Holiday Knitting

November 1st marks the start of holiday knitting for my children. I have named this the year of the sweater. Last year was the year of the quilt, and each kiddo received a mama-made quilt for Christmas. This year I hope to give will be giving each of them a mama-made sweater.

The decision to knit each of my children a sweater was an easy one. This year I have made four sweaters for myself with relative ease. I figure three child-sized sweaters would be a piece of cake. The hard part has been selecting the pattern and yarn. For Aine, I have selected the Tiny Tea Leaves pattern. I really like the simple lines of this cardigan. The adult version has been in my knitting queue for some time. A pattern for the boys has been harder. Would a hoodie be best? Or a sweater with a pouch pocket? Or a cardigan? Or what about a Harry Potter initial sweater? With all the choices muddled in my head, I think I have finally settled on a simple raglan pullover following Elizabeth Zimmerman's pithy instructions. My knitting skills should be good enough to face up to the task. Of course, this may change as the month progresses.

The next issue is yarn. I am really trying to only use yarn that I already have. The problem is finding a sweater's worth of yarn in my collection. I have quite a bit of sock yarn and single skeins. When I reviewed my inventory, I realized I could definitely make Aine's sweater with four skeins of Dream in Color Classy that I have. The color is Chinatown Apple and a bit darker than she likes, but I think it will work with her coloring and current wardrobe. There isn't enough yarn for the other two sweaters, so I will need to buy it. I think both sweaters will also be in the red family. Eamon and Benton both call red one of their favorite colors. I think I will stripe Eamon's sweater with black which is another of his top colors. Since Benton's other favorite is green, he may just get a solid sweater.

Aine's sweater is first in the queue, and I cast-on today. My gauge was spot on, so I was able to proceed without needing to change needles several times. While we were at the park, I was able to knit about 15 rows between swing pushing, sand mountain surveying and game refereeing.

Following along with Ginny's Yarn Along - Tiny Tea Leaves Sweater 

While knitting, I haven't been reading much besides patterns and reviews. My constant companion lately has been Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman. EZ is the quintessential mother of knitting. Her straight-forward instructions are brief and scare me a bit. I like a little hand-holding in my patterns. Her style is refreshing and encouraging though, so I think it will all work out.