A New Year, A New FO

It's finished! My Charlotte Sweater, from Rowan A Season's Tale. I thought it would be a little fancy because I would need to wear it over a nice high waisted skirt or dress because it it styled quite short, but I was happy to throw it on over an extra-long t-shirt and some cute jeans. I stll have to weave in some ends and I really did not block it, but now that it is together I will give it a nice press. I really should have read the directions that said, "Pressing garment pieces will make seaming up neater and more professional looking", or something to that effect. I basically disregarded that part, since I have a tendency to plow ahead without reading carefully when it looks self explanatory (I figured I have seamed up my share of sweaters; how different could it be?). Well, I discovered that I should continue with the blocking plan from now on- When I went to seam the tiny shoulder seams together, they were quite sloped instead of straight, which I would have straightened out with blocking. I also had some confusion as to which part of the necklines were the side front vs. the front, and the side backs vs. the back when picking up and knitting the neck ribbing. I probably could have defined that much better had I blocked. I was just being a little lazy because the pieces were looking exactly like the book to me! So, I figured I was in great shape.

Well, here are the stats on the lovely thing:

Charlotte Sweater from Rowan's A Season's Tale, scoop neck version.
Size 38 bust-(second largest size)-I didn't want it to be too shrunken looking.
Yarn- Kid Classic (recommended yarn)in Crushed Velvet.
Knit on size 7 and 8 needles, a real mishmash of straight Takumi Bamboo needles (8)and old fashioned metal (7), then the neck ribbing was done with a size 7 Bryspun circular.
Start date: October 2006. I did all four pieces and realized on EVERY piece that I had not changed needles after ribbing OR that I had used size 8 for the entire thing. I frogged the ENTIRE thing and it nearly became a jacket. After a little bit of that, and the realization I was going to have to design a color scheme from mail order sources, I scrapped that idea and went back to the Charlotte!
Picked up again: November 2007. Finished: December 30, 2007.
Other modifications: I sewed the entire sweater together and picked up the neck ribbing stiches and knit in the round, so I had to add a few stiches evenly around. It took me a minute to realize that the directions wanted me to leave an edge open and work back and forth, but I was already forging ahead. I only knit 10 rows before, I was quite impatient to finish. I am usually so patient! The second picture shows a little bit of how tiny the shoulder seams are and how nice it looks.
All in all, a really easy, really cute little sweater and I now have something that looks as the Rowan designer Kim Hargreaves intended it to look because it looks just like the picture!
Anything I would do different- maybe shorten the sleeves, even more although they are a nice shortish full length, I do like the versatility.
I will leave you with a look at our Christmas lights, they are coming down tomorrow! Hope you had a delightful holiday season! We are finishing ours with some serious snacks and some classic 1889 Coca-Cola bottles (and perhaps a little champagne, too!).
For tomorrow, I am ready to put only healthy food in us and also watch the portions! I am looking into the best plan possible for losing 20 pounds. It has really crept up on me this year and I don't want everyone who hasn't seen me in a while to go, "Dang! she has put the weight on!". I have never consciously gone on a diet or program before, I have -always- been on the "Eat as much as possible, at all times" plan...that is definitely NOT going to work anymore. Kind of helpful talking about it! I am going to focus on my energy level and not stuffing myself. I want to look great for my fortieth this summer! Wish me luck, I will need it!

Happy New Year, may it bring you renewed energy and inspiration! Keep it going and don't give up!

Bringin' It Indoors

We are putting up our tree today- Hooray! That means 'getting it out of the closet upstairs'. Yes, we have an artificial tree. We found a skinny Martha Stewart one that fits our room perfectly. It is pre-lit and alleviates a lot of problems, from watering the tree and spilling and leaking, to tangled malfunctioning lights (we have plenty of those outdoors), and the disposal of the tree afterwards and the proper cleaning out and storing of the tree stand. One time when we lived in Woodland, I think the yucky tree stand stood out on the porch for months. It was inexcusable and I have no idea why it happened but we always seem to have some type of a stumbling block with getting that tree stand put away. We are just not great finishers on those extra things. We also have one of those scary wall heaters that look like they could dry out a tree just like that and I don't need the worry that our tree will be a fire hazard. It has actually enhanced our Christmases the last few years by making it a little easier to get all of the trimmings out. I actually love my fake tree.

Don't get me wrong. I love fresh cut. We used to get tree cutting permits every year and go up the 503 towards Cougar and cut ours right out of the woods and bring home, it was awesome. I have a great memory of when we did this in my '69 VW bug, and it was right after the roof rack blew off the top of the car going down the I-5 (!), so the only way we could secure the tree was to close the doors and tie it down to the top of the car and pass the rope though the windows. when we were done, thinking we were so clever, it suddenly dawned on us that we couldn't open the car doors. So in the 30-degree snow, we had to climb into the bug throught the windows Dukes-of-Hazzard style and drive like that about 30 miles home! Good times.