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To borrow a phrase from a friend of mine, I am insufferably proud of my latest craft achievment. I've been on a bit of a knitting kick after discovering Elizabeth Zimmerman's books and falling in love with them, and I just finished my first sweater. It's the "Ski Sweater in Color Patterns" from Zimmerman's book Knitting Without Tears, which I would recommend to anyone looking to get beyond scarves and learn some intuition for garment design (the third word in the title lays the stress on the "e" rather than the "a", in case you're a smart alec like my brother and were going to ask...). I made the sweater with Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Ranch Red and Black; I think it took five skeins of red and four of black. I love working with Wool-Ease, and for a first sweater I wanted something cheaper than the expensive boutique yarns (and Wool-Ease isn't too much more than a nice acrylic) but a nice enough yarn I would really wear the sweater. The 15% wool makes the texture nice, and it's a fairly thin yarn so the sweater didn't turn out too bulky - particularly nice since there's always an extra strand being carried along the backside. I just noticed their coming out with Wool-Ease Sport and I'm planning on grabbing a couple of balls to make socks (I've had my eye on the Highland knee sock pattern in Folk Solks but am a bit intimidated).

Anyway, back to this sweater, it was surprisingly easy to make. Zimmerman suggests knitting two colors by holding a color in each hand and alternating which you use to knit with on the fly. It sounds horrible, but it's really very easy after the first dozen or so stitches. Her pattern is also knit entirely in the round for the entire body and arms, and they you cut slits in the sides to place the armholes. This was the only part that went slightly awry. She assures readers that if you sew a basting seam next to the slit before you but with your sewing machine set on the shortest stitch length nothing will unravel, but she is wrong. My first armhole had strands popping out all over the place. The solution was to not only make a close seam before cutting, but then do a zig-zag stich up the cut edge afterwards to really tightly seal off the ends. I'm not convinced I wouldn't prefer a more complicated pattern that didn't require this step, but on the positive side, you don't have to ensure that your knit-only in the round looks the same as alterating knit and purl back and forth (it never does for me). All said, I love the sweater, and it was quick to make and easy to shape to fit me.