MUST KNIT FASTER.....

I wish I had thought of knitting my grandson this sweater when he was a couple of years smaller. It wouldn’t have taken so many stitches! He is growing so fast that there is no way I can just get this done in my own time. If the sweater isn’t finished by Christmas, he’ll probably just grow right past it.

This is Knitpicks clematis heather “Swish” superwash Merino.

I used Janet Szabo’s technique of starting with the two shoulder saddles, knitting down front and back to the bottom of the arm hole and then knitting the sleeves. Then one goes back to knit the front and back from the bottom of the arm hole down in the round.

The neck ribbing came out perfect where it hits the cables on the back of the sweater and on both sleeves, but missed by a mile on the front of the neck. Hopefully people will be looking at the child's smiling face instead.

Have a wonderful Christmas! I need to get back to my knitting.

THE BOOK! 1876 Westbrook Diaries

This was an exciting project for me. Last spring a diary of a teenage boy was discovered written in 1876 in the back of a ledger from a store in Dingman’s Ferry, PA.

The ledger itself dates to the 1830’s and records accounts of local people buying sugar, fabric, sundries, coffee and spirits. His brother’s much shorter diary was in a little booklet with the ledger.

It was so interesting to see what life was like for teenage boys (13 and 16) in the Poconos of Northeast Pennsylvania - - in their own words. Two brothers start off the new year writing diaries - - probably their mother’s idea for improving their spelling and writing skills. One boy fades out after a few months, but the other keeps at it for most of a year. Seasonal work - - logging, plowing, harvesting, removing rocks from the farm’s fields, hunting and fishing keep them busy as the year progresses. They work with teams of oxen, horses and mules.

The boys’ father runs an inn, a lumber operation and sawmill as well as the family farm.
Important people - - historic names in the history of Pike and Wayne County - - and names of the oldest families here pass through the pages of the boys’ diaries.

The boys lived about three miles from where we live today and were often sent here to fetch my husband’s relative to preach on Sunday. It took me months to get it all transcribed and then to find illustrations for it. Some of the illustrations come from book for children from 1847.

106 pages. 6” x 9” illustrated paperback. 2008 $14 free shipping
Available here http://finnsheep.etsy.com or by contacting us directly hatton at ptd dot net