miles to go before i sleep

Posted on Posted in designing, projects

though the temperatures turned cold again yesterday (it was 35 degrees this morning), every day brings some new little growth outside. the hosta soldiers have raised up and fallen into formation—where there were just cracks in the earth the other day, now we have battalions of 1-inch shoots. from here we’ll be able to measure new height every day; before i know it there will be a canopy of lush green leaves in that bed. amazing.

i finalized the bricker socks the other night with the spare yarn that carol sent and now we are good to go. very dark skies yesterday kept us from taking photos, so that’ on the agenda for this afternoon—we’ll be able to release the pattern next week. once again, these are knit from miss babs yummy sock yarn in the terracopper colorway. and it is really yummy (david can’t wait to get his hands on these).

i put a couple more repeats on my sea silk shawl, a project i’m just loving . . .

sea silk is awfully beautiful yarn (which you guys already know). lis and jodi at one planet yarn and fiber will be offering a kit for this project, too—i’ll keep you updated.

my coffee table is a veritable fortress of projects-in-progress—a few more than i like to have going, ideally. heh. and i need to start two more over the weekend if i can (still pondering the blue laceweight i talked about the other day and getting close to a solution, i think). what i mean is, i need to get all the design components organized and that usually entails casting on to make sure an idea will work (even if i do most of the knitting at a later time). since i’m traveling later this month, i’ll feel better if i have some of the paperwork and drafting out of the way. therefore, my inbox is looking something like this

i’ve been spending a lot of time at my desk writing patterns—besides the usual small projects i have going, i am chipping away at a selection of sweater designs. this week i worked on the pattern for the red cardi i knit in the fall of 2007 (how the heck does that much time go by so fast??). i needed to tweak a few things and test my instructions, so i felt a reknit might be in order. i talked to chris about the yarn and yesterday a box of this arrived in the mail

enough grandma’s blessing in colorway 9027 to knit a do-over. awesome colorway—i literally gasped when i saw it.

you see the problem though, right? i can’t very well keep calling the sweater red cardi now. i knew i’d have to come up with a name at some point and the time has come . . . even i can see that. i’m mulling it over—something will come to me.

so anyway, i forced myself to work on my patterns til about 6 pm, even though i wanted to run right upstairs and wind the yarn when it arrived. i even worked a little more after i got the yarn wound (i have to absorb these rushes of delight a little at a time). then around 9 pm, i grabbed my test pattern and needles and dove in—i’m anxious to see if the small changes i made will work before i send it to tana for tech editing next week.

i figured that if i knit up the right front piece (the one with the buttonholes), i’d get as much info as possible concerning the shaping, the gauge, the buttonhole placement, the armhole, etc. by the time i went to bed i had knit to the underarm and even ripped back a few inches to correct a decreasing mistake. i remember that about this sweater—it knits up fast.

anyway, isn’t the color just luscious?? i am lovin’ it.

just because i started another sweater does not mean i’m forgetting my gray one.

i finished the back the other night (was that monday?? wow. this week really disappeared). and i put the front on the needle so i could commence with that at my convenience (even though it hasn’t been convenient to do so since monday). however, monday comes at least once a week and the next one is right around the corner.

in the meantime i do need to decide what to do about yarn for this sweater when i write the pattern—and that will probably require a re-knit. the gray yarn is discontinued and isn’t one i would recommend (even though i like it well enough to have started this sweater in it?? sigh, that was three years ago, i was broke, it was stash yarn—i felt obligated). anyhow, i pulled out some fourth of july i had leftover form my lacunae mitts and hat and did a swatch to see if i’d like it.

do i ever—i love it. this is my prewashed swatch. the yarn is awesome; i knew that from working with it before—it’s smooth, soft, springy, has gorgeous color absorption, and great stitch definition. it wears very well too. it is definitely great sweater yarn. here’s the washed swatch

it keeps that great texture really well (it’s important to me that the yarn not relax so much that the stitch pattern losses that “maze” quality). it is a little heavier than i wanted though, and that may affect the overall ability to use the stitch pattern effectively. so i’m also going to swatch the design in legend, which is closer to sport weight. decisions, decisions . . .

i’m also still playing around with cheryl’s bamhuey DK and sport samples. i need to finish my samples and wash them so i can do a final assessment. they are really lovely, especially the dye technique. i’m very much looking forward to knitting a full project with one of them.

my goal for today is to finish my writing and bookkeeping by noon so i can spend the rest of the day knitting and making headway on some of those projects (oops, i better get moving to meet that goal). i should probably cook something later on too; i have a craving for curry that needs to be satisfied.

and then, if there’s a few moments, i want to sit and peruse this treat that the mail carrier just dropped off to ensure the weekend is perfect

cookie’s new book. i’ve been anxiously awaiting this.

