This morning I opened my eyes to a familiarly funny kind of light in the room. And that sound . . .
The sky was a dense color. The sound was wet. When I looked out the back porch window, I saw:
See the tulips coming up?
Ok, time for a cable moment! I rebooted the sweater yesterday (twice) and now I think I am sailing clear on it. I still wish I was further along so you could see the cable in a good length, but them’s the breaks. I knitted on it last night while listening to chub creek; it’s the perfect cable for that show! It makes no sense, but it’s fun anyway.
Here are today’s clues: I did not begin on row one of the pattern. The clue about the obscure stitch books yesterday? That was just to throw you off (I swear, everything else I told you is true!) (Really. It is). I do own a lot of obscure knitting and stitch books, but that has nothing to do with this cable. The book it comes from is still in print. And, though it is not symmetrical, it is a “swing” type cable. That is when the motif reflects and turns asymmetrically on itself. The cable looks exactly like its name.
Now for the odd part: even though this cable is not at all symmetrical, I started to be able to intuit what comes next without looking at the chart, and I hadn’t worked through a whole repeat yet! (And I was listening to chub creek) This morning I picked it up and did maybe 6 rounds before I even realized that I did not need the chart. When I checked, it was right. I don’t know about you, but that feels kinda creepy. What is going on with my brain?? Suddenly, I’m talkin’ weird cable-speak and I dunno how that happened.
Now, I have swatched this cable a lot in the past, but I did not swatch it just before I started the sweater because I had so much information recorded about it in similar yarns. (I KNOW! I sound so organized, but really, this is the first time. And since that is a whole other topic, I’ll save it for another day). I just did a gauge swatch in the stockinette for the sweater, and added to the stitch count for the center cable panels.
Anyway, to me it just goes to show how powerful the brain is for picking up patterns in things. This happens all the time to me, especially in knitting. I can “know” a new stitch pattern in no time, as if it’s been crouching in my brain, wholly memorized, and just waiting to be used. Of course, it could be an inner knitter from a past life making themselves known in the present, but I’m laying the big money on a more scientific explanation. Not that I have a problem with being inhabited by a soul from a past life.
Wait, did I just say that?
Ok, nevermind, let’s move on. I mentioned that stripey hat the other day, which I finished and I LOVE it! Here it is with the scarf to match. Isn’t it adorable! I’m back in love with noro kureyon (I had got tired of it for a while).
And, I’m really not supposed to be working on this next piece; it’s not actually on my priority list.
Ok, actually, there is no priority list. You probably noticed that before I did, huh? I intend to work on certain things to get them finished (can anyone say “moss shawl”?), but I really just mainly knit on whatever I want, whenever I can. So after I had my fill of chub creek for the evening (I’m working randomly through the old episodes I missed and, much as I love the show, I DO usually get to the “full” point), I wandered in to watch TV with David.
Who, by the way, took a hiatus from patching socks for about two days after that post I did, but now, it looks like he’s back at it. This is the chair near his end of the sofa:
Sigh. And yeah, those ARE pink socks, and I did make them for him, so what?
He’s a hottie—he can get away with anything.
And this is the chair near my end:
See, I'm not ignoring the sock-which-has-no-mate. I’m just taking a break from the hateful yarn (I made). It’s on the docket, it’s in the queue. And while I train for it, sock 1 watches me knit. And during the day, it keeps company with this fine lady.
This is the Japanese feather lace stole I started (also right after the olympics, in a rash of project starts), but have worked on only lazily until a couple of days ago. It’s in a schaeffer yarn called Anne which I received as a gift. I love using it for this shawl; it’s smooth and soft and has a nice sheen from the 25% mohair in it. I know some people have used it for socks, but I don’t know if I would like it for that. It doesn’t have enough “tooth” for socks in my opinion. However, it has the exact same fiber content and gauge as mountain colors Bearfoot, and I suspect it is the same base yarn. Yet Bearfoot is a bit fuzzier, which I like. I’m wondering if, once this stole is done and washed, and maybe steamed, the Anne will “bloom” to become more like the mountain colors. I am anxious to find out and I’ll keep you updated.
Tonight, Debbie and maybe Beth too, are coming over to spin. I am SO looking forward to it!
Originally posted by Anne Hanson on March 24th, 2006
