Two Hearts

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I am wondering how your mom's cardigan is faring right now. I felt terrible when I saw that the fronts were different lengths, and was surprised that it is even possible when the row count is the same....though I don't know why that would surprise me. Knitting, and especially gauge, has a mind of its own.....

Also, I want to thank you for your kind suggestion regarding the ugly socks. I didn't even think about toning down the color by combining it with a darker color of yarn. Until my mom said she would wear them if I finished them and gave them to her, I was thinking of just using two skeins of the same yarn, only starting at different points in the color repeat...sort of like those Kauni Cardigans which were so popular a couple of years ago... Anyway, one of these days I'll finish them, but I've totally been sidetracked by my new sweater.

Here is the first several inches of the first sleeve of Two Hearts:

My gauge is right on, and I'm happy with the way the cables are showing up. Thank you to Cindy G who gave me some peace of mind that the cables would 'pop' just fine using Lambs' Pride.

My first modification was to use size 5 and 8 needles, instead of the size 5 and 7 called for. I needed the size 8 size in order to get gauge, though I decided to knit the rolled edge section with the size 5's called for (without going up in needle size). By doing the rolled edge with needles so much smaller than the rest of the sweater, the rolled edge is well contained and really cinches the lower edge. I think this will be especially helpful when I make the body of the sweater, because the lower, rolled edge, looks a little bit sloppy in the photos in the book (in my opinion, anyway)...

My second modification is regarding the sleeve increases. I'm not going to make the sleeves as big around as the pattern calls for, so I'm increasing every six rows until the length is sufficient to go from my wrist to my armpit. I'm changing them to be set-in rather than modified drop. I'll discuss that more in my next post.

Here's a picture taken while we were making lefse at my mil's house, which I am including just so that there is another picture in this blog post:

So, DH was driving the boys around in the van last Friday evening and was hit from behind by a large pick-up truck having a brush guard on the front of it. All people walked away from the accident. Our van didn't fare so well. The bumper was sliced in half, and the tailgate was completely pushed in, window shattered so badly that the estimator couldn't even tell if it had a defroster in it. Nothing screams "My vehicle was in an accident" more loudly than driving around in a car which has rather large "Gates Auto Body -- Free Loaner Cars" decals on the front, back, and both sides, though that is the state of things, and frankly, I'm just relieved we have a vehicle to use.

My boys have an "early release" from school today, so we're going ice skating this afternoon. Kids keep a person young, that's for sure, and also, kids keep a person tired...

I hope I haven't put anybody into shock by posting multiple times in one week!

Warm regards,

Laura (YarnThrower)