Ewe Knitty

Long Time No Blog

2008-11-08T18:22:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged in such a long time! Last week I snapped a couple of pictures of baby items I completed this summer. Ayla graciously modeled for me, after all these are for her!

This is the Hooded Baby Poncho which is a free pattern from Lion Brand yarn. I didn't put the pocket on the poncho, nor did I put snaps under the arms. This will just be a quick extra layer to pop on quickly. I used Jelli Beenz by Plymouth Yarn.

This pattern is called Child's "Ear" Hat with Tassels. The link is to a free pattern I found on Ravelry. This is extremely easy and I made it in one evening while watching TV. I used Classic Worsted Impressions by Universal Yarn Inc.

Finished, In Progress and In The Wings

2008-05-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Finished

I just finished the Cot Blanket from Natural Knits for Babies and Mom using the Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort (80% wool, 20% organic cotton). This will be delivered to my granddaughter Ayla very, very soon. No matter that the temp is in the 100's right now, it will be used in a few months.

In Progress

I started the Cabaret Raglan sweater from The Best of Interweave Knits (from the first 10 years). I'm using Cascade 220, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool in a cranberry color. I just finished the back.

In the Wings

I belong to the Cindy Knitters group on Ravelry. We are all named Cindy, Cynthia or Lucinda and we have chosen the pattern "Cindy" for a knit-along we starting Memorial Day weekend. I found a nice yarn in black at Elann.com called Incense. It is 50% wool, 25% silk and 25% bamboo. It feels lovely and I can't wait to start this sweater. I believe the Cabaret Raglan will be put on hold for this project.

Cat Toy

2008-04-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I made this little cat toy for my granddaughter due ANY MINUTE. This was a pattern from the book Natural Knits for Babies and Moms . I used Blue Sky Alpacas organic cotton yarn. Since she will have two striped, feline siblings to welcome her home, this is a replica she can chew on.

Baby Blanket

2008-04-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

This blanket is worked in four squares that are put together at the end. The squares are formed by decreasing 2 stitches in the middle every other row which forms a “V”. This pattern is from the book “Very Easy Very Vogue”. The original pattern used many colors with smaller width stripes. I changed it to three colors and different width stripes.

I used Plymouth Encore worsted weight yarn.

This is one of the four squares.

Here are all four squares put together. No edging is needed. This was a gift to a special girl. I really liked making this blanket and have a request from my daughter to make one for my granddaughter-to-be.

I Finally Have Class

2008-02-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Within the last week, I took a couple of classes to learn some new fun stuff.

My first class was Kumihimo, which is a Japanese form of braiding. The instructor, Karen DeSousa, owns the online business Accent Bead Design. The class was arranged by the Hanging By A Thread chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild, and was held at Kelsey's Needle Krafts in Placerville. This class was geared toward braiding with beads. I've rarely worked with beads, so this was a first for me. So small and wiley!!! I found that my braiding thread for the beads ran a little short, so this will become a bracelet instead of a choker.

Silk cord and beads.

The Kumihimo disk and bobbins.

Ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille...

I then attended a class for Free Form Crochet. It was held at Lofty Lou's and the instructor was Karen. It was a blast! I felt like a little kid pretending to crochet. I really let myself go and didn't use many structured patterns, but that is what it is all about. There are no mistakes in this method and I found it very freeing. One method is to assign six different yarns a number and six different hook sizes a number, then roll two dice and use those numbers for your yarn/hook choice. After a while, roll the dice again. I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds like fun.

Here is my first attempt.

For more info and examples, here's the link to the Free Form Crochet site. Some amazing stuff. There are several books you can find on the subject as well.

New Yarn and a New Craft

2008-02-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

I just love it when new yarn arrives in the mail and/or UPS. Ali and I chose a blanket and pillow from the Natural Knits for Babies and Moms book and ordered the yarn online during the Super Bowl game and didn't miss a touch down.

The blanket is the Cot Blanket pattern which involves six different patterned squares in six different colors, done twice for a total of 12. The yarn is Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort (80% wool, 20% organic cotton) in colors pink lilac, mint, bluet, violet, denim and weathered green.

