Spring Break: Enrobed Wrap + V Junkie

 

It is the middle of spring break for our kids and it feels nothing like spring around here.  The snow is still densely on the ground, ice is packed over grass, and the temperatures are more suited to hot cocoa and fires in the fireplace than trips around the block on a bike.  We are also having our house insulated this week (at almost 100 years old we felt it was time to bring in additional reinforcements).  

All this means that I am tricking myself into thinking that I will still need a sweater yet this season and thus working quite diligently to complete the Enrobed Wrap (a side-tie wrap sweater) by Amy Herzog.  After trying on a lot of sweaters at her workshop, I fell in love with her other wrap sweater pattern - the Striper Cardigan - but thought I would stretch my wings on a sweater that was a bit more straightforward first.  There's no color work on this one, and it is knitting up at a larger gauge.  I figure I can get things worked out on this one and move onto the next one with more confidence.

I am really pleased with how this wrap is turning out so far.  I am trusting my measurements and modifications and so far it seems to be working quite well.  The back and front left panel are complete and when I hold them up to myself they fit nicely, not too wide or too long.  The increases and decreases are in the right places; the seams match up.

This method of piecing a sweater - knitting it in separate pieces and sewing it together at the end - is new to me and I am learning quite a bit as I go along.  I will give more detail when I write about the finished sweater.  So far, they mostly have to do with selvage and edging. (I haven't gotten to seaming yet!)

 

My other spring break project is V Junkie by Alice Yu (in Socktopus).  I had started with another of her patterns - they are all quite stunning with variegated yarns - but got frustrated after I had trouble following the pattern. So I abandoned it for another with a honeycomb design.  It looks pretty cool so far and is a much easier stitch pattern to follow.

The colors I have on the needles at the moment are reminiscent of dyed Easter eggs - maybe spring really is just around the corner.