Waves

    This week has been full.  There have been five parties, minimal house keeping, out of town friends, tourists on the roads and lots of swimming lessons.  We're in the middle of a searing heat wave.  The pool is a shining rectangle of turquoise in a field of bone colored grass and curling leaves.  Every evening we suit up and crunch across the wasteland towards our own personal oasis.  

A good part of my childhood was spent in a public pool.  I have only fragments of memories from a time before I knew how to swim.  Water is my second skin. 



Sitting on the bottom of the pool and watching the pale legs of my family, I forget that I can't breath water, that for many people this is a hostile environment.  It makes me feel like a kid again, like I never want to get out of the pool.   



The heat is not inspiring me to knit.  Also, the new fall collections are out and I'm finding it hard to love the miles of purling and 1x1 ribbing that are dominating my knitting bag.  The only thing that's keeping me honest are two seasons worth of "Downton Abbey".   While the children are napping, my husband and I spread out on the sofa in front of the fan.  I drag out a sock or a sleeve and we melt into TV land.

I love the dog days of summer.  
  

Dusk

My knitting is going nowhere.  The garden has stolen my heart.

No Sleeves Here

The other day I came across a pair of almost finished socks at the bottom of my knitting bag.  I'm not sure why I put these down, but I'm so glad that I found them when I did.  I was about to go insane from sleeve knitting and these were just the medicine I needed.

I finished them in less than two hours.  They are my new favorite socks. 



The pattern is "Aran Socks" by Madeline Weston from "Country Weekend Socks".  The yarn is J.Knits "Not You Average Washable Worsted" in colorway "Wheeling".  The yarn is soft, but very very splitty. 



 I'll probably be knitting another pair of these.  There are a few things I'd change about the construction, but I'm pretty pleased with the results.  Now, it's time I return to the sleeve-a-thon.

One Down

Well, I'm 100% finished with my "Liesl" cardigan.  It's more of a bolero or a shrug than a cardigan.  I like it over strappy sundresses.  It doesn't work over anything with sleeves, but that's fine. 



It was very worried that this would get chucked into the gift pile on account of the fact that it looked too small for me.  Once again, blocking came to my rescue.  I think blocking might solve other problems.  I could, for example, block my kids when they get too crazy; a hot soapy bath, a quick squeeze in a towel and then I'll just pin them to the rug until they relax.

These buttons are some of my favorites.  They are antique mother of pearl.  I took the time to sew them on with a shank so that they would lay properly when buttoned.  Sewing shanks is one of those activities that can't help but make you feel like a virtuous woman.  It's like building a small thread bridge between myself and my better self. 



Finishing up with the "decadent" project has left me with limited options.  I'm currently jumping back and forth between the two remaining sweaters.  Right now I'm in the middle of a nasty sleeve marathon.   I'm staggering through what feels like an endless tunnel of circular knitting.  I've got four sleeves to finish before I can even begin to think about casting on for another project.  That warm glow of virtue from the button shank sewing is starting to cool.  I think I may have to find some sort of small knit to break up the monotony of the long march through sleeve country.

Three is the Magic Number

I've got four projects on the needles right now.  One of them ("Winnowing") is waiting for a day when I have some quiet time, so I won't count it.  
 I think I may have discovered the secret to finishing sweaters.  I need to have lots of options so that when I get angry or bored I can toss one aside for another.   I think I may have said it before, but I'm glad that my knitting habits aren't reflective of my romantic habits.  If they were, I'd have a number of ex-boyfriends languishing in my closet. 
"Levenwick" has hit the horse latitudes.  I'm knitting and knitting and knitting and it feels like I'm getting nowhere.
 So, in order to stay faithful, I cheated, and cast on the most luxurious self indulgent knitting I could think of ; "Liesl" in worsted weight white Italian cashmere. 

