Dickinson II

Well, the trip to the Aran Islands was made, and while I can't claim to have knitted an aran on the Arans, I certainly knit it around and near them. Dickinson now has a back and a full sleeve, with another almost finished. I would love to finish it over the next week. I've memorised the cable pattern now so no more need for the charts, which is a nice change.

In between, I've been spinning up some Wensleydale/Teeswater roving from Colorsong Yarn in the US, taking advantage of their wonderful worldwide free shipping policy. I'm n-plying it to keep the color segments intact, and it is beautiful, rich... and sort of hairy. I'm hoping it will become one of these in time for my mother's birthday at the end of April, although the pattern will need adjustment to accommodate the length-- n-plying really eats yardage for breakfast. Pictures to follow, I'm sure...

A Project Whose Time Has Come

Interweave Knits Fall 2007 issue was one of those rare magazines that inspires you to knit multiple projects. I started with the rather disastrous (for me) Tilted Duster, and followed this summer by making the beautiful Minimalist Cardigan. But I bought the magazine in order to make the Dickinson Pullover. The yarn I originally bought, a batch of Custom Woolen Mills Mule Spinner, seemed too rough against the skin and too warm, which led to my digression into the Tilted Duster (whose sleeves turned out not to match due to a dye lot error on the manufacturer's part, and whose final product reminded me why I don't like anything resembling an empire waistline). The duster found a new home with someone who would love it more than I could, and at Christmastime I bought a batch of GGH Samson merino in a deep teal colour to start Dickinson. It was end of April before I started it. I knit five rows and put it aside, not to be picked up again until October.


















I knit a bit more before Christmas knitting intervened and relegated it to the spare project box. This week, though, I'm leaving Dublin to see some of Ireland proper-- heading out to the west/southwest, to Galway and Dingle. We may even get to the Aran Islands. So I think Dickinson's time has finally come. I'm determined to finish it before the end of April, which will mean it's been in progress for a whole year.

At very least, the teal and cables make a nice change from the endless 3x5 rib of Leo, which I'm currently knitting for Timo, and the red/pink/red theme of most of last year's projects.

Clockwise from bottom left: Minimalist Cardigan, Corset Top, Tempting, Drops Alpaca cardigan, Blaze pullover