I hope you have had a wonderful holiday so far! Thank you all for the kind wishes, even from Tokyo!
My time off has been great so far — very relaxing and much time spent with family. My holiday dinner party went very well. The highlight of the preparations was when DH and I attempted to set up the tables to serve 16 people. I had an idea of how to arrange the two tables, but it did not work, so that meant moving the tables around. It took SEVERAL tries to get them to fit and allow room for chairs and people. Our large dining room table cannot be easily lifted because of the way it is designed, so my DH crawled under it, lifted it onto his back, and crawled around the dining room on all fours like a turtle every time we tried a new arrangement!! Geez, it was funny! Next year we will know how to place them the first time around.
Here is the Christmas present I bought myself — always appreciated and EXACTLY what I wanted!
Perhaps you recognize the Elizabeth Zimmerman Green Sweater pattern and original Briggs and Little Sportweight wool in Fir Green (100% wool, 430 yds/113 gms)!! Woo Hoo! The yarn is a single ply, very wooly wool with lots of reminders that this came from outdoor sheep, in a beautiful shade of green. A friend of mine received her shipment and did not think it was very nice, but I really like it. I like the fact that it is the original yarn and carries the weight of tradition with it.
I also continue to do some holiday knitting…our Christmas with John’s side of the family was postponed due to weather so that allowed a few more days and opportunities to make some small gifts. I designed a VERY BASIC hat pattern called the One Day Hat for this purpose and have been cranking out a few of these hats. The pattern has joined our free patterns section on the right upper corner of the blog!
The yarn is called Katia Azteca (50% wool, 50% acrylic, 197 yds/100 gms, color #11; US Size 8 needles). One skein made two hats, though your yardage may vary!! I will add it to Ravelry*!
* THAT was traumatic! I don’t add patterns frequently enough to remember how to do it, so I loaded it twice — very embarrassing. 
PS: I found a small error in the decreases on the large size (pdf has been corrected):
Large Size, Rnd 5: (k 8, k2 tog) x 8
I love B&L yarns. They are rustic, yet knit up very softly. I even use them for fair isle knitting if a wide range of shades is not required. And, of course, I’m proud to buy Canadian.
Comment by Sigrun — December 27, 2009 @ 6:47 pm
Oops, I noticed a typo in my blog address. You can’t even visit me if I don’t give you the right address.
Comment by Sigrun — December 27, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
Thanks for the hat pattern!
I also got the Green Sweater pattern with the original yarn, and I like the yarn. I do plan to modify the sleeves, though, as I am not a fan of Dolman sleeves.
Comment by Cheryl S. — December 27, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
Hi Susan – Merry Christmas to you! The hat pattern is great, thank you. I’m just about to start swatching for the green sweater, not in the original yarn, though. I had the pleasure to actually meet and touch the sweater and meet Elizabeth’s goddaughter at a shop in NJ. She was working with Sunday to recreate the sweater. My niece actually had an EZ tam on her little head. It was a wonderful experience to actually be in the presence of hand-knit EZ garments – does that sound silly?
Comment by Marie — December 27, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
I love Briggs and Little wools and have used them many times. They wear hard and soften with each wash. I am currently waiting for a LARGE order of Tuffy for boot socks and felted work mittens… staples here in our snowy winters!
Comment by Fran — December 27, 2009 @ 11:26 pm
I received my green yarn for the EZ sweater on Christmas Eve. A lovely surprise, as I’d sort of half forgotten I was waiting for it, in all the flurry of Christmas preparations.
I like it — it’s rather sensible yarn, and the color is lovely.
Comment by Pam — December 28, 2009 @ 3:35 am
Okay–I have been resisting ordering this sweater kit but your picture pushed me over the edge. My order is in to Schoolhouse, along with the latvian mitten kit. Oh well, thanks for the inspiration!
Comment by Lisa Fall — December 28, 2009 @ 10:22 am
I just received that pattern too. I am going to be using some Regal I have, it will make it heavier than the sportweight, which I prefer.
But you know, I am not sure about the hem technique. I’ve noticed that Elizabeth and Meg usually cast on with the long-tail method and then did the hem at the end by picking up the stitches from ‘behind the outline-stitch’.
I think I will do it that way. Otherwise the steek edging will fall above the folded up hem. When I try to visualize that it doesn’t seem like it will be neat enough.
I am looking very forward to following your progess!
Happy New Year!
Comment by Esther — December 28, 2009 @ 1:14 pm
Oops! I meant ‘I am looking very forward to following your progress’! I guess it’s the excitement of this new pattern and learning new techniques!
Comment by Esther — December 28, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
Love the EZ sweater! Can’t wait to see it knit up. 🙂
Comment by Kym — December 28, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
LOL I received the EZ sweater pattern just before Christmas, but the yarn was on back order, so it has yet to come. I was curious as to what yarn it might be. Discovering it is B&L is funny, as I am Canadian. As is B&L. Oldest mill in Canada. The sweater will now be doubly meaningful to me.
Comment by Brenda — December 28, 2009 @ 8:19 pm
I love the feel of Briggs and Little. One of the few yarns around that still feels…well crunchy, authentic somehow. We have a small mill here in Alberta you may be interested in trying too, Custom Woolen Mills in Carstairs. Produces similiar sorts of old fashioned yarn on antique machinery.
Comment by Needles — December 29, 2009 @ 11:13 am
Got my green sweater and yarn too…excited but a little anxious to start it. First, the swatch! I also got the itty bitty yarn book (from my husband!) and made the cat/mouse combo. Love the reversible toys. It is so cute that I might just have to keep it for myself. As a sample, of course. Just to have around the house. My niece’s daughter will have to wait a teensy bit longer….
Comment by delores — December 30, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
The presents that we buy ourselves always do seem to be just what we wanted, don’t they. Wonderful yarn, and how nice of you to share the hat pattern. As one of my DC knitting buddies says, you are my she-ro!
Comment by Astrid — December 31, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Where did you purchase the Azteca? I’m trying to find a distributor but with no luck. I understand it is only sold to Canadian stores. This would be perfect for my daughters charity hat project, Hats for Hope…her group is on Ravelry and I’m hoping to link a site to it for people to purchase the yarn.
Thank you for the help, the hats are beautiful!
Comment by Tyna — January 1, 2010 @ 11:58 am
Ah, I am eagerly awaiting a shipment of the EZ green sweater pattern and wool in a blue. I ordered before the holiday, but the yarn was out of stock. Perhaps we can do a KAL? Of course, it may have to steep in my stash a bit first, so don’t let me hold you up! It looks like it is a pattern that has a lot to teach.
The hat is a dandy! Thanks for writing it up for all.
Comment by twinsetellen — January 2, 2010 @ 3:48 pm