Ali will be making the pillow from the Textured Pillow pattern using four of the patterns in the blanket but made up in color grown organic cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas in natural colors sand, sage nut and bone. I ordered this yarn from Fabulousyarn.

Last month I joined the local chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America. A hands-on project was provided at the January meeting. This project involves a Bargello pattern on needlepoint canvas that was designed to cover the lid of an Altoids tin. Here is my version. I used to do a lot of needlework years ago. I met a new friend on Ravelry who is president of the local chapter and I decided to branch out.

Baby Sweater and Hat and Other Stories

2008-01-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

I just finished a baby sweater and hat for the Grandbaby. The sweater is the Baby Bolero pattern from the One Skein book by Leigh Radford. I used organic natural color cotton I bought in a shop in Point Reyes. It was a handspun skein in a natural sage green and cream color.

The pattern says according to Eastern folklore, the eyelet motif on the back brings "luck and protection to the wearer no matter his or her size".

I have left over organic cotton from Blue Skys Alpaca that I used for mommy's "Bump Sweater", so I made a little beanie. The pattern is from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I used the yarn from the sweater for the flower motifs.

Snow Daze

We have had snow off and on for the last couple of days at the 2000 foot level. It would stick for a few hours, turn to slush, then stick again. This morning we had more snow that is sticking around in patches. Of course, I had to take a couple of pictures...

Exercise Cat

Our cat Gracie seems to love the treadmill. She wouldn't be so fat if she could turn it on. This picture was taken in between Bud's workout and mine. Maybe tomorrow I can use the excuse the cat's using the treadmill so I'll skip my workout. Maybe not.... I'm looking a lot like Gracie right now.

Little Lambs Baby Blanket

2008-01-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

I just completed a baby blanket for my grandbaby (due in April). I checked out a Vogue knitting book for Intermediate Knitters at the library and used the pattern titled Little Lambs for this blanket.

I used Plymouth Yarn Encore D.K. for this project. The lambs are done in a blackberry stitch and the blanket is worked in reverse stockinette with moss stitch borders.

Bump Sweater

2008-01-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

I completed a maternity sweater for Ali. The pattern is the Bump Sweater from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding. This was knit using Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Bone. I added 3 inches to the length and I think that will make it more useable during late pregnancy. Plus with Ali being tall, it needed a little more length anyway. The side vents are laced with ribbon for future expansion. I'm glad it worked out :-). As you can see, the baby is growing!!!!

Aran Afghan Completed!

2007-12-07T17:05:00.001-08:00

Last summer I started an Aran Knit Afghan for my daughter and son-in-law. Click here for previous posts. I finally finished it this week. I used four patterns - Trinity Stitch, Rope Cable, Horseshoe Cable and Moss Diamond Cable.

These pics aren't that great, but you'll get the idea. My new project is a "Bump" sweater for my daughter Ali. It is a maternity pattern and I'm using organic cotton. I'll post progress on that soon. Then it's on to more baby stuff ;-)

This is closer to the real color.

I enhanced the picture to get more detail on the squares, but the color is a little off.

Miscellaneous Chatter

2007-11-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to the knit-along at Lofty Lou's and met face-to-face a friend I made on Ravelry. It was great fun and she invited me as a guest to the local chapter meeting of the Embroidery Guild next week.

The last couple of times I went to the library, this tree mesmerized me with its beauty. On an overcast day, the colors are phenomenal. Of course, when I finally had my camera, it was sunny. Anyway here's the pretty tree...

Notice the bee that flew into the picture. The bees really love this tree. Jerry Seinfeld is probably behind all this to promote his movie.

Rollins Saga

Last summer, my daughter made the Henry Rollins doll from the Stitch n Bitch Nation book. My contribution was the hair, facial features and tatoos. He became the "travelling gnome" on their vacation and subsequently a pillow for the cats in their home.

