Like Buttah

River Forest Gansey
Originally uploaded by littlekidd

This yarn is positively dreamy. It's Artesenal by Aslan Trends and I bought it before I left Portland at The Naked Sheep.

Where I live in northwestern Wyoming, folks seem to love bulky weight wool and alpaca. I'm sure I'll be among the converted after I've lived through an entire winter here, but for now I still like my cotton and silk.

This Artesenal is a fair compromise: Mostly cotton with a fair dose of alpaca and a hint of mystery synthetics. What is "Polyamide" anyway? I feel like someone tried to teach me in 11th grade chemistry, and the knowledge never fully permiated my teen-age, teflon brain.

This is the back of a sweater I'm making for my son, Zack. He's only six so this little project zips along. It's from the beautiful book Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. I finally broke down and bought a copy and there are SO many things I want to make.

This project is sized for kids and adults, and I happen to have another 10 skeins of Artesenal in a gorgeous rusty color. Hmm.. Zack's dad may get one of these, too.

One down...

The Fat Lady is Warming Up
Originally uploaded by littlekidd

I will finish this today. I have a few ends to weave, and buttons to sew on. And with no time to waste. Yes, that is snow on the trees outside. We had six inches over the weekend. This sweater feels pretty good.

I'm happy with the way it fits, considering it's my first try at really altering a pattern to fit MY body. The original pattern is called "Erica" by Elsbeth Lavold. It's one of those little crop sweaters that look darling on petite women. On me, they look a bit like a costume from the Robin Hood Enchanted Forest Theme Park.

I liked everything else about this pattern, though. So I knit a swatch to find the gauge I wanted, and just jiggered the stitch counts to make it fit. The arms are a little bunchy in front and the neck is a little pouffy in back. (Pouffy is a technical term.) But I can live with it. I find the back of the neck to be the hardest place to fit. Anybody have any sweater-fitting reference books they like?