Whoo, whoo

Okay, so this "post more often" thing hasn't exactly panned out lately. But, here I am, with a new project to tell you about (and a few more waiting for their turn).

Since last we met, my needles have been furiously clickety-clacketing along and I've managed to turn out a couple of projects. The project that I'm most pleased with is my Owl sweater. When it came time to choose a calendar for 2009, I knew that this would be the year of the owl. I love owls. So, with a Great Horned Owl gazing out at me from the kitchen bulletin board, I set out to search for a new project. Then I found it, the Owl sweater. Perfect.

I love this sweater. A lot. It was a big departure for me in terms of yarn weight and needle size - I must admit, it is pretty sweet to watch a sweater just fly off the needles. This was my first go with a bulky yarn and I enjoyed it. This is a great yarn - soft, chunky, super cosy, but not heavy. The itch factor that I always associate with bulky yarns (probably unfairly) is happily absent. It also has nice stitch definition and shows off the cables well. So, a pleasant yarn and big needles, coupled with a good pattern made for a happy knitting experience.

It's the design elements of this pattern that really made me happy - I like the fit first and foremost. It's a body conscious design - close fitting, but flattering thanks to the clever use of shaping in the back and the short rows under the bust and along the neck in the back. I lengthened the body and the arms to suit my preference, other than those minor mods, I knit it as is. I'm also in love with the cabled yoke - it's like a nice parade of owls. It's a fairly straight forward cable and it may very well make an appearance in another form in the near future, so stay tuned. The fact that this sweater is knit in the round makes me love it even more. I hate seaming and cannot understand knitting anything in pieces that could be knit in the round. The only seaming necessary were the two gaps under the arms. Sweet.

To give those owls their peepers, I sewed on the buttons using embroidery thread that matched the yarn as closely as I could. I apologize for the lack of cable close-ups, but I live in a black hole and it's been gloomy around these parts lately. The sewing on of the eyes took me forever. I am not a speedy sewer by any means, and I wanted to make sure that I did a good job. It must have gone alright as none of the little guys looks noticeably bug-eyed.

In our next installment we will explore a winter necessity - the hat, both knit and sewed.