Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Mossiness

I have been working on a sweater to fit a 12 month old as a commission. It's basically a crew neck, long sleeved pullover, with buttons at one shoulder.
I've actually progressed a lot further than this, but I don't have any more recent progress photos to show. I've been insanely busy, except when I'm not, in which case I just sit, overwhelmed.
I figured if instead of stocking stitch I used moss stitch the sweater would be fairly entertaining. And it was. But the next one will be a Gansey, i.e, only textured patterns on the upper half.

I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, in Sapphire Heather, which is quite a bold color, although these photos certainly do not reflect that. It's a really popping blue.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Changes

A series of circumstances have led to the fact that I am moving back East again in two weeks. I can hardly believe it. Not to Boston, but to Philadelphia, where I lived right before I started this blog back in 2005.

I was a crocheter before I was a knitter; my grandmother taught me. But in preparation for the move to Boston, I had started to teach myself to knit from a book I checked out from the Philadelphia Free Library on traditional knitting in the British Isles. I knew Boston would be very cold, even compared to Philadelphia, and I was right. I still think about the Snow Days I didn't go to work and even saw someone cross-country skiing up Hanover Ave. in the Boston North End where I lived.

Philadelphia is also cold, compared to the Bay Area. In my nervousness, I have started making V. a heavy yoked sweater based on the instructions in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop book. I am ambivalent about how I like the results so far - I have been packing everything up, including yarn, so it has been a challenge to make color changes without reopening a box, and to resist buying new yarn that I would just have to move to Philadelphia. Especially since it's summer, not winter. There's plenty of time to get it done after the move, but I NEED to do something with my hands other than itch myself into hives.