Last Sunday, I attended Henry's spoken word performance with my daughter and wonderful son-in-law (really.... he is WONDERFUL). They paid for my ticket and hauled my butt downtown Sac. As my daughter said on their blog, we were complete freaks and took the Henry doll and posed with him in front of the marquee.

Here is Henry on vacation and relaxing at home.

Baby Stuff and New Stash

2007-10-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

My satellite internet connection has been down, so I haven't posted in a while, but I'm baaack! I am still working on the Aran Knit Afghan and am forcing myself to stick to it until it is done. My daughter has ordered the ladder quilt rack for her living room and there is a rung reserved for the afghan, sooooo my goal is to have it done in a month!

BABY STUFF

I made a couple of baby items (couldn't contain myself) using Sugar 'n Cream cotton. My daughter took these pictures for her blog.

Bib

Burp Cloth (bar of soap was added for scale)

NEW YARN

I attended a Knit-a-long for Project Linus at Sierra Knitting in Cameron Park a couple of weeks ago. So I had several hours to knit and browse, knit and browse and came home with some goodies.

Classic Worsted Impressions by Universal Yarn Inc. This is 80% acrylic 20% wool and machine washable and dryable. I'm thinking socks....

Filatura Di Crosa Zara Yarn 100% Merino Wool - Machine washable, but air dry. Socks again probably. My daughter is sensitive to wool, so I don't plan on making any baby items with wool.

Color Grown Organic Cotton - We were in Bodega Bay for a few days and I found this in a shop in Point Reyes Station. Hard to tell from the picture, but the color is a sage green plied with a cream color. The green is the actual color of the cotton - not dyed. This is earmarked for the Baby Bolero in the One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet book

Flip Flop Socks

2007-10-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

I finished Bud's flip flop socks and they worked up with virtually no problems. I used worsted weight Plymouth Encore Colorspun that I had purchased to make fingerless mittens and a panta. However, he said to just use what I had on hand - a veiled ploy to keep me out of the yarn shop ;-). Alas, I was a few rows away from completion and ran out of yarn so I bought another skein (and actually didn't buy anything else!) So I now have enough leftover for my fingerless mittens and panta! Honestly, I didn't plan it that way.

For these socks, I did a 1x1 ribbing for the leg. The foot is 40 stitches around. When the foot measurement reached the split between the big and second toes, I took 10 stitches (5 from the top, 5 from the bottom) for the toe. I cast on 5 stitches for the inside of the toe. I worked stockinette around on the 15 stitches until it measured about 1.5 inches less than the actual toe. A decrease was made on each side of the toe on every round and finished like a little hat.

Now working with the rest of the stitches, I picked up 5 stitches on the cast on stitches at the toe split (got that?) - total of 35 stitches. I worked around in stockinette decreasing on the little toe side every row until there were 22 stitches, then used the kitchener stitch to join.

Now I have a request from Ali for a pair. Now that she is "expecting", she'll need these socks when the only shoes she can fit into are flip flops!

Super-sized Worsted Weight Socks

2007-10-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

I finally made some socks for my husband. (The picture of the little boy with the lamb is him!) Since his shoe size is 13, I knew I would have to play around with a pattern to customize the fit. I had some Lion Brand Wool-Ease my daughter gifted to me and so I began.

I used a sock pattern for men's socks using Wool-Ease on the Lion Brand website. The pattern called for stripes, which I omitted, and added an inch to the leg. I used bigger needles (size 8) to give me a roomier gauge. Since I used the 2 circular needle method, I was able to have him try the sock on while in progress to make sure the dimensions were correct. They are perfect for his Ugg clogs and Crocs and as slipper socks.

I'm now in the process of making some worsted weight flip-flop socks for him using this pattern as a start. (He is a year round flip-flop fan .) I've finished one sock and it worked! The other should be done in a couple of days. Check back to see them.

Baby "Ugg" Booties

2007-09-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

I just finished the first project for my grandbaby due in April. These were made with Berroco Suede and Berroco Plush. I saw this pattern on a Knitty Gritty episode a while back and saved it for future use. These are the 9-12 month size ready for baby's first winter. Maybe they will be worn while watching daddy enjoying some snowboarding!

