December 2, 2024

0 Posted by - December 2, 2024 - Customer FO's, Knitting, New Projects, Shawls, Sweaters

Brr! Purl and I just got back from her morning walk, she enjoying the balmy 27-degree temperature and I waiting and shivering while she found the exact right spot approximately 4,000 times and finally accomplished the goal. Owning a dog is not for lovers of sleeping in unless you are also a lover of cleaning carpets.

Sorry I haven’t written for a while. The election was a disappointment to me, but life goes on and I’ve somewhat recovered my equilibrium, so I’ll try to think about knitting, which is still great comfort during troubled times.

We’re all contemplating the next set of classes to come and I think I want to do a pullover that has lots of stitchwork. Lots of different patterns and textures in one garment = no boredom. Plus it gives us a chance to really wield our needles, our beloved and most important tools! Shoving a needle into a stitch and dragging the yarn back through it is what most beginners experience, but at some magical point, the flow of the movement and the smooth building of stitch upon stitch, row upon row, becomes second nature, and that is Knitting with a capital K.

So I’m swatching and think I know which I’ll choose but it’s not settled yet. In the meantime, I’m finishing up a sock with a different kind of heel that intrigued me – no picking up and very few short rows!

I gave the first sock to Deb to see if she wanted to add this to her series of sock adventures that she likes to teach. Karen is working on a beautiful Fair-Isle vest that I’ve tried not to drool all over, plus there will be a few smaller projects. I think you’ll find something fun to make with us!

Personally, I’ve been dedicating a lot of time to knitting a blanket for my nephew’s daughter who is a freshman at University of Texas-Austin. The blanket has a modified stag horn cable:

that is supposed to look like a Texas longhorn:

Maybe after blocking?? Blankets are big and boring, so I’ve adopted my time-honored technique for big and boring projects: Every single day, whether I want to or not (usually not), I knit 10 rows. This method will not get the project finished by her birthday which is mid-December but should get it done by Christmas. Hook ’em!

I’m working (very) intermittently on a Therapy shawl, a pattern I’ve always liked. I didn’t plan this, but it’s coming out rather Christmas-y:

I’ll have some new yarn to show you next time, but now I’ll leave you with this inspiring class project, the Book Club Cardigan knit by Lynda Slovitsky who is definitely a Knitter with a capital K. Beautiful!