Gramps: One Sleeve + Body Done

Sizing has been tricky...I want to make the sleeves and body long enough to allow some growth, but not so long that it looks like a tunic or girls' sweater.  The first time I tried it on him I thought the sleeves might be a little too narrow (maybe I should do less decreases so they stay wider?) but looking at it again I think they are ok.  I want to finish this pronto so he can wear it before summer!  It is so hard to make a sweater for a growing kid before he grows out of it!

Gramps

I'm working on a sweater for Drew now.  I had been wanting to make him a sweater for awhile but just couldn't find a top down pattern that I liked.  My friend Wendy let me know that a designer was giving away 1 free pattern on Ravelry as a New Year gift.  I browsed through her patterns and found one that I had favorited a couple months ago: tincanknits "Gramps!"  It is super cute.  I even saw several very similar sweaters on Gap online the other day!

Anyways, here is my sweater in progress:

The yarn I'm using is Manos Rittenhouse merino 5 ply yarn.  I got 4 skeins of it on sale at fibrespace and wow--is it soft!!  It feels so nice.  I think it is going to be really cozy.  So far the sweater seems like it is going to fit Drew well.  He has let me hold it up to him a few times ;-) and the shoulders fit nicely.  I need to increase the length (no surprise there) before beginning the ribbed edge.  

We were at G Street Fabrics yesterday and I tried to pick some buttons for Drew's "fweater" as he calls it but I didn't really know what look I want to go for yet.  The buttons can really make or break a sweater so I need to browse the project pages a bit before deciding.

Baby Girl Cardigan

In December I started knitting a cardigan for our dear friends, Catherine and Tony, who are expecting their second child (a girl!) this month.  I had favorited the "Maile Sweater" on Ravelry awhile ago although I knew it was too feminine to make for Drew.  I was so happy to have someone to make this sweater for!  

I had read some comments on other people's Ravelry project pages that the sleeves were really difficult to attach to the sweater.  I saw some tips that suggested using DPNS instead of one long circular needle and that is what I did!  When it came time to join the sleeves, I used all 5 DPNS in size 4, as well as 2 circular needles that I had in the same size.  Whenever the stitches got too stretched or difficult to knit, I just picked up a new needle.  I knit that way for about 6-7 rows and then put them all back on the long circular needle.  It wasn't bad at all!

I LOVE the way this sweater turned out.  It is so delicate and feminine.  This was a hard one to give away!  I will have to make it again someday.  ;-)

I went back to G Street Fabrics for the buttons and once again, the women working there helped me find the perfect buttons!  I love how these buttons have a two tone color, much like the variegated yarn.  They look like little tuxedo buttons.  The yarn I used is called "Cephalopod Bugga."

I had some yarn left over so I made a matching hat. I knit a one inch garter stitch edge and then knit plain.  There were a few Ravelry project pages that included a matching hat with a lace border that mimicked the bottom of the sweater but I decided to keep mine simple so as not to detract from the sweater.

Winter Babies

I am behind on posting on my knitting blog!  I've made a few new things in the past two months.  First I made two baby hats for friends that had babies born in November and December.  Both new moms were colleagues of mine at my old school.  I was so excited to hear that they were expecting and had fun knitting these tiny hats.