purlsandmurmers

Fall Stash

Thursday night knitting was a source of great temptation as new fall yarns and pattern books were arriving at Yarn Central and it was hard to just sit and knit as all the lovely yarns were piled all around us.    I picked up a couple of patterns from Classic Elite, and I kept interrupting my knitting to flip through them and wander around the store looking at the yarns.

Interrupting the knitting was not hard as I was having relatively rare gauge issues.  There was one section of the body I just could not get even, and I ended up ripping that portion 7 times before I got it straight.  Every time, I would rip past the floppy place, reknit, and look at the work I got the same piece of stretchy, wonky row right in the middle, and it looked like it was at the exact same place every time.  I was beginning to think there must be some kind of strange lack of twist in the yarn at that point or something because I had trouble believing that even I could make the exact same mistake at the exact same place with such precision. 

When I got home that night, I sat down in the darkened house and knit that section yet again, this time with great attention and mindfulness, pulling the yarn so tight through the suspect stretch of yarn that I feared I would cut the circulation off in my fingers.  Success finally.  But by then I was sick of Blue Baby Sweater and it has been  cast aside while I have indulged in a mad passion for closet and pantry cleaning.

But, back to knitting group.  Do not be lulled into thinking that I came home with only the pattern books.  Two bags of yarn came home that night as well.  Yarn I really don't need, and yarn not intended for any of the plethora of patterns I have shown you so far.

I fell wildly in love with this Manos yarn the instant I saw it.  I came back to it repeatedly during the evening.  There was never any doubt it would come home with me.

I don't know exactly what it will be yet but I do have several ideas.  In fact every time I think about it I come up with more possibilities.    I will spread out the patterns and have to make some swatches just to see how the variegation lines up when actually knitting.  But I still need to start Mermaid first.

The new yarn and my general restless spirit prompted me to reorganize the yarn cubicles in the sewing/yarn room, switching out the summer yarns which I have decided I am not going to knit this year, and replace them with fall inspirations.  There are still some cottons and summer things mixed in; things either I am still thinking I might knit, or yarns that earned a place just because I loved the combinations of colors in the cubby. 

It looks like it is going to be a wine/red/burgundy kind of year:

The large group of 7 wine colored yarns you see in the bottom of the upper left cubby, on the left side, were also purchased Thursday night: Waterlily from Classic Elite.  I intended to make this sweater  but somehow I got all discombobulated with the Classic Elite books and I failed to purchase that particular book.  I must try to remember to pick it up this coming Thursday.  Of course there are untold other sweaters I could knit at that gauge, so no commitments are yet being made.

Here are the other two cubbies of the yarn stash.  The colors are much more muted here and were much harder to photograph:  deep plums, grays,  blues and greens for the most part. 

The big dark mass on the bottom right is some RowanSpun DK half deep inky blue and half deep bottle green.  The camera can't seem to distinguish.  They had been in bags before, but I realized after I stashed the yarn in the cubbies in the spring that I don't like looking at the yarn through the plastic bags.  I can't see the colors and the texture well, so I just ignore.  Banish those bags.

Of course, we all know that I will not get all this yarn knitted up this winter.  But there are many hours of happy dreams wrapped up in this little patch of real estate. 

Autumn Ho!

Blue Baby Kimono

The time of quick and easy sweaters is here. 

The UFO's remain in their state of promises unfulfilled.

I started another baby sweater, this one the kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting using Tahki's cotton classic in this wonderful shade of blue:

Luckily for me the Cotton Classic came out the same gauge as the pattern using size 4 needles.  No math and no thought involved. 

I really do have to find time and inclination to get the other sweaters put together, and to get Mermaid started.  The list goes on, but life has a way of working everything out and I am sure I will get myself straightened out too.  But first I need to sneak off for some more mindless knitting.

A simple square

After all those fabulous temptations I am sure you are wondering what entrancing project I am working on now.  I'm not.

I haven't sewn anything together.  Otto is stacked nicely awaiting seaming.  Rogue is still in the same queue. 

In need of a quick, simple, mindless project that required no advance planning, I grabbed a skein of Mission Falls 1824 cotton that had been sitting around and took a quick look at Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristen Nicholas.  I knew there was a simple washcloth project in there, and since 1824 cotton can go in the washer and dryer and softens up so nicely with time, I thought this might be an interesting project.

In a couple of days worth of stolen moments, the washcloth is done:

looking a little worse for having been scrunched, folded, and crammed in corners all weekend, but nice anyway.   Here is a detail of the edging:

It is not the most inspiring thing I have ever knit at a Bard Music Festival, but then Liszt has not proven to be the most inspiring subject either.  We'll call it a wash.

Which reminds me, what am I going to take to knit on tomorrow??

A lifetime of projects

Some time back I posted about the new the preview for the fall Vogue Knitting.  But then I neglected to mention anything further.  Well, I got the magazine, some time ago in fact, and I am just as thrilled as I thought I might be. 

In fact, between IK, VK, and the new Verena Stricken, I probably have enough sweaters I could happily knit to keep me going for several years.

