Friday, May 15, 2009

Hookey redux and a sweater

It seems to be the week for fun adventures. On Tuesday, Rick and I played hookey together and went out for lunch and then to see Star Trek. We've never done that before -- bagged on work to go to the movies -- so there was a delightful feeling of getting away with something. Which we weren't, really, given how hard we've both been working lately; Rick's put in several very late nights (early mornings really; working until 2:30 am is just wrong), so it's not like he hadn't put in his hours for the week already. We both had fun at the movies, too; if you like great big space battles in which the good guys always win (except for those poor red shirts, but hey, if you put on a red shirt in Star Trek, you gotta know what's coming), then this is a good one.

And then yesterday, I got to go see Anne and Kim and Beckie! Whoo-hoo! Anne and Beckie (Beckie, do you have a blog I can link to? I forgot to ask...) came in from Ohio this week and are staying with Kim, so we met in Encinitas at Common Threads; such a fabulous yarn store, and just far enough away that I don't pop in all that often. I was very good and walked away with only one skein of yarn (I haven't taken any pictures of that yet, so I'll do a big picture post of new yarn acquisitions in a day or so), although I was terribly tempted by a skein of gorgeous burnt-orange Malabrigo sock yarn. Or the purple. Or maybe the bluey-greeny-grey skein. So much beautiful yarn, so little time...

Alas, I completely forgot my camera, if you can believe. I was so busy trying to be sure that I had my knitting, and that I'd done everything that needed to be done before I abandoned house and work and family for the day, that I forgot it. Anne posted a whole mess o' pics, though, so you can check those out. We went to lunch at Q'ero, a Peruvian restaurant that is absolutely fabulous, and where I ate probably more than I should have, but boy, every bite was delicious. And then we headed off to Chuao to have gelato (mmm....gelato...) and knit for a while. And we talked and laughed and talked. It was a perfect day.

And the best bit was, I'd managed to finish Ondule in time to wear it to show off to Anne. It took a late night (not too late; I was done by midnight-thirty or so -- why does finishing always take so much longer than it seems like it will?) to finish it up, but I'm so glad that I did. I made Rick take some pictures last night; the color is a bit ruddy, but it was getting on towards sunset when we took the pictures, which isn't always the best light.
This sweater was so much fun to knit. Once I got the hang of the pattern, it was completely intuitive, and I was able to read while knitting, which is why it moved so quickly. (I've spent the last couple of days reading textbooks on ethnography while knitting; getting work and knitting done at the same time is a good thing.) As you all know, I generally don't knit sweaters in pieces, but this one was so easy to do, and the pieces came together so nicely (and there are no separate button bands to knit, which made me happy), that it was well worth the piece knitting; I'd recommend this one in particular for anyone who's been thinking about knitting a pieced sweater but hasn't wanted to take the plunge.
I probably could have (should have?) knit it one size smaller; I have this terrible tendency to think that I'm even bigger than I am when it comes to knitting (and yet, somehow, to always be surprised at how big I look in pictures, which suggests that some part of me thinks that I'm smaller than I am; how many of me are there in my brain?) and to choose a larger size than I should. I think it's also because I don't trust my gauge swatches, and I figure that I can always wear a larger sweater (in fact, given that I prefer comfortable, loose clothes, I'm more likely to), but I can't and won't wear one that's too small. I need someone to be there when I go through patterns circling all the numbers for the size I choose, so they can go back through and circle the numbers for one size smaller when I'm not looking.
I love, love, love the corrugated rib in the peplum. Love it. And these buttons make me so happy. I got them in Santa Fe, when we serendipitously found a yarn store, Tutto, while looking for somewhere to eat dinner, and I wandered in and saw them and had to have them. I hadn't even seen the yarn yet when I bought them, but I think that they go together well. And the yarn. Have I mentioned how much I love this yarn? This is Briar Rose's Grandma's Blessing, an absolutely gorgeous superwash merino that is so soft and squishy. It's a delight to knit with, and the results are fabulous. I'm already trying to figure out what I can knit with it next. Maybe I need some more to knit something in the blue/green family? Maybe I should be good and wait until after Sock Summit (this is not some kind of major self-discipline on my part, btw; I'll be at the Briar Rose/Knitspot booth the whole weekend and it seems only fair that I should score some yarn for myself while I'm there, no? After all, I'm saving up my yarn budget for just that).

