but I am wearing a sweater!

(Boy, that mirror is dirty.)  I can justify the sweater, though. Take a look at the mountains:

See? There’s snow up there! Also, I think there is some kind of rule that you have to wear your first sweater the second it is done. (Okay, not true. This isn’t exactly the first sweater I’ve made. Over the summer, I knit Coachella, but the neckline turned out a bit too low to be worn in most situations…More on that someday.)

Anyway, I spent much of last night finishing the ribbing. Here’s a shot of the shrug in vest form:

I spent all morning seaming. I was a bit unclear about how everything was supposed to line up — no schematic — so I ended up seaming most of the sleeve caps, looking at them, and realizing that I  needed to seam a few inches more of the sleeeves to the body. This process created many ends to weave in.

Somebody was pouting. In all fairness, he did miss a leisurely Sunday stroll. (His life is extremely hard.)

A few more pictures of my finished Bolero Jacket:

The necklace I’m wearing, by the way, is made by Lisa Donald, a friend who also makes/sells jewelry. She has a great eye — this is made from a clip-on earring that feels very 1960s to me. How convenient that it matches this sweater perfectly!

Posting may be sporadic this week — a dear friend flies in tonight to spend 4 days playing with me and Boh!

Thank you for all of the happy thoughts on my grad school news — it has been hard not to write about all the waiting over these last several months. I am so excited — and trying to transfer this energy into my UFOs — I cannot wait to actually have some of the sweaters on my needles actually in my wardrobe.  I’m making progress on the ribbed collar/edging of the bolero jacket (226 st/row takes a long time!)– almost ready to start the short rows.

I also made another boy hat — but in my sleep-deprived stupor, I gleefully gave it away before photographing it. It is just like the first one — in super soft malabrigo in a colorway of deep greens and blues.

Here’s another almost FO — just needs a button and the ends woven in. I have two entire bibs to show for the stress of the last few weeks — knitting these was calming, and I needed it.

Oh, and I must share this:

He can be such a ham. This is from dinner at my house a few weeks ago -had to check with my dear friend (of pink and white VD frosting fame) to confirm that she would not mind being featured here with Boh.

Inspired by Mick at Much Adored — and by the arrival of a much needed weekend, I knit the last 5 rows (I know, I know, ridiculous that I left so little to complete) of the second sleeve of my Debbie Bliss Bolero Jacket, and began blocking.

The sleeves are looking a bit big to me (I say that like I’ve done this before) — but I’m intending for this to be a cozy shrug-sweater, so I hope it will be fine.

I let the pieces dry overnight, and this morning, though still slightly damp, I decided that the front pieces and the back were dry enough for me to seam the shoulders and begin picking up a million (okay, 226) stitches for the all-the-way-around ribbing that makes this sweater so cute. No pictures of that yet, but now that I have picked up said stitches, I am hoping to complete this before the cold weather leaves us entirely.

Lucky for me and my sweater, I woke up to a sprinkling of snow on the ground. I’m off to a place that likely has snow — and a crackling fire in the wood stove — for the rest of the weekend.

On Friday, my box of yarn from WEBS arrived. Full disclosure will come, all in good time. I am sleepy, even though my clock says it is not yet 10 PM, this rooster’s body says it is 11. A few pictures of the weekend, then.

Yesterday, I was here. The leaves have fallen from the cottonwoods, but the air was crisp, and, though I love the place when it is bustling with activity, I value the chances I have to see it when it is still.

When I returned, I decided to honor the swatch gods, and comply.

Notice that I did not one, but two swatches: one on size 10.5s and one on 11s. The yarn is Araucania Nature Wool Chunky, in color olive — it is a bit brighter than I was expecting, but I’ve decided that it is perfect for me because I tend to wear muted solids, and this will brighten up my jeans and a button down or a long sleeve tee considerably. The gauge for the pattern (which, of course, calls for Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky) is 14 st/20 rows over 4 inches. My first swatch, with the recommended needles, was 8 st/10 rows over 2 inches. I decided to see what would happen if I went up a needle size, to 11s: 7 st/9 rows over 2 inches. Both close, neither perfect. I decided to wash the swatches and leave them overnight: after a dunk in the sink, the swatch knit on smaller needles was 7.5 st/10 rows, whereas the larger needle swatch was in between 6 and 6.5 st. The yarn became considerably softer after washing, and I liked the drape of the smaller needle swatch better. Also, the sizing is S, M, L, with the M being 36-38. I am a 38, and debated making the next size up, so that 1 st over 4 inches may give me an extra inch of ease in the sweater, which should end up to be ideal.

Anyway, today, instead of doing the things on my list, I made a large recipe of pie crust, and baked a kitchen sink kind of pie, with all the fruit leftover from my CSA box: 2 big green pears, a pluot and a bright, shiny apple. The pie is delicious (eating while I type), and is a wonderful dessert to the roasted beets I ate for dinner. The 4 remaining pie crusts are in the freezer for next time.

I also managed to turn those swatches into this:

I can’t believe how quickly this is coming along. I am very excited about this sweater, and I am working up the courage to seam that baby kimono I’ve been working on forever. I promise. I’ve told myself I need to seam that, as practice for finishing this one. Also, remind me: I need some longer circulars for picking up the ribbing on this sweater, when I get there.

Yawn! Time for bed. It was wonderful to wake to the sunrise at 6:10 this morning: a welcome change from waking to the alarm in the dark. The only bad part about “falling back” is that the sun will soon be setting before I even leave the office. I do love the cold; I just wish we could keep the sunshine.