New Resolutions

Here I sit comtemplating the events of the past two weeks. I lament as I ponder…..is my holiday already over? How sad! I could use more days off. My company has left. The decorations are put away. I think my favorite decorations this year was my Outside angel……

I will miss its sparkle as it announces to the world in trumpet and song that Jesus was born! It looked great both in the day time and at night.
I finally have my house back and now there is no time to do the house projects I had planned during my break. I’ve started my resolutions. I have picked up an old UFO…the Babies and Bears Sweater, as well have spent some time planning a new one….the Milly Mop Sweater for my Grandaughter.

Babies and Bears Sweater: I purchased this pattern and yarn from Alamitos Bay Yarn Company last year while on a weekend trip in Long Beach. I fell in love with the sample cardigan that I thought would be perfect for my new grandchild to be born in August 08. I was impressed with the very soft Berrocco Comfort Yarn and was surprised something this soft should be acrylic. The one thing that holds me off this sweater is that it is in pieces and needs to be grafted together in Kitchener’s stitch. Kitchener’s is something I have very little patience for. However, I finally finished the 2nd sleeve side and very patiently grafted it together. I’m working on the hood now.

The sweater is very much like Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Sweater with a mitered front. I may lengthen it a bit so that my grandson, now 4 1/2 months may use it a little longer. It seems very roomy but if he is anything like his sister, he will stay a good sized baby and outgrow it quickly.

Something new: Milly Mop Cardigan Sweater: I wanted to try to make my 2 year old granddaughter a sweater. Looking through my knitting books I found in The Ultimate Knitter’s Guide, a cute but fairly simple sweater with a lacy border for a toddler. I looked around in my stash and finally found some brushed wool/rayon on a cone laying about. I started a swatch but realized this yarn was laceweight about 18 wraps per inch. I needed a fingering weight. So I wound up some cakes and 2-plyed it on my spinning wheel. It came out wonderfully soft and shiny. The only thing about this single yarn was that it was originally spun in the right direction (clockwise), which means I had to ply it on the left direction(counter clockwise). This direction tends to become unspun or untwisted with my style of knitting, the Eastern Uncrossed Method. To compensate for this, I tried to overspin it slightly.This way it would untwist less as I knit the fabric and still leave some twist to keep it together.

Rather than make a swatch, I started with the sleeve.

I figured that if I didn’t like it or the gauge was not right, a small sleeve would not be too much to rip out. My gauge turned out to be 26 sts/inches rather than 28 sts/in as the pattern required, but I think this will be close enough. Even if the sweater turns out to be a little big it will OK for her…more room to grow into.

I know my logic of one old and one new does not improve my status in reducing my UFOs. It only keeps me at the status quo. I may have to consider revising my plan to two old projects and one new as working projects. Stayed tuned to my progress…….