Tomten Jacket Ready for the Sleeves

I knit the right front, the back and left front, sliding the sleeve stitches onto a circular needle. (moved to dpns for the picture) I put the live stitches from the fronts and back onto one needle and knit up 7 ridges. The collar stitches are on a strand of yarn, waiting until I finish the sleeves. I should have enough yarn to make a pair of booties, but to be on the safe side, I will knit both sleeves before I knit the hood.

The armholes look strange, but I will knit 14 ridges before I reach the underarm seam.

I will put the underarm stitches on a strand of yarn, that will be more flexible than a dpn. Pick up stitches from the back and front edges and start knitting rows in garter stitch. At the end of the row, knit the last stitch together with a stitch from the waste yarn, turn and knit across. Since I have 28 stitches at the underarm, I will 28 rows to use up those stitches, or 14 ridges. I plan to use orange, so far I am using equal amounts of each color.

When those stitches are used up, I will be at the edge of the armhole, starting the underarm seam. I plan to switch to dpns and knit garter stitch in the round. (k 1 round, p 1 round) EZ says to decrease 2 stitches each side of center every other RIDGE (not round) until there are 28 stitches left. I worked it out, and I plan to knit 14 ridges of blue, yellow and end with orange.

Progress on Baby Tomten Jacket

I took the Tomten with me to the doctor's appointment. I had a long wait, and got to the division for fronts, back and armholes. When I got home, I slid everything onto dpns for a progress picture.
As you can see, I'm knitting the fronts in blue, the back section is yellow. I plan to use orange to pick up the stitches for the sleeves.
I used about 12 grams for the first color block, that means I have probably used up 36 grams of sock yarn to this point. The instructions have you knit the fronts and back together for 7 ridges, then begin shaping for the hood. I'm pretty sure I'll have enough yarn, but just in case I'm wrong, I have a plan. I'll knit the 7 ridges for the collar and put it on waste yarn while I knit both sleeves. When the sleeves are done, I'll be able to weigh the leftovers and see if there's enough for a hood.
My hoya multiflora hasn't opened yet, but the buds are filling out nicely. I am delighted to see this little one bloom so quickly. When we first moved here, I had a hoya that never bloomed. After 6 or 7 years, it finally started to bloom; beautiful pink, furry stars. It's gone now, but I always loved those flowers.

Started a Tomten, More Guitar Guts

I started a Tomten sweater with Opal Sock yarn left over from Diametrag's Pinwheel Blanket. By making this one with the three colors shown, I should use up most of the sock yarn. I may eke out a pair of garter booties, too. I want to finish with the sock yarn and newborn sized sweaters. It takes a lot of stitches to make a sweater from sock yarn. When Bean needs sweaters in the next larger size, I'll be able to knit from dk or even worsted weight yarn, and the sweaters will be done much quicker.
Here is a shot of the rosette for Diametrag's guitar. J had no trouble with the rosette on his guitar, or the acoustic bass he built after that. This one wasn't easy; he cut it out twice, before deciding this one was 'good enough'. My opinion doesn't count, but I think it's beautiful!
J was home with a bad back Thursday and Friday. By Saturday he was starting to mend, and started working on the guitar again. We had a near-disaster, however. After all his fitting, sanding, and fitting again, he glued the large center brace to the body UPSIDE DOWN. Aaugh! He caught it just in time, another half hour and the glue would have been set. It was tricky enough, and he ran a chisel through his thumb. Fortunately his thumbnail caught the brunt of the force, and his thumb is still attached to his hand. No trip to the emergency room this time, no dna markers on the inside of this guitar. yet.
I took this one just because I liked the shadows, shapes and colors of the wood. I think I may put this one on our desktop for awhile. Yum. If I can't eat candy, I may as well look at it.