Wow, things are busy here in the land of Molecular Knitting as usual.  I haven’t had as much time as I would like to work on my grey tweed pullover, but whenever I do find time to knit on it, I am pretty happy.

I originally planned a cabled pattern for this yarn, but the swatch looked messy. The diamond cables didn’t really stand out with all the dark grey tweediness; I could have done a lot of cabling to very little effect. Paging through every knitting magazine I own, looking for tweed, I found an unlikely pattern, but I think it may work out splendidly. It’s from the Fall ‘06 Knitters, and it’s called Hobo Patches. Yes, both those facts give one pause. Theresa Schabes is the designer (reassuring), and except for the actual felted patches I’m supposed to sew on with big stitches, which I have NO intention of doing, it’s a pretty nice pattern for me. I wanted a pattern that was both a pullover but also would work as outerwear more than an indoor sweater. I live in California and I’m 44: I don’t worry much about being cold. Let’s take a look at the back, which isn’t quite done in this photo, but is now in real life.

The bottom edge is rolled, which I wasn’t sure I wanted until I realized a sweater I like very much has a rolled edge. Then there are five spaced purl ridges followed by a whole lot of stockinette. I like the tweed in the stockinette, and now I’ll have no excuse not to learn how to do mattress stitch properly.  I’ve only done improper mattress stitch before.

The sleeves are a modified drop-shoulder which is my second favorite sleeve style after a set-in sleeve. I look awful in raglan sleeves with my triangular build, and I have many purchased raglans to prove it (those cute button trims along the raglan line!–I’m a sucker for them). The cut-in for the sleeve is much deeper than I’ve seen before, 3-inches for my size, so I am curious to see how that works for me. As I’m narrow on top, I think it may work well.

To break up the monotony of sleeve knitting, I usually knit the back, a sleeve, the front(s) and then the second sleeve. However, here I’m knitting the back and front, which I’ll join with a 3-needle bind off, block and then see how long to make the sleeves, as I’ve found I am pretty particular about sleeve length. I think the tweed can keep me off Sleeve Island.

So now all I need is a little more time to knit. But as this is the scene outside this past weekend, I don’t think I need to hurry.

M has been making use of his new Pinnacle Chevron Scarf for the past couple of weeks, so I figured it needed to be my next blog post. The weather has actually grown too warm for this Ultra Alpaca scarf, as the almonds and daffodils are in bloom. Here is M wearing it outside in his shirtsleeves a few weeks ago.

M is not a “wrap the scarf around your neck” sort of guy, so I knit it to his specifications in terms of length, which was about 5 feet long. The width before blocking was 7.5 inches and I blocked it to 9.5 inches wide, opening up the rib some but not a lot. It seemed to be what the scarf wanted. The pattern is simply three repeats of Pinnacle Chevron Rib (a repeat of 18 +1) which I got from Barbara Walker but is also in the Harmony Guides and countless other stitch dictionaries. I used size 8 Addi Turbos.  The scarf lies wonderfully flat and is completely reversible, which is almost a prerequisite in my book for a man’s scarf. No fuss or putting it on wrong.

My plan was to use up the Berroco Ultra Alpaca I had left over from knitting myself the Aran Pocket Shawl. However, due to M’s desire for only a 5-foot long scarf, I still have 1.5 skeins of the yarn left over. M’s sister does want a hat for skiing in a dark green, so she may get her wish.

Now, M isn’t the Luckiest Man Alive because I knit him this scarf, but I alluded to this title in a previous post, and a few readers wanted to hear the story. For the story to make sense, you need to know about two highways in California. The first is Highway 1, which is the coastal highway. If you’ve ever seen in a movie or TV show a convertible driving along the winding coast with the top down, you’ve seen Highway 1: very scenic, not really very speedy. The 101, on the other hand, still runs up the coast, but is enough inland to be the equivalent of an interstate: not very scenic, but really very speedy. So here’s the story.

M and I had a wedding to attend in Monterey, California, which is a couple hours drive for us. First we drive west to the Bay Area and then head south on the 101 until we get to the exit for the Monterey Peninsula. The wedding was at 4:30, and we planned to get to our hotel by 2:00 in order to have time to change, get a bite to eat and get to the church. Between the Monterey exit and our place on the 101 was one of the “world’s largest” flea markets, and the traffic that Saturday afternoon was at a near standstill. M was driving and getting very impatient. We were 2-3 miles from the flea market exit, and 5-6 miles from the Monterey exit. However, M had had enough, and he took the first exit that we came to; it had no city, town or highway associated with it. I was not amused.