Grandma's Doilies

2007-09-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

My favorite color has always been purple. When I grew out of my "cowboy" phase (yes, I wanted to be a cowboy), I went seamlessly into "ballerina" phase and the purple certainly lent itself to this motif. Grandma made some doilies for my bedroom that I used from childhood through my teens.

I washed these up by hand and memories rushed in of how I used to dip these in starch. I think there is still some old starch in these, as they are still pretty stiff. My sister and I used to dip our net pettycoats in a starch solution in the bathtub (this was in the 50's) and lay them out full-circle to dry. There was prestige attached to how far your pettycoat made your full skirt stick out, so this was really, really important :-)

I like the ruffle on this one. It is like a tutu! I have two of these and remember putting lamps on them.

This one is exquisite! So happy I still have these.

Project Linus Blanket

2007-09-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

I completed another blanket for Project Linus using donated, leftover yarn.

Here is the yarn I used.

Knit with three strands using #17 needles and a combination of garter and stockinette stitches. See my previous post for details.

Aran Knit Afghan Update

2007-09-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

I completed my sixth aran knit pattern square - the Moss Diamond Cable. The losing pattern is the Honeycomb Cable. I liked it the least when I put all the squares together. Now I need to make three more of each pattern - only 15 to go!!!! I just might try doing three at a time (same pattern of course). This would work out nicely as long as I don't mess up on the pattern. It might actually make me pay attention better - yeh, right ;-)

Moss Diamond Cable

Fingerless Mittens and Sari Silk Scarf

2007-09-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make some fingerless mittens for gifts and found a free pattern at Knoon Designs. These were made with Plymouth Encore and work up really fast. I have enough to make another pair out of each skein.

I finished the scarf I made from the Sari Silk. It is just a garter stitch on size 13 needles. Very colorful and should be fun to wear.

Moebius Scarf Completed.. and other stuff

2007-08-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

I finished the moebius scarf. Since it is done in garter stitch, the instructions warned it would roll in a couple of inches on each side and to determine the width accordingly. I was a little impatient and wanted to bind off, but am really happy to discover the whole thing makes sense to me now. I blocked this, then added a crochet border to relax the roll a bit. Very interesting how you are actually knitting from the middle outward. I'm ready to try the other patterns!

Sari Silk
I've been wanting to try this recycled Sari silk yarn and found it at my local yarn shop, Lofty Lou's. I've found it online, of course, but how nice to walk home with it unexpectedly. It is spun in Nepal from recycled silk leftover from producing Saris in India. This will become a scarf in the near future.

Dog Food
We have two senior citizen doggies and I have recently been making my own dog food for various reasons. One of the recipes involves stewing whole chickens for the meat. Our eldest, Kaya age 13, is very involved with the process. She fearlessly guards the cooking and/or cooling chickens and follows my every move to make sure I'm doing it right. Needless to say, she is exhausted at the end of the day.

Guarding the cooling chicken on the sink.

Same position allows guarding another chicken stewing on the stove.

Moebius Scarf

2007-08-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I have been very intrigued with the Moebius scarf and Cat Bordhi's method. I finally got her book "A Treasury of Magical Knitting" and am giving it my first try. I must say even after studying the technique, I couldn't visualize how the heck it was going to work, so I dove in and am amazed by it all. There are some wonderful patterns in this book and hope to try several of them.

The yarn is a cotton/silk blend I believe. It was donated to Project Linus and couldn't be used for blankets, so I traded some yarn for it. Can't wait to see it completed.

I am using #8 Addi Turbo 60" circular needles. The technique requires 47"-60" needles.

Aran Knit Afghan Update

2007-08-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

I completed two new panels for the afghan and finished the braid panel that gave me so much grief. I have one more pattern I want to try, than I'll decide which ones to use.

The afghan is a total of 20 panels, so I'll pick 4 or 5 different ones to use. I tried a moss stitch panel, but the gauge was way off (too big). I could correct this, but I'm not sure if I want to use that pattern in this project.

