kmkat and her kneedles

Random Friday.

I found myself thinking in bullet points on Thursday afternoon, which led me to this post. Of course, once I started typing, the individual bullet points got longer. As #1 Son says of himself, I can't even say hello in 25 words.

* * * * *

Remember this delightful carved wooden shawl pin that I am using to close my kimono sweater?

 

As I was putting the pin into place yesterday, I suddenly realized that the corkscrew-shaped end would enable me to screw in the pin, thusly:

 

...which means the pin Stays.In.Place. That was a bit of a problem the first few times I wore the sweater.

Damn, I'm good...

* * * * *

(Oops. I seem to have forgotten the other bullet points. Hmmm...)

* * * * *

(Oh, yeah.)

* * * * *

Smokey and I are going to enjoy a free night at the local casino hotel on Thursday night, which is TONIGHT as I type this but will be LAST NIGHT as you read it. Got that? Not that it matters.

I have three four small knitting projects that I will bring to work on tonight/last night while The Bear is happily dropping his quarters into the slots.

1. Second pair of colorful socks.                                   B. Chemo hat.
 

iii. Second cuff.                                                              IV. Medical mittens. (IV = medical, get it?)
 

1. Coming along nicely. These are my fall-back knitting right now; completely mindless and satisfying. ETA: just tried on the first foot -- it fits perfectly! Unlike the first pair of colorful socks, both of which turned out to be about 1/2" too long despite my careful plotting.

B. By request for an internet friend for her friend who is going through cancer treatment for the third time but the first time with chemo. Friend, very dignified, is more worried about losing her hair than the cancer. Chemo hat to the rescue!

iii. You haven't seen these. I have a 10-year-old fleece gray and white pullover that I love, but the cheap white knit acrylic cuffs are falling apart. These replacements will give the pullover a new lease on life.

IV. Yeah, these were supposed to be for Christmas for #1 Son. But when he told me he no longer has time to go running and hence has no particular need for them, I sort of lost interest. Then I got to a slightly more difficult part of the pattern and had screwed it up and was going to have to tink back a couple rows and needed to reprint the pattern but my toner cartridge was empty and I didn't have another and beside the dog ate my homework and the cat threw up on it. New toner cartridge now installed, pattern reprinted, and it's time to finish these suckers. Plus they are occupying my #0 and #1 circs, which I might need again someday.

I predict that numbers B. and iii. will be done by the time I come home tomorrow/today, the socks will have grown a bit, and the mittens will still languish.

Digression: I tweaked the color in the photos to correct the yarn color. Notice how different the color of the chair pad is in the different photos. Also: the blue in the socks and the mittens is NOT the semi-fluorescent blue it appears to be in the photos. I Could Not Make The Blue Behave.

* * * * *

If you are unable to shower, say, if you are camping in a place without showers or are running very very late for an appointment, acne pads -- the ones with salicylic acid -- work pretty well to swab out the stinky bits. We keep the generic ones from Wal Mart on hand; they have 7% sal acid, which is pretty strong.

You're welcome ;^)

* * * * *

I had another run-in with Da Yeep last Friday. Smokey had used it the day before to plow three driveways, charging around in 4WD. When I drove -- very carefully -- to the next little town and back, the brace holding up the plow lost its hold-it-together thingie (technical term) and the plow dropped to the road surface. If I had tried to drive it like that I would have broken the plow. Smokey was in Minneapolis, his cell phone was off, and his other phone (internet phone) was not set up to ring in the room where he was sleeping after his double shift. I did get hold of Lennie The Wonder Mechanic, who sent one of his guys with a wrecker to lift the plow blade and chain it up so I could get the vehicle home.

Smokey drives Da Yeep with reckless abandon, even as far as to Minneapolis and back, and never has a problem. I drive it five miles and end up stranded or some such. I'm cursed, I tell ya...

* * * * *

Have you seen these socks, just added to the latest issue of knitty.com? I was completely smitten at first sight. Even though I generally prefer mindless knitting, these might just be worth the effort. As soon as I finish the second pair of colorful socks and free up the #0 and #1 needles from the medical mittens, I plan to make these. Stay tuned. There are sure to be some, er, colorful metaphors flying around.

