i need to be two knitters (and a spinner)

Posted on Posted in lace/shawls, projects, Uncategorized

i think you’ve probaby gotten the idea by now that i love to knit lace. yes, i could just make one lace shawl after another, with a lace scarf thrown in here and there for effect (oops—that IS what i do . . .).

to read this blog over the last, oh, 7 months or so, you would think that’s all i do. and a quick look around my house would confirm this notion! let your gaze sweep over the coffee table in the living room for a minute. what do you see? man lace, starlight evening wrap, scottish lace scarf, morning glory lace scarf, and a pile of swatches (don’t mind those 5 or 7 knitting bags there, just be careful you don’t fall over any of ’em and break your neck).

(speaking of which, let’s digress for one sec and take a look at this hunky thang)

it really is better than before—about 1000%. i love it, it’s growing very quickly, it’s lacy (and Manly), and soft, AND . . . the best part . . . he likes it (he liked the other one too, and it WILL be reincarnated).

good thing too, because his house is cluttered with lots of similar stuff. lace socks, lace shawls, lace scarves everywhere. in the office, living room, bedroom, and TV room (and the only functional rooms left are the kitchen and bath, so you may begin to see my point). if you want a seat to watch bill mahar on friday nights, you might have to move the likes of this first.

this is the start to another casino shawl from briar rose “sea pearl, a 50/50 wool/tencel blend. it’s my first time working with tencel, and i have to say, it does feel a lot like silk.
or a japanese feather stole, or two different casinoMinis, or some more swatches. please—don’t go into my work room. just. don’t.

the thing is, that really and truly, i have other interests (and i don’t mean the tomatoes, though i did pick a bunch yesterday—can you believe it?). i mean other knitting interests. i DO knit sweaters. in fact, i knit a lot of sweaters and 90% of them are my own designs. i’ve just not really had much opportunity to write about them, what with one thing and another. but today i got to step back and examine the lopsidedness of recent months, as i laid out a few freshly laundered sweaters to dry

debbie came over to knit for a couple of hours today and i think she was a little stunned. i mean, she knows i knit sweaters, but when you see a bunch all laid out like corpses on the floor, it does give one pause. we just looked at each other, and slowly sipped our drinks.

so we got talking about the “other knitting”, and i pulled out a couple of sweaters that i have on the needles but have not worked on in a few months. and we both bemoaned the fact that we want, and need, “a few new things to wear”, indeed, we even have the yarn all bought for them, but we just can’t seem to tear ourselves away from the lace knitting long enough to make some essentials.

aside from the charcoal gray sweater i have on the needles, and the handspun cabled one, i have been dying to own a little red cardigan. i have three different red yarns that would make great candidates for that. i also have that baby spice i spun up into yarn for a sweater last winter.
oh, i could go on and on. it’s NOT from lack of supplies that i am not knitting sweaters. believe me.

and sweaters are a necessity too, for heaven’s sake. we live in one of the draftiest houses i know. and the floors are cold. the walls radiate cold. i need to get busy, but how to i fire up my enthusiasm for sweater knitting? (why of course—just knit one, dammit! that’d be a step in the right direction.)

so anyway, i have to think of a way to squeeze in some sweater knitting. meaning that, after the current projects, i might have to cut back a little on the lace knitting to accomplish my sweater goals. i know. but it’s either that or quit my job completely, and, then it would REALLY be cold around here.

meanwhile, the forecast is saying snow by thursday for our area, so i think this might have been the last weekend of picking from the garden. i still managed a pretty good haul of cherry tomatoes (i didn’t grow the broccoli)

and i made another big batch of peppers, which debbie did not get any of yet

and a huge pot of paste e fagioli, with herbs and tomatoes from the garden, including some of those dried ones i’ve been putting up—what a flavor blast they add to the pot (thanks julia, i am forever indebted to ya).

actually i think with that, our freezer is officially packed as tight as it can go. if i try to put any more in, it may burst.
ah—i can hardly believe it’s sunday night already. so much got done this weekend, but not enough knitting. well. now is the hour, finally, for me to put on a good book and dive into some manLace.

