I belong to a small knitting group and on occasion we undertake a group project. This year we decided we'd like to explore knitting ganseys. Most of us will be knitting a gansey, although we won't all be using the same pattern. I've decided to do Cape Cod by Alice Starmore. The crazy part? The suggested gauge is (drum roll, please) 8.5 stitches to the inch with sport weight yarn. Excuse me? I can't imagine anyone getting that gauge. As it is, I will be using fingering weight yarn, at a gauge of 8 stitches to the inch on (another drum roll) size 0 needles. Yes, I am a little bit looney tunes. Two things are working in my favor (well, maybe three). First of all, the pattern only comes in one size, which is too small for me. The .5 less stitches per inch should put it in exactly the right size range. Secondly, our deadline is almost a year away. Our goal is to all wear our sweaters to our Christmas party the beginning of December. And, I ordered a color I truly love. I debated whether to get something timeless and neutral, but decided if I was going to be working on this for a year, I really needed to love the color. I ordered it today - stay tuned.
Of course, this is in addition to the two adult sized sweaters I promised for hubby and son. On the plus side, I almost have the body done on hubby's sweater. I've finished the front and am up past the armholes on the back.
Son still hasn't decided on a pattern for his. I may end up having to draft something. He really wants a zip up cardigan and I haven't had any luck finding one in sport weight on Ravelry. Anyone out there have any ideas? I told him if he could at least find a picture of a style he liked, I would create the pattern. Maybe this will be an excuse to buy Sweater Wizard. I've been trying to hold off until they come out with a Mac version.
In addition to knitting away madly, I've been working on scrapbooking as well. I've started a year long class and have decided to make a book for my parents. I toyed with the idea of surprising them with it when it was done, but decided that I really need their input along the way. Here are my first two pages:
(Kit-Ever After by Kristal Hartley, Recollection by Joanne Brisebois, Boys and Toys by Linda Sattgast, Scrap It Now Clusters and Scrap It Now Template by Digital Scrapper.com Font - American Typewriter)
And of course, the granddaughters always give me good scrapbooking opportunities:
Kit - Thankfully by Krystal Hartley, ScrapItNow Templates, fonts Beautiful ES and Cambria.
Kit - Under the Pier by Kellie Mize, Pennant tutorial by Susie Roberts, ScrapItNow Templates, font Calisto MT.
Isobel was SO excited to get that tooth out! And, since the picture was taken, she has lost the other upper tooth. She's really starting to lose that little girl look and is becoming a big girl way, way too fast!
Wow a sweater on size 0s is quite an undertaking. Good luck to you.
Posted by: Kristyn | January 11, 2012 at 02:16 PM
Size zero, eh? Yikes! That should be a challenge, but then you're up to it! You finished that Advent Scarf while I'm thinking it's headed to year #3! Say, what size doll were you sewing clothes for? Was it the twin with hair? PS Loved the GK photos!
Posted by: Judy | January 11, 2012 at 08:50 PM
Love your scrapbook pages. I started to play with scrapbooking, but got side-tracked somewhere along the way. There's a box of very cool stuff tucked away in my sewing room somewhere...
I don't think a sweater on size 0's is that crazy, but then that may be because I'm crazy, too. 8)
Posted by: gayle | January 13, 2012 at 06:18 AM
A Starmore sweater at 8 st/inch sounds like fun to me! Looking forward to seeing what yarn you selected.
Yes our grandbabies are people now. Sydney will be taller than I am soon. Guess she inherited the tall gene instead of the short gene.
Posted by: Marguerite | January 13, 2012 at 09:18 AM
You'll be done with hubby's sweater in no time! Cape Cod is gorgeous, but I'm pretty sure I don't have the fortitude for it.
I love Sweater Wizard, even just for tinkering with other patterns. I haven't heard anything about the Mac version for awhile, hopefully it will be soon. John has Parallels and Windows installed on his Mac, so I can have it on there.
Posted by: Lorette | January 14, 2012 at 03:23 PM
OK, you're crazy! I don't think I'd have the patience to make a sweater on size ones, but know that your Cape Cod will be worth it. And the men's sweaters will fly by in comparison.
Your parents are going to love the scrapbook.
Posted by: Kristen | January 15, 2012 at 04:32 AM
I'm sure that Cape Cod will be lovely when it is done. I have done sweaters on sizes 0 and 1 (and I have questioned my sanity), but I've been really happy with the results.
When DH asked me for a sweater that seemed different from anything I've ever seen, I took bits and pieces from other sweaters, as well as techniques from my knitting library. It was a challenge that I enjoyed. It is sometimes surprising that a sweater that seems so "ordinary" (in my case it was a cabled cardigan with a shawl collar) is so hard to find as a pattern.
Posted by: marjorie | January 18, 2012 at 07:11 AM