In addition to being a full-blown knitting geek, I'm also a full-blown book geek. Nerdiness just comes naturally to me, really. I tend to approach things with interest in how I can learn more, what else I should be doing, and how am I going to learn to be better/wiser/nicer to people who walk slow, etc. So, in my endless quest for improvement, I do what comes naturally to me. I research. Lately I've been reading:
I got into Elizabeth Zimmermann through
brooklynweed's ongoing EZ projects, and his general opinion that she is amazing. Since I think BrooklynTweed is pretty amazing, I thought that I'd check out his source. And suddenly all the math that Jared goes on about for his sweaters made a hell of a lot more sense.
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog is so addictive, I've carefully combed through every entry (that's research, NOT stalking!) and laughed and got a bit teary-eyed and really understood why she's so popular-- it's that total honesty, that self-depricating humour, that very Canadian slant that I adore. I
think I may have sat next to her on the subway earlier this week, pulled out Thermal, and entered into a large conversation about knitting. She looked a lot like the Yarn Harlot, if the Yarn Harlot has recently gone dirty blonde, cut her hair into a fetching bob, and put on a bit of lipstick..... but then everything on her blog tells me that she doesn't wear make up. And don't people who want to hide from their adoring public try to look less glamourous? But then if you wanted to hide from those who knew you never wore make up, lipstick would really throw them off the trail. So I'm not sure. She did talk a lot about socks, though. And when we talked about the
Toronto Knitter's Guild annual Knitter's Frolic- which she had written in her day planner. Hmmmm.
Regardless, she proclaimed my Thermal "gorgeous" and asked where the pattern came from (that would be the lovely
Laura), and the we parted ways. I hope one day I'll meet her in person (and be sure about her identity) and sort this whole thing out. In the meantime, I'll keep reading. It helps me feel sane when the knitting threatens to make me crazy.
And at Canada's Wonderland a couple days later:
And just one day shy of the closing ceremonies, I ended up with this:
(Note: when doing FO photo shoots in parks, friendly dogs that are enjoying their leash-less freedom like to participate)
Pattern: Gathered Pullover
Needles: 4.5 mm circular and dpns
Yarn: Knitpicks Telemark in cilantro heather.
Mods: about 4 inches of extra length, and waist shaping. I decreased about 6 stitches on each side for the waist shaping. And in my zeal to race through this project, I accidentally made one sleeve about 1" longer than the other, so I had to undo my cast on cuff and rip it back slightly. In order to preserve the rolling cuff look, I needed a bind off that would mimic my cast on. Enter Elizabeth Zimmerman's Sewn Bind Off. It turned out perfectly, and was ridiculously easy. Magic, I tell you!
Also, when I wet blocked it, I added glycerin to the water to prevent felting. So when I ran it through an industrial dryer in the local laundromat in a fit of impatience- it still didn't felt. I'll definitely be using that handy little trick again in the future- I love wool!
Notes: According to Ravelry, there are 507 Gathered Pullover projects either completed or on the go, and it's in over 2000 queues. That's one popular sweater. And I completely understand why- I love it. It's infinitely wearable, comfy, and classic. This isn't a sweater that will be out of style next season, or any season. And hey, green is my favourite colour. Cheers to that!
Woohoo! I finished the Sweater Sprint for Team Knit Girl!
