Sweaters and Wraps

Even though my holiday weekend didn't include fireworks and cookouts, it did have a whole lot of knitting. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been working on a cabled wrap for a while. I designed this pattern to use in an introduction to cabled knitting class I'll be teaching this fall, and I'll also have it up on Ravelry for sale. The actual knitting portion is done, now I just need to block it, photograph it, assemble the pattern... Ok, there's still a lot to do.

I also made a lot of progress on some sweaters I've had hanging around for a while. After giving myself some time to be grumpy at the project and punish it by sticking it in the corner, I finally knit the collar in a contrast color and ripped back the neon cuffs. Now I just need to block it and model it!

This is my almost-finished Blank Canvas Sweater. I changed the grading of the sweater to add a couple of inches at the hips, and accommodate my waist and bust size without getting baggy arms, so it's been as much of a math project as a knitting project. In general, I prefer top-down sweaters because you can try them on and it's easy to add length. I'm a little worried this will be shorter than I want, but I'm really excited to finish it and try it on. If it turns out a bit short, oh well.

What have you been making? Are you a top-down or bottom-up sweater knitter?

Project Notes
Pattern: Breezy Cardigan by Hannah Fetig
Yarn: Araucania Huasco

Pattern: Blank Canvas Sweater by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Toil & Trouble Merino/Cashmere/Nylon DK in Kelpie and Wine Harvest

Picnics and Thoughts

Ah Monday, always arriving too quickly. I hope you locals had a great 4th of July weekend. We spent ours at home, watching scary movies, eating good food, and generally resting. Not terribly exciting, but exactly what we needed. The weekend before, however, we ventured out with some friends for a picnic at Salem Willows. We've lived in Salem since 2009 but this was our first time there. Probably because I would rather stay home and hang out with yarn most of the time...

The wind wasn't terribly cooperative, so I had some failed attempts at kite flying which mostly involved a lot of running around in a circle and panting.

We also played a game of Koob. Nate found this at a toy store in Falmouth while I was doing a trunk show at Sage Yarn last year. Apparently it might be a game of Viking origin, which is pretty interesting, if it is in fact true.

My first impulse is to apologize for not having more action shots, but as I sat writing this post and getting way too introspective, I realized there is a struggle in being a person who processes memory visually. Some people have strong associations with music or smells, but for me it's images. This means I want to take my camera everywhere and document everything, but it can sometimes get in the way of actually being in the moment. I get caught up in documenting, and forget to participate. So I've been working on taking fewer pictures - enough that I satisfy my constant photographic cravings, but also trying to be more present. If you're also attached to your camera at the hip, do you struggle with this too?

And of course, there's always some yarn-making going on.