Gromit Wonders ...

A while back Anmiryam at Gromit Knits tagged me for a meme. I replied that I had decided to keep my blog meme-free, but that I would be happy to answer any questions she might have. So at long last here are my answers:

"Is the Must Have Done? Mine, alas, is going to languish until it's time to get ready for fall sweater weather. With the shift to daylight savings time I've mentally adjusted to the concept of spring, though today is our first day of nice weather."

YES! Yes, yes, yes, the Must Have is now done. I sewed the final sleeve in on Monday, June 13, so that makes it four and a half months from start to finish. I even wore it the other day when the weather was windy and a bit chilly. I think it'll be a favourite sweater. My plan is to get a photo of me wearing the finished article with my dad. He was the gifter of the yarn, so it's only appropriate.

I know what you mean about winter knitting in spring/summer. Finishing a wool sweater in June feels a bit anti-climactic, because you can't immediately start wearing it. But my knitting is so out of sync with the seasons (remember the shell I finished in December?) that I don't even bother trying to make it match up. I just concentrate on finishing what's on the needles.

"How is your novel going?"

In May I took a month off work to spend time on the novel, and it was heavenly. Essentially, I did a developmental edit on my first draft: looking at the plot, the narrative voice and point-of-view, and preparing to write the second draft. Good work to do when I had a big chunk of time. I have posted more detailed updates at www.gresik.ca. So in other words, the work is going well but I have a lot more to do.

"Have you always been a writer by profession or did you ever have another "career" or job?

I started writing fiction when I was doing my undergraduate degree at university, and I've always considered it my chief vocation. However, I haven't been able to write fiction full-time since I finished my master's degree in 1998.

After grad school I got a job at Adobe as a technical writer and editor, and I've been here ever since. I like the work and I'm well-suited to it. Some people ask me whether I find it difficult to write after working on the computer all day. I don't really find that to be the case, since writing uses a much different part of my brain than technical editing does. I do try to do my writing on my weekends and days off, though, when I'm more fresh.

I've had a few other jobs: I sold fruits and vegetables at a roadside stand during high school, and I worked as a dental assistant at my dad's office for a few summers in university. I spent a year as an administrative assistant at a real estate investment firm in Toronto before grad school. Shawn and I worked three years part-time as residence managers for Carleton University (by far the most interesting and challenging work I've ever done, outside of my fiction writing).

My dream is to write fiction full-time someday, when that becomes financially feasible.

"Is knitting a distraction, a way to procrastinate, or does it help you to mull over ideas and revisions?

I've thought a lot about this questions since you first sent it. And I've come to the difficult realization that knitting is more often a distraction from writing than a complement to writing. Occasionally I will think about a story or character while knitting, but more often I have the television on, or I'm listening to a book tape. I'm somewhat less preoccupied with knitting now that I'm not buying yarn, but I still spend an average of 10-12 hours a week with the needles in my hands.

So I've decided I need to cut back on "knitting-when-I-could-be-writing" (KWICBW). That means that I'm fine to knit during cohousing meetings, or in the car talking to my husband, or visiting with family, or when taking short breaks from another task like house-cleaning. But I'd like to cut back the knitting while watching DVDs or listening to book tapes. That might seem a bit extreme in the self-denial department, but if I'm going to finish a book in the next year, I need to make sacrifices. While I will miss knitting, I know that writing more will make me happier in the long run. I'll still probably post here just as often. (I've only ever posted about a quarter of my knitting output, so cutting back shouldn't deprive me of blog content!)

So thanks for the questions, Anmiryam! You really got me thinking.

Easy Hold Clamp

In finishing news, I took the one-armed sweater to Fabricland on Friday so I could pick out some buttons. I tried some silver and some wooden ones, but I wanted something subtle that wouldn't distract from the sweater's cabling. So here's what I chose:

Dark around the edges, and turquoise in the centre. They're meant to be sewn on with the ridge showing (top view), but I decided to go even plainer and sew them on upside-down with no ridge (bottom view).

And speaking of sewing on buttons, which I did today x 8, I get to show you my handy-dandy button clamp! I found this nifty gadget also at Fabricland in a clearance bin, and it's too clever. Check out the Easy Hold Clamp (C) Creations by Cordell.

