Tree of Life Aran

As everyone who has seen me knitting since November knows I decided to knit my mom an aran for christmas. I chose the Tree of Life Aran from the first american publication of Classic British Knits by Madeline Weston. (librarian rant starts here: She published three books and they are either variants of the same book or a book consisting of most of the same patterns, a cataloging nightmare end rant)

I knit the pattern like a crazy woman and still wasn't finished before I started my christmas vacation. I had to redo half of the front left because the arm holes did not match. I knit for eight hours a day for the four days that led up to christmas and busted the entire thing out including blocking and sewing on christmas eve before the party.

The knit is challenging and looks like dog food before blocking but when it blocks oh wow. It looks awesome. Mom loved the sweater, I loved the sweater and her sister's were jealous. A job well done. I avoided my knitting bag for three days and then started three new small projects. I also take a small pride in being the only person on Ravelry crazy enough to knit this cardigan! The first photo is mom the second is me trying on the sweate and contemplating the idea of saying that is was ruined and keeping it for myself.