Thursday, May 7, 2009

A piece!

I have produced blog fodder, in the form of the back of a sweater. Go, me. I actually finished this on Tuesday night, but I've been busy since then, so this is the first chance I've gotten to pin the back out and see how it looks. Meanwhile, though, I cast on for the left front side, and am almost to the armhole bind off, so that's going very quickly.
I only lightly steam blocked it to relax it a bit before pinning it out. Once I have the whole thing put together, I'll steam block it a bit more rigorously. (You can see I'm using those lovely blocking boards; they make life so much easier!) I took it out to the front patio to get some fresh air. I think that the colors are showing up truer here than in my earlier pictures.
I adore the colors of this yarn. Chris truly outdid herself, truly; I think she must be a mind-reader, since I don't think I was very clear about what I was looking for, but she nailed it on the head anyway. And these subtle color shifts work so beautifully with Anne's pattern; look at the corrugation above the waist, it's so much fun to watch the pattern emerging as I knit. Mmm...
It's so tempting to just sit down and plug away at this instead of doing anything else, because I'm dying to wear it. Thank goodness the weather has warmed up a little these last couple of days, or I don't think I could resist.
The Douglas irises love the new warmth. So does Tilly.
I rather wish it weren't so gorgeous, as I'm trapped inside working on a paper. The good news is that I (finally!) feel like I'm getting to a break-through point, that place where I have some kind of story arc going, and I can start putting data and analyses and references in the places where they belong. Until I have that order set in my mind, everything feels like a jumbled mess, but now that it's there, I think I can start getting somewhere (because 20 pages of single-spaced notes just doesn't feel like anything somehow, until it has a sense of order).

On a completely different note, my knitting research project is going to get underway imminently; I'll have a lot more to say about it very soon. I have a small grant to pay for things like an online survey site subscription, my new Marantz digital recorder has arrived in the mail (dudes, this thing is so full of features it's scary; I don't come with this many features), and I have my Institutional Review Board's approval to work with Human Subjects (that would be you all). It's time to get this show on the road.

18 comments:

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Those colours are lovely!

Willow said...

I was just thinking this week about your survey and wondering when you'd do it.
The sweater is going to be beautiful! Amazing colors!

Anne said...

gorgeous colors, hate those IRB forms, and can't wait to see the pieces come together!! Oh, yes --irises are my favorite and why did it take me til just now to realize that Tilly and Tessie might also be separated-at-birth spirits!

Anonymous said...

I love the colors of the sweater. Sorry I have dropped off the grid for a bit. The end of the year and all the adjustments have done this to me.

I'm glad to hear that all is well, and the warm weather looks nice. We have finally gotten to 70s here.

Take care.
Sarah

Alwen said...

Go, you! The colors are gorgeous. I love irises and fortunately the rabbits don't.

Michigan gorgeousness works like this: the weather gets nice, I get to go outside without a coat and boots, and then eeeeeeee blackflies!

EGunn said...

The sweater back looks great! (And, the armholes look about the same as the lace I'm working on...which makes me feel much better.)

I know exactly what you mean about the story arc on a paper. The nice thing is that they pull together pretty fast with a good story line and 20 pages of notes. =)

How exciting that your recorder has come! Time to get started...

Lynne said...

The colours are gorgeous!

Warm weather - well we had that this morning; it's clouding over now just in time for the weekend!

Looking forward to being a human subject [as if I could be any other kind!]

Jane said...

Not only does the colour look fantastic, I like the deep rib. It's going to look wonderful.
So glad everything else is fitting into place

Rachel said...

Oh so lovely back, such colors,,, the beauty of it all :)

Good luck with researching human subjects,,,, heheheeeee

Anonymous said...

The way the light catches the geometric color patterning in the third picture sure grabbed my attention - love it!

Very cool about your recorder, the grant and all the other positive moves forward on your huge project. Can hardly wait. :-)

Nana Sadie said...

OH YAY! Past the review board??? WHOOHOOO!
:)
I'm so excited I could just jump up and down, but I'm at the office they would think that very odd...oh, well, then again, maybe not!
The sweater is interesting and very lovely...Tilly is so cute.

But ohh!!! YAY!!! "We" have a study! That's the "company of knitters" "WE" of course....
:)
(((Hugs)))

Gwen said...

You don't need features, being human. (and 20 pages of single spaced notes are notes, I guess. Congratulations on finding some order in the chaos!)

And you already know that's a lovely sweater!

Mary Lou said...

Looking forward to being a human subject. And one of these days I am going to get some of that Briar Rose yarn, it is luscious looking.

Carrie K said...

I love the play of the reds and pinks. Finish! Finish!

What? Your grant doesn't have enough money in it to cover visiting us all and going out to snazzy restaurants? Research isn't what it used to be. ;)

Kristina said...

how exciting about your knitting research project! and sweater part looks gorgeous!

Bea said...

Its lovely. Looks like your weather is really decent too. I'm glad your getting somewhere on the paper. Your 20 pages of single spaced notes certainly sounds like something to me!

AlisonH said...

Very cool--the word colorway as it can really be.

Rachael said...

Congrats on your sweater progress and your project progress! I always hated that feeling right before a paper came together, all the notes written and books and papers marked all over the place for references, it alwasy seemed impossible that it was going to turn into the cohesive paper I was trying to produce, but somehow it always did.

I'm so glad you are moving forward with your knitting project as well, I'm looking forward to being part of the whole thing!