Yes. There is Knitting in TheCastle

January was the Month of Technology with the addition of eBooks to our collection and multiple changes to our library's webpage. This was all on top of the regular January quarterly board meeting and a 10% increases in both items circulated and people walking through the door. It's no wonder I wasn't inspired to finish Brica - with her challenging shoulder seams. That doesn't mean there has been no knitting around TheCastle - but it has been swatching and experimental knitting coupled with sketches and calculations. 

I realize that this knitting project is going to be a major effort - worsted weight stranded color work makes for a very heavy fabric - but I love this - the colors, the speed with which the picture develops the scope for design touches. But it's still a long slow process. The plan is for a swing coat about the length of a car coat. The sleeves will be full with tight cuffs for warmth. I'm not sure if I want to create the width at the bottom via pleats or long narrow triangles - though I'm leaning towards the latter. Pleats in back would look nice on me but pleats in front might give this a maternity look - not what I am aiming for. 

I want to make a straight skirt to wear with this - either in a solid or in a tweed stitch (see Barbara Walker vol. 1) using the main colors. 

I adore the two swatches. The flower design is mostly copied from More Sweaters by Lisa Kolstad and Tone Takle - who are my main inspiration. I bought this book used but in very good condition. By now it's looking really used - I love it so.  The bee design is entirely my own and creating that was more fun than should be legal. It was almost like a video game and I can't wait to do more of this sort of charting.

Yes. Brica is whining at me. Knitting a warm pullover sweater in 70 degree weather, though, was particularly unappealing - especially when my head was filled with DRM files and XTML coding, eBooks and iPods. The worst of that is over now - and today there is a hard frost. I will pick up my needles tonight and see if I can finish off that baby.

But now? almost 8? I leave you with this final thought.

How About Them Giants! Yea!!!

Knitting Infidelity

It's true - with only scant inches to go on Brica I cast on with the Cascade 220 just to see, you know? It doesn't mean a thing. I swear it, I was just curious.

It's true, too - I feel so guilty about abandoning Brica at the altar that I am always taking the new knitting along and leaving the chart behind so I can't knit on it - I guess the truth goddesses are trying to make me be faithful.

But I really will finish that sweater. I promise. I'll do better. I'll do better with blogging too - once I get through this patch of busy-ness that is January.



There is good news on the technology front - I got the help I needed with the EReader, I train my staff today, we go live on Wednesday but we'll let it seep into peoples' consciousness for a week or two before we do the big publicity push.

I'll get around to ordering a new phone too - but cell phones rank low on my list of priorities. I need a new one - especially with my aged mother who was ill enough this week to need hospitalization. (She's better, btw) But I am in the same 2 places most of the time and both of those places have land lines.

And of course right in the middle of all this stuff I took a day off to go lingerie shopping. Ever since I watched that first episode of How To Look Good Naked  I've wanted to be fitted by a bra whisperer so a few weeks ago I wrote to Laruen DeLoach, the fashion columnist in the Richmond Sunday paper (just in case she actually lived in Richmond) and asked if she knew who the best bra fitter in Richmond was. She recommended the folks at Blythe which, technically, is in Henrico, at Short Pump across from that vast sprawl of brick shopping,  on the south side of Broad Street. She also said don't try to shop there on Saturday, but I didn't need that advice. A Master Shopper, I know that Tuesday or Thursday mornings are the best times to get super personal attention anywhere.

At my age it takes a little guts to go talk bra fitting with sylph-like twenty somethings in size zero clothes, but Anna was enormously helpful, knew the stock inside and out and brought me dozens of pieces to try on so I could be sure I got what I really wanted. I wore my new acquisition out of the store and let me tell you - there is nothing but nothing quite so wonderful as strolling around in new undergarments that fit you to a T. mmm mmm I was walking tall all day long.

The shop doesn't have a website but they do have a facebook page here.  And for the curious, you can see what I bought here.

And now? Now it's Friday. Friday Friday Friday Friday Friday

Why yes. I do plan to knit a little this weekend. Why would you ask?

Three Quarters of the Way Done

At this point I'm actually knitting to a timetable goal. I have always claimed it took 3 months for me to knit a sweater whether it was spread out over a whole year or compressed into 3 consecutive months. Mostly that's because I always want to make up my own pattern and whenever I get to the bust/shoulder area I start to worry about fit and, you know, just in case there's a problem, maybe I should put the project down and let it cook a while. And while I'm waiting maybe I ought to start some other new thing - or knit an always needed pair of socks. And then it gets put in a box or zipped into a bag or slipped inside a drawer and ... forgotten. It's pure cowardice, of course, but hey - it's a hobby. I'm only supposed to knit what I want ... when I want to.

Last year, though - something changed. Something in my confidence level, something in my skill level. And then there is this whole top down thing. As I said, fitting the neckline/shoulder/bust area - especially if you are not average sized or shaped, is soooo tricky. And if it doesn't fit it looks so bad. And if it looks so bad - one becomes so depressed. See where this is going? Knitting the hardest part first is just so efficient. I believe I can finish this sweater in 4 weeks instead of 3 months. And that only stimulates me to think about More Sweaters (and More  Yarn)

I did a much better job grafting the leaf border this time. That's because this time I was more careful about the provisional cast-on. Last time I really only had 7 stitches on the cast-on row and had to fake it,  matching those 7 to the 8 on the last row of the other end.

I've also kept much better records on this project than I am wont to do. Usually I have brief disjointed paragraphs, sprinkled with margin notes, a la Elizabeth Zimmermann. This time I actually wrote down how many stitches I picked up on sleeve #1 so I could do the same with sleeve #2. Ditto the decrease rate. I know these sleeves will match.

(I'm also putting notes up on Ravelry  - in case you need More Information)

And I am SO LOVING this cuff treatment. I just think it's the prettiest thing.

So. It's motoring down the second sleeve time. And when I am taking a break from that I'm perusing my 6 linear feet of knitting books to get inspiration for the Next Project. I've always been a huge fan of Nicky Epstein. What she does with color is magical. Unfortunately, her marvelous stranded colorwork designs are all knitted flat!!! Now - I would rather slit my wrists than try to do stranded colorwork on flat knitting - but I can convert and/or adapt her stranded designs to circular knitting and she has the cutest jacket in her book Knitting On Top Of The World. She calls it the Ottoman Empire Jacket. If you click on this link you get a page of images and on the second row, second from the right is a photo of it. (at least, here's hoping you will)

Another of her designs I really like is the Londonderry Rose Coat. Or rather - I love the idea of a bulky tweed cabled coat with that particular shawl collar. I don't like the hemline she designed, which is stepped and odd looking and definitely doesn't look like it would keep me warm where I want it to. But the idea ... and that collar. Yum. Again - here is a Raverly Link  - onnacounta I don't want to dig through the copywrite process.

So. All that's left to ask is "Will TheQueen finish this sweater by 9/21 - which happens to be her birthday?" We shall just have to see. There's at least one more weekend ahead - but let us all hope and pray there are No More Hurricanes.

Ta.

A new sample hat

After the wildly successful sleepover at the library, coming back down to earth to knit a humble little cap seems a bit tame. But when I look at the magic that is stranded colorwork knitting - the creation of these beautiful curves and undulations - the magical transformation of dots on paper into stars and snowflakes - ahh - my simple little heart sings.

I just love love love stranded colorwork knitting. I really need to plan something BIG to knit - something like this!

Available at Allegro Yarns