Skein Lane – IN THE LOOP

Carson's Tomten Sweater

Yeah! I finally got the buttons on the Tomten hoodie, a Elizabeth Zimmerman classic design, for Carson….wrapped the present….popped it in the mail along with bracelet presents for Carson’s three sisters aka my nieces. How much fun to receive an instant message from my sister today….thought I’d saved it….but no! In the package was LaBerta’s Rudolph the Raindeer golden book from when she was a wee one her self, a baby sweater for Carson, and bracelets for Isabella, Jade, and Abygail.

The instant message…..

• I’ve just gotten home and there is a package on my door step….
• oh…there is a book for me….now I’ll open Carson’s package
• oh auntie it is lovely and I love it….thank you
• thank you xoxox Sis
• the girls will be home from school soon and they can open their presents.

This sequence of messages made me smile…..and made me really happy that I’d knit the sweater….thanks to my knitting friend Cathy for crocheting the beaded bracelets for the girls.

The children!

As I was thinking about this post tonight, I googled “Tomten Jacket” and got many links. It was fascinating to see how many different ways that this modular sweater has been knit. I think Elizabeth must be looking down upon us and thinking “What a joy to see such creativity from my simple design.” Many different edges have been used to finish the garment…Elizabeth’s vision was I-cord…and I used that on Carson’s sweater. I then crocheted loops for the buttonholes and added the buttons on the opposite front. I even made an effort to have the buttons on the “man’s side”. Mothers tell me if this helpful or an annoyance. Some of the other choices for bands that I saw were: garter band with button holes, zipper, a rufffled edge, a crocheted edge…and as always the possibilities are endless. My choice for Carson had to do with wanting to work an I-cord edge for this garment….and then I fussed about the edging for the button holes. I knit this sweater jacket in Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece trimmed with Brown Sheep’s Superwash Lamb’s Pride…..both of these being two of my favorite yarns.

Tomten Sweater Jacket - the buttons!