So far this monogamous thing is really working for me! In the space of just 4 days, I knitted a kids sweater. From start to finish. In just 4 days! Here I am having cast on on Thursday evening...
A kind friend sent me two balls of the lovely deep blue Alafoss Lopi, as well as a ball of Orange in the same yarn. I had been skimming through Ravelry looking for projects using just a small amount of this yarn. I wasn't too keen to make a hat (I have far more of those than I need!), and I stumbled upon this beautiful project: Purpurschnecke's Justus I loved the colours she had used and could quickly see that all I would need was a ball of cream Alafoss Lopi. I downloaded the free pattern (Alva by Maria Vangen), ordered the extra ball of yarn from Meadow Yarn (great service) and set straight to work.
By Saturday morning, I had a body, and I was well on the way to two sleeves!
Lopi knits up far more quickly than sock yarn... who knew?! Well I did of course! But it's been such a long time since I knitted anything more chunky than socks, that it was a lovely surprise. When I started knitting, I quickly learned that knitting would be a very expensive hobby if I didn't switch to finer yarns. So for many years I have mostly knitted with 4ply. But since the kids arrived, my knitting time has been drastically cut, so I can now indulge in some chunkier knits without bankrupting myself, and it's proving very satisfying!
Here's the sweater blocking on Sunday evening, after a pleasant day of knitting at a chess tournament!
And last night I finished it off with a "Hand knitted with love" label. I embarked on this project without a definite recipient in mind. The pattern was only in one size - for a 3 year old - and thus too small for any of our kids. It was just something I had to make. It was the perfect project and yarn combination and I was powerless to resist! I think I've found its owner, but we need to try it on.
In the meantime, I'm working hard on the next kids jumper. I'm still surprised at how quickly it's going!