“What are you doing? This road doesn’t seem to go anywhere!” I cried.
“The clutch is smoking and my elbow was burning,” answered M (his elbow was hanging out the window).
“That’s just stupid! I don’t want to be late for a wedding. And I won’t go in my shorts and T-shirt. I have a new silk dress.”
“Don’t worry. You’re with Michael. Everything always works out for Michael.”

I ground my teeth and seethed silently. Soon we were no longer on a road that could be called a highway, and shortly after that the road was no longer paved. We were driving around large fields of strawberries on the little dirt roads the migrant workers use. We could see them picking berries and we were driving right past their beat up pick-ups parked along the road side. I was convinced we were going to dead end around the next field. But after about 15 minutes of meandering around several fields we ended back on a paved road. Just a couple miles farther and we could see a line of moving traffic in the distance. Then we saw the sign: Junction with Highway 1. M was jubilant.

“See, Highway 1 right ahead! That goes right in to Monterey. We’ll get to our hotel in plenty of time.” he said.
“You are the luckiest man alive,” I managed to grind out.
“Yes, yes I am,” he replied with a completely inappropriate (in my mind) grin.

We arrived at our hotel and were able  to change, eat and get to the wedding with time to spare.   Now anytime we veer from the path laid out by Google Maps, if I suggest this might not be the best plan, M reminds me of his navigational abilities and how he got us to Highway 1 and Monterey.  Is it any wonder that I prefer to do the driving?

Earlier this evening at Chez Molecular Knitting:
M: Did you get the mail?
Me: I’ll just go and get it.
A minute or so later:
M: Was there anything good? (M sees me clutching a small priority mail box to my chest.) What’s that?
Me: It’s for me! It’s for me! It’s for me! It’s the Blue Faced Leicester sock yarn I ordered.
I rip open the box and peek inside.
Me: Why is it pink? I thought the yarn I ordered was mostly blue.
I pull out ziptop bag.
Me: Ah, she wrapped the yarn in pink tissue paper.
Opening the bag and tissue paper:
Me: Ooooo! It’s so pretty! I love the colors! Look at the luster! Blue Faced Leicester sheep rock! And Aimee’s dye job is fabulous!

M: I’ll go get a mailer so you can return it.
Me: What???
M: Well, you clearly don’t like it.
Me: You’re not funny. You think you’re funny, but you’re not.
M: Then why are you laughing?
Me: I’m not laughing. This is a grimace of pain because you think you are funny.
M: Is that what that is?
Me: Go away! (talking to the yarn) Come, my pretty! You’ll look stunning posed on the leather chair arm. All must see you and weep that you are mine. Mine! Mine! Mine!
M: I think you need help.
Me: HA! (Never let it be said that I can’t deliver a cutting setdown when required!)

I have always been smitten with the name “Blue Faced Leicester” and have wanted some BFL yarn. In my woeful ignorance, I hadn’t realized that it makes excellent sock yarn. I have Kristy of Eleven Stitches to thank for pointing that out. She got some from as a gift from her grandmother. I followed her link, but the only BFL sock yarn left was in colors I just don’t use. However, I was determined (I hadn’t bought any yarn since early November) and quite capable of using etsy’s search engine. And at Little Dog Designs, I found the perfect skein for me. Poseidon went into my cart and I placed the order right quick on a Friday evening before a three-day National Holiday weekend (curses!). But first thing Tuesday, Aimee had it shipped out to me, and wonder of wonders, the postal service got it here Thursday afternoon (maybe that three day weekend did them some good–I worked).

The last thing I need is more sock yarn. But this is research! I needed to find out for myself if BFL yarn is as good as merino in my book. I think it might be. It has a lovely sheen and a nice tight twist. The colors are intense yet soft. As soon as Febrach’s socks are done; I’m knitting up the BFL. I’ll take it to work tomorrow for my friend LC to see and pet. I hope she gives it back; she knows and appreciates fine fiber. LC just had her wisdom teeth out and she got two dry sockets, which having had one myself, I know are quite painful. But if she tries to abscond with my yarn, a right hook to the jaw might be forthcoming.

One last look…

First and foremost, let me thank everyone for all the kind comments about my Minimalist Cardigan! I really appreciate all your responses, and I read them all. I’ve been very busy, which has limited my blogging, emailing and knitting time rather drastically (sob!), so I had to decide between responding to each of your comments on my sweater or looking to see what you were up to on your blogs. I opted for reading and commenting on your blogs. Although I am still playing blog-reading catch-up, I can say with confidence that everyone is knitting cool stuff!

Myself, I’m knitting a pretty cool sock, and I am very pleased to report that my Twisted Flower sock is looking just like the first sock of the pair, which was knit by Jean of Golden Purl.

