Cambridge Got Back

Yeah, I know that was a lame pun... haven't had my coffee yet. But look, Cambridge really does have a back!

I'm so happy with how it looks. The cables are all nestled up together.

So, of course, I started on the front. And got through one ball (the back took just over three balls):

So, I've been sort of a one-trick knitting pony. All Cambridge, all the time. I did buy some bewitching yarn at the happy place... Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn in Boot Camp, an entrancing dark olive with bright orange and rust streaks.... but I can't figure out the right pattern for it. (The Claudia's picture isn't quite rich enough, but you get the idea.) I'm thinking maybe Pomotomus... but I'm not sure. So until inspiration strikes, I'm content with Cambridge.

I'll end with two pictures from Sunday's fluffy snow.... A perfect day to let JT make biscuits for us, and I just hunker down with some knitting and good music....

Warning

That Cambridge?

Totally, utterly addictive.

That is all.

JT's Socks

It's such a nice feeling to be able to cover your boy's feet.

That's right -- JT's socks are finally done! I had a couple of semi-marathon knitting sessions throughout last week to sit down and get through the heel and up the calf on the second one. I'm so happy to have these off my needles and onto his feet.

And they fit to a T. Yay! He was very happy to have warm socks. And has already asked for another pair. (And a sweater... gulp.)

JT's Socks
Pattern: Standard toe-up sock on 36 stitches cast on at toe, with a 4x2 rib.
Yarn: Tess Supersock & Baby, purchased at MDSW 2005, light black with gray spots
Needle: US0, done on 2 circs
Size: Men's 10
Comments: Love the Tess yarn, absolutely, But I did not love the way it turned my hands black. (The socks are still due for a good soak or two before they go into JT's rotation.) Other than that, this is just a standard sock. I'm putting the complete details in the extended entry -- mostly for my own notes, for his next pair of socks, but feel free to enjoy.

*****

So, with a little gift knitting out of the way, I felt no guilt at turning the knitty attention to myself. The new yarn came for Cambridge, so I finally got to cast on:

The yarn is Elann Uruguay DK, which already seems to have disappeared from the site. It's really nice to work with so far -- pretty squooshy, sort of like if Cathay were wool. Unlike Devon, the Uruguay has a nice twist and actually shows off the cables. Plus, it was less than $4 a ball, making this a totally economical project. Yay! It goes pretty quickly -- I'm halfway through the increases now, and more than halfway until I start the armhole shaping. I'm hoping I can have this finished in two weeks or so -- maybe three if I cast on for another sock at the same time. It definitely helps, mentally, to know that it only involves a front and a back -- no sojourn to sleeve island this time!

In Tess Super Sock & Baby Yarn
Size 0 Addi Turbos
Gauge: 9 stitches and 12 rows = 1"
Cast on 36 stitches with provisional cast-on.
Short-row toe until 12 stitches are unworked. Pick up wraps and rework; join at 72 stitches around.
Arrange stitches so that 38 stitches are on one needle -- the instep -- and 34 are on the other for the sole.
Over instep: p2, *k4, p2*
Over sole: stockinette

Continue until foot is 8.5" from toe.
Turn the heel over the 34 sole stitches until 12 stitches are unworked.

When rejoining over ankle, pick up 6 stitches on each side: 84 stitches.

Knit 6 rounds at 84 stitches. Then decrease one stitch on each side for the next 3 rounds: 78 stitches.
4x2 rib for 6.75" (8.75 from edge of heel).

k1, p1 rib for 8 rows.
Sewn bind off: with needle, run yarn through 2 stitches as if to purl, leave on needle; run yarn through edge stitch as if to knit, drop off needle; repeat.

The Sun Finally Rises

I am just tickled to have finally finished this sweater. Yippee!

Sunrise Sweater
Pattern: Not-Your-Standard-Issue Sweatshirt
Source: The Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits
Needles: US7 and US8, Denise needles
Started: Sept. 4, 2005
Finished: Feb. 11, 2007
Yarn: Brooks Farm Four Play, 50% Wool/50% Silk; 4 hanks, purchased at MDSW 2005 (And less than 20 yards left -- phew!)
Modifications: I added waist shaping.

Comments: I am totally head-over-heels for this yarn. It is amazing to knit with and super-soft against the skin. The colors are gorgeous, too -- I will definitely be getting more at this year's MDSW! This colorway is of course, somewhat impossible to photograph. It's a great mixture of coral, peach, salmon, rose, butter, taupe and copper -- lots of great colors that just blend like the colors of the Sunrise. (Which is partly where it got its moniker--also, because I knit most of it on what we called the "Sunrise deck" at our beach house in 2005.) Because the yarn is so highly variegated, I did knit from alternate skeins every other row, but still got some substantial pooling action. I embrace the pooling.

I wore this sweater all around the house today and out on some errands. It's cozy! If I had to do it again, I might lengthen the sleeves by about 2 inches, but they're not bad (just more like bracelet-length). If I'd lengthened them, I surely would have run out of yarn. I dig the edging details -- seed stitch edging at the cuff and hem that's mirrored in the V-neck.

And now the bad news: The pattern. It's not just the yarn requirements that are off -- I had 1,080 yards of yarn to make the small, which calls for 945 yards, and I barely made it. (If you're thinking about making the Not-Your-Standard-Issue sweatshirt, buy extra yarn!!)

