Yay! I finished the back of the aran sweater and have started on the front. It looks pretty good. I might have it done by Sept.8
Last week I ordered yarn from Lucy Neatby. Looking forward to getting it! The skein that Lynne brought to knitting a couple of weeks ago was so pretty, and so soft.
Gotta go knit....
I'm about 16 inches up the back of the Aran sweater, and I think I'm making pretty good progress. It's much better in the superwash than it was in the Maine wool. The superwash is still not the best yarn for the project, though. It splits SO MUCH and it feels dry and lifeless in my hands. I have thought a lot about what would be the perfect yarn for this project, but I haven't hit on it yet. Probably a dk or light worsted firmly spun, plied yarn. Like, a Jo Sharp DK, but a teeny bit heavier. I dunno. Or a Donegal Tweed, but a little bit lighter weight. Actually, a nearly perfect yarn would be Christopher sheep farm, but the weight it was back in the 1970's, when it was a little lighter. Maybe the Harvey Station mill in Canada has something the right weight.
We got some new novelty yarns from Artful Yarns today. They're pretty cool. Well packaged and with clever marketing: each ball has a one-ball scarf pattern printed right on the label. Should be a hit.
Gotta go knit.....
I'm making progress. Got the reversible cables & lace alpaca scarf done and also finished a gansey glove. The glove feels quite nice in Classic Elite Wings yarn, which is a worsted weight, but I did the gloves on size 2. Yup. Thinking outside the box again. Call me crazy. But that glove feels pretty nice.
I'm reknitting the aran sweater I designed last winter, this time using LP superwash instead of Maine wool. It makes all the difference. It's a joy to knit as opposed to the struggle that it was in Maine wool. The size will come out smaller, which I wanted, and the fabric feels lovely. I'm still using 5's and 7's. And, I am using the Pony Total System needles, which I never really used before except on a scarf. I hated them on the scarf. There weren't enough stitches to keep the sproingy cords from bouncing all over the place. But using these needles on this sweater, what a difference! I love them! They are sleek and lovely and the tips are long and tapered to a fine point. I love them.
Now I just need to design that hat for Marie, and I'll feel quite accomplished. We'll see if I can get it done by the cruise, as well as a sweater..... we'll see. And I have to finish the pocket linings on the Hanne Falkenberg cardigan, and sew that together and bring it on the cruise, too.
The hot water heater broke at the store and flooded the downstairs inventory-storing place, a bit. Luckily no damage was done, nothing serious anyway. These little headaches will happen.
I started the Snowdrift Stole kit I got from Blackberry Ridge. I love it! I really, really want to work on it, but I am making myself wait till after the knitting cruise. I also really want to work on the Helen's Lace shawl too, but that will be good knitting circle mindless knitting. I am enjoying working on that, too.
Here's a little ditty to help you remember...
Okay, its been five months since my last post. Guess that says how much of an impact Brenda's death has had on me. There have been some big changes. I was able to buy the Unique One business from Brenda's estate, so I'm now a store owner.
I haven't done much knitting or spinning in a few months, been busy gathering funding and writing a business plan, and arranging the logistics of actually transferring ownership of a business. But it's all done now and I can start focussing on my knitting again.
Somewhere in that time I did find time to knit a shawl -- here's how it looked at the beginning of it:
I'm working on completing stuff for the knitting cruise, a scarf, a glove, a Christmas stocking and an aran sweater. We'll see how it goes.
Hope to keep this updated more often. :)