a southern gal in the north

I have been searching for this on EBAY since last fall when Meg used it as one of the sources for the patterns in the Christmas Stocking for Eli (see Schoolhouse Press for pattern).

Several times I lost out as the prices skyrocketed to the triple digits.  But apparently patience is sometimes rewarded as this weekend I won it for low two digits! 

So Excited!

*     *     *     *     *

In January I took my mother into the City (that's NYC) for a seminar (she's a playwright) and decided to try parking near Knitty City [I had some gift money to spend]- and surprise!  A spot right in front of the store! 

NYC know has some of those automatic Parking Meters where you put in your money and get a paper ticket  with the time stamps on it and place in on your dashboard.  Just after I parked, a meterman was walking up to my car, I told him I had just parked and was getting my ticket right away!  So one hour of parking (only 2 bucks!) and I was set.  (although it was very windy so it took a few tries of putting the ticket on the dashboard and closing the door so that the ticket wasn't buffeted by the winds all over the car)

It was a very full store – two knitting classes were going on – and I spent a lot of time fondling the cashmeres after doing a sweep thru the yarns to see what was up.  After that I settled in near the books and found many that I lusted after but settled on two.

Yes, after reading about it for a few months, I succumbed – and then one day last week while prone on the sofa with the flu bug that is making the rounds, I read thru it.  By the time I got to the sections with the patterns, I felt as if I had had a graduate course on Yarns – A GOOD THING!   Everyone else has written praises and I add mine too – a very well designed book and one to which I will be referring very frequently.

My second purchase that day was a new one to me.

Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone
Secrets of Knitting Traditional Fishermen's Sweaters

By Sabine Domnick,

From the publisher….. "British fishermen's sweaters are some of the most satisfying creations a knitter can make. Their beauty comes from texture and pattern alone, yet they can be as spectacular or as understated as you wish. Traditionally worked in the round, with knitted-in sleeves, they require no sewn seams — a boon for many knitters!

When Sabine Domnick first saw these timeless designs, she knew she had to find out all she could about how to make them. Now, as knitters always do, she shares what she's learned, demystifying the process and passing on the tradition to other hands. Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone is the exclusive English translation of her second book about traditional Guernsey (gansey) and Jersey sweaters. North American knitters are more familiar with the Irish Aran sweaters, but the Scottish and English patterns in these pages are made with finer wool on smaller needles, yielding less bulky sweaters that can either be "dressed up" or worn with a favorite pair of jeans.

With the information in this book, you can create sweaters you and your family will appreciate for years to come."

This is the English-language edition of Sweaters for Cold Days, originally published in Germany (2004).

It is a treat to read – and makes me want to start about six sweaters using all of the wonderful patterns. 

At check out time, the shop owner on seeing my books said "you ARE a knitter" at which I blushed. And if some lovely shawl pins jumped out of their basket and into my pile, well, you can never have too many non?

*     *     *     *     *

My variation on the Central Park Hoodie 9see sidebar) has reached the sleeve island phase – I love knitting in the round – the entire body is done (hood and front bands etc). 

But now I have to suck it up and knit those two sleeves – sigh.  It means figuring out decreases instead of increases so that means sitting down and doing some math…

so well, instead I started another Tomten Jacket  – this one for nephew Walter.  We discussed it last week and looked at pictures in the book (The Opinionated Knitter) since he out grew his grey sweatshirt style hoodie from last year – and being a very warm blooded child who eschews jackets normally – it will be a good "mid winter" weight to wear after its too warm to wear his down jacket. 

Of course the color is RED (Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Ruby Red)

Saturday I measured a current largish sweater (Hanna Andersson) and am plotting the sizes from that.

So last night started it during a catchup marathon of General Hospital (yeah, Sarah Brown is back! and a worthy opponent to Sonny!) and the latest two hour installment of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

After a swatch (yes I really did), I was getting 4 St/inch on size 7…so cast on for 28" (the front bands will add another two inches) and have about 10 inches already.

This part always goes fast – once you divide for the sleeves you have to knit on three separate sections… but endless garter stitch makes for good brainless TV companion.

  Last week I also started working on MY aran v-neck cardigan (see sidebar) …it had been so long I had to rip a bit back to get the correct cable row as I am knitting this in the round as well!

Well in looking at the main cable in the back section, HORRORS!  I discovered that I had miscrossed (but consistently) two of the cables ALL THE WAY from the beginning!

YIKES!

After a few well chosen curse words at which Katie the cat raised a sleepy eyelid, I ripped all the way down to the top of the first repeat.

And then on double pointed needles reknit the cable back to the rest of the knitting.

Yes it was a pain but really you can't tell – I reknit from the two twisted knit stitches so I could tighten up the purl background stitches and not have any looseness in the fabric.

Need to measure how long I want to make this before the armhole steeks…and would like to finish this BEFORE the winter ends so I can wear it.

However, today it was 60 DEGREES (yes really) although the rest of the week looks more normal..highs in the 30s, etc.  Oh and Saturday night it was 19!  (no wonder we are all sick!)