one for mom and then one for me



Jess sweater from Debbie Bliss' Cotton Angora book
in DB Cotton Angora

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Remember ol' jess, which I knit for my mother but she didn't end up liking the fit of? At the beginning of my pregnancy, I was looking forward to wearing it as a maternity sweater and now it's just perfect!

I wear it all the time. I have a couple of other sweaters that are still big enough for me to fit into (all store-bought sweaters from the big sweater era of the 90's!) but this is the only sweater that doesn't make me feel all bulky and big and blechy. The shape is more like a shawl than a some tent-like sweater and the cotton angora is light but still cozy warm.

I'm so glad that jess finally found her calling!

Time for a belly shot, don't you think?

Fourteen weeks along and I've definitely got a baby belly. I've been going through the closet seeing what's wearable and what's not. And you know what's wearable? My Rosebud sweater, which, if you recall, was inspired by a maternity top I had when I was pregnant with the boys.

Poor Rosebud never got any wear. After I knit it and wore it the first time, I felt like I must have knit one sleeve a smidge longer than the other. I had always planned to cut one of the sleeves, take out a few rows, and graft it back together, but it never happened. But now, I'm thinking, who cares?! It's got just enough extra room for my early second trimester belly, so I'm wearing it!

And when I outgrow Rosebud, the Jess sweater I knit for my mom (which she gave back to me because she didn't like the fit of it) will be perfect, don't you think?!

Look what came home with me from mom's.

jess is back

It's my mom's jess! She never wore it - just didn't end up fitting the way she wanted. It seemed such a shame for it to just be sitting under her bed, so I asked if I couldn't maybe have it back. I had wanted to make another one for myself and remembered how much I liked the one I made for her. Now that it's back, I'm remembering how I wanted to make mine shorter.

jess is long

And how I would have changed the armholes and neckline a bit, so it's not quite so wide.

jess is big

What to do? Should this be my first candidate for the upcoming new year's rip-along (can you even frog this angora stuff?)?? Or is it still kinda cool and comfy just like it is? Anybody?

Jess is a beautiful design. It's stylish and still classic (I can see myself wearing a sweater like this long after I've had to retire all my cropped and bell-sleeved sweaters from the last few seasons!). And the cotton angora yarn was wonderful to work with (although the fluff up my nose was a little annoying). But I'm a little worried about how it will wear. I've heard tales of pilling and shedding and when I wetted it for blocking, I ended up with little green fuzz bunnies on my hands. Hmmmm....

Wear may not end up being a serious issue though since mom's not sure how much she'll actually put in on. You see, she's a little concerned that it isn't very flattering on her. I think it's a great shape for us gals with a little more downstairs than up (if you know what I mean): the curved edges of the front panels break up the horizontal line of wider hips and the oversized, open collar and deep raglan sleeves help broaden the torso so it balances out the bottom. Still mom's not convinced. She's keeping the sweater however. She has a few things that I've knit for her that she won't wear (like this hat and mitten set), but she won't give them up either. I have conflicting feelings about this. You kinda knit things so they can be worn and it's a shame that no one is wearing them. But then again, I know that she loves keeping them because they are beautiful and I made them for her. Oh well, I still enjoy knitting for her (there have been some big successes like the nyc shrug that I made this summer) and will keep searching for that perfect pattern.

Anyway, mom agrees that jess is the coziest thing ever. I liked trying hers on so much that I'm planning to start a jess for me with some DB Cashmerino Aran that I received as a Christmas gift last year as my first project in the new year.

A few of my favorite things that Santa brought this Christmas.

A beautiful bag to hold my knitting, the Knitter's Pattern-a-Day calendar from olympic knitting champ Leslie (okay, who didn't get this one this year?!), Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, two beautiful balls of Plassard Louinie (thanks Becky!), and the Clay Aiken Christmas CD. (Did I just admit that I liked Clay Aiken? This is why you won't be seeing a "100 things about me" list here!). And I almost forgot this little guy from Shannon.

And the knit-gifts given were received well. The aunties reportedly liked their socks very much. The hat and scarf for my mom were a big hit. Mom loved jess too, but since she's not completely sure about the fit, you get me modelling her.

Hooray for Christmas!

Weasley two is in the bag and the elves can hardly believe it themselves, but something for mom is blocking right now. (Mom, no reading the comments, if you know what's good for you!)

And they even finished that orange hat for me.

Get out!

Thanks to Santa hubby, who took the boys to a giant indoor playspace this weekend (here they are running past the "do not run" sign!), the elves got lots more holiday knitting done.

First another pair of Morehouse Merino bear paws mitts, these for a little friend of the boys.

And then a finished pressie for mom. Mom, STOP reading now please.

everyone but mom, click to peek!

What I hope will finally be the perfect hat for my mom. I've made mom a couple of hats before. She liked the first, but it was too small for her hair. The second was bigger but I made it on the fly with some leftover yarns when I heard that she wasn't wearing a hat at all! But see, she's got this purple coat (another even longer story) that she seems destined never to get rid of and the green hat didn't really go with it. So while at the craft store picking up the wire to make the weasley hangers I saw a poor "orphan" skein of purple Homespun sitting by the cash register. I took it as a sign that I should simply give in and make mom a giant purple hat. I think I've succeeded there. To be sure it was big enough, I knitted it on 24" circulars in the round! That should be enough ease for almost any perm, yes?

