Death by ribbing.

And on and on it goes. I really, really want this unending mass of 1x1 ribbing to be this. But thus far, it continues to be this. I'm about eleventy million rows of ribbing into the wide collar part of the Wide Collar Cardigan, and I have learned a very important lesson. Shall I share my wisdom with you?-- Wide collars that wrap around the entire vertical length of a sweater? Gorgeous and intriguing in theory, but beware: they will test your very sanity. And commitment. Today I will attempt the impossible. Today I will finish the wide collar.

On and on and on.
And do have a listen to my favoritest song ever right now. It's a fitting favorite, friends. Enjoy.

Finished: Central Park Hoodie

Yes, my friends, at long last it is finished. Can I get a collective "'Bout time!" 'Bout time, indeed. This knit dragged on and on mercilessly, but I can finally say that it is done and move on. But in order to move on entirely, I had to get a few FO shots of it, which, given the 85+ degree heat wave in Philly, was not at all easy. In fact, standing in front of this mural a few blocks from my apartment was the only way I could convince myself that it was cool enough to wear this thing. The hood? Turns out it makes a good shade source from the 85+ degree sun. Note to self: aran wool is suitable for blizzards only. Not 85+ degree, super-sunny days.


Finished: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinksy
Pattern: Knitscene Fall 2006
Fiber: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran (8 balls of "Darkside")
Size: 40"
Needles: sizes 6 and 8 straight needles
Date Started: September 2006
Date Completed: 25 September 2007
Modifications: I used size 6 needles for the arm cuff ribbing and used the 8s for all other ribbing. I really dislike bunchy ribbing around the waist.
Notes: I went a little crazy with the buttons. Clearly, this sweater did not need six huge wooden buttons. But I just couldn't help myself, as I had found the best wooden buttons ever. They help to balance out the bulkiness of the sweater, too. The buttons were an surprising score from the LYS, Rosie's Yarn Cellar.


If there's one thing a bright 85+ degree day is good for, it is showing off black tweedy goodness and cables. It's also good for sweltering, which I was doing lots of here.


There really is no excuse for me having taken so long to knit this. It's a fun, easy pattern that, surprisingly, I want to knit again. I know, I know. This first one came out too big, and I really want to knit one that fits me now. With lighter, softer yarn that will feel more like a sweatshirt than a sweater. So, you can expect to see another one of these babies hot off the needles in...oh, 2010 or so.

And now, I am off to continue being a finisher.

My two favorite things to sniff.

Hi all, just popping in briefly with some Fiberlicious! action on this fine Sunday morning. I mean, what better time is there to think about all of the best kinds of expresso than a cool, sunny Sunday morning?


Here are my two favorite forms of Expresso. Yum. While I am still working diligently on sweaters, I am getting the urge to knit socks again. Could it be the imminent onset of Socktoberfest? So, I picked up two balls of Rowan 4 Ply Soft for a little I Love Gansey action. That should satisfy my need for a sock on the needles. And those teensy cables should keep me occupied, too.


Speaking of sweaters and diligence, this little stack of buttons is the only thing remaining between me and a finished Central Park Hoodie. So very, very close. And I can't think of a better thing to do while drinking my Sunday morning expresso than putting the final touches on a pre-fall sweater.

Happy weekend, all!

Sanity maintenance.

Hi. Can you help me? I can't seem to find the week that just flew by. Oh...right. There it went. Good-bye, week. Okay, the good news in my search for the long lost week that has passed between this and my last post is that it is once again Friday. Yay, Friday! The bad news is that I must cope with the fact that I can't seem to get everything I need to get done in a week done in a week. Know what that means? Time for some sanity maintenance.


Yes, yes! Just the thing! The perfect tools for sanity maintenance...a goodly mix of wooden knitting needles poised and ready for action and a hank of crumbs & co. handspun fiber in the most perfect shades of aqua, moss, and grey. Nothing like the discovery of handspun fiber to cure one's frazzled state. Mmmmm, handspun fiber...it's my newest love.


Ahhhh, all better now.