The bottom of the clamp is a circle open in the middle, and the top features two sharp teeth. The intention is to clamp the button onto the piece of clothing, to hold it exactly in place while you sew it on. See illustrative photo below:

And by jove, it works! Button-sewing is a pleasure with the help of this "third hand".

I'm making excellent progress on the second sleeve--finished the increases and working on the fourth of six repeats. I'll have a new sweater before the week is out! [I won't be able to wear it until October, but oh well.]

The Sleeve, She Fits!

There's nothing like a perfect sleeve (after two failed attempts) to brighten up one's outlook on life.

Yesterday I sewed in the sleeve and seamed the entire right side of the sweater, and just look. The length is perfect, the underarm is free and easy, and I think this cardie is my best work yet:

I can't wait to finish now! (Cleverly hidden in the photo is my bare arm and the remaining dangly yarn ends.) I'm two increases into the second sleeve, and it's such a pleasure to knit without the nagging questions: am I doing this right? will it fit?

Because it fits! Hallelujah.

P.S. Happy thirtieth birthday to my sister Melody, she of the Flower Basket Shawl! Have a terrific concert, Mellie!

Just Wait!

Lately this knitblog has been more of an archive or a gallery than a journal. I seem to take ages to upload a photo, and then more ages to compose an entry, so that the knits are practically fossilized by the time I show them off! (There's a reason I don't include start or end dates for these things ...)

And frankly, I think it's kind of boring to look at finished photos and project notes. The interesting thing about knitting is the story behind it, not the end result. So I'm going to attempt to make more temporally current, narratively compelling posts.

Here's one, I hope.

Yes, it's May and I'm still knitting the wool cardigan I started in February. Granted, I had to put it on hold to make a few gifts, but still, the delay is mostly due to my own bad judgement, perfectionism, and periodic lamebrainedness.

Back in March, I finished the front and back pieces of the cardie, after a good deal of indecision about bust size and length. I ended up going with the Small bust size (37"). Then I thought I would be all methodical and quality-control, and so I joined the shoulders, knit the button bands, and basted the front and back together to check the fit.

By the way, I'm a huge convert to the finish-as-you-go school of thought. In a way, it puts my procrastination to good use: rather than putting off the button band at the end of the project by working on other things, I put off knitting the sleeves by doing the button band! Strategic, I tell you.

So I basted and examined and weighed my options, while wandering the house in my "walking cat toy". Sam is unable to resist those tempting yarn ends!

In the end, I decided that the sweater was a bit too loose at that size, and I wanted it more fitted and shapely. No problem, just move the side seams in a few rows! And while I'm at it, I should knit the size Extra Small sleeve, so it will fit into the narrowed armscye, right?

There's nothing wrong with this idea, as an idea. However, when you have knit the Extra Small sleeve, sewn it into the armscye and seamed the whole thing, and it's way too bunchy and tight and annoying under your armpit, exactly how a thick warm wool cardigan should NOT be, you realize what was wrong with that idea.

For sleeve attempt number two, I decided to move the side seams back out and widen the sleeve to the Medium size, to avoid any possibility of underarm bunchiness, and because I thought I needed the extra width to fit the armscye. During this attempt, I made three errors:

1. I went from memory instead of reading the pattern carefully, and did the increases every four rows instead of every eight rows.
2. I did one too many increases, ending up at the width for the Large sleeve.
3. I failed to account for the fact that the sleeve caps for the larger sizes also had more rows as well as more width, so the Small sleeve cap would have fit in the Small armscye just fine, gol darn it.

So that entire sleeve attempt is now toast. Frogged. Erased like a sand mandala. I will not think of the hours I spent on that fruitless effort while driving to Windsor and back. That's 18 hours of car knitting, people (minus pee breaks). Break my heart.

But I think I got it right on attempt #3. I did the increases properly. I shortened the sleeve length slightly. I made the Small sleeve cap. I blocked it.

Today is the moment of truth. Today I sew in the sleeve. Will the third time be the charm? Tune in next time to find out.

Harlot Does Ottawa

Last night I combined my two favourite things by attending a book signing at a yarn store. Yarn Forward was the first stop on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's international tour to promote her book At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much.

