The Grass is Greener

Tons of photos from our trip to Seattle to share later this week. We had a great time, which was followed by an extremely satisfying - if busy - weekend at home. While you're waiting for me to get my pictures sorted and thoughts organized, I thought I'd share my most recently completed knitting projects.

First up, Grass is Greener, my version of Robin Melanson's Lace-Up Pullover from the Classic Elite pamphlet Sunday Brunch. (Lots more yummy patterns in this book - I'd love to knit them all!) It isn't often that I knit a pattern in the color shown, but I really loved this green. It's a color I'm trying to work more of into my wardrobe. The sweater has lots of small details which make it really special - the lace-up-front (of course), two lovely stitch patterns, the slightly puffed sleeves, subtle vintage-inspired style...

The knitting has actually been finished for a while now. The most difficult part of the project was finding the right ribbon, which is green and white gingham. Sadly, I didn't find the ribbon before the warm weather hit and I'm not likely to wear 100% wool for another few months. I'm not complaining - I'll take the warmer weather! The outfit kind of puts me in mind of "back-to-school" time, so maybe I'll just save it for the first crisp autumn day.

Next up is a quick little beret, the "Just Right" spring beret, knit from Natalie Larson's free Spring Beret pattern. What makes this beret "just right"? 1) The pattern was free and came with two variations - more slouchy and less slouchy. (Mine is the less slouchy version.) 2) I used Lion Brand's Cotton Ease, which not only was very inexpensive, but it also had enough yardage that I only needed one skein. Actually, I had enough yarn to also knit a matching scarflette using same lace pattern as the beret. 3) It was a super-quick knit, almost instant gratification. 4) It goes with everything!


Here's a better look at the lace. I've already worn the hat lots in the last month. I took it on our camping trip, it's been all over Portland, and it was perfect the last morning we were in Seattle.

Ok, that's all from me for now. I've gotta work on getting those Seattle photos for you...