July 12, 2012

sweater beginnings or christmas knitting, the summer edition

I know it seems early to be thinking about winter sweaters, especially when half the country is broiling away, but sweaters, as I've learned (remember Will's Christmas/Valentines/Spring Break Sweater?) take time to knit. So if I want to knit three before December, it's time to get started. In fact, I think I started Briton's in May last year. So really, I'm behind. Whoops.
courtesy of Ravelry
This time around I'm starting with Evie's sweater. Since last year I made the colossal mistake of believing that anything pink would be fine by her and we ended up with a sweater that she wont wear, I enlisted her help in selecting a pattern. After some perusing through Ravelry she chose this sweater, which, unfortunately, only comes as a kit. In Danish. But the idea is pretty straight forward and armed with my trusty copy of Knitting Without Tears (which just happens to include directions for a round yoke sweater) I think I'll be OK.
The plan is to use two of my handspun yarns, the colorful one I chose for the purpose, knowing it would be about as Evelyn as it could get with all that pink plus all those other colors. The white is a soft mohair that I just finished spinning last night which seemed like a good foil for the brightness of the pink. I'm hoping it will be a good combination. And that there is enough of the white. Although on the plus side, I can always spin more. One of the benefits of spinning.

So it's official. I've started my Christmas/Solstice knitting. Christmas in July, right? Briton's sweater, which he has very sweetly requested be EXACTLY like the last one (although since the last one still fits he has agreed that it can be green and green instead of another blue and blue, for variety) and Will, well, he might get a hat. Or socks. Or another Spring Break sweater. We shall see.

Anyone else crazy enough to be knitting Christmas sweaters in July?