Stealth project

I often forget to blog about what I'm knitting. I realize this defeats the purpose of having a knitting blog, but it's just so hard to lay down the needles sometimes in order to type up a post. No excuse, I know.

But I have been working on a project for a couple of weeks now, and since I've gotten to the blocking stage, I figured it was high time to post a picture. I'm making the Sienna Cardigan, from the Fall '06 Interweave, in Handpaintedyarn.com bulky handspun wool, in the "thistle" colorway. This is obviously not the yarn called for in the pattern, but I got gague, and I think it's turned out pretty well:




Don't be alarmed by the oddly disparate sizes of the sleeves. It's a camera illusion. I measured them several times, and they are actually the same width. 14" at the armscye, 10" at the cuff.

I cannot begin to describe how much I love this yarn. It is soooooo soft, and the color variegation and thick-and-thin texture were enough to keep me interested all the way up the stockinette back and sleeves. And so far I've only used 5 skeins! Talk about a bargain. I'll probably make it through skein #6 doing the collar and button bands, but even so, that's pretty inexpensive for a cardigan. I am doing 3/4 length sleeves, because I'll be wearing this to work, and I tend to push my sleeves up while I'm typing, so I'd rather not have to.

Now I've just got to wait for this to dry, and then I get to mattress stitch!

Shop news
I've put up four new sock yarns in the shop and one new roving. I really love the tourmaline colorway. Pretty, pretty.

Of Harlots and Shawls

Guess who I saw tonight?



And guess who else was there?



About 500 knitters. Maybe more. It was crazy. Stephanie was, as ever, amusing. This was the first stop on her latest tour, so she was charmingly frazzled, and sticking pretty close to her notes. She was wearing her Icarus, which she blocked on her living room floor last night, and I was wearing my Icarus, which I blocked on my sewing room floor last week before I became deathly ill. Want a finished pic?



Here's the blocked shot:



Pretty, pretty eyelets running into pretty, pretty scallops:



Running into a pretty, fluted edge:



I've put some new yarn up in the shop tonight, and have 5 more skeins to post later in the week. It's great to be back in America, back on my feet, and ready to get back to work on Tuesday. My classroom is almost ready, and I am only a little bit behind it. September, here I come!