Sweaters-in-Progress

So yesterday I went to a meeting with my academic adviser We didn't have much to talk about as far as academics go because I'm going to be in London (!!!!) next term, but somehow our talk turned to knitting, and I discovered she's a knitter too! She showed me some of her handmade scarves, and I showed her the sweater I'm working on. It was really nice to talk to another knitter but also made me miss home. That's one thing I really miss at school ... the little community of two Mom and I have based on knitting. We don't really know many knitters, but I can see the appeal in being part of a larger knitting community. Something about knitting seems to invite a special sort of communication ... knitting sort of reminds me of a religion, with converts new and old, when they find each other, being carried away with ecstatic rapture centered around fiber. While I'm at school, the only time I get to talk about knitting is on the phone during marathon phone conversations Mom and I have about ... conversations that I'm sure my roommate must roll her eyes a bit when she walks in and realizes I'm talking about knitting again. And I think that's one of the really neat things about blogging, something that makes me want to really make the effort to blog more often ... it seems to be an entry way into a larger virtual knitting community. But anyway, with that said and without further ado, here are Mom and mine's sweaters-in-progress.


It's her own design, and as you can see from the photo, she's been using tips from Jacqueline Fee's The Sweater Workshop as well as books from her Elizabeth Zimmerman collection. It's knit in Brown Sheep Naturespun sport yarn in a very stretchy garter stitch rib. It might look a bit small, but it fits my six year old brother with room to grow to in. She's now even farther along on the second sleeve, so look for a finished object post soon!



I've been working on the Wear Everywhere Pullover from the Spring 2005 Interweave Knits. I'm using the yarn the pattern calls for, allhemp3. It's my first time working with hemp, and I have to say, at first I was very frustrated. Luckily, most of my other yarn was still at home in Virginia which forced me to keep working with it. And now that I've gotten going, I'm really happy with the sweater thus far. The hemp really does soften up, even just from knitting with it. And the fancy rib pattern is pretty to look at and simple enough to memorize. It's nice to have a project that I can carry around in my backpack and get a few rounds in when I have an unexpected break during the day. Also, the lilac yarn reminds me that, though it doesn't seem like it right now, spring will come back eventually.

So there's a little taste of spring. Today, the temperature got to above 20 and the sun was shining, and looking at the flowers that someone put in my mailbox today and my lilac sweater got me ready for spring. Look for a post on the spring knitting Mom and I will be starting over my spring break in the next couple of days!