It was 20 years ago today ....

What's happening here? Why, it looks like someone is finishing off the ends of a sweater ... and indeed that is what is happening.

But the sweater was finished 20 years ago. Back then I was in too much of a hurry to wear it to bother to finish the ends, except for the ones that hung out of the sleeves or the bottom of the sweater.

For years I've been meaning to do it -- you know, when I could get around to it. Really the ends didn't cause much trouble, except when the long ones came out of the neck when I put it on. But I could just tuck them back in. It was a little annoying, but that was no reason to actually sit down and *fix* it ....




Here's a closer look. Many of the tails had felted themselves, although a scary few look just like they did 20 years ago. I assume those are synthetic blends. This was my third or fourth sweater, and the first one I designed myself, and I wasn't very picky about the accent yarns I used. The main yarn is Lopi Light, and it has held everything in place very nicely.



And here's what it looks like on the outside. I've been generally happy with it except for two things. The sleeves are too long (see folded cuffs), and the round yoke is a little too small. Fortunately the sweater as a whole is very roomy so the yoke isn't constricting, but I've never used this style of construction again.

So there you have it. I should have done this years ago, and I'm glad I did it today.

How big are my feet?

Last spring I made my first pair of socks since pregnancy made all my old socks obsolete. My first pair, the yellow ones on the bottom, turned out to be so roomy that I wear them as bed socks. (That is, I wore them as bed socks back when it got cool at night, some unimaginably long time ago.) So I made the next pair quite a bit smaller. But I may have swung a little too far in the other direction. These socks are matched at one edge. Doesn't that seem a little drastic?

These are my first socks made of self striping yarn and I've got to say that I am unimpressed. I was expecting something a little more exciting. Instead I kept thinking, oh, God, here comes the orange again. And what do you know, it was followed by the green, and then the purple, and then back to the orange. I really think that solid colored yarn would be less boring because I wouldn't be expecting any excitement. To test this hypothesis, the next pair will be made of the same yarn, only in solid brown.

I'd cast them on right away, but look:


One of these things is not like the others.

I am so buying a sock needle protector sleeve.

Pi Are Squared shawl

After posting the picture of Stephanie & the purple blob, I got to wondering what the shawl really looked like. So here's a photo of it spread out onto half a dozen needles:


and here is a close up of the patterning:

The madeira wave around the neck was difficult to do, especially since I was in the car and my husband was talking to me from time to time, and now I think it will be invisible when the shawl is worn. Maybe I'll repeat it around the bottome -- when there will be a few more repeats of it.

The shawl currently hangs just above my elbows unblocked, and gains about six inches when I stretch it (very unscientific). I'm almost at the next doubling point. The discussion of the shawl in Knitting Around says they generally don't double a fifth time but this shawl needs so much more length that I think I'll do it. I've got about 8 rows to decide, though, and 8 rows takes a while.

This faggoting pattern is simplicity itself, which has made the shawl mindless knitting. I'm hoping, though that it won't look funny in the middle of the shawl, with more solid areas above and below. I can't quite remember why I launched myself on this huge project without any planning (something to do with a looming vacation & no travel knitting on hand, plus this huge quantity of purple laceweight Shetland and a decade's curiousity about this oddly shaped shawl ....). Maybe what it needs is something that combines the top and the middle -- something more open than the top but more patterned than the middle -- say, something like Sharon Miller's Feathered Border pattern (Heirloom Knitting p. 164 - 167).

That's a good plan for someone with two little kids and about half an hour of knitting time every day.

Well, I've got the 12 rows of the zig zag and a couple of rows of increase and maybe a plain row or two before I really need to figure out what I'm doing next. I'm sure inspiration will strike. Suggestions are welcome.

still here .....

Last night I went to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee speak. It was lots of fun -- both to hear her and to be around so many other knitters. I was particularly impressed by the people who wore handknit sweaters, considering that it was 102 degrees.

I brought along my endless project, a Pi Are Square shawl (EZ, Knitting Workshop) in laceweight shetland. Here's Stephanie puzzling over it:

Can't you just tell she's thinking "what is this shrivelled heap?" Really, though, I was impressed by her composure. We were at the end of a line of about a thousand knitters getting their books signed. It's hard to imagine making polite chit chat for that long.

On another other front, the cotton is coming along great. Here's George (in his space helmet) beside my little plantation:

He is facing south. There is a fence about 30 feet to the east of the plants which blocks the sun early in the morning. The tallest plants get the sun a little earlier in the morning -- that's the only explanation I can think of for the difference in size.

I'm surprised by the height; I had thought it would only get to about 18 inches, but the tallest is over 40 inches now. (George is 45 inches; I put him in for scale.) The flowers are beautiful! I wonder what the yield will be.