Unseasonal thoughts on a winter's day; an Ipad sweater pattern, and a contest

Snowing yet again, and predicted to continue another eighteen hours. Unbidden come the inevitably adverb-laden, highly dolorous thoughts.

His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.*


(For a distracting contest to enter, scroll down to the bottom!)

At least I have the satisfaction of having finished my Ipad's sweater.

To conclude the pattern, I seamed a 2" gusset on either side, attached a large button, and knitted a seven-foot-long I-cord. You'll notice that the top part of the I-pad sweater, just inside the triangle of the flap, is grey and brown. That's because I ran out of Noro Kureyon and substituted a small amount of Noro Silk Garden from my stash. The Silk Garden also provided the I-cord, which, unlike the pouch, I didn't felt. Though I didn't expect this to happen, the weight and colors of the two yarns mesh quite well.

On my roster now, to finish Cy's dinosaur sweater, which I started (gulp) more than a year ago. (Why this has taken so long is one of life's banal mysteries.) But after that, I've promised myself another treat, to knit yet another design by Deborah Newton, from her latest book, Warm Weather Knits.  Generally I don't enjoy knitting yarns that aren't wool or animal fiber, but these patterns are nearly irresistible, plus they remind me that spring cannot be far behind. The hardest thing will be deciding which to do first.

And while I'm singing the praises of Deborah's talent, let me point out that one of her hat designs is on the cover of the latest issue of Vogue Knitting.

So, to move from the sublime to the silly, if anyone can identify the opening quote of this post, I'll send you my personal copy of Sweaters from New England Sheep Farms by Candace Eisner Strick. Just email me with your answer! Contest closes January 31st.

And that made all the difference

Same pattern.  Different yarns.

Left:  worsted, edged with Artyarn.  Right: cashmere, silk, merino blend edged with Noro Silk Garden.

If you'd like the pattern, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Though very fond of this vine and leaf design, I'm preparing to try other embossed patterns. Everything happens in the fall, does it not? As I write this, summer's doing a last-gasp heat wave, but the handknitting, as it were, is on the wall. The season of mist and mellow fruitfulness approaches.

NB: two days left before The Poetry of Knitting Contest closes!

Entre nous, entrelac

Despite my general aplomb, there are some things I just don't want to do on my own. One of these was learning how to knit entrelacs. I had looked at video tutorials and downloaded step-by-step instructions, and I had the sense that I could probably figure out the process. However, when I saw that Yarns Down Under in Deep River, Connecticut

http://www.yarnsdownunder.com/Yarns_Down_Under/Home.html would offer a two-hour workshop in the technique, I signed up pronto, and tried to enlist other members of Langworthy Library Knitting.

Anne took the bait. Yesterday morning we set off, met up with kindred knitters, and, under the tutelage of Janis Witkins, who provided clear and well-illustrated print instructions as well as an actual demonstration, began knitting our entrelac scarves. As you can see from the photo, the process requires deep concentration. It was a very quiet room, everyone wholly focused on the task at hand. Janis was an excellent teacher, and patiently untangled the inevitable problems that entrelac presents to novices.

Talk about flow! Two hours passed almost instantly. (Actually, we didn't leave until almost three hours had gone by.) By today I've gotten through one repeat of the pattern. Knit in Noro Silk Garden, it's lustrous and complex, and the technique is, at least at first, as absorbing as knitting lace.

Yarns Down Under is a beautiful shop, well and richly stocked, with a knowledgeable, friendly staff. It's situated at the edge of a rather sizable pond--hard to say exactly how large, as it was frozen and snow-covered. The view was lovely, however. Free knitting help is offered on Tuesday mornings from 10 to 12.

I will probably return, at some point, for entrelac coaching.