Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Knitting mode engaged

It's been pretty sleepy over here in my corner of the internet. I have been knitting rather a lot though - and perhaps those two are linked. Reluctant to pick up the laptop again at the end of a long day, but happy to sit with needles while my tired brain winds down in front of the box. There is a jumper for me, socks for dan and vest/tank thing to photograph at some point. For the moment there is this:

Awesome jumper

This is Furrow by Marie Wallin, featured in Rowan magazine way back in issue 40, circa 2006. It was earmarked for Dan almost as soon as I laid eyes on it. I acquired the yarn piecemeal, whenever I found it on sale. In October 2011 it was packed into a suitcase and shipped as yarn and pattern to Philadelphia ahead of our arrival. In January 2012 I finally cast on. That cardboard grid was my faltering attempts to stop the six strands of yarn twisting together. In the end it was cast aside in favour of the classic "pull from the tangle" method of colour work. 

It is enjoyably rhythmic once the pattern is set in your mind, but the gauge is an eye watering 42 rows to 4 inches. Added to that, sitting underneath it once it got even slightly warm last year was unbearable with all those strands of yarn pulling at you all the time and generally getting in the way. It experienced a hibernation. In January 2013, when it got arctic, it appeared again. I slugged at it almost every evening and surprised myself with the progress I was making. Still working on the back piece a began to flag a little as I started the 24cm after arm hole shaping.... I struck on an idea. An incentive. I resolved that after finishing the back I would reward myself with something fast and dirty. On Saturday I bought these two skeins:

Incentive

And last night I cast off the back of Dan's jumper. This morning I set about taking a quick snapshot of this bit of fabric I'd finally managed to produce. The only suitable spot was out on the floor. Taco arrived almost instantaneously and announced her curiosity. This sequence of photos took roughly 30 seconds...

Incentive
Incentive
Incentive
Incentive
Incentive

It's not 33% of a jumper, it's clearly a Taco bed - look at all those nice inbuilt strings I left for her to chew on! Aren't I kind! Don't worry folks, the jumper was rescued from Taco's naughty claws and stashed safely away.

2 comments:

  1. Haha! Just like a cat! Glad that Taco didn't snag it after all that work though! I so need to get back to knitting again. I still have a half-finished sweater that my poor hubby has been waiting an eternity for me to finish. I just need another 12 or so hours in a day...or maybe I just need to follow your lead, and step away from the keyboard! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The look of anticipation on Dan's face when the knitting came out for it's restart... It's a lot of pressure!

      Delete

Thanks in advance for any comments sent my way, they arere always appreciated!