How to Make Your Man Happy

(Hey you! Get your mind out of the gutter over there! )

I knit my man a sweater and is he ever happy. Check it out:

He likes the long sleeves with snug wrists that keep his arms warm. He likes the longish body that doesn't ride up when he sits down. I think the short rows help with that:

The blue band right below the traveling stitches is short rows. (He's got a cute back-end, eh?)

He likes the spiral on the yoke:

I like the fact that there is no hole at the end of my grafting.

Jim and I were out and about this morning. It's really cold. With the wind chill, it feels like -20°C. But this sweater kept him warm and comfy. I just love making my man happy!

Speedy Delivery!

click the pic for bigger

I am stunned at how fast my yarn arrived from Scotland. I ordered it last Thursday from Virtual Yarns and it was waiting for me today, exactly a week later. I was prepared to wait a lot longer.

They yarn feels soft to the touch and the colors are beautiful, heathered and rich. It's tempting to dive right in, but I'm making careful plans on how to proceed. There are so many colors I'm going to have to organize them because once I wind them into skiens, they will lose all those nice labels. Maybe I'll make a color card.

I finished Jim's Spiral Yoke sweater today, but it needs a good blocking before its photo shoot. For some reason, the front bunches up around his chest so that he looks like he needs a Manziere . I have to say, I'm underwhelmed. Oh I'm sure you will all tell me it looks nice, and I suppose it does, but I look at it and it's just: meh. Perhaps it's because I'm feeling a little under the weather today. Anyway, now you know.

Socks on Laundry Day

An accumulation of moments of my life. Moments that would have been gone for ever are now captured in wool that warms the feet and comforts the souls of me and my loved ones.

Sunday Smorgasboard

Here's a finished object to show you:

I started these on December 24 and I take them with me to work on during spare moments. Not a bad accumulation of time spent waiting, eh? The yarn is Lorna's Laces, Purple Club, and the pattern is my own. Toe up, with a figure-eight cast on, and Charlene Schurch's flap heel.

I'll likely start another plain pair using some funky yarn. I like to have something dead simple to knit on when I'm talking, waiting for an appointment, or driving. No really, don't you hate it when you are stuck in traffic with nothing to do? I can totally brake and knit.

The Spiral Yoke Sweater has come together:

Bad pun; I know, there are no good puns. I like the look of the spiral design, but I'm finding it difficult to knit at this point. There are a lot of stitches on the needles. I've got about another 5 rows to go before I start decreasing. Then it will feel like running down a hill where your arms are flapping and you know you'd better not stop or you will fall..... Hmm... makes me think of green grass and soft warm winds, and laughter.

There's some interesting short row shaping in this sweater. First, there was one set of short rows right between the bottom and the armholes and second, there are 3 sets of short rows right before the yoke starts. You may notice it as a wedge just above the arm hole in the picture. The first set is to ward off "the dreaded riding up syndrome" (Meg's words). The second set is to raise the neck at the back. I'm very curious to see how this changes the fit. Jim is an easy person to knit for since he's very rectangular and not too big.

Yesterday I was at London Yarns and Machines to pick up my Fiber Fish who had been acting as store samples. It was nice to see my mittens again (I gave them a kiss. Shh, don't tell.) Janet has some new sock yarn that had to come home with me. It's called St. Ives. The rich, heathered colors attracted me in the first place, but I'm also very impressed with how it knits up.

The brown will be socks for Jim, and the green are to be some leaf lace socks for me.

Friday I had my phone interview with a volunteer from Boxer Rescue Ontario. I must say that I'm very impressed with this organization. I like the fact that they are taking the time to match up the right home with the right dog so that the adoption will succeed. Next up will be a home visit, likely with a dog. It will likely be another 4 to 5 months before an actual adoption takes place.

I'm excited, I'm nervous, and it feels like my life will change in ways I can't yet imagine. Sort of like having children. In fact, I've begun to call this dog my "fur baby" in my head because of how we will have to order our lives to accommodate this new family member. I never understood that sort of sentimentality before.

Wiggly Puppy Happy

Oh yes indeed! I'm pretty darned happy all right. My life is very nice, thank you very much, and I wish you all the same. Everyone needs to vent their frustrations now and again, and certainly some sympathy when things are not good is a welcome thing, but I think we also need to take time to celebrate and say thanks when life is good. So here's a big thank you to the universe and all of creation.

Dang, but my knitting is boring right now. I've got the body and one sleeve done on the Spiral-Yoked pullover and I'm into my second sleeve. The yoke on this sweater is like a cherry on top and I'm looking forward to getting at it this weekend. But in the mean time, sigh, more stockinette.

As I was whining about stockinette a bit last night, Jim looked over at me with deep blue eyes and said, "Thank you, love, for knitting me a lovely, warm sweater." Then he gave me a big smooch. "Not fair!" cried I, but I must admit that the needles moved along at a good clip after that.

I've been contemplating what's coming up next, since there's plenty of room for contemplation with this sweater. I was thinking of the Noro I have stashed away, and I was thinking of a shawl since I have plenty of Sheltand fingering to work with. Have you seen The Wry Punster's beautiful Irish Diamond Shawl? I've considered knitting that shawl before, but her pictures have bumped it onto the TODO list.

Anyway, all plans are abandoned, other than the most simple since I came into some cash and ordered an Oregon Vest (in the fall color way which is shown as a cardigan) from Virtual Yarns. I'm very excited. I'm wiggly puppy happy. Wheee! Thanks again universe!

Tethered

I thought I'd give this idea a try:

The pink yarn measures roughly 16", which is the amount of height I need for the body of this sweater. I've found this little trick stops me from having to measure every so often. Instead, I just look at how much give there is in the pink tether. I don' t know about you, but I hate it when I knit past the mark.

Pretty

Yes indeed, pretty boring that is. Forty-two inches of stockinette in the round.


Go check out Anne at KnitSpot for some excitement. She's having a blogiversary party and a contest. I've offered up a Fiber Fish mitten pattern and a ball of Trekking XXL as one of the prizes. Anne is an amazing knitter and writes some very pretty patterns. Her spinning is pretty too.

So go say "Hi" to Anne. Tell her Laurie sent you.

Chirp

Thanks for all the compliments on my Shetland Cardigan. I can tell it's going to be a wardrobe stable, it's light and just the right amount of warmth. But it's a bit of a let down, because now I've got nothing much going on.

I thought I wanted to work on some small projects next, but I don't. I want to make the Spiral Yoke Sweater from Handknitting with Meg Swansen. This would be for Jim using the Patons SWS. So last night I swatched, and washed and let it dry. Tonight I measured, and dumb luck! I got gauge, both row and stitch. Actually, I felt a twinge of disappointment because I was looking forward to doing the math required by Elizabeth's percentage system.

See, I have great admiration and respect for Elizabeth Zimmerman, but I have never knit anything that follows her system. I must add at least one of her architectural "unventions" to my knitting repertoire. I'm looking forward to learning the secrets of the masters that will be revealed into my hands through the process of constructing this garment. But alas, I can find no pictures of it on the web. It's not even on Zimmermania. I'm wondering if everyone else knows something about this pattern that I don't.

I have about 2 inches of ribbing to show for my evening and I can just tell you are all thrilled to hear it. Or is that the chirping of crickets I hear?