Kimono sweater. Finally.

 

(Yes, that is the Christmas tree in the first photo. What?)

Yarn: Louet Gems Topaz, 100% superwash merino worsted, 5 or 6 skeins of each color.
Needles: Knit Picks Options and Harmony circs, US#7.
Pattern: My design, based on the fundamentals of the kimono sweaters in Kimono Knitting by Vicki Square. Easy-peasy, no fitting, everything is a rectangle. I made the sleeves have snug cuffs because standard kimono sleeves would have defeated the idea of a warm sweater -- drafts, people!

Progress photos at my Ravelry page.

The Louet Topaz is a nice enough yarn, rather loosely plied and therefore prone to splitting. I suspect it will pill, too, since it is so soft. But the sweater is done and comfortable and warm and I am happy.

Shawl pin purchased from some unremembered vendor at Yarnover 2009.

Talking cat.

* * * * *

Sorry, no pictures of the kimono sweater (Finished! On Sunday!) before Wednesday. Monday's daylight hours spent running errands with Smokey; Tuesday's daylight hours will be spent going to doctors' appointments and shopping the sale racks for a new winter coat. Catch ya Wednesday...

Jumpers. Knitting.

"Pringle of Scotland has commissioned artist David Shrigley to create a humorous short animated film about life behind-the-scenes at Pringle to celebrate the brands return to Milan Fashion Week.

"The animation, showcased during Pringle of Scotland's menswear show in Milan on 18th January, depicts the making of jumpers and cardigans over the past 195 year history of the Scottish brand."

Found via modeknit's tweet yesterday.

* * * * *

Yes, there is knitting going on here at Chez Kat™.

 

No, it is not ready for prime time yet.

Happy.

I had a very happy Sunday. I picked up all the stitches for the sleeves on the kimono sweater.

Music to work by:

 

That's a set of $10 speakers Smokey picked up a while back. I committed to provide the recorded music at a library event next month, and I wanted to test them with my iPod. All systems go so far.

 

I really don't know why it took me a week to work up the gumption to do this little task. I don't mind picking up stitches, although knowing I would have clear off the dining room table to have a place to work was a little daunting.

I picked up the all the stitches for each sleeve on its own needle, then decided I should count them to make sure that, 1, I had the same number of stitches for each sleeve, and, b, that I had picked up the same number on front and back. (The sweater, except for the fact that it is a cardigan, is perfectly symmetrical side to side and front to back. Such is the nature of a kimono [sweater].) Turned out I had nowhere near the same number of stitches in corresponding areas, so large parts had to be redone. But math and counting and a wee bit of measuring -- and remembering that 5 rows need 7 picked-up stitches -- saved the day. Each sleeve = 100 stitches.

Now I just need to knit the sleeves, which is perfectly mindless knitting for the first two-thirds or so, then lots of decreasing down to rolled-back garter cuffs. It is entirely possibly that I may get to wear this sweater before the snow melts.

 

The Stones have always been one of my favorite bands, ever since I was in high school in the 60s. For a time in my early 20s when I was plagued by depression, this album -- Let It Bleed -- was the only thing I could stand to listen to when I was down. On Sunday I cued up (queued up?) all the Stones music on my iPod and rocked out whilst picking up stitches. It was highly enjoyable.

* * * * *

#2 Son was here on Saturday and Sunday. He and Smokey spent a fair bit of time out in the garage swapping out new tires on his car and attempting to install a new exhaust system. But they took a little break to fix my office chair first.

For some reason the seat of the chair has been unlevel for several months. A few weeks ago I realized that sitting askew has been part of the reason for my chronic back pain. My resident fix-it experts to the rescue; I had looked under the chair myself and found nothing that looked like I could fix.

Success!

 

While they had the chair upside down, they cleaned the animal hair and other snarf out of the wheels.

 

Snarf that included a piece of yarn. Unbelievable!

Resolution(s), updated.

