Monday, February 25, 2008

Apricot Jacket Complete!

The 26th! Where has my February gone? I feel like I lost a couple weeks in there somewhere because the beginning of the month brought a visit from the flu fairy, first to my husband, and then a few days later to me. We were over the worst of it after a week or so, but we both still have some residual coughing going on at night. I'm just thrilled to be feeling normal again, at least for most of my day.

While I haven't been blogging much I have been knitting. The big news is I finally finished the Apricot Jacket I've been working on (for entirely too long.) I've been having a difficult time photographing it though. It seems like every time I've had the opportunity to take pictures lately it's been overcast. I try to get some better pics soon.

The color is pretty off in the first two pics. It's really much closer to the color in the the photo of the pieces being blocked.

I'm really pleased with how this sweater turned out. It was a lot of work and the pattern was pretty much a nightmare as many knitters out there had forewarned but it was worth it. In fact I have to mention that I'm very grateful for all the tips and advice that was available on the Internet. Blogs that were especially helpful: The Lint Knitter with lots of info and I love how she rates and reviews her projects and D-Made Knitting Gallery for her chart correction that I'm sure saved me hours of frustration. I knit the larger size because of gauge issues with the Cotton Fleece, an idea I got from Night Owl Knits.

Pattern: Apricot Jacket from Rebecca #27
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in New Age Teal - 5 skeins*
Needles: Size 6
Modifications: Shortened sleeves and overall length

*If I'd been a little more careful and hadn't minded weaving in more ends, I could have done this sweater with 4 skeins.

This was my first time working with Cotton Fleece and I have to give it a big thumbs up. It was a little splitty, but really that would be my only complaint. At 215 yds and around $8.00 a skein it's a good buy and it comes in dozens of colors. It drapes nicely and I think the wool content (20%) will keep it from getting baggy. I can't wait to see how it wears over time!