A Little Yarn On The Side

One of the sweaters I have been working on this year is Elizabeth Zimmermann's Epaulet Sweater   because I knew it had some unusual shaping,which intrigued me.  Well, the shaping part was intriguing.    Now it's been derailed because--and it pains me to say this because EZ is my knitting idol-- this is a really boring sweater.  GASP!  I know--I can't believe I have said this, but I am going to frog an Elizabeth Zimmermann project!!!! I thought it best to do it while I still have access to Valium.......I may need it.

Never underestimate the determination of a type-A knitter: 2 washcloths and two tribbles later, I have now used up a whole CONE of dishcloth cotton yarn, and have one more entry on my "all used up" tab on Ravelry. Now, on a new yardage-burning high, I've become a bit of a knitting schizophrenic.  What can I work on that will increase my yardage fastest?  The epaulet sweater is in worsted on size 8 needles, so it got some attention yesterday.  I decided to disregard the pattern and knit the sleeves in the round, which leaves a visible line on the sleeves as I'm working in garter stitch and there's a clear line where I now switch from knit to purl, but I'm not sure I could do a seam that would be any less noticeable, so I can live with it.  I think I've gotten past the "interesting shaping" part that I was curious about and am now in the "boring all-garter-stitch" part, so I worked on it as long as I could stand it, then cast o...

 For those of you who are curious about EZ's Epaulet Jacket shaping, you can see some of it here: I'm guessing the shoulder will be a bit boxy since it's based on a square, but I still want to see how it turns out. The TENTH cross stitch thread is in progress: though not quite finished.  Obviously, doing 12 threads on this thing is actually keeping me sort of interested in it.  If I were thinking about ALL the stitching left to be done, I'd be sobbing in the corner, but just having to do 12 threads on it is doable.  I think. The sewing room project has generated a few patterns and books to be donated: I wish it were overflowing, but getting myself to admit that there is ANYTHING in there I don't need or won't eventually make is rather a unique accomplishment, so it's a start. Speaking of starts,   The new "Baby Attitude" quilt is in process.  I was a bit disappointed to see the quotation marks turn out to be going the wrong direct...

The new scarf is done, which brings me to 9,742 yards of yarn for the year.  I'd like to say I didn't sort through my yarn stash looking for a quick project involving a skein of 260 yards, but I'd also like to be able to eat chocolate without putting on the pounds--and that certainly hasn't happened.  My fantasies obviously have NOTHING to do with the real world. In the end, I opted to cast on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Epaulet sweater: I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease, which isn't my favorite for sweaters, but I had bought a couple bags of the stuff when I was trying to convince myself to learn steeking, thinking that I'd rather cut up cheaper yarn than nice stuff, but I did learn to do it anyway, and have had this yarn lurking in the closet for a while.  This is a brilliant but complicated pattern, so the odds of me making a mistake are pretty high, so I thought this would be a good project/yarn match.  It's another of her seamless sweater ideas...

As many of you know, I've been working as a political consultant for the past month, but I have discovered that though my back has made huge amounts of progress, it is not yet ready for full-time work.  So I am taking this week completely off, then will have to cut back any working hours drastically in the future OR be heavily doped.....which is probably bad for the work environment.  (Or good, depending on how one looks at it.)  IN THE MEANTIME, however, I am having a crafting vacation!!!!! First, I finished up the new baby sweater, which may be a tiny bit smaller than the first one.  The first one took most of 2 balls of yarn and this one only took 1 and a half.  I don't think the difference could be completely caused by the difference in seams versus knit as one piece, but it works anyway.  It looks a bit wonky because it still needs to be blocked, but I'll get to that.  Probably before I find the darn buttons even. We have a girl baby coming...