Finally...Four Sweaters are Done!

I finally finished the fourth sweater of the six that I need to complete for Christmas.  The pattern is the same, but I have had to adjust the size for each sweater, so I hope they will fit correctly. Each sweater is a different color. It has been difficult getting matching zippers. I found a place online that has all kinds of colors and lengths for open end zippers, but the color swatches I see on the screen do not always match the sweater that I intend it to be for.  The light purple sweater has been the most difficult. The first zipper I got was too light and I had to take it out.  When the sweater puckered a little, the zipper showed up too much.  I ordered a darker color, but when I got it, it looked more reddish, so I finally went back to JoAnn's and they had a new order in of long, darker purple zippers.  I decided to try that one, and it looks much better.  Even though it is darker than the yarn, it still looks better than the lighter one did.

This is the sweater that had a zipper problem, but as you can see, it looks okay with the darker zipper showing.

Back side of the sweater for Zoe, the largest of all six that I am making.

Dot's from the front shows the  buttons on the pockets better than the last one.

Again, you can see the buttons that go down the back bottom of the sweater better.

Lexi's from the front.  I'm a little worried that the bottom might be too short. Although I used the same number of rows of stitches, for some reason, it seems shorter than the others.

Since the back of the sweater hangs longer than the front, it looks better from this side. Lexi's sweater had to be done in hot pink.  If it isn't pink, it isn't worth wearing, according to Lexi.

Portia's from the front. Her sweater was the first I did and I'm not sure why, but it feels like the yarn was a heavier weight than the others.  It makes a very nice heavy sweater jacket. I wish the others felt this heavy.

This back view shows a truer color than the one above.  It is a very dark maroon color.

I will start on Lucy's next.  It will be done in a light rose color. She also likes pink and this is the best I could find that was not the same color as Lexi's.  I just wanted each sweater to be unique and since the pattern is the same, the color is the only way I can accomplish it. I'm saving Annie's for last because I am going to need to really change the size of the pattern for her.  She is just one and the next smallest is for a four year old. I could use a different pattern, but since everyone else has this one, I want hers to be the same.

Stuffed Toys for Charity

I became aware of the need for some small stuffed toys to send to the poor children in Honduras this past Sunday, so I decided to make a few.  I only had a week to get them finished because they need to be turned in by this Sunday.  I was able to complete a girl doll and a boy doll.  They took longer to do than I thought they would take.  It took two days each, so I was only able to make a couple more small animals.  I decided to use my easiest and fastest patterns for these.  All the body parts are done exactly the same, just the facial features, ears, and tails vary to make the animal look like the one it is supposed to be.  I decided on a cat and a dog since I was traveling away from home and had only taken a few colors of yarn with me.  That really limited what I could make with the yarn that I had.  Here are my few toys I will be able to donate.

The hair on the boy doll was a lot of work and so he took a bit longer to do than the girl.  He is also quite a bit larger.

Back view of the two.  I really like the way the boy's hair turned out.  He was supposed to wear a hat, but I liked the hair too much and it would have taken even longer to finish him.

The kitty's face looks a bit more like a mouse, but it will have to do. The puppy has a crooked mouth, but that just adds character. The head looks lighter, but it was done with the same yarn, so I'm not sure why. I guess that part of the skein was just lighter than the rest. The puppy also has one eye with a ring around it and one without, but you can only really see the ringed eye in this picture.

I wanted to show the backs to see the tails.  I ran out of the off white yarn, so I used some of the yarn that I used for the puppy and the yarn that I used for the rest of the kitty to make a ringed tail for the kitty. This view also shows how the puppy actually has two different colored ears.

I have still been working on the sweater jackets for the girls for Christmas.  I have three of them completely finished, the fourth just needs buttons and the tie belt to do and it will be finished.  That means I have two more to go.  I will blog the ones that I have finished as soon as the fourth one is finished.