Doug and I spent last week in Tucson. My 85-year-old step-father, Stuart, was celebrating a second bar mitzvah, 72 years after the first one. It was moving and fun and gave me a chance to see my folks and step-siblings and their families. We also got to visit old haunts (Doug and I lived in Tucson in the late 1980s) and to see many old friends. Doug taught a guest lecture at the U of A. We communed with the desert scenery, and soaked up some sunshine. We ate some really great Mexican food. I knitted for a total of about 15 minutes in 10 days. Sigh. But I did manage to take a few photos of my latest cardigan.
Despite having a few issues, mainly me worrying about the fit and making a lot of stupid mistakes with the edging, the cardigan turned out perfectly.
The pattern is Sparkling by Sus Gepard. I have blogged about it quite a bit (you can see the posts, in reverse order, here). I knitted it exactly to instructions. The only modifications being that I picked up considerably more stitches around the front edging than the pattern asked for.
I bought the yarn and pattern last January in Copenhagen and then waited some time before casting on. The stitch pattern is intuitive and quick and the cardigan itself knits up easily. I fretted quite a bit about the slope of the armhole decreases, but they turned out just right. I’m not sure why that is; perhaps its been a while since I knit a sweater in pieces?
Here are a few photos from our visit. The Mission at San Xavier del Bac:
The bar mitzvah boy:

photo by Ben Weissman
My step-sisters, Jocelyn and Alison, and me:

photo by Ben Weissman
Cactus:
My Mom and me:
A hummingbird at the Desert Museum:
Sunset through the windshield, with the mountains in the background:
Bisbee Royale:
Good times, great food; Doug, Marylou, Kelly, and Stuart at Elvira’s in Tubac. This is seriously good Mexican food. Go there if you have the chance.
We went from Tucson to Vancouver, where it is considerably colder. I have switched from tee shirts to down coat, hat, cowl, and gloves. I’ll post again when we are back home.
So enjoyed these pictures as they are a trip down memory lane as we lived in AZ for 30 years. Happy Thanksgiving
Sweater looks great!
Your new sweater looks great, and it looks like a wonderful trip! Great scenery, and congratulations to your step-father on his 2nd bar mitzvah!
Wow! What a great trip, and fun reason for it. The sweater looks fantastic. I take it you repaired it just fine?
Enjoy the rest of the trip!
Thank you for sharing these pictures. This cardigan was worth all the efforts you put into it, it is really lovely and the fit seems just right. Well done!