Process Knitting

This is the winning swatch. I surprised myself by liking the width of the openwork panels; for some reason I had expected to prefer something narrower than the cables, but there you have it: there is no accounting for taste, especially my own.  I was so happy with it that I actually washed and blocked it.  Can you see the halo?  Peace Fleece is 70% wool and 30% mohair, which is a delicious combination of crunchy and fluffy.  Love. It.

I spent more of yesterday trying to remember how to execute a Channel Islands cast on than I care to admit.  Even the videos online baffled me.  I finally returned to my old friend THIS BOOK, in which I was properly sorted.  Turns out there's a YO between the bumps. Duh.  And then I decided the whole lower edge treatment was not working.  Frogged the 7th version of 149 sts.  I'm not out of ideas yet, though.  What's 149 sts to a maniac like me, anyway?  I'm starting over.  Could it be that I'm finally becoming a process knitter?  Sure. And fluffy white sheep are gonna fly outta my butt, too.

 

Getting Marooned

I've had this in my stash for literally, years, and my original idea for it hasn't changed:  A Desert Island Sweater.  
 

It's my favorite color in the whole world.  In fact, I always say that Periwinkle is my Desert Island color (as in, what color would I take with me if I were marooned on a desert island?).  So it seems only logical to expand the exercise:  What sweater would I take with me if I could only have one?  Thank God, there will never be an actual situation that calls for such an unreasonable degree of restraint, but the idea of answering the question appeals to me.

First of all, it would need to be a cardigan; pullovers are just too limiting in terms of combinations with other clothing, and temperature regulation.  Also there MUST BE BUTTONS, or else, why would I be knitting in the first place?

It's already my favorite color, my favorite fiber (wool), and my favorite weight (sport).  I might love it a Teensy Tiny bit more if it were 3-ply instead of 2, but hey, you can't have everything.  Besides, the 2-ply structure suggests something to me:

Combined cables and lace!  What could be a better compliment to a beautiful color than a super-sexy surface texture?  2-Ply is well-loved for lace because of the way its structure holds open the holes.  I think of cables and lace together as opposites who attract; cables pull in and lace opens up.  Cold marmalade on hot toast.  Yeah, Baby.

Now, there are about a million beautiful cardigan patterns already in this world that combine all these attributes, so why would I want to reinvent the wheel?  Because I'm Squirrely that way.  Why take someone else's work and change it to suit me when I can create something that's (sort of) brand new?  And besides, I'm not allowed the self-indulgence of knitting other people's designs, because my boss is really mean.  But hey, at least she lets me have yarn.

Now it's your turn to tell us:  What's your Desert Island Sweater?
 

Put Your Hands Together!

Next month I have the great good fortune to be teaching at the Nordic Heritage Museum's Nordic Knitting Conference.  This year's theme is MITTENS! 

Now you may know that I'm not a real Scandinavian (couldn't even play one on TV), but the generous folks at the Museum have included me anyway because I'm such a devotee of Nordic Knitting.  And also, there may have been bribes.  Look who else is coming to teach, talk and learn:

Annemor Sundbo, Ragga Eiríksdóttir, Susanna Hansson, Carol Rhoades, Sandy De Master and Mary Germain.

These teachers are not only some of the brightest stars in knitting, they are also personally responsible for preserving and passing on the very history and tradition we hold so dear.  Their combined body of work represents a good percentage of everything we have learned or remembered on the subject.  I just hope I don't spaz out when I meet them.  You know; more than usual.  I'm considering knitting the words "STAY CALM" into a pair of wristlets, just as a precaution.

This being my first year to attend, I asked my friend Karin to tell me a little bit about what the conference is like.  Here's her take:

"People love the ambiance of being surrounded by so much history, folk art, inspirational pieces, etc.. That is almost always a positive remark on the evaluations. Nancy Bush loves teaching there because the students seem so interested and dedicated during class. For the most part they aren't there to just take a class from someone “famous” but truly seem to care. Or at least that is how she tried to explain it. People are coming in from the East coast/mid-west/Canada.

Being a smaller event, people get to know each other better and make new friends over lunch, etc. The Friday night happy hour is a great mixer. The banquet will have tons of door prizes and hearing Annemor speak will be a real treat. Every morning there has been Danish pastries and coffee for everyone.

Mittens will be coming out of collections for display and the museum has asked members to bring in special mittens that their family have knit to be out on display too."

I don't know which has me more excited: Meeting the other teachers, or seeing the mitten collections! 

I'll be teaching "Sassy Selbuvotter", my introduction to Norwegian-style mittens, and the decidedly non-traditional "Entrelac Mittens", in which we make sexy mittens with entrelac gauntlet cuffs. 

What:        Nordic Knitting Conference
Where:      Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle,WA
When:       October 5-7, 2012

CLICK HERE for more information (prepare to have your mind blown by the class offerings).