seems like just yesterday . . .

seems like no time has passed since i wrote about last weekend’s knitting and it’s already time to talk about the this weekend’s knitting.

the house is a little brighter every day as the shade trees surrounding it are stripped of leaves by the bushel—as fast as david sweeps them up, another carpet of them is laid down in a rain of gold, orange, and red.

a little accent of green in my knitting is a cheerful contrast—i’m closing in on finishing the sprössling sweater and getting excited about the seaming. the second sleeve is well-advanced

and yesterday, my buttons arrived from moving mud. i dunno how they do it, but my buttons always show up in the mailbox just when i’m getting to the finish (i get a big kick out of the symbiosis at work there).

ok, are you ready to see their tiny creations??

sarina, john, and scout always come up with exactly what’s needed. i purposely chose the flat button style because they are seed shaped. i send a swatch (this time, since the buttonholes will be tiny, i added a couple to the swatch to be sure to get the right size button) and a little note about the idea of the sweater (i spouted off about plants sprouting and such) and they just do their thing. they took the greens from the yarn and swirled them with an earthy brown and a touch of sky blue—it’s a garden world inside button, just in time for winter.

i adore them. i can’t wait to sew them on.

i have about one evening’s worth left to do on the sleeve and then i’ll be done with the knitting. i need an hour or two to block the pieces, then a few hours to sew everything together and add the button and neck bands. hopefully by monday, i’ll be done.

i’d love to work on it tonight, but beckie and i are going shopping. after our makeovers last month we decided we need bra fittings next, hahaha. and maybe some shoes.

she was here last night working on her sweater and again, i forgot to take a photo. but the body is done now and she’s ready to begin the sleeves. we’re really enjoying our thursday night knitting thing—we get to eat a nice supper together with david and then we knit for a few hours (he makes coffee for us; isn’t that sweet?). it’s a good habit that i’m glad we started.

beckie is always curious about what’s happening with my workroom project, so we usually get david to give us a tour while she’s here. this week he’s got the doors hung and all the trim finished and waxed, including this adorable built in dresser, original to the tiny, under-the-stairs closet

which had stuck drawers that are now gliding in and out like new. another little hidey hole for storage that i didn’t know we had. i am really happy with the finishes on the wood—the limewax allows the grain and some color to show through without being dark—between the rubbed plaster and the light trim, these workrooms will glow with natural light all year long. in the absence of skylights, it’s the next best thing.

while beckie was working on her sweater, i started (and restarted) the hat to go with my mink scarf.

it’s going to be a poofy hat with a fitted cable rib brim—i guess like a beret. i worked out all the cabling and increasing/decreasing yesterday on paper, but the when i cast on, i didn’t like the way the first part was knitting up—not lush enough to match the top part of the hat. so i ripped back and restarted the ribbing at a larger scale.

the mink/cashmere yarn is so tolerant of ripping back—i can hardly believe something that feels so delicate is actually so resilient. i’m incredibly impressed with its performance in this regard. my scarf is growing too

honestly—and truly, i’m not trying to taunt—it is to die for.
i am so glad i started this project. i’ve been working on it as late-night knitting in lieu of a sock and it’s so soothing and peaceful to make—exactly what i need at the end of the day. well, except for one thing . . . i stay up later and later every night to do “just one more row”.
heh; gotta get on top of that.

i’m naming this set ghirlande, which is the italian word for garlands.
it’s luxuriously wide (about ten or eleven inches?) and i plan to knit it to a length of 54 inches or so—big enough to wrap twice or wear as a little indoor wrap. and all of that from just two skeins, maybe a little less. i’ll never get over how much yarn there is in one two-ounce skein of this stuff.

ok, enough with the mink—too much makes me breathless and dizzy, you know?

i worked just a little on my henley sleeve—my goal the other night was to get it on the needles so it would be ready to pick up any time i wanted to work on it. and i accomplished that, at least. here and there over the weekend i’ll get this sleeve knit and blocked to evaluate what i’m working with.
i have to say once again how perfect i think the classic superwash merino sport is for this kind of top—it’s so soft and flexible and comfortable as cotton. the top will be fitted enough to support such a soft yarn and tolerate a bit of fabric relaxation (a lot like the green cardi). once i can get the sizing right, this will be a piece i’ll wear often.

in the evening, while i work on these two sweaters, i’m listening to the new E.L. Doctorow book, homer and langley—a novel based on the true story of new york city’s notorious collyer brothers and the incredible world they created inside their brownstone home.

i haven’t read doctorow is a number of years and i’m very much touched by humanity in voice of homer, the brother telling the story, enhanced in no small part by the reader, arthur morey (one of my favorites).

well, i have one more work item to take care of today and that is to release the hayrick sock pattern. we got some really nice photos yesterday among the leaves. i need to add it to the store and to ravelry and write a little release for it. doesn’t it look nice?

after that, i’m off to knit for a bit and get ready for a shopping trip. happy friday, happy weekend, happy knititng!