I am actually a little farther along than this, but this was the last time the sock, daylight and my camera came together which was on Saturday. I’m still on the leg though. It isn’t hard to follow the directions or the chart, but my wrists don’t like the twisted stitches very much. So, I knit a couple rounds and then take a breather (a tweed breather, but that’s another post).

I’m knitting the 2-stitch twists and cables using a hybrid method that I’m sure others use, but I haven’t seen it. I’d knit the cables without a cable needle except for the fact that these are itty-bitty, teensy-weensy, tight little stitches on a whole mess of dpns (I’m using 5 instead of my usual 4, making the chart repeats easier). So, I’ve been doing the cross before working any stitches, like is done when cabling without a cable needle, but I am using a cable needle to keep from losing the aforementioned rather smallish, tightish stitches during the crossing transfers. Here’s an example:

Actual Right Twist Pattern Instructions: Sl 1 to cn and hold to back, k tbl, p1 from cn
What I do: Sl 1 to cn and hold to back, Sl 1 to right needle, transfer st from cn to left needle, transfer slipped st on right needle to left needle, k tbl, p1 (It’s longer to write but easier than knitting from the cable needle.)

The inability to knit many rounds of an evening is causing me some concern in terms of finishing this sock by the end of February. I may have to make the period after the 31st of January and before the first of April a big month of Febrarch, during which time I finish the Twisted Flower and knit a second pair of socks. I have the yarn for the second pair of socks, and it is very suitable for Project Spectrum 3: Fire. Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino is Raspberry:

Because I am really liking how the twisted stitches are looking on the Twisted Flower, of course, I want to knit this into a twisted stitch. But that is NOT THE IDEA for Febrarch. I am currently torn, but eying socks all over everyone’s Ravelry pages, so I hope to make a decision soon. In the meantime, I haven’t knit my round allotment on Twisted Flower yet this evening…

Originally, I planned to have the Minimalist Cardigan done in mid-October after starting in early August. But a lot of things got in the way, so it took me until last Wednesday to finally finish the finishing. I was home alone while M and his sister were up skiing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the peace and quiet were perfect for sweater finishing. It took 4 podcasts to get me through the finishing: 2 Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, 1 Cast-on, and 1 Car Talk. These photos are after two full days of wearing it.

I had no idea how to seam invisibly moss stitch, and I had lost 15 pounds since starting this sweater. Therefore, I opted for backstitching to take it in a bit, especially in the shoulders where I knew it would be a little wide–a problem stemming from being pear-shaped. The backstitching appears to have worked fine. There are a couple of things I either don’t like about how this turned out, or I don’t understand why it turned out the way it did.

First, I made the knit even portion of the sleeves 1.5 inches shorter than the pattern called for, and I still ended up with 7/8- and not 3/4-sleeves. Since my row gauge wasn’t off, and I don’t have horribly short arms, I don’t know why this happened. But you can see that these aren’t 3/4-sleeves at all, even if I do have my t-shirt sleeve hanging out on one side. Therefore, without thinking about it, I keep pushing the sleeves up when I wear it, and now the sleeves are getting baggy (or is that because all the sleeve increases were done in one row–the last row of ribbing). I wish I had knit the ribbing on smaller needles even though the pattern didn’t call for doing that. I didn’t pin out the ribbing while blocking, but to me it looks like I did.

I’m wearing jeans that fit when I weighed 40 lbs more than I do now, and I didn’t wash my hair this morning, hence the cropped photo. Also, I could only find the 2 second delay on my camera and not the custom-set delay, so I didn’t have much time to pose. Sigh. But I couldn’t wait to get this post done and to get it marked finished on Ravelry. It just didn’t seem really done until all that was completed.

The body length, although not as cropped as in the magazine photo, is fine with me, as I’m really not cool enough to wear cropped tops. I was aware that the body length wouldn’t be cropped, as I had measured other cardigans of mine, but I did knit the length given in the pattern. I’m 5′ 6″ tall, so I don’t know how tall the magazine model was for the sweater to look as short as it did, but she must be pretty darn tall.

All in all, this was my third sweater and a definite improvement in both knitting quality, finishing and fit than my first two sweaters. So, even though it’s not perfect, I’m pretty pleased. I really enjoyed the moss stitch, and I like how it looks, especially juxtaposed with the stockinette. The bright navy color and the quality of the Cascade 220 are also big pluses in my book. I learned a lot with this sweater, including that cap-sleeves aren’t a big deal to seam properly, and I hope this new knowledge keeps my sweater making skills on the ascent.