Actual Knitting Content!

Thanks for bearing with me fellow fiber lovers! I have been neck deep in personal challenges(and ranting)!

Let it be known that during all that time, knitting and spinning has been my source of calm.

As you know I am enrolled in year one of the Nihon Vogue certification program with Jean Wong. I am working on a top-down raglan sweater. I am knitting it out of Jamieson Shetland in the Oceanic color. I am actually doing the *traditional* student role in that I am knitting the exact project that is in our textbook. Many students are doing plain stockinette, or something of their own choice. I'm doing exactly what is in the book. There is a cable pattern down the sleeves and a cable/lace pattern down the front. There is no patterning on the back.

Here is a photo of the detailing of the front:

Detailing of the sleeves:
With a top-down raglan type sweater - you increase at each junction front/sleeve, sleeve/back, back/sleeve, sleeve/front. The increases are done every other row. So what I do to keep track of whether this is an increase row is I pair a coiless marker, one green, one orange. When it is an increase row, I put the green coiless marker on the needles at the beginning of the row. In my brain Green means go(increase), orange means stop(no increase). Then I switch it back to orange on a non-increase row. See picture below to get a better sense of what I'm saying. So the photo below means it is not an increase row.

For the next session we have to have it knit up to the bust measurement and I'm there! YES!

I have yet to cast-on for the second project which is a vest. I have the plain stockinette swatch as that was what I was going to do for the full vest.

As I was pondering a plain round-neck vest in stockinette for the vest...I thought it screamed "BOR-ING". So I like the idea of doing a lace pattern. The only challenge is having decreasing and increasing at the sides for seaming(which we will learn the correct Nihon technique). I don't want to have to calculate how to do that in a lace pattern. I *could* talk to Evelyn Clark about it at Ferals but I don't want work that hard right now. I'm thinking about doing stockinette just at the sides of lace pattern.

Haven't you seen sweaters or vests that had a pattern in the front/back but had plain stockinette on the sides(it is supposed to be slimming as well). I thought I would do that as a compromise.

If I do that I may need to do another draft of the pattern. I'll have to do more swatching to see how much the patterning affects the overall garment. Homework for the weekend!

Saturday is set aside to go to Churchmouse with Michale as well as meet with her mother for brunch at Cafe Nola. Sounds like a perfectly good way to spend a Saturday. (note: Greg will be down at Bangrila doing lots of yard work! I timed this little trip well, didn't I?)

I have dreams of knitting on other things. The knitting lust list has grown considerably. I have Memories of the Ukraine in Euroflax(remember I was knitting this in Bonaire), finishing my Kauni Cardigan(the one the Yarn Harlot picked up and now everyone is trying to get the yarn!), finishing up Starmore's Abalone, various socks and now...the dragonfly vest by Janine Bajus(the pattern is in Sweaters from Camp). I'm dying to take a class from Janine - just have been so busy! Someday the stars will align and I can take a fair isle class from her.

Here is a photo of Gail's(blogless) version. Notice the cute turtle stitch marker? She says she has that marker because she is going so slow on it. Isn't that beautiful? Makes you just want to get on-line, order the book, supplies and start casting on, doesn't it?



Spinning news: I recently acquired a Woolee Winder. Oh. Man. I. Love. This. Invention.

Time is at a premium for me( shut up! I don't have children, I have a self-sufficient-dinner-preparing husband, I have easy to care for dogs, I haven't been exercising) and I like to make the most of my time. I do not like having to stop my spinning, move the fiber from one hook to another. With this handy dandy buddy, I don't have to! It is a wonder. Thank. you. very. much!!!!


One last thing. I went to a Seattle Mariner game on Sunday. Our old friend Ken Griffy, Jr. was in town(I know, you couldn't live in Seattle and not hear about it). He hit two home runs against Seattle and the whole stadium gave him a standing ovation despite him earning runs against us. Seattle loves Griffy. I got a photo of him hitting the ball on the first home run he hit. Have to share it here. Maybe some day he'll be back wearing a Mariner uniform!