Knit, Read, and Learn

Every time I knit a sweater, I learn something new. This time I set out to knit a color block sweater from leftover yarns. Guess what? Yarn on the coffee table looks differently when knit into a sweater. The values of the blue and gray colors are quite similar. More contrast between the two might have been better. And, what was I thinking when I decided to make the cuff off white? That color will show all the dust and dirt in a sweater I plan to wear as a sweatshirt. The neck would have been a better place for that color but one skein wouldn't have gone far on the neck and shoulders of a top-down raglan.

The sweater fits fairly well. I carried the ribbing in the raglan line down the sides of the body and sleeves to create faux seams and to make the knitting a little more interesting. The pattern doesn't include shaping but the ribbing pulls in the body slightly. Don't you love the stitch marker jewelry down the sleeves?

I have some decisions to make. I could knit the rest of the sleeve in light gray but that seems boring. I ordered a little more yarn in a slightly darker blue to finish the sleeves. So much for my idea of knitting with leftovers. I plan to finish the second sleeve in the new color and see how it looks before unraveling the cream cuff. I also plan to reknit the bottom ribbing because it looks sloppy. I forgot to change to a smaller needle. Knit and learn. So today as I join Kat and the Unravelers, I will be unraveling.

I finished listening to Hidden Figures by Margot Shetterly. The narrator is excellent and the story is fascinating. I loved the grit of the women who contributed so much to space and aeronautics research. As a retired educator, I enjoyed the story of how the women completed their educations in the context of school desegregation. Don't miss the epilogue at the end where the author includes additional information and answers the question, "Why hasn't this story been told previously?"

The late winter sunsets are glorious. One evening I made a cup of tea and took time to watch the sun go down. The colors are consolation for the remaining weeks of winter.

Knit, unravel, reknit, read, and learn. It is a great way to look forward to Spring. March weather is fickle. Even so the cranes will be passing through central Nebraska.