Knittin' stuff

I went to my first knitting group last Wednesday. There were 4 of us, and we met at Border’s. One of the women I work with invited me. Though she just recently learned to knit, her best friend is a Knitter. The 4th person was someone who used to work at AP that I’ve known for several years. She didn’t actually knit, as she didn’t have time, and she had her 2yo daughter with her. I had a pretty good time. It was nice to talk to someone about knitting who knew what I was talking about. I didn’t have to explain myself, or censor myself (as I often do with non-knitters so as not to seem so strange in my obsession). I was working on a sock using Magic Loop, and since O. had never used that technique before, she asked if I could teach her the next time we meet. She was also quite enamored with the yarn I was using, taking it out of the ziplock bag to fondle it (with permission, of course). I think we’re going to try to make this a regular thing, which means that I’m going to have to start taping Bones. I missed it last week. This is one of those times when I wish we had a DVR.

Speaking of knitting, I have a couple of projects that I’ve started over the last couple of weeks. The first is the Monkey socks from Knitty, which I think I’ve mentioned before. I’m using Koigu and they’re turning out lovely. The colorway is much different knitted up than what it looks like in the skein. There’s a wide stripe of dark turquoise running through the socks that I wasn’t expecting. I’m really liking the way they’re turning out. They are worked cuff-down, and I’m past the heel, so I have about 1/3 of the first sock left to finish.

Another thing I’ve started is a sleeveless cardigan of my own design. Almost 3 years ago I bought a shit load of sport weight heather grey alpaca from the alpaca market in Estes Park. I’ve been trying to find a sweater pattern for it, but I haven’t run across anything suitable. I’ve heard that alpaca is super-warm; so warm that making a pullover would mean never wearing it because of danger that I’d overheat, particularly in my poorly-climate-controlled office. I had the idea of making a vest or sleeveless cardigan, but again, I couldn’t find a suitable pattern. I really wanted something simple, as alpaca is supposedly bad for cables. I finally decided that I would design something myself. Then, I found this sweater in an Eddie Bauer catalog that I think will be perfect. Just imagine it without sleeves. The body will be a medium heather grey and the ribbed button band, neck band, and the ribbed section around the waist will be dark heather grey. The hem will be a turned and seamed hem. I am designing it with only about 2-3 inches of ease, as I want it to be close-fitting, but not so tight that I can’t fit a long-sleeve shirt underneath. I also want it to fit even if I lose some weight. I will add waist-shaping too. I’m pretty excited about it, but I have this fear that what I see in my mind’s eye will not be at all what comes off the needles. That’s why I’m doing something so simple. I’m still new to sweater construction. I really like the idea of designing my own patterns, but I still have a lot to learn before I’m really comfortable with the designing process.

The other project I am working on is a secret. It’s a small thing for my SP so I can’t talk about it or post pictures until after this SP round is over at the end of April. It’s really cool, though.