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Fast

Everything seems to be picking up speed here, including dachshunds and my Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan sleeve:

I'm almost at the decision point for adding the lower bottom borders back into the sleeve. I think I'm set on the idea, but still, I hesitate when I look at the original design. (Scroll down to view it here in its original gorgeous-ness.)

My plan is to add this to the lower third of my sleeves:

I'm pretty sure it will be fabulous. The only thing that makes me hesitate is spoiling the effect of the Uninterrupted Motif running magically from cuff to cuff. However, I'm thinking it could run magically from forearm to forearm, right?

Friday!

There is a lot to do around here, including sleeves, but we're still planning on playing hard, too.

Hope you have plenty of playtime hardwired into your weekend! Have a good one, and we'll see you Monday.

Q&A Thursday

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments on my Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan yesterday; I appreciate your supportive attention, and felt inspired to knit knit knit on my magic sleeve last night. Another two inches, and I'll switch charts and color. Photo tomorrow!

A few questions arose, so here are a few corresponding answers. Caroline F asked about the wool, and yes, it is Jamieson and Smith's Jumper-weight, rather than the original-to-the-design Satakieli. I love J & S! Anne asked how I was knitting this in the heat of summer. Well . . . it has been cooler here. But it's J & S Jumper-weight! Even with the whole thing on my lap now while I add the In-Pattern sleeves, there are only about 9 ounces of wool sitting in my lap. Jumper-weight is that lightweight . . . 12 ounces total for the whole cardigan. That's less than a pound, and refreshingly less than the usual 35 pounds of miniature dachshunds who like to be little hot hairy lapdogs all at the same time. Yes! A lapful of cardigan is cooler than a lapful of dachshunds. So it's all relative, I guess.

Here's Something Interesting

I was browsing through Metafilter's offerings yesterday, and came upon a link to fabric origami:

Seems like this could have an interesting application to knitted squares and such...click on the Fabric Origami link within the website. Ornaments and Selections from the left nav-bar when you are ready. Would you necessarily have to stiffen it? Hmmmm.

It's Thursday!

Mike and Della say stay alert! See you tomorrow, with sleeve progress.

Mid-week

Motivated by Jerry's sleeve progress, I worked on the Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan sleeve. Here's my progress up close, with its astonishing Uninterrupted Motif:

and here's a picture of the big picture:

Cool, eh? Betcha wish you had one right now, with no discernable break in the pattern between sleeve and body. I think Picking Up the Sleeve in Pattern as per Meg Swansen is an inspired bit of knitting magic. I've decided to alter the original pattern somewhat on the sleeves, and work the bottom border color back into the lower third, along with a Purl When You Can cuff. Yep.

It's the middle of the week! Della says do some prancing!

Sleeveless in NJ

I was checking Jerry's progress on the beautiful white gansey yesterday, and found he had finished a sleeve!!! I'm so impressed with this sweater that he's knitting...it's quite obviously an heirloom, even while still on the needles. Really beautiful work. Like our wonderful Wendy, Jerry also concentrates on one big project at a time. I think it's a very noble idea, and one that I've been trying to adhere to since I began blogging. My purpose always feels renewed when I see the amazing progress others have made, particularly the one-big-project-at-a-timers, so I'm motivated again to get the sleeves of the Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan finished. No point in being sleeveless in NJ.

Textile News

Saw this on boingboing yesterday and was filled with delight . . . Electric Plaid, from International Fabric Machines. Go take a look at the specs on this color-changing textile! Whoo-Hoo! Yeah! Can you stand it?? I'm so eager for stuff like this to reach the knitting world...what a brilliant way to color your fair isle knitting!

Pup News

Yesterday we realized we had a new dachshund to admire . . . the lovely Anezka who owns Shannon over at bitter-girl. A new cousin! Little Jack is simply delighted! Or is he leering? Do dachshunds leer?

Happy Tuesday! Work those sleeves!

Watching the World Go By

It was simply gorgeous here over the weekend, and the temptation was to do as the pups did, and just admire the backyard.

Lows in the mid-60s, highs in the low 80s...perfectly lovely. However, I did do a few rounds on my sleeve, which, you may recall, I was raving about last week because it features a technique that is new to me: Picking Up In Pattern. Here is my limited weekend progress:

Can you tell where the body ends and the sleeve begins? Hint: There's only an inch of sleeve done, but align the crosses to see the seam, okay? Cool, right?!! Uninterrupted Motifs!

Linda M. asked on Friday if I thought the crocheted steek would work on Norwegian-type yarns, such as are found in the Poetry in Stitches sweaters. Answer: I don't know (yet). Haven't tried it. But I did write to Meg Swansen, originator of the crocheted steek technique, to ask her about the possibility of steeking with less-hairy yarns. She replied that she was a bit leery of slicker yarns like Heilo and such, but that she had successfully done it with Satakeili, a non-hairy fingering weight yarn from Finnland. So my best answer right now, Linda M, is try it! And let us know what happens! I'll be trying it on a Dale swatch as soon as I finish my Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan. I will definitely create a larger steek, say seven stitches, than is usually called for in Norwegian-type stranded knitting, just to have a little room for error, and possible emergency stitching.

Monday!

Mikey says have a happy one!