Alpaca Sweater

There is something so different about knitting for someone else.  First of all, I only knit for people who I know will appreciate it.  Naturally, these are also people that I really care about.  This makes knitting for them both more stressful (it must be perfect!), but also much more satisfying and enjoyable than knitting for myself.

Today I finished the alpaca sweater that I've been knitting for my mother.  I'm very happy with how it came out, now I cannot wait to get it in the mail!

The yarn is Cascade Alpaca Lana D'Oro, which some of you may remember I've had disagreements with.  Although I was disappointed with the yarn when I compared it to the "comparable" Berroco version, when I evaluate the yarn alone, I actually do like it.  One thing that I really liked was the stitch definition, the stitches were butter soft (is that even a proper description?).  Even though it is not even in the same league as Ultra Alpaca, it was still a very soft blend.

The pattern was Graduated Ribbed Top by Maurya McBride from the book Knitter's Stash.  The construction of the sweater would be great for beginners, but the pattern was not written very clearly, which always annoys me (especially when printed in a book!).  The resulting sweater is very simple, and attractive.

I'm currently packing this up to send out, I am very nervous because I hope it fits.  I'm leaving my mom the task of blocking it so she can make her own decisions on the fit.  

Now I need a new project to work on!