It's raining again. Somehow "30% chance of showers" morphed into a crappy, chilly, all day rain and temps that haven't gotten out of the 50s. I know, you people dealing with yet another huge snowstorm would really like me to STFU about my sucky little rainy Saturday right now, but the chilly, endless rain and grayness inspired me to do something I rarely do anymore: cast on a new knitting project.
I'd originally thought I'd do Bonne Marie Burns' cardigan, Hey Girl, and even bought the yarn for it months ago - Cascade 220 superwash sportweight in a heathery light blue. I started to cast on last night, and discovered that I really didn't like the way the pattern started - it starts with a fiddly provisional cast-on of ten stitches on a dpn, then you save the live stitches on some scrap yarn and pull out the waste yarn and work THOSE live stitches going back the other way (this makes the back of the neck) and THEN you cut and set aside three feet of yarn, and THEN you cast on for the yoke somehow, and seriously, I have been knitting top-down sweaters for -Oh, Holy AARP, Batman - about 40 years, since I was a teenager. This was the most byzantine start to a "basic" cardigan I'd ever seen, and after a few false starts, I abandoned Hey Girl. I'm sure it's an ingenious and elegant concept, but I wasn't in the mood for that sort of challenge.
I had already swatched the yarn so I went shopping for alternative patterns on Ravelry, and quickly found Peasy. I actually like it better - for one thing, it's office-appropriate. So I gave myself permission to take the day off, park my butt on the couch, and knit all day, while working my way through the contents of the DVR. I'm all caught up on Downton Abbey!
I love Heidi Kerrmaier's patterns in general - I realized after I'd stumbled across her sweater designs that she was also the genius behind a free bag pattern I'd knit several times, a simple striped bag I'd made from my beloved Louet Euroflax linen and use for the beach/pool. I like her patterns because they look harder than they are, and "Peasy" so far, is just what I wanted - it has a little bit of simple lace, clever top-down construction, and a timeless style. She has others I really like as well.
My only regret at the moment is that "sensible" selection of the soft blue yarn. This day really screams for some sunshine yellow.
10 comments:
Aha! So, Florida does get some rainy weather, too! *makes Note*
Good for you, getting the knitting out after all that remodeling angst!
Have a great weekend.
Lella from California
I know, you people dealing with yet another huge snowstorm would really like me to STFU about my sucky little rainy Saturday right now
Reading my mind? ;-)
I like "Peasy" too---I've been hoarding several skeins of Elspeth Lavold Silky Wool while waiting for the right pattern to come along, and this one is on my short list.
Ooh, I think it would be lovely in the Silky Wool! I want to use something "fancier" than the yarn I'm using for her Vitamin D pattern, I love that one too.
Some of that rain would be very handy in central Victoria right now.
We will probably not know until sometime tomorrow (Monday here) whether or not our daughter and her family still have a home to go to. They were within minutes of being ready to evacuate, when the police arrived to make sure they went, and asap at that.
They will not be the only ones....., so long as no lives are lost.
Gae, in Callala Bay
Gae, I had to go to the BBC news online to read about the wildfires. We get an occasional mention of the record-breaking heat in Australia, but I had no idea the wildfires were that bad! I hope your daughter's house is saved; please let us know what happens!
And I"m whining a bit about the rain here because this is our "dry" season - days of gray skies and rain are very unusual in winter!
Their house is still standing, but they are not allowed back, except in daylight to collect any forgotten necessities.
The disgusting thing is this -- most of the fires in Victoria at the moment were deliberately lit.
What sort of life form does that, in the hottest and deadliest conditions. Five years ago there was a devastating fire not too far from Anne's place, and more than 100 people lost their lives, and over 300 homes were razed to the ground.
Gae, in Callala Bay
Most of the fire fighters you saw on the footage would have been volunteers - trained on their weekends and spare time, and available to serve when needed. The metropolitan brigades are employed by the public service, but once outside the city limits it is the Rural Fire Service (in NSW), the Country Fire Authority (in Victoria) and similar organisations in each State and Territory. Naturally, in major disasters the States will send extra 'troops' to help each other out
Gae, in Callala Bay
It never ceases to amaze me that the US media is so entertainment driven and US-centric, it barely touches on disasters like this fire - it gets a mention at most, and until you told me, I didn't realize how bad it was. I had to go to the BBC to find more than a blurb about it on CNN.
I hope their house stays safe and they are back in it soon!
If you ever want to follow events in Australia, try
www.abc.net.au - non-commercial National network.
And if you are embarrassed about your media being US-centric, I am just as embarrassed every time the Olympics roll around, and every time there is a disaster overseas. In the one case you would think there were no other nations competing, in the other I cringe every time a journo intones "347 people died in the disaster, but so far as we know, no Australians were involved" Does that make it less tragic ??
Anne and family were allowed home yesterday evening, but still in "Watch and Act" mode. The youngsters have gone back to school today, they will be gleefully swapping tales of action and derring do with their friends.
Gae, in Callala Bay
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