i was told we'd cruise the seas for american gold

IMG_8049, originally uploaded by pirateygoodness.

OMGOMGOMG, this is my sweater, just before I bound off for the body. I am so excited about it. It definitely needs some serious-business blocking, as you can tell by the ridiculous, knobbly knitting (I swear, that’s the yarn), but I’ve tried it on multiple times and it totally fits (or will, once it’s blocked and has buttons) and I love the purple and grey together, and like. Basically, this is a very exciting time for me and this yarn. We have worked out our differences and things are going okay.

Please note my kitten on the left. It’s okay to go “aww.”

I’ve been pushing myself to finish the body of this sweater, mostly because I need the 4mm circular for another project that I get to start tonight. I am taking the train to Nova Scotia (26 hours!) on Friday, and I’ll be there for a couple weeks. I’m also trying to do the entire trip with only a backpack, so I’m packing up my needles and a skein of SRK On Your Toes Bamboo to gift-knit an Ishbel, which is infinitely more portable than five skeins of Lorna’s Laces and a fluffy worsted-weight sweater. I probably won’t be posting until after I get back, so – until then!

Song of the Entry: the first three verses of Barrett’s Privateers (Listen)

you're the only one that keeps me singing – la la la

IMG_8038, originally uploaded by pirateygoodness.

First things first: I am knitting my Garter Yoke Cardi like it’s my job and oh man it’s going so well. I am trying really really hard to get through this while it’s still hovering below 20 degrees outside and I can stand to have a giant sweater sitting in my lap, so we’ll see how I do. (I’m also sort of rushing because I hate purling, and once I finish the body I don’t have to purl again for the rest of the sweater, can’t wait.)

This is going way better than my original attempt with this yarn. I’ve tried it on a few times, and it looks like it’ll fit once I block it a little, and the waist shaping works for someone with my short torso, and like. I’m just very pleased with myself, basically. (Even if this is a pretty awful picture of the sweater-in-progress. Apologies.)

Next on the agenda: I did the TTC Knitalong this weekend. There are much better pictures at Glenna’s blog, here, but basically we took the TTC to a bunch of yarn shops and knit on the streetcar and it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I met amazing people, saw some stores I wouldn’t normally have made the trek to visit, and I also bought some yarn! (Not a lot, just a little bit.) Most importantly, I bought this yarn:

Three skeins of Cascade Eco Wool, plus a copy of The Opinionated Knitter, because garter stitch is calming and mindless and I want nothing more than to spend September to December of this year knitting myself a grown-up sized Tomten sweater coat.

Song of the Entry: Ashley Tisdale – Hair (shh – don’t tell)

. . .but it's going to be my year.

IMG_8022, originally uploaded by pirateygoodness.

Now that I’m on summer vacation (!!!), and have a bit more free time on my hands, I’ve been able to start coming out to knit night at Lettuce Knit again. Which is awesome, because I totally needed it this week – it gave me a chance to sit down for a solid few hours and focus on making a little bit more progress on my Garter Yoke Cardi, rising from the ashes of the total disaster that was my stab at Owls. It definitely fits a lot better so far.

Because I couldn’t resist, I did modify it a bit based on what I’d read on Ravelry – I added an extra short row repeat to the back neck to raise it a little bit more, and I knit the first half of the raglan increases in garter stitch because I wanted to make sure I didn’t run out of my grey yarn.

I’m also excited about taking this sweater out on the TTC Knitalong this weekend. I think now that I’m on the endless stockinette of the body, I might be able to pull it off.

Song of the Entry: All Time Low – Weightless (Listen)