5HBS FO - almost

What a nice day I have had, even though it did begin at 5:50am! Nothing like an FO to improve the spirits. Our Brent family reunion was today. I only found out about it a week ago, so for us it was quite last minute. DH and I discussed it; he didn't really want to go. It was a 4-hour drive and gas is so high. He also strained his back working this week, so I had resigned myself to not going. However, my father called me early this morning to say his wife wasn't feeling up to going, and ask did I want to ride along with him. I don't get to spend a lot of time with Dad, so I jumped right up and showered. Remember I said I didn't have any riding knitting? I thought about this as I was showering and knew just what to do. I quickly printed out the 5-Hour Baby Sweater and also the Hot Damn Afghan and a message from Laura Lake on Knitlist (05/02/04) for what she called Hot Diggity Baby Afghan -- nothing like being a month behind on the digests. Then I grabbed two balls of pink/white Paton's Carolina (cotton-acrylic blend), two balls of Cottontrica (also cotton-acrylic) in "Silver Plum," pale lavendar with a white twist, and four balls of the Debbie Bliss Merino Aran I bought in San Antonio last February: two in a darker blue, one in a pale one. Dropped it all in a tote with two pair of circulars and a set of DPs, along with a couple of magazines. Dried my hair, threw on something cool, got extra clothes in case of whatever, took my pills and was at the door when Dad arrived -- 15 minutes early. LOL! I rode for a while, chatting with Daddy, before I pulled out my needles, the dark blue wool and the 5HBS pattern. Some how I kept making simple counting errors and wasn't making too much progress, but I plodded along. First big mistake was trying M1 instead of increase in the knit stitch. Finally noticed the plainly stated instructions above the 'cast on 34 stitches' which specifically said to knit in the front and back of the stitch! Then next problem was "insert needle under the next horizontal loop of row below (between sts) and knit this st." It too me FOREVER to realize this was a M1!! I thought it was quite ironic, giving my trying to use the M1 before! Once I got beyond that, all was well, except for my miscounting. I had finished down through the yoke and one sleeve, and had begun the second sleeve when we arrived at the reunion. It was outside at a lovely park alongside the Mississippi River, so I left the wool knitting in the car! Later, we moved from the park to a home, and there I took in my knitting. I had thrown in the acrylic and the extra needles so I would be prepared to if anyone remarked about wanting to learn to knit. No one did. Someone did say, "there's a woman who knows how to make use of her time." Two women mentioned they used to knit, and one more said she only knitted in the winter. My dad bragged that I had just begun the sweater on the trip; I told them it was supposedly a 5-hour sweater, but it had been a 4-hour drive and I was wasn't half finished. One woman asked if it was the first time I had made it, to which I replied, "Yes." "Well," she said, "it doesn't count, then." I thought that was a sweet thing to say. I just hope no one though I was being rude -- especially my dad. OH! You may wonder why the 5HBS. Well, seems my first cousin and his wife are expecting twins boys in July. I thought I would make sweaters and small afghans for them. I wouldn't normally make wool sweaters for babies, just for the care factor, but it will be good, I think, to use wool for these. Just seems right. Makes them a bit more special, perhaps? Dad seemed to think my cousin would appreciate the hand-knit sweaters. I hope so. Not everyone does. He is a neurologist -- what can *I* buy him! Well, by the time we were almost home, I had run out of the 100g of darker blue wool and I still had a couple more rows of garter stitch, along with the cast off row to do. I really don't want to start another ball of yarn, so I will take back to the stockinette and remove a couple rows then finish it IAW the directions. I did enjoy the FO factor of this pattern. I think that on the next one I will work the body, then come back and work the sleeves (perhaps in the round). I also want to try some colorwork. That same message from Laura Lake pointed me to this video-clip of Two-Handed Fair Isle. I want to try this method and make the ones for my cousin's babies a little more special. We aren't close, but the twin thing is rather an intersting happenstance. LC