I have thought about the sweaters for myself and refined my resolutions a bit. I'll state it here for the record.

I, kmkat, being of [mostly] sound mind and body, do hereby declare that intend to knit three sweaters for myself in 2010, namely:

1. Finish the kimono sweater
2. Knit the multicolor striped top-down raglan
3. Knit Baby Cables and Big Ones Too, hereinafter known as Baby Cables Etc.; I bought Elsabeth Lavold Silky Wool for that one a year ago.

Shall we take bets on this? I'm not even sure how I would bet. It all hinges on my ability to 1, stay focused, and B, Just.Say.No. For the record, I have already come upon a potential project-for-others, gotten excited about it, and almost jumped in. Then I remembered my resolution and Just.Said.No (to myself).

Oh, and by the way, do you want to guess what is currently on the needles?

 

Yeah, a sock. At least it is a sock for me.

It's time for... New Year's resolutions!

I solemnly resolve that in 2010 I will:

1. Stop smoking. Check. Did that in 1974.
2. Stop drinking to excess. Check. Happily, that has never been a problem for me. My father was an alcoholic*. Nuff said.
3. Stop driving 20 mph over the speed limit. Check. I have slowed down considerably over the past five years or so, pretty much never speed any more.

As you can tell, I really have this resolution thing down. ;^)

    4.  Use up stash.
    5.  Knit at least one sweater for myself.

Okay, those last two are gonna be a challenge, if for no other reason than that they contradict each other. At least two-thirds of my stash -- measured in yardage, not skeins -- was purchased on sale with no particular project in mind, but with the vague intention that it would be good for Dulaan and other such community knitting**. The Dulaan Project ended a couple-three years ago, pretty much right after I stocked up on 100% wool worsted weight. Edited to add: I gave Maggie brown grocery bag of yarn before they left last night, to take to her textiles teacher; the textiles classes always need yarn. Score!

When I counted up what I had knit in 2009, the total was 73± items, of which about 20 were for myself, all of the actual FOs small things like socks or a hat or scarf. Enough, already, I said; time to indulge myself in some hand-knit sweaters. 

I started this kimono sweater in late 2007.

 

At left, above, I had finished the front and back, joined them at the shoulders, and was preparing to pick up 275 st for the front/neck band. At right, how it looked when that was done. All it lacks are sleeves. As soon as Andrew's medical mittens are done, this is what I will be working on.

As cold as it is right now, I really, really, really wish this were done. It will be lovely warm.

I started this one in the summer of 2008.

Most of it has been knit at least twice, for various reasons. A month or so ago I finally faced up to the fact that this bamboo yarn will almost certainly never work in this pattern. I haven't frogged it yet, but I will. I'm thinking that the drapey bamboo might work in a summer cardigan with some contrasting bits. That would be a garment that I could use. I have done some searching in Ravelry to see what others have made from the yarn. But in the meantime, into the frog pond it goes.

This blue-gray DK wool has been in the stash for at least a couple years, since I bought it from Juno in her destash.

 

A few weeks ago I was thinking hard about what I could do with it, given that I had only about two-thirds as much yarn as I would need for a sweater for myself. Then I found this pattern in Ravelry and it all came together -- a top-down raglan pullover with contrasting stripes. The contrasting yarns are Valley Yarns merino from Webs; I might add another color or two just to make the whole project more fun and also to have absolutely, positively enough yarn for the sweater to be long enough. Standard length sweaters make me look even more, er, ample than I am :( Plus, no matter how wide they are, they always look a bit too short.

This last yarn, at right, is intended for a cardigan I have been plotting for, oh, about four years. I'm not gonna say more about it because that could easily jinx the project, plus those kimono sleeves and the striped raglan pullover will keep me busy for a good long while.

    6.  One more resolution: no purchase of yarn unless to complement existing stash for a specific project. Sock yarn counts.

And those are my resolutions for 2010 knitting. Wish me luck!

*  Over the years it has been eye-opening to me, to say the least, how many people respond to this revelation with the fact that they have a father/uncle/brother who was/is also a problem drinker. Remind me again why liquor is legal and marijuana is not?