Stephanie, aka the Yarn Harlot, was in fine form, tossing off lines like "Friends don't let friends knit drunk", recognizing people by their sweaters, and giving the "knitter's handshake", which involves fondling and exclaiming over one's handknitted sleeve.

The book signing coincided with Yarn Forward's regularly scheduled Sit and Knit, so a tableful of knitting women sat around the sandwiches and cookies. Stephanie preferred to stand, a ball of Koigu tucked under her arm:

Readers of her blog will note the Gap pants (recently hemmed) and the Rhinebeck sweater.

A testament to Stephanie's knitting evangelism: within hours of meeting the sales rep assigned to ferry her to events, the Yarn Harlot had her busy with needle and yarn. Here's Marilyn with her Patons Divine, behind the table stacked with books:

I chatted with a knitter next to me named Suzette, who had some gorgeous Fleece Artist socks on her bamboo needles. I brought the sleeve of my Must Have Cardi and stayed for about an hour.

Much fun! If last night was any indication, Stephanie is going to have a blast on this book tour. Check her schedule to see if she'll be appearing near you.

Make Up Your Mind Already!

The agony of indecision has plagued me during the knitting of the Must Have Cardie. To recap:

• Should I start the left front over again, so I can line up the ribbing with the cables, and make the Medium (38" bust) instead of the Small (37" bust)? (NO)
• Should I rip back to below the armhole shaping so I can fix a mistake in the Irish Moss pattern and shorten the sweater back to 20" in length? (YES)
• Is it okay to start the neckline shaping at the end of a diamond, instead of in the middle? (YES)

Making these choices took me about a week and a half of knitting, measuring, holding pieces up to my torso, and scratching my head. I was so tired of second-guessing myself, I just wanted to work on the sweater and make some progress!

Let's hear it for progress. I finally committed myself to the measurements (37" bust and 20" length), knit like gangbusters, and finished both fronts.

In an interesting twist, after blocking the pieces grew by 2", giving me a total length of 22". Which was the length I was originally aiming for, but was forced to go to 24" to add an entire extra diamond repeat. That'll teach me to pay attention to my pre- and post-blocking row gauge.

Here's what the neckline looks like when you don't start the shaping in the middle of a diamond:

I think it looks just fine, and I ain't changing it no how.

Everyone's Doing It

Two factors have led me to set aside the Debbie Bliss Colour Blocks sweater and begin a big new project. Those factors are 1) the fun of cabling in the Heirloom Aran sweater, and 2) the Must Have Too knitalong.

Even before the first Must Have knitalong in January 2003, I had the Patons Street Smart pamphlet, which my sister gave me so I could make an Urban Aran for her. Then my dad decided he wanted to buy me yarn for Christmas 2002, and I picked the Must Have as my target pattern. The whole family went to Wool-Tyme in Kingston and I got my six balls of Patons Classic Merino in Peacock.

I knew from reading about others' experiences that the Must Have would be a major undertaking, so when the opportunity came to knitalong, I couldn't pass it up. (Nathania and Norma are doing a wonderful job of hosting the knitalong.) Plus I know my dad will get a kick out of seeing me knit up his Christmas present (Hi Pop! Love you, love your yarn.)

I had to go down to 3.5 mm (US 4) needles to get gauge (the pattern and yarn call for 4.5 mm or US 7). Fairly typical for me, I'm afraid. I don't think of myself as a loose knitter, but I guess I am. I decided to knit the Small size and cast on for the left front, staying up on February 1 to make sure I started on the first day of the knitalong.

(The colour looks turquoise. In reality, it's a dark teal.)

I've done almost 10 inches, but now I'm stalled. One of the drawbacks of a knitalong is that you see the way others have improved the pattern, but not always in time to make the improvements yourself the first time around. Several knitters have altered the ribbing so that it feeds nicely into the cables, and I really like the way it looks. But do I like it enough to rip everything I've done?

So while I ponder that question I've been working on another sweater ...

[I've opened comments on this post, so if you have an opinion on the ribbing/cables dilemma I'm glad to hear it. But know that I'm just going to do my own thing anyway!]

[BTW, I'm not alone in agonizing over my ribbing.]