twinset.us

Hi, Jan,

We had knitting group last night at one of our favorite summer gathering places - Annie A’s back porch.  Here Annie celebrates the great finished objects of the night with rousing cowbell spirit.  Or maybe she is showing her jubilation at the lovely swim several of the knitters had in Lake Minnetonka before the needles were pulled out.

Among the FO’s, we have the first completed Sideways Spencer by Annie Modesitt to be finished in the group KAL.  Lisa fit hers to a T, though I’m only showing you the back so you can appreciate the lovely texture.  She reports this to be a very fun knit, which is true of Annie M patterns.  They are written for knitters, not for people who just want a certain sweater. Speaking of Annie, if you have a picture of an interesting knit hat, please check her blog for info on how to submit it for consideration for a book of hat inspirations.  Deadline is July 15.

Christina also showed lovely texture on her  Cardigan for Arwen by Kate Gilbert.  This is lovely, and Christina looks lovely in it, too.

I played the role of mature knitter (so often it seems to be my role!) and frogged the brainless socks I was doing because I figured out that 1) the gauge was too small for the yarn - socks should not feel like boards;  2) I had failed to note that the pattern (which certainly isn’t mindless, if in fact it is brainless) mentioned up front that all stitches in the cable are twisted, and 3) the size 0 metal, square cross-section needles were hurting my hands - I wanted to knit these on different needles.  Three strikes and out it went.

I got the toe going again and must admit that this yarn, which I had decried for being squeaky and splitty, behaves much more nicely when knit on needles it likes.  I am so glad I frogged - I lost 10% of a pair of socks and gained the enjoyment of knitting 100% of a pair, plus redeemed a nice yarn to boot.

A final finished object - Hannah (Annie M’s Hannah) whipped out a cotton loop potholder.  Yes, she is nibbling it here - it is just that tasty looking.

Good luck with the packing.  Make sure you set some knitting out of the movers’ way.  It would be tragic if you had to go buy materials for travel projects.

Love,

Ellen