** My problem is two-fold: it's hard to say no to any appeal for knitted [fill in the blank], plus the items appealed for are almost always small -- hats, scarves, mittens. Small = immediate gratification, one of my weaknesses.

2009: That was the year that was.

January.

Well, there was this (bad).

And there was this (good) (from left, Wendy, me, Chris, and Susan).

On the knitting front:


 

February.

Good intentions.

 

Snow and cold.

Knitting:

March.

Winter melted away.

Knitting.

April.

Spring arrived in earnest.

Yarnover.

End of tax season.

Taste of St. Croix.
 

Knitting resumed after tax season.

 

May.

I scored big at Macy's sale racks, I helped Norm go away, I celebrated Mother's Day in an eco-friendly way, the bears and the ticks came out of hibernation, I picked up trash, I enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend, I bid farewell to our local librarian, and Hannibal discovered the joys of catnip.

Knitting was primarily of a stealth nature, but did include scientific swatching and the F'ing of a couple of O's that had been OTN for nearly, and over a year, respectively. (I am rather proud of that sentence -- and its punctuation -- awkward though it may be.)

 

June

June was for knitting and vacation and celebrating that brief magical time that is summer in the north woods.

 

 

Lots of knitting.

 

 

July.

July was for more vacation -- the rest of the one in Wyoming and another on the North Shore.

And summer.
 

And injuries.
 

And knitting.

 

August.

It was a very good month. I turned 60, had a contest, and laughed. We went to a concert.
 

I learned the difference between eagles and turkey vultures, and I had surgery to remove some extra/unneeded bits and pieces and repair that torn cartilage in my knee.
 

Knitknitknit.

 

September.

In September I had lots of cats on the blog, it was my turn to give the prayer at the beginning of the monthly county board meeting, the county budget process blew up, and the most gloriously gorgeous month of the year was here.

 

The knitting, she continued.

 

October.

I became a biker by proxy,

more new-to-me music found its way into my iTunes, and we celebrated 35 years together

by not-camping on Lake Superior.

The kneedles continued to fly.
 
 

November.

The van that took us on some wonderful vacations met up with an unfortunate bear on the road and was replaced by an older but bigger and more customized van.

Cold weather arrived, and once more I cooked and baked.

 

Mostly, though, I knitted.




Apparently I can crank out hats like other knitters crank out... sweaters

December.

I continued to be thankful (there is a lot to be thankful for).

With the help of Matthew and Maggie, I decorated for Christmas. This decorating thing is never a given.

I showed you my ornaments, y'all showed me yours.

 

We ate well.
 

A bit more knitting* for others.

I pretty much finished my Christmas knitting. (Shhh, the Calorimetry is a surprise.)


The medical mittens are still OTN -- stay tuned.

*For someone who doesn't like pink, I sure knit a lot of it lately...

Let the whining begin.

When we got home after our two vacations I had my knitting future planned.

First, I would frog the Summer Chevron up past my ill-thought mods and reknit it. With a little luck I would be able to wear it before the weather turned chilly. Once that was done, I would pick up the kimono sweater again and knit the sleeves. When the sleeves are done, the sweater will be done and ready to wear, since I already joined the fronts to the back and picked up and knit the the front and neck band. And wove in all the ends. When those two sweaters were done I would start a Clapotis using the three skeins of midnight Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud, either for myself or to have a gift in reserve. The Clap would be my carry-along knitting, and I would start swatching for a sweater that has been swimming around in my head for three years.

You know what they say about the best-laid plans, right? Well, mine gang aft a-gley, too.

Summer Chevron was going fine. I was powering through all that stockinette on US#4 needles when I decided maybe I should throw it on the mannequin to see how it was going to fit.

 

Ignoring the whacked-out hemline -- which I plan to fix with some severe blocking -- it looks pretty good, doesn't it?

How about now?

 

Yeah, it's a little big.

Summer Chevron went into time out. That means I can move on to the kimono sweater, right?

Wrong.

