This is my second time knitting this sweater pattern. The first was made in Rowan Cashsoft Aran, shown here and Raveled here. My daughter loved it and she took it home. I'm always so happy when she likes a sweater of mine because she is hard to knit for.

For this white one, I used the lovely and wonderful Rowan Handknit Cotton, very soft in the hand and makes a beautiful fabric that is fairly easy care.

The pattern's smallest size is a small, so for an XS I made the following modifications:

Make The Yoke: Stop at row 37.

Shape The Raglan: Start this on row 38. At end of this section, repeat rows 3 and 4 six times: 245 sts (153 for body and 46 for each arm).

I did the waist shaping as written, changing the stitch count to correspond with the changes I made above.

This is one of FOUR white sweaters I am working on for the summer. I am at a bit of a standstill on the other three, so am working on some simple sweaters in the meantime, but have high hopes of finishing the white ones very soon! I just need to buckle down and spend some quiet time working out the modifications I need for proper fit. I really hate to change a pattern, but often find myself doing it because fit is everything in a knit, don't you agree?

My little granddaughter is already planning her 9th birthday party which will be an American Girl Tea Party. Love the possibilities of this! This is what I came up with last year, shown here and Raveled here.

Ye gads, I just finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. It had such an impact on me! Dog lovers will love this and novel lovers will love this book too. It has a tragic Hamlet-esque ending, so beware. But the writing is beautiful and the dogs are perfection.

I'll be finishing The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell any day, another one I love. (I usually read two books at a time, one by the bed, one in the fam room) This one has lots of Shanghai during the Japanese invasion and then Communist rule, fascinating. This book helps you understand how the verb "Shanghaied" came about.

I am sharing a photo of my dear Violet, now gone for 3 years. She was also perfection.

What's in garden? Glad you asked!

Right outside the kitchen is where I grow most of my herbs. There's sage and thyme, tarragon and rosemary, chives and oregano. Convenient!

Next, there's these nice blackberry bushes growing over the fence from our neighbor's yard. Thanks, neighbor! We'll pick berries every morning in a few weeks.
Bee activity this AM: Very Busy!





























These giant white nicotiana plants stand 7 feet tall. They re-seed and appear outside our bedroom door every spring. Their evening fragrance is beautiful and most often it's nice enough to have our door open, and then, well, it's a little bit of heaven going to sleep.