My Shoulder Hurts

My left shoulder, to be precise. I am right-handed, so I am a little confused as to how this happened. No, that is total denial. This is a knitting-related injury. On Christmases past, I have had achy forearms (bad!), but this shoulder thing is new. I don't think that I've been knitting any more than usual lately, or anything unusual. I am still working on the Central Park Hoodie in Ultra Alpaca for my grandmother. The yarn isn't hard to knit, but I am using some old-school, heavy, metal needles instead of my usual Addis/HiyaHiyas/Harmonys. Could they be to blame? Could this be from using my laptop too much or sleeping in weird positions? I need a day off from all of this.
Do you think I could work on a sock while this heals up?
Probably not. Sigh.
Tomorrow, I think I will go see a movie at the place in Indiana with cheap matinees of new releases. I can get some (relatively) cheap gas while I'm there. I'll be able to eat greasy movie theater popcorn without having to worry about getting the "butter" on my precioussssssss yarn. This plan gets better and better...
I am slowly working my way through World On Fire, a book about the British involvement and influence in the American Civil War. It was written by the historian who wrote that fabulous Duchess of Devonshire biography a few years ago. This is a bit slower moving, as there are so many characters (historical figures) to keep track of, what with the Federals and their British supporters and the Confederates and their British supporters. Still, very interesting. I had no idea what a dick Seward was before reading this book! The other reason this hasn't kept me riveted, I suspect, is my extremely limited interest in the American Civil War. It was long, it was awful, and afterward people said "the United States is.." instead of "the United States are..". It's the stuff of 5th grade reports, reenactors' weekends, and sad folk ballads. I'm midway through 1863 right now. Will write more once I've finished the book.

I Hate Everybody.

Someone tried to break into my house while I was out for the night. THANK GOD, my neighbor scared them off, but it still has me really freaked out. I am afraid to go out, because I am convinced that someone will break in and steal all the things while I am gone. When I am home, I am afraid that someone will break in and it will lead to violence or worse. Someone tried to break into my home. My former roommate had left the window in his room unlocked, which gave them an easy access point, and me a total rage fit when I realized it had been unsecured. What can I expect from someone who used to live in a house where the back doors were secured with a rubber band? Everything is locked up tight now and I have a couple of motion activated floodlights to swap out with my existing fixtures on the patio, when I can get someone to hold the ladder while I work. Call me crazy, but I think that doing electrical work on an aluminum ladder alone is a bad idea. That must be why I'm not a union stagehand. Ideally, I would like a security system, as I must leave the house occasionally and most of my gigs are at night. Or a flat on a leafy street in Hyde Park. 

My resolve to only work on long-term UFOs has faded. After the limited success of the Damariscotta and Rusted Root (which has found a home with my mother, who tells me she will redo the ribbing at the hem, which I accidentally knit as k2p2 instead of k3p1. More power to her, I say!), I decide to start on a new cooler weather appropriate project. In fact, I have been project monogamous for the past week. That's rare for me, so you can appreciate my determination.
I am currently working on a Central Park Hoodie in Ultra Alpaca for my grandmother, who is ill. Every time I see her, she looks cold, so I'm sure this cozy sweater will be well received. So far, I have knit the back and right front pieces and am about halfway through the left front piece. The left front went remarkably fast, probably because it is only half the width of the back piece. Also, it happened to be in my bag when I went to check on my grandmother in the ER. It took them five hours to admit her, which is a lot of knitting time. I expect the pace of this project will slow a little when I run out of flat pieces to knit. Anything that involves picking up over a hundred stitches just doesn't travel well, so when I get to the hood and ribbing, the CPH will have to stay home.

Current projects:
* The Bribe CPH
* Everlasting Mary Jane
* Rainbow Noro Shawl

What I will knit next, I do not know, but with this unseasonably mild weather, I am considering rescuing my Madelinetosh worsted Wicked cardigan from its couch exile. The yarn is a loosely spun wool single, so it's not the best for knitting while sweaty. Now that it is cool enough to have a whole sweater sit in my lap while I work on it, I might tackle more cold weather projects.

