Catkins 2.0

The saga of the pussy willow sweater continues.  At last report, I had attempted too much contrast between the stems and the background, but not enough between the background and the catkins.  I took a picture before I frogged it, for archival and comparison purposes:

In this photo, the chart is working exactly like I want it to, but the colors are not doing it justice.  I also regretted my choice to work one sleeve at a time, which made it (somewhat) easier to put it out of its misery.  Kinda surreal to totally frog a knitted piece right out of existence.  I even reskeined the yarn, so it was like the first sleeve never even happened.  Messes with my head.

I thought I wanted to change to a black background, but as luck or alpacas would have it, there wasn't enough of the black in stock.  Instead, I changed to this complicated and textural charcoal gray version with a soft brown for the stems, and kept the fluffy silver angora for the catkins.  Sometimes designs just know what they want to be made of, even if I don't.  This is definitely one of those times:

So much better, no?  I'm back in love with it again.  Note also the two-at-a-time sleeves:  WAY more fun and comfortable on the longer circular needle.  I wonder if my contrast instincts got jacked up because all the colors are natural/neutral?  These shades are so much more subtle than I usually choose.  Turns out working with beige and gray is a completely different prospect than lime and fuschia.  Duh.

This yarn is made for stranding - so delightfully sticky, but still ultra soft.  My esteemed associates at Toots Le Blanc have struck the perfect balance between drape and strength, in my opinion.  And those who require next-to-the-skin softness in their yarn will find nothing to object to either. 

Hard to believe this will be my last post of 2009.  It's true what they say about time flying and having fun.  And boy am I having fun.  All this and a New Year's Eve party tomorrow, too!  Lucky Knitter, me.
 

All Things February

It's easy for me to avoid feeling overwhelmed by holiday pressures this year:  I've moved on to being squeezed by things due 2 months hence.  I'm up to my armpits in February Projects.

It is unfailingly true that I feel most like knitting on projects that are not currently available to me.  Color problems on the Wisteria sample causing 30-skein redye?  Then that's what I want to knit!  Too bad I can't for a couple of days.  By which time I will be completely over it.  Waiting for shipment of new high-contrast yarn for Catkins Cardigan?  Can't get the wee beastie outta my head.  The minute the yarn comes, I'll be on to something else.  What's with that, anyway?  So while I wait at the intersection of these two projects for February, I turn my gaze back to the dear old Knot Garden, who you will recall, lacks only this one sleeve.  Since all my other knitting is February-centric, I have decided to make a goal of finishing Knot Garden in time for Madrona (Valentine's Day weekend).  Could happen:  There's only two projects competing with it, and as I said, it's really almost done.

It should have been finished a long time ago (shouldn't everything?), like last April or so.  I fell out of love with it around the time my first drop-spindle arrived and distracted me.  And by "distracted", I mean that a lot of things fell away from my consciousness when I discovered spinning.  Things like the water bill, automobile maintenance, and childrearing.  I should probably look in on those things again at some point.  

But now that I'm back to the Knot Garden, I have to tell you - this sleeve kinda stinks.  Here's why:  The only stitch I dislike executing more than 1x1 rib is seed stitch.  It physically hurts me to do it, and I seem to have designed a whole garment around it.  Nice work, that.  Also, being a sleeve, it's getting bigger and slower as I go, which is not conducive to momentum.  I usually  make a conscious effort to work all my pieces from the widest to the narrowest part, relying on my initial enthusiasm to get me through the fat part of the knitting, and picking up speed (at least emotionally) as I go.  But having placed the big wide cable sideways on this sleeve, I didn't look for a way to go from wide to narrow.  And of course, if all that isn't bugging me enough, this sleeve is knit flat, and that is just not my cup of tea.  All of which is the more galling because the stupid sadistic designer is ME.
 

But now that I've confronted these issues, Gentle Readers, I hereby decree the knitting train to be pulling out of Snivel Station.  There is no crying in knitting, after all, and I really do think I'm equal to a few rows of stoopid seed stitch.  Anybody else need an elbow massage after a k1, p1 session, or is it just me?
 

Cold Feet, Warm Heart

Remember I mentioned that I finished some secret Christmas knitting while out of town las week?  Well, there I was, minding my own business in a huge yarn store when I ran out of knitting.  What's a girl to do?  Okay, I admit, I may have promised myself that I could get some new yarn if I finished that Christmas project while I was there, but I'm sure you'll agree that either way, I had full impunity.

Maybe it was the sparkly dusting of snow all around in Spokane, maybe I was seized by a whim for something s bit special, but there it was, right there in front of me:  The just right, light-colored, glinty yarn that I was in the mood for.  It's Scholler + Stahl Fortissima Disco, color 04.  Get some for yourself, or somebody glittery you know here.

I love my new "Magic Carpet" sock pattern so much in its original yarn that I wanted to see what it would look like in a light color.  I was right to love this pattern, even if I did make it up myself.  Totally addictive knitting: Challenging-but-not-too challenging at the beginning, and changes to simple but satisfying for the rest of the piece.  The slip stitch pattern makes it easy to count rows, and you don't even have to look at the pattern unless you want to.

Get a load o' them sparkles, will ya?  I bet you know someone who needs socks like these. 

I, for one, have decided to parlay Phillip's complaints that my feet are cold all the time into a Sock-Making Justification Project.  Imagine the sock yarn stash this could afford me:  Documented Foot Frigidity.  He's always saying it: "Get those offa me - they're cold!"  By my calculation, that means I'm allowed all the sock yarn I want;  I'm doing it for him.  Sigh. The things we put ourselves through for love...