Lilac Sunset

Way back in September, our neighbour, Matt, told my husband, Rob, that his wife Katie was pregnant and due in early May.  I appreciated the early notice, LOL, but that did nothing to help me get a gift done in time.  I justified it by saying it was already warm out and the gift was more like 3-6 months size!

I had no idea what to make.  Katie and Matt are young, modern, hip.  I wanted something a little nontraditional, but still "sweet".  I opted to choose a vintage sweater pattern, and make it in a modern, bright combination.  Originally, I wanted a grey or black for the solid colour, but nothing was working out.  I found this Loops & Threads "Graceful" back in late March and paired it with Patons "Sequin Lace" in violet.  Everything was going good with the sweater, though I had already missed the birth when I noticed a huge error with the first sleeve.  After that, it was smooth sailing. 

I wanted to use up all the purple, and thought some solid purple booties would be nice, and somewhat practical.  They turned out a little big, so I made a smaller pair in the Graceful yarn.  Wish I had a close up picture of that.  These booties are done in Brioche stitch, and in a solid colour, that's nothing interesting.  In a variegated though, it's rather neat.  I've made these before, so I won't get into the details.

 The hat.  I knew it had to be sideways, and it was going great, though my calculations seemed a little off.  I had to fudge the last wedge to get a bit more width.  Since it seemed short, I picked up around the edge and added a ribbed band to keep it snug.  That wasn't enough.  I wanted a solid picot/scallop turn back brim, with the idea that the bright colours would peak out through the large hole in each scallop.  It didn't quite turn out that way, but it's still sweet.

Part way through the sweater, I wasn't happy.  It took a bit, but I realized that the colour changes were way too short in the "Graceful".  I had wanted long changes, so it was a subtle shifting of colours.  The ball looked like that would be the case, but it wasn't.  However, I had gone too far to turn back.  Oh well.

The set got finished and gifted one day when she was outside with little Mia.  By not getting it done in time for the birth, I was able to add some lilacs from their bush, and some from our bush :)

Yarn In: 4903gr
Yarn Out:  119gr + 1812gr  = 1931gr
Balance:  2972 gr more brought IN than out
Cost: $284.07/174days = $1.63/day

Well, those calculations are a little off, since I popped back over to Michaels' and they still had some of that reflective yarn in the clearance!