omg! a post!

Boy, have I been busy knitting. And other stuff too, but the knitting is the interesting part. OH SHUT UP IT IS TOO.

I finished the never-ending jumper of torment and pain and stockinette, aka Fenway:



And for all the pain, I'm really glad I did it. It's been about a year and a half since I first knitted this pattern, and it was my first jumper ever, so at the time, it was pretty exciting, since I had only the vaguest idea of what I was doing, and it felt like quite an adventure. It came out really well; Phil loves it to death, and specifically asked for another one just like it, only in a different colour. (The first one is blue.) He is especially keen on the yarn, the oft-mentioned (and discontinued) Rowanspun Chunky, which knits up into a really lovely, soft, yet very durable fabric.

On the second go-round, it wasn't so exciting. It was, frankly, a tedious chore. The pattern is mind-numbingly boring and simple, and since it's a big jumper with plenty of ease, and Phil has a long torso, big shoulders and long arms, IT WAS FUCKING HUGE. And since I wasn't constantly fearing I was going to totally screw it up, the excitement just wasn't there. I'd done it before. I've done a half-dozen jumpers since. I'd now class myself as a solidly intermediate knitter with a fair amount of experience in knitting a wide variety of garments. This was cake.

But it was still valuable, not only because he loves it, but because by going back and knitting over the first major garment I ever made, I got a really good idea of how far I've come. My gauge has loosened up considerably, which is a very good thing, indeed, my confidence in my own judgment is much better than it used to be, and probably most important of all, I've got pretty bloody good at finishing. It took me hours to set in the sleeves on this jumper the first time around, and this time, I set aside an entire day to sew it up and knit on the collar. I didn't need it. I slid the sleeves into place and stitched them in on the first go, and it took me less than an hour, and that was the hard part. Closing the sides and the sleeves in mattress stitch took up another hour. Everything went fine, I didn't have to stop and do anything over. It was simple. Picking up stitches and knitting the neck was easy, too. Last time, it took me something like five attempts. This time, I picked up exactly the 68 stitches the pattern called for on the first try (that bloody log cabin blanket taught me how to pick up stitches, I tell you what) and knit the twelve rounds while watching a Law & Order re-run.

Like I said, this is a stupidly easy pattern. But this time, I knew that, and I was still surprised at how well it went. Due to the looser gauge, it's a bit bigger than the original, but that works for Phil just fine, since he wanted plenty of ease. Which is no excuse for me having not knit a swatch, simply because I was using the same yarn and needles. Lesson learned: gauge can change over time. Knit the bloody swatch.

To break the soul-destroying ennui of the sleeves, I paused and knit up a couple of ball-band dishcloths:



And oh, wow, slip stitch patterns are SO MUCH FUN to knit! My looser gauge made knitting with cotton much less painful than I've previously found it, and the slip stitches are just a total blast. I made these out of two balls of Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton, which is lovely and soft, and then I ran right out to John Lewis and bought six skeins of Rowan Handknit Cotton to make more. (Better, brighter colour choices on the Rowan, I think.)

With all that done, I sat down and started another pair of socks:



My first time using Lorna's Laces, and I am deeply, deeply impressed. Not only is the yarn incredibly soft, but wouldja look at that? Absolutely no pooling or flashing. I'm now done with the heel and on the last few instep decreases, and still, no pooling. Another yarn for me to love and crave. Just what I needed, eh?