FO-Lace Leaf Pullover

Ha ha. You thought I was done with this one, but I wanted to have a final FO post so I can let it rest.


Pattern: as if anyone has any doubt, Leaf Lace/Lace Leaf Pullover (I can never remember which way its "official" name goes)from Loop-d-Loop. I used the directions in the book not Interweave Knits, which also ran the pattern.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky
Needles: US 11 circulars



Notes: The pattern was well written--I have no beef with any of the directions. I loved this sweater as soon as I saw it, and bought the Debbie Bliss yarn soon afterward to make it, but then the yarn sat in my stash for years until I finally decided to knit it up this spring. All the various pieces went very quickly because of the bulky yarn and were interesting to make. I think the yarn contributed a lot to that. It was such a great yarn to use--very sproingy and soft. It also has this sheen to it, I think. I love it, and was sad to see that it was discontinued. I just found out that Seaport Yarns has a lot of it on clearance now, because they had just put in a big order before it was discontinued, so I may have to buy some of it up for later projects. I did like it that much.

My problem with this sweater was of course the Kitchener nightmare across the middle, which you can clearly see in the first picture. Luckily, everything else is so great--the fit, the details, etc. that I consider the sweater still a success, and plan to wear it a lot in the fall and winter this year. I'm glad I persevered, because I think it was a great lesson in Kitchenering, and fixing problems in your sweaters, and I do feel like I got better at it the THIRD TIME I tried it. And this is really my first well-fitting sweater so I love it for that alone.

Really, the details are the best part:


That button is from my grandma's button box. I decided to go with the pearly button rather than a wooden one because I love how it lightens up the color of the sweater a bit. Plus, it's fancy!

Anyway, thanks to Spanky for taking all the dorky pictures of me, even though it was hot. Now I can put it away for the fall. YAY!!

Also, I finally started Spanky's wedding sweater. It is knit out of Cascade 220, and is going to be plain, plain, plain, which is what she likes. I'm using The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and the Mason-Dixon Perfect Sweater pattern to create a very plain, crew neck pullover, with a little intarsia something on the front bottom corner, as yet to be determined. I'm going to start with the back and the sleeves, so I will have some time to play around with swatching the picture for a while before I have to decide which one to use. I'm excited to finally be starting on it.

I'm also swatching for a new pair of socks:


This is Aussi Sock sock yarn that I got at Seaport Yarns when I went to get tickets for Stitch & Pitch. I can't wait to go see the Mets play Atlanta, since I've never been to a NYC baseball game, and it will be fun to go with other knitters. The tickets were pretty cheap too. Anyway, the woman who runs that store is very solicitous, and I felt like I couldn't leave without buying something. She talked me into trying the Aussi sock because it was new and handpainted and very reasonably priced for 400 yds. I was going to buy Louet Gems, but since I already have some of that, I decided to try this one. I think it is thinner, but it is still really soft, and I love the bright red color. This will be my first pair of lace socks, so I'm going to take it slowly and see how it goes.

Im still working on the log cabin as well, but I think most of my time is going to be taken up with Spanky's sweater.