In need of sleeves and buttons

This yarn came from a 400 dollar sweater that a friend passed on to me after the moths had had their fun.  I diligently took out the seams and wound it into skeins so that it could be washed and weighted to straighten out the kinks.  What I ended up with was about 200 yards of usable lengths and about 200 yards of shorties.  Keeping this in mind, I chose "Liesl".  It's fast, low yardage and very easy to modify.
 
 

My first Liesl was knit out of Malabrigo worsted.

My first "Liesl"

That's not the best choice for an every day cardigan and it got fuzzy after only one wearing.  Those were the days when softness reigned supreme, Malabrigo was queen, and no one mentioned the fact that a worsted weight single in merino might not be the most practical yarn.  That poor sweater was felted in a not so freak washing machine accident caused by a severe lack of judgement.   It's waiting for the day that we have a little girl in the family.
 I'm loving this new version, but I have a sinking feeling that it's going to get gifted.   I don't look great in cropped styles and white cashmere plus little boys equals disappointment.  Sadly, I'm still in need of a summer cardigan.  Maybe blocking will come to the rescue.
The only things I modified were the lower hem and the sleeves.  I added a couple of knit rows to add stability and then shortened the length of the sleeves.

Garter stitch border

The next time I knit this pattern (there will be a next time) I'll do a two row button hole, add a garter stitch border to the collar for stability and I'll use a heavy worsted or bulky weight hard wearing blend.  The cashmere is like knitting with baby cheeks, but this sweater is looking more and more like a cross between a cardigan, a bolero and a bed jacket.  I think it's going to end up as a fancy dress sweater. We'll see.

I'm not wild about these button holes

The third project is an oldie but a goodie.  "Hallett's Ledge" has been haunting my yarn hole for quite some time.

Swatch for "Hallett's Ledge"

I've finished the body up to the armholes, but the last time I picked it up to knit on it, I didn't check the chart for the cables and I made a very subtle mistake that will mean ripping back two inches.  That was enough of a reason for the poor thing to get shoved back into the yarn hole.  Not to be out foxed by a project, this time I'm starting with the sleeves. I'll rip out wonky cables when I'm done with the sleeves and the finish line is in sight.
So, it looks like I'm still on the hunt for the perfect summer cardigan.  I'm not going to cast on for it until at least two of these projects are finished.  I think I need to limit myself to three at a time.  Four patterns is a little too much for me to keep track of.  Three seems just right: one challenging project, one easy project and one decadent project.

The Great Divide

My knitting activity has picked up recently due to an unfortunate amount of time being spent on the couch with sick kids.  Our youngest is suffering from a very bad case of chicken pox and won't let me out of sight.  Occasionally he gives the knitting a swift kick, but he's grudgingly accepting it as an extension of his mother's arms.  

A red ruffled poppy flower

I've been making real progress on two different projects.  Both of them are "Wool People" patterns in differing weights of Brooklyn Tweed yarns.

Hops leaves and wild flowers

  "Levenwick" is a top down raglan cardigan with a Shetland lace border and a wee little pocket.  I know this looks like a sad pile of shapeless green knitting, so you'll have to trust me when I say it's lovely.  The yarn is "Shelter".  The colorway is called "Button Jar".  It's exactly the color of old dark green glass. 

"Levenwick"

My parents sent me the yarns and patterns for my birthday.   I'm glad that they picked out the colors.  I spent a good half an hour looking at the color samples.  I like every single color that they offer.  This is, in theory, a good thing.  In reality, it is a very deep hole for me to fall into.

Campanula flower

  I had a rough start with the yoke.  The pattern is very well written, but I wasn't paying attention.  I had two ripping sessions before I got the message and re-read the pattern. 

Horseradish leaves

  Now I'm past the great divide (a.k.a the point where you divide the body stitches and the sleeve stitches) and am racing towards the hem.  I get pretty excited about the divide.  It's always a tipping point.  I draw great comfort from the knowledge that the number of stitches in a round will always be less from that point on.  There's something so satisfying about seeing the stitches for the sleeves waiting patiently on bright scraps of yarn from old projects.  It's as if pieces from those completed projects are cheering me on towards the finish line.

