Sahara Sparkles and Shines

I could tell you all about my weekend and make quite a post out of it. There was the yard sale where 4 people wanted the one thing we hadn't planned on selling - my girls playset. Seeing it loaded on a picku truck and rolling down the street away from our house was weird. I could tell you all the pretty things DQ and I saw at the craft show on Sunday. I could even tell you about the haircut Stinkerbelle got yesterday that was so bad that the manager told us we didn't have to pay for it. It's wayyyy shorter than requested but thankfully it'll grow back.

I could tell you lots of things but I'll skip it all and get right to the good stuff - my new sweater.


This is Sahara by Wendy Bernard knit up in Cotton Fleece (New Age teal) and Tilli Tomas Disco lights (Natural). The Cotton Fleece was delightful. This was my forst time using it but it certainly won't be the last. It was easier on my hands than cotton usually is. I guess that the wool content makes more of a difference than I'd expect. The color is fantastic and the feel of the finished fabric is just lovely.

The Tilli Tomas was also new to me and the experience was more mixed. Disco Lights wasn't my first choice for this project. I was hoping to use Rock Star but I couldn't find it in the natural. The the beads in Rock Star seemed les likely to irritate my skin than the sequins in the Disco Lights. I'm happy to say that the sequins are less of a problem in that repect than I anticipated. What they are is sparkly and with the overall shine of the silk they really make this sweater special.

Unfortunately it's not a terribly sturdy yarn. Do you see the fuzziness in the picture? That started even before I put the sweater on for the first time. It makes me a little nervous to wear it. For that reason this will be more of a special occasion sweater.

I wound up with one full extra skein of both the Cotton Fleece and the Tilli Tomas. The Cotton Fleece I'll likely use but I'm not so sure about the Tilli. I really don't want to worry so much about my knits.



The pattern itself was fine. It's clear and well-designed. I only made 2 smallish mods. I did one less waist decrease (and increase) to accomodate my somewhat ample figure. I suppose that I could've done the decrease and the sweater still would've fit but I erred on the side of caution and I'm happy with the decision. The other mod was hubbo's suggestion. He told me that I really ought to go with a 3/4 sleeve because I tend to push my sleeves up all the time anyway. We debated it the whole time I worked on the sleeves and during one exchange he even pointed out that as I was debating the point the sleeves on the shirt I was wearing were pushed up to my elbows. In the end I think that he's right. It works much better for me like this.

This is only the second time that I've made a sweater for myself and the first one is a shapeless, sleeveless, mess. Comparing this to that earlier effort (no, I will not show it to you - it's that sad)I would say that I've come a long way. The usual turn-off to knitting sweaters for myself is the time involves in knitting larger garments but this really wasn't bad aside from the procrastination. Now I can't wait to get another sweater on the needles.