Sweater weather sets in!

Yay! This is the highlight of the year for me - when it's just chilly enough to pull out my favorite sweaters and silly hats! Michigan gets everyone's favorite weather at some point in the year, just not necessarily in any predictable pattern. An officemate tells me these temperatures are normal for the beginning of November. So he's going to close up his cottage. Meanwhile, I am happily wearing the Old Friend Aran! Yippeeeeee!

I have finally gotten the hang of entrelac knitting (at least in the round), and have been carrying my entrelac bag as a take-along project. One more row of rectangles/diamonds to go. Then we learn the top triangles and add the border and straps.

It's been slightly distracting me from Aberlemno - but here's today's progress shot on that beauty.

David asked about the ribbing - it's K3, P2. In the K3 part, the colors are checkerboarded. A unique(?)/new-to-me take on corrugated ribbing.

Saturday, Sunday, and last night were all devoted to another personally-nascent hobby: quilting. Here's my first "yeah, I'm actually going to finish this!" quilt.

It's a Log Cabin quilt (a pretty typical and easy beginner's quilt), done from the Quilt-In-A-Day book series, and taught, in a 12-hour day, at a local quilt shop. Now, as I was ironing all that fabric, I was cursing the day I signed up for the class - but lookie! It's gonna be a quilt!

Anyhow - if you have read this far, you deserve a vacation! Don't we all...

Sweatergirl leaps through first swirl with ease!

Too busy knitting to have much time for posting! But - Aberlemno is growing! This is the first project I have been enthralled by in a loooong time (I'm so jaded...).

So here's today's pictoral update:

I am through the first set of spirals, but they DO interlock, so it's hard to pick a good stopping point. The colors are better in the last posts, where I scanned the fabric. My cell house has few windows, so lighting is bad here. Notice those nice stitch markers? At the tippy top of the photo? Sarah made them. And now my full set is in active use...They are sooooooo much better than the plastic rings or yarn markers I used to use.

Tonight's my entrelac class with Sarah, where I learn to lean to the left...Can I bear to be separated from my true Aber-love for a night? No, I will have to bring it to class to show Sarah. Hope I can get home in time for Survivor though!

BTW - Zaza's an oooold nickname, based on the old maiden name. When CarolineF and I were working on a "topsecret" internet project, I set up a yahoo acct in that name - so yup - it's me - sort of.

Sweatergirl's new fascination

I got very little knitting done last night because I was picking out fabrics for my "Quilt in a Day" class on Saturday - 12 straight hours! Hopefully I will have most of a quilt when I get home! Ummm - why does this seem crazy to me?

Here are the fabrics:

It's to be a Log Cabin quilt with yellow as the center, one blue side of the block and one red side of the block. The far left fabric is the backing and the bottom fabric is the border. Rachel (local knitting bud) is taking the calss with me and also chose a red-blue colorway for here Boton Commons quilt - but totally different fabic/mood.

Here's the ribbing from Aberlemno. Kind of a neat idea - instead of corrugated ribbing, the knit stitches alternate colors.

So - I chose to hold the dark color in my left hand, because it's easier for me to purl continental (in this case only) than to purl english-style. So I continued that into the body, with the dark in the left hand, floating under, and the light in the right hand, floating over. Hmmm - seems I might have chosen poorly from the comments, so will need to take this to Sarah for a consultation! I guess the saving grace might be that there are approximately equal numbers of stitches of each color, so the background vs. pattern thing might not be so critical.

Anyway, later today, I get to go pick up my copy of Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library from the local B&N. Really looking forward to that!

BTW, CarolineF - it IS I!

Quick post

Here's my swatch - the purl ridge in the lower part is where I changed needle sizes.

On the real project, currently finished ribbing and 8 rows into the body.

Pop quiz - which hand did I hold the light colors in? Umm, and which hand should I hold the light colors in (I can never keep it straight - directional dyslexia or something)?

Sweatergirl jumps out of knitting slump!

Whoops - that was almost "knitting slum". Fingers not so fast this AM. Wonder what that (knitting slum) would look like? Maybe something like this...

Been working a lot of hours and havenn't had a lot of time for knitting and haven't been inspired by my projects...but, as you all know, starting a new project can do wonders for a knitting slump. On Saturday, I swatched for Aberlemno, and by this AM, I'd finished the ribbing. How did that happen?

