Happy New Year!

Among the knitting books I got for Christmas (dear hubby kinda let me a little loose on Amazon) was a bargain at Amazon , The Northampton Wools Knitting Book, the Shop Patterns by Linda A. Daniels. It was only $4.98! It started a small spree, and I now have finally added the Vogue Knitting Stitch Directories (all three – one was Christmas present), the above mention book, and Brandon whatsits book – all for MUCH less then I’d find them in a LYS.

Anyway, in the Northampton book is a very basic vest that is speaking to me – especially as a nice mindless project to cart around.

SO . . . .I SHOPPED MY STASH! AND FOUND . . . . .
a lovely old, old, Rowan in a nice muted rosy pink – but . . . when I went upstairs to find another ball with a label and gauge on it . . . . . too thin.

BUT, I found an unfinished sweater in a tweed with flecks of orange, aqua against a soft median brown – a great, really nice color. Scratchier than I really would have liked (one of the Debbie Bliss cash merino’s was a possibility – pattern calls for Classic Elite Four Seasons). Part of the unfinished sweater was still in a ball, so I have just done a gauge, and it’s PERFECT! So, for the new year, a short start of a mindless vest, and then back to the Afghan. I’ll take photos and post all tomorrow. We are still invaded by my goddaughter’s friends (three have been staying here since Thursday, and usually there’s been one or two additional local friends over too), so I’ve abandoned my knitting room (they’re in the living room, and even being quiet, well a group of five 20somethings enjoying each others company . . . .) and am hiding out in the bedroom, working on frogging the aforementioned unfinished cardigan (horrible gauge on it – way too loose for the yarn!) But it’s only, maybe 19-20 years sitting there unfinished – I THINK I was making it for my husband(before I realized he doesn’t LIKE cardigans [whereas my father ONLY wore cardigans), and I know the yarn came from the first yarn store I worked in, which closed in 1987.

And 20 years ago I hadn’t knit any socks, and not done “true” fair isle, or any AS knitting, so my gauge wasn’t as tight as it is now. I don’t think I really knew then that I needed to automatically go down two needle sizes to even check my gauge, let alone doing it. That may have been in the days when I didn’t think “I (important, full of self, I) was an experienced knitter, I didn’t need to do a gauge swatch like a beginner.”

Life lesson since then – that’s actually a sign of an experienced knitter, IMO, that, yes, if it’s a yarn you’ve not knit with, or a pattern that you REALLY need to be on gauge, you do need to do a gauge swatch

So, even if I felt I should “finish” the original cardigan – to do so would require frogging the whole thing, and re-knitting it anyway, and a safer, happier result will be to make the vest.

So, Happy New Year all. Back to frogging!