An update on the UFO roundup

After writing my last post, I attacked my unfinished objected with alacrity. Over the past few days, I have finished three sweaters. Better yet, they are weather appropriate sweaters! As I write this, the Damariscotta and Rusted Root are blocking on my bed. If I had a larger bed, there'd be a Twilight Tee on it as well. Since it is August, I am not itching to start working on the cold weather projects. I know that I should, but I can't stand having a big, heavy sweater lying in my lap in this weather. So, I will probably tear out the duds and work on small things.
When it is too hot to knit, I have a few good books to read. When it's too hot to read, that's sheer misery. 

UFOs, be gone!

I have decided that I will finish or tear out all of my UFOs and WIPs before starting any new projects. I'm dying to cast on something new! Because I am shameless (or need to subject myself to internet shame in order to motivate myself to finish a bunch of abandoned projects), here's a rundown:

• Damariscotta tee-- This shapely tee with crochet edged neckline, knit in Malabrigo's worsted cotton, lay abandoned in my credenza for about a year. I'd knit it from the top down, all the way to the waist increases before casting it aside for more exciting knitting. The pattern calls for a double knit hem with tubular bind-off. Um, no. All of my double knitting experience has ended in disaster, so I am knitting a turned hem and whipstitching it to the body. I highly recommend weaving in a high contrast lifeline in the row before starting the turned hem, so that you have a reference point for stitching the seam later. I've had my fair share of wonky picot edges, so I wish that I'd thought of the lifeline earlier.
• Everlasting pullover-- This recently abandoned project was set aside in favor of small, summery projects after one end of the circular needles developed a burr. I tried sanding it down and powering through it, but the yarn is a splitty, 12 ply cashmere blend. The resulting fabric is sprongy and lush, but the process of knitting it can be exasperating. I cannot tell you how many times I accidentally put the tip of the needle through the yarn. The burred needle's manufacturer sent me a free replacement, so the everlasting pullover is free to resume, weather permitting.
• Fairly Easy Fairisle Cardigan-- This has been marinating the longest of all of my UFOs. I knit the peeries, sleeves, and body, but ran out of steam on the colorwork yoke. It's not hard and it's knit with bulky yarn, but the flat construction makes the colorwork a bit of a drag. Guaranteed to make a cozy winter favorite for someone. I can't remember what size I was making, so this might go to one of the female relatives.
• 2830 jacket with heavy mods-- This one potentially needs the most work. It needs sleeves, but after they are made up I will tear out the hem edge and lengthen it. My mother thinks that the yarn is a little ugly. It's a two color variegated hand-dye.  I think it is lovely, but can see how it might not be to everyone's taste. I have some darling pink oval buttons for it, which it makes it slightly more likely that I will actually finish it someday.
• Transatlantic Shawl-- It just needs the border finished and a little crochet work. But the rows are soooo long.
• Twilight Henley-- Needs to be sewn together and get its collar. I am very unenthusiastic about sewing right now. This might be due to the hot weather. Finishing work is so dull, but it always pays to take your time and do it properly. A sweater that took months to knit can be ruined in minutes by slapdash finishing.
• Wicked Cardigan-- This was put on the back burner so that I could make seasonally appropriate projects. Now that it's August, I'm starting to think ahead to cozy fall sweaters. Must find air conditioned place where I can hang out and knit so that I don't felt this with my sweat!
• Ulmus shawl-- I didn't get into the rhythm of this pattern, so I will probably tear it out and start over when I can give it the attention it deserves.

Most of these projects can be finished with one big push, an afternoon or an evening's worth of finishing and knitting before they can be enjoyed. What that says about my attention span is not great, but I'll be able to have lots of new handknit garments with little effort on my part.

No smoke from the Vatican on everything else going on right now. My knitting I can control.

I wish I could quit you, cotton.

Every time I knit with cotton, I swear that I will never do it again. And yet I do and more lurks in my stash. Sometimes the same cotton yarn can be a pleasure in one project and an utter pain in the ass in the next. I just finished a lace tee in a cotton/wool blend at four stitches to the inch. I breezed through that project. The same yarn knitted at five stitches to the inch? Pure drudgery.

I'm trying to knit a few quick warm weather projects while the weather is still conducive. So far, that has included a Twilight short sleeved sweater (no vampires were harmed) and another Krista tee. Now, I am trying to remain motivated to work on a Rusted Root. The lace panel is a little too fiddly for mindless knitting and the resulting fabric surprisingly thick. Maybe I'll cheat on it with another weather-appropriate UFO, Damariscotta (also in cotton, FML).

