ROMANTIC TOMTEN

This is my version of EZ's Tomten. I knit it with two strands of yarn using black as the constant and stash yarn in shades of dark gray to white as the second. Note how the colors become lighter as they progress from the bottom to the shoulders. Since I was using all the stash yarn in each color as I went along, I added steeks to the arm openings so the color would be constant around the chest area.

I decided it needed some color after the body was complete and added the red band around the front opening and hood. At that point, my copy of Annie Modesitt's "Romantic Hand Knits" arrived and I decided the touch of embroidery that Annie had used on "The Heiress" sweater would be a nice touch, so I used that as inspiration for the additional adornment around the front.

I will let its recipient, my granddaughter, Audrey, pick out a button from Grandma's button box for the front closure.