by all counts, a festive occasion

My father's birthday sweater, modeled by the recipient himself...on his birthday! The picnic table is also handmade, homemade. Except, well, I didn't make it so I can't take credit for it at all. I can still say it's pretty cool and that we had a delicious birthday dinner served upon it, though. The sweater was perfectly appropriate, especially considering the weather on Sunday- it was cold! So we built a fire and cooked out, plus Dad got to wear the sweater and not be too hot.

It's amazing how quickly knitting gets done when you put yourself (or myself, as this case would be) on a deadline; by limiting myself to this one, singular project for a week, I got an unfinished project out of my closet and my Dad got a sweater that looks great on him and fits well. I still can't say enough about Pure and Simple patterns. Big, big fan.

I also have to thank, again, all my Kniterary Club attendees. You guys are fabulous. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to meet everyone and share ideas; I'm sure we will meet again and I can't wait to see what everybody will be working on. I really couldn't come up with ideas without inspiration from knitters around me! So, although the group itself is on hold for a while, I still feel like Sunday was a great day to celebrate birthdays, new friends, knitting, and spring. (That of course means sparklers.)

test of endurance

It's done! The sweater is done.

I did it with three days to spare, I am ecstatic that I can move on to the many projects that I've been thinking about (whilst knitting this sweater grudgingly and wishing I could be knitting any number of them instead).

Just wait till Sunday when I actually have time to start these projects in earnest- the combination of new knitting and coffee equals euphoria.

hey, look! an unfinished project.

Look what I found!

Yeah, it's a mostly-finished sweater that really had no business sitting around as long as it did. I started this, like, two years ago now? That means I've packed this sweater up and moved it twice. This is unacceptable, and here's why (oddly enough, these are the same reasons it was never actually finished): it's easy to knit, all stockinette; it's a gift and SHOULD have been done within a reasonable time frame; and I'm not changing anything in the pattern, not a single thing! Wtf, right? Sometimes I really puzzle myself.

Here's the challenge: get this done by May 17th. 10 days!

Yarn used is Samoa, a half acrylic, half cotton blend by Muench Yarns. Normally I don't enjoy knitting with cotton, it just doesn't feel as nice as wool, alpaca, llama, etc. I feel my hands and arms getting more tired when I knit with it. The pattern is Pure and Simple's Neckdown Henley, as always P&S delivers a simple, user-friendly pattern that yields a very wearable garment (I don't mean that in the bland way that it sounds...P&S just provides great patterns for wardrobe basics, so even if you're a beginner you'll end up with a great sweater that you'll wear instead of hiding it away in your closet).

Wish me luck as I alternately drag my feet and knit furiously for the next few days.