The Sweater Saga

It's been sometime since I last updated the progress on my current sweater attempt.  Life has kept me very busy. However, that doesn't mean that I haven't been knitting.  Here are the latest images of my progress.  I'm at the point where I separate the front and back and put the gussets on stitch holders. 

I was really worried about the knitting the gussets.  I don't know why; I've done them on mittens.  And....imagine, they were just as easy to do on a sweater as on a mitten!

Anyway, I'm really happy with how this sweater is turning out.  The next big hurdle will be the cable shoulder strap.  Thinking about that one had me up way past midnight combing through knitting books trying to figure out how it was done.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Knitting Club at ACMA

I am very lucky to teach at Arts and Communications Magnet Academy.  This year, I am also the faculty adviser for Knitting Club.  My favourite substitute teacher, Linda, came in every Monday last year (whether working or not) to run knitting club.  This year she is doing the same thing (on Tuesdays).
Today was the first day of Knitting Club and I had Four...yes FOUR boys show up and some of my favourite girls too.  I'd post pictures but I can't put up pictures of students.  Anyway, it was great.  We made our own needles, learned knitted cast on, long tail cast on and knit stitch.  The kids struggled with the casting on and knitting but we got some stitches from one needle to another.  I'm hopeful that the kids will be coming back a lot.

Green Chili and Knitting

It's Green Chili time back home in New Mexico. There are lots of farms selling their chili on corners throughout town. They roast them there and the air is full of the smell of roasted peppers. This is one of those regional things that I can't do with out. Seriously, I can't imagine not having green chili at least once or twice a week. Of course, I live in the Pacific Northwest now and green chili isn't available (canned green chili is crap and it's not hot). However, I have a great dad who will ship me chili. So, the green chili arrived yesterday and I spent today roasting it. The house smelled amazing. My nephew and I love the smell; however, Jeff called it "Burnt pepper smell." Anyway, I spent over four hours roasting chili today. This box was full at nine this morning
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Here they are out of the broiler.

Anyway, the roasting provided me with the opportunity to knit, put the chilies in, knit two rounds, check on chilies, knit again, flip chilies, knit again, etc. It worked great. I got done with the first sleeve of my sweater.

I'm a little concerned about the sleeve being too tight but I think I can correct that when I block it. We'll see.
So, out of all of this I got my green chili addiction fixed as well as my knitting one.