Appalachia and Diary of a Diary

Appalachian Mountains at 3722ft.

I've always felt that the Appalachian Mountains are in my blood. No matter where I go, they go with me. But still, I have to admit I had forgotten some of their beauty. Even this time of year, when it's mostly brown and dull, the view of the mountains are the same lovely blue.

I spent a few days down south with family and had a great time getting stuck in a snow storm, eating southern bbq, seeing family, and visiting old familiar haunts.

My mom's knitting is improving and we started her on a new beginner project and visited the local yarn shops. I picked up a beautiful skein of Dream Smooshy in a color that reminds of my mountains.

Dream Smooshy 70% Superwash Merino, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon in Dark Current

There was actually time for lots of knitting by the fire, and a little snow to set the mood.

First morning, fresh snow.

I took the beginnings of ANKESTRICK's Diary with me for travel knitting.

This is one of the most interestingly constructed garments I've come across. It is seamless, as per her usual, and uses the contiguous set-in sleeve method as developed by Susie Myers.

It begins with a provisional cast on at the back of the collar. The collar is worked in both directions for a few inches, then stitches are picked up along one side for the back neck. From here on the piece is worked flat from the top down. The collar- shaped by super easy German short rows, shoulders, back are all worked simultaneously for several inches, then increases are added to create the sleeves. 

Diary's Contiguous Set-in Sleeve

Once the sleeves are put on waste yarn, the design becomes a more typical top-down sweater.... provided that you make it that far.

This is not a pattern for knitting in front of the telly (or during take-off and landing, I could add). There is a lot going on in that yoke, and it's easy to over look something- a short row, a set of increases... To add to the confusion, the pattern has an overwhelming amount of information, and could use some serious editing for the sake of simplification.  It was difficult at times to tell if what you were reading was an instruction, or just guidance. There were, however, a handful of very helpful diagrams and photos and a video link explaining the German short rows to help you out.

Progress

Overall, I am very impressed with what is an ingenious design. The way the collar flips on a pair of knit stitches, the beautiful way the shoulder line falls, the substantial icord edging along the collar edge, the german short row shaping... all make for a truly sculptural piece.

Pattern: Diary by ANKESTRICK
Yarn: Lisa Souza 83% Polwarth, 15% Silk in Pumpkin Bold 6-26-13
Needle: 4.0mm, 3.5mm

Procrastination Station

Deadlines are LOOMING, my friends! Which means sketching, swatching, and boatloads of math, that I have to do twice, because I never trust myself to get it right the first time. It also means that the things I am MOST excited about, I can't share yet.

But that's okay, their day will come, and in the meantime, other things are happening....

Like... LOOK WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL!

"AAAAAAA!"

My Addi Clicks! Good thing I was home by myself when these arrived, because I spent the whole afternoon making the choirs-of-angels noise and serenading them with "Getting to Know You" from the Sound of Music. I basically tried to knit four swatches with four different sets of needles simultaneously so I could get a feel for my new toys.

First impression- these are no doubt some smooth needles. But they are a little bit blunter than the needles I'm used to working with, which slows me down a bit, especially on garter, for some reason. There is a small bump where the needle is joined to the cable that at times will get your work caught up on the left hand needle. I found this particularly vexing while trying some lace work. But I'm very pleased with how the needles shuttle along rough yarn. Will keep experimenting...

Also, there was more snow. I've stopped measuring, but if I had to guess, I'd say we still had about 22". To be honest, I could do this for another two months. I want days full of white skies and snow. Every day all day. Who knows, at this rate, I might get my wish.

Yesterday I took a break to go play with my neighbors in the snow and got a chance to romp around with this darling girl: Bella, a 9 week old Bernese Mountain Dog.

Ridiculously cute, this one. Knitting and snow AND puppies... what an awesome day.

And! Since I'm basically just procrastinating, here's some music I've been majorly digging lately: London Grammar. Enjoy!

Nor'easter and a Modern Wrapper

Love walking through town in the snow.

I won't even try to hide it, I LOVE SNOW. The more the better. And it has been quite a winter for snow lovers here in the northeast. We've had at least one snowfall every week since mid-December. This last nor'easter, though, really brought it. We had a good 8-10" left-over from the big snow just last week, and now we have... god knows how much.

In this photo: a patio table, four deck chairs, a grill

 There's so much snow, I couldn't even get it all in one frame. Stephen had to literally shovel us out of the house this morning. Pretty awesome. And we're getting a few more inches tomorrow!

Winchester in his favorite spot

In other news.... Modern Wrapper is complete!

I really wanted to like this cardigan, but here's the truth- it's a tent. A very expensive tent. I have to challenge the claim that this piece is universally flattering. If you happen to be an armless 36" dressform, this is the cardigan for you! But for a woman of my stature it does NO favors. I don't need to look slender, but I do need to look like I have some shape, to which end this cardigan fails big time.

Amy Herzog said something the other day in her blog, which is so true: because handknit fabric is typically more substantial than the fine machine knits that you might find in a store, your body takes the shape of the sweater, not the other way around.  Even in this case where we have a very light fabric with a decent drape.. it will never take the silhouette of your body if the silhouette of the piece is a giant rectangle.

It will make a very luxurious housecoat, but I don't see myself wearing this out any time soon, unless I can figure out a tactful way to belt it. As much as I love Churchmouse, and can appreciate the construction of this piece, I think I will stick with more shapely pieces in the future.

Winter Scenes

The Hudson River has been frozen on and off for the past two weeks due to the arctic fronts we've been experiencing. I just had to share these beautiful exposures my friend Erin took the other evening as the temperatures rose and the ice started to break apart. Just beautiful....

Photo by Erin Giunta

Photo by Erin Giunta

Photo by Erin Giunta

Photo by Erin Giunta

Photo by Erin Giunta

Schneehundchen

Winchester, our little snow dog.