mrs darcy cardigan

It fits! And it's really warm! I almost melted while J was taking the pictures, and it wasn't really that hot out.

pattern: Mrs Darcy Cardigan by Mary Weaver

yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca, a little less than three skeins

needles: size 9 Addis

mods: I knit the sleeves in the round instead of flat, but that's about it.

I'm quite happy with the project and looking forward to wearing it this winter. I'm especially fond of the pretty blue buttons that the guy at EJ Yarns let me have free on their next-to-last day (so nice - I feel kinda bad I don't know his name . . .). I was originally going to use wooden buttons, but I like the little bit of color. I've been told I wear too much brown (and of course, three little blue buttons completely balance an entirely brown sweater).

So now the Christmas projects have started in earnest. To be truthful, they had started already, because it really bothered me to have only one project on my needles. Here's the current lineup:

Another Baby Surprise Jacket, this one for Baby Sister. What else is there to say about this project? It's entertaining, and the yarn (Baruffa Maratona merino) is extra springy. I keep feeling compelled to squeeze the thing. I can't see this compulsion going away once there is a cute baby in the sweater.

Next, Roza's socks. These will be the ones for my mom. I've gotten next to nothing done on them, pretty much just cast on the first sock. I think I just felt a deep need to have a sock project going - addiction isn't pretty, kids.

And lastly (yes, there's more), the hemlock ring blanket. I wasn't intending to make my stepmother a blanket, but I wanted to work on this as soon as I saw it. Let us just say I am now quite enamored of knitting lace with big yarn and needles. And when I say big, I mean big. I'm using Blizzard, which is a super bulky alpaca blend, and size 15 needles. This yarn is so big and so loosely spun it's like knitting with roving. Hurts my hands after a little while, but I think the end result will be pretty and soft - just what you'd want in a blanket.

It looks like a lot of knitting when I put it all together like that, and I'm wondering when exactly I sat down and did all this knitting. I think at this point I just kind of pick up the needles on autopilot when the kids are all in bed and the house is something approximating clean. Hey - maybe that means I won't be frantically finishing things the last week of December! Yay!