Sunday, February 05, 2006

What a week!

This has been quite a week. First of all, yaiAnn, Stephanie, and I are THRILLED with the response we've gotten for the sew-along. Who'd of thunk there were so many knitters who wanted to sew? It should be a great experience for all of us.

Secondly, I started student teaching fifth grade on Monday. By Tuesday I was exhausted. My master teacher (the teacher who's room I'm in) is a very nice guy, which is great. Getting along with your master teacher is the most stressful part of the whole thing. Of course, there's such a difference between kindergarten and fifth grade that I feel I can't apply anything I learned last semester to this semester. They can actually ask questions! And have discussions! I'm going to be teaching all of the social studies and science classes starting this week - yipes!

I also had a bunch of extra classes and I'm studying for the RICA exam. Somewhere in the madness I managed to finish Jemima.


Pattern - Jemima by Amelia Raitte
Yarn - 9 balls of Elann's Peruvian Sierra Aran in walnut(?), less than 1 ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in burgundy, size 4.0 mm and 5.0 mm needles

I like the sweater and I loved knitting with the yarn but I could see how much better it would be in the yarn specified in the pattern, Cashsoft DK. The one thing I loved about the original sweater was the way it draped, and Sierra Aran is a little too thick for that. But, since this was a stash buster, I'm happy with the end product. The only modification I would make is to make the neck smaller, because I feel it's a little too loose. Of course, the true test of a pattern: would I make it again? Yes!

The pattern is straightforward and well written. I would rate it as a advanced beginner pattern, only because it doesn't talk about which decreases to use, seaming instructions, etc. But other than that it's a very easy pattern.

Knitting with the yarn is great, but there are strands of red and white that give it more of a heathered look. If it's sunny tomorrow I'll try to take a good close up photo of the sweater. After I blocked it, it became this great cohesive fabric and all of the stitches evened out. For the trim, I used some leftover yarn I had from this project. I really would have loved to do it in light blue but I thought I should work with what I had.

Rob and I have barely seen each other this week. He was snowboarding until Tuesday, was in Vegas on Wednesday (for work!), had some computer program training every night until 8:30 pm and all day Saturday, and today he went to ride roller coasters at Magic Mountain! He's had quite the week as well. So I knit him a sock.

This is Trekking XXL in color 90. Theresa just finished a pair for her husband in the same colorway. Her's seem to have a bit more pink than mine do, but I have to second her statement that it's a great yarn for a man. So I didn't party last weekend, I knit Rob a sock instead (when will I have time to finish the second one?)

17 comments:

yahaira said...

I love the color and the relaxed fit of your Jemima!

Anonymous said...

Your sweater looks great. I love the contrast of the side buttons. WIth the neckline, they really add the finishing touch. As for teaching, it gets less tiring. I teach third grade and coming back from breaks was always tiring. It's a great job, though.

Anonymous said...

the sweater looks good. good luck in your 5th grade student teaching.

lazysaturday said...

hi, your sweater looks great, love the color combo!

goodkarma said...

I love it! I love the colors you put together. I'm so glad to see your picture because this is probably going to be my next sweater and it's always nice and inspiring to see someone successfully finish a project you've got in mind. I do have some Cashsoft DK and was planning to do it all in one color, but now that I see your lovely contrasting color, I might stick with the pattern after all.

As for 5th grade, man, do I hear you. I used to teach 1st and 2nd grade and this year I'm teaching 4th grade. It took me a while to get into their psyche, their pace, their sense of humor, etc. but now we're getting along well. You'll be great. Having a good mentor teacher is half the battle right there. Enjoy!!

Anonymous said...

Jemima and Rob's sock look great! Love the colors on both. Rob's Trekking looks similar in color to the Trekking I got for my boyfriend. Maybe they'll be sock twins!

Terhi said...

Jemima is beautiful! I love the colour combination too. :-)

savannahchik said...

it looks great! while it does have a different drape than the original, i like it a lot. the color and the yarn make it feel a bit more casual (in a good way).

Anonymous said...

hi mari, your jemima looks so pretty. i adore the colors. i am so adding this to my project queue.

Anonymous said...

The sweater looks lovely on you! I love the color you chose for the contrast.

Anonymous said...

I love the sweater. It just looks so comfy. great job!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you found the time to knit a sweater and a sock with all the stuff you've got to do! Very impressive.

The sweater looks very comfy. You did a nice job!

Anonymous said...

Great Jemima! While it does have a different look and drape then the pattern, I think it's every bit as lovely! I was wondering what it would look like in thicker yarn, and the color combo is a smash. Good job!

Anonymous said...

Such a classic and well-fitting sweater, lovely colour too. Congrats on a successful stash buster.

MinaG said...

Very pretty sweater, love the walnut color, my favorite color for the season!

Anonymous said...

it's wonderful - it looks so cozy i hope you're getting lots of wear from it! i really must get together a gallery...

Anonymous said...

hi, i just found your blog by way of karma (the knitter, not the phenomenon). i'm in the middle of knitting jemima, and i was wondering if you added any waist shaping, or did it work out fine as-is? i'm slightly wary of the inverted triangle shape of the torso, but i'm a little on the lazy side and would like to avoid having to use the trial-and-error method.

by the way, all of your knits look great! i totally have to knit that lace leaf pullover for myself after seeing how great yours looks :)