R and R

We had a chance to get away for a few days to our favorite fall location. We've been going to Snowbird Mountain Lodge in North Carolina many years now and it is always wonderful. It's a special, very relaxed atmosphere where the food is fabulous and the scenery breathtakingly beautiful. It's the one place I go where I can do absolutely nothing (guilt-free) for several days in a row! Mike got out and hiked everyday, but I only went on one hike and spent the rest of my days knitting and reading by the fire.

Just before we left, I finished my garter yoke cardigan and I really like it! It was an easy knit and relatively fast, but, as is often my habit, I got distracted somewhere along the way and it took longer than it should have to finish up the last little bit of the sleeves and then to sew on all those many buttons. I think this sweater is going to be a workhorse in my limited wardrobe. It's comfortable enough to slip on anytime and looks nice enough to wear with just about everything casual. Though I tried it on many times while in the process of knitting, it was not until I wore it for a full day that I discovered the sleeves were several inches too long. Now that I'm home again, I'll snip a stitch on the sleeves, pull out the bottom several inches and knit the cuff back on. I would love to make one out of handspun in a natural color and may plan on doing that....after the Christmas knitting is over. The one thing I might change would be to eliminate some buttons. Maybe just have buttons on the yoke part. I'll never wear this sweater all buttoned up, so why go through finding and sewing on ten buttons? We'll see.

Speaking of Christmas knitting......the time has come to get on with it! Are you knitting gifts this year? Have you started yet?