Don’t break the rhythm

I started the Cables Sweater by Vivian Hoxbro in the Fall of 2008.  I thought that I would knit it up quickly, but set it aside last winter with only the back collar and one sleeve to go.  That was a mistake.  The pattern is very well thought out and designed, but I got out of the rhythm of the knitting, and found myself rereading and studying the pattern for what seemed like hours.  Probably didn’t help that each time I tried to pick it up was in the evening with a glass of wine.  I have knit the collar twice now to get it perfectly balanced, and think that I am back in the groove of understanding this pattern.  Here is where I am at:

And Ella was trying to help me photograph:

We went to the PING! fundraiser last night, and the music was from all over the world.  Very fun.  My baby sweater sold, not for as much as I would have liked, but to the Treasurer of the organization who has worked on this board for years, and cleaned up my bookkeeping nightmare that I gave her.  She has 2 new grand-babies, so I hope to see a photo in a couple of years of them wearing it.

Blog readers

People other than Manning actually read my blog.  The concept still amazes me, and I got my biggest surprise the other day when Vivian Hoxbro posted on this site that she was honored that I named my wing shawl the “Obama Shawl”.  When I look at the stats (which took me quite awhile to figure out), it is fun to see where the links come from.  Mostly Ravelry and a link on a crafts website to my Fair Isle sweaters (an honor that I am totally floored by).

Ravelry has been fun too, seeing what sweaters get the greatest hits.  Surprisingly enough, it is not always the sweaters that I think were the most creative, or took the most time.  Currently it is the Ballerina by Hanne Falkenberg at 845 hits.

It has been cold, so I have been pulling out sweaters to wear around the house, and trying to use a different one every day.  My favorite house wearing sweater is one that I finished last year, but during my non-posting phase.  It is a cable sweater from a pattern from Knitters magazine (9-Lane Interchange by Uschi Nolte).  I have since canceled my subscription, as there was very little content that interested my, but I have 2 sweaters that I love from there.  Seems like the patterns have been “dumbed down” in recent years.  On this one, I love how the cables intersect, and the texture.  Surprisingly enough, this pattern is not in the Raverly database, and my adding it would take some thought, not sure how to do that.  It is warm because of the bulky cables.  My mistake on this was in the weaving in of ends.  Because it is reverse stockinette stitch, and the yarn is tubular, the duplicate weave in stitches how on the right side of the garment.  I don’t think that I can really fix this, as it is already finished.

This photo of the whole sweater is not as good, I will update it when I get a new one taken:

Always read directions

You would think that I would know this mantra by heart by now.  but, I keep thinking that I remember what was in the directions, or know what the pattern is going to ask for next.  I must get it right enough of the time, so that I keep repeating the same mistake.  Sort of like my husband filling in the blanks on our conversations (see earlier post).

Well, I have been working on the Cable Sweater by Vivian Hoxbro off and on for the past 6 weeks, alternating between that and the Forget Me Not by Lijuan Jing.  I was working on the back half of the first sleeve, and ended up having to rip the sleeve back all the way out.  This sweater is knitted up in panels, which allows for the pattern and color to change very easily.  This is similar to the cable panel sweater that I made for my husband a few years ago.  This husband sweater was made with Aurora 8 by Karabella, my absolutely favorite cabling yarn that I have found.  I was able to take all of the patterns that I loved, and not have to worry about the repeats, complexity, etc, as I knit each panel individually, connecting them up to the adjacent one.  He loves this sweater, and it is so warm.

So, my Hoxbro sweater is again in progress, this time with the correct  sleeve increases.  Here are some photos of it earlier, and you can see the comparison to the sweater above in technique.

Obama shawl

I finished my mega shawl, affectionately called the Obama shawl, a couple of weeks before the election.  This project was mindless enough that Sarah Palin could not induce many knitting errors into it, and I could have something to occupy my hands without requiring my mind to focus.  I was so nervous that our country would be stupid enough to elect McCain after 8 years of Bush torture.  This shawl is actually very nice to wear around the house, and in more moderate weather.  It is so big that it does not work well with winter coats however.  It is deceiving how much knitting actually went into this.  I had made myself a promise to knit only challenging projects, but I have reneged that.  I think that there is definitely a time and place for easy mindless projects, and I really enjoy them at the right moment.

After I finished this shawl, I had to move my knitting books for the 2nd time in 3 months.  And to my surprise, I found the book Shadow Knitting by Vivian Hoxbro in my collection, and this shawl was in the book.  I think that I might have too many books, I kind of don’t really want to have people see how many I have.

Our stupid Governor, whom I can proudly say I never voted for, has been indicted by the Feds.  It is making national news for the audacity of the level of corruption.  Thank goodness this happened after the presidential election or they would have tried to tie Obama to his corruption.  I have been watching Governor Rod for years wondering when they were going to reel him in.  I guess that selling a US Senate seat for 1M tipped the scales.  What an ass.