In a Flash

I was excited to post that I've finished my first garment of the year tonight, but then I realized it's actually my second adult garment. Last week I knocked off a vest for my friend Matlie. I can't show you pictures yet, because the knitting is still a surprise. She knows she's getting a vest, and even knows the color, since it was her yarn. . . but doesn't know exactly which vest pattern I could have chosen. We're supposed to exchange presents on January 15, but since we've never met a deadline yet, you may have to wait some for the big reveal.
Tonight, I finished a Philosopher's Wool sweater. I'm totally smitten with their colors and kits. Tonight's finish makes my sixth kit that I've finished from them, and I have two more in the stash to knit up. No one needs that many boxy sweaters, so I've knit some in trade, given some as gifts, and this will be the second one for me. I improvised a bit, and am pretty happy with the shape of the sweater. I'm a bit disappointed with the color change in the yoke. . .in my improvisation, I didn't realize there was such a dramatic color change between the two black balls of yarn I was using. I've got a pretty noticeable line where the change happens, but I'll live with it. This was never intended as an heirloom garment, and I plan to snuggy into it when I'm knitting in my chilly basement this winter or running out to the market for dinner supplies.
The directions say to use liquid dish detergent to wash the sweater and clean out the spinning oils from the sweater, and to expect water that is quite black looking. After doing this a few times, I know what to expect, but it's still a surprise. On the first soak, I put my hands in the water to gently move the sweater around, and it was so dark that I couldn't see my own hands! I think I wound up rinsing it at least four or five times until the water was clear enough for my liking. Instead of the baby oil that the recommend for the final rinse to replace the lanolin in the sweater, I use a bit of scented massage oil. I like the scent better, and the one I use is an organic product made by a company who's owners I consider friends. I suppose you could wash with any of the wool wash products on the market, but I always follow the Philosopher's Wool directions when I knit one of their sweaters.
Officially, this makes two adult sweaters done in 2013. If the rest of the year goes by as quickly as my knitting has this week, it'll be gone in a flash.
Here's a tease until I can get some proper photos to add to this post. . .