Start-itis

It's 90 degrees, here at Huff House today.  So naturally, I'm sitting under a pile of wool:

There are swatches, too, but I can't show you those yet.  I'm happily poised at the beginning of a brand new September Project.

Is there anything sweeter than the beginning of the knitting?  The idea is still new, the yarn pristine in its ball bands, and no math has happened (or failed to) that could threaten the unsullied beauty of my vision.  I cuddle the yarn in a blissful fugue, imagining its destiny fulfilled.

Oh New Project, I love you to distraction.  My desire to spend every waking moment with you insurmountable.  My other projects simper and whine from neglected corners: I only have eyes for you.  Nothing bad has ever happened between us, New Project, and I can convince myself that it never will.  That's right.  You, deer sweet New Project, will be the design that knits itself; your gauge perfect, your motifs exquisite, your fit divine.  And naturally, you will be finished long before your deadline.  Because that's how perfect you are.  I shall neither eat nor sleep, nor launder, until your completion is assured. 

You are the promise of every knitter's dream: This time, I'm totally going to get it right.

Spring Break

We took Monday afternoon off, to celebrate a day of clear weather which coincided with Phillip and the kids being out of school.  The wind at the beach was wicked, so I hunkered down in a sheltered spot and worked on JWS while the gang cavorted.

Notice anything new on JWS?  How about now?:

There's a finished neckline now!  Worried that I would run out of yarn, I pulled the opposite end from the center of my ball and worked the neckline ribbing from it, leaving the main working yarn in place at the bottom.  Once that was done, I returned to working the rest of the body.  I'm so close to the end!  Too bad I'm totally going to run out of yarn.  Story of my life.  On my tombstone, they will chisel "Failed to Estimate Yardage Correctly".

Trying not to let that knowledge harsh the rest of my afternoon, I grabbed some loved ones and squished them.

Good medicine, that.

Some Sleeves, and a Question

The JWS (Jane Wolff Scott) cardigan progresses:

Two sleeves!  Some things are just better in pairs.  Not that I remembered that as I was knitting the first sleeve entirely wrong.  Overcompensating for the negative ease in the sleeves of my first prototype, I left way too many stitches in this one, resulting in a frog, back to the armpit.  Which, if you are good at math, will tell you that I have actually knit three (3) sleeves for this sweater.  Not the appropriate number.  So it's a good thing that one of them no longer exists.

But the funny thing is, even in spite of that, this sweater is SO FAST to knit that I'm still time ahead, based on my highly scientific process of determining these things:  It feels like I'm getting done really quickly.

You know what's to love about this project?  It's not Rocket Surgery.  Now don't get me wrong; I'm as big a technique junkie as you'll ever find.  If it's got trickery, or thrill-seeking, or fiddle-factor, I'm there.  Usually.  But sometimes I just wanna make a sweater.  Without thinking too hard.  Or taking too long.  Or spending too much.

This sweater is that sweater.  

Which brings me to the question:  Shouldn't there be a pullover version, too? The only thing missing from this dreamboat is getting to work it in the round.  It could have a turtleneck.  Or not.  It could have waist shaping, adjoining the sexy side-cables.  Or not.  I could plug in a different 6-st cable in the raglans, just for fun.

Weigh in, Gentle Readers?  Should the JWS cardi have a daughter, who's a pullover?