purlsandmurmers

In-Flight Knitting

I needed something to knit on a flight, perhaps on vacation as well, but definitely on a flight.  The Stephen Wests shawl was not going to be my project of choice.

Enter two skeins of String yarns cashmere, Milan, and a simple hat pattern.

I started the project on my way to Tucson to visit my step-son and family over Christmas.   I managed to get the ribbing knitted, which was in and of itself a challenge, simply because the needles I brought with me, the red ones shown in the picture were too short and keeping the stitches on the needles, especially considering bits of air turbulence, was challenging.  I transferred the knitting to the longer, green, needles as soon as I finished the ribbing, which, alas, was not until after I had arrived.  Notice the difference?  

 

In fact the whole thing was a lark and might well have been a miss.  The pattern, which arrived with the yarn in a box from L'Atelier, calls for size 5 needles and a 16" circular.  Anything that can be knit on a circular can be knit on double points, although I will admit that longer double points would have been nicer in this circumstance.  I didn't have a size 5, so the green needles are size 4, which I figured would probably work because I often knit loosely.  Notice that I am flying by the seat of my pants here.  

 

Was there a gauge swatch? No.  The hat itself was the swatch. In fact the red needles, which I used for the ribbing are not size 4, or even size 3, but size 2.  That was not intentional.  I honestly don't know how it happened, but by the time I realized my error I was already in Tucson and I figured what the heck.  I could always rip and reknit.

Then the hat languished until the return flight.  I knit most of the body of the hat on the flights home, alternating knitting and reading.  In the photo above the hat is about 8 inches in total length,  The pattern specifies 10 inches, but one of the hats I knit last December, the one knit in Malabrigo Rasta was knit 10 inches and it is too long.  I feel like there is a big bubble on top of my head, and the hat tends to fall down over my face. Of those two hats, it is not worn as frequently as the pink one, knit in Franca, which is shorter. 

I knit to just shy of 9 inches before beginning the decreases; it could have been shorter, but the tighter ribbing seems to keep it from slipping down onto my face. I am happy with the finished hat, and will wear it frequently.  I should probably knit another as my hair will probably remain pretty short for the duration of the Knoxville Winter.

 

Simple Hat.  Needle sizes 4 and 2.  78 grams of String Yarns Milan cashmere.  Happy Knitter.

 

Tending to Loose Ends

As the year winds down, some form of end-of-year madness occupies the knitter's brain.  Although the blanket was never intended to be finished in this calendar year, the thought of finishing two projects remains within the realm of possibility.

 

To that end, I spent a good chunk of time on Saturday with finishing the Raspberry Confection cardigan, which has been languishing in my knitting basket for nigh unto two months now.

I was somewhat worried about seaming the lace sleeves and setting them into the body of the sweater, although in retrospect that anxiety was much over-blown.  Easy peasy.  As often seems to be the case, more time is wasted in anxiety than in just doing whatever task comes along that causes the anxiety in the first place.  The setting-in of sleeves was simple, the only problem I had was joining the neck band at the back neck, where the three-needle bind off was slightly bulkier than the rest of the seam and my fingers were a little recalcitrant.  That particular seam may yet be ripped and redone, or it may simply serve the purpose of reminding myself that the best we can do at any given moment is often enough. My closet contains several purchased garments with less than perfect seams.

There remains a question concerning which part of my existing wardrobe will play nicely with this cardigan.  I finished the knitting at the time of the great closet-emptying, with most of the potential play-dates going to new homes. And so, in a fit of anxious pique, the blouse shown in this photo was also altered, in hopes that the two pieces would play nicely together.  That is proving to be not quite so simple:  they play nicely on the hanger but not so much with the other residents of the closet.  

 

When I was younger, I always had to let new clothes marinate in my closet for a while before I actually wore them anyway.  Things aren't people of course, but it always seemed like any newcomers needed to hang out in the crowd for a while, just to get the feel of the place and make friends. Or perhaps that is all about me and not so much the clothes. 

