Husband's Sweater- Day 2/Skein 2

Despite having an off day, (neck problems and the headache that usually accompanies...) I somehow managed to finish off the 2nd of my 11 skeins today. It didn't take too loong for me to realize the one drawback to my 'in the round modification'- that would be how heavy this sweater is quickly getting to be. Think of the warmth, think of the warmth, think of the happy husband...

I haven't pulled out a tape measure yet, but it seems I must be about halfway to the armholes, where I will divide and work the front and back seperately. Pretty good progress for a couple of days' worth of 'spare time', if I may say so myself. I've got a lot of other work to get to, real quick-like, tomorrow, so I don't know if I can pull off another entire skein, but then comes Saturday. Saturdays can be real hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes things are so mellow and I can sit and knit all day while supervising kids from the couch, and sometimes there are errands to run, groceries to get, meals to prep, lessons to plan, way too many clothes to wash... and, well, on those days little to no knitting gets done...

In other knitting news, I've been swatching with some bulky for a baby/toddler coat design and I got to playing with funky fringe stitches, and decided my daughter needed a little hat, something like this, and maybe a yet-to-be-knit scarf to go with it...

The tiniest one wasn't too thrilled to have that sitting on her head, but she's gonna have to get used to having something on her head as we are definitely into 'the cold time' here in Minnesota. That, or we could just not leave the house until next April...

Not leaving the house would save us a bit of exposure to some of the nasty bugs that have begun creeping around town. We have been battling colds for 2 solid months here with my littles and I am thinking it's time to get them all drinking some yummy green goodness... I'm hoping that, and some daily smoothies with the results from our adventures with kefir, will boost all of the immune systems around here!

I know this won't help boost any immune systems (quite the opposite...) but, being the cola addict that I am at times (been doing much better at that lately) I had to pick up one of these at a recent run to a local coffee shop. I love to find new pops (sodas, for you non-Minnesotans, and/or anyone who doesn't call a pop a pop) and this one, with it's green tea, peaked my interest.

I still had my morning latte (w/amaretto,) and grabbed one of these to savor later. They call it "Happiness in a bottle", and, well, it was pretty tasty. Cane sugar (vs. high fructose corn syrup) makes a much better pop, seriously, there's a great taste difference. With the 'pick-me-up' from a nice cold bottle of pop, a girl can sit up and knit quite a few more rows!

Well, time to plan for my tomorrow...

Happy knitting-

ali

Competing Centerpieces

I have a new challenge- I'm planning on turning this-

into this-

And my husband would like it done in short order. You see, it's already cold up here... and he's been waiting for this sweater to be knit ever since he first tried on the sample made for the photo shoot. Yep, the very one the model is wearing... and it fit him like a dream. Oooh, the feel of this sweater in the hand... Blue Sky's Worsted is just such a comfy yarn for a nice warm sweater. I believe he said something like, "You're gonna knit me one of these, right?" Right after asking something to the effect of, "Do we really have to give this one back?"

Now, if I was really thinking, this project would've made the list of my summer knitting goals... but with the way my summer ended up shaking out it may have ended up being one more goal unmet, leaving me exactly where I am right now- the end of November in Minnesota with a cold sweaterless husband who said something about burning the midnight oil for a few nights so I could get this done ASAP.

I don't know if husband-sweater-completion really merits any all night knitting sessions (I don't know if I have it in me this season) but crazier things have happened... At least this project uses a worsted weight! I did manage to cast on and get through the first of the 11 skeins this job will take. If I did a skein a day, I could finish in 10 more days, but that seems rather ambitious, consideringthe 6 little people I tend to each day and the time that seems to eat up(homeschooling them, supervising piano and violin practice, not to mention feeding & clothing them...) Maybe I'll shoot for 2 weeks...

I've made the slight modification of doing the body in the round, saving me 2 side seams as well as that inevitable time gap between sweater back completion and sweater front casting on. I have been known to do crazy things in that time gap- things like starting hats, scarves, mittens, baby sweaters, good books, get the urge to sew... anything to distract myself from that next step, that step that feels like starting over, right back at the beginning, especially when the pattern says "work as for back until piece measures..." (See what I mean? It's exactly like starting over...) I'll take any excuse for a mental block... can we say double-A, double-D? (He, he, that's the way my sister always says it...) Adult Attention Deficit Disorder... I'm an adult with a deficient attention span, and I guess that means I have a disorder. Probably nothing a cup of coffee couldn't help with...

Anyhoo, here's a pic of Day 1 progress-

Watch for more Men's Ribbed Sweater progress and other knitterly happenings soon, like, maybe tomorrow, and the next day, and the next... maybe...

Happy knitting,

ali