We have a finished object. I have been knitting along with the Sexy Knitters Club since the beginning of the year. This is my 3rd sweater with them and my 2nd KAL. This is Rusted Root. I really love the fit and enjoy the look I have here. Here are the stats.

Pattern: Rusted Root by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (80% cotton /20% Merino Wool) 3 skeins in Candy Apple.
Needles: US size 6 circular (unknown maker – an original from before I knew about wood) and US size 5 circular (unknown maker) and dpns (clover) for ribbing on arms and waist. G hook (susan bates, of course) for the neckline.
Mods: Ok here goes. I stuck pretty much to the pattern but took out the puffy sleeves. I really am happy with the lack of puff. I decided since I was making the size down from my chest size that I did not want the ribbing to pull in too much and went up to a size 5 needle for the ribbing. Also the photos of the neckline did not jump out at me as being cohesive to the pattern so I skipped the ribbing and did a single crochet around the neck – going into every stitch on the shoulder sides and into every two out of three stitches on the front and back neck. Also I did not like the look of the p3tog on row 9 of the lace pattern and placed a k3tog instead. I felt this caused the lace to flow more smoothly.

More pictures below:

Last time I mentioned that I had a shrug to make for my sister-in-law Bud. I got to start it Tuesday since I had finished Rusted Root on Monday. The I do shrug has a complicated lace pattern that is different every row. I am using Valley Yarns Southwick (52% Pima Cotton / 48% Bamboo) in Onyx. I am not so excited about this yarn as when I ordered it. The yarn is loosely twisted and thus individual strands snag while knitting. I have the 18 line lace pattern memorized and I am halfway up one side. Hopefully I will get a lot done on it this weekend while I am at a retreat where I get to sit, listen and KNIT.

I am off for the weekend to go to a retreat. On the way there, my friend and I will be doing a yarn shop hop. See ya next week.

My father-in-law and my youngest sister-in-law were visiting for a car swap. The boys spent most of the weekend in Portland buying things like this…

It’s an original Datson Z car which was so popular Nissan came out with a Z car recently.

While I hung out with Bud and measured her for such things as the I do shrug to be worn with her formal dress in May, fixing laundry oops and having a generally relaxing time. Me knitting of course and her reading a good book or two.

Saturday did bring an excursion to Portland to join the boys and show Bud the city where her parents met. Well we weren’t that good at it and ended up just showing her Waterfront park and distracting all the pedestrians with our new puppy Lexi.

Last but not least we were offered 4 free tickets to the Mariners game on Sunday afternoon. Now I must say I love baseball because I can A) knit B) knit and C) spend time enjoying sports with my husband. I enjoyed the game immensely considering this is my first game where the Mariners won. They seem to be ramping up for an awesome season. I can’t wait for the Stitch n’Pitch in July. My only complaint was the weather was cold and the coffee was bad. (The Fourbucks had more problems than the usual burnt coffee – they were completely forgetting to put coffee in the lattes for some and others giving you cold coffee.) I tried to knit faster so that I might be able to wear my WIP but by the point I was going to put it on the sun hit our seats during the 8th inning.

Now for truly good knitting news:

I have two works in progress. One is my usual slow plodding sock. This time I have been knitting for my husband who has really long narrow feet. I have the most terrible time fitting him and these fit the best but I think I am going to have to break down and really learn how to make gusseted heels. My point of triumph on this sock was completing one sock and starting on the second sock so that this one won’t be lonely. I did make the comment that from now on my husband will only be receiving mediumweight socks rather than the usual lightweight socks.

My second WIP was started last weekend since I was unsure of the correct size for the shrug and I needed something fast. I was having a moment of boredom from being to dedicated to one project. I am working on Rusted Root from the Zephyr Girls. It is part of the April/May Sexy Knitters KAL. I almost was not going to participate when I found out that it did not take too many skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, which I just happen to have the right amount of yarn for. I started the pattern twice because I did not feel like swatching and realized that my gauge was off. Instead of switching needles I went up a size in the pattern and decided that I would just adjust the one point where I needed to make it bigger – the arms and body divide point. After starting twice, I figured out how to depuff the sleeves. I am really not a puffy sleeve person. So far I am really loving this pattern and I am excited to finish and start on the shrug for Bud.