Not one, but two

I'm on a roll now, baby! Within a week of finishing Hey, Teach, I finally finished the sweater originally cast on for my new year knit-o-lution. Not Your Standard Issue Sweatshirt, Take Two c'est finis! This sweater has been a pile of sweater pieces for months now. Since May all I've needed to do was finish knitting the front and do the dreaded finishing (seaming...) Then the road trip got in the way, so the sweater just sat.

and sat...

and sat..

Until I finally got it in my mind to finish the darned thing. Finishing Hey, Teach gave me such a thrill that I brought this sweater to some knit gatherings so I could finish it up. On Saturday when the sun made a rare appearance in Anchorage, I sat in the middle of a sunbeam shining onto our living room floor and took the plunge - I seamed the darned thing together.

What a chore. The sides of the sweater are done in seed stitch and for the life of me I could not find a decent tutorial on how to seam seed stitch together. I muddled through and think it turned out okay. Of course - wouldn't you know it - as soon as I sewed the back to the front, I found I'd forgotten to add the last cable on the middle section. Oops - I guess it's now a design feature as there's no way in the world I was ripping anything out. Then there was the issue with attaching the sleeves - I still haven't mastered that. I thought about waiting until my next formal finishing class at our LYS, The Yarn Branch, but I just couldn't wait. Have you ever had a feeling that you just had to finish a project NOW? So a formal tutorial on how to attach sleeves will have to wait for another project (Central Park Hoodie is in my queue - yarn is stashed & ready).
Next I had to sew the hood together, attach it, and then create a place to insert the draw string (i-cord) which meant even more sewing. The photo above shows sweater before hood. I was just tickled pink to have a sweater to wear - so I wore it while I kept sewing. Of course, I haven't taken a picture w/the hood (looks a bit too elfish for my taste - I almost prefer it w/o the hood) & now the sweater is drying after a good wash to clean off the months of dust & get those stitches to lie the correct way.

While it isn't the most flattering sweater - makes me look a bit too bulky, it's quite warm & I adore it. It's mine; I did it. I love cables, I love green. It's mine. Did I mention that I knit it?

Gory Details:

Pattern: Not Your Standard Issue Sweatshirt, Take Two from The Yarn Girls Guide to Beyond the Basics.

Needles: Knit Picks Size 8 (for bottom) and Size 10

Yarn: Classic Elite - Dutchess (40% merino, 28% Viscose, 10% Cashmere, 15% Nylon, 7% Angora) Soft & very warm... Holds detail like cables extremely well.

Colorway: ?? #1097, Lot #221

Modifications: Did a three needle bind off. I just love this for attaching the back to the front.

Thursday night is the 2nd Icelandic Sweater class. Is sweater #3 not too far behind?

Ciao!

I Will Not Go Quietly...

I will not go quietly into the good night. I will not let the Jaywalker get the better of me. I am smarter than this sock. I can knit this sock. It. Will. Not. Win. I had hoped to finish this sock while we were hanging out here in Tucson. The sock has other plans. After frogging the entire sock back at the Grand Canyon, I cast on & began anew on larger needles. I'd be knitting along happily when BAM - the pattern on one side of the sock was shifted over by 2 stitches. What?!? I looked to see if I dropped any - nope, I still had the correct # of stitches, however the number of stitches between the double decrease & the 2nd set of kfb was incorrect. I just couldn't explain it. So, tink, tink, tink, I'd go - fix the problem & begin anew. Then, after a couple of rows, the same thing would happen again. I just can't explain it. So last night, while watching one of the most violent movies ever (Smoking Aces - unless you like a high body count - which I don't, I don't recommend it), I ripped the sock back to the ribbing & began for no less than the 5th time. Wish me luck...

In other knitting news, my friend Jen & I went to one of Tucson's LYS "Purls" - very cute. The original owners were retiring & decided to sell the store. Thankfully for Jen & her mom, a couple of the employees bought it. The store is very cute and certainly larger than any shops we have in Anchorage. The interesting part is that it sells very little in the way of worsted weight wool. Because of the temperature extremes in the summer, most of their stock is in wool blends, or lighter weight yarn. I did show some restraint this time - only because the pattern for a shrug I liked was not available. They also have a Sock of the Month Club. On the 3rd Wednesday of every month, you can pay $5 and receive a new pattern & learn how to knit a new sock. The sock & pattern (and the yarn they'll recommend) are kept secretly guarded. However - these ladies really new how to drum up excitement. So - I've given Jen strict instructions to go to Purls & find out what all the hoopla was about. If you happen to be in Tucson on the 3rd Wednesday of the month - you should check it out!

75% of my family is not as interested in yarn as I so we spent some time beating the heat. Jen's parents have friends who have a pool! Now that's what I'm talking about! The temps reached 107°F yesterday. The crazy thing is that I thought it actually felt cooler. Yikes!

This is the view from our campsite near Bryce Canyon. Can't beat it! Figure I need to report on the road trip happenings as well. We camped in a Dixie Forest Campground in Red Canyon. It's along Hwy 12 & just a few miles past the entrance to Bryce Canyon. I'd certainly recommend it. The price is right ($12) and showers are available (8 quarters for 8 minutes - plenty of time for a good wash!). The sites are level in loop A & plenty of trees so you don't feel like you're camping in a large parking lot. I've found camping in the forest campgrounds are not only cheaper than the National Park campgrounds they're also more astheticaly pleasing! The boys hiked up here before sundown. A little sketchy with a lot of scree, but the boys managed fine.
Here is one of the rock tunnels we drove through before arriving at the campsite.


This photo (and the one seen above) are of the boys taking their National Jr. Park Ranger oaths at the Glen Canyon Dam. They had to complete a series of activities & earned a badge for their efforts. It was very cute. The Glen Canyon Dam is responsible for the formation of Lake Powell & generates electricity for millions of people through hydroelectric power. Wade is currently reading "The Monkey Wrench Gang" which prompted this stop.

Ahh - coffee has arrived. We're departing Tucson tomorrow to head toward CA with our first stop in Disneyland!

Ciao ~