Tuesday, June 8, 2010

WIPs?

What WIPs?

My kids got out of school yesterday. To celebrate what I have always considered the real start of summer, I cast on a summery sweater with a summery yarn in a summery color.

This is going to be "Hey, Teach!" The yarn is some Rowan Summer Tweed in a color I think of as "bug guts green." I've had this yarn in my stash for years. Every time I've swatched with it, I've stuffed it back in the stash. I don't like knitting with it. It's a heavy worsted blend of cotton and raw silk. In other words, heavy, dense, no give, no memory, unpleasant to knit. But it does make a satisfying finished fabric and should wear extremely well with no pilling. The gauge and material are perfect for this project. And I am partial to bug guts green.

It has what I think may be the perfect amount of lace for me. More than, say, a garter stitch log cabin blanket, but less that, say an heirloom shawl. (For the record, I seriously considered knitting one of these for my friend's bridal shower gift way back when. In my defense, at that point I had never knitted a lace shawl and had no idea what I was in for. I can't tell you how glad I am I chose Icarus for that little adventure. And if you want to read about what a snarled saga that was, just search "Icarus" in my blog.)

And so the kids could also celebrate the first day of summer in appropriate fashion, I took the neighborhood boy pack to the local water park today. I'm not so much for water slides. I enjoy being cold and wet about as much as your average cat. But the kids love it, and this particular park is small and quite pleasant when it's not crowded. Today was an absolutely perfect day. The weather was gorgeous and there was practically no one at the park! We got the best lounge seats in the place, the music was great and played at a reasonable volume, the restrooms were clean, and there was no line for the grill. I came prepared to spend the day indulging in my personal favorite activities, with the bug guts sweater and some reading material:

Um. Yeah. I did take all of those. And two extra skeins of yarn, too. For five hours at the waterpark. Before you laugh, think about the knitting you packed for your last overnight trip, 'k?

I bought several of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books last year but haven't gotten around to reading them. Today I read "Knitting Workshop" cover to cover. It's not that long a book and there are lots of diagrams. Oddly enough, it was really enjoyable. I don't really like reading technical knitting stuff, but her voice is so charming and sensible that it's like listening to your favorite aunt talking. When I was finished, I knitted for a couple of hours, then started re-reading that Yarn Harlot book. In a family first, the kids had to convince me to leave the park.

Here's hoping everyone else is enjoying the beginning of summer as much as I am!

11 comments:

sophanne said...

I'm with you if/once you decide to cast on for an EZ-

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

I do love reading EZ; I can hear her talking in my head.

Your Hey Teach will look great in bug guts green!

marit said...

Perfect:-)

I've only read Knitter's almanac- and have to admit Ilove it!

Only one week left, and then the kids will bwgin their summer holiday. It is sunny, but really windy, so no summertemperatures yet...

Debbie D said...

those are all great books. EZ is amazing but just trust her and don't try to figure out how the pattern will work. When I do that it only makes my head hurt.

5elementknitr said...

I also love reading EZ! She had such an amazing life!

Just a tip...
I found that Summer Tweed to be a bit fragile. If there's any seam sewing to be done on your sweater, I'd use something else.

Great color!

Sandra said...

I see nothing wrong with the quantity of yarn/books you took. Seems perfectly logical to me. (says she who took enough yarn for 7 sweaters and 4 pairs of socks, plus her loom for a week at the cottage. We won't even discuss the enormous pile of books that also went...)

Anonymous said...

I look forward to seeing your bug guts green sweater finished. We seem to like many of the same patterns.

Sharon said...

We're still waiting for summer to start here in Portland OR, although the weather report says it'll be here this weekend. Looks like you're in for lots of knitting fun this summer! EZ is the best.

Steph said...

I love bug guts green! I would never have come up with that particular phrasing, but very appropriate!

Where the nodding violets grow said...

I love the Hey Teach pattern and the yarn you are using. The log cabin blanket looks really good. Is there a pattern for it? I have just ordered EZ Knitter's Almanac. I am really looking forward to reading it now.

VeganCraftastic said...

I love that color, it's a great green!