Purple Rain, Purple Rain..

First, an update on my lovely Lumley cardigan. It turned out to be too small across my bust & midriff. I blame Christmas cookies, my mother's genetics, and also a pattern which - according to Rav knitters - runs very small. It's in time-out before I muster the energy to pull out the two fronts and re-knit them. My partner had a genius idea about re-knitting the fronts, incidentally, and I might just use that idea..

But before I do that, I need a project to cleanse my palate.

Just a few days ago I succumbed to some Rowan Colourscape in the January clearance sales. The colour is "Purple Rain" and it is an otherwise unreleased shade that selected John Lewis stores across Britain were selling as one-offs. I bought 6 skeins with no clear idea in my head - I just loved the deep, deep purples which my camera has clearly failed to pick up.

And now I've cast on for a Sarah Hatton pattern. I sat knitting the cardigan whilst re-watching Hot Fuzz and I actually got halfway up the back in just one evening. Just what the knitting doctor ordered. Now I hope I've cast on for the right size - after the Lumley debacle I have grown a tad paranoid.

Some links:

• A really good article from The Salon about why people love so-called "bad writing". I'm a self-confessed 'Stylemonger' (read the article for description!) but I'm also unapologetic about my dips into genre reading. Well, unapologetic unless I read fourteen Georgette Heyers in less than two weeks.
• Erica Jong on modern motherhood. The concept of that article might sound like something out of your worst nightmare but it makes some interesting points - even for this non-motherly person.
• My cake decorating skills lie somewhere between "bad" and "wonky". You can't say the same about the people who made this astounding cake.
• Five Emotions Invented by the Internet.
• Born This Way (via MeFi): "A photo/essay project for gay viewers (male and female) to submit pictures from their childhood with snapshots that capture them, innocently, showing the beginnings of their innate gay selves. It's nature, not nurture!" Disclaimer: I read this blog not so much as reinforcing stereotypes (as some MeFi contributors argued) but rather "more about what you see in the mirror, once you know what to look for" as queer people look back at their younger selves. It's about nostalgia, self-acceptance, lived lives, and identity.
• And, then, Prince singing Purple Rain.

Pause

"So sudden loss causes us to look backward - but it also forces us to look forward, to reflect on the present and the future, on the manner in which we live our lives and nurture our relationships with those who are still with us. We may ask ourselves if we've shown enough kindness and generosity and compassion to the people in our lives. Perhaps we question whether we are doing right by our children, or our community, and whether our priorities are in order. We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame - but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others."
- Barack Obama, Tucson Memorial Speech, 2011.

WIP: Lumley

I finished knitting Lumley Monday night and pinned it together quickly. Hmm. Yesterday night I then crocheted the body together to get a better idea of the fit. Crochet is great if you want to seam up fast - and if you want to undo that seam really fast too. I used mercerised cotton in a contrasting colour on the seams - that way it is easy to rip out and it also lets me see how visible the eventual real seam will be and where I may have to fudge a bit due to row-gauge issues.

The back fits me perfectly but the fronts continue to give me pause for thought:

1) The fronts have a very neat fit because of my bust. The cardigan is wearable but I need to have D. take a photo of me wearing the cardigan before I can decide if the fronts are too neat for my liking.

2) The fronts curl a bit despite me steamblocking them last night before seaming. I may need to wetblock them. Alpaca can be a bit of a drama queen at times.

If the fronts do turn out to be too tight for my liking I have thought of two possible solutions - and I'd love to hear your input here. I can either:

1) rip the fronts down below the armhole shaping and do some short-rows across the bust area which will lend extra length and ease.

2) Or I can rip out both fronts and knit them a size up, although maintain the armhole shaping for the size I've already used for the back and sleeves. This'll give me extra coverage in front without sacrificing the front shaping.

You may wonder why I'm willing to rip things out and reknit a big chunk of this cardigan, but I actually really like the design and I want the finished cardigan to be one of my go-to garments. It has been a long time in the making already and I do not mind spending extra time getting it right.

I'll be crochet-seaming the sleeves today and then assembling the entire cardigan before I get D. to snap a few photos. Who knows .. it might be perfectly fine and the size issues may well just be in my head. Let's hope. Regardless, knitting this cardigan has been a real learning curve - not because it has been a difficult knit but because I've had to learn to be a far more precise and patient knitter. I'd like to think I'm all the better for it.

Also, I warmly recommend Lucy Neatby's DVDs. I've been watching and re-watching Knitting Essentials 2 for her tips on finishing techniques. She has some mind-blowing tips no matter your skill level.

Sorting the Stash, pt. 3

The yarn has been boxed and put back into the closet. Despite my initial reaction, it was a straightforward task. I had a pretty good idea of what I owned and (bar one or two balls) the stash was pretty much how I remembered it - apart from the hideous amount of laceweight yarn, of course. I have really enjoyed taking a look at my sweater amounts, actually. Some really gorgeous stuff. As a result I have been spending a lot of time on the Ravelry pattern database trying to match up yarns and projects. I still have yarns for which I have no specific project in mind but - as someone said to me a few days ago - some yarns need to marinate in the stash for years before the right project shows up. It's a slippery slope, absolutely, but also occasionally true. I have twelve balls of a beautiful teal tweed yarn, for instance, and the right project hasn't shown up yet. I'm not going to knit the yarn into something just for the sake of removing it from the stash.

I've also been reassured by this entire process. I keep reading entries on Ravelry by people whose tastes have changed and how they no longer like what they own. I'm a consistent sort of person and thankfully I really like what I see in my stash (with one notable exception). I have yarns that my fingers are itching to use and yarns that really make my head spin with ideas.

And just on cue: my Lumley cardigan has entered the final stages! I cast off the second sleeve yesterday whilst enjoying The Men Who Stare At Goats - far funnier than I thought it would be and almost Cohen Brothers-esque. Today I unzipped the first of my provisional cast-ons to knit the cuff (this is a great little video showing you a crochet provisional cast-on and how to unzip it). I should finish the first cuff tonight and the second cuff tomorrow, so it looks as though this long-term project is finally getting finished. I still think this is one of the cleverest designs I have ever knitted and hopefully it is going to look nice too.

I have only really done two mods: one was to add an extra button and the second was to lengthen the sleeves. The cardigan is written with 3/4-length sleeves, but I was unsure how they would look on my long arms. It turns out that because I have lengthened the sleeve, I also need to modify the cuffs. They are originally meant to wrap around my arm just below the elbows, but now they will wrap around my wrist. I quickly realised this meant a very slack cuff when I started knitting it this morning, so to counteract the slackness I am now knitting the cuff as written for the smallest size. This could get interesting..

What is your favourite finishing tip?

Hymn To Grace

North Star isn't just the name of my favourite neighbourhood café, it is also one of my favourite albums from the now long-lost 1990s. In the last couple of days I have rediscovered the album - and it is peculiarly, decidedly Glaswegian. And I obviously had no idea that I would one day end up here when I fell in love with Roddy Frame's album. Hmm. This song has been in my head all day. A short, simple song and all the better for it.

Sorting the Stash, pt. 2

So. So I am standing there with two giant balls of acrylic bouclé yarn (very similar to this yarn). They were a gift and I'm surprised you even had to ask.

Anyway.

I am standing there holding two balls, each bigger than my head, and I am about to put them into the discard/trade/wtf pile when my darling D. comes into the room, takes a look at the two balls and says: "Oh, I love those. They'd make a really nice throw, don't you think?"

And so I put the two balls of yarny doom back into my yarn closet.

Help.