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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Something Accomplished!

I think life has finally slowed down. I had a great visit with my friend. We did some shopping, watched chick flicks, ate good food and had lots of time to talk. I don’t have too much going on the next month and a half, so hopefully I can get some crafting time in before Christmas. I have bought a few patterns from Wee Wonderfuls that I haven’t been able to even really look at yet. I would love to make a toy for my niece for Christmas.

Thanks for all the comments on the aprons. The short one is my favorite too. But I was tired of getting flour on my shirts when I bake, so I made the long one as well.

It has been so long since I have posted on a regular basis that my finished projects are starting to pile up. The most exciting one, to me anyway, is my first sweater!!! It is the hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

sweater

I did something either very brave, or very stupid with this sweater. I felted it. Let me explain, when I went to wet block this sweater it stretched, a lot. I about had a panic attack. I tried to squish it together, but I just didn’t have any faith that it would turn out ok. I let it dry while I thought about what I should do. I remembered that I had some sweaters that were supposed to be dried flat, but I dried them in the dryer every now and then to tighten them up. So I decided to throw the sweater that I had spent hours and hours on in the dryer. To make a long story short, it turned out ok. The sweater fits ok, I think I made a size too large, but it will allow me to wear a thin long sleeved t-shirt under it. I am always cold, so this is a good thing! The sleeves felted a little more than the body, so I had to shave them, but they look great.

I used Araucania Nature Wool, and while I love this color and the yarn was nice to work with, I wouldn’t ever use it for a large project again. When I bought the wool I realized that there were no dye lots, so I tried to match the skeins as well as I could. I was fortunate that the skeins were sort of close, but if you look closely (or not so close) you can see where I changed skeins. Overall I am very happy with it.

I have also been making stitch markers. I love the way beaded stitch markers hang and move from needle to needle, but I couldn’t see spending so much money on something I could make for so much less! These were so much fun to make and I can see making many more. Plus with each one my technique improves.


stitch markers

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:29 PM

    Your sweater looks wonderful! You brave woman giving it a little felting.
    Your stitch markers came out great! They do get easier once you make a couple.
    Karen
    http://nothingbutknit.blog-city.com/

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  2. Your sweater turned out great! I've been tempted to knit that pattern as a first sweater.
    The stitch markers look fantastic!!

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  3. Your sweater looks fantastic! It's very becoming on you - good job!

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  4. Awesome!! You did a great job. Wish I liked that style better, it would be so much fun to knit. But I am not into pullovers as much as cardigans.

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