good enough until fall

Behold the Rowan chunky cabled vest. One sleeve has ribbing (with not quite enough stitches and needing to be redone.) The other sleeve remains unfinished. Once there are more stitches around the sleeve, it will be fine. The major concern-a decent fit around the torso- turned out o.k. Once blocked I believe it will only improve. Having grown a little impatient with it, I will call it an FO for now since it's too hot to wear it anyway. It will be the first thing I fix up in October. It's one for the record books in that husband/photographer was heard to say "that's the best thing you've made so far."

I believe him because I know he's a genius. Yesterday in the car he said, "hey honey, you could visit a yarn store everywhere we go and get some yarn that's kind of like a souvenir." I didn't tell him that the concept of souvenir yarn wasn't a new one. Instead I said, "What a GREAT idea!" I might be a novice knitter, but I'm no fool.

lessons learned- swatching can work-rowan chunky not for summer knitting-I can get better at knitting

Step away from the computer- Must Knit

Many thanks to Leslie and Good Yarn Karma for the Tricoter Simply Sweaters treasure. She even paid for postage! She will have much good karma. It's written by women from Tricoter- a Seattle YS which isn't so local except that's where we'll be in July so I may just get to visit.

All of left side of rowan vest is finished. Right side is more than halfway done. A little stockinette in the back and I'll have an FO. That is, if I can keep myself away from all of the blog-reading there is to do.


In between I've been swatching with some Debbie Bliss silk. Anyone with any wisdom to share re: knitting with silk, I would be grateful. I'm thinking rectangular wrap so that I can fondle the fiber regularly.

$6.00 stash busting

I appreciate the cleverness of this stash-busting, money-making craft. I just couldn't see paying $6.00 for yarn remnants that I have around the house with some toothpicks, beads, and baskets added. While very very cute, this salesperson would have done well to charge a little closer to what s/he paid for said craft. The way I'm looking at it, it's about a 600% profit.

Right side of Rowan vest has 5" to report. With everything on a piece of yarn place holder, the size seems to be improved. In fact, (dare I speak it?) it almost seems to fit! I know, I know... the novice can dream. Happy Friday.

Did you let the alpacas out, honey?

When I saw this at the festival I mostly sang in my head, "doo-doo doo, just taking the alpacas for a stroll down High St. Need anything at the Dollar Store, Hermione?" Rowan vest has gone from circulars to straight knitting which is to say that I'm at the armpit and on the home stretch. A few more movie days and I'll be done.

just in time for summer

This one should be done just in time for hot humid July. Think of it this way- I'm ahead of the fashion industry. Those fall items don't come out until August. This pattern is from the spring/summer 2007 issue of "knit it!!" and is actually modeled and made for a man. I made one ungauged in rowan summer tweed several months back. This one (according to my math) should fit better and not have a 58 inch waist. It feels snug but I'm hoping that some of that will block out and that I will lose just a little more pouch to make it wearable. Like any other knitting fool I will make no attempt to fix what the back of my mind sees as a potential problem and will instead, knit on, hoping for small miracles.

I may as well have..

Stitch and row markers- I didn't invent them but I may as well have. Reading and reading about stitch marker this and row marker that thinking what's the big deal? Just a little circle around the needle to mark where you're going and where you've been. Then suddenly, in what I believed to be a stroke of near genius I realized I could hook those crappy stitch markers and use them as row markers to indicate where I was in the cable pattern, eliminating the need for that annoying piece of paper with tally marks that I always lose. NOW I know what the buzz was all about. They aren't pretty but I know where I am. It's a sneak preview of the rowan chunky vest I'm working on.

Bob, feeling a little left out of blogland, has indicated that he would like to have a "complaint of the day." Today he wants to know why he doesn't get a tax rebate for voting, having had to listen to two years worth of campaigning.