So - a real picture tomorrow, as the meeting I have been dreading/preparing for for a month will be over! I think the colors are not as harsh in person as in the Yarns International photo, so I want to get a photo in natural light or a scan.

Yay! It is RAINING! Ok, many of you have had waaaay too much rain, but here in East Lansing, we are about 10 inches in deficit for the last year (normal - 28.something inches, Sept 2002 - Sept 2003 = 18.something inches). So today's half-inch or so isn't much, but at least it's something.

Sweatergirl leans to the right

I'll have to wait until next week's entrelac lesson (left-leaning diamonds) to be truly fair and balanced, so today, I'm just leaning to the right with these diamonds:

Class and knitting both progressing well, leaving me plenty of time to knit on the Snail's Pace Sweater. I finished the sleeve caps Wednesday night and cast on for the ties (5 stitches of garter stitch for 27 inches, repeat for a second tie). Good thing I actually want to wear the product, because the process is a bit, well, tedious. After the ties, there's a shawl collar to knit, and then a bunch of seams to sew! Tentative first wearing - October 10. Wish me luck!

So by now, y'all have seen the new knitty, right? Happy first anniversary to knitty and amy, and congrats to all the contributors on great projects and articles!

Ahoy! Late-breaking news (or am I just clueless?) - this is a book I NEEEEED to have, even though I hate actually doing intarsia. Oh. My. Gawd.

And I am ecxtatic that Terri hasn't given up on Survivor! I missed half of last night's episode (for knitting class - a good reason), but it looks to be a good one. Except - what was with the naked men in the race? Seems a bit, well, dangly. Anyway, I love Terri's day-after churls.

And this weekend, take a minute to wave bye-bye to Galileo. There are some great pictures on the site of Galileo's life and times in the solar system.

Picture day!

I've been knitting on the Snail's Pace sweater - 20 more rows to go on the sleeve cap shaping. On each sleeve, as I am doing them at the same time. But - not exciting enough for a picture.

And I have been plying some greeny-aqua silk and merino (which is looking a lot like Koigu weight...), but again - not an exciting picture.

So, I present:

Bear feeling slightly guilty after her recent exploits - ripping out a hollyhock, knocking over some butterfly weed, and killing several moles in the process (hey, everyone's gotta have a hobby)

Debbi's pretty little Transylvanian wheel that is trying to find a new home,

Some beautful Philosopher's Wool sweaters from last night's guild meeting,

And Daphne, Ms. Serial Knitter herself, looking lovely (yet a bit warm) while wearing Charlotte's Web as a babushka and a Philosopher's sweater.

Sweatergirl's stuff

I had a great day yesterday when some local spinning friends stopped by to eat and spin and knit and eat and such. I was supposed to get some moral support for ripping out a completely finished sweater that is just too small for the intended recipient - instead, they thought it fit me perfectly. Hmph - some friends. Now I will have to rip out solo.

But they did take some of my STUFF. Old projects that I just gave up on that could be remade or ripped out, and some roving that I just can't spin anymore (spun toooo much of it already). Pretty half-balls of yarn. Etc.

Now, some of you know that Sarah and I are trying to not buy yarn. I'm not sure exactly what her personal motivations for doing this wacky thing with me, but mine definitely revolve around my need for STUFF. I am a packrat. I love to buy stuff. I looove to buy stuff on sale (no need to go down the Target sale aisle after I've bee through). I love to find stuff (yard sales/antique stores). I love to have stuff. I feel secure surrounded by my stuff. And, volume-wise, most of my stuff is yarn and fiber.

Anyway - this will come together, I hope - I went to a Roman Catholic high school. There was one religion teacher that we kind of made fun of (ok, we made fun of all the religion teachers, but...) because every Friday, we would have "meditation" in the chapel. Many of us meditated with snores. But when I stayed awake once in a while, I participated in the guided meditations. And once in a while now, I repeat the exercises, either consciously or in a random dream. In one meditation, I'm in a hot air balloon at the seashore. I ramp up the fire and all that, but to gain height (and get where I'm going), I need to start dumping bags of sand out of the basket of the balloon. The sand is, umm, stuff that's weighing me down - negative feelings (resentment, frustration, etc.). But, recently, for me, it's actually been stuff. Having all this stuff is actually weighing me down.

