anniversary sweater

this is my first full sized adult sweater.

i finished knitting it just in time for our 11th anniversary...

but, i had intended to make one for our 10th, last january.

however, i hesitated to spend the $90 on the chunky malabrigo i wanted for the sweater i had planned. and then when Beever got laid off in december, i put the whole thing off.

well, he ended up w/ his job back. and some time around may, he happened upon a yard sale one saturday while i was at work. this yard sale was mostly comprised of a mother load yarn stash (who knows how much more there was inside not for sale).  it impressed Beever so much that he called me at work to tell me about it, and suggest bringing me there when i was done.

once there, i found several bookcases and tables full of yarn, many many bags full of the same kind obviously intended to become sweaters. (not to mention trash bags full of roving)

i quickly realized there was no chunky yarn in quantity to make the sweater i had planned to make, and scrapped the idea in favor of finding a yarn we liked, then deciding on a pattern from there.

we chose this gorgeous gray Elann Peruvian Sierra (80% highland wool, 20% alpaca), with flecks of blue and light purple (i don't know that they show up in the photos)
(which i just noticed you can get for really cheap from the above link...)

so then i set about searching ravely.com for an appropriate pattern. i considered several cable patterns, but ultimately was really drawn to this lopi icelandic style, from istex lopi #24. even though i was kind of terrified of color stranding, i decided to just go for it. i went out and found these contrasting Cascade 220 colors (the photos really don't do the turquoise shade justice, even with the nice overcast lighting i had when i shot them) 

and i guess the rest is history. i worked and i toiled, and i freaked out when i found the first several rows of color stranding were a bit tight, but everything turned out all right when i finally blocked it.

...and, i have enough gray left over to make a sweater for the little man now...