purlsandmurmers

The Long Goodbye

I always seem to underestimate how long the actual finishing of a sweater will take.  I know, intellectually, that seaming up and knitting bands and collars etc takes time, but at some place in my knitters heart, once I am done with the actual knitting of the pieces of a sweater I think of it as done and I start moving on to dreaming of the next piece and preparing myself to spend time with a new project.  Hence it always comes as a bit of a surprise, although it shouldn't really, that it takes longer to get the sweater out of my basket and onto the shelf than I expect.  Sweaters knitting projects are a lot like the kind of guest who says "its time to go" and then talks another half hour, then starts to leave and repeats the process over and over so that it takes an hour or more to get through the ritual of "leaving".

I don't actually begrudge the time spent finishing a sweater.  A sweater assembled well is a joy and I enjoyed sewing up the Rice Stitch Cardigan although I did put it off a while, not so much because I didn't want to to do it, but because it required long chunks of undistracted time.  The collar is also proving to be a long process, which of course I would have realized had I actually spared the time to think about it.  The collar is about 60 inches long and 6 inches wide, all done in k2, P2 ribbing.  Each row takes forever. 

Well actually each row takes about 15 minutes if I am awake and paying attention.  If I am tired the time can slow to 20 minutes.

Twelve rows have been completed here:

24 more rows to go, a crocheted edge along the bottom band, and 5 buttons.  I estimate about another 6 to 7 hours.  Needless to say it will not be finished today.

One Sock

You might not recall that I had started a sock o these many months ago.  Indeed I myself had almost forgotten.  But wanting to knit last night, but desperate to knit anythng if it did not require picking up stitches around the neck of the rice stitch cardigan, I happened upon the blue sock.   And so, dear reader, I finished it.

I admit I am very happy with this sock.  The fit is fabulous.

The top is a little short, I could have knit it longer, but I seem to recall that I was afraid of running out of yarn.  There was plenty left so this was obviously not a worry.  It is a fabulous sock.  I would wear it today because it seems like fall has once agan returned to the Hudson Valley, or perhaps early spring, but alas I cannot because I have only one sock, and I have not cast on the for the second.

I shall cast on, but not until I finish the rice stitch cardigan.  Perhaps I will finish the second sock by the time sock season returns again, if it ever leaves that is.  Sock knitting on size 0000 needles is proving not to be my favorite form of entertainment.  I might like it better if someone would make shorter needles in a size 0000, but alas, it does not seem to be so.  The final rows of a toe on four teeny tiny eight inch long pieces of metal is an exercise in frustration which is not recommended for the faint of heart, or those who have had a glass of wine with dinner.

Almost Done

It took me long enough, but I finally stopped procrastinating and assembled the body of the rice-stitch cardigan.  It was actually quite easy to seam and all the appropriate lines of the pattern lined up perfectly.  I don't know which angel was looking over my shoulder, but I extend my thanks.

After I assembled the body and tried it on, I had had doubts, it seemed to pouch out at a funny angle through the armscye.  But of course, one can't tell until the sleeve is in place.

So I basted up a sleeve:

and basted it into the body of the garment.  The fit was pretty good.  The sleeve length was perfect and the little bit of extra shaping (a few well placed short-rows in the sleeve cap) were perfect:

Finally, it was time to soak the sleeves and block them.  This fabric is rather stiff before that initial wash, but becomes lush and soft after blocking. 

While the sleeves are blocking I can pick up the stitches around the neckline and begin the collar.  Will I be finished for a little bit of showing off at Thursday night knitting?  I hope so.  After all, I am (semi) retired now, right?  I can work when I want.  I can knit when I want.

O Frustration!

As I am nearing the completion of the rice stitch cardigan, and no, I haven't sewn it up yet or blocked the sleeves, I am starting to think about the next project. 

I know I had a list, but the list seems to be composed of winter things that don't interest me right now.  I want spring sweaters. 

There are many possibilities, including some Adrienne Vittadini I bought in an onslaught of "stress buying" last month after I learned about DH's current health issues.  Don't worry you will get to see everything in time.  Needless to say, I should not be allowed to carry credit cards in times of emotional distress.

