Hopeful yoke

School and work pressure has lifted (however temporarily), and knitting can resume! I've been working away on a new design for that sweater for my friend's granddaughter.


It's really, as all my patterns are, a variation on a theme -- the new element for me this time is the yarn, which, being a cotton blend, seems less well suited to fair isle knitting than my standby superwash wool. Therefore, the yoke pattern I cooked up is decidedly simpler than previous fair isle yokes I've done.


And it's a hopeful yoke -- those coral-colored tulips on a muddy brown ground are a wish for spring from the midst of February doldrums.



I'm working on writing it up as I go, this time in three different sizes. That's a first for me too!

Meanwhile, the red socks are one toe away from completion. My parents are going to be here tomorrow, and I'm hoping I can finish knitting right now and block overnight, so my mom can wear these puppies pronto!

As promised.

As I posted yesterday, I have a sock completed. As I look at this little number, it seems a little short -- but I am banking on my mom's having smaller feet than mine. She's visiting this weekend and I am hoping to have the pair done by then.


Meanwhile, this tasty treat arrived this morning from Knitpicks: some Shine Sport to make a fair-isle yoke sweater for my colleague's granddaughter, due in April. This seems like a lovely spring bunch of colors, don't you think?


Not a yarn bribe this time -- more of a yarn reward. It feels quite nice to get that Chaucer-paper monkey off my back.

... what's that you say? I have some mittens that I have not finished? You are right. With temperatures in the high 40s, it's hard to conceive of knitting mittens. But not to fear: cold weather will eventually return, as will my knitten-mitting mojo.

This is ynough, Grisilde myn.

Huzzah! I finished the Chaucer paper and sent it off to my prof. Only 6 weeks late, really not that bad in the scope of things. And, of course, I could not hold off on that reward yarn and have knitted a sock. The partner's on the needles, and I'll post a picture anon. I'm banking on not getting second sock syndrome, having just been through that bout of second draft syndrome.

Actually, a thought on that: the only sock I've really had second sock syndrome with was one of the only pair I've made out of non-self-striping yarn. I think that seeing those stripes stack up really keeps me knitting, and knowing exactly how many I need to knit before turning the heel also seems to make it go quicker -- kind of like the way back from someplace you've driven or walked always seems shorter than the way to it because you know exactly where you're going and how long it will take.

For what it's worth.

Next up: two stacks of short papers to grade (cake!), some medieval mysticism to read (reading! how lovely in comparison to writing!), and a baby sweater for my colleague's granddaughter to knit. More on that anon as well.