needles & vectors

First, a big thank you to Beth for giving both the yarn and book the pattern came from as repayment for making her the blue nanner socks a few months back. It was really, really unnecessary. As in, I will continue to make you socks but you had better not give me anything in return. Got it, Beth?

Second, a small thank you (also to Beth) for being my foot model.

Alison is my husband’s cousin and, like me, always seems to be cold. When she comes over to our house, she almost instantly grabs the fuzzy blanket permanently on the back of our couch and snuggles up in it. (Okay, so sitting on the couch means you’re right in the line of the AC and in the winter the living room isn’t what I’d call toasty.) She’s one of our closest relatives and one of my favorite people in the world – and thus very deserving of hand-knits.

The first of what will likely be many items I’ll knit for her is this pair of socks – found in the book and made with the yarn Beth gave me as a thank you for making her the blue Nanner socks. The sport weight meant the knitting went super quickly, despite my putting them aside for a month when another project distracted me. I liked making these so much I think I’m going to shift towards making mostly sport weight socks in the future (when I can find more yummy sport weight like this).

(Alison likes to joke that my mission is life is to clothe the entire Bontrager family. I see nothing wrong with this. They already knew I was weird before Matt and I got married and, hey, most of them live in cold places!)

Project Ratings
Yarn/Pattern Combination: 10
Execution: 10
Pattern – Overall: 10
- Instructions: I only followed the ones for the guesset which get a 10.
- Finishing: N/A
- Stitch pattern(s): 7
- Interestingness: 4 (super easy lace makes me sleepy)
- Desire to remake: 10

Ravelry project page located here

This was the sweater I actually made after all of the late-May “what sweater should I make” insanity. I decided that I could take the time and brainpower to change the sweater for my gauge and non-32” bust size. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. All the details on how I altered it are on the project’s Ravelry page which I can’t promise are 100% correct but it’s all I’ve got.

The yarn was part of my haul from Maryland Sheep and Wool. It’s super soft (and superwash) wool from Shelridge Farms up in the Canadian countryside. Okay, they may be from a big city but my mind always thinks of Canada as a beautiful country town. I grabbed four skeins but only used three (660 yards). Of course, I am *really* short-waisted and only did short sleeves so take my yardage with a gain of salt. A Mini Cooper-sized grain of salt.

I feel the need to note that it doesn’t fit quite as well as it may appear in the photos. It’s a tad short and a bit too billowy at the hem. Though, really, I did pretty well for having to do some math.

Yarn/Pattern Combination: 10
Pattern Directions: I sort of tossed them out the window because of using Worsted vs Bulky and not having a size 32″ bust. Overall, though, the directions were quite clear and I’d give them a 10 if I’d actually used them. Designer gets a heartfelt thanks for a free pattern but a tiny sad face for only providing one size.

From the front

From the back

From the side