Working, Waiting and Winding for Windows
Many large companies send employees home early on the last work day before a big holiday weekend, but since I take the bus in I was stuck at work until late in the afternoon. It didn’t help that I was able to check on line and see that my Philosopher’s Wool order had been delivered to the house. I bought the kit to make Windows in the Natural colorway
It wasn’t long after I got home that I had the skeins out for winding. Now that we are married I can knit DH his sweater with no superstitions.
I am so excited about this sweater. I’ve read many rave reviews about PW wool and patterns. I’ve also had several people suggest that I look at the PW book to see how they do steeks. I had taken a quick look at the book from the library and was really surprised to see that they suggested just one extra purl stitch for the steek spot in a cardigan. I couldn’t wrap my head around that (seems WAY too risky) until I read further in the book that they still do suggest machine stitching. Plus this really is a great example of ‘sticky’ wool – very different from the slick Dale Baby Ull.
I’ve got the ribbing and about 20 rows done of the body. (sorry no picture yet) I did start on the sleeves first as the directions suggested, but I was using 2 circular needles to do that work and it was getting frustrating. I put the sleeve aside until I can get a 16inch Size 8 circular. I might even have to get a longer circular for the body. The directions suggest a 32inch cable for the body, but I feel like I am struggling with that size. I can’t tell if it is that the cable is too short or if the wool is just so sticky and heavy that it makes it tough to work with on that cable.
I also bought a Colour Your Own in the Peacock colorway from Philosopher’s Wool, but that’s a long way down on the list of ToDo projects.
I’m enjoying working on this sweater, and I’m sure DH will appreciate it. I just hope it’s not going to be insanely bulky on him – the pattern suggests 10-16 inches of ease! After this though I’m going to go back to smaller gauge. I seem to be a lot more comfortable knitting in the range of US2-4 than the 7-9s. Plus I’ll be a steek expert once I’ve done the sleeves on Windows.
Speaking of smaller gauge, I decided to start over on the little white and purple Dale sweater – this time in a much smaller size. When I had first started on that sweater I didn’t have to correct cable length for my circular needles and a few of the stranded threads are too tight. They’ll probably pull out once the center of the cardigan is cut. The first attempt is still in tact so I might wind up with 2 sweaters. Here’s a photo of the first one.
I purchased a longer set of the KnitPicks circulars which have made a huge difference. They yarn flows perfectly across that length. I like these needles, but maybe not so much for Baby Ull yarn. To me, Baby Ull splits really easily and the KnitPicks needles have very sharp points. It’d be fine if you never have to undo stitches or rip back and pick up 200+ stitches, but I seem to be doing that a lot lately
So, along with the Windows kit, I spent my holiday weekend with Elizabeth Zimmerman. While I was at the library I decided to pick up her Knitting Workshop videos. She’s amazing – entertaining and talented. These videos are definitely worth watching. Even if you know most of the techniques, there are some amazing sweaters and great tips for clean finishing of garments. I was very impressed with her command of shaping, sizing, and techniques that seemed to be second nature to her. So many patterns today try to get way to fancy with the shaping and technique that they just don’t’ fit or hang correctly. I was also impressed at how absolutely not-nervous she was in front of the camera – I really felt like I was sitting in on a small class at her shop. Her family and the knitting world are truly fortunate to have her skills and personality captured on video.