Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Quest for a Sweater That Fits



So, my previous adventures in making sweaters has not turned out that well.  My first sweater was a seamless sweater from Knitting Workshop.  I didn't follow the directions for the decreases and it didn't fit.  My next sweater attempt is the one shown in my earlier posts.  It is almost finished, just needs the collar done.  It sorta fits; it is very tight on me. One good thing is that it fits my nephew.  I'm also not wild about how the saddle shoulder turned out.  I think there is a mistake in the pattern.  The upshot of all of this is that I'm learning quite a bit about knitting.  So, why stop trying sweaters now?  Here is my latest attempt.  It is a traditional gansey from Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone: Secrets of Knitting  Traditional Fishermen's Sweaters.  The wool is Cascade 220, Pumpkin Spice.  It's Knitting up really quickly.  The pattern is cables, knits and purls.  This pattern also includes a gusset.  I've done these before on mittens but not on a sweater, yet another learning experience.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Wine Tasting...A Little Break From Knitting



Oregon in the fall is spectacular and yesterday was just amazing.  Jeff and I decided to go to our one of our favourite wineries out in Dundee called White Rose.  The view from the tasting room reminds me of looking out over Umbria from Assisi.  We took our white girl, Toni, with us.  She had a blast!


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Knitting Club Again

I totally, have to tell this story from knitting club yesterday. So, I was working with my boys on purling and this was the conversation as they were knitting away (Keep in mind these guys are 6th and 7th graders).
Drew: "Scott, if you could make napalm or a grenade which would you make?"
Scott: "Dude, I'd do dynamite."
Jesse: "What?" Dynamite over grenade?"
Me: "Totally grenade."
Drew: "Oh yeah."
Jesse: "You get cool fragments and stuff."
Me: "It would be so cool to go to like a melon patch and throw a grenade."
Boys: "Awesome, that would be so cool."
and the conversation continued about blowing things up. I'm so proud of them.
The lesson here is, even if they are knitting, boys will be boys.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Knitting at the Beach


Living in Oregon has many advantages, cool weather, great wine, stunning mountains and a beautiful coast.  I had to go to a conference this last week at the coast.  It was awesome weather there.  This picture doesn't do the area justice.  I had such a great time just sitting with my dog, Toni, knitting up a storm and listening to the ocean.