// The Weekender Sweater by Andrea Mowry //

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this space. How are ya?

I’ve been juggling being a part-time single mama most days of the week and my what feels like 12+ hour days working on my small business. It is tremendously rewarding and exhausting at the same time. Knitting has always been my refuge even though I barely get the luxury to do so anymore. Most days I am completely wiped out to knit a single stitch so when an opportunity to travel presented itself in March, I knew I had to take full advantage.

I’ve had both pattern (gifted by my friend Ashley) and yarn (Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Narwhal) in my stash for over a year. Honestly, I don’t know what took me so long to knit it up. I shared a sentiment on Instagram a few weeks ago about hoarding my most valued treasures, never wanting to “ruin” the state they came in and Brooklyn Tweed yarn is very very high on that list.  I’m ashamed to admit having a few sweater quantities just sitting in a drawer waiting to be used up.

We (myself and my 2 younger mini me’s) traveled to Ottawa to visit my husband for March Break.

Wait… what? why you ask? This should fill you in.

I cast on for this sweater sometime during the 4-hour train ride on the way to Ottawa. We spent 2 weeks there and before I knew it, I had a brand new sweater shortly after we returned home.

Incredibly fast and so rewarding!

It’s knit in the round. Bottom up. Inside out.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is 1) the length and 2) refreshing or learning how to do a Kitchener bind off for the neckband and sleeves.

I used this tutorial from Purl Soho. Easy Peasy!

I loved knitting this sweater as much as wearing it so much I’m already planning to make at least one more. This is easily a wardrobe staple for me and I’d like it in black as well.

These FO photos were taken by my soon to be 20-year-old son, Ryan.

He works for a photography company and with the wedding season now in full swing, he’s booked solid right through summer. He asked for a rain check to celebrate Mother’s Day due to this schedule. We went out on his day off instead.

The plan was to watch a movie then have dinner. He even made arrangements prior for my in-laws to babysit so that we could take our time downtown.

As per usual, we parked at Finch station (he even drove so I could knit!)  and we took the subway down. As a young adult, we barely get time alone and it was like a breath of fresh air to catch up with what he’s been up to. We arrived at least half an hour before our movie started so he took me on a tour around his school, Ryerson University. We ended up taking an impromptu photo shoot in the stairwell.

We watched the movie “Us”. He’s currently taking Media Production and is hoping to get in the Film Industry. He’s a huge fan of Jordan Peele’s work and couldn’t wait to show me his latest film even though he’s already seen it before. I enjoyed it! So many creative sequences throughout the movie. Funny how I look at things in a whole new perspective now that Ry is literally dissecting it! Recently, he came home after a lecture from one of the directors of the TV series, Suits. He was so inspired and talked about it so passionately I could taste his hunger for this new passion.

Ahhh, life with young adults is the best!

For dinner, he took me to Assembly Chef’s Hall. We ate so much because we wanted to try as much food as we possibly could. Boy was I glad I was wearing super high waisted pants and a loose fitting boxy sweater 😉 Highly recommend this place. It’s like a food court at the mall except the dishes are 10x better! We plan on going back and bringing the entire family just so we can try more dishes!

I shared most of the food we ate in my stories on Instagram. It’s actually one of my favorite things to share, for no other reason than I’m just happy I’m not cooking hahaha! My dream if when I win that million dollar lottery ticket is to hire a full time chef for life 🙂

Dear Ry,

Thanks for being such an amazing kid. I had so much fun on our date and I feel so lucky I get to be your mom. I love how creative you are, whether it’s playing the piano, taking pictures not just for work but for pleasure whenever you can, and for this new passion you found in film. You constantly blow me away with your drive and motivation and I am so proud of you. I will always support you and be there for you, no matter what.

I love you so much.

xoxo,

mom