29 thoughts on “miles to go before i sleep

  1. I love that even a great designer such as yourself is excited over Cookie’s book. It really is great!
    So many beautiful projects you have ongoing and upcoming!I love the bricker socks.

  2. Whew! LOTS of projects on your needles.

    You may want to avoid Cookie’s book tho – you’ll want to cast on for a lot of projects from it ASAP!

  3. Your coffee table looks like mine. I thought I was the only one with the “bomb hit it” look. It’s always interesting when the cats decide to slide across it. Started your Rimefrost sock last night and I can’t stop! Using the STR Blue Moonstone that someone recommended in Ravelry and it’s perfect. Better go . . time for first cable row and put that first load in the dryer. I’m multitasking today.

  4. I like how the Fourth of July variegation plays with the maze of the stitch pattern. Adds another layer of complexity, or something. Anyways, it works well.

  5. I think the Grandma Blessing’s yarn looks like your sweater should be called “Ocean Waves” or ocean something. I love that color so much and what you’ve knitted so far is out of this world? All your “stuff” on the coffee table looks just like all my “stuff” on my desk/craft table and it’s getting deeper and deeper! Got to get off this computer and get knitting.

  6. If you ever lose your desire to knit, I know there would be a huge gasp of air go out of the universe! I’ve never seen so many projects being juggled. I’ve been waiting on that sweater pattern for the longest time!

  7. that grandma’s blessing colorway is amazing! i spotted it in the very first coffee table photo up there, planning to ask “what is that one on the left???” in the comments, & was happy when i scrolled down farther & saw that you’d already answered my question. 🙂

  8. Wow, the red cardi is awesome, love it in both colors. I love the optical illusion of it. And that last swatch is SO COOL.

  9. Well, no good ideas for the “red” cardi, but the first thing I think of with the gray one is Labyrinth!

  10. Thank you, thank you for the hosta shot. Spring is coming soooo slowly to the Northland, and hosta shoots are some of my favorites. So conical, soon to be so planar. I love that juxtaposition of being.

  11. Red cardi, red cardi !! (Jumping up and down). Though I must admit that after seeing your friend’s green Ariann, I cast on my STR for that pattern. I couldn’t wait another minute! But I am looking forward to xxx cardi – whatever you decide to call it. And the bricker socks – can’t wait!

    Still waiting (im)patiently for spring here, tho most of the ice is gone.

  12. I know it seems early to be talking about Rhinebeck, but I’m waiting to see what sweater pattern you unveil before I make my final pick. I’m truly inspired by you.

  13. I can’t WAIT to knit the red cardi!! Even if it isn’t red anymore 😉 And I’m dying to hear what you think of cookie a’s new sock book; it’s on my list o’ things to think about buying…

  14. Your red cardi is one of my all time faves – I’m glad that I’ll be able to buy the pattern

  15. Wow, everything in this post is lovely! I am particularly excited about these sweaters you’re working on, but it’s all so great!

  16. Hee-hee, you should know that I immediately clicked on the link for the yarn – love that colorway and the perfect amount for me! And on the site where it asks how did I hear of Briar Rose, I wrote, “that enabler Anne Hanson” 🙂

  17. Anne;

    I am new enough to lace knitting, having only done one – Irtfa’a (and loved it but did find it challenging)to be unsure of appropriateness of the yarn. The term “laceweight” is not always consistent and the yarn I would love to use once I win the lottery for Maplewing is Catherine Lowe’s bronze coloured one ply Silk. http://www.knit-purl.com/Products/ProductDetail.php?Inventory_ID=Y20648-06
    The trouble is that this is listed as having 300 to 330 yds for 20 gram or 0.7 ounce. How would this work out?

    Eleanor

  18. Will you be adding the pattern for the Bricker Socks to your pattern website? They are really fantastic.

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