Here in the Midwest we’ve been pretty well snowed in for over a week.  Sure, cabin fever begins to set in after a few days, but the bright side?  Plenty of extra time to catch up on knitting.  This lovely sweater, Cloudy Sunday by Hilary Smith Callis has been in my Ravely queue forever so I set out to check it off my list.

First, let me say this is one of the best patterns I’ve ever worked from. It has great descriptions and diagrams and it made this sweater a cinch to knit.  I love the huge cowl and the little cap sleeves and it requires almost no seaming or blocking. I finished it on Saturday night and wore it Sunday morning. And, upon wearing it I recieved the ultimate compliment – Several people told me that I looked nice but no one, not even my knit-literate friends asked me if I’d made it myself! 

I used about 1 1/2 hanks of Cascade Yarns Ecological wool to finish this sweater and the gauge swatch was very important.  This yarn has a smaller gauge that the pattern calls for so my swatch came out to 3.5″ rather than 4″ so you’ll need to knit it up a size to get a good fit. 

If you’re looking for a chic and easy sweater that will get noticed, this is your sweater.  The hardest thing about it will be resisting the urge to blurt out “I made it!” while wearing it. 

Aw heck, go ahead and claim it. After all those hours of knitting, you’ve earned it.

It’s pretty rare that a day goes by I don’t wear something I’ve knit myself and January the 16th was no exception.

I flew to Phoenix to run my first marathon (that’s me at mile 26!) and I knew that I wanted to wear something I’d knit as my good luck charm.  You rarely hear the words ‘hand knit’ and ‘running gear’ in the same sentence, but this summery cotton head band really did the trick. Not only did it keep fly away hairs at bay, it made it easier for my adoring fans (all two of them) to spot me in the crowd. It was the perfect good luck charm and believe me – around mile 23, you need all the luck you can get!

It’s the ideal accessory for crossing athletic accomplishments off your bucket list or just a run to the grocery store. You can whip this one up in one afternoon and be ready to hit the road in no time.  Here is the pattern all written out:  Head to Head Band

Here’s hoping that yours inspires you to do something ambitious too!