Honeycomb Cable

Trinity Stitch

Braid

Grandma's Crocheted Head Rest

2007-08-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Grandma made this head rest for Grandpa's rocking chair. I like the "E" at the end, making it "Take a Seat My Dearie"

Since we are on the subject of deer, we had a doe and her twins on the hill outside of our back deck a couple of weeks ago and I got some pictures. The twins were nursing while I was getting the camera, but had finished by the time I got there. You can see mom on the right, but the twins blend in and are hard to spot.

Here's a better shot of the twins. They were aware of me and a little curious.

My Grandma

2007-08-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

My Grandma on my mother's side taught me how to crochet.

Grandma hated having her picture taken so this is a rare posed picture.

Grandma was born in the late 1880's. As a child she had a disease of the hip causing one leg to be shorter than the other. She wore an elevated shoe and was very self conscious in public.

Grandma's crochet work produced bed spreads, large rugs and doilies using only the tiniest hooks and cotton thread.

I can still see her in her rocking chair, crocheting lightning fast (it would hypnotize me), with her wire-rimmed pince-nez glasses (glasses without ear supports that "pinched" the nose to stay put.)

When you got her laughing, her glasses fell off, causing us to laugh even harder. I'll post other pieces as I find and photograph them.

In front of a pastry shop. Her nickname for me was her "Sweet Apple Pie". I loved the gingersnaps with buttercream frosting she would make.

This is a coverlet for a bed she made for my parents in the late 1940's or early 1950's.

Here is the top edge.

The seams are crocheted and in great shape. This coverlet was used for years.

Scarves

2007-08-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I crocheted this scarf using some of my favorite color combinations. It is pretty long and heavy, but I have worn this a lot. Actually, Ali was the first to wear it at an outdoor neighborhood Oktoberfest. The only yarn I'm sure about is the orange - it is Lamb's Pride. The pattern was made up and can't remember exactly what I did. Essentially I chained the length I wanted and worked a shell pattern.

This is the Crossover Scarf from a pattern shown on the Knitty Gritty show on DIY Network. It was made with Di.Ve Butterfly yarn I had leftover from a purse. Actually, I still have some of this yarn!

My kitty Clara is really glad I'm dragging things out to photograph. She looks like a big meany in this picture, but she is a tiny little wimp.

Shawls

2007-08-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shawls I made a long time ago.

Bias-Knit Mohair Shawl

This was done a long, long time ago. I believe it was done using two strands of variegated mohair. It was knit on the bias in garter stitch. I have worn it a couple of times, but leaves me very, very hairy (on top of the usual dog and cat hair).

Lost Points Shawl

This shawl was a kit by Southwest Trading Company. The yarns used were "Bamboo" and "Melody".

Mohair Throw

2007-08-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, my husband bought me a mohair throw kit from Ironstone Yarns. He bought the kit at a local yarn shop. Ironstone Yarns doesn't have a website but I found a website that sells the kits. Here is the link to the kit I have: Ironstone Mohair Decorative Throw

This is worked on straight size 35 needles. It was somewhat of a challenge to keep it on the needles (I'm used to circular for afghans), but manageable. Five different yarns are worked at once in a basket weave pattern. They have you cut the fringe before you begin, then you knit until you run out of yarn. It went fast. The only problem is that you get mohair all over you when you use it.

Baby Hat

2007-08-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a baby hat I made for one of my friend's new granddaughter. I have made this hat once or twice before and Ali has made it a couple of times. It is knit on the bias and when constructed, creates the swirl effect.

I originally got the pattern from a kit ordered from Knitting to Go . This company seems to have changed hands and the website is currently under construction, so keep checking back if you are interested. The kit name was "Head Start". It came in a cute paper cup with a clear plastic domed lid and the needles stuck out of the top like straws. The yarn was a beautiful variegated wool.

I used Cascade Yarns Fixation for this hat, color no. 9941. I use this yarn for socks. It is 98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic.

Aran Knit Afghan

2007-08-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I made an afghan for anyone in the family, mainly because I made so many in the past and nobody really needed anymore. However, my daughter was married a year ago and it dawned on me that I have made afghans as wedding presents, but never thought about making one for her and her husband (bad mommy).

