This is the sweater I want to be buried in. Its "Maria" from The Best of Lopi, done in charcoal and natural Reynolds Lopi, bought at a discount from Smileys (http://www.smileysyarns.com - another dangerous place, so hide your credit cards before checking it out). It was my first Lopi sweater. It made me happy to make it and it makes me happy to wear it. It's baggy, big, very light, and very warm. It makes me feel like I'm wearing a hug.
This is "Tania," also from The Best of Lopi, and also made with Reynolds Lopi. It's a little more fitted, not as baggy. For some reason I can't now remember, I wound up doing only part of the pattern on the yoke, but I think it still looks nice. I usually wear it with black slacks and a black turtleneck, and think it looks quite elegant. Since you can't really see the rich chestnut that "makes" this sweater, here's a close-up of the yoke:
Next is a giant-cable sweater made from Lion Brand Thick 'n Quick. I can't remember what magazine it's from but can look it up if anyone's interested. It's a 5 x 2 rib and an 18-stitch cable. The original pattern is made in pieces--front, back, sleeves--I, of course, did no such thing; worked in the round to the arm holes, split to work front and back separately, 3 needle bindoff at the shoulders (actually called for in the pattern). Then I went back and picked up stitches around the armholes and worked down, reversing the shaping. I also made it longer--the original pattern is "cropped"; mine comes down over my hipbones. I don't have the midsection for anything cropped. I quite like this sweater, it's handsome and warm, but it started to pill about 30 seconds after I put it on, so I can't really wear it out in public, to autumnal farmers' markets and so on, becausethe pilling always makes it look a little bit grungy.
Here's Taenzer modeling the Tumbling Block Shrug from I can't remember where, except that it was an individually purchased pattern. It's a big shrug, almost like a shawl with sleeves. I used a merino/cashmere blend I picked up off ebay. It's light and very soft, but isn't very warm unless you're talking about an early summer evening where the temp goes from 80 to 60, and you need something over your t-shirt. Then it's perfect. And it was fun to make, and the yarn was a dream to work with.
Finally, here's Taenzer pretending she doesn't have a mohair scarf/stole draped around her neck, and a close-up of the yarn to show the colors. This was an easy knit with a pretty result. It's shown here unblocked, which gives it the dimensions of a long scarf; if it were blocked out it would make a pretty summer stole, and I've used it that way a couple of times. It's the Irish Mists scarf from Lavish Lace, and I made it on impulse when I found 4 balls of this beautiful mohair in my stash while I was looking for something else. They show it as a scarf, but I turned it into a stole by just going on until I ran out of yarn.
I've got some socks and a baby sweater to post, but I'll do them later. I wasn't happy with the way the sock pics came out. and want to take another crack at them.
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