FO Friday: The Minetta Cardigan

It’s finished!  According to Ravelry, it took me exactly three months to knit this sweater although to this knitter, it felt like a lot longer.

I found some cute buttons to go with it – I wanted something that would keep this cardigan a neutral (no bright colors) but would also keep it from being too boring. These classy little metal ones look perfect I think.

The sweater fits a little weird in places but it’s all things that I can live with and just take note of for the next cardigan.

1. I wish I’d added either waist shaping or hip increases (both might’ve been too much, but one or the other would be ok)

2. The sleeves are big in the underarms and a bit snug around the forearm – fine for layering with short sleeves or tanks. I don’t like underarms that are too tight or touch my skin anyways

This is my second sweater out of Manos del Uruguay Serena (the first was my Bailiwick) and I know I’ll make more (actually, one is in the works right now with my fabulous sample knitter). This yarn is soft and drapey but shows off texture well.  It certainly keeps tops warm – so not for the dog days of summer – but lightweight (again, that layering thing I keep talking about).

All in all, I’d make this sweater again, I’d just make some changes to it along the way.

Have you finished anything cool?

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WIP Wednesday: Aaaalllmost

We’re getting there, folks. I start this sweater back in March, according to Ravelry, and it’s taken me quite a bit longer than anticipated. I’m a few inches from finishing the second sleeve and from there, it’s a quick neckband, buttons and a good block away from finished.

(clearly, Lisa felt the need to supervise) The raglan line does look (and feel, based on try-ons during the knitting process) a bit long but I think that’ll work in my favor for layering this sweater with other tops and dresses. The sleeves get quite tight at the cuff and I may end up ripping those out later to loosen them up a bit but I want to wear it a few times first to find out for sure how much looser I want it.

What projects are you making headway on this week?

Estes Park Wool Market 2015

This past weekend was the always awesome Estes Park Wool Market held in one of the most beautiful parts of the state.  The drive there is gorgeous, the town itself is in a valley surrounded by mountains, the grass is green, the sky is blue and some of the peaks even had snow still. 

We saw all the usual crew – llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep and bunnies and petted as much yarn and fiber as we could get our hands on.

This guy, he’s got awesome animal skills.  It must be that ‘stash.

Oh, and I can’t forget about the super tasty liquor we sampled!  Not *at* the fair, necessarily, but in Estes Park.  There’s a tasting room for the Dancing Pines Distillery and between the four of us, we sampled most everything they carried. My favorite was the Chai Liqueur but, really, all of them were superb.

I walked away with two skeins and Nick bought a set of dryer balls.

That’s 1700 yards of lime green goodness from Textiles A Mano that will likely become a sweater.

That is fingering weight merino in a colorway called Painted Desert by 3 Sisters Weaving and I’m envisioning something to go around my neck.

Have you been on any fiber adventures lately?

Adventures as of Late

Although I haven’t been posting here much (sadly, I feel like I’m missing some of my best friends!) I have been busy. I mentioned the new job to you guys and that’s going swell. My folks also stopped in for a visit the other weekend which was a ton of fun and finding the time to sit in the shade of a tree on a sunny day has not escaped me.

I bound off the first sleeve of the Minetta two nights ago and have started the second sleeve – I may finish this thing yet!

Instead of knitting, yesterday after work I hung out with one of my lady friends and her new rescue-dog Leta (and my pup, but I didn’t get any good pictures of her).

What have you guys been up to lately? Enjoying the nice weather I hope? It’s been a pretty rainy spring here and it seems to be scooting right into summer with temperatures in the high 80s and 90s already.

WIP Wednesday: Would Ya Look At That

It’s June. Somehow that last bit of May just slipped right on by and now it’s June.

I’m still working on my sweater, I’ve bound off the bottom edge and am working on the first sleeve now.

My momma finished her sweater and it’s gorgeous!  Unfortunately I completely forgot to take pictures of the two of us together this past weekend when she came to visit, but she sent me some photos of her Minetta.

I started a new job last week that I’ll hopefully tell you about soon, I’m sure many of you will understand the lack of posting last week what with all the new things going on, new routines to make and then family in town!

What are you working on this week?