Sunday, April 01, 2007

New Project!

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

Well, I've been waiting for a sunny day to take some pictures outside, but I'm going to have to wait some more. The gloomy, rainy weather continues. Last night, we had tornado warnings, so right when the kids were supposed to be going to bed, we were all taking cover in the basement. Today, less ominous, but perfect weather to be indoors knitting.

With my Sapporo blocking right now (and with the zipper/shock cord kit on order), I started a new project yesterday. I'm going to continue the tradition of giving my Godson a handknit sweater every year for a birthday gift. I started this tradition two years ago, when I had the idea for it exactly one week prior to his birthday party...so I knit Elizabeth Zimmerman's Tomten Jacket for him in that one week, which was very stressful and somewhat painful with the raw skin on my fingers, etc., and not something I'd recommend. Last year, I got started with about two months to spare, and made him his "Big A" sweater. This year, I'm giving myself a full three months... Here's what I have so far:This is my own variation of the "childHood" sweater. My modifications are the addition of the kangaroo pocket (followed directions for the hoodie pattern in The Purl Stitch book, which I just happened to check out of the library last week), sleeves which will be knit in the round from the shoulders down (after the first two inches, as these are "modified drop" shoulders), and pullover instead of cardigan. I'm using Patons Classic Merino which I had in my stash, so my gauge is a bit tighter, and I'm making a larger size than those given in the pattern. I guess, I'm really not following the pattern much at all....but I thought the stripy-ness was really cute on the sleeves and hood on the Knitty pattern, and I liked the garter stitch trim, too.

Now it's back to studying chemistry. I took first semester chemistry 25 years ago, and in order to apply to a graduate school program, I must take a second semester of chemistry. In order to get clearance from the professor to take the class, I have to take a first semester final exam to show that I know enough to take the next class. Well, it's coming back to me, but I'm basically starting from scratch as I re-learn all of the material, so it's taking some time for me to do this...and I've been having some issues with motivation, though it still beats housework!

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)

6 comments:

Sus said...

Cute sweater! I love the pocket and the colors you've picked! What graduate program are you entering? More school is always a good idea! (This is what I tell myself every day, anyway! LOL)

Jenn said...

Sus said the exact same first line I was intending, "Cute Sweater". Anyway, I also like the stripes. I knit a sweater for my neice & goddaughter last Christmas and have already picked out a sweater for her for next Christmas. I love traditions.

Yarngineer said...

I was wondering what graduate program you are going into too? I am probably going to start retaking or restudying calculus on my own so that I can start getting ready to go back to graduate school.

Lauren said...

A sweater every year? Wow, I would be lucky to get the kid a sweater by his 10th birthday! So chemistry, eh? I took a lot of science classes in college. You might find this amusing: the program my insurance company uses used to be called WinBroker, but they wanted a cool name for version two that was coming out. So they had a contest, and they name they picked was "AuMine"..... get it? GOLDmine. Hahahaha! Isn't the periodic table of elements FUN????

Molly Bee said...

Cool sweater! I love the pocket. Lucky Godson!

Designated Knitter said...

Love the sweater!

RE: Lauren's comment about AuMine.....we like to pronounce that OW-mine.

;)