See? I wasn’t lying about the crazy knitting. Another two sweaters knit in three or so weeks.

Pattern: Sienna Cardigan
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Blueberry (I loooooooove this colour. I want to swim in it. I want to BE it.)
Needles: US 7 circs
Modifications: Just added a few inches to the length. I think I’d like to knit another in the next size up and do ribbing on the sleeve cuffs.

It’s a tiny bit too tight. Maybe blocking will help? We’ll see…

Pattern: Candy
Yarn: Some leftover Bernat Supersaver I had in my stash.
Needles: US 5 circs
Modifications: Went down in needle and pattern sizes for gauge, changed the collar a lot - made it longer (higher?) and decreased a good 40 or so stitches extra.

I really liked the top-down, minimal seaming required aspects of this one. And the two-colour band bits were kind of fun to knit. Pictures of it being worn once I’ve blocked it (read: tossed it in the washing machine).

I was thinking I’d take a break from sweater knitting for a while but then Knit Picks sent out that newsletter the other day advertising their new sales and I caved in and bought another $50 of yarn with two more sweaters in mind. I’m sick.

Losing my dear cat Princess really sent me into a mindless knitting frenzy. Finished off this sweater and have nearly finished two others, all in the course of the last two/three weeks. Knitting really is wonderfully therapeutic: this cardigan in particular will always give me a bit of extra comfort, I think, just because I knit most of it while spending lots of extra time with her before she died.

Pattern: Basic Black
Yarn: Emu Superwash
Needles: US 3 and 5 circs
Modifications: Went down in needle sizes to sort of get guage, made everything a bit longer.

Pretty nice to knit, and I like the finished product. As usual, it’s a bit bigger than I’d have liked (especially the sleeves) but I think it’s one of the better fitting sweaters I’ve made. And I reeeeeeally like the yarn. You just can’t beat superwash wool.

Because I desperately need more socks and Harry Potter goodness. ;]

So, I’m nearly three weeks late with the end-of-year recapping, but here it is (sort of) anyway. My favourite FOs of 2007:

Lots of sweaters this year, and a fair number of socks. Not too bad at all. I think craft-wise for 2008 my goals will be to learn to spin and crochet, and to get a decent grasp of fair isle and intarsia. Accomplishable, maybe? And I’d like to knit even more sweaters, and possibly use up my stash. Bring it on, year.

Rating: 6.5/10
Synopsis: Hitchhiker is a biography of Douglas Adams, author of the popular Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
Review: Non-fiction tends to be a bit dull and Hitchhiker is no exception to this. While slow and a bit hard to get into, it is an interesting read for any Douglas Adams fan, focusing on the many aspects of Adams’ career as a writer as well as his many celebrity encounters and friendships.

Rating: 8/10
Synopsis: Stephanie Plum embarks on another criminal-catching adventure when a strange but very handsome man magically shows up in her apartment (yeah, don’t you just hate it when that happens?). Stuck with the job of searching for the nefarious Sandy Claws, Stephanie must also rush to get ready for Christmas on time.
Review: This is a perfect, quick holiday read. It’s only about 150 pages long and maintains all the usual, wonderful hilarity that one would expect from a Stephanie Plum novel. Mindless and very entertaining, it’ll help put you in a holiday mood.

Pattern: Broadstreet Mittens
Yarn: Lanett Superwash
Needles: US 0 dpns
Modifications: Just went down two needle sizes and skipped the i-cord/button hole

Pretty happy with them, though the pattern itself was a bit annoying. For instance, why couldn’t they have included directions for both hands? It’s not exactly helpful to just tell a person to reverse the directions. I think they turned out fine, but I was kind of confused about where and how I was supposed to do the thumb increases for the second hand. Also, the yarn I used was soooooooo much prettier in the skein, all rainbow-y and gorgeous. Here, it kind of makes me think of a mixed up box of crayons.

Oh well, they’ve put me in the mood for making more small objects - maybe some mitts and hats? Time to veer away from sweaters for awhile, I think.

Yep, I finally finished my second attempt at the Nantucket Jacket. It went a lot faster this time, since I’d memorized the pattern from knitting it up the first time, and it was pretty fun to work on. And so cheap! I bought a bag of the yarn from a Zellers sometime in the summer for $10 or so and still have two full skeins left. I don’t care what anybody says, acrylic yarn is wonderful!

So, the cardigan. It’s pretty enough, but the fit’s a bit off. I tried to add some extra length but it’s still shorter than I’d have liked, and the whole thing is generally too wide. Don’t know if I’ll end up wearing it much, but at least it will look nice hanging in my closet.

Pattern: Nantucket Jacket from Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Yarn: Phentex Merit
Needles: US 5 circs
Modifications: Went down a bunch of needle and pattern sizes, skipped the crochet edging, did my own button thing, and made the body a bit longer.

Blah. I just frogged my nearly finished, already seamed together Nantucket Jacket because - surprise, surprise - it was way too big. Why do I always do this? I could cry. Never again will I convince myself that my guage is ‘close enough’!

I was browsing through my regular cheap, online shopping links when I came across this fancy little knitting tote. Reware Vintage always has awesome stuff, and such a neat variety. Plus, it’s only $15 - I’d totally buy it if I hadn’t just ordered a dress from them.