18 thoughts on “i need to be two knitters (and a spinner)

  1. OMG – the sweaters…you MUST knit a red one…so school-like, you know. Oh, the manly lace is so cool and ‘manly’ looking! I’m certain the 40 yr old will adore it!!

    Keep up the good work. Your blog is simply one of the best I’ve ever read!! Congrats.

  2. Hi Anne — what is that beautiful periwinkle/green/camel wool? Lovely! You washed 9 sweaters in one day? Impressive indeed!

  3. Okay, what’s that yarn? Spill it. 😉

    Nice sweater collection! That gold one? It looks like the same stitch pattern in my Basketcase Socks! Would I be too dorky if my socks and sweaters matched?

  4. I lovelovelove the one on the bottom right of that picture. The v-neck cardigan that appears to be a dark olive on my (dying a long protracted death) monitor. I would love the pattern (or the stitch patterns, or even a close up, and I’ll figure it out myself) It’s wonderful!

  5. Well, I for one am looking forward to seeing you knitting some sweaters! I think a little red cardigan sounds fabulous!

  6. HEY, how did a photo of the sweaters Anne gave me to keep get on this blog? I mean, I heard her myself and she CLEARLY said “Debbie, because I couldn’t give you the casino shawl to have, I made ALL these sweaters just for YOU!!!! Hmmm, there are my peppers too….boy that IS odd…(sheepish grin) You would think Anne would have gottent he hint when I was stangding by her oven with a fork in my hand a plate under my arm…go figure:O

  7. the sweaters are certainly eye candy enough, but what grabbed me today was the FOOD and mention of SNOW ! what a great place for me to visit today … yarn, lace, sweaters, knit-talk, peppers, comfort food, and the possibility of a winter wonderland 🙂

  8. That’s a nice crop of sweaters. Though I imagine you have more hand-knit sweaters than that, one does need new sweaters every year, especially in a house that sounds as cold as yours (which sounds pretty much like mine, so I know how handy wool sweaters are in the winter 😉 ).

    The man lace is coming along great!

    I have a nice pile of red yarn myself… one part of the pile is slated to becoming a shell to go with a cardigan I knit years ago, and the other 2lbs will become another sweater set. Some day. Now I’m wondering if either of these yarns would work for some of the sweaters I have in mind. Hm… Thanks for the inspiration!

  9. When I started reading your post, I began to have a sinking feeling that you were leading to the point where you would say that you were soon to lessen your focus on lace knitting and focus more on sweaters for the cold weather. A sense of dread and loss began to spread slowly from head to toe.

    And then, I got to the photo of your sweaters. Oooooohhhhh!!! Yes, yes! To hell with everything else. Gimme some new sweata’ action 🙂

    I can’t wait to see a new one unfold, so I can read your posts and watch in awe as your mind winds through the process, from concept to design to implementation.

    You rock!

  10. What a great collection of well loved sweaters! It’s fun to see them all laid out like that – waiting their turn to be worn again!

    The soup looks fabulous!

  11. You definitely need the red cardigan. I spy (with my little eye) a whole whack of neutrals and earth-tones there… a little red will spice things up nicely! (Like the sundried tomatoes in the soup, which: YUM.)

    🙂

  12. Yep, with all these experiments with lace and everythin’, isn’t it funny how we never get round to making lil’ sweaters for ourselves? somebody asked me recently to post a picture of something I’d made for moi and I couldn’t find anything! Lots of WIPs, lots of swatches, lots of samples, but no actual wearables. Go for a funky bright vindictive little red jacket, say I.
    Jo
    Celtic Memory Yarns

  13. I love the new version of man lace. I liked the first one, but this one really, really calls to me. I think the man will love it. I love seeing all the sweaters you’ve made too. I found your blog by reading Julia’s when she was awaiting the Wing of the Moth shawl and have enjoyed it ever since, but thought you only knitted lace and socks. Granted it’s only been a short period, but until you showed some of your sweaters, I would have you pegged as a lace knitter.

Comments are closed.