Saturday, January 15, 2011

Finished!

Dear Mom,
Cast on February 22, 2009.
Completed January 14, 2011.
This is Veronik Avery's Notre Dame de Grace (scroll down) from Interweave Knits, Summer 2007.

Button from your button box.

I love the way the shoulder shaping and stitch pattern flow into the neck.

The only pattern changes I made were for personal fit. I lengthened the body by 2 inches and shortened the arms by the same amount.

Friday morning was spent much like Thursday morning. I returned some drapery shears (sheers?) I purchased out of desperation and 'just in case' I couldn't find anything better, returned library books, proofed some note cards I am having printed (more on that in another post), returned the fabric swatches and purchased the fabric I will need to make my window treatments, and returned some drapery hardware I purchased in another fabric store- again, another 'just in case' purchase even though they only had 3 of the needed 6. The reason I mention this, is that after making that return, I cheerfully said good bye to the ladies working there and somehow, not exactly sure how, Knitting was mentioned. (Okay. The word first came out of MY MOUTH. Big shock, that one.) I soon found myself giving an impromptu tutorial on double knitting (of which I have done only a minuscule amount) with slippery aluminum double pointed needles and sparkly acrylic yarn. Not that there is anything wrong with either the slippery needles or slippery yarn. I am not such a yarn snob that I can't acknowledge that there is a place for both. They are just not my favorite sort of knitting things. Up to that point my morning was clicking right along, and because I had taken Patsy to daycare I had an afternoon of laundry and spinning planned. If my life had a sound track I would have heard the screeching tire sound of car avoiding collision. I was happy to help, though, and if there is one thing common to knitters it is that we want to share the knitting love.
I did get home, perhaps a good hour later than I'd hoped, to find a Knit Picks package in the mailbox with the needles and yarn I ordered for my SpillyJane mittensAfter a short visit with my spinning wheel, and before finishing that sweater, I cast on the first mitten.

Polska
Those are the KnitPicks 6" double pointed needles, size 0. I have their Harmony wood interchangeable needles and love them. This is my first pair of their double points. I already have a set of bamboo size 0's, but they are 8" long and I find that length awkward. They get caught in my sleeves. Anyway, these new needles are wonderful. They are every bit as nice as my favorite set of rosewood sock needles. And the KnitPicks double points come in a set of SIX needles rather than the usual 4 or 5.
After all that activity away from home this week I desperately NEED to catch up here. And when I say need, I don't just mean that the house needs my attention. I also need to be Home.
Love,
Kim