Twisted Stitcher

Friday, October 13, 2006

Fall

I love fall, it's my very favorite season. For some reason, I seem to have more energy and get so much more done this time of year than any other. This includes knitting, but maybe not blogging. I have posted a couple of finished item photos, which feels great because it means something is done.
I am also getting the Twisted Stitcher group that used to meet on Friday mornings back together. For the time being, we will be meeting at the Pike's Perk on Academy just north of Vickers on Wednesday mornings at 8 am. I can only stay until 10:30, but y'all can come whenever and stay for however long. Everyone's invited, the more the merrier. I can't promise I'll be there every Wednesday right smack on time, but I am going to try!
I got some spinning done in the past couple of weeks, it's the gray Teasdale
and the blue sparkly mix from Estes Park. There is about 110 yards of each. I have no idea what to make. So naturally, I needed more roving from the store. This is a wool/silk mix called "denim". Seeing it in this picture shows how much I love these colors right now, it looks really good with the sweater yarn.It feels fabulous, and I am looking forward to seeing how it spins up. While at the store, I picked up this wool (which was on sale) for mittens. On the subject of roving that feels great, do you remember the roving we had processed up in Victor that was, let's say, a disappointment? Well, some other people had merino from the same flock, sheared by the same woman, processed at the same place and it turned out really fabulous. How weird is that? I will be trying to get a sample of what they ended up with and wander up to Victor to talk to the owners and see what the **** happened to ours. Stay tuned. (Hey WW, I lost your email address, tried to send an email with what I thought it was, don't know if I guessed right. Please get in touch with me, OK? I have a book you wanted to borrow.)
One of the things I want to learn in the next year is how to spin better. Not only more evenly, but how to get the colors looking the way I want to. I love the surprises I've had so far, but it would be nice to have more control.
The other current big project is the Trekking sweater. It's all bunched up on the circular needle at the bottom, but you get the idea.I'm knitting it top down and have finished the rolled neck, a few inches of each sleeve past the spot where it is divided into parts, and down to a few inches under the bust on the body. I used the short row bust shaping from this book and I must say it seems to fit very well so far. I love being able to try it on in progress, because I can see how far I have to go and what adjustments I need to make. I did some decreasing for the waist and was able to just try it on to see if I'd decreased enough or not. How cool is that? It's a nice easy knit for work, just seemingly endless no-brainer stocking stitch.
There are a couple more projects in the works. Our Saturday group is going to do a KnitAlong for this sweater starting in January. Some of us will not be changing the color chart, but there are a couple who plan to definitely mix it up. I'm planning on sticking with the pattern, but I have been known to veer from the path once or twice before and can't promise not to again. The box o' yarn for that is in my craft room, waiting patiently for it's turn on the needles.
But my biggest challenge for the next 13 weeks is to knit one helmet liner per week and finish this sweater. It will be just like the picture, but shorter, in red, and with no pockets. It might also get a cable around the bottom like the sleeve has, and may get clasps instead of buttons. But other than that, it will be just like the picture.
I have had a hard time blogging about this sweater and especially why I am knitting it. Some of you know the story, but most of you don't. Last July my oldest son told us that he was thinking about joining the military. There was much discussion and he did decide to join the Marine Corps Reserves. He has a 12 year plan and he has given careful consideration to this decision. We support his decision and are very proud of him. That doesn't mean I'm not worried. He is leaving for boot camp on Monday morning.
One of the things that was decided was that our family will be traveling to San Diego for his boot camp graduation. To keep my mind busy I decided to make myself a sweater that will be a challenge to knit to wear for the occasion. Then I got to thinking that seemed sort of self-centered and decided that knitting helmet liners would be a good idea also. The one per week of boot camp seemed reasonable to me, until I remembered I wanted to knit a whole sweater also. I did not think that my deadline was realistic, but my friends reminded me of my Olympic knitting, so now I think I can do it. After all, compared to boot camp this will be a snap.

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