The body of Thebes sweater is finished and I’ve moved onto the sleeves.

This Malabrigo yarn has been a real bitch. It’s super soft and a joy to knit. But this one dye lot is wildly variegated. The bottom ribbing part of the sweater was knit with two balls. The top part in stockinette was knit with a third ball. It looked like a different color:

I was pretty pissed and put the sweater in time out. Thebes assured me it didn’t bother him and he’d wear the sweater anyway. But I couldn’t let it go. I frogged the stockinette part. Then I did two rows of the more greenish/blueish yarn and then two rows of the blueish/greenish yarn. I went back and forth that way until the top was done.

It looks a lot better but again, what a pain. I’m not sure I’ll work with Malabrigo again. At first I was concerned about the zigzags of color on the main body. When Thebes tried it on it looked fine so I’m leaving it as is.

I bought ten bags of this colorway and about half are a different color than the other. And yet I’ve triple checked and they’re all the same dye lot. Gah!?!

I’m working the sleeves in the same fashion. So far they’re turning out fine.

It’s finally done. Can you believe I started this in April? I’m so happy it’s done, it fits and Thebes loves it. He tried it on and said it’s now his favorite sweater.

I knit the 44″ chest size. Thebes says it fits perfectly.

The cables just pop out like they’re sculpted. I love them!

This project was one of the most complex patterns I’ve ever knit. By the end I thought it was easy so maybe this means I’m an advanced knitter now.

Thebes has broad shoulders and he tends to buy sweaters a size larger so they’ll fit. He says the saddle shoulders give him the perfect amount of shoulder room. I think I’ll stick to saddle shoulder sweaters for him from now on.

In the past I’ve had issues with sleeves. This pattern was written well and I got the sleeves right the first time.

Pattern: Heirloom Sweater
Source: Knit Picks
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash, Squirrel Heather, 17 skeins
Needles: 4.5 mm, 3.5 mm
Started: April 2008
Finished: November 2008
Modifications: Used different yarn. Pattern didn’t have charts so I made some. Knit neck ribbing on two circular needles.

Abbey wore her Samus in front of me the other day (though she still has to put in the zipper) so I knew that it was time to step up on my Samus. I got the sleeve cuffs done:

Thebes and I were recently in Seattle for biz. I found a local yarn store called So Much Yarn. You can sort of see their logo on the door and you can see Thebes in one of his kilts.

Sandy and Ginger were working when we came in and were very helpful. There was a lot of great yarn in the store. I bought the pattern for the hat I’m wearing in the pic below. It’s the Fiber Trends Braid and Bobble hat. I have some green yarn left over from my Arwen sweater that I’m thinking of using.

Did I buy yarn? Oh yeah baby!

I bought two skeins of Mountain Colors yarn in the Mountain Tango colorway. Each skein is 100 grams. I’m not sure what to make with it but am leaning towards a fancy scarf of some kind.

There should be another picture here. But the additional purchase is a birthday present for a certain someone who reads my blog. As soon as I give it to her I’ll post the pic.

Yesterday I finished Thebes’ knucks. They fit him well though the pinkies are a little long. The pinkies on my knucks are a little long too.

They’re 100% wool and are warmer than mine. I remembered to switch down a needle size for the ribbed cuffs and it makes such a difference. I’m tempted to make myself another pair.

I really like how the colors pooled.

Here’s Thebes in his Workman’s Utilikilt. He blogs about the kilted life at Kilt Blog.

At the grocery store yesterday we found a new chocolate bar, the Twilight Delight:

Since it not only had my name but was also dark chocolate, I had to try one. It’s pretty tasty.