Finished: Owls Sweater

A second sweater!

I feel like an old pro at this sweater knitting thing now!  And before you correct me, no, I haven't made a cardigan or altered a pattern or done anything really awesome, so you can save yourself the trouble.  I know I'm nowhere near even intermediate-level knitting!

This is the Owls sweater by Kate Davies and it is a really fun sweater.  I'm sure you've seen it a million times, because I think everyone has made it.  It uses bulky yarn and cabling, two new facets of knitting I encountered.  From this, I've learned that I dislike bulky yarn but enjoy cables.  Who knew!

I knit a straight 38 (Ravelry notes here) and used Dream in Color Groovy in Gold Experience from Eat Sleep Knit.  I wasn't too sure about the color at first--it's a bit '70s I think--but it grew on me as I kept knitting.  Of course, now that it's mid-February, I realize that it's a much better fall sweater.  I'll probably end up packing it away until October for that reason!

I decided on shorter sleeves, because I always roll them up anyway.  I can't stand long sleeves--too constricting!  I also didn't alternate skeins, and found that I didn't have a problem with the colors because of it.  I was worried it would be striped but thankfully the knitting gods were looking out for me.

The only downside of this sweater is that I blocked it way too rigorously.  If you look at the modeled pictures above, you can see there's a lot of fabric on my sides.  When I tried it on before blocking, it was tight--much tighter than I like my clothes and sweaters.  Now there's a lot of room!  I might try blocking it again, but I don't want to exhaust the fiber, if that is a thing.  Has anyone re-blocked to achieve a different size?

I finished this last week, and also finished my Rae shawl, which I haven't photographed yet.  Until spring, my photography time is pretty limited to weekends between errands, so I find myself constantly trying to catch up.  It's really annoying.  Come on, warm weather!

I swatched for a Grace cardigan this week and also am making progress on Nick's socks!  I started the gusset on the socks last night, and Nick only asks me a million times a day if they're ready yet.  Good lord, boy, I don't even have one done!  

My sewing machine is still at the shop getting cleaned--it's been two weeks and I'm super antsy to get it back.  I started cutting out a Catnap quilt this morning just so I'll be ready when it gets here!

What have you made lately?