October Pinks & Purples


It's cold, damp & grey outside so this will be a colorful entry. You'd think the first day of October would at least bring a little more sunshine. I was hoping to harvest a couple more Butternut Squashes out of my mini-garden! Guess not. My old basement is cold & damp this morning - I think the landlord turned on the furnace a couple days ago but you wouldn't know it down here - mind you, I did have all the windows open until this morning . . . . I swore I was wearing shorts till the snow fell but I wimped out & put my fleece lined sweats on on Tuesday.

Then I got out the fuchsia wool sweater I finished in the spring. And I'll be wearing it until I finish the purple Kyler's Kardigan - which is about halfway down the body at the moment. It's about 4 inches longer than the pic on the left. I was concerned about running out of yarn in the main color but I found another ball so I think I'll be okay. The sleeves were done early so I wouldn't have to worry about having enough yarn to finish them - I'd rather have a deeper color block at the bottom of the body than patchwork sleeves. I was planning on giving them a garter cuff but the sleeves are actually Iong enough so they may not get a cuff at all. It's actually kind of fun working a Top-Down Sweater because you can customize it as you go without changing the sweater pattern. And, I do like the cuddly garter stitch but haven't used it much because it really sucks up the yardage!!! But, now that I've knit one of these, I may just do it again in other colors - I have a lot of Eton in bright blue. And I have 5 bags of Magenta to spin! Oh, and there's almost two sweater's worth of lavender & deep plum Luzerne from the past aging in the stash . . . .


And speaking of deep plum, I've almost finished the pink & plum Wallaby on the right, which will be going to Afghanistan. And I've already picked out the yarn for the next one! I've got some wild variegated yarn about the same weight as the yarn I've been using. Apparently the colors aren't that popular in our neck of the woods these days but I'm sure little kids will love them elsewhere!!! In the picture, I'm working toward the neck & will attach a hood. I think I have enough pink to finish the yoke but it will get a plum hood. I try to knit sweaters without buttons or toggles which can get lost. And I prefer not to have seams if possible too. I figure the recipient's family may not have the resources to fix seams or replace buttons. And I've tried to remember to include a safety pin or two - just because! Wallabies are really fun to knit - except for the two tight rows when you join the sleeves! But, I'm sure I'll work that out as I go.