Yarn Along - Tali's Tallulah

Greetings! Obviously one of favorite things is reading, but I also quite love knitting. Ginny over at Small Things hosts a lovely little link-up so once you're done here go visit and see what everyone else is up to.

Heeeeeey, it's my birthday!!! Thanks for reading! *blows noisemaker and passes out party hats*

After almost 3 weeks of knitting absolutely nothing (a well-deserved break after the marathon of the Wildflower Cardigan), I've begun work on my next project: Hanukkah cardigans. My little girls in Venice Beach who I babysit on Saturday nights asked for sweaters of their own after watching me work on my Wildflower cardi. Who can say no to such a sweet request? Certainly not me.

I swatched! And I'm pretty close to proper gauge! This is the pink for Lila's sweater. Tali's will be in purple.

The little one, Talia, is almost 3 and when I asked her what color she wanted her sweater to be she said, "Bwue!" I asked her again 5 minutes later and she said, "Wed!" 5 more minutes go by and she answers, "Wainbow!" Then I asked her a week later and she said, "Puwple." Since I happen to know for a fact that her favorite color is purple, purple is what she gets. 

Soft, squishy, purple yarn

I searched for a pattern that had elements like buttons, top-down construction, set-in sleeves, and a simple, classic look with pretty details. Tallulah completely delivered. It's customizable and calls for DK which I really enjoy working with. In SoCal the last thing anyone needs is a heavy, bulky sweater. Light cardigans see a lot more use. Because I'm making these sweaters for young children, I want their mom to be able to throw them in the washing machine and not worry about having to hand wash them. I asked my friend at the yarn shop for suggestions and she came up with this beautiful DK nylon/acrylic blend that's completely washable and feels so soft. I would've preferred more muted color choices but the yarn was too perfect to pass up and she had pink and purple available so I went for it. Plus, this yarn cost me a little less than $5 a skein (I need 2 for Tali's sweater and 3 in the pink for Lila's - less than $30 for 2 sweaters!) so I won't be heartbroken if the sweaters end up damaged or stained or something. 

I cast on and worked about 7 rows on Friday night.

It feels good to be working on a project again, although it was nice to dedicate 2 1/2 whole weeks to reading instead of knitting. The gang is in the process of deciding on a new project but we plan to take our time on the next one. Maybe another sweater or possibly a t-shirt but we're going to take it easy while still trying to learn new skills.

Reading:
I finished Jack Hitt's Off the Road last Wednesday and while I overall enjoyed the book, there were a lot of things that bugged me about it. I'm working up a review right now that should be ready to publish in the next couple of days so keep a look out! In keeping with my complete obsession with the Camino, I've started reading Camino de Santiago: Practical Preparation and Background. It goes into the historical context of the Camino (which is review for me) but also talks about how to prepare, what to bring, and what to expect along the way. It's got great reviews and I'm hoping it will prove useful.

That's it for me today. You can also find notes and detailed specs on this project on my Ravelry Page. What have you been reading and knitting lately? Let me know in comments and then head over to Ginny's to see what everyone else is up to!

Love,

Willow






*Author's Note: The Yarn Along button in this post is property of Ginny Sheller and is used with permission. All other images used in the post as well as text are (c)Whitney Miller and may be used only with express permission. See the About Page for details.*