Favorite sweater #1 for fall

What plans do all of you have for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend? I'm not working at the yarn shop this Saturday, so I look forward to enjoying 3 days with my husband and kids. I may even be taking a little day trip to Lake Placid on Labor Day... so that means knitting time in the car and on the ferry! (That excites me more than the actual trip!)

So this week we are almost back to our fall schedule. Michele works a lot less in the summer, and then we all have vacation time, so sometimes we don't see one another for weeks! This Wednesday we all sat down and had a nice breakfast meeting so we could get on the same page about what's going on around here.

We have so many great new knitting kits in the shop. This year I have a number of favorites... and I'll feature them over several posts. Last spring we received the Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend yarn. We loved it. The colors are gorgeous, and it is incredible to knit with. The Manos Primera Pattern Booklet was the first booklet to support this yarn. And on the back cover is the most gorgeous sweater (IMO)! I loved the assymetrical look of it, the horizontal cabled yoke and vertical cables on the body and the slighly flared, ribbed sleeves. The color it is knit in - #3019 Dove - is also my favorite.

BUT, my rule when making a sample, is to always use a different color than what it's photographed in in the pattern booklet. Why? Well, many (ok, MOST) of our customers come in, see a sample or a pattern and want to make it in the EXACT same color that they see it in. So if a pattern shows one color, and we make a sample in another, it at least gives those folks who have a hard time imagining the finished product two options to choose from.

So I picked color #3064 Pewter for our sample. And I am thrilled with the result! This color is so versatile, it seems to go with everything. And I love how it fits - I definitely will be wearing this when the temperatures drop this fall and winter.