Done! (except for the zipper)

My cardigan is done. I did a really nice job knitting this but I'm even more pleased with how well I finished most of the seams. It took me the better part of 5 hours to join the sleeves and then seam everything. I like my sleeve joins better than my side seams, but all in all, it's the best finishing job I've done so far. My only regret? I wish I'd made the larger size! I can wear this, but it's got a little too much negative ease for my preference. But it's okay. . . by next fall I hope to have lost another 20 pounds so it will be fine. I just have to find a 26 inch zipper to put in.

For a "Short" Month . . .

February seems to be very long! I know we have an extra day this year, but even with onlh 29 days, this month seems to be dragging on and on. It's got to be the weather. Even though the hours of daylight are longer, the days without sun and blue sky seem endless. We have had storm after storm, cold, ice, school delays or closings every week, and sickness abounds. Enough already!

I just finished book #13 for the 50/08 challenge. #14, #15 and #16 are also underway. I generally have several books going at once --- one in school, one up on the nightstand, and one on the kitchen table. I have another 4 or 5 waiting in the wings too!

My knitting queue is even longer! I have my cable cardigan on the needles - about 20 rows left on the 2nd front, and then the 2 sleeves, a pair of socks about 1/2 done, and then a baby sweater, a vest, a jacket, and a scarf lined up. That doesn't even include the yarn I've bought but don't have a pattern for yet, and the patterns I have that don't have yarn. There's just not enough time! Which is a weird comment to make considering I started today off with the fact that the month is dragging!

Slow but Steady

I am making progress on the Cable Vision cardigan from Family Circle Plus Knits. I've done the back and the left front, and have started the right front. It's really enjoyable -- the pattern isn't that difficult, and my Northampton yarn is perfect for the cables. The color is fawn, and while it's technically a lightish brown, in some lights it catches a greenish tint.


On another note, I just finished a great middle school novel called London Calling, by Edward Bloor. (He wrote Tangerine, another middle school goodie.) It's a time travel novel of redemption, and it's fascinating. Good coming to terms with yourself, your family (divorce, alcoholism) and your options. It also touches on issues such as how history is written, how truth can be distorted, and depression. It's really not as dark as it sounds!!

The February Blahs

I always have trouble at this time of year - I'm sick of winter and dreary weather, testing is looming at school, there's a lot of illness roaming around school, etc. etc. This is the first full week of school since before Christmas too - between holidays, a workshop day, a snow day and several delayed openings we haven't had a full five day week yet. And this morning was another delayed opening . . . .

I'm also starting to feel like I've been doing the same job for too long. It's too soon to retire (another 7 years) but I've been teaching the same grade since 1995, and I think I need a break! We have district wide testing starting next month so we're making sure all our T's are crossed and our I's dotted so that the students in our care show improvement in their skills. The pressure gets to me sometimes. You'd think that by 6th grade kids understood capitalization, complete sentences, apostrophes, and so forth. Deep down, I think they do, for the most part. They just don't see the need to use the traditional conventions! And so I hand back paragraphs and projects and tell them to proofread and correct.

I read book #11 for this year - The Knitting Circle It was very gripping, but it's a book that I think I couldn't have read a year or so ago. The protagonist is dealing with her raw grief over loss of her daughter, and I think she is portrayed quite realistically. I connected also because I have used knitting as my anchor to get me through some difficult times as well as for enjoyment.


I hope to get some pictures up soon. I'm working on a cabled cardigan from Family Circle Easy Plus Knits and I have finished the back and the left front. You can see the pattern at my Ravelry site --- dswgr6 is my Id.

Vacation is in 13 days and I'm looking forward to it even though we have nothing planned.

New WIP

This is my newest project. It's called "Cable Vision" and its from Family Circle Easy Plus Size Knits. I'm using Northampton from Valley Yarns in Fawn, and I am having so much fun with the cables. I did have a bit of a puzzle at first, because there's a major error in the published directions. The chart that's given doesn't begin to match up with the pattern! But thanks to several folks on Knitlist, I got the correct chart. The yarn is wonderful too! I haven't finished the first repeat of the pattern yet, and at the rate I'm going, I probably won't be wearing it til next fall. But it's fun!

Yarny Goodness

My knitting friend and I took a jaunt down to WEBS on Saturday. Their End of the Year sale is going on and we wanted to take advantage of it. It was a great day -- especially because for the first time in over a month, I actually felt good. (The wonders of antibiotics!) The place was humming - lots of shoppers, 5 cashiers, lots of help on the floor, and of course all the yarn you could wish for. I bought some Valley Yarns Northampton in fawn, some Berkshire in cream, some Ritratto, color 64, and a cone of 2/14 Alpaca silk in Pacific. Except for the Ritratto, all of the yarn I purchased was for specific projects. I lusted after the Franklin sock yarn, but resisted ---- I only have about 10 skeins of sock yarn in my stash, plus 3 or 4 skeins of hand-dyed lace weight. So I restrained myself.

I want to make "Cable Vision" from Family Circle Easy Plus Size Knits using the Northampton, but I'm having an impossible time deciphering the instructions. If anyone has made this sweater, I could use some help. My knitting friend and I think that there is a publishing error!

I'm using the Berkshire for the Seville Jacket from Oat Couture, and the Alpaca Silk for a Valley Yarns pattern called Vintage Vest. The vest pattern is also in 101 Designer One Skein Wonders book under Three Season Vest. I will probably make a simple trinity stitch stole from the Ritratto.

So, those projects are all currently in my queue ---- I swatched for the Cable Vision, but can't figure out the cable pattern yet, so I think I'll work on the Seville jacket as my next option. I need a break from lace at the moment. My blocking wires arrived today, so I'm borrowing my knitting friend's blocking board tonight, and tomorrow I'll block the Swan Lake stole!

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, knitterly 2008!