I got several requests yesterday to post pictures of me in the sweater. I’d been in a rush to get out to an appointment yesterday morning so there was no time for fiddly pictures. So propping the camera on a shelf yesterday afternoon when I was less pressed for time, I managed to get a shot without the flash in the mirror glare. As you can see, it’s a good thing I didn’t knit the medium and I think I could easily have done the extra small! It’s very warm and comfy and excuse the lumpiness, I put it on over a t-shirt.
Next up is a quick little afghan square with some of my homespun. This is the second batch of Coopworth that seems to have a decent amount of twist. Yesterday I wound the hank into a yarn cake ready for knitting.
Here is Karabella Split Cables all finished. I knit the size small with size 10 needles and Debbie Bliss Superchunky Cashmerino. I think I could have gone to the extra small based on how it fits. The neck is loose and I’d be happier with a shorter neck, maybe my own neck is not particularly long? I didn’t get my sleeves centered exactly the same so the small stockinette strip at the shoulders is lower on one side. She also has one little strip along the back neck where the moss stitch is off by a row but I think you’d really have to look close to find that one. All in all she came out really nicely considering I can count the sweaters I’ve made on one hand. I really love the color and the yarn is exceptionally comfy if a bit heavy.
I’m nearly done with the second sleeve and am faintly hopeful that there might be enough yarn left in the ball for the collar. I should at least finish the sleeve at knitting this morning and perhaps I’ll get the collar started this afternoon. Cross your fingers!
Yesterday afternoon I plied the local wool blend singles I’d spun from the top I got at the Fiber Studio a few months ago. I was worried that it might be too softly spun in places and it did indeed break several times as I tried to ply it. I’ll use it to make potholders or something decorative that won’t take a lot of stress. I still have a hard time spinning long fiber top very consistently and there’s lots of this left to practice with.
For Christmas Jason got me some vanilla simple syrup that I’ve been using in my cocoa every morning. I used the last of it yesterday and decided to make some of my own to refill the bottle. Bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil. Add 1 vanilla bean sliced to the mixture and simmer 5 minutes. Cool and bottle. Store refrigerated up to 1 month. The flavor will develop further over the next few days.
I finished the back of the Split Cables sweater Wednesday night at knitting and yesterday I started a good portion of the first sleeve. It still remains to be seen if I have enough yarn. I can tell now that if I need more it’ll only be a single ball. Chances are good that she’s still got one ball remaining. If anyone has advice on seaming moss stitch I’d really love to hear it!
The driving in the snow yesterday morning was uneventful. It was a quick easy drive because my appointment was quite early. I did see the whole highway as a parking lot thing as I was leaving and felt very glad I’d been in early. On the way home I stopped at CVS to get a new hairdryer because mine had smelled as if it were about to burst into flame when I tried to dry my hair earlier in the day. While I was inside some fellow in one of those long wheel-base trucks slipped with his wet snow boots and crunched my little car. He was a nice enough fellow and came inside to find me and exchange information. Fortunately, it’s just a little surface damage- hopefully easily fixed and thankfully paid for by his insurance.
The back of Split Cables is growing. Most likely I’ll finish this piece today. I’m heading out into the snow again but it looks much milder today.
Yesterday morning I had an appointment at 9 so I watched the weather at 6:30 to see what the roads would be like. The weather girl was calling for 2-4 inches of snow in our area and there’d been wrecks all over the place with traffic a complete mess. My neighbor said the weatherman she watched was calling for 4 to 6 inches. She drives a school bus and was very disgruntled to be working.
It took me something over 2 hours to get where I was going. I think I was about an hour and a half late but I was able to call and let them know and of course they were prepared for latecomers anyway. Driving in the snow is not something I’ve had much experience with and getting home was something of an adventure since there was little traffic heading away from Boston. I had a couple good slides but in the end I made it home safely with just enough time to shovel before fetching Daniel. The plows had been down the street once we must have had 5 inches of snow on the street again by the time I got home. I cleared the bottom of the driveway first so I could get my car out of the way and then worked my way up from there. I certainly got my exercise!
Here’s what it looks like outside my front door at the moment. We’ve had rain, rain, rain and more rain this winter and very spring-like temperatures. The garden is completely confused. The daffodils were sprouting and the climbing rose had leafed out on the bottom nearest the house. The hollyhocks were putting out new leaves. I may lose quite a few plants this year because there’s still plenty of winter left here! Temps in the 30’s today are a bit more normal for this time of year than the 50’s we have had for quite some time. I think I’ve worn my coat once this year. I see that tomorrow we are expecting 40’s and a bit of rain again. I wonder what February will bring?
Yesterday morning I ripped back to the mistake, it only took about 5 minutes. By the time I got to knitting I was already about halfway back to where I’d been. I managed to finish the front and cast on for the back by the time I left. I’m at least 1/3 through the back already and I imagine I’ll make good progress again today. The rest of the sweater is all just moss stitch and shaping, no more cables, so it’s very quick to knit.
When we were kids that was a common phrase. Or, "Can you see what’s wrong with this picture?" In point of fact, yes I can. The row immediately before I put stitches on a holder for the neck and split for the shoulders was a crossing row and I neglected to cross my second small cable. I’m only just learning to drop down stitches and change them with a crochet hook. I can go down just a row or two and change a knit to a purl or a purl to a knit but as you can see this cable travels and what you might not see is that there is an M1 on one side of it and p2tog’s on the other. That’s definitely beyond my skill so my job this morning at knitting will be to rip it back. Of course I’d already bound off one shoulder and cut the yarn on that side. Should be fun.
And here’s the closeup view. At least it’ll be quick to reknit once I get it undone!
I got several requests yesterday to post pictures of me in the sweater. I’d been in a rush to get out to an appointment yesterday morning so there was no time for fiddly pictures. So propping the camera on a shelf yesterday afternoon when I was less pressed for time, I managed to get a shot without the flash in the mirror glare. As you can see, it’s a good thing I didn’t knit the medium and I think I could easily have done the extra small! It’s very warm and comfy and excuse the lumpiness, I put it on over a t-shirt. 