And progress was also made on mom's jess.

no peeking, mom!

Back's all done and I'm working on the huge, drapey collar. This sweater is so cool. Now I remember why mom and I decided that we HAD to have one!

3 days to finish this and the weasleys. The elves are making coffee.

Christmas is coming and the finishing basket is getting fat. The elves are busy finishing holiday presents (note to self: look into getting actual elves for next year's holiday knitting!). Today we peek into Santa's knitting factory to see what's in store for mom. So mom, that means stop reading now please.

if you're not mom, click on the present to peek

It's mom's jess sweater! I haven't worked on this one in months. Here's where I left it: both sleeves done, front panels done and half of the back done. There's still a good bit of knitting to do, including a giant collar, and then some seaming and blocking. Will nineteen days be enough?

Greetings from NYC! We're on a quick weekend trip to NYC so the boys can see grandma again before our big trip to Germany. I got to do a trial run of packing the bags and the knitting. This trip: two suitcases and jess in my knitting bag. After giving my hand and wrist a little rest, I wanted to start back slowly, so I decided to start up a jess sleeve. Here's where I was when we left.

pretty little increases all in a row

I started this at Knitsmiths a while back and had a hard time talking and keeping track of the sequence of increases and decreases. So, not much net progress was made, if you know what I mean. But I'm back on track again now, knitting in the dark all the way here. I should have a finished sleeve by the time we get back!

(This trip is pure quality time with grandma - no time for yarn shopping. I've tried telling hubby that the boys would really love to see KnitNY, but he's not buying it!)

Okay, this pattern is really one where you gotta pay attention. It's proven a bit too much for little, old can't-remember-if-I-did-that-row, can't-use-a-row-counter-cause-I-always-forget-to-click-it me.

I started the second set of short rows, was sailing along and about a ball of yarn into them realized that I would have to rip it all out. After the initial short rowing, the front panels slant with increases on one side and decreases on the other (like a diagonal scarf). The way I was doing the short rows for the that section of the front panel, I totally forgot to do all the increases and was taking stitches from the back. I knew what I was supposed to be doing, but I got into some rhythm and totally forgot about the increases. Whoops. It's got to go. And since I'm a proponent of ripping immediately - destroying all evidence, as it were - I'm right back to where I was in my last jess post.

Oh well, knitting across such long rows and having to support all these stitches on one needle is bothering my wrist anyway. Jess may just be going into the break room for a while.

Loving Jess. Loving the cotton angora.

Now this is what yarn is supposed to feel like! Although I do get the angora fluff up the nose constantly and the weight of the whole thing is beginning to strain my wrist a bit. It's all worth it though. I've finished short-rowing in all the cast on stitches. The front curves are almost complete. Then comes the second set of short rows which set the shape of the front panels. Can you see in the pattern pic how they're actually angled? The fronts are done like a diagonal scarf with increases on one side and decreases on the other. It's so cool!

In honor of it being my mom's birthday, I pulled out the DB cotton angora and cast on for her Jess sweater.

Man, this pattern is complicated! You cast on all stitches for fronts and back, then starting just with the middle stitches for the back, you slowly short row all the rest into the whole to make curved front edges. I'm really liking the curved edges so far. I had to restart a couple of times to get them right. But now that I've got the hang of it, I'm enjoying it. It's mostly stockinette (me likey) plus a good bit of counting and keeping track of rows (okay, no watching Olympic swim finals while doing this one). And because I've worked so many rows on the middle stitches, the whole sweater is really starting to take shape quickly.

Hope you like it ma!

And happy birthday to Jackie too!

What could be better than a call from the yarn store saying "your yarn is in"?!

cotton angora, yummm...

Here's the Debbie Bliss yarn that I need to make mom's Jess sweater. All lovely in army green. I would never have picked out this color when just looking at the balls on display, but when knitted up, like the sweater Purl had on display or the models in the book, it looks really good. Much more like a neutral than like army fatigues!

Okay, I'll tell you what's better than your yarn order arriving, the store having just enough of another yarn that you were looking for.

Silk Garden, double yummm...

While in NYC, my mom and I spied the awesome Klaralund pattern in Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's new book. And what do you know, but Wendy and Froggy start up a Klaralund-along for September AND my LYS had exactly the right number of skeins in stock for me. Count me in!

September's shaping up to be a great month for knitting. But first I gotta make it through my August knits. The Olympics to the rescue! Karen suggested an Olympic knitalong, which she was calling "a Herculean Effort". I wanted to join, but couldn't imagine starting another project now. Then I thought, if I really want to make a Herculean effort, I could try to finish up all the projects that are right on the verge of being finished. That's the giraffe jacket, the habu tank, the daria bag, and ava. I got two weeks. Let the games begin!