Finally, a Break
After twelve days straight at the store, I finally had some time to focus on friends, family and home. It was a much needed break.
Look what followed me home last week.
I’m resisting starting a project until we get back from our MN trip. My first project will be a set of waffle weave cotton/linen towels. I’ll be getting together with a couple other people from work periodically to weave together. I’m very excited about this. I’m such a newbie.
I’ve finally gotten around to typing up my list of yarn stores that I’ve visited. I don’t collect souvenirs…I collect yarn stores when I travel. At some point I’ll add more detail about the stores and my visits.
Here’s a cute knitting dragon from the Haydenville Craft Fair on Sunday. The kids wanted me to buy it for the store. I didn’t think the store needed a $175 ceramic dragon.
And a couple of photos of the kids at the Massachusettes Sheep & Wool Festival in Cummington on Sunday.
How they wanted to bring home an angora rabbit. NEVER going to happen. I couldn’t even stock the Malabrigo Angora at the store without an asthma attack, though that was a toss up…breathing or soft angora goodness…which one?
Now I’m preparing for a crazy full week of work and getting ready for our trip. And I’m thinking about the Yarn Harlot event on Wednesday evening. There’s over 600 people signed up now. And that gets me doing some math in my head and figuring out what if scenarios. What if everyone comes back to the store afterwards and buys something? It could be well past midnight before the last folks leave. Crazy. I love crazy.
Finished Project: Top-Down Raglan Pullover
Project Specs:
Pattern: based on Barbara Walker’s Knitting from The Top book
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted in Gold Hill
Needles: US 6 circular needles
Size: just my size, gauge is 4.5 sts =1″
My Blog Links: Juggling Projects, Nice Neck
Well, it turns out I’ve been wearing this sweater since last October. Check out the second photo here as proof. (Plus I never got around to blogging about Rhinebeck.) But it was too short in the sleeves and I’ve been meaning to lengthen it ever since I wore it the first time. Here it’s spring and I gave it its first wash before packing it away for the summer. I just tried in on this weekend when the weather cooled down and it turns out the wash was all this sweater needed. Now the sleeves are plenty long. So I’m declaring this sweater done!
But oh how I wasn’t in the mood for a sweater photo session last night. With my busy schedule these days, I just needed to post and move on. Actually this photo shows off the three things I like least about the sweater. 1) The raglan seams are too long so by the time I divided for the sleeves, I had too many stitches for the body. So I had to decrease quickly to get down to the correct number of sts for my chest. You can see all that extra fabric below my armpit. It looks fine if I keep my arms to my sides. 2) I miscalculated my sleeve decreases so the sleeves are a lot less fitted than what I wanted. 3) The short garter stitch edge on the bottom of the sweater likes to flip up occasionally which is annoying.
But there are lots of things I do like about the sweater. I like the neck. Other than the problems listed above, it basically fits me well. I liked how the colors came out; there was only a little pooling on the sleeves. And the yarn is so soft and hasn’t pilled excessively. And after washing it, the sweater is even softer and now has this nice drape that it didn’t have before. And since this yarn is machine washable, I’ll be wearing it even more than I would otherwise.
I have to say, knitting a sweater from the top down was so much fun. I’ve started a top down cardigan for Bill. I’m not very far, but once I finish up some of the many projects I’ve begun (I count 6 I would really like to finish first), I’ll be able to cruise along on his sweater. Maybe it might even be done before the weather dips below 0°.
I have another incentive for finishing up some knitting projects. This arrived last week, 24″ 8 shafts. I should be bringing it home in the next week or two. Oh boy! Maybe I’ll have some towels done by the end of June.
I had a great weekend. All starting with a Henna party. Check out my fancy feet.
Now it’s time to get ready for work for what should be the beginning of a busy week ending with the giant Tent Sale.
Finished Square: #5
Diagonal Ribbing
Here’s an easy pattern to memorize. It’s quite simple, yet I love this diagonal ribbing more that a regular 2×2 ribbing. I wish I took a photo of the square before blocking. That’s when I really loved the fabric. This would knit up into a lovely scarf similar to the Inspiration Scarf. But it would be easier to knit and reversible to boot!
