Another Finished Project

New Sweater - Front

This is the sweater I've been knitting in the evenings, usually while watching the evening news.  I'd repair the triangles quilt in the afternoons when there was plenty of daylight to sew by and knit in the evenings for an hour or so.

New Sweater - Back

The yarn I used is 100% wool (Patons Classic Wool Worsted).  I had purchased five 3.5 oz/100 g balls in a color named "Softened Pansy" (although the color in the photos above appears a little bluer than it is).  I added color blocks in a dark grey wool (also Patons Classic Wool Worsted) that I had leftover from a previous sweater I had knitted, to the front, partly because I wanted a little visual interest and partly because I have another solid blue sweater and I didn't want two solid blue sweaters (although the other solid blue sweater has a central cable).  At first, I was just going to do blue on one side and the grey on the other side, but, then, I changed my mind and decided to go with color blocks, instead!  They are off-centered and of unequal lengths on purpose.  I am short and chunky; I'd like to think the unequal color blocks provide a bit of an optical illusion of a longer torso!  LOL.  I finished sewing the sweater together, yesterday.

One thing I learned this winter, when I was wearing 3 or more layers on top to keep warm, was that things got a bit tight around the armholes and that would pull the uppermost garment across my shoulders at the back of my neck, which felt uncomfortable to me.   So, I made this sweater sized a bit larger to comfortably wear over a long sleeved top.  I decided on a turtle neck for added warmth.  This sweater is designed for next winter, when I anticipate even higher heating bills!  

It Fits!

For anyone who is interested, I used UK size 10 needles for the ribbing and UK size 8 needles for the rest of it.  The UK size 10 needles and a pair of UK size 12 needles were my very first pairs of knitting needles, bought in 1965 when I was in 4th grade because we had to learn either crocheting or knitting for  our weekly Handicrafts class and I chose knitting.  I knitted a scarf in green and yellow, I remember, which were my House colors at school.  At first, I was knitting it in stockinette stitch (knit on one side, purl on the other), but, then, one of my cousins showed me how to do a basket weave pattern and I unpicked what I had done up to that time and reknitted the scarf.  I don't know what happened to the scarf, but, I kept my knitting needles!  They are still some of my favorite knitting needles!

Knitting Needles: No. 10 Above; No. 12 Below

They are both slightly bent (especially the thinner, No. 12 ones), but, I'm keeping them because they are special to me.  

Speaking of heating bills, I received my April natural gas bill (covering the period of March 22 to April 20).  The initial bill tracker notice email, received March 31 stated that, 9 days into the billing period, my bill was $47.88 and my projected bill was estimated to be $155.63.  The next bill tracker notice, received April 7, stated that 16 days into the billing period, my bill was $85.69 and the projected bill was $151.47.  The third bill tracker notice, received April 14, stated that 23 days had elapsed and my bill was $92.52 and the projected bill was $118.12.  The bill was received on April 21 and the actual bill is $108.10.  I am happy with that bill amount.  It has been warm during these past few days and I have not needed to have the big heater on (I've used the electric space heater in the evenings, when I've felt cold).  I don't anticipate it getting cold enough again to need the heater on until fall, so, my May bill should be much less (my stove, water heater, clothes dryer all work on natural gas, even though I don't use the dryer all that much, especially in the summer).  I will still budget the same amount each month and build up a reserve for the higher winter bills.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A new sweater to wear when the weather turns cold
- Learning to knit 
- My yarn stash and collection of knitting needles
- Getting the gas bill down
- The warmer weather.

 Today's joyful activity was modeling my new sweater!  LOL!