Little Oak Sweater

One gift I was very excited about was for my niece #7. Her mom gifted me the Coastal Knits pattern book a few years back, indicating that the Gnarled Oak sweater made her think of me. I found a small version of the pattern and thought it might be a fun gift for her daughter.

• Pattern: Little Oak by Alana Dakos
  
• Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids, Heathers, and Twists in colorway forest green 
• Needles: size 5 & 6
• Start date: October 28
• End date: December 25

I did not have long stretches of knitting time, so it took me a little longer than I planned. I also dragged my feet for a few weeks when I had to knit the leaf tips. The directions were not very clear/accurate. I knit the neck of the sweater in a rib pattern instead of as stated to make it a little longer and close the neckline more. Since the yarn was so much thicker than recommended, I knit the smallest size which gave me a 4T size according to the pattern dimensions. This child is two, and it happens to fit just right, so that’s pretty lucky! Finally, I forgot to buy buttons, but luckily my stash still had a few decent choices. Apparently my niece likes the big buttons best - haha! I would definitely knit this sweater again sometime!

Mitts!

Chanukah and Christmas have come and gone, (with exception of the 7 remaining Christmas days), but of course the knitting is just now getting completed. At the very last minute I decided to knit my sister-in-law some mitts. I had one finished for our gift exchange on December 26, and managed to knit the second one by last night.

• Pattern: Wheaten Fingerless Mitts by Anne Hanson
  
• Start date: December 24 at 6:00 am
• End date: December 28 at 6:00 pm
• Yarn: 2016 Shady Grove Alpacas Sport in colorway Dark Star with 10% tencil, 1.7 oz or just under one skein 
• Needles: size 2 and 3
• For: Kate

This was another wonderful pattern, very easy and so pretty and rewarding. The Dark Star sport yarn is 90% alpaca and 10% tencil, a combination that I seem to be less allergic to than regular 100% alpaca. I might try this yarn in a project that is for me, just to test the theory... 🥰 

Winter Accessory Challenge

The other day, I was organizing my winter accessory storage. Seeing every item laid out on my bar made me realize that I put so little effort into truly wearing them regularly. So I decided to challenge myself to wear something, preferably several coordinated knits, daily. I’ve only had a few days of non-compliance so far. But I also see a deficit in mittens and might need a warmer white hat to match all those fun shawls and cowls.

Hey, that sounds like an excuse to knit! See you all in a while...

For Sale: Luxury Alpaca Yarns

Shady Grove Alpacas hit the craft show circuit this weekend! We displayed our yarn and sample knits at the Minnetrista Luminaria Walk last night and tonight. Lots of fun people to talk to, and lots of people who love alpacas walked through. There was one lady who was trying to get her husband to start a farm. (He was in vet school.) Another has stayed at a B & B on a working alpaca farm. All ears on that conversation: my retirement dream plan...

The Farmer in all his glory helped man the booth for several hours while I was busy with a gig. I have a few ideas for display improvement, but we did sell some skeins of yarn, so I’d call that a success!

Happy Knitting to our new customers!