Banging out a Carbeth... or was it Slogging through a Truckbeth?

I have missed a wee bit of time on the Carbeth.  One needs to earn a living, you know.   After swatching and figuring out which size to make (not as easy as it might seem), I finally got started. Progress has not been as swift as I would like, mostly because knitting with thick yarn and fat needles can be tough on the hands (I am knitting with two strands of worsted weight doubled on size US 10 1/2 needles - not my usual). Nevertheless, I have made some progress.

From here:

to here:

and  now here:

I'm hitting a sort of cadence.  And though it is slower going than usual, each stitch rewards you with a lot more than you would get knitting fingering weight on size 3's.  The top photo was shot during daylight; therefore the color is more accurate.

Random thoughts: By encouraging knitters to "bang out" a sweater in a shorter period of time than usual, MDK encourages a practice foreign to so many of us process knitters: being monogamous. (Note: this is a problem for me in terms of KNITTING only!) For me, Defense Exhibit #1 is the (mumblety-mumblety) number of projects I have on Ravelry. 

Now, this is not a new experience for me, exactly.  I have completed a number of projects where I was knitting for someone else on a deadline - but this time it's for me and I have to admit, it's kinda fun.

I have set aside a few projects. A couple pair of socks - for which I have already made inroads into sock no. 2:

And a few thousand other sweaters, some of which are also close to the armpits finishing.

And that's Oh Kay.

On the personal front, not too terribly much new going on.  Work continues for us all, thank goodness:)! The weather has gone from spring to arctic and flu season is among us (just call me Suzy Sunshine).

I did have a lovely time this past Saturday evening catching up with friends from high school.  A group of about a dozen of us from my high school (Oyster Bay, NY) discovered about 20 years ago that we all live within about an hour's drive of each other, so every six months to a year or so, after a number of email prompts from one of us (usually always PH) we get together for a potluck dinner of sorts - usually at one of our homes. We catch up, on life in general, talk politics and just about everything else into the night, hug and go our respective ways home.  John and I grew up in the same town, though he went to the local parochial (Catholic) school (St. Dom's) and I went to public school, so he knows a number of my friends. Unfortunately, he usually works Saturday nights, so he has only been to one of these - the one we hosted, LOL:)! I think this means I'm going to do the next one - it's about time!

Our first get-together was almost 20 years ago in December of 1998 at a restaurant near Union Station in DC.  Our kids ranged from babies to college-aged (that would be mine - I started the earliest, LOL). The topics of discussion were about our careers, our kids (if we had any) and life in the DC-MD-VA area.  20 years later, we were talking about grandkids, adult kids with autism, Social Security, retirement/second careers and, sadly, the death of an ex-spouse. It's been a privilege to share snapshots of life with each and every one of them. 

VK Live

In my last post, I mentioned having gone to Vogue Knitting Live during the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.  John and I usually go to NYC on that weekend - it started a number of years back when our kids had grown and he had gotten a company benefit that allowed a free weekend per year at a hotel run by the hotel chain for which he works.  It became more frequent when he hit the 25-year mark at the company and became eligible for even more free hotel nights. I have to laugh - parking cost us more than the hotel room!

Anyway, I think this is the second time I've gone.  Each year I have taken a class or two and a lecture by a Famous Knitting Personage.  Last year I was treated to a very interesting presentation by Norah Gaughan.  This year (wait for it!!)I actually saw Meg Swansen!!! She did a presentation on the Baby Surprise Jacket designed by her mother, Elizabeth Zimmermann - and other items of children's clothing designed by her, her mother and her son, Cully. There was a Q & A session.  Meg was so delightful.  I didn't take pictures of anyone because I have a thing about invading people's privacy.  Many others did, though, and she automatically smiled for each and every one of them.  She's what we New Yawkas call "a class act."

I also took two classes hosted by the inimitable - and incredibly funny - Amy Detjen. Why just one teacher?  Because Amy works at Schoolhouse Press' Knitting Camp - this summer in its 45th year I believe - begun by Elizabeth Zimmermann and continued by Meg Swansen.  If I am realistic, my chances of attending Knitting Camp are fairly slim, though I am not giving up on the idea. That being said, I figure the closest I can get to Knitting Camp in the meantime is to attend lectures by Meg and classes by Amy. There are many other knitting professionals who teach very well.  I just happen to enjoy Amy's style.  She's very laid back, but she really knows her stuff.  I have been knitting for about 54 years now (and boy are my hands tired ... sorry), yet I learned two new skills that weekend: i-cord glove fingers and knitting AND purling backwards. 

Knitting/Purling backwards may not sound like a big deal, but imagine how nice it would be to knit entrelac without constantly having to flip your knitting around and around - or knitting colorwork flat, keeping the "right side" always in front of you. 

As for i-cord glove fingers  - I have NEVER knit a pair of gloves and now I feel I can - it's a goal for this knitting year.

Besides the classes, there was the Marketplace (of course) where I bought no yarn (WHATTTT???). I know. But I did buy three books:

I supplemented my Meg/EZ library with one of their latest: The Complete Surprise.  I wasn't going to attend Meg's presentation and not pick up their book! I got the newly revised Vogue Knitting book - an update on the one from 2002 or thereabouts and about twice as thick! Finally, I was able to purchase a copy of Alice Starmore's latest epic work of art: Glamourie, weeks ahead of time! More about that in future posts.

Well, that's all I have for today.  Those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, stay warm these dreary bleak mid-winter days and enjoy your knitting.

'Til next time,

God be with you 'til we meet again+