Category: Sunrise Circle Jacket

After four nights of work, including during a particularly unfortunate 0-13 Red Sox loss, I finally finished seaming the Sunrise Circle Jacket, and got the buttons all sewed on!

I’m reasonably pleased with the fit. The arms are a bit long (an inch or two shorter would probably be better), and the entire sweater is roomy, especially under the arms. The back fits very well, though, and the length is great. I’m still not wild about the color (probably the sweater’s biggest fault), but it’s cozy and I think I’ll wear it, especially in the evenings at home. I think the style should work for breastfeeding, and it’s machine-washable so that’s certainly a plus.

The button placement works well for my current body shape, but I’ll probably redo the bottom button or two at some point next fall. I love the way the button line looks with the overlapping hems and pretty curving rows of stitches.

The buttons were a find. I’ve been looking for quite a while without much luck (that purple is tough to work with), and then found these. I think the color and size are great, and I love the carved circles on the surface – they reinforce the lines of the sweater well, I think.

All in all, a long project, but a satisfying result.

The Sunrise Circle Jacket is coming together ever so slowly. I blocked the back and the left sleeve and front as a sanity check to make sure they’ll fit together when it comes time to seam. I’ll have to do a good job lining things up ahead of time, but it looks like it should work out nicely.

(The photo makes the yarn look black. It’s really purple. No idea what setting the camera was on to produce that effect, but I was running to work and didn’t have time to troubleshoot. At least you can see that lovely silhouette!)

On the way home yesterday, I found buttons that I’m really pleased with. So now, the greatest obstacle is finishing the right front. I’m on Row 53 of 104, and increasing 1 to 4 stitches every other row so it’s a bit of an uphill climb. Luckily, the Red Sox play the Yankees three times this weekend, so I’ll have good knitting time. We’ll see if it’s enough to finish off the front and switch over to seaming?

We got up early-ish for a Sunday (10, to listen to the Eagles game). I worked on un-taping the MBR, which quickly spread to vacuuming, and then all out cleaning. Kevin helped me get the bed and mattress back in shape, and assembled our new coffee table (pictures soon!!).

The bright and sunny morning deteriorated around 1, so Kevin went out to work on the the roof and gutters before the rains came, and I went out to rake the lawn. The skies held and we got hours of yard cleanup in before it got dark.

My raking:

The leaves are only half down, but it makes such a difference to have the patio and grass clear!

We still have tons of wood on the patio (a co-worker may be picking it up) — perhaps it will kill some of that moss?? In the meantime, here’s the Sunrise Circle Jacket progress:

I’ve had to redo the math on the sleeves, and I didn’t have a chance to get to the math on the jacket fronts before I needed some mindless knitting, so I put the first sleeve on a holder for the moment and started the second.

The purple in these photos is still way brighter than the yarn — think more of an eggplant.

Here’s Kevin up on the roof, happy with his blower.

Isn’t this photo sort of deja vu?? Amazing how all of the needles pile up in just a few weeks.

I’m glad that we did all of the work — we’re about halfway through the leaf and needle season, but it’s too dark to do any of this after work, and we’ll be gone for most of the Thanksgiving week. I’d rather leave knowing that our gutters are clear and the lawn is happy, especially after all of the rain we’ve been having. 🙂

Before we left for Ohio, I finally cast on for the Sunrise Circle Jacket. (You can see it here if you’re not on Ravelry and don’t mind scrolling.) It’s been sitting in my Ravelry queue for ages. I debated on the yarn – I had some Cascade 220 Superwash in my stash from Fall 2005. I’d bought it for a sweater in Vogue Knitting that ended up having too much errata, and the color didn’t appeal to me for any other pattern. It’s still not my favourite color, but I’m rather pleased about the idea of actually using it instead of leaving it in the closet to hang over my head. (I’m not a large-stash person, and the fun of buying new yarn is greatly diminished when I already have plenty at home.)

The back was awesome plane knitting, and the I’ve been working on it during Red Sox and football games. Nearly done and ready for the next piece!

(Sorry for the misshapen photo – it’s curling like you wouldn’t believe. Also, note fall leaves from the neighbours’ birch tree!) My stitch gauge is perfect, but my row gauge is giving me trouble – I’m a bit worried how it’s going to affect all of those short rows on the front…