Chickpea shoot with turnips and lettuces

 "Winnowing" is a shawl.  The yarn is Brooklyn Tweed's "Loft", colorway "Fauna".  I can't decide whether this color is yellow, green or brown.  It looks yellow in the photo, but is darker in person.  I think it's best described as an "old gold" color.  It was a great choice for this pattern as it is reminiscent of fields of grain.

"Winnowing"

  I'm not a big shawl knitter, but this pattern caught my attention for a couple of reasons.  It's both modern and rustic.  Unlike most of the frilly lace triangles I see being knitted, it actually looks wearable.  I have the feeling that draping a big lace shawl across my broad shoulders might make me look like a sofa or a piano.  That's not a look I want to cultivate.

One of my favorite roses

My project photos are pretty uninspired so I've tried add visual interest to this post with some shots from my garden.  I find myself standing in my garden as the sun goes down wondering if these are the best days of my life.  It's so unbearably beautiful.  The roses, the asparagus fronds studded with tiny yellow star shaped blossoms, the black dirt against the large marbled leaves of the squashes; it's a pastoral dream scape.  I want to curl up in the warm earth, pull the long silver velvet leaves of the cardoon over me and take a nap.
I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately.  Maybe you can tell. 

Garden vs. Knitting

Time has been flying by this year.  I've put in a large garden and it's already full of flowers.   The peas are blooming and the boys are already pulling up radishes and chasing lizards. 



 Last year I was busy helping to plan the wool festival and I didn't have time for gardening.  I promised myself that this year I would make up for lost time.  I was very proud to harvest my first asparagus this year.  It was a small and very ceremonial harvest.  We cut about 25 spears, but that just made it all the more exciting.  I think eating it raw, in the field...during a light spring rain is one of the best ways to eat asparagus.

 

 The garden hasn't been the only thing demanding my attention.  Our boys are discovering more extreme and exotic ways of destroying our home. It feels liked they've got some top secret silent toy spraying gun.  I turn my back and the living room is instantly coated in toys.  I'm told that a some point I can expect them to pick up after themselves.  I think those people are delusional.  I have never met a tidy boy. 
We had a lovely birthday party for our youngest.  His birthday falls close to Easter and so we celebrated with an egg hunt.  We did something similar last year and I think this may become an annual event.  I made the cake with my mother.  We were very proud of our efforts.  The "rocks" are candy and the grass is dyed coconut.  The little boys were suitably impressed.  You can tell when children are in awe.  They didn't even reach to stick their fingers in the frosting.

Right now, we're in the middle of a chicken pox epidemic.  One of my boys is spotty and the other one has a high fever.  In between looking longingly out the window at my garden and trying to coax the baby into eating, I've finally had a chance to think about knitting. 
I'll admit that summer is never really a season that inspires me to pick up the needles.  Gardening usually takes up what little time I have.  When we go on vacation I usually pack a lot of projects and get very little knitting done.  More often than not, I end up coming home with more yarn than I left with.  Exotic yarn stores have a certain charm.
So, what brought knitting back into my consciousness?  It was a fortuitous combination of events.  The boys have been watching lots of movies.  Every time I open the cabinet to turn on the DVD player I see all of my UFOs on the shelf below.  Several of the movies that they like feature knitting; "Tangled", " Winnie the Pooh" and "Wallace and Gromit".  On a side note, Gromit is probably my favorite TV knitter.  He knits in bed.  He knits over breakfast and he knits when he's stressed. 
The event that got my knitterly attention happened while I was changing out the winter clothing for the summer clothing.  I discovered that a few of my summer clothes had gone missing.  My husband admitted that my favorite linen cardigan may have been given to charity sometime last fall.  Ooops.  He kindly suggested that I go and buy myself a whole new summer wardrobe.  I'm not sure how much of this was kindness and how much of it was self preservation, but it was a smart move on his part.  He found himself in the perfect storm of sick children, a hormonal wife, sleep deprivation and a missing cardigan and he weathered that storm with confidence and grace.  
 As I was perusing my favorite retail websites, I discovered that I am incapable of buying myself knitted cardigans.  I'll happily accept them as gifts, and if I find a beautiful one on super sale I'll give in, but I'm very reluctant to buy something I could (in theory) make for myself. 
I really need a summer cardigan.  The evenings are cool here and we're planning at least one trip the the ocean this year.  So, it's decided, I HAVE to finish up at least one or two summer cardigans.  Here's the short list of possible candidates.

