We're home!

My concerns about the roads were unfounded, thankfully. The Coquihalla Highway and the Connector were both fine; we made it to Abbotsford in the usual 3-4 hours. The roads were a little slushy in a couple of places, but otherwise, just wet. We got in to Abbotsford early in the afternoon last Sunday and stopped in to see my eldest daughter for a few minutes, to drop off some hats and scarves she's going to try to sell. After a brief visit, we continued on to Vancouver, and John's Dad.

On Monday, after John and his dad did some shopping, I took the car and drove back to Abbotsford, where I spent two nights at my parents' house. Monday night, I cooked dinner and I knitted. And knitted. And knitted. You saw John's sweater in my previous post... well, you saw the start of John's sweater in the previous post. Here's what it looked by Tuesday morning...



It's working up very quickly! I'm having so much fun knitting this sweater. And he can try it on as I go along! I love, love, love knitting from the top!

Allow me to show you a close-up of the pattern detail...

I copied a portion of a sweater pattern I found on Garnstudio, then recharted it and changed the colours. When I got back to Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon, I had John try the sweater on. From the bathroom, I could hear "Wow, I love it!" It fits him perfectly (after I remembered to factor in the ease) and it looks good on him. Remember I said this sweater will be seamless? Well, it will have one small seam; I'll have to stitch the collar to the sweater at the base, as it will be a shawl collar (which, incidentally, is already done but the picture came out blurry or I would have showed you). Even the sleeves are not sewn in.

A detail of the sleeve...

The stitches for the sleeve are picked up and worked in short rows until you get back to the underarm. From there, the sleeve is simply knitted in the round, with decreases spaced evenly (like a regular sleeve, just backwards) to the cuff. I'm thinking I'll knit both sleeves before I finish off the body. At this point, the body is just brainless knitting down to the waistband.

I'm hoping to do some more knitting on it today. I have to tell you, knitting a sweater this way is a lot more fun than knitting all the pieces, then sewing them all together. Is there a single knitter out there who enjoys sewing sweaters together? I know I don't. With this sweater? No seams to sew up. No making sure the pieces fit together just right. No question about fit. I highly recommend Barbara G. Walker's Book, "Knitting from the Top".

Anyway, back to our trip. On Tuesday, I spent most of the day with my kids and grandkids... after checking out the local yarn store and Michael's. At the yarn store, I bought one ball of yarn and a set of bamboo double-pointed needles. Yes, that's all I bought there. At Michael's, I bought a couple balls of Paton's Canadiana in variegated colours and a set of Nifty Knitters, which I was going to give to my daughter but forgot to. Little Miss Trinity decided she wants a purple hat. So, grandma's going to make her (has already made her) a purple hat. I finished it yesterday and will mail it to her, along with a few other little hats for other (new) members of the family.

I spent most of the afternoon with my youngest daughter, whose second baby is due any time. I got to know my second granddaughter, Oceanna, a little better throughout the afternoon. She is such a sweetheart, a chubby little angel. That evening, I took all three of my kids and their kids (my five grandchildren) out for Chinese. After dinner, the girls went home and I followed my son to his girlfriend's home, where we spent a bit of time getting to know each other again (that's a whole 'nother story). Let's just say that our little family will be expanding as Julie has three children. That means three more kids to knit things for, right?

On Wednesday, I drove back to Vancouver and we spent the last night there, with John's dad. John took us out for dinner at Hy's (the most expensive steak dinner I've ever had), something he's been wanting to do since we first met. Thursday, we packed up the car and headed back to Kelowna. Again, the roads were good. Wet, but no snow, no ice. We were home by dinner time. I'm sure it won't be too long before we go back, if only to meet my soon-to-be-born grandchild.

Now, in addition to working on John's sweater today, I'll be knitting more little hats. I'm just having so much fun with them. It seems (so I heard from my son's mate) the hats I make are a hit, so I'll just keep making them. They're quick, they're fun... so, why not? I'll post pictures of the hats I've already done the next time I post.

Till then, stay warm, knit up a storm!