Test Knitting Sweaters

Yikes! I have NOT been keeping up! It's time for a few catch-up posts about knitting and crochet projects, and then I can get into recipes again. I have a photo-documented calzone recipe, as well as Black Forest Cheesecake and maybe some others coming up.

Back in December, I test knit two sweaters for the designer Svetlana (tweedysheep on Ravelry), based in Moscow, Russia. It's fun getting to work collaboratively on a project across the world, and I'm thankful for Ravelry providing the means to do so efficiently. The first sweater I tested for Svetlana was the Momo Cardigan, in the age 8 size. (Available for sale on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/momo-2) This pattern caught my eye because "momo" means "peach" in Japanese, and I had a pet hamster named "Momo" after Momotarosan, the Little Peach Boy who is a folk story hero. The clever increase in the lace in the yoke intrigued me too, and I signed up to make this sweater without having a recipient in mind at first.

I ended up giving it to a second cousin. The photos aren't the greatest, another cousin took them while I was at work. This sweater was a quick knit, and fun. I used Berroco Vintage yarn, which is really soft and nice to work with. In the first photo you can see the heart shaped buttons I used. They aren't a perfect color match, but how often can you get away with using heart buttons?

While I was still finishing up Momo, Svetlana posted ANOTHER girl's sweater that I fell in love with and just had to test knit too. Since this second one had a due date of December 25th, I thought it would make a nice Christmas present for my cousin's 10 month daughter.
This pattern is Bloomsbury for Kids (both this and Momo have adult versions! I plan on making the adult verion with some lovely alpaca I got at a fiber fest this fall....) and it is also available on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bloomsbury-kids
My cousin, who lives in a warmer part of the country, was quite wonderful about taking lots of photos and sending them to me. Her daughter is ADORABLE with or without the sweater:

I can't wait until I get around to making a my-size one!! I love how the lace goes down the back and the sleeves, I find this construction interesting but easy to learn once you get started!