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Prairie Fire Pullover

During the time when it appeared as if I was not knitting, I was.  It was just that I was knitting on something I just had to get on the needles, not something that really should be finished.  Some of you understand just exactly what I am talking about and others of you are probably scratching your head and thinking, ¨What on earth is she talking about?"  In short, I was inspired to start this project despite my better judgment.

About three weeks ago my knit buddies and I travelled to Langley to visit 88 Stitches, a yarn shop neither Pam nor I had visited before but one Tena knew and quite likes.  We were motivated for different reasons.  Pam was on the lookout for yarn to knit an afghan for her home, Tena and I were just browsing, but I had something in the back of my mind.  Tin Can Knits had just put out a new book and in it was a very adorable lace pullover that I thought would be fun to make for my grand daughter, Miss M.  And the nice thing about Tin Can Knits patterns is the sizes ranges from infant to adult, so if I like the sweater in a toddler size, perhaps I'll make one for myself as well.  The pattern is call Prairie Fire and when done up properly looks like this.


Prairie Fire Pullover
Prairie Fire literally in the wild
Its simplicity and versatility captured me.  This little sweater in short sleeves can be worn in the spring/summer on its own (if I selected the proper yarn) and in the fall/winter over a long sleeved shirt as an additional layer.  Before the trip I had looked into how much yarn I needed and thought a good quality cotton yarn would work well.  At 88 Stitches I found a light weight worsted pima cotton yarn by Berroco called Modern Cotton.  This cotton and rayon yarn has a slight sheen to it making the effect of the lace show up even more.  And since I know pastels for babies are blase, a teal colour was selected.  (BTW, Pam bought 10 skeins of the same yarn in a taupe colour for her afghan, and Tena purchased it in black to make herself a jacket.  One could easily argue that trip was a good one for each of us.)

Back to Prairie Fire, it has been zooming along rather quickly because it has no seams (many of Tin Can Knits are made this way).  It was put down so I could work on Blue, but late last week I ran into a snag with Blue.  Prairie Fire has filled the void in knitting as I wait for an appointment for help with Blue.  Here's where I am today.  I took it off the needles because the old and inexpensive circulars I'm using kept me from getting a decent photo.  (The short sleeves are on scrap yarn waiting to be finished.)  As you can see it is knit from the top down.
About 1/2 complete, I'd say

A closeup in an attempt to show the sheen
Prairie Fire has been a reprieve from the Blue Ashton because of the simplicity in its lace pattern.  It has proven to be interesting, plus it just might have given me an idea for something to make for myself.














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