This weekend, I put the finishing touches on this sweater for Mr. Harpie Pie. It's the Fisherman's Pullover by Veera, knit with Kathmandu Chunky Tweed (Ravelry notes here). It was a fun and quick knit, and I think the result is going to be super cute on him come wintertime. It's intended to be a holiday gift for my baby boy.
I have a rather lofty goal of finishing a sweater for everyone here in time to be sitting under the Solstice tree. This first 'finished' sweater might have given me a bit of an overconfident boost, considering how fast it knit up...it was, after all, the smallest sweater on my list, with the biggest yarn of them all. So. I think I best keep focused. To hold me a bit accountable, and track the progress (updates will come, along with finished-sweaters-on-the-babes in December, of course) I present you with the beginnings of the Solstice Sweaters:
Calvin dictated precisely what he wanted for his sweater - a pullover with a hood, grey and black stripes please. (I'm using Beaverslide Dry Goods Worsted for this one, just like the one for his Papa.) Using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Percentage System, I cast on, and am just going for it, sans pattern. If it all works out, I will be mighty thrilled. (And so will he.)
When this lovely yarn arrived from Barb at FoxFire Fiber, I wasn't sure what I was going to make with it. Until Adelaide saw it...and declared it "so beautiful! I just want to hug it! Mama, will you make me a shirt out of it? Please, please, please?" And so, even though it isn't purple and therefore nothing I would have chosen for her myself, this one is for my girl. A tiny tea leaves has begun...just like her Mama's. She likes to touch it often, which I fully encourage (doing my best to grow future fiber-lovers!).
I scoured vintage knitting patterns for something for Ezra, wanting something a little bit retro and definitely handsome. Something that would be just right with all those bow ties he loves so much. I think I found it in this pattern, and am loving knitting it with Lark by Quince & Co (colorway? Split Pea! Love that.)
And lastly, the one I began last winter for Steve, the seamless hybrid raglan (using Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears as a guide), also knit with Beaverslide. When I asked Adelaide to hold it for this photo, she said with an upturned nose, "this one? You've been knitting this one for like fifty years!" Um, yeah...something like that. Slowly but surely...it's coming along (and gathering the sand, sticks, grass, and pet hair of our days along the way).
As you can tell, there isn't much of a surprise element in knitting these sweaters. There really couldn't be (when would I knit them?). But as they each get a little closer to 'done,' I will start to be a little more undercover about it all, saving their knits for when they aren't around, or for late night knitting.
Four sweaters in five months. I can do this, right? I do have so very much help...
