Tiny Orange Tea Birthday Sweater for A

Whoooosh! A's birthday sweater really took no time to knit. It's the Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan  and it turned out just as I wanted it to (which is fabulous because it's only my second sweater ever!)

The pattern is beautifully written, easy to follow, and the result is a really wearable sweater. I used the recommended yarn, madelinetosh tosh vintage, in coral. I was worried while the yarn was in the mail on its way here, that the colour might after all be too, well, orange. And even in the hank it appeared more orange than I had expected when I first ordered the yarn. But when I knit it up it turned less orange, and more (as it's name would suggest) coral. There are beautiful pink and pale yellowy-beige tones running through the yarn. A really feminine yarn that shows beautifully against A's dark hair. And what a pleasure it was to knit with. This yarn is so tightly wound, and yet remains springy and light. But, even though it is superwash merino (washable) I couldn't bring myself to throw it into the washing machine. So, a nice bath instead with wool wash.


Here's the kicker. Although this yarn is machine washable, it is not suggested that you dry this yarn in a machine dryer. Guess what? After the yarn got wet, it grew. Ridiculously. My 4 by 4 inch swatch grew to a monstrous 6.5 by 6.5 inch swatch. I panicked. I went on the internet. Read that many people experienced this with superwash merino. Read that I should try throwing it into the dryer for 20 minutes or so, then laying out to dry the rest of the way. It was only a gauge swatch. I had nothing to lose. Threw it into the dryer. Fetched it after 15 minutes. It looked, and felt, exactly as it had the moment I bound off. It was a 4 by 4 inch swatch again. The stitches were lined up perfectly. It was bouncy and springy.


See, I don't mind giving the sweater a bath. Really, it doesn't take long and it's not all that difficult. It's the drying part that gets to me. Especially with a sweater. Let me tell you, this sweater could take days to dry (especially in the winter). It really, really helps that I can put this into the dryer for a bit. In fact, after I saw that my swatch was fine, I let it dry all the way in the dryer. Came out perfect. Probably wouldn't do that with the sweater, but it feels good knowing that I could.


I am very happy with this sweater, and this yarn. And very happy with A's reaction to it. She loved it the moment she tried it on. Although, the scoop neckline was a little too scooped for her little shoulders. So, I added a single crochet edging to the neckline, followed by another row of single crochet, decreasing every third stitch (I used the invisible decrease.) Worked just right. It looks wonderful The neckline is still scooped, but much less so (it isn't going to fall right off of her!) And the crochet edging added stability to the neckline. It isn't so floppy and stretchy anymore. A good thing when five year old hands are buttoning and unbuttoning. 

And speaking of buttons, A picked them out herself! Much more sophisticated than I expected. Perfect buttons. Although, she did first pick out dinosaur buttons. But alas, they were too small for this project. We bought them anyway. You never know.

Quiet

It is just past midnight on a Sunday night. Late, considering I have to be up in about six hours. And late considering I will toss and turn in bed, as I always do, until I finally drift into blissful sleep. But, little A is asleep, and my husband is out playing hockey. Yes, when he plays his games are very, very late. He's been gone since 10:00, and will likely be home around 1:00 this morning. For me, it has been a very quiet, very late, night. And it's wonderful. I don't think I actually realized how much I missed this. Quiet. No crying, no talking, no questions, no television, nothing to do. Just quiet. Even the dog is taking advantage of all this stillness, and is enjoying her quiet time under the blanket. 


And me? I knitted, and then I read. And then I realized I wanted to do nothing. So, I did nothing for awhile. My mind, too, is quiet. How rare is that? So, I found myself listening to the sounds of my house. The humming of fish tank, and the furnace going off and on.  And now here I am writing about all this quiet so that when things get back to being loud (for it inevitably, and thankfully, will) I can come back and remember how much I like the quiet. And how much I need it every once in awhile. Hope you find time in your week for a little quiet, too.

Look What I Got . . .

for Valentine's Day, my birthday, and my anniversary! A big expense for something I wanted (not needed) and I feel very lucky and spoiled.

I have a perfectly fine PC laptop, but my husband and I have been talking about switching to Apple (not too seriously, I thought, until he surprised me with this!) It's different, and I am slowly adjusting to all the differences, but I LOVE it. And it's so pretty. And since my daughter's school uses this same computer, it will be great for my daughter to have this at home.

Very happy. Very lucky.

Ouch.

This morning, while getting A ready for school, I pinched a nerve in my neck. And no, I wasn't doing any heavy lifting, or some other very physical activity. I just stretched. Reached my arms up in the air and went for a nice big morning stretch, and then felt an odd pull on my neck. Uh-Oh. Two minutes later I felt my neck getting stiffer and stiffer. And now I can't move it up or down, left or right. My very happy daughter gets to stay home from school today, and her very unhappy mother is moving like a robot. A malfunctioning robot.

In the meantime, I am trying to stay mobile (as apparently it will help blood flow to the area and help with pain management - and it's working!) And I think I should knit. I'm working on baby sweaters for my cousin who is expecting twins! A boy and a girl! Love how quickly little baby sweaters knit up. And I am very, very patiently (although I've pretty much run out of it) waiting for the yarn for A's birthday sweater. I'm knitting Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan (pattern by Melissa LaBarre) and ordered 4 skeins of Madelinetosh Vintage superwash merino for it, but have yet to receive it in the mail. Apparently the yarn has been delayed at customs. Hmmmm.