Somehow I managed to commit myself to a smallish stealth project; another chemo cap, this one for my sister-in-law in Houston, who has a new cancer caused by the radiation treatments a few years ago for her (successfully eradicated) breast cancer; a second chemo cap for Smokey's co-worker; and some felted wine sacks to sell in a fund raiser. All nice, fun little projects and ones that I am pleased and excited to do, but all with deadlines by mid-September. Oh, and I have some Noro Silk Garden to knit a Red Scarf, too; that one at least has a later deadline.

How did this happen? Dunno. I just looked at my yarn and whammo! deadlines!

Here is a glimpse of part of the stealth project.

 

The pattern stitch was a PITA for the first couple inches, but I have it down now. Happily, mistakes don't show much :-) This is a slip-stitch pattern from Barbara Walker #1. Two-color check, maybe? The book is back on the shelf now so I can't look it up easily. I hope to finish this by Monday, then on a wine sack. And the chemo caps.

And someday, maybe, a sweater for myself...

What did you knit on vacation, Kat™?

Did I knit much on vacation? Did I knit much on vacation? I knit so much that by the end I sometimes found myself riding in the car and not knitting! Apparently I had gotten my fill, not that that condition lasted very long. I resumed knitting as soon as I got home.

Let's recap, shall we? As planned, I took along:

1. The kimono sweater, which I planned to finish. Status: not finished, but not for lack of knitting. When we left I had knitted the first 6" of the two fronts. While we were gone I finished both fronts, attached them to the back with a 3-needle bind-off, picked up 270 st -- from the bottom right front up around the neck and down the left front -- and knitted 3" of garter stitch for the neckband. And I have woven in all the ends so far. That is where the sweater stands now. I didn't accomplish my entire goal, but I am much further than I was; it is still realistic to expect to wear it this winter.

This back:                                                added a couple fronts and a neckband:
                  

2. The corn socks, in hopes of having a completed pair sometime during the trip. Status: done, worn, washed, worn, washed, and ready for another wearing.

These:                                                       became these:
              

I need to seek out another shirt or two in golden tones so I have something beside one t-shirt to wear these with.

3. The Cascade 220 stash-breaker Faroese shawl, to be able to change up my knitting when I finished the kimono sweater. Status: the shawl looks remarkably similar to the picture taken before we left. I knit only another couple stripes because I was so intent on the kimono sweater.

This:                                                           grew very slightly, into this:
                

4. Sock yarn to start another pair of socks. I returned to my original plan and brought this blue Pagewood Farms Denali sock yarn instead of the brand-new BFL I won from Tammy right before we left. I really need some more blue socks; I have plenty of red ones because I love red, not that I won't love to knit this into socks and wear them.

This:                                                            instead of this:
                    

Blue sock #1 is now nearly done, just another inch or so on the leg to go.

4. In addition, I brought two balls of Karabella Margrite (80% extra-fine merino, 20% cashmere) to make a chemo cap for Smokey's co-worker.

107 yards of this:                                          was transformed into this:
                    

The color in the first photo is accurate. The cap is lovely soft and was delivered to her this week.

As you can see, I totally pwned that 4-row lace pattern this time. Yay, me!

5. I finished the narrow Clapotis.

Three balls of this:                                   had grown into this before we left.
                            

It subsequently grew into this:            which shall be worn sort of like this:
                    

The jacket is actually a dull olive, a bit darker than the green in the scarf, not the gray it appears to be in the photo. The colors work quite well together.

6. I threw 2 balls of Cascade Fixation in a mottled denim colorway into my knitting bags, too, just in case I felt like knitting another pair of warm weather socks when I finished the corn ones. Didn't happen. The yarn still looks like this:

6.  I did not bring along the half-done child's sweater for A4A. Reality smacked me upside the head. Given the projects above, I knew there was no way I was going to get to this one.

All in all, I am pleased with my progress. Wish it could have been more, but don't we always wish that?

Leavin' on a jet pl--, er, van.

We are leaving on Wednesday for the annual camping trip in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming. I have not started organizing the camping gear.