CPH Update: I just can't seem to get the button band finished in a way that I am satisfied with. So, I am now ripping and re-knitting. Why is it I can manage to knit an entire sweater plus hood, but I can't get a button band right?? This weekend, I will prevail. I. Will. Prevail.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Fiberlicious: Ooh, Shiny, Eee Pretty! Edition

Few words will be necessary for this post. The title and these photos of the gorgeous Yarn Nerd merino/tencel blend sock yarn I recently acquired from the talented Adam speak for themselves, I believe. And Adam, in the event that I haven't thanked you profusely for the shiny, shiny, pretty swap goodies, I thank you, profusely!


That's Shiny, there on the left. And there's Pretty on the right. (Sorry, Adam, I might have re-named the colorways in a fit of eee-xcitement!) There was no chance in resisting the allure of this yarn. I mean, is finishing the Central Park Hoodie in this decade truly necessary?


Hey, look! Now I have a shiny, shiny, pretty sock! Yes, yes, another one to add to the pinwheel. I mean REALLY, is there any huge rush to finish a *pair* of socks this millennium?


Check out this fabulous new sock pattern: it's a free one forthcoming from Beth of good-natured ribbing, so be on the lookout for it!


Ooh pretty: a sweet little wavy cuff sans ribbing, my favorite!


Ooh this is new: a short-row toe with a kitchner'd closure on the bottom of the foot. I like this technique! I was always concerned that the kitchner ridge would be bothersome on the foot bottom, but you can't even feel it!

Dare I even make the claim that the Central Park Hoodie will make it's long overdue appearance in the next post? I daren't. But perhaps...

Happy Friday, everyone!

Between the Stitches :: Back-to-School Edition.

My first post in the :: Between the Stitches there is Life :: series--in an attempt to share the goings-on in my life besides the knitting (because, well, there is still as of yet no finished Central Park Hoodie. But! There is now most of a hood! I plod along...). This edition is brought to you by the Bryn Mawr College Harassers' Committee, who decided that it was a good idea to have the first day of every school year fall on a national holiday (they're the ones who make all of the decidedly inconvenient graduate school policies, as well, by the bye). Thus, my Labor Day was spent trundling through barbeques just kicking off and kids drawing chalk pictures on sidewalks on my commute from Philly into school. The trains were uncrowded, at least, since I was commuting out of the city on a beautiful, sunny holiday. There's me, above, dashing off to my first day of classes.


My new back-to-school tote, made by the lovely Claudine and purchased from her sweet little shop, quelled my bitterness over having to give up my holiday in order to go talk about the origins of agriculture and the Urban revolution, which is what I am teaching this semester. Don't I look smart, with my sassy new bookbag!


While I was laboring away at school, a few others were hard at work back at the homestead being über-lazy and squeezing their freakishly large kitty bodies into empty beer boxes. Who better to manage such toiling than ECC?


Fear not, ECC, you shall soon be able to trade out your Harpoon Summer variety pack box with a brand-new fall edition Punkin Ale box. Mmm... it is almost that time of year again.

Block away, black sheep!

Yes, friends, you heard correctly. I used the word "block" in a knitterly context. Which means --you guessed it!-- I am actually approaching a --wait for it...wait for it-- finished object. By my calculations, the last finished object the readers of this blog witnessed was on July 12. Okay, okay, not so long ago, right? Oh, wait. Those were the Sockapalooza socks, which had a ... very firm deadline. And so what if the last sweater I finished was on November 12 of last year? I am averaging a finished knit sweater per year. Not... SO... bad... right? Well, the requisite finished sweater of 2007 is blocking! Or most of it is, at least. There might still be a hood and button band left to knit. Mere formalities.

And what made this blocking experience all the more exciting, besides the actual *finishing* of something? I got to use my awesome, awesome new pincushion handmade by the fabulous Maritza. I really bought it (from her Etsy shop, check it out here!) because I've been dreaming up this fantasy lately in which I learn how to make quilts and sew. And, well, one would presumably need a pincushion for that. For now, I'll have to be satisfied using it to block --once again, with feeling!-- FINISHED knit things. The quilt-making will come in due time, once I figure out how to finish my knit things more frequently than once a year.


"Hi, I'm a big blob of Yorkshire tweed. The rest of me is blocking away, having become a finished Central Park Hoodie. I am no longer the black sheep of the unfinished objects pile. I can't wait to become a hood and button band!"

Yes, my stray balls of yarn HAVE acquired voices of their own. What?

Up next: a new sock finds its way onto my knitting needles. New. Sock. As in those mateless, single socks remain... well, mateless.