Finally!

(Howard will be shocked that I put a photo of me on the blog...)

I've been doing a lot of knitting while in Quito--mostly cowls and hats and fingerless gloves.  Small projects, easy to do around work here. Simple knitting relaxes me at the end of long work days. These kinds of projects also allowed me to pick up new knitting skills without feeling overwhelmed. 

But I also tackled a sweater project.  I've tried these before.  It went okay for my kids, but whenever I tried to make a sweater for myself, it just never worked.  This time I decided to try a top-down, simple sweater.  It's the Annabel Cardigan from Quince & Co. (www.quinceandco.com).  


I loved this pattern.  So often, I am confused by patterns, but this was not only a simple knit, but it has clear instructions.  And no sewing!  It was supposed to have longer sleeves, but because I like my sweaters big, the sleeve opening began kind of low--and that would have made the sleeves awkward.  I decided to just make it short sleeved, and I really like that (this also drastically decreased my time knitting on dpns).  I can wear it with a tee shirt without getting all itchy from the wool.  

It's not perfect, but it will do.  The other patterns I tried weren't really more complicated--they just didn't come out right, maybe b/c I have kind of a hard body for sizing.  Even this is kind of big, especially around the neck/shoulders, but it's workable.

I'm now back to small projects until we leave, but I am hoping to find room for more yarn in my bags so that I can bring some Andean wool goodness home and use it for more projects there.  And really--yarn squishes down, so it shouldn't be too hard to find room for it, right??? Right???  

Now, those three stacks of books are another matter altogether.  I think I'm going to be buying another suitcase for the trip home...

What accomplishments have fueled you lately?