Twisting with my Mr.

I have been working on the Twist sweater for my dear Mr. It had been put aside for holiday knitting. I named it that because of the way the stitch pattern looks. The garment is based on the irregular rib raglan from Loop-d-loop by Teva Durham. That pattern is one size and the finished measurement is 46" chest which is just too big. If I eliminate one pattern repeat then it would be too small. The yarn is Blackberry Ridge Silk Blend Medium Weight in the Cobblestone colorway. I find the yarn makes a very stiff fabric that doesn't suit the pattern. So re-work it is.

Mr. was very attracted to the asymmetrical design so that is a feature I kept. I thought a herringbone stitch would be masculine but in my good but not great knitting ability I got that twist instead. (I have not worked with the stitch pattern to figure out what I am doing wrong yet mostly because I kinda like it.) The yarn is slightly smaller than the pattern is written for so I am fudging as I go. I have finished the body and about 5" of the sleeves. This is a slow knit, s l o w... ... I would love to be done. I have other things in my head that are rattling around, making so much noise I am having a hard time staying focused on this. Years ago I discovered I would rather do fun stuff and let the not fun sit for another time. This is a personality flaw I know. I am sure this is another way of saying I am a procrastinator. I am writing this instead of knitting, cleaning or doing laundry. I just like to have fun, I am a girl after all. So I am not allowing myself to stop. Well I will get back at it. Thanks for the break.

p.s. I am having camera issues so don't have new photos.

The Ts

The Ts are an affectionate way my Mr. and I refer to our boys. We have three. T1 is 13, T2 is 10 and T3 is 6. They are very smart and handsome. That is my opinion and this is my blog so consider it fact. That being said they are a handful sometimes. It seems much easier now that they no longer breast feed and are potty trained (and it has been a while for both items, by the way) I love them with all my heart. T1 is dab smack in puberty which is fun (thank the Lord I don't have girls) and will soon be taller then my Mr. and I. T2 is a mostly happy kid that loves any thing that involves a ball, rarely has homework and thinks everything is a drum. T3 is the baby, in every way likes that position in life will continue to be such.

He is the one in the picture. He wanted me to make him a sweater. He picked the yarn and the kind of pattern, it had to have cables! and had to be a cardigan. I did the Alice Starmore, Inisheer from her Fisherman Sweaters book. The yarn is a Blackberry Ridge wool, Kaleidoscope yarn in Blue Violet colorway. The pattern was hard to get started on because all 8 cable panels where a separate chart. The charts that had a pair were the same length but other wise they were all different. I ended up making a Excell spreadsheet to help me with each row all the way across. Bless Alice for her beautiful designs, I don't know that I will make another. I eliminate the center panel in the front and put in a button band. The yarn is great and knit beautifully. My biggest problem with this project was that we moved across the country, from Wisconsin to Long Island New York. I was single parenting (another entry) and getting our house ready to sell so my knitting time was limited. When I did have time to sit down I was mostly too tired to knit a pattern that required this much thought. So, a sweater that I had enough yarn for was going to be too small for the child that picked it, dang Ts grow fast. The wonderful hand dyed yarn was no longer in stock and matching was not going to happen. Time for stripping!! The green is a Cascade yarn that I found and really like how it worked. I think it looks more like a boy's sweater than the hand dyed alone. T3 loves it and that is what is most important right. I was just glad to be done.