A hangar shot is lovely, but of course you cannot really see the sweater as it is meant to be worn.   Enter the sucky selfie.  The mirror situation and the photography situation are issues not addressed in 2021 which must be addressed in 2022. 

 

I also finished the third square on the alpaca blanket project. There is still a long way to go: the blanket is probably about baby-blanket size at the moment, just right as a small lap blanket on a chilly evening. It looks perfectly at home on the purple sofa, where it can rest happily until 2022.

And I have resumed work on the Stephen West Mystery KAL shawl, which is, of course, no longer a mystery.  

I am on clue3, beginning with the brioche section.  I knit something in brioche years and years ago, perhaps when a book on the subject came out, and was not thrilled.  This time however I am finding it all grand fun.  I have dreams of finishing before the end of the year even though I acknowledge that this is not likely given holiday obligations, time with family obligations and scheduled travel.  No complaints about any of that, but the challenge is on.

Warmth and Dreams

I am apparently not really a multi-focused knitter even though I have two projects on the needles at the moment and another that is not yet finished.  I can blame this, at least partially,  on the fickleness of the knitter's mind, but this would not really be accurate.  The simple truth is that on any given day the mind, the heart, the body even, are geared in a particular direction, and this knitter must go with the flow.

In terms of the Stephen West shawl, I am ready to begin clue 3, the brioche section, but the truth is that there were several evenings when I was simply too exhausted for anything more complicated than simple garter stitch.  And so the blanket has been progressing and the shawl languishing.  

 

I am in no rush to finish the blanket; I knew that this would be a long-term project.  Even on large needles, a queen-sized blanket is an endeavor.  At the moment however, I am fascinated with blanket knitting and the colors of this blanket.  I can commit to the idea that I will not start the fourth block before picking up the shawl again.  Perhaps that will be the state of blanket progress, one block at a time.  Ten blocks or sections, ten sessions of blanket knitting, each probably longer than the previous, as the size of the blocks seems to grow with the size of the blanket.  

 

Last night I was actually alert and focused enough to begin the shawl, but I wanted to knit the blanket. Garter stitch felt like a reward for a day well-done, a soothing path at the end of a busy day in the midst of a busy time of year.  I have intentionally spent the last several years pulling back from holiday madness, even more so this year, yet my attention remains pulled in many directions.  This is also partially because I am still in the process of rebuilding energy, as well as repairing and rebuilding the underlying structure of routines that make life flow smoothly, especially in times of increased distraction and stress, but which partially collapsed during my cancer treatment.  The process of rebuilding is always exhausting, hence the need for structures and maintenance in the first place, but only a fool would believe she could build a structure that could completely block chaos from entering her life.

 

Hence also the need for Advent.  Advent is a time for reflection, and the need for reflection in the midst of social gaiety seems particularly apt this year. For this knitter, garter stitch provides a meditative process, an invitation to reflection, that suits this particular moment.

 

 

In terms of other distractions, Aimée Gille's book Worsted has arrived and is residing with my knitting on the sofa in the television room.  When I feel restless, or my fingers need a break, I pick it up and peruse the pages.  I could happily knit and wear every single project in this book with few modifications, with the exception of fitting issues, and that is a rare thing in my experience.  At the moment it is all stuff of dreams, reminding me of my younger self:  poring over the Sears Christmas Book as a child while dreaming up whole worlds and lives with each page of merchandise.  So too these sweaters.  

 

I am not about to abandon my current projects, and quite frankly, as I sit, the blanket square now large enough to just barely cover my lap with my feet tucked under me, I look forward to the day that I snuggle under a beautiful warm blanket made all the more beautiful because I knit it myself, just as I look forward to a warm woolen shawl wrapped around my shoulders on a chill evening, and I imagine all the things I could still knit: from sweaters to shawls, to linen tanks and tea towels.

 

Tis the season of hope and dreams.