There are so many things I like in the new VK that I really can't post all the pictures.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I love the entire "Grays Anatomy".  At first I had major doubts about sweater #31, primarily because I thought it looked asymmetrical and strange.  But when I look more closely at the actual photograph, and the diagrams, I see that it is a standard cardigan with a long scarf attached.  That makes it kind of cool.

I also still like much of "Modern English" although there are things I would never wear.  I am currently very much entranced with  sweater #3, Raspberry Fields Forever:

The sock feature has a several interesting pairs of socks with fun shaping or designs and I think even the wildly colorful ones are fun even though I would never wear them.    I love these black and white socks just for the shaping at the foot,  although I haven't worn knee socks since I was 12 and don't intend to reintroduce that style to my wardrobe. 

The lace socks are pretty as well. and I can  much more easily see myself wearing the.

There are several other sweaters that appeal, but I think I have inundated you with more than enough photos.  Not to worry you will see them eventually as designs from this issue are sure to crop up in my knitting.

The Autumn Verena arrived over the weekend and I have been spending a lot of time poring over it.  It too is filled with lots of designs I would like to knit.  This is turning out to be one of the most promising seasons for knitting and sewing that I have seen in a long time.  When I bought my first Verena, last winter, it was an issue like this, loaded with fabulous designs and I was inspired to get a subscription.  The spring sweaters did not thrill me so much though.  Now that cool-weather designs are back though, I am glad I got the magazine, as it is not something carried at my local newstands, and this issue pays for the cost of the subscription in ideas alone.

These are just a few of the very elegant sweaters in the black and white section most of which are sweaters I would wear for a long long time.

But there are also sportier and more casual sweaters, such as this one with its furry chenille eges, collar and cuffs:

And this sporty yet tailored wrap cardigan.

There are more sweaters in this issue than I could ever knit, much less show here.  But I need to post one more photo, although I am not sure you can see the stitch detail of the sweater:

Random Monday

No I have not dropped off the face of the earth.

But last week was a constant treadmill run of tasks and problems and general distractions from yarn and needles.  Still a few things were accomplished, mostly in bits and pieces on the weekend:

1.  Pink socks are done:

2.  The second sleeve has been completed for Otto, which means that I have now completed most of the knitting.  This sleeve needs to be blocked, the sweater must be assembled and the button band must be knitted.  I also have to find the right buttons.  I shall look at the in-house button supply first hoping to find something there before having to search elsewhere.

3.  While searching through the current project box, I was appalled to find that Rogue is still there, knitted and blocked but not assembled.  I had forgotten that by the time I finished Rogue it was too late for wear last winter and I suppose I didn't feel like putting it together in the summer.  That has to be finished because we will soon be in fall sweater weather.

So it looks like I have a lot of sewing and assembly ahead of me.  Not a problem really, except for the time issue.  I am not one of those people who can sew up a sweater while I am at knitting group, talking away.  Professional sewing up requires my full attention.   Which also means that

4.  I need to start another project.  I have Mermaid which I intend to start but I need to check the calculations and I am not sure that it will be a traveling project, one that I can take to knitting group, or up to Bard to pass the time between concerts.  A second project might need to be found as well.

baby steps

How do people manage to get so much done?  Is there some essential flaw in my character?  Do I not work enough?  Do I not devote enough time?  Obviously this is true because if I spent more time knitting I would undoubtedly get more done.  But where is the time found?

I had thought that I would finish Otto by mid July.  Here I am in the second week of August and still plugging away.  I am not actually bored with the project.  I have every intention of spending more time with Otto every day but somehow I never get there, never get settled down with needles in hand.  The final sleeve progresses in tiny baby steps.

Of course there are other temptations as well, stolen moments curled up with a book, the temptation of other fiberly pursuits. Yes it is true.  I have been spending time sewing as well, and cooking and working in the garden a bit. 

How does one decide which passion is the one to be indulged in any given moment of spare time?

Perhaps it would be easier to have but a single hobby.  Life, work, a single passion.  This could be managed.  It will never happen.

Confusion

As I sat knitting last night while G watched various news programs on television, I wondered, why do we continue to be obsessed with Castro and Cuba.  It was on every chanel in great length. 

I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis (even though I was a small child -- I remember the palpable and incomprehensible sense of terror I felt), but the Soviet Union is no longer a threat and Cuba is a very small country.  Of course Cubans would feel deeply about this issue and well they should.  But why is the media preoccupied with Cuba?  Why do we, as a much larger nation, care and fear so deeply?

I am not going to argue whether Castro is good, bad, or none of the above.  I know people with strongly held beliefs on all sides of this issue and I myself am not that thoroughly informed.  But that is not germaine to my question.  I am not asking abut human rights, or the fate and rights of Cubans, or any other issues.  I am asking why does the fate of Castro and Cuba worry the US as an entity so deeply?

It just seems that there are far more important issues, issues that affect the welfare of this country and its citizens far more greatly than Fidel Castro.  Why aren't we obsessing about those issues, rather than spending hours of prime time media analysis on Castro and Cuba?  Or is it easier to fret about some minor outside event than to deal with unpleasant truths at home?

