Showing posts with label Dad's vest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dad's vest. Show all posts

30 May 2008

Political girl

I've been fairly apolitical this primary season, as I have mixed feelings about both democratic candidates. I'm a liberal through and through. As a third-wave feminist I should be stumping for Clinton, especially as I was a Bill believer back in the day. And I love Tina Fey, who said "Bitch is the new black." (In high school I was stage manager for a few theatrical productions and proudly wore a button that said "I don't have PMS, I'm always a bitch" - there is no other way to corral a bunch of teenagers when you are a teenager than to be a tough cookie.) But I really like Obama's message of hope.

Anyway, just now I put our copy of The Week down on the table, and Isobel asked "Who is that man?" in regards to an illustration of Obama on the cover. I told her that it's a man who wants to be in charge of our country and did she think he would do a good job. She said "Yes". And then I found a picture of Clinton online and asked if she thought the lady would do a better job. Isobel seemed to think she would do a good job, apparently in part because I'm a lady and Isobel is a lady.



There has been knitting around these parts. I finished my Dad's vest, washed (and dried for 15 minutes) it in the machine - eek! (it's Louet Gems Sport, so it says to do that right on the label) - and sent it to him for his birthday. The report is that it's a bit short, as Dad is very long-waisted, so I'll bring more yarn and needles to Wisconsin for the Fourth and fix him up.



And here is the kit I bought from the wonderful Purl Diva, which is a wonderful yarn store. If you find yourself in Midcoast Maine, be sure to visit! I'll do a full IMOndays report on the shop next time we go up to Maine, so I can include pictures. So, all that luscious yarn is Fleece Artist Scotian Silk to make a Celtic Cardigan. I believe the colorway is Seashore (appropriate for my interests and where I bought it). And I'm almost done with it. Super quick knit, interesting construction (knit sideways with two strands, not double-stranded), and I love seeing what happens with the colors. As you can see we have a gorgeous sky blue, then there are golds, bronzes, silvers, and platinums, thanks to the sheen of the silk. I'm making somewhere between a small and medium (knitting the medium numbers on US10s - pattern calls for something between US10.5 and US11), I think though blocking will be the magic trick on this one according to other Ravelers who have knit this project. I should have an FO picture of this very soon, as I'm on the second sleeve already.

I'm sure there's more to report, but the park is calling (at least to Isobel).

18 May 2008

Present Knitting

So, I just realized that my Dad's birthday is at the end of the month. Time to get knitting. Last spring I started a vest for him but was doing it in pieces, and my gauge was off. After knitting up one skein, the front (or back, your preference, as I didn't get far enough for there to be a difference) was much wider than it needed to be, and it's been sitting in the stash with the rest of the yarn apportioned for this project.

Yesterday at Isobel's swim lesson I frogged the front and crunched some numbers with Ann Budd's handy The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, then cast on for a striped vest in Notre Dame colors (Indigo and Mustard, according to the good people at Louet, but Blue and Gold for Dad). It will have six rows of 2x2 ribbing in blue at hem, armholes, and v-neck, and one row of gold after every two rows of blue in the body. I'm using US4s and cast on 120 each for front and back. Let's see how fast I can knit! I did manage about three inches yesterday, including casting on those 240 stitches and doing an inch of ribbing. I'm also purling the side seam stitches. We'll see. I'll try to snap a pic while Isobel and I are at the park today.