Knitting Sweaters

I have been bitten by the sweater bug. I have finished 6 sweaters in 4 months. It started in August with the Garter Yoke Cardigan, then the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, on vacation in September I knitted the Neck Down Shaped Cardigan, then the Lightweight Pullover, Folded and finally the Effortless Cardigan. I knit the final cardi for Delaney as a Christmas Gift. You better love the recipient of the gifted sweater as there is some serious knitting involved with a sweater. The sweater pattern Folded was knit out of sock yarn and it seemed like I was never going to get finished. I am now getting ready to knit the Featherweight Cardigan out of Tosh Merino Light a single ply yarn. I am anxious to use this and see how it knits up. I have the colorway Molly Ringwald in PINK of course!

School Has Begun....

Where did the summer go? I failed miserably during the Tour de Fleece, and my wheel remains nameless. I was working on a sweater and managed to finish that one & begin another during the time I should have been spinning. I have been on a sweater knitting kick, and it is a blast. I have knitted three sweaters in the past couple of months. I managed to knit a complete sweater in 9 days during vacation. I am trying to find the perfect sweater fit and this requires experience. So with each sweater I learn a bit more. I am a tight knitter so I usually have to go up a sweater size due to the fact that once I get in my groove my gauge gets tighter. I also can go up a needle size as well and a good piece of advice is "swatches lie". I swatch, I get gauge, I knit and finish a big project and then said project doesn't fit. It makes me sad, really sad. I have knit three sweaters and they all fit but the first one is smaller than I would like. I ended up only putting 4 buttons on the yoke and that solved the problem. I am now planning which pattern shall become the 4th sweater.

Who knew my life would be simpler if I got up earlier. I am not gonna lie I do not like morning. I usually go to bed after midnight and sleep until the last possible minute. Which results in being sleep deprived all week long and getting less sleep on the weekends due to my work schedule. This begins the neverending cycle of trying to catch up on sleep which doesn't ever happen. All summer long I slept until probably 10 a.m. when I wasn't working, but I also stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. My plan for this school year is I am going to try and go upstairs around 9:30 p.m. and read and get up @ 6:30 a.m. I did this last night and our morning was way smoother than previous first days of school. We will see if this continues. This year I have from noon until the boys come home @ 4 p.m. almost to myself. I have Delaney coming home around 3 p.m. but she is self managing and I wouldn't necessarily have to be here. So I am excited about all of the possibilities! Cleaning, cooking, laundry, shower, errands the possibilities are endless.

Tour de Fleece

P6160002
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

The tour starts Saturday so I will be spinning everyday for a long time. I need to come up with a name for my wheel. It has been a year and I've got nothing. I will be spinning 2 lbs of superwash merino for a sweater during the Tour. That is my personal goal, I need to prep the fiber so I will just have to grab it on Saturday and start spinning. I am hoping to spin a sport/worsted weight yarn. I will need about 1100 yards of finished yarn. No pressure here....the color of the fiber is Dragonskin it is a teal and it is gorgeous. I purchased the fiber from Funky Carolina. I will try to take a picture & post here so we can see the before and the after. Wish me luck!

More Socks

P4200017
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

I knit these right before I started the ten stitch twist blanket. I loved this pattern with the twisty stitches and no cabling. The yarn is Madeline Tosh and the colorway is Gracious. They are for me and fit great. The sock pattern is from Cookie A and it is called Angee. I would encourage anyone who is new to sock knitting to try this pattern, piece of cake.

Preschool Teacher Gift

P5310057
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

This is a blanket I knit during May. I decided since it was our last year for preschool, Easton's teacher deserved a special gift. She has taught all five of my children preschool from the year 2001-2010. The span of years is nine so I made sure the blanket represented this and knit nine rings around. The pattern is called 10 stitch twist as the entire time you knit only on 10 stitches picking up a stitch as you go to attach it to the previous row. It was fun and addictive knitting. I used 12 skeins of Noro Kureyon and it was a bit tough on my hands. The blanket softened up nicely when it had a warm bath in wool wash. Mrs. Swainston loved her gift as much as I enjoyed giving it to her.

My Creative Writer

P5130054
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

I got a phone call at work from the principal of the kids school. He started the conversation "this is nothing bad"...., I wasn't thinking bad I was thinking injured. Anyway there is a kind of theatre group that takes kids creative writing submissions and turns them into skits. Delaney's was selected for the sixth grade. She is not one to jump on stage and be comfortable. I asked her what she thought when she saw myself & Rob in the audience. She said she was hoping during the entire assembly we were there for one of her brothers writings. The group called Brainstormers acted out her skit, while she sat in the director's chair with a bit of help from school mates. I enjoyed myself and the proud moment.

Playing Soccer & Found Mud

P5120047
Originally uploaded by kelly.pratt42

It has been a while since I have blogged. It always seems like there are so many end of the year school activities, parties, and sports. Needless to say it has been busy. All four boys are playing baseball & t-ball, soccer and water polo have ended. We still have piano lessons for the summer.

Easton and his brother were playing soccer in the front yard and of course there was mud to be found!