For example, I've been spending a lot of time reorganizing my yarn to try to make the room passable; I could have been spending that time doing something I love - knitting or reading or spending time with friends or Steve or, well, you get the idea. I mean, I've even thought about getting rid of the bed in the guest/yarn room to have more space. Which would mean no out-of-town guests could visit. Which would actually be pretty sad.

And so, although "not buying yarn" may seem silly or overly strict - it at least gives me a path toward improvement. In the amount of stuff. And a path toward more fulfilling free-time. And, hey, maybe I will have the chance to find some ultra-loveable but ultra-neglected yarn in the stash. So, thanks for being my support group, Sarah! Even though it's a little silly.

It's a bird! It's a plane!

Nah, it's just entrelac. And it's not that hard! But that may be due to the excellent teaching of Sarah. I hear she also offers virtual classes, if you've ever thought of picking up entrelac.

So far, it's got a garter stitch bottom and one row of triangles, picked up from the bottom. I can't wait for next week's class, where we do our first row of diamonds. One good thing about the class is that I can get nearly all the knitting done in class - no homework! Well, it would have been done, if I hadn't run out of blue yarn. #&*% this No New Yarn Pact.

So y'all seem to be Koigu addicts...I've got a little while to decide, as I have an order coming from Threadbear when their next Jamieson's shipment comes in. And I'm sure they'd be happy to add some Koigu to the order...but we'll see. How stubborn I can be. I mean, it hasn't even been a month since my last yarn purchase (8/20 - see sidebar).

Hey, I've updated my gallery. I've got to get some better lighting, but at least it looks like I've finished some projects! Check it out - I need some help identifying a pattern source, and there's a prize in it for you if you can help (some handspun yarn?)

Sweatergirl conquers garter stitch! And lusts after Koigu.

I've completed my homework for Sarah's Intro to Entrelac class - which starts tonight. Yay! Sad to say, this may be the highlight of my week. (No pressure, Sarah.) But anyway - the homework was a seemingly never-ending garter stitch rectangle for the bag bottom. And mine is in dark blue. Whew! I will spare you the photos. But - since I did my homework, I will get to do some entrelac tonight.

This No Yarn Pact is becoming stressful! Ever since Theresa posted her mom's birthday scarf, I've been itching for some Koigu - and I have never knitted with it. C'mon - is it worth breaking the pact for? Is it that fab a yarn?

Dinner time!

Thanks for the color comments. On the one hand, I like the rainbow-ish progression. On the other hand, I like the jumble (combo 2), because it keeps the colors distinct. But it may need to have the yellow removed, but then the orange stands out. But then - Sarah said there's no reason that the row has to be all the same color! So, that might be cool if I do something "checker"-y. I may - ack - swatch! Or else just plan to rip. It IS a learning project.

I can be a pretty good cook when I put my mind to it (not often!). And all day, I have been daydreaming of chicken paprikash. I think that's thanks to TrixieChick, who is bringing a Transylvanian spinning wheel over to my house on Sunday (not that I need more wheels). Transylvania ->Hungary -> Paprikash. Get it? Ok, maybe I am food-obsessed. Because you probably jumped to vampires or something. Which could really ruin an appetite. Well, garlic...mmmm.

So - my mission - find the BEST chicken paprikash recipe and prepare said meal before the husband either self-destructs or decides that pizza is a better idea. Now, my mom's recipe is "umm, cook the chicken, then make the gravy", which works fine for her, but is not enough detail for me! Although she did warn me that boneless, skinless chicken breasts are not gonna do it here. Dad's dumpling (noodle-type) recipe is spot-on - except I have to "add water until it's the right consistency", but I think I have seen the dough often enough to figure that part out. So - off to find that Cooks Illustrated article and tear through How To Cook Everything . Wish me luck. Although pizza sounds good too....

Sweatergirl's piano bench cosy

Some of you may have seen Sarah's big entrelac bag - pre-felting, it fit over her piano bench (Scroll down to August 7). She's offering an Introduction to Entrelac class, and, since I haven't ever done entrelac and since the bag is super-cool, I thought I would sign up.

So a bunch of my knitting time has been dedicated to knitting the bottom of the bag in preparation for the first class on Thursday. There's nothing to photograph, as it is dark blue garterstitch. Boring. But I have been thinking about color selection a bit. I am somewhat restricted by my "Buy No Yarn Pledge"*. So I had to go to the stash. And although I have lots of worsted weight feltables, they are not all the same brand or fiber composition, so may felt differently. Sigh.

