Sweater in (Almost) Real Time

Hello, knitters. Imagine Isaiah Mustafa. I thought he said, "Stash dive!" so I did. I got yarn, pattern, and a long holiday weekend ahead – I'm going to attempt to knit a sweater in one week!

As usual, I'd been dithering about attending Rhinebeck, with the result I hadn't knit a Rhinebeck sweater. The reasons for indecision are the same as always – the press of other obligations, SABLEosity, economic jitters, etc. Then I had an ah-ha! moment: the two are actually independent of each other. If one can knit Couldn't Foot It socks and not attend Sock Summit, surely one can knit a Rhinebeck sweater regardless of whether one is the little piggie who goes to market or the little piggie who stays home.

As before, to reduce the self-referential noise, I'll blog my (hopefully rapid) progress all in this post.

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Thursday, October 13
The rebooted Leaflet cardigan is leafless, with yarn from different skeins alternating. I'm liking it just as well that way.



Wednesday, October 12
Back to square one. Ah well.



Tuesday, October 11
Nooooo!!! Dyelot fail! Although they're all the same dyelot, the last two skeins are completely different than the others – darker in color and less variegated. And of course I just noticed that.



Seriously bummed at the moment.

Monday, October 10
Right sleeve finished and right on track. Tralala.



Sunday, October 9
Leaflets three – on to sleeve island.



The ribbing is knit to pattern, but I'm thinking another row or two might balance the cardigan better. Hm....

Saturday, October 8
Second leaflet done and it's starting to look sweater-ish, even under poor indoor lighting.



I'm modifying the waist shaping to avoid the M. C. Hammer action figure look.

Friday, October 7
Almost finished the yoke at SnB last night – that's one of three leaflets done.



I thought about alternating skeins to help prevent pooling, but decided I don't care. Onward!

Thursday, October 6
The selected stash yarn is Malabrigo Merino Worsted, colorway 88 Indigo, salvaged from a frogged vest.



The selected pattern is Leaflet by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. Top-down sweaters and I often do not get along, but we'll see.

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It's Cinnamon Bun Day

Today is Kanelbullens dag, the national Cinnamon Bun Day of Sweden. The holiday is of even more recent vintage than Kwanzaa, yet no one seems to be criticizing its authenticity. I'm looking forward to partaking. Hm... I wonder who has the best cinnamon buns roundabout Exit 151?



While we sort that out, here's a wisp of the latest knitting, Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, in Malabrigo Lace, colorway Vermillion 24, knit at DK gauge. Top-down sweaters and I often don't get along, but so far, so good.

Parenthetical

My weekend in fiber had a certain narrative arc. I wasn't feeling the love for the S/KAL pullover with the inutterably stupid name, so away to the frog pond it went. Ave atque vale.



NEFF was enjoyably low-key. The exhibits were indoors in one of the many buildings on the Eastern States Exposition grounds, the most magnificent and the most handicapped accessible permanent fairgrounds I've ever seen. (The fine facilities made me interested in returning next September for The Big E, the annual all-New England interstate fair.) I picked up a few items small in size but high on my desiderata list: a few skeins of solid Opal sock yarn, some wee skeins of Opal Harry Potter sock yarn, and some small bundles of Pagewood Farm roving.



Out in the parking lot, I saw remarkably brilliant sundogs over West Springfield. It's hard to tell from the photo, but they were beautifully colored and gracefully curved. I'd read about sundogs (parhelia for book learned types), but had never seen any before. It's a pity my digicam could not capture more of the horizon – there were a pair, bracketing the setting sun like rainbow-colored parentheses.



While walking around Rhinebeck it occurred to me that I could use a vest or two, a thought that recurred while walking around NEFF. I reconditioned the handspun and started a Vestvember vest. I've had commercial-spun behave less well (yay handspun).



A bit later, JessaLu asked if I'm participating in NaKniSweMo. Previous year's efforts have tended to end ingloriously, but... ::cough::... I blame the NEFFy wool fumes. Ave Caesar, nodaturae te salutamos!

Lookit

The hybrid swatch is a roaring success. Behold, handspun and commercial-spun knit at the same gauge, albeit different drape. Also, it makes me smile to see my bamboo straights are a bit bendy.



That means S/KAL Plan A, a top-down pullover with handspun yoke and commercial-spun body and sleeves, is a go. From the swatch I guesstimate the current supply of handspun is sufficient to reach the point of the bust, perhaps not the most flattering look. Guess I'm gonna need to spin up another braid of fiber. Paging Zarzuela!

As long as I'm showing off, lookit – it's the inside of my Piscean Sock.



