FO: Buggy

Buggy--otherwise known as Hey, Teach--is officially done!

The Details:

Pattern: Hey, Teach! by Helene Rush.

Size: Um. Small, I think.

Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed. No sir, I don't like it! This yarn was a pain to knit--literally. A heavy worsted raw silk and cotton blend with no give or flexibility at all; my wrists and elbows may never recover. It does make for a nice finished fabric, but not nice enough to go through that again!

Needles: size 7 KP Options.

Mods: I made the body two inches longer and did elbow-length sleeves. I also added buttons (6 instead of 4). I added extra ribbing to the neckline to bring it up a little higher and keep it from sagging. Oh, and I did twisted ribbing instead of regular 1x1 ribbing because I prefer it. Otherwise I followed the pattern on this one. It's a nice pattern if you don't mind seaming. Personally, I think I'm going to stick to seamless garments for a while!

Goooooooooal!

Oh, wait, the World Cup is over, isnt' it?

I don't care: Buggy is done!

The KH and Older Son have been gone all week (at Civil Air Patrol boot camp--more on that later), so last night Younger Son and I had breakfast-for-dinner, we popped in a movie, and I settled in for a marathon finishing session. Buggy is blocking on a lounge chair now, and just needs buttons to be well and truly done!

Now...what to cast on next?

Seamingly Endless

You know that point in knitting a project when you're just ready to be done? Sometimes you get lucky, and it doesn't hit until you're almost done. I recently participated in a lace KAL where I hit that point during the cast on row. The yarn and beads are still stored neatly in a bag in my knitting room, probably never to be seen again. Rarely, you might finish a project and still want more. With Buggy, I reached terminal disinterest about halfway through the back, with two fronts and two sleeves to go. Lately I've been having that problem a lot, which is why my collection of UFOs is growing at a distressing rate. I was determined not to let Buggy go the way of so many others, so I've been soldiering on, despite my loss of interest in the project and my active dislike of the yarn (Rowan Summer Tweed--I tried to like it, I really did, but I just hate knitting with it).

Last night I finished the knitting and put it aside with relief. Today I realized I really, really want to cast on another sweater, but because I know myself well, I made it a condition of casting on that I first finish Buggy. Please, someone remind me the next time I choose a project that's worked in pieces just exactly how much I dislike sewing seams. I have been seaming Buggy for two solid hours now, and I'm not done. In fact, I still have both the side seams AND the underarm seams left to do. The two hours only got me through the shoulder seams and setting in the sleeves. (Could someone please remind me how much I hate setting in sleeves, too?)

Once the seaming is done, I still have to pick up and knit the button bands and the collar edging, but at least that's knitting and not seaming, right?

One more thing...could someone please remind me that I love knitting?

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!