wooden tasting spoon and a spinning toy.

Momentoes From Our Excursion

Funny story: my son lost his sunglasses in one of the old buildings.  We retraced our steps, but couldn't find them.  Our little tour ended up at the gift shop.  Wandering about upstairs amongst the quilts and hand-knit sweaters, guess what we found?  The lost sunglasses!  There they were on top of some lovely scarves.  How did they get there?  Talk about a weird mystery . . .

None, Nada, Zero, Zilch

That's how much I worked on my lovely Blue Sprout.  To be fair, there has been knitting, mostly on my "secret" Bernat project.  You'll have to follow that progress on the Bernat Blog (and I have recently finished a cute little something for my nephew--part of his Christmas package).  Hopefully I'll get to my Sprout this week.  The sleeves shouldn't take too long . . . right? 

Lots of plans for this week: it's my second vacation week--woot, woot!  There shall be day trips to historical places and jaunts to the local beaches.  And yes, there shall be knitting . . .

Comfy Chair and Chilled Wine . . . Ahhhhh

Life is good. :)

The Perfect Fit?

I'm thinking yes and YES!  To what am I referring?  My Blue Sprout, of course.

When I finally bound off the last stitch on the body, I tried on my Sprout for the first time (I know I'm supposed to try it on as I'm knitting, but time was of the essence).  One thing that surprised me was the great fit.  What do you think?

Trying on Blue Sprout

I am lovin' it!  I gotta confess that whilst I knit the thing, I thought for certain it was gonna be too big (should have chosen 42", but my gauge was off--smaller than intended at 20st over 4" instead of 18st over 4"--so I gambled with 44" chest.  Suffice to say that my gamble paid off).

Being a bigger gal, I debated about waist shaping, especially since I'm a belly-and-butt girl.  Trust me when I say I need all the "space" I can get in the waist and hips.  To my happy surprise, the waist shaping proved to be useful in carving out an hour-glass shape where very little hour-glass exists.

Casual Blue with a Spot of Red

Onward to the sleeves . . . .Sadly I have only one ball of blue left (and can't find this stuff locally anymore).  So the sleeves are gonna be short.  Estimated length?  Unknown at this point.  I'll have to "wing it". 

My other concern is the button band: red and more red.  I suspect after the sleeves are done, there will be no blue.  Hmmm, will that look okay?  Hope so.  My gambles have paid off thus far.

The Sprout Grows (And Other Sweater Tales)

Yes, it grows a little bit at a time.  I'm now working the waist shaping.  Let's hope I can plow through this quickly.

My first-ever sweater took me over 10 years (granted there were years when I didn't even touch the thing as it sat hibernating at the back of a closet).  Have I ever shared this?  It's from the book Big Knits (I remember Dawn French was one of the authors.  I think it is now out of print).  I must confess that I'm none too pleased with the terrible seaming job, but I got her done.

First-Ever Adult Sweater

When I made my Short-Sleeved Ribbed Cardi from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits (which is neither ribbed nor short-sleeved), a year became the new benchmark.  I know I shared the trials and tribulations possibly here  and definitely here.

Long-Sleeved Cardi Sans Ribbing

Let 2010 be the year of speed!  A year is no longer the benchmark.  In January I started a project for Bernat (called the Swingy A-Line Cardigan) and finished that in two months.  It's gotten loads of compliments and is one of my favorite sweater coats to wear on a cool morning.

A-Line Swingy Cardigan for Bernat

My second adult sweater for Bernat ( called the Fair Isle Cardigan) also took about two months (sadly that item is awaiting buttons--maybe some nice black toggle buttons would work well). 

Fair Isle Cardigan for Bernat

So if the past year is any indication, I've gotten much, much faster at making sweaters for myself. **does happy dance**  Of course, working on a deadline imposed by someone other than myself is a great motivator. 

The Blue Sprout has until the end of August  to reach completion. . .  ;)

Summer and Vacation

Sailboat Near the Shore

Vacation time should be filled with sunny days, cool breezes, shady trees and salt water beaches . . .

Strolling on a Sandy Beach

Days off should be filled with beach days, picnic lunches and road trips to city museums (and maybe a comic book store too).  And even if the rain should fall, there's popcorn, funny movies and board games to pass the time. 

'Nuff said ;)

Fungi Friends

New Fungi Friends

So my boys finally have some new playmates: meet Toad and his brother Toad (if you've ever played Super Mario, you'll notice that sometimes there are numerous Toad-like characters in various colours.  That was the inspiration for my different coloured fungi)

Toad and Toad

They were "quick" projects in that the pieces were small and easy to make.  Perhaps I could have finished these sooner had I not dreaded the "finishing" process--darning in the ends, sewing the pieces together and embroidering the face. 

All Felt Eyes on Blue Toad

I must confess that the most "fiddly" part of the whole process was working the face.  I must have re-done the mouth  5 or 6 times before getting it right (I recommend black sock yarn to make the mouth.  DK/Sport is still too thick and embroidery floss was too thin).  The eyes, too, were a challenge (I recommend embroidering the white highlight). 

Embroidered White on Black for Red Toad

Still, not bad for my first crocheted toys.  I do plan to eventually make Mario and Luigi.  I even found a cute Yoshi pattern too--but that is for the future.  Next up . . . .

Hmmmm, let me ponder that one for a bit. ;)