I saw a Knitty Gritty episode on Aran knitting and I always wanted to try these techniques. After getting the enthusiastic OK from the "kids", I have embarked on this project. It is perfect for summer since it is done in squares. Here is a link to the Aran Knitting Project . These squares will be blocked before they are sewn together. I am using Paton's Canadiana worsted weight in "cranberry" for this project. My daughter is sensitive to wool, so I chose an acrylic.

This is my first square - Rope Cables

Horseshoe Cable

Braid Panel - This square is in progress. The first two went very smoothly. This one seems to be my nemesis. I have frogged it severly a couple of times and right now I have one extra stitch on the needles :-( I shall overcome...

Knit Checkerboard Lapghan

2007-08-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is another Project Linus blanket made with donated yarn. I used a free pattern from Red Heart yarn. Here's the link to the pattern: Knit Checkerboard Lapghan . This is knit in strips so it's a good pattern to work during hot weather or on the go.

Project Linus donates blankets to hospitals, law enforcement, fire departments etc. and the blankets are given to kids and teenagers as well as babies. These bright, strong colors are good for older children and boys really love them. I still have lots of the variegated and green yarn, so at least one more blanket - different pattern- will be made from this..... eventually. I really love working on projects that I wouldn't do for myself. It feels good to go outside your comfort zone.

The green yarn that was donated looks like it could be at least 30 years old!!! It was not as soft as the other yarn, but it sure reminded me when I was first married and in love with the washable, acrylic yarn that was on the shelves!

Big Bad Afghan Bag

2007-08-05T16:04:00.001-07:00

Since I became hooked on making scrap blankets using leftover bits and pieces, I was frustrated in trying to wrangle everything in one place. My huge collection of project bags just didn't fit the bill. So I designed this bag and it is currently in "test" mode. It's pretty basic, but I think it is all I will need.

It is a flat rectangle with two large pockets - one for the yarn, one for the afghan in progress. There are snaps on the pockets and snaps along the top of the bag to secure the load. Dimensions are 40" by 28" with two 16" by 24" pockets on the inside.

I had some fabric leftover from a knitting bag I made for my daughter. I used cotton quilt batting between the print and lining to make it sturdier. A canvas weight would be great for the outside.

Empty bag closed.

Bag opened up showing the 2 inside pockets.

Bag loaded with yarn and afghan. Looks sort of like a duffle bag when full.

Scrap Blanket using Three Strands

2007-08-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here is another scrap blanket for Project Linus . This one is worked on size 17 circular needles using 3 strands of worsted weight. I generally use either white or a variegated that has lots of white as one of the strands throughout. I then add or drop new yarn for the other 2 strands as the mood strikes me.

I just made up this pattern by starting and finishing with 6 rows of garter stitch. I knit the first and last 6 stitches to create a garter stitch border. In between (I think) I used 8 rows stockinette and 8 rows of garter stitch alternately to desired length. The gauge is about 2 stitches to an inch, so I cast on 80 stitches.

Here is the pile of yarn I started with.

Blanket in progress. Note the twist-ties being used as stitch markers (I didn't have any large enough for the size 17s)

It's done!

Scrap Baby Blanket

2007-08-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

For several years I have been knitting and crocheting blankets - a "blanketeer" - for Project Linus. Besides making blankets with yarn I buy, all sorts of yarn is donated and available to volunteers to craft into blankets. I became intrigued with the bits and pieces and am enjoying making "scrap blankets" from these piles of goodies.

I love to knit more than I like to crochet. The blanket pictured below was created by using #13 needles and two strands of worsted weight yarn. I used white as one of the strands throughout and worked in leftover pink yarn throughout. I used the "big bad baby blanket" pattern in the Stitch and Bitch Knitters Handbook , changing the needle size and gauge to 3 stitches to the inch. I then adjusted the number of cast on stitches for the desired width.

I also made this same blanket with 2 strands worsted weight on size 10.5 needles and it turned out really nice. It is much heavier but very cozy.