Progress....and yarn

It's been a couple of weeks since I showed you the sweater that I keep claiming to be knitting. True there was the distraction of the grey socks, but I really have been working away at the thing and it is now beginning to resemble an actual knitted garment.


Well sort of anyway. The rows were getting soooo long before separating for the arms, but are now back to a much more manageable length. I'm in the 'largely mindless' portion of the pattern now, just stockinette back and forth and remembering to decrease every now and then. It is not the most exciting knitting, to be sure, but it's good for keeping the hands occupied when the mind is elsewhere (I really don't feel a need for more excitement at the moment). I am feeling the beginnings of the urge to cable, but so far it's in control.

Less in control, as a glance at the photo above suggests, is my tension. I'm still on gauge, but this knitting is less even that I'm used to. I think the problem lays, in part, with a difference in my knit v. purl tensions which I normally avoid by working in the round. The yarn is also slippier than I'm used to, which may be contributing. It's also only 40% wool, so I'm not too sure how it's going to react to blocking, which would normally be my first strategy with something like this. It's not bothering me enough that I'll be upset if it doesn't block out (and certainly not enough to rip it back).

I mentioned that I may have picked up some yarn while I was in Vienna.


Not too much damage, really. I have a great fondness for German sock yarns and knew going in that I wanted a few skeins for my souvenir of this trip. I visited three yarn shops in Vienna, all of which held many temptations.

The German companies seem to do the best self patterning yarns, so I was happy to bring a couple of those home. The pinky one is probably going to be socks for me. I almost never wear pink of any kind, but I do like the pink/grey/black combination and feel I may be able to put it on my feet. The greener one is what Adam picked out for himself.

The blue yarn there represents the only self-imposed buying rule that I broke. I didn't intend to buy any solid colours while I was away. There are lots of other, nearer sources. But I'd never seen this yarn (Lana Grossa Seta Cashmere) before and couldn't resist. It has an amazing sheen, which photos don't convey, together with a so-soft hand and a good hard twist. The actual cashmere content is only 4% (with 15% silk) but it's a nice luxurious little touch. I don't regret picking this up at all.

My dearest also gifted me a little yarn while we were there:


Regia sock in a colourway incorporating my favourite purple and chartreuse combination (yes, really) and designed by Kaffe Fassett, no less. Squee. I'm thinking these will be Monkey socks for me, one of these days.

My largely theoretical (and clearly completely delusional) knitting schedule had me finishing the vanilla sweater by the end of this month. Doesn't seem likely, does it? And with two more must-finish projects coming up before the beginning of July it may be a while before I get to start a pair of fiddly socks for myself. One of the great things about yarn? It'll keep.