I have, however, gotten all my knitting projects ready.

The big project is to finish the kimono sweater that I started in November 2007. The back is done. Here are the two fronts, being knit more or less simultaneously, each on its own circ.

 

The red is actually maroon; the grayed lavender is accurate in the photo. The fronts should go fairly quickly (I hope), but the sleeves are enormous. Still, if not now, when? It's a good mindless project and I'd love to be able to wear it come fall.

I'd like to finish this child's sweater intended for Afghans for Afghans:

It has been in time out since September or so, when I realized I had been so busy counting rows for the sleeve increases that I had passed the spot where I should have begun the striping. You can see that I started it anyway, but it is not right. I need to sit down with a pencil and some graph paper and chart out how the increases and striping work out; then it will be a breeze to finish. I was planning on making this a knit-in-the-round saddle shoulder sweater, a la  EZ, but I may just do a seamless yoke. Depends on how ambitious I am when I reach the point to join the sleeves to the body.

After I finished the chemo hat for my friend Mary I got an overwhelming case of startitis. Swatched for a clapotis with the laceweight Knit Picks alpaca:

 

A US#4 needle makes a very nice fabric; now to decide exactly what it will be. Some of you pointed out that this is very sticky yarn, but I don't think I will mind dropping the stitches one by one for the clap, if I decide to make that. (I have lots of practice at that from fixing mistakes six or sixteen or twenty-six rows back.) The other option is to buy some more of this yarn and make something bigger, like a dressy sweater. Decisions, decision...

Clapotis on the brain inspired this, a long skinny cotton clap on US#10.5 needles:

It knits up wonderfully fast. I have two more balls of the Gedifra yarn and am hoping the length comes out right.

And then there is this, inspired by a couple other bloggers:

 

Angie told me about Faroese shawl construction and Myra Stahman's book on the subject when I complained last summer about how traditional triangular shawls always slide off. Cindy's Scrap Shawl, a make-it-up-as-you-go design, looked like a lot of fun to knit. So I combined the ideas and cast on with some Cascade 220 that has been marinating (and breeding) in the stash for three or four years. Thank you both! This is a fun project. I don't know if I will actually wear it in public, but I wanted a super-warm shawl to wear at home next winter. This will fill the bill nicely.

Of course, there will be some socks OTN, too. I'll finish the Indian Corn socks.

Then I need to decide which sock yarn to take along for the next pair. I had intended that my next socks would be knit from this:

 

since I need some blue socks. But then this gorgeous stuff arrived in the mail on Saturday:

 

and I am itching to cast on with it. 325 yards of Fleece Artist BFL Socks, 80% superwash blue face Leicester/20% nylon, and totally yummy to the touch. The part that looks fuschia in the photo is actually darkish red; the whole thing is darker than it looks here. I won this from Tammy in her latest contest, wherein she asked her readers to tell her about their favorite books. Thanks, Tammy! That topic is right up my street.

Okay, that pretty much wraps up the knitting projects. Now for the camping gear...

Two-day knitting retreat. With CPE credit.

While others were listening to the speakers and following along in their (>5 pounds) 3-ring binder of speakers' handouts and making notes in the margins and highlighting the most important points, what was I doing? Listening closely. And knitting.

How much can I knit in two days? This much:

That is the back of my kimono sweater, 140 stitches wide. The first thing I did during the Monday morning keynote session was frog half that narrow red stripe to fix some wonky stuff. Overall I am pleased with my progress and reluctantly realizing this sweater requires a lot of knitting. Onward!

* * * * *

I blew it on Monday for NaBloPoMo, but in my defense I did not have actual internet access. Had I been really, really dedicated I could have stood in line at one of the internet cafes* at the conference and put up one of the draft posts I have waiting in the wings. But I spent my time gathering freebies at the vendor exhibits and eating the snacks provided and chatting with friends. Oh, well...

* Internet cafe = a couple laptops on stand-up tables.

First you have to break some eggs.

