Lelee's cardigan

This cardigan is from the month of February in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Almanac. Elizabeth dedicates the book

"To the Unsure Knitter,
To the Blind Follower,
and
To all those who do not yet know
that they can design thier own knitting,
this book is encouragingly dedicated"

This pattern made me go outside of my knitting comfort zone. It wasn't written out with each row detailed nor with every little aspect of the sweater described. I had to figure out a lot of things myself and that has made me a better knitter. I love the Knitter's Almanac for another reason: the prose that Elizabeth Zimmermann includes is very amusing to me. I like her dry wit and subtle empowerment. I don't know if I will try anything else from the book anytime soon, but if I do, I am sure to learn a lot from the experience.
I am knitting the sweater with Blue Sky Alpacas hand-dyed cotton in expresso.

No-Armed Bear

Here's the Baby Bobbi Bear I am making for Matt and Angela's new baby. As you can see, it still needs a little more work... I liked making this bear because it is one of the few stuffed animal patterns that does not require sewing all of the pieces together! A really creative design because it is knit all in one piece, you just keep picking up stitches to knit for all of the various body parts. I used Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton in nut.

Reed's Vest

This is a picture of Reed's completed sweater vest. I have gotten him to wear it a couple of times, but usually not without some convincing. The pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple and was very easy and creative. You knit in the round from the bottom up, knit back and forth at the armholes, and then add the ribbing at the end. No Sewing! I used Jo Sharp's Silk Road Aran Tweed in the color bark. The yarn is really beautiful, it has some green and even some lavender in it.