hearth

December 03, 2016








Phew!  I have finished my second Christmas gift.  Now, just two more to go, and those just have the seaming to do--and it's the first fews days of December!  Getting things done early makes me feel good! 

This is Heath from the Pioneer book from Martin Storey that came out a few years ago.  I knew when I saw it that I would eventually have to make it for my 16 year old granddaughter. The original pattern calls for a big, gorgeous cowl-like collar, but Annie lives in Southern California and I knew that would be too warm for her, so I modified it to more of a crew collar.  As you can imagine, it's a quick knit and I'm super thrilled because I love to knit for Annie, especially when I know it's something she'll want to wear often.  My neighbor Jessica who is modeling here, and who is the same age and size as Annie, absolutely loved this and hardly wanted to take it off.  I promised I would make one for her, but only after Christmas. I just have to, she looks so darling in it!  She wants the same color, the same collar, the same everything.  The yarn is Big Wool Silk, but you could substitute any of the Rowan Big Wools as they all have the same gauge and weight. It's lovely and soft, and has a slight sheen because of the silk.  I added a bit of length to make it more of a tunic.  I admit to wearing this tunic while I was shopping last week; sometimes I'll wear a gift before I ship it off, sigh, a bit like a farewell after spending so much time with it.  I wore a long sleeved tee underneath and was very cozy even though it was pretty chilly.  I didn't think to add a belt, but Jessica styled it with a belt and I love it that way.

As quick a knit as this is, my hands tire easily using such large needles (size US 11 and 13), so I can only knit on this for a half hour at a time.  Luckily, you can get quite a lot done with Big Wool in a half hour!

Hope your December is going smoothly and you feel like your Christmas knitting is well under control.  We're having a Christmas party tonight for my Monday morning knitters and the husbands. Since we will be 19, yesterday I made a quadruple recipe of Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon--the most sublime stew ever, if you can even call it a stew--it's more like an art form.  We tasted it last night and it's heaven and cannot wait to serve it tonight. Today I'm making the finishing touches on my Christmas decorating and ironing tonight's linens with It's A Wonderful Life that's saved on my DVR--I can hardly wait to iron!  And yep, you read that correctly, it's December third and my tree and house lights are up, mantles are decorated and wreaths are hung--nothing like having a party early in December to get one motivated!  I'll admit our Christmas decorations are a bit abbreviated this year, (I seem to do less and less each year!) but it all looks super pretty and I'm very happy.  I'll try to get some photographs of all the holiday finery and post those soon.  

All the details are on my Ravelry project page.
Big Wool Silk has been discontinued, but
 Rowan (original) Big Wool is a great sub.
John Lewis has 9 of the Pioneer books in stock.
The Hearth pattern is also in the Big Wool Archive Collection and Webs has 25 in stock.

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Until next time, keep calm and merry on!

xoxo
Kristen



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9 Comments

  1. This is very cute and looks good on this young girl, but I suspect anything would look good on her! I am looking forward to seeing your Christmas decorating. Your decorations are my favorite in blogland! From Lynn, long time reader, first time commenter!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for commenting Lynn. And thank to so much for liking my Christmas decorations!

      Delete
  2. Beautiful sweater, beautiful color. I would like to make something out of this yarn.

    Carole

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you'd like it Carole. We'll go shopping.

      Delete
  3. What an extremely flattering neckline. And beautiful color. Your granddaughter is very lucky. Chloe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I'm pretty confident that she'll love it now that I know how much Jessica loved it.

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  4. Kristen, my p,ace has been decorated since November 13th, so you are not alone. I too have done a little less this year. It's all good. Gorgeous tunic. I think the extra length is a great idea. I love Pioneer booklet. martin really scored with that o e!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cindi. I know your Canadian thanksgiving is earlier than ours so you can get to it earlier. Interesting you did less too this year. Are we getting older??

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    2. Possibly; or decorating interferes with knitting time!

      Delete

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