My photo experiments posted last Friday record the beginning and ending of a frogging project.  Last year I offered to knit Andrew's girlfriend a sweater. We decided on this one from Knitty:

After much e-mailing back and forth and visiting of yarn shops and discussion about color and softness on the skin, I bought yarn and started knitting. Swatched, washed same. Gauge = happy. Knit the back. Sent it to her to check on the sizing. Received request for additional length. Time passed. They broke up. Sadness. Indecision. Should I still knit the sweater for her? Um... no. The project stalled, never to be completed, while I pondered what to do with the yarn.

It wasn't suitable for charity sweaters -- too expensive, too soft/unlikely to survive hard wear, plus the machine washability, something I specifically looked for for this sweater, would not be useful in Mongolia or Afghanistan.

I had combined two strands of the worsted-weight Gems with one strand of Socks That Rock in the color Carbon Dating to achieve the gauge and tweedy nature of the yarn called for in the original pattern. I was extremely pleased with the result; too bad it wasn't gonna happen now.

I pondered incorporating the STR into my own sweater but eventually decided against it. This yummy stuff is now on the needles for a Baby Surprise Jacket for a coworker's possibly-yet-to-be-conceived baby.

But there wasn't enough of the Gems for a sweater for me. What to do, what to do?

Then another blogger, either Juno or Cara, destashed this lovely stuff:

Exactly the same yarn in a gorgeous garnet that -- to my eye at least -- would go very well with the heathery grape Louet Gems I had. Sold!

Now the problem was the pattern. Eventually I decided I wanted a big ol' wrap-myself-up-in-it kind of sweater to envelope me when the winter winds blow and the house is chilly. At first I assumed I would use a basic pattern from Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns; specifically a shawl-collared cardigan.

[digression] I'd like to insert a plug for this book, plus her other similar title, A Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, which has, in addition to a basic sweater, patterns for basic gloves, mittens, hats, and scarves and multiple sizes and gauges. These books are to a knitter what an encyclopedia and thesaurus are to a writer. [/digression]

I pondered how best to combine the colors and decided that the lower half of the body and sleeves would be garnet and the upper half grape and that there would be some possibly Fibonacci-type stripes at the transition.

So it was settled: all that remained was to determine proper size and stitch count, wind the skeins into balls, and cast on. As soon as I had finished the fund raising knitting for the library that I had committed to over the summer and early fall, this sweater would be the next thing on my needles. And then there was the Red Scarf Project. That took some time, too.

In the interim I toyed with instead using Norah Gaughan's tilted duster pattern from the latest IK but eventually decided that its construction, clever though it was, might be difficult to adjust for proper sizing and flattering fit for my ::cough::ample curves::cough::  I also wasn't quite sure how it would work in two colors.

Somewhere in the interim I saw and immediately ordered this book.

What? you say. Kimono are nothing but rectangles sewn together. Where is the knitting joy in that? But my favorite kind of knitting is the mindless kind. Miles of ribbing? Bring it on!  Pattern stitches? Boo, hiss. Oceans of stockinette? Sheer bliss.   

But the real appeal is deeper than that. I found in college that I had a deep love of Japanese art. Prints, graphics, whatever, their utter simplicity and elegance spoke to my soul in unexplainable ways. They just felt... right.

Hiroshige and Hokusai in particular were a delight to my eye.

This love of Japan expanded for a while into everything Japanese, but after we hosted a Japanese foreign exchange student for five months in 1988 I found that I had some serious problems with certain aspects of Japanese culture. My professor for various Chinese and Japanese art history classes had summed up Japanese art as "profoundly superficial," which is wonderful in a visual medium but as a value system? It sucked rocks. Perhaps it was just our student; who can be more superficial than a teenage girl?

But the visual appeal has remained strong these 20 or 30 years. Even though the garments in this book had apparently little in common with the beloved Japanese prints of my college years, they shared that same elegance and economy of form. And they would be simplicity itself to fit.

A couple pieces in the book appealed particularly:

   

The author also included a 2-page section just for me.

I'm on my way!

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NaBloPoMo = National Blog Posting Month.

I'm on my way on that, too!