January 7, 2013

two vests and a sweater

Clearly I'm on a keeping warm kick. Vests and sweaters and slippers and quilts seem to be occupying most of my crafting minutes these days. But then again, the other day I realized that we had had a 50 degree change in temperature in one day last week without it ever climbing above freezing. Oh yes. From -19 when we woke up to a whopping 31 by the time I picked the kids up from school. Burrr. So I guess my warmth obsession is well founded.

I started the green sweater a few months ago and had it finished up to the armpits when I abandoned it to work on Christmas goodies, so it didn't take long to finish it up last week. The green yarn, which makes me think of spring and gardens and is really my favorite color of all, is something I picked up at Rhinebeck and the cuffs and neck are knit with some Hello Yarn wool that I spun early on on my wheel and which I've been saving for something special. I tend to err on the side of too big when I kit a sweater for myself and this one is wider than it should be, but it's comfy and warm and I've been wearing it almost constantly since it was dry. Actually, I may have started wearing it when it wasn't quite dry yet. Patience has never been my thing.

Evelyn's felted red vest has been so handy and loved that I immediately started hunting around for another sweater to felt down for her and also one for me. I picked up a nice blue and white one at an estate sale before Christmas that would work well for Evie and  my lovely friend Carol sent a beautiful hand knitted sweater from Norway that had been her dad's so that I could make one for myself.

I used a stretchy, bias cut cotton binding instead of ribbon to face the hems this time and because the sweater I got for Evie's had a couple of holes in the ribbing around the waist and was unusable, I also bound the bottom of hers with it. Perfect! And so warm. Just the thing to wear under your coat on a very cold day. Or just around the house, also on a very cold day. Because these days, they are very cold indeed.