Tilly had fun getting in on the picture-taking action last night. It's hard to get her to leave me alone long enough to get a picture without a jumping dog in it.
So there you have it. Ondule is finished (yes, I'm wearing it right now, why do you ask?), and I'm going to try to get a few more things off the needles in the next week or so. I have the second Rogue Rose sock to finish, and the seasilk scarf I started, and my Louet linen shell. Meanwhile, I can start plotting the next new project...

17 comments:

Rachel said...

Your Ondule looks wonderful and I too prefer too big to too small any time. I was wondering yesterday if the size was a choice or some kind of a result :) what size did you knit?

FUZZARELLY said...

You look fabulous in your new sweater! Hugs to Tilly.

AlisonH said...

Beautiful! You and the sweater both!

Wool Enough said...

Ondule is lovely. The absence of buttonbands is a great enticement to knit this pattern. There's something about finishing a sweater, sewing it up, and then . . . ugh! . . . having to pick up nine million stitches just to knit a few rows for a buttonband. Irritating as heck.

Gwen said...

Wow! That sweater happened Fast! And it's gorgeous.

I wish I could type and knit at the same time...

I'm often surprised by the shape of my face in photos. Luckily, I don't have to knit anything to fit.

Kristina said...

wow, your sweater looks great! I'm planning to see Star Trek next week :-)

Wanderingcatstudio said...

That sounds like a great day. I can't get my guy to go to a theatre.. he hates the crowds, so I haven't been in at least 6 years.

Your cardigan looks beautiful, and I have similar picture taking problems. As soon as I lay something down to photograph it, one of the cats comes along and flops on it.

Helen said...

I do like that Ondule cardi, from the stitch pattern to the style to the yarn. I'm just not good in little cardis that button up the front any more: I used to think that if I found the perfect undergarment I could manage it, but I think it would take more than that. Maybe with a lower V and no buttons...

Lynne said...

Lovely sweater, gorgeous buttons!

I too prefer loose clothing and am surprised by how big I look in photos.

EGunn said...

I'm glad you took a day "off" from work...good for you! Why is it that working longer is never something we feel guilty about, but a few hours less and it's sneaky?

Ondule is beautiful. I really like the color on you. I have the same problem with knitting things too big; it's odd how disconnected my mind's eye can be from reality (both in the positive and negative direction)! Sweaters almost always look good a size up, anyway. =)

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, I love Ondule! Yours looks spectacular. I am not much of a pieced-sweater girl, but that is a pattern I am definitely looking forward to knitting up.

Mary Lou said...

I generally do the same thing - make the sweater loose and comfy then wonder why I didn't make it fit better, after all, it's a custom job, right? It looks beautiful and I got to see it on Anne's blog, too.

Bea said...

An afternoon of hookey sounds so fun! The sweater looks just gorgeous. I love the pattern and the yarn and it looks lovely on you as well!

Alwen said...

That was our son's first comment when he went to camp with his dad last year: "Oh, no! Red shirt!" (the camp-issued t-shirts) and then he theatrically died. Things went downhill from there.

The last movie my husband and I saw that way, playing hookey, was "Hot Fuzz". :)

Ondule looks great! And you do look happy wearing it.

I guess I have the opposite problem, often feeling that I must be bigger than I look in pictures. My arms feel the right size to me, but then they look thin in a picture even when they muscle up!

Nana Sadie said...

Beautiful sweater! I tend on the knit large side, usually, and I think I'm smaller than I am, too.
;)
(((hugs)))

Kim said...

I love that middle picture of you - the close up. You look Fantabulous. did you see that dorky picture of me and you Anne posted sitting at Q'Ero?? You were smiling and looking cute, and I was looking off at that picture, but only you and I know what the picture was!! hahaha It was great getting together.

twinsetellen said...

Fabulous sweater - you look great in it. A smaller size would also look wonderful, just depends on whether you want to go for comfy or hot.

At knitting group last night we all discussed how hard it is to know how big we are. Odd, isn't it, given that we live in these bodies 24/7. Most of us, anyway.