I also want to knit that cotton vest I wrote about last week.   The original sweater is knit in a wool cotton mix that knits at about 4 1/2 stitches to the inch.  I probably don't have anything like that.  I have Rowan Wool/cotton, but that knits at a finer gauge and I would rather not do the math.  I would also rather use stash yarn than buy something new.  We'll see. 

Once upon a time I would diligently snip samples of my yarns and wrap them on cards to keep a little sample book of yarns in the stash.  I have not been so diligent about that lately.  I still have the cards, and they give all the relevant information, except where the yarn is stored.  (I store things in boxes in closets)  I have also maintained a spreadsheet which lists yarns, what I intended to make, all the relevant gauge information and storage location.  All the yarns are on the spreadsheet, swatched or not, or at least they were until about a month ago.  New purchases have not been added, and now......

The spreadsheet has gone missing!

Egads! I cannot begin to tell you how long it took me to inventory all my yarn and make that spreadsheet.  I haven't the foggiest idea about the what's and where's of my stash without it, much less the when's or why's. 

It all began with my computer troubles last fall.  Those eventually ended with a new computer.  The new computer came with a test version of Microsoft Office 2007.  I decided to use it, and I really like it.  Besides I am planning on a knitting pattern spreadsheet or database and I know I can run Paradox or Excel on my Palm, with pictures,  if I ever get around to creating the databases.  Getting pictures into Quattro Pro and actually being able to see them on the Palm is either impossible or requires far more work than I am willing to invest.

The old spreadsheet was on Quattro Pro because that is what the office used.  The office used Quattro Pro because the secretary we had at the time knew WordPerfect and Quattro Pro, I had both, and it was easier to use what she knew than to teach her something new.

Well, I didn't put Quattro Pro on the new computer, but I had it on DH's computer so I just kept it there until I got around to converting it to Excel.  But then, about 2 weeks before we closed the office the main office computer went down.  I needed a new one between 4 PM one day and 8 AM the next, and I didn't want to buy a new computer because DH was about to retire.  So DH's computer went to the office, with all my stuff still on it.  Since no one in the office deletes anything or backs anything up, I figured it was pretty safe for a few weeks.

Ha!  Past behavior is no indication of future performance!

It is not there.  None of the data is there.  Everything in the "My Documents" folder has been wiped clean, erased, deleted, disposed of........you get the picture.  Finis.  I suppose this was the same helpful thought that encouraged someone in the office to tell the post office we were closing and to hold the mail.  We weren't closing yet, I hoped to pick up mail at the office while I figured out what the new address would be, we still have a few more months on the lease and at least another month before it is likely that anyone will be able to take possession of the office and free us from our leasing obligations.  I was letting the staff go -- but close the office, nah, I wanted time, precious time, and a place to go hide, you know, a place that allowed me to say "sorry dear I must go to the office to get mail" and collect my thoughts with a three-shot grande latte and a good book or a little knitting.  Oh well.

Now I don't know where the office mail has gone.  Hopefully that will turn up eventually at our new address.  And I don't know where my spreadsheet has gone, but that is probably gone for good.  It may be on one of the zillion CDs and floppy disks that have been carted home from the office, but since those are lost in piles of 40 years worth of medical journals, files, paperwork, and various odd bits, I think it unlikely that I shall resurrect it in this lifetime.  A cataloging I will go.

But what will I knit?  Back to the Vittadini idea?  Buy yarn?  Make something else entirely? The Skacel yarn is available.  I could probably also use Rowan All Seasons Cotton, it might be light enough not to drag terribly.  But both of those require purchase, I know I have some All Seasons Cotton, but I don't know how much, and I am not certain where it is.  Just thinking about it makes my brain hurt.  But I don't know that I have anything else either.  Wool will be too warm.  Cotton will be too heavy, and I prefer my cottons, unless they are blended with something else, in smaller gauges.    But there is so much chaos around me right now I am loathe to add to it by buying more yarn -- well perhaps yarn that I will use immediately might be spared.  But if I order the yarn I will start something else while I wait so the yarn will end up sitting in the stash anyway.  Yarn Central might have something Thursday night, but wait, no yarn buying. Back to Vittadini.

Or.....

I am getting strangely reobsessed with Twisty Turns  again and the yarn I purchased from Decadent Fibers  last fall at Rhinebeck.  Even though I gave up in disgust, I am once again thinking of that yarn and what I can do with it, perhaps even giving Twisty Turns another try.  But then, I must have been very upset last fall because I can't find the pattern, which I am sure must be in my copy of Wrap Style which I also cannot find. 