One collection that I do have is a Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport collection. I have about 20 colors, but some are neutrals (boring) or light colors (might not felt), so I came up with 8 colors (actually all bought on one shopping expedition) that I'll use in the bag.

I thought the bottom should be the darkest color - but the rest is open to discussion. Here are three renditions I came up with. What do you think? Each color will be one entrelac band...

Option 1	2	3

The yellow ("Sunburst Gold") is definitely the most prominent thing to my eye...

If you want to suggest another color combo, I'll make a graphic for evaluation!

Another option not thoroughly explored is to follow Sarah's idea (dark to light, with accent color as center band). I'm not sure if I have enough yarn, but that might be worth thinking about too - thoughts?

Other knitting notes - I've also been working on the Snail's Pace sleeves - only 32 more rows before sleeve cap shaping - ugh! And this sleeve (which already has a mate):

*although perhaps Sarah does not feel as bound by this solemn vow as I do...ahem. She's got some new red yarn from Threadbear, methinks. No, Sarah, my date of last yarn purchase is not "broken"! Of course, her stash is mostly in a closet, and mine is mostly in a 10x10 bedroom, so...well, you make the call.

Sweatergirl's sandy adventure

Thank you so much for all your kind comments on the Old Friend and the Sunshine Sweater. It takes me quite a while to finish a project, so I am really glad when they actually work out the way I want them to!

The hubster and I celebrated Anniversary Version 5.0 this weekend. Wow. Can't tell if it seems like a loooong time or just yesterday...We got married on the anniversary of our first date, so lots of memories!

So, if you live in Michigan, there are a few things that you HAVE to do. I'm not sure what all of them are, but one of them is "Visit Sleeping Bear Dunes (National Lakeshore)". I can finally check that off. Umm, not a lot of knitting this weekend. Blowing and drifting sand and all that. And the aforementioned anniversary.

Both the husband and I are "Earth Scientists", so we tried to take lots of pictures that might be useful for illustrative purposes in classes or reports. But, you can read the dirty details here. Also, I am fascinated by the U.S. Coast Guard, so we had to go to the museum in the old lighthouse keeper's house that details the history and techniques of the U.S. Life Saving Service (a predecessor of the Coast Guard). I keep forgetting how much shipping still goes on on the Great Lakes. And how treacherous they can be.

So as to not be totally boring - here's a pic from the beach next to our hotel. And a lakeside picture, taken from 450 ft above the lake (check out those colors if you've been following the seaside sock!).

Sweatergirl's new old friend

It's FINISHED! I spent Labor Day seaming the thing, and I actually wore it for last night's grocery run (rainy and 60s here). I love it! (Click for a bigger picture.)

Lots of mattress stitch for the seaming. It's got a nice rhythm! Notice that the sweater hits at the widest point on my hips. Oh well. And I might need to reseam the sleeves, as I think they might be a bit blousy. What I can't decide is if this is because I am seaming the sleeves to reverse stockinette stitch or because I measured the sleeve width/armhole depth slightly incorrectly.

One great thing about this pattern is that it lists how wide each cable should be. Unlike Alice Starmore's pattern for St. Brigid. I started the body on Saturday, but had to rip out when I realized it was going to be 10 extra inches around than I had planned, despite my getting gauge in the "filler stitch". Grrr.

So I switched gears and worked on the Sunshine Sweater (to go with the Sunshine Hat). I had to sew five buttons on - now it's ready to go to Baby Abby, and just in time for Fall!

I got to visit with Melinda and Sarah on Sunday morning. It was so nice to see Melinda again - she was in MMKG when I first joined, but moved to Cleveland a few years ago and was back for a visit. Sarah was working on her ChicKami Deux (which is now finished - wow!), and Melinda and I worked on socks. Socks tend to be a take-along project for me. When everything else is too complex. I always seem to finsh socks by working on them at odd moments - one day, eventually, a new pair of socks is finshed, and it always surprises me!

P.S. - Sarah and I agreed not to buy yarn until "the end of the MSU School Year". Classes end 4/30/2004. That's a looong way away. Wish us luck!

P.P.S. - although we each had an exception or two - mine are an order already placed to ThreadBear and if my MIL's yarn store has a $1/ball sale again this Christmas...(such a deal - I got a bunch of Classic Elite Bazic and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran at $1/ball!). I will have to figure out some restrictions on this though!