Truth and Consequences

Do you recall that I mentioned that I went to Colorful Stitches with certain projects in mind?  And that I did not find what I was looking for?  Granted I found something pretty wonderful, but what, pray tell, was I seeking?

Well I was seeking a fall project inspired by the new  fall Interweave Knits, which had just arrived in mail box that very morning.  I had just come to the conclusion that I was not really going to start a new summer project, in the hopes that summer will be done before I wear it much anyway, and I needed a fairly simple project that could be knitted at knitting group without major pattern mishaps, so I was looking for something simple.

The first thing that came to mind was the cover sweater on the new Interweave Knits even though it is knit in alpaca which means I won’t be wearing it for some time, and quite frankly alpaca sounds terrible to knit with in the current 100 degree heat.

I love the sweater and its wide neckline.  I really just has to hang well off the shoulders and then hang gracefully.  In this instance it is good that it is not particularly fitted because it means I will probably knit it and still be able to wear it, another important consideration because I have finally made a commitment to some lifestyle changes over here.

More exactly I have admitted to myself that I am much too heavy and need to lose weight.  Now anyone who has looked at photos on my blog will probably say to themselves “of course.” But I managed to deny that fact for a long time as I let the weight build up.  You see, for most of my early adult life, certainly through my 20's and 30's, I was a thin person and putting on weight was not really issue because it just came off again.  I had more trouble keeping weight on than taking it off, and I had no trouble maintaining that size 6 average on my 5'9" frame.  The problem is that I have continued to think of myself as a thin person despite all evidence to the contrary, and so it finally came as a surprise when I noticed that I was not just a little heavier, but was in fact, chubby.

Now I don’t really think I will ever become that size 6 person again, and I am not sure I really want to be that person, but I still need to loose 50 pounds.  Well, more exactly since I have now lost 13 pounds, I need to lose 40 more.  I will accept another 30, but 40 is the goal.  And I am determined to stick with it, despite occasional lapses and over-indulgences. 

And herein lies the problem.  Knitting takes time and a lot of effort goes into each project. I don’t want to knit something that is not going to fit when I am done with it.  At the same time it seems somewhat arrogant to knit something too small, I don’t want to tempt fate that much (or does this really just mean I am afraid of failing).  So I decided not to knit another summer sweater even though there are several I wanted to knit, including this one:

MAGGIE from RYC Classic Beach

which had been scheduled to be the next project on the needles upon the completion of Otto.  But it is unlikely that I will wear this sweater much this year and I do not intend to be the same size next summer.

Enter the fall Interweave and my hopes of knitting Equinox.  I have yarns in the right gauge, but not with the right fuzziness that the Inca Alpaca has, and part of what I like about this sweater is that bit of soft blurring caused by the fuzz factor in the yarn.

There are, of course, several other sweaters in this issue I want to knit.  In fact, to my mind this is a rather promising issue.

I love both Coral Crossing and Gatsby Girl and don’t see them as being so similar that I wouldn’t want both. 

Now although my waist has returned, it is not quite where I would like it to be in those sweaters.  They will have to joint the ever expanding list.

I also love Weekend by Veronik Avery; it is precisely the kind of classic pullover that I love to wear, but once again it is fitted.  And I want it to fit me the other me, the one that has been hiding, but is determined to get out.  I knitted one of Veronik Avery’s sweaters years ago, and people have told me they are difficult or something, but I don’t remember that.  It may have been but I tend to just get going and work my way through any problems or errors I find and then forget about them, lost in my own little knitting world.  I am not one to get easily frustrated with a sweater unless I just don’t like the knitted fabric itself.

The Wanderlust Hoodie is also high on my list, but then I have long been partial to Shirley Paden’s patterns even they are almost always too short and need pattern revision.  I have always just assumed that the designer is a much shorter person than I, and that she designs her sweaters accordingly.  This sweater particularly seems like the kind of thing to wear walking around the Vanderbilt Estate on a crisp cool day, or perhaps up at Mohonk Mountain house.  It seems like the perfect Hudson Valley kind of sweater, but again it is a little more fitted, and it is in a bulky yarn.  Even though Aurora Bulky is a squishy yarn, I would rather squish it around a smaller me and this sweater is a lot of work to have to do over.

The other two sweaters I like, Sienna and Supernova were possible, but they both need more work for me to wear them.

Supernova reminds me of the sweaters in Knitting Nature, which I love.  And I love the yoke on this sweater too.  I would add a little more shaping to the body and that is really an easy enough thing to do.  But I would want to find a yarn very similar to the stated yarn or I would fear problems with that yoke. 

Sienna has promise as a basic cardigan.  I like that it has just a touch of pattern running up the front along the band.  I dislike the collar.  I really seem to have a thing about small shawl collars  and I would have to devise something different before I would wear this sweater.   At this point I could knit and wear the sweater, but I did not want to do the work involved even in changing the collar.

But then who knows how much work the Mermaid will be.  It is a jacket so although it is shaped, I do not want all too close to the body.  But there are no diagrams, at least none with dimensions noted, so I am going to have to read the instructions and do the math before I get too far along.

But Mermaid, I think, was meant to be.