Somehow I just can't look away from the UK knit camp horror show, perhaps because last summer I met Lorilee Beltman, one of the instructors who was deported, notwithstanding she is the designer of the official camp sock. She was very kind to me and surely deserves better from the event organizers, as do all the instructors and registrants. I suppose the first hint of trouble was when Ysolda Teague withdrew from the event, followed by Casey and Jess Forbes. Further sorry details are readily available to the avidly curious via Twitter and Ravelry.

Briefly

That vexing Sitcom is canceled. In its stead, a bit of Shakespeare, Titania by Elizabeth Klett, knit in violet and in the round, of course.



It's a fun pattern so far. The peplum is finished and it's on to the midriff.

A Red Sweater Day

Although I'm late to the party, it must be noted that yesterday was Sweater Day! Children's educator Mr. Rogers would have turned 80 yesterday and since his signature garment was a sweater (most were handknit by his mom), yesterday was a day to wear a favorite sweater in his honor. Today isn't so bad either. While some would insist only a red cabled zip front will do, Mr. Rogers was an infinitely accepting person who wore many styles and colors of sweaters over the years, well worthy of honors. So here's my favorite old sweater, the whimsical VK cat sweater:



Much as I love it, perhaps it's not quite suitable for Good Friday services. Ah well, at least no one could possibly dislike these cheery embellished mittens from my Mitten Swap pal, Deb. Deb is not only my upstream pal, she's also the swap organizer and won the Bobby for Funniest Ravatar (as knitiot on Ravelry)!



Thank you, Deb, I love my new mittens and all the other loot (Fiddlehead Mittens pattern, Frog Tree Alpaca yarn, artisinal chocolates (!), project bag, beach reading, notepad and magnet, and little sheepy friend, plus a sheep drinking glass not pictured because of flare). The fit and colors are perfect!



Yesterday was also Maundy Thursday, Purim (a sometimes boisterous holiday), and the spring equinox – clearly, a red-letter day. It was too windy to balance an egg on its point outdoors, perhaps because of all the hot air directed at various members of my church denomination, which has made for an interesting Holy Week. So instead of an amusing egg photo, here's a brief 2008 Presidential Candidates Implicit Association Test, which I hope gentle readers will find both illuminating and entertaining.

NaKniSweMoNorovember the First

Clever Shannon is organizing NaKniSweMo again and clever Kathy is organizing Norovember again and I signed up for both again. If only to cause the babble of incoherent syllables to kick up a notch.

   

The goal is to knit a 50,000-stitch Noro sweater in one month. Last year assorted yarn and pattern woes contributed to an ignominious flop. This year I'm going with yarn already in stash, Noro Kureyon in colorway 149, and a pattern from a proven designer, the ladder cable pullover by Norah Gaughan (in Vogue Knitting Fall 1994).



Halloween night was mild roundabout Exit 151, yet the number of trick-or-treaters was less than anticipated. Puzzling. And what to do with all the leftover candy? The mail carrier left the type of treat I prefer (behind the banner to avoid spoilers, click to view).



Back in March, I entered the lottery for Scout's Indie Swag Club and won a three-package spot. I didn't post about it then – there was nothing to show and it seemed there were more disappointed knitbloggers lamenting than happy ones celebrating. Time passed. The first packages went out. More time passed (my bundles are scheduled for year-end) and I sorta forgot about it. There's an element of fond anti-climax – I remember the happy anticipation and sock yarn is always very welcome, but now I'm hankering for a stint of sweater-making.

Noodling Along

Today it's MUCH cooler (and raining) and Tagliatelli on big needles still makes sense, so I'm noodling along. Although the original plan, Sandpiper, got scrapped because I couldn't stand using the heavy, cumbersome baseball bats size 19 (15 mm) needles. Plan B is a modified version of Deep Breath by Kirsten Hipsky, a top-down, in the round, no seams boatneck sweater, on size 15s (10 mm). Here's a semi-formless blob progress photo.



Even these needles are so monstrous that none of my stitch markers fit. I'm using cabone rings instead. I bought a package of cabone rings in the last millennium (I dimly recollect it was for crocheted buttons) and haven't used it up yet. It may well be a lifetime supply.

I'm loving the sweater, but... with the smaller (comparatively) needles, I worry that the burn rate is too high. Oh gah. The sweater is shaping to be another round in the epic struggle, Jersey Knitter versus the Not Enough Yarn Banshee.

Must Be the Heat

It's Columbus Day, yet the lawn looks like August [sigh] and the tomato patch is still going strong – lush foliage, lots of flowers, plenty of fruit. Not to mention I can't find matching gloves. Strange.



The unseasonable warmth makes me wish I had planted melons this year. And for some reason I'm thinking this...


Size 19 (15 mm) oak knitting needles with size 2 (2.75 mm) bamboo and size 6 (4 mm) walnut needles, bamboo chopsticks, and ash baseball bat for scale

plus this...


Colinette Tagliatelli, a tape yarn, in colorway Venezia

is a good idea for Rhinebeck.