"Watershed" by Amy Swenson
 "Lilas Cardigan" by Hilary Smith Callis
"Soay" by Gudrun Johnston

 To finish up this mish-mash of a blog post I'm going to do a quick photo log of FOs.  These are all projects that deserved blog posts, but it's been such a long time since I finished them that I don't think I could squeeze a real post out of any one of them. 

A crochet cowl for Pauline.

 This skirt was from Veronik Avery's book "Knitting 24/7".  That's a great book, by the way.  I like the skirt but it needs a bit of elastic at the waist.  The butt is foxy. 

Little thrummed mittens for the baby

A snake scarf

Stranded mitten kit "Blue Hearts"

 I'm going to see if I can get back in to the habit of blogging.   It's such a nice way to self motivate, and lord knows I could use a kick in the knitted pants.  That summer cardigan isn't going to knit itself. Well, not unless Wallace and Gromit decide to build me a new knit-o-matic.  If you don't get that joke, then you should go and watch "A Close Shave". 

Happy Birthday Beautiful Boy

My oldest son turned four on New Years Day. I can't believe he's already four years old.


He has many redeeming qualities. One of his best character traits is that he knows how to receive a hand knit gift properly; he puts it on, caresses it and immediately starts dancing. I love that kid.


Happy Birthday sweetheart.

A New Year a New Found Love

My love for all things wooly hit a bit of speed bump earlier this year. I had a serious case of fiber festival fatigue. The sight of yarn made me queasy. Thankfully, sometime around September the stash began to call out to me again. The lovely naturally dyed indigo/woad mittens that I posted about last spring are finished and warming my hands.


I wasn't planning to knit any Christmas gifts, but somewhere around the 20th of December my inner knitter took over and the mittens, scarves and hats started to pour off of my needles. The damn has burst and there is no looking back. Mittens, scarves, blankets, a skirt, hats and several cowls have just flown off of the needles. My UFOs are going before the death panel. Finish or be frogged is the mantra. There was a small fiber arts stash sale and I sent two laundry tubs full of yarn off to find new homes. There's no room in my stash for slackers.

In an effort to use up some of the smaller amounts of stash yarn I've decided to knit up a couple of pairs of bulky boot socks. I don't love sock knitting, but I do love think warm wooly socks. These are a pair called "Aran Socks" from the book "Country Weekend Socks" by Madeline Weston.


They aren't charted and so it was slow going for the first repeat of the cable, but now I'm cranking along at a respectable pace. The yarn is "Not Your Average Washable Worsted" by "J Knits". I'm a little on the fence about superwash wool, but this stuff is pretty nice. I'm knitting them at a slightly tighter gauge to try and make up for the extra elasticity that superwash usually has. The colorway is called "wheeling" and it reminds me of a snow sky. There's some very subtle variegation in the dyeing. It's a good match for this pattern.

Looking back on this past year I'd have to say that the knitting highlights were spending a weekend hanging out with Ysolda Teague, dyeing my own yarn with plants from the woods around our home, getting a handmade needle case from a dear friend and teaching my brother's wonderful girlfriend how to knit. She's a natural.

All in all, it was a very good year.