I would probably be best off just giving  up.

Updates and Responses

The Rice Stitch cardigan is coming along, I have begun the sleeve cap for the last sleeve.  I do want to sew the body of the sweater together and baste in the sleeve before I block it.  The yarn is lovely but it does come unplied after washing and I would hate to have to rip out and reknit the sleeve with the post-wetted yarn.

The spring issue of Knitters arrived and it is the last issue in my subscription.  I am not going to renew as I have been somewhat disappointed in Knitters of late.  However this issue had two sweaters I like, and one that is rapidly moving up to my must knit list for this summer.

 

The sweater that has so taken over my knitting thoughts is this one:

The photo only shows part of the sweater, it is basically a long vest with a combination lace and cable pattern in cotton.  I really think I will get a lot of use out of this, and it fits right in with the kind of loose basic things I have been craving of late.

Anyway, our dear friend whose son is a successful meteorologist, in private industry, tells us to expect a late cool spring and a short cool summer, so perhaps vests are the perfect thing. 

The other sweater I really like is the lacy mohair cardigan:

which is another sweater that might be right on if the weather prediction is correct, and even if not, I suspect that there will always be times when it is just the perfect thing.

Susan asks how many sweaters there are in my collection, and I must truthfully answer that yes there are more than 75.  There are actually closer to 100 if I count both parts of sweaters sets as separate sweaters.  I know they are separate sweaters, but I think of them as a unit. I really hadn't wanted to know.   I did not show the photos to count, or to brag, just because I think they look so pretty.  There is about a 25 year collection of sweaters there, as the oldest sweater in the bunch is 25 years old.  The problem with buying and making things you love, and developing a consistent sense of one's taste over the years, is that things seem to accumulate. 

Obviously they are not all hand knitted, and I have not saved all my hand knitted sweaters.  Still 49 of the sweaters in those photos are my hand knits although there are a couple that might be weeded out soon, and of course there will be new additions.

Some of them rarely get worn but are no less treasured because of that.  Some of them go through cycles of heavy rotation and cycles of rest.  There are one or two that are so unusual and have such presence that I can only wear them rarely, like nice evening clothes, but since they never go out of style, they have been worn once or twice a year for all the years I have had them.

All systems go

The rice stitch cardigan is on the blocking board, and everything looks like a go to me.  The actual measurements match the intended measurements and all seems good.  I haven't sewn the body together, but it looks good.  Onward with the sleeve cap.

Blocking was not acomplished until this evening, on the kitchen island.  It is OK.  I am not planning on using the kitchen for a few days.

Progress on some fronts

I had fully intended to get the body of the rice stitch cardigan on the blocking board today but I was foiled by G, who got home from the gym before I did, thereby beating me to the washing machine.  He wanted to run a load of gym clothes.  I wanted to soak and spin the rice stitch cardigan as a preface to pinning it to the blocking board.  Although I was eager and attentive, sitting and knitting on the sleeve in close enough proximity to the washing machine that I would hear when the cycle stopped.  I did not get the sweater in the machine in time for it to be out before darkness fell, robbing me of adequate light. 

The sewing room cutting table is still piled with work and various projects so the only opportunity to block is in the guest room which is unfortunately devoid of adequate light at the moment.  One floor lamp is not adequate for my aging eyes, and the sweater will have to wait until morning.

Unfortunately I have reached the point on the sleeve where I should be ready to begin the shaping for the sleeve cap, but I want to be certain of the length first, and this requires blocking and assembling the sweater.  I am tired of ill-fitting sleeves.  I suppose I might have to slip the first sleeve off onto waste yarn and begin the second before the cap is done.  Better that than knitting and ripping.

In the meantime I got all my sweaters stowed away back in their home in the Sewing Room Closet.

Everything fit but the space is full.  For future sweaters I will either have to eliminate existing garments or use up some fabric to clear more space, or use up the yarn that is hogging two shelves.  I wonder if those shelves hold yarn for the same quantity of sweaters that would be produced, or if there is actually room for more sweaters than yarn.

As you will note, not all sweaters are hand knit, but a significant proportion are, and there are even some you may recognize.