wip: first sweater

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Alright, now if it were any other project I'd spend a little time blogging about the yarn I chose or other project preparation details before getting into the meat of the knit piece, but 1. I wanted to devote my time to the inevitable beginning mess-ups/frogs/re-cast-ons that come with embarking on such a large project before telling anyone online about it and 2. I was just too damn excited to work on and eventually wear this thing!

So here it is, after 5 hours of shopping yarn colorways and prices, and at least 3 repeated cast-on attempts, my first hand knit sweater in progress. Thanks to Jane Richmond for her so-far wonderfully simple and easy to follow pattern.

I went with the fisherman's wool in natural brown because I thought it went pretty well with my skin tone and wardrobe. Also because, for three skeins on the day I decided to head out and buy, it cost about $16, as opposed to the cost of $45 for the 7 skeins of the recommended Patons Classic Wool (right now, I'm having so much fun with this sweater so far that I just might make a second for myself in Patons, just because I can).

It also turns out that my three skeins of yarn bought for this sweater are of two different dye lots--one is labeled with 001, and the other two with 002. I...think I'm okay with this. Maybe I'll try some super subtle striping along the sleeves or wherever the first skein looks like it's beginning to run out. If I don't do it and it looks like I knit this with two loudly different shades of brown, I think I'll love the sweater anyway. <3

One big worry I have while working on this thing is the annoying itching I get on my nose and lap. I'm hoping so hard that it isn't me discovering that I'm actually allergic to wool (which would be the most tragic thing), and that I'm probably just reacting to the little bits of grass that I occasionally pull out of the yarn fed into the wip. I've never had this reaction while working with wool before, so maaaaybe whatever's making my skin itch will come out in the wash.

All of my fingers are crossed on this hope here. If that doesn't work out, I'll happily take allergy medication as gifts, cos I'm not planning to give up wool any time soon.

Expect my next update of this sweater to be an FO one! Or...one that's full of curse words.. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

a socktober indeed

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my angler's loop socks

I've made some slow but steady progress on my Angler's Loop Socks this month. Whenever I felt a little impatient I would try the finished sock on and admire the cabling, that's been enough to keep knitting for another 10 rounds or so.

Doing that didn't always work. At one point late one night I just needed some instant knitting gratification, so I did some digging in the queue and found John's Short Footies, a skein of about the right weight, and just got started.

Between these two projects in progress, one semi-secret gift pair in the works, and a super ambitious piece casted on yesterday, I can say there's a lot to look forward to on the knitting front this month.

solstice canyon

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In August, some good friends and I visited Solstice Canyon for an early morning hike. I came across some of the photos I took while there in my iphoto library and couldn't believe I didn't share them sooner!

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This photo of me was sniped by hiking buddy Dice. He caught me stopping to breathe, which was something I did quite A LOT..the uphill way was one hell of a challenge.

With my 'sit-down' lifestyle of knitting and painting, it's easy to forget the simple joy of getting up and exploring. I'll definitely have to work more hikes into my life.