A sweater for my mother

There's a charming children's book called A Chair for My Mother, which details how a family saves up to buy a new chair after they lose everything in a fire.  My kids all had to read it for a book report in lower grammar, and it is delightful.  The book sprang to mind when I was trying to come up with a title for this post. 

Sometime in mid-October, when I was hip-deep in quilt-making for St. Nicholas Day and Christmas presents, I decided I didn't have nearly enough to do, so I might as well make a sweater for my mom's birthday.  Which falls on January 9.  Two days after our Christmas.  And the pattern I chose was fingering gauge with a lace yoke.  So, no pressure or anything.  Ha! 

I knew my mom would understand if the gift was late.  I had made her a little table runner and pot holder from scraps from her quilt, so it wasn't like she had nothing to open on the day.  There have been late knitted birthday gifts in previous years.  But I was quite determined to get this finished in time.  I put aside everything else and knitted away.  Despite the small gauge, it went relatively fast, particularly considering the amount of time I had for knitting this fall.  I had started the first sleeve by November 12 (I know this, because I had to get a 9" circular needle in the correct size), and finished the second sleeve sometime in mid-December.  

I added length to the body of the sweater after I sneakily measured a few of my mom's current sweaters when I visited in November, so that added a bit more time, but I started the lace charts during the winter break, during which time we all got covid (again) and the kids were home an extra three days because so many teachers were sick when we were supposed to go back.  Thankfully this round of the virus was much milder than the first, and much shorter-lived, so I didn't lose too much time to it.

I finished the sweater just before dinnertime on January 5, soaked it quick-like, and put it on the blocks in the warmest room I could find so it would dry overnight and I could get it in the mail first thing on January 6.  The postal service being what it is, I had scant hope it would arrive on Saturday, but my mom was happy to get it on Monday instead!

My making notes are on my ravelry page, including the short row mod for the back neck, so I won't repeat that here, but I will say it was an extremely enjoyable knit.  I'm not generally a leave-it-to-the-last-minute kind of person (that is probably the understatement of the century), but I'm glad I made it, despite all the obstacles!

More wool gathering

 

с Рождеством! С праздником!  

 

Since Friday, we have celebrated Christmas, Piglet's birthday, our parish yolka (ёлка), and my husband's namesday, and there are still more celebrations to come this month!  The weather has also turned quite cold (yay!) and we had snow on Friday for Christmas, so that was fun.  

It will be February before I know it, so I want to get caught up on projects from late 2021.  I mentioned that I found an extra wide yard of Melton wool in a fantastic peacock color in my previous wool skirt post.  It's really meant for things like coating, but I figured it would work for a structured straight skirt as well.

This is probably the closest, as it tends more to the green, but it is still much more saturated than this.

(It was extremely difficult to get an accurate color read in the pictures.  It is much bolder and saturated in real life). 

The boiled wool is significantly heavier than the pink, and more tightly woven, so I made some modifications to my Free Range Skirt hack to accommodate the fabric.  The first was to use rayon seam tape on the pocket edges and hand sew it down, as the thickness of the wool did not play nicely with visible seams. 

I also hand sewed the pocket back as well, for the same reason.
 

I lined the skirt with rayon bemberg, but dithered about whether to face the waistband with the wool or the bemberg. 

I had done wool on the pink and bemberg on my plaid flannel, and I like both. I decided in the end to go with wool as I feared the bemberg might not play nicely with the Melton, particularly since I'd have to hand-stitch the thing down.

As with the wool and flannel skirts, I shortened the ban-rol elastic--this one to 26".  It was more of frugality than anything, as I had a 26" length left and didn't want to waste it. 

The elastic has relaxed slightly since I've worn the skirt a few times, and while it is snug getting up over my hips, I can make it.  I think the shorter length balances the bulk.  

I also used lace hem tape on the hem and hand sewed it down.  I really like all the finishes on this skirt, and I like the straight silhouette I got in the heavier fabric.  

I used the same adjusted seam allowances as with my green flannel skirt.  It is slim without feeling restrictive, and the waistband is very comfortable.  I'm quite pleased with the finishes too.  All in all, a successful winter skirt!