Winter Knitting Story

I am knitting a sweater from the pattern September Morn. I chose the pattern for its clean look including the ribbed texture in the shoulder and upper arm. Last October, I cast on with Chickadee, a sport weight yarn by Quince and Co. Ever the optimist, I thought I'd be wearing the sweater by the end of January. I knit a swatch to the correct stitches per inch. Owing to several of my mistakes, the body was too big and I was going to be short of yarn. I ripped and reknit nine inches of the body, changing the shaping to fit. I also ordered several skeins of the same Quince yarn, in a contrasting light gray. See a previous blogpost for more details.

After the holidays, I picked up stitches for the first sleeve. I knit the pattern as written and ended up with a large pouf just below the ribbed section. Then I re-knit the sleeve in the ribbed pattern to eliminate the pouf. When I tried on the sweater, the sleeve felt like body armor. I knit the upper sleeve two more times, adding more decreases to achieve a smooth transition between textures. Eventually I'll add notes to my Ravelry project page about the sleeve construction. Next time I'll be more thoughtful when I see knitted textures used in an unusual way. In this design, the ribbing is placed above stockinette on the upper arm rather than at the wrist to snug up the sleeve. Still I like the look of the sweater. Certainly, this responsibly grown and processed wool yarn holds up very well to repeated knitting.

Last week, this project began to feel like a very long winter saga. To take a break from the ripping and endless stockinette slog, I looked up the definition of a saga. The term comes from stories told in Iceland ( a land of ice, snow, and glaciers) in the 12th and 13th centuries. A saga told around a fire was good entertainment during the dark cold winters of the far north. This sweater has definitely warmed my lap and helped me while away many winter evenings. This morning I went by my knitting bag and noticed the Quince yarn tags in the outside pocket. When  I pulled them out for a photo, I noticed the color way names, Glacier and Iceland. The workings of the subconscious mind are a mystery and a wonder. Thank goodness mine is still working now and then.

Meanwhile, I ripped out the gray/blue mitten I wrote about in the previous post. Individually the yarns are lovely but I didn't like the fabric of the two strands knit together. The gray will keep for knitting on a brighter day. I cast on the Blue Glacier Cowl in the blue variegated lace weight yarn. I think this pattern is a better use of the yarn. The mesh lace is a nice change from stockinette sleeves. I am following the pattern as written, hoping for an early spring sonnet rather than another winter saga.

January Days

As I write, light powdery snow sifts down on a bitterly cold morning. Last week my daughter safely delivered a healthy baby boy. He arrived to the open arms of his family and extended family. This beautiful little guy is a lucky one. His older brothers, aged 5 and 2, stayed with my husband and I for a few mostly delightful days. The two year old wore the same superman shirt, with a few peanut butter smears, for three days. In life with a two year, this is not a problem. We played, read lots of books, and took turns visiting the new babe and his Mom in the hospital. My husband and I are fortunate to be able to share this time with our daughter and son-in-law. They are all home now, trying to learn a new routine.

After picking up the house and restocking peanut butter and Cheerios, I am back to walking, writing, and reconsidering my knitting projects. Prior to the baby's arrival, I sorted through my yarn and knitting bags. I had knitting tools and notions tucked everywhere so I divided them into three small zippered bags and put them in a basket with patterns I might use soon. I sorted and stored the yarn by weight and made a few notes about what I might knit with the yarns.

Then I put three works in progress in separate bags, each with pattern, needles and yarns. When I actually looked at the projects I discovered a Goldilocks tale. The Oliveta Shawl was just right. The sock was too small and the sweater was too big. I ripped out the almost finished So Simple Silk Garden sock #1 (smallest size) because it wasn't going to stretch to fit. The cable running down the side of the leg was almost on top of the leg. I kept pulling it over to the side thinking, I can make this sock fit. Why, I wonder, does it take so long, to listen to the knitting voice that says, "stop, this isn't working." I cast on a different pattern, toe-up, to learn something new. That is a tale for another blog post. Sometimes knitting just goes haywire. 

I am also working on my version of a September Morn pullover. Evenings, I tried it on over flannel pajamas. When I finally put it on over a long sleeved T-shirt, I knew it was too big. The sweater body took more yarn than I had planned. Since knitting faster doesn't mean I won't run out of yarn, I ordered more. I enjoy the Quince and Co. Chickadee yarn but this shade is definitely a solid color with no tonal variations. Alternating skeins of different dye lots will produce a sweater with striped sleeves. I ripped out seven inches of the sweater body and am putting in more waist decreases. I'll gain a little yardage from the original dye lot but I don't know if it will be enough. I want this sweater to be warm and comfy with long sleeves. I may order a light gray in the same yarn base and go with a color block contrast.

My plan is to knit the body down to the ribbing and put the stitches on waste yarn. Before I start knitting sleeves with the remaining yarn, I'm going to weigh it and divide it so I can knit the same amount of light blue yarn in the sleeves before switching to the contrasting color. I plan to knit the neck ribbing in the contrasting color also. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, I'm going to bundle up in well fitting socks and sweater (I have a few of those) and take a walk in the snow. I plan to savor the peace of this January day while I dream about snuggling a newborn grandson. All is well.

Diving In

Summer weather is here. Recently my daughter and grandson invited me to spend a late afternoon at the swimming pool with them. Water play with an almost three year old was fun and exuberant. Over and over, my grandson jumped into his mother's arms with reckless abandon. He also requested at least fifty games of "Ring Around the Rosy" so he could duck under the water. When asked about his soon to be born sibling, E. predicted he will have a sister. Although I knit the little boy sweater first, which is my guess, I have baby sweaters ready for either sex. Recently I knit another little girl sweater, the Louise Cardigan from Vintage Baby Knits in Sweetheart sock yarn from Tanis Fiber Arts. The pattern and the yarn were a good match. I'm currently knitting a hat to go with the sweater. Someone in the family will eventually have a girl.

I also decided to knit a shawl for my daughter, the soon to be the Mom of her second child. I wanted to make a soft shawl to wrap up my daughter whenever she needs warmth and/or a hug. Looking on Ravelry, I found this knitting recipe for Diving In, an asymmetrical shawl. The contemporary geometric design with stripes seemed just right for Kate. Besides becoming a mother is rather like diving into deep water. One never knows what lies ahead. Thankfully, most of us find our way through those first months of being new parents. Still a handknit shawl to wrap around my daughter was one more way to give her a hug so I asked her to choose three colors of Quince and Co. fingering weight yarn. Knitting the garter stitch was meditative and just what I needed during my last days of June summer school. The way the designer created the stripes was quite ingenious and kept me interested in the project.

I'm not sure if I find serendipity between knitted projects and life because I look for it or if the stitches carry memory of their own. Regardless, I told my daughter, the asymmetry in the shawl was a reminder that life can be off kilter, that is, sleep will be interrupted by a new baby needing to be fed, housework will pile up, and E., still a young preschooler may have some moments when he is out of sorts. Even so, crazy days can still be good. One of my wishes for Kate is that this shawl warms her with unconditional love and support. God's speed as you dive into yet another new adventure.