Some Christmas Sweaters

Okay, here are the Wilkes girls' Christmas sweaters, finally.

The sweater I made for my mother turned into a bit of a slog--it was just a lot of tight stockinette and hoo boy, that collar took forever!

Sorry the picture isn't so great.  I didn't get one of  Mom modeling it but she tells me it fits well and that everyone was amazed when she told them I made it for her--guess I'm just that awesome.

The pattern is called Essential Cardigan by Laura Grutzcek and was featured in this summer's Interweave Knits.  Mom asked for a longer cardigan than the one pictured, so I increased the length by 3", which was super easy since there's no waist shaping at all.  It is a very elegant piece, but I don't think I would knit it again, especially on a deadline.  It just took too long and I was very bored.  Maybe if I had another, smaller project going at the same time, but probably not.  It just wasn't complicated enough for me :)

I did, however, like the yarn.  I used Knit Picks merino style, which is not washable, but softer (and cheaper) than its superwash counterpart.  It's a touch splitty, but once you have it blocked out and pressed, it is delightful.  Plus, I picked a pink color, so Mom had to love it!

Caroline's sweater was a lot quicker and easier (not just because Caroline is the size of a toothpick).

I won't even bother showing you the picture of mine--it's way too dark.  This is a picture from the pattern's page. Just picture mine in black (and on my sister):

The pattern is called Safire by Hillary Smith Callis.  Way easy for a first sweater if you want a cropped cardigan.  It was just a basic raglan and I didn't have to make any changes to the pattern.  Nothing to be scared of.  I'm not even sure Caroline tried it on before she left for school, so I really hope she liked it...  It really was a pleasure to knit, though.  Quick, easy, mindless and Swish is always fun to knit.

And thus concludes the projects from 2010.  Next time I'll have 2010 in review--it'll be a lot.  According to my Knit Meter, I knit over 16 miles of yarn in 2010.  Get excited!

-Allie