My requisite Fall 2006 big bulky knit

I've been seeing tons and tons of HUGE sweaters around lately and they all look amazing, cozy and really, really, expensive. Seriously, check these ones out (from Anthropologie naturally):

Ice Fishing sweater coat

Plaits cardigan

Radiowave sweater coat

Since I am not made of money, I decided to steal one. Ok fine, not true. I decided to make a big sweater on my own! Coincidentally, last winter I had a hankering for big bulky yarn, so I bought myself a sweater's worth at Romni (out of a gift certificate that my awesome friends gave me). But by the time I got around to looking at the yarn again, it was spring and I was ready to move on to tiny little cropped cardigans and cotton vests. Cue August/September, when I had just moved to a new city and needed some comfort knitting ASAP. Voila:



This sweater was superfast, supereasy, and supersatisfying. The pattern is Laura from Rowan's Big It Up, but Rowan Big Wool is big money, so I instead used some awesome yarn whose name I cannot tell you because I foolishly threw away the ball bands. The gauge for the mystery yarn is slightly smaller than for Big Wool, so I ended up knitting up size medium on 10 mm needles instead of 12 mm. One problem with the pattern was that in my version at least, there were no instructions for button hole placement. I managed to figure out the perfect button hole (a neat and tidy yarn over button hole) for the yarn and placed those buttons and holes myself. The huge tortoise shell buttons I ended up using (and which I think are perfect) are from an awesome hole-in-the-wall button shop on Queen West just east of Spadina. Seriously, if you are in Toronto and in need of buttons, go there. They have EVERYTHING. One more non-action shot before I go:

Easing on down the road

Hey ya'll!!!

Maybe that's too optimistic. I'll try again.

Hey everyone who hasn't given up on checking my blog in the two months since I last posted and random others who manage to stumble on over here by googling!!! I'm back!

So I've moved (from Victoria to Toronto), I've graduated (I just got a letter telling me that I was a member of the 2006 graduating class), and I've started a new job (not an articling job, but a fun one where I get discounts on shoes, which is never a bad thing). But really, all that activity doesn't excuse not posting for TWO ENTIRE MONTHS. Brutal. Anyway, I apologize and promise that it won't happen again. In any case, just because I stopped posting for two months, doesn't mean I don't have things to show you. I've been knitting like a madwoman, I'm teaching myself how to sew, and I've been doing tons of cooking so there are going to be posts galore now that I've gotten up the motivation to start again. So let's start with something simple, to ease back into things:



I mean an easy post, not necessarily easy knitting. These mittens are maybe the most technically difficult knitted item that I've ever made, but I really didn't find them to be that stressful. Sure, it was hard getting used to having all those colours trailing around. Sure, the gauge was tiny. But when it all comes down to it, you know what they say - it really was just knits and purls, knits and purls.

Details:

Pattern: Knitpicks' Nothern Lights Mittens
Yarn: Knitpicks' Palette in Pool, Sky, Hyacinth, Lilac, Black, Fog and White
Needles: 2.75 mm Aero DPNs

Stay tuned for thanksgiving dinner pics and more finished knits in the coming days!