As promised: a knitting post.

Knitting, they say, is a great stress reliever. They often say this just before throwing their current work in progress across the room in frustration, but anyway.

Since we last chatted about knitting back in October, I've been flying through projects like the hounds of Hell were after me. I'm not sure why. I think it's partly because I've had weaving on my mind since taking that two-day workshop in November and would like to get the loom out again -- but I had several knitting projects queued up, with patterns and yarn purchased, that I wanted to finish first. Too, the queued projects all use wool yarns, and I'd like to finish them all in time to wear them before the weather gets warm again.

First up: a cardigan. The pattern is called Old Growth and it's in the Tin Can Knits pattern book that I bought in Colorado last summer. I loved the design as soon as I saw it -- the button bands are offset from the center front, which allows for a tree-shaped lace panel on the wider side. That panel, I knew, would not only look awesome, but would keep the boring torso portion of the sweater from being too tedious to knit. I even found buttons with a nubbly surface that looks like tree bark. Here's how it turned out:

Next, I resurrected a shawl project called Sepia. I don't typically have many UFOs (UnFinished Objects) lying around -- I tend to start one project and stick at it 'til it's done. But this one I started and put aside. The pattern calls for increases along the center ridge of the triangle and at either end -- pretty standard stuff -- but in this case, the designer used backwards-loop cast-ons for the increases, which are super easy to do but I'm not nuts about them. To make matters worse, you're supposed to pay attention to the slant of the loop -- so you'd twist the loop one way for right-leaning stitches and the other way for left-leaning stitches.

I ripped out and started over a couple of times, trying different increases, but in the end I gave in and did what the pattern said to do. Mostly. I also gave myself permission to not stress about whether I'd done the correct slant for each cast-on stitch. I'm sure a fair number of the increases are slanting the wrong way, but it doesn't seem to matter much.

My third project was another sweater -- a pullover called the Pavement. You start at the top and knit down in stockinette, in the round, except for garter stitch at the collar, cuffs, and bottom edge. There were short rows in the collar back and for the shirt-tail hem, which kept things interesting. In all, it was a surprisingly quick knit -- partly because I was rushing to finish it and shorted the sleeve length by an inch or two. Ah well. It looks fine with a turtleneck underneath.

I might pull out the garter stitch and lengthen the sleeves someday -- but not right now, because I've moved on to my fourth and final queued project. It's another shawl, called the Level, and it's my third Nancy Whitman pattern -- she designed the Eden Prairie and the High Street shawls that I've enjoyed knitting and wearing. This one has her characteristic blocks of color, but this time they're narrow lines on a plain background, with a lovely wide border.

I'm not very far into it yet, as you can see.

Eventually I'll have three copper-colored stripes and three blue ones. It's been going pretty fast, but the rows get progressively longer. And then I get to knit the border. Let's see, it's the beginning of March...spring will be here in two and a half weeks... Hmm. Well, at least I got the sweaters done in time to wear this winter.

***
These moments of knitted blogginess have been brought to you, as a public service, by Lynne Cantwell.

Knitting is like - say what?

Dana Loesch, who shills for the NRA, said this week that 3D-printing -- even 3D-printing a gun -- could be a fun hobby. You know, like knitting.

We'll return to her comment in a few moments. But hey, how's that for a topical segue?

It appears I haven't done a knitting post since February. That was six months ago. Going so long between crafty posts seemed unlikely to me, until I remembered how hectic our spring was, what with the unexpected move due to construction woes at the old apartment building. (By the way, I stopped by there yesterday to check out a package receipt notification that I had received in error. Nothing's changed. I'm still glad we got out when we did.) I got rid of a ton of stuff in preparation for that move, including some yarn I knew I'd never knit up into anything. So while I was doing yarny things, I wasn't doing a lot of knitting.

In addition, we'd had a problem with moths at the old place. Actually, we'd had all sorts of weird problems with bugs at that place. The first time I turned on the bathroom light, a cloud of gnats flew out of the exhaust vent, circled a few times, and then all died at once. Then there was the time I found a daddy longlegs hiding in the shower curtain. I never did figure out how he got in. Lest you think the bathroom was Weirdness Central, we also had a plague of ants for a while; how they got up six floors and into our dining room still mystifies me.

Anyway, the moths. In an effort to kill them, we bagged up all our fiber in vacuum bags before we moved and left everything in those bags for several weeks after moving to the new place. All of which goes to explain why I left on vacation in June without a project in my carry-on.

Not to worry, though; they had yarn shops where I was going. And the first shop I stopped in -- Longmont Yarn Shoppe -- was a winner. As I browsed the pattern books, a clerk asked if she could help me. I told her I was on vacation and had left home without a project because things had been a little nutty before I left. I believe that was when she suggested that I have a seat at the table to look at the book further, and even brought me hot water and a basket of teas from which to choose. Talk about service!

After that, I could hardly leave without purchasing anything. So I picked up the pattern book -- aptly titled Road Trip -- and materials for the Rivulet shawl in the book. The pattern was not at all complicated, which suited me for that trip. I made it bigger than the directions called for. Here's the result:

The yarn is a soft silk/cotton blend. I'm looking forward to wearing this shawl when it cools down a little.

I was glad to have a simple project to work on because my previous project was definitely not simple. The pattern for this sweater is the Killybegs, designed by Carol Feller. Believe it or not, the hardest part of this was the I-cord cast-on at the bottom, which took me three sessions to finish. (For those of you who don't knit, I-cord is short for "idiot cord," a term coined by Elizabeth Zimmerman for a super-easy knitted cord made on double-pointed needles. She said the process was so easy that even an idiot could do it.)

Anyway, here's the sweater.

I took the photo in the bathroom at work, hence the tunnel-mirror effect.

As usual, I couldn't leave well enough alone; I installed a zipper instead of the gazillion hooks and eyes the pattern called for. Getting it in place took some trial-and-error. But it zips, and that's the important thing.

Since finishing the Rivulet, I've cast on a couple of projects and set them both aside. I'm thinking now that I may wait until it cools down before I pick up one or the other to finish it.

Which brings us back to Dana Loesch, who says she "knits all the time." I get how it might be fun to use a 3D printer to make stuff. But I just don't see how printing a gun would be like knitting. Knitters do kid around about how they're armed with sharp sticks, but needles aren't nearly as lethal as a firearm.

***
I did a thing today: I posted last week's post at Medium. This is the first time I've ever posted anything there, so I'd appreciate it if you would stop by and give me a clap. Thanks!

***
These moments of stabby blogginess have been brought to you, as a public service, by Lynne Cantwell.