April is 3/4 behind us and I have nothing knit-worthy to show for it!
I have been knitting, at least a bit, most days, but I'm just not satisfied with anything.
I've done a little work on my Leaf and Trellis stole. I love working the lace, that isn't the problem. The problem is, I'm not sure if I really like this stole enough to put in the hours to finish it. Maybe what I really want is a slightly heavier stole/shawl that I might actually wear? (This is the niggling thought I've had going since I first cast on. Why didn't I listen to it then?) I had a knitterly epiphany a few weeks back and I was all set to rip it out and start something new, maybe even re-using the Zephyr, but doubling it - and then I stalled. All those little stitches, can I bear to rip them out???
My other knitting uncertainty is a summer tank out of Allegro, a yarn that I bought so long ago most likely no one else has ever heard of it. It's a Crystal Palace yarn and is a little bit like Waikiki, except it's 100% silk. I think the reason it's been sitting in my stash all these years (nearly 25, I figure) is that it isn't especially pleasant to knit with; it's kind of squeaky, if you know what I mean. But I worked a few swatches and the result, after washing and blocking, is a lovely drapey fabric. So it seems like it might be worth slogging through the knitting. I'm tentatively working the Diagonal Triangle Tank by Iris Scheier. It's a strange leap of faith sort of construction and I'm not sure I'm A) doing it right B) going to like it .. but I guess I'll keep plodding along.
Suffering from this knitting malaise, I was especially grateful when the mail arrived last week with an Amazon box addressed to me containing my pre-ordered copy of Shear Spirit!! What a beautiful book! Gale's photos are gorgeous. Goats, alpaca and sheep - they just don't make 'em more photogenic than that, and Gale has captured some fantastic images. Along with the animals are farms and ranches and, of course, yarns and projects. Great projects! There are at least four that I'm thinking about after my first go-through.* (Currently, I'm dreaming of a Cassandra Cardigan.)
Really, it's the just the sort of book to stoke a smoldering knitting fire .. thanks, Gale!
(*And there are the wonderful stories behind the farms and fiber, but I've only scratched the surface on those.)
