April 3rd, 2008

Knitterly Love

Well, a pattern having been identified, and with a nudge from whimsicalknitter in the right direction, yarn has now been ordered. I find myself very excited at the prospect of knitting a complete garment.  It has certainly been over 20 years since I last knitted a sweater, perhaps almost 30.

The best thing? I get to feel Not At All Guilty when I sit with my feet up, knitting instead of doing proper housework. If I am knitting for ‘im indoors, it’s A Good Thing, yes?

The only thing is, how am I going to find time to knit a whole sweater and keep on top of my spinning and other knitting projects? And that’s without thinking about my tatting and needle felting and dyeing and… and… and…

Whoops!

Ah, well. It all helps to keep me out of trouble.

Simply Arizona

The heel is turned on the second sock! That’s a fair-ish indication that Second Sock Syndrome is not biting on this pair. Not 100% safe and out of the woods yet, as I now need to pick up the gusset and this is my least favourite part of sock knitting, but looking fairly good and positive.

I am considering writing a series of articles on The Beginner’s Guide to Sock Knitting. A kind of blind-leading-the-blind exercise. Probably futile, but it would help me to consolidate what I have learned.

Shall I do it?

Friday Spinning

I don’t think that I am expecting any spinners tomorrow, but I shall make a cake, just in case. Once the yarn for Mr L’s sweater arrives, I think we can cease all expectation of cake. There simply will not be time.

Next Week

Next week is Mr L’s holiday. It is far too sad and geeky to explain why he has taken next week off. No, believe me. It really is sad. And very geeky. But the reason for the holiday will be getting in the way of my fibre activities next week so… I am aiming to clear this sock tomorrow, and spin off some more of the grey/red merino/mohair if there is time. I may pick up Mr plumbum’s socks to work on a bit, but I don’t expect to be reporting much knitterly activity for a week to ten days now.

Sunday is Poetry, Wednesday Spinning is at M’s, if I go. The rest of the week is for geekishness.

What? You want to know? Oh, alright then - we are going to be sitting up late at night to work on a set of puzzles that are released in a distant time-zone. And there isn’t even a prize to be had.

Yes, we would still like team members. We’d like them to be in a reasonably close time-zone, though.

And we aim to end up in the top twenty this year - we made 31st place last year, I think

Perhaps I can knit as I ponder, and allow solutions to drift sideways into my brain while I meditate on my cables.

The Week After That

I have visitors coming! My bridesmaid, Nev (not at all like Madge Allsop) is coming to stay for a night or two. That will take time from my yarn and fibre, too, but it will be very good to see him and I shall not begrudge it.

I guess the Ultimate Gift will begin its journey in the week of the 21st April. How will I be able to wait that long before casting on?!

One Wee Thought

The New Lanark Mills yarn is very reasonably priced. Especially in the Aran version (£1.80 a 100g ball, 132 yards) . I’m giving much thought to my long-awaited St Brigid sweater. I’d have to adapt it for size, ‘cos I am a fat slob. But at the price that this yarn is… ? It has to be done, and soon.

Knit

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In a sweat

I am becoming increasingly dissatisfied with these quick-fix one-skein knits. I crave some serious knitting… and a sweater. The problem is, I mean, the problems are:

  1. The sheer volume aka cost of yarn to clothe my all too ample bosom
  2. The alternative of time and effort and sheer patience-cum-skill required to spin enough to clothe said bosom
  3. The fact that I need another sweater like I need a hole in the head - I have a closet full of sweaters that I have no hope of wearing out in this lifetime
  4. Mr L is not a sweater fan

All the same, I do feel the need for a significant knitting project.

I was searching for the perfect sweater pattern - one that would convert Mr L to being a sweater wearer; the one pattern that will make him leap in the air and say “I must have that!” - the one that makes him plead with me to knit for him (yeah, dream on.) I didn’t find it…

…but I did find this:

The perfect crusty traveller sweater. I need this made - in preparation for my life on wheels! (Not to mention using up as many rash purchases of individual balls of sock yarn as I can.) (non-Ravelry users can look here — scroll down to the image of the multi-coloured version of the sweater.)

Just one snag. Did you notice? The pattern is in German only. As my German lessons were sporadic, to say the least, ich nicht sprachen die lingo. What do you mean, “you can tell” ? ! Hey, I do my best - it wasn’t my fault that the teacher used to skive off our lessons.

I love this sweater and I really would like to knit it so, if anyone reading this is able and willing to translate the pattern, I would love to hear from you! I shall start buying sock wool as quickly as I can :-)

Knit

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