Wicked Awesome Vacation

Yup, been away in Maine, and yup, I FINISHED THE WICKED SWEATER!
YIPPEE!!

I am mostly pleased with the sweater. I knit it at a slightly smaller gauge since I was knitting with a cotton blend rather than the wool recommended and I was hoping to avoid sag, and this worked out well. I used Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Blush, and I can't for the life of me remember how many balls I used. I knit this based on the directions for the 40-43 inch bust, adding in the waist decreases and increases, but I did not take into account the notion of negative ease. I never truly understood this, but I recently started receiving e-mails from Knitting Daily, an Interweave publication, and the author, Sandi Wiseheart, described her own battle with negative ease, and the tendency for many of us to think of ourselves as larger than we are. I definitely did in this case. I am finding that even when I buy tops in the store, I tend to get a large 12/14 size, and they hang on me and make me look worse than my slightly overweight frame truly is. Just 'cause my behind is big doesn't mean the rest of me is! So, the next time I knit this -- and I will knit it again, in navy wool as a long sleeve -- I will definitely go down a size. As it stands, it is wearable, and will work nicely with a top underneath for fall as well.
I brought a few other projects with me, including the spinning wheel, and worked on them sporadically, but got no other FO's. My Nightshade/Romney yarn is nearly done and I hope to blog that tomorrow, as is the Sunflower dress for Gracie. I didn't even touch the design sock, sighting lack of concentration, but I did at least turn the heel on a basic handspun sock for Rachel. It is a little tough to design, do math, take notes, and work a patterned stitch when watching at times 5 children swim in a lake, ya know?
FIVE kids you ask? Well, yes. We go camping often with my good friend Amy and her 3 children ("cousin" to my kids) and we all look forward to these trips all year long. The kids have such a wonderful time together, I get to be with one of my dearest friends, and the memories we are all building just makes this mommy's heart swell. I wouldn't give it up for ANYTHING.



I'm hoping to come up with a few new colorways representative of the area, too. I discovered that the mom/daughter team of owners are knitters and Beth, the daughter, even wants to learn to spin when we head back in August! I'll have to bring them some nice fibery treats.

We (Amy, her mom and hubby, and I) were also honored by a mother duck who seemingly entrusted her brood to our care while she took off for about 1/2 an hour. The little buggers wandered up the beach and settled in near our chairs (and feet!) and had a lovely nap. Guess mommy knew suckers when she saw them, huh? Glad we could give the poor girl a break.