In things unrelated to fiber, I've been spending a lot of time with my grandmother lately. Did you know that grandmas are the largest growing population in new internet users? Well, add mine to that statistic. I recently gave her a surprise!computer after years of resistance on her part. I just showed up at her house with an old iMac and asked her where she wanted it. So far, she knows how to turn it on and off and check her email. She doesn't know how to reply to them yet. Rome wasn't built in a day. When I went over there this morning to deliver a bunch of gladioli I picked up at the farmer's market, my cousin Chris was there helping her with the computer. He's part of the mac using branch of the family. Actually, the majority of us use macs (even Grandma!), with the exception of a few family members who've never even used macs. I am oddly fascinated by people who cling to PCs because switching to macs made such a difference in my life. Could I do what I do on a PC? Yes, but not as easily or cheaply, and with way more unprintable words used.

I went on a two person yarn crawl today with a friend. Miraculously, I bought nothing. Some of it is willpower and the rest a function of the depth of my stash.  I heard recently that novelty yarn is coming back, a less than thrilling prospect. I didn't see any novelty yarn at the three stores I visited today, but saw many novel things.

The first store I visited was Sifu Design Studio, in Andersonville. I really, really like this store and not just because Lisa, the owner, gave me a much needed cup of coffee. Sifu is eclectic and charming, full of potential inspiration.  I was very tempted to buy a bundle of high end yarn from a famous Michigan fiber artist for a Colinette style throw, but I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head. Most importantly, I learned that Lisa sews zippers into sweaters for $30-- a steal. I've decided against a few designs that featured zippers due to my dread of sewing them in, but now that I know where to have them put in properly, I might get around to knitting them after all.

Just up the street (ok, many long blocks), we headed to Windy Knitty. I'd been there a few times before and raved about it to Nancy, but it was her first time there. WK and Sifu are very different, but both excellent in their own way. Windy Knitty is a spacious, airy store with a clean, cheery aesthetic. They carry both workhorse yarns and luscious independent dyers, in sweater quantities. They also have excellent notions and some knitpicks needles. If you're curious about the joins in knitpicks options needles, this is an excellent place to see them for yourself before buying (although I can tell you, they are excellent and make addi turbos feel slow!). I envy the knitters of Andersonville for having two such excellent stores.

Our third stop was Knit1, which has undergone a change of ownership since my last visit. Knit1 is a dog friendly yarn shop a block or so north of Trader Joe's on Lincoln. The great selection of Malabrigo is still there, though there are plenty of other reasons to stop by. Curious about Ysolda Teague's new book, Little Red in the City? Thumb through it at Knit1 and check out the wonderful illustrations.

Perhaps you noticed that I have Daybreak listed in my knitting projects again. This is the fourth one I've made, and I blame all of the wonderful people participating in the LSG Daybreak KAL. After seeing all of their excellent shawls, I couldn't resist casting on another one. This is Daybreak #4, but the first one in Colinette Jitterbug. The first three were in Noro Silk Garden Sock, which is lovely, but a lively single. That's a nice way of saying "this yarn wants to twist and tangle with itself all the time". The cushy, tight twist of Jitterbug is a dream compared to SGS, even if it isn't that great for socks. All of the socks that I've made with Jitterbug have felted at the heel, but I love it for shawls and accessories. I've been working on this Daybreak for a week and it's nearly finished. All of the previous ones took a month each. Funny what you can do when you aren't fighting your yarn!

I plan to give the shawl to my grandmother. She doesn't wear a lot of shawls, so I hope that she doesn't think they're too old lady-ish (though there is nothing matronly about the colors in this Daybreak). I gave her an old G4 iMac last week that I picked up on craigslist, after years of her resisting all things computer. While we were setting it up in the basement, I noticed how chilly it was down there. Unfortunately, it has to be that cold there to be cool enough in the rest of the house, so I thought she might need a shawl to wrap around her shoulders while playing with her mac. So far, she knows how to turn it on and off. Great, considering that she has assiduously avoided computers for the past decade or so. She asked me for the book for it, not realizing that computers don't come with instruction manuals anymore. Fortunately, the library had a couple of appropriate For Dummies books. She'll come up with questions after she's read them, she tells me.