this is the final sweater. i made this one for my uncle allen's 80th birthday. he already has a teddy which i made for him when he turned 75. all he has to do is switch sweaters. my husband suggested that he give his 75 sweater to his wife, shirley, as she is that age now!
i am presently making a skirt using sirdar merino which has been in my stash since before 1980. i thought i had about 22 balls of this yarn as i'd originally intended it for a sweater for my welsh husband. i cast on excitedly and have been working on it every day since. then i thought i should find all the yarn and horrors! i could only find 8 balls. now, i'm losing weight but i don't think i'm going to be that petite for a long while. after i'd knit 4 balls i measured the waist against me and hoped and prayed. just in case though, i have been thinking how i could make it fit. it's a gored skirt knit sideways and i'm pondering whether to work the remaining gores in black - which will contrast the burgundy. then i was thinking i could add a burgundy flower if there was enough of that colour left - and put black beads on it!! and to think i used to religiously knit the designers pattern. freedom at last! it's a great feeling.

oops! i found this photo after i'd published the previous blog. you can see the duck better on this one.

this is the bunny i made for my aunt irene. i used the same pattern as the teddy [see previous blog] but i tried a different kind of yarn. i used a brushed instead of a furry. the only snag is that the brushed texture doesn't hide the yarn that you tie around the limbs to accentuate them. the sweater will hide them though. i used beads for the eyes and nose and liked the effect. my aunt likes birds/ducks and geese. she likes to feed them. i'm always on the lookout for duck related knickknacks to buy for her. the back of the sweater shows her age and the front has a duck that i copied from the one that appears on my computer to tell me i have mail. he was lots of fun to sketch and embroider.