The reason that this sweater sat 90% finished for more than a year is because the errata didn't exist for a good part of that time. No, my copy of this book says simply "sew hood on" -- and every time I tried to attach it, it looked like crap. The irregulars, god bless them, were as stumped as I was. Even checking for errata yielded nothing. Finally they posted one and I stumbled upon it.

Ahem.

I realize that making my living as an editor, I may be a stickler for accuracy and completeness. But I do think that if you're going to run an errata, it shouldn't say things like

Seriously? You're giving me a correction that I have to do research on? Sheesh. (Okay, I know -- it's just tassels. Not rocket science. But can't you at least provide a link, instead of hazarding a guess as to where to find tassel instructions?)

By the way, for what it's worth, I couldn't find directions for tassel-making on about.com. Boo Yarn Girls. Nicky Epstein has clear directions in Knitting on the Edge, though.

So, in a nutshell: Pattern bad. Sweater good. And I'm awfully glad to get this out of the in-progress basket and on to the closet shelf.

Back in Business!

The technical problems you may have noticed here are resolved, no thanks to me. See what happens when I try to get fancy and experiment? I break my blog. Many, many thanks to fabulous blog hostess Becky -- and those gentle readers who wanted to make sure I knew that my URL was kicking out a big ugly error message. Some of the archives are still being wonky -- patience, please! I'll try not to break it in the future.

Update: It seems that comments still aren't working. I'll get there!

*****

The following exchange took place in my house yesterday morning:
JT: Do you know what the temperature's supposed to be today?
Ann: I think maybe in the low 30s?
JT: Oh, that's really cold. It sure would be nice if I had some handknit wool socks to keep me warm.
Ann: *blink blink blink*

Ahem.

My husband, who has only once explicitly requested something handknit, has decided that he's ready for me to be done with his long-promised socks. Of course, I'm ready to be done with them too! This is the third time the heel has been turned. Remember, the first time the foot was too tight, then the foot was too short. This time: so far, so good. I'm taking very detailed notes so future socks won't be so labor-intensive. And he's being quite patient as I *have him try on, rip, reknit; repeat from *.

*****

While taking a break from his socks, I cast on (finally) for Cambridge -- you'll be glad to know that my RYC Alpaca book showed up under the seat in my car. (Still no Denise needles, though. hmmmph.) But something is rotten in the state of Cambridge.

The yarn... it just doesn't cable well! I think it's because the yarn (elann.com Devon) is loosely plied, and actually is several tiny strands held together? Whatever the reason, it's craptastic. And must be frogged. Devon will become something else--something noncabled. And because I really, really want to make this vest, I had to buy more yarn. But of course! Fingers crossed that it wants to cable more than the Devon.

Flattened

Ooooof.

It appears that I have been blindsided by a brutal cold. It took my head, filled it full of cement, shook it 'round and put it back on my neck. All in all, not a pleasant experience, and one that I've spent the last three days trying to recover from.

I did shower once, though I put my sweats right back on. Needless to say, I haven't left the house. I've spent a lot of time asleep, but I do think I've been fairly knit-productive during my awake moments. Mostly because knitting only marginally interferes with bringing tissues to my nose.

I finished the neverending scarf. Yay! And even managed to block it out.

Zigzag Scarf
Pattern: Zig Zag Stripes (sans stripes!), from Scarf Style
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, in Peacock, one hank (obtained at the recent stash swap -- I'm not sure who brought it, but THANKS!)
Needle: US5
Finished size: 7" x 68" (blocked)
Comments: Now that it's done, I can honestly say, I love this scarf. It has fantastic drape, and the jewel-like colors are absolutely brilliant, but in an understated way because it's such thin yarn.

I love this photo -- it captures the scarf so well. Note to self: knitted goods are better photographed in daylight.

The scarf is headed off for one of my aunts, and I'm pretty sad to see it go. I'd definitely consider repeating this for myself.

Also, I started and finished another scarf (for another gift), this one in blues, for my first-ever contribution to Project Spectrum:

Pattern: Jilly Scarf, an old subscriber-only pattern from Rowan
Yarn: Classic Elite Lush-- 1 skein each of light and dark blue
Needle: US8
Started: Feb. 4
Finished: Feb 5
Finished size: 6" x68" (with the dickens blocked out of it)
Comments: This scarf is a go-to standby of mine. This is the third incarnation I've made, and probably my favorite. I actually blocked it to 7" wide, but it retracted to a little over 6" as soon as I took it off the blocking board. It's destined for a gift.

Last but not least, I have recommitted to socks for JT.

I actually turned the heel on the first one two weeks ago, but when I presented it to him to try on, the whole foot was too tight. Rip! That was at 64 stitches around. The new one is 72 stitches around, still doing a 4x2 rib on the top. Fingers crossed that this one will fit him! I'm ready to cross these socks off my list, so at least they'll go quickly once the size is right. The yarn is Tess Supersock, which so far is holding up well despite being ripped.

And, that's about all I've got. I've seen more than my share of bad movies (Tristan and Isolde.... had to abandon ship halfway through -- yuck), cleared off a good bit of the DVR and generally watched far too many sitcoms in the past few days. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to breathe freely soon....

Bloggers' Silent Poetry Reading

since feeling is first

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

--ee cummings