Pushing Through

It's been more than two weeks since I've completed any of my knitting projects, and I am getting antsy. I like to have a steady stream of FOs to keep me motivated and interested in what I'm knitting. When a project takes too long, I often set it aside and it ends up hibernating for weeks, months, or even years. That is a bad habit I am trying to break. For the past few months I've been pretty good at not casting on more projects than I can finish, but during Malabrigo March I really went cast on crazy. I also attempted to knit two (2!) sweaters. One of them, my Silken Scabbard, is my first pullover with sleeves. Actually, it's my first full sized sweater, period. I've knit short sleeved cardigans and shrugs, but never a full sweater. It's been a bit of an undertaking. I cast on on March 1, and here I am six weeks later, still not done. Here it is.



Isn't she pretty? Please tell me she's pretty. After this lenth of time and knitting and cabling and broken harmony needle cables and split dpns I don't think I could handle it if she's not pretty. See how I've personified the darn thing? I may be losing my mind. In fact, I may be losing my mind because of this.



See that? It's a sleeve. Or more accurately, half of a sleeve. See that yarn there? Those two wimpy balls, all together less than 3/4 of a skein? That's not enough to finish knitting the sleeve. I've ordered another skein from Eat.Sleep.Knit, and I can only pray that the dye lot is not too too different. I know it will be differnent because dyelots for Malabrigo Silky Merino are quite small, but I've been alternating skeins throughout (at one point I was working with 5 balls of yarn at once! Yes, I am nuts. But I'll be nuts in a pretty sweater with no pooling.) so I think I can just blend the new one in. Sigh. So this sweater is on pause. Again. Maybe we'll have a really cold summer and I can wear it then.

At least I got to the lace on my Garter Ishbel. That project is turning out to be quite pretty. As long as I don't work on it while drinking. Or in a movie theater. Or at a staff meeting. Or while talking to anyone. No really, it's a pretty simple, quick lace pattern by the lovely Ysolda Teague, and I would recommend it to anyone.



Hopefully next time I will have something completed to show you! Will it be a sweater, a shawl, or perhaps a cowl? Hmmm...wait and see.

Alchemist and Barrister

Last night was the fourth meeting of my brand new knitting group, Stitch and Sip. We definitely had a smaller turnout than I expected, but I am still really pleased with the way everything played out. We met at the Alchemist and Barrister in Princeton, which is one of my favorite towns. I want to live there. The downtown area is so quaint and pretty--it's a breath of fresh air in the midst of this stifling suburban sprawl of split levels and strip malls. In the block I passed from the A&B to the BoA on the corner, I passed by four yummy looking independent coffee shops and restaurants, not to mention a number of adorable shops. Even if I don't move there, I must spend more time in that town.

Anyway, the A&B had a very nice atmosphere. The dining room, where the hostess wanted to put us, was very fancy and not exactly what I had in mind for this group, but luckily we were able to push some tables together in the bar area and hang out in a cool little booth. The food was great. We shared Spinach and Artichoke Dip and Calamari, which was fresh and delicious. I drank Blue Moon, my old stand by, and I was very pleased to see that it was served with an orange for a garnish. That's they way it was served at the BU Pub, and that's the way it should be. As I left I found myself wishing I had tried a glass of wine or two, but there's always next time.

As for the knitting, I didn't get a whole lot done, but I still feel good about it. I failed at knitting the lace of my Garter Ishbel from a chart in the bar, which was to be expected, so I worked on one of the sleeves of my Silken Scabbard (still not done!) Of course, SnS is more of a social event anyway so I think my priorities were in line. I hope Katie and I didn't scare away Gina and Christine, who are newer knitters, with our bigger projects! Next time we'll be doing karaoke at Harvest Moon in New Brunswick, so newbies and vets alike will have the fiber playing field leveled by the microphone.

Slouchy, slouchier, slouchiest!

Here I am, back from Malabrigo March! It would have been really fun to blog consistently last month and share the craziness of knitting as much Malabrigo as I could, but I was just too busy. So instead, I will share some of my accomplishments with you now. I went from perfect posture to ultimate slouch as you can see from my hat progression here:

Slouchy:


Ravelry Link: Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret
Pattern: Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret (sorry non-ravelers, it's only hosted on Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Vaa
Needles: US 9 for the ribbing and US 11 24" Addi Turbos for the body
Mods: None. I would have used US 8s fo the ribbing and knit the cable pattern longer if I did this one again.



Ravelry Link: Charrua Meret
Pattern: Mystery Beret "Meret" by Wooly Wormhead
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Charrua
Needles: US5 for the brim and US8 for the body
Size: M/L hybrid, extra extra slouchy
Mods: None, and I'd do the same thing again, I love it!



Ravelry link: Porom
Pattern: Porom by Jared Flood
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Green Gray
Needles: US 5 for the brim, US 8 for the body
Mods: I inadvertanly knit the body longer, making the hat much slouchier, but if I did this hat again (and I probably will) I would knit it to pattern and not block it.

I wore Porom two weekends ago when I visited some peeps in the city, and I felt so chic and city cool. I just may be too cool for suburbia.