Mission Could Be Impossible

But you know in the end, the mission does get done with much drama and hoopla in between. So, I suspect my next knitting project will follow that formula.

I am absolutely in love with a sweater pattern from Jamieson's Shetland 2 book. Hamefarin is the name of the pattern and it has everything I like about a sweater, cables and nice vertical lines, well shaped and fitted and raglan sleeves, good looking crew neck.

I am equally in love with the Rowan British Sheep Breeds yarn, so what could be better than a marriage of the two? Well, it's all about the gauge in knitting and the sweater calls for an aran/worsted weight yarn on size US 7 needles and the yarn is bulky weight and takes to a range of US10 to US11 needles. It could be a rocky marriage. I had my Nancy Kerrigan moment, whining "Why me, Why me?" so now I am biting the bullet and swatching to see if I can possibly get away with knitting a size smaller and still end up with a sweater that will have a reasonable fit and not be so dense it stands up in a corner all by itself.

I'm using US10's for this and keeping my fingers, toes and cables crossed that it works out. I have looked high and low for a similar sweater to no avail. Worse case, I'll cut a repeat from this pattern if I have to. Gene has also requested this sweater pattern and I have some wonderful Brown Sheep yarn in a beautiful deep green, just this side of teal for him. It is of course, closer in gauge.

My cabled cardigan has come out from hibernation since I finished the socks. I can knit on it without any guilt and have added about 15 rows in the last day or so. That's fast for me, probably woefully slow for just about any other knitter. My knitting piles up kind of like my weaving does. If I had as many looms as I have knitting needles I would A: Have no room in the house and B: have many many projects in process. :)

On other news, I added to my knitting library with a classic Elizabeth Zimmermann book, Knitting Workshop. I'm planning ahead for sweater modifications! Seriously, this is a fantastic book and it should have been in my library years ago when I first started knitting. A test skein of Black Welsh wool came home too. I have this earmarked for a sweater for myself, but the color I have on order for the Hamefarin sweater is not in yet, so this will do for the swatch and then get used on my own sweater.

Finally, I know where Puck goes when he's not here, at least one of the places. I was driving by Tub Springs and something small and black slunk over the side of the road into the ravine. I was so curious I pulled the car over and got out to investigate since I had just caught the color and movement in my peripheral vision. There, hunkered by a tree, hoping I wouldn't spy him was Black Cat Puck. He took one look at me and booked it into the deep woods. The hunting must be good or someone is leaving food for him, or maybe one of our neighbors on the far side of the springs feeds him, but there he was and he doesn't look to be skin and bones. So it would seem our little shadow cat has carved out a home for himself up here, for better or worse.