Still not knitting – Halloween edition

Posted on October 31, 2015 by knitigatingcircumstances

It’s been a month since I’ve been able to knit becaue of pain in the wrist and thumb. I finally went to the physiotherapist who confirmed the sad truth – it is a flare-up of DeQuervaine’s tenosynovitis. I have posted before about my previous problems with DeQuervaine’s, my (unsuccessful) surgery and prolonged recovery (you can read about it here, for example). With admonitions to continue to rest my hands, along with ice and ibuprofen, the physio taped up my wrist and arm:

Doesn’t this look particularly goulish? But wait! Today is Halloween! I don’t have a costume! But who needs a costume when you look like this? Never let it be said that there is not a silver lining to every cloud.

That’s all the news chez knitigating circumstances. I’m still not knitting. But I’ve got Halloween all taped up!

Laelia

Posted on October 20, 2015 by knitigatingcircumstances

I finished my Laelia cardigan almost a month ago but haven’t been able to get photos taken until today.

When I first bought this yarn, I pictured it as a zesty, spring-y splash of citrus orange to liven up a summer sweater; something silky and lacey to slip over a sundress and wear with orange heels. And even though it is most definitely a summer sweater, and will look great next summer over a cute dress, I can’t help but think it looks pretty nice against the brilliant fall foliage here at the back of my house.

The pattern is by Hanna Maciejewska and the yarn is the luscious Merino Silk Fingering by The Uncommon Thread. I can highly recommend both pattern and yarn. The two together make for a very serendipitous pairing.

(I have a terrible cold; thus the somewhat pained expression on my face. Or it could be that I am all smiled out after jumping and whooping for joy today – Go, Trudeau!) You can see how beautifully this yarn showcases the lace pattern. I made two changes to the pattern. First, as I’ve adopted from many other Ravellers, I’ve had the two cascading lace patterns “meet” at the back of the sweater. In the pattern, they are separated by a laddered lace detail; this is done to accomodate the many sizes. You need to do some fiddling with the numbers to make this work, and it won’t be appropriate with every size. Second, I’ve knit the sleeves without any lace.

I had both bad and good timing with this one. Bad timing because I finished it just as the cold weather is settling in, and it will have to sit in a drawer until the spring comes. Good timing because no sooner had I finished it, then I developed hand and wrist problems which have prevented me from knitting.

Warning! This post is not about Rhinebeck!

Posted on October 17, 2015 by knitigatingcircumstances

It’s the third weekend of October, and as most every knitter knows, this is the weekend of the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. If you didn’t know this, the chances are good that you don’t read too many knitting blogs, because Rhinebeck is the pinnacle of the knit bloggers calendar.

Warning! This knit blogger has not spent the last month frantically knitting away on her “Rhinebeck Sweater”, the sweater which she can wear to the one forum in which thousands of other knitters will admire and appreciate it. A forum which is also (mainly) outdoors in (hopefully) lovely fall weather; in other words, prime sweater weather. (Alas, dear reader, this knitting blogger has spent the last month suffering from wrist problems and has not knit at all.) The Rhinebeck Sweater must meet certain criteria: it must show off your skill level, and/or show your love of a particular designer, and/or show your love of a particular wool/yarn producer who will be there exhibiting. Most importantly, it must be finished in the car on the way to Rhinebeck and blocked overnight on the floor of your hotel room.

Warning! This post has no Rhinebeck Sweater photos, taken in bad light at midnight on hotel room floors or otherwise; please proceed reading with extreme caution! For as we all know, the Rhinebeck Sweater must be photographed, hopefully as you stand next to the designer. If you are a knit blogger, chances are good that your sweater can star in that most trendy kind of Rhinebeck photo, in which a group of knitters, each wearing the same fabulous new sweater design, magically find each other in the crowd and pose together in their matching sweaters. (Note, as well, that many knitters spend both days at Rhinebeck, thus necessitating two “Rhinebeck Sweaters” and a fair degree of advance coordination to maximize photo opportunities.)

Warning! This knit blogger is not in Rhinebeck at all. In fact, this knit blogger is sadly spending the weekend teaching Personal Development to MBA students on the other side of the Atlantic. Note, crucially, that knitting is NOT part of the MBA Personal Development Curriculum, so this knit blogger cannot even pretend to be in Rhinebeck today. Since I am not in Rhinebeck today, there will also be no photos of me eating fried artichokes (or at the very least, standing in a long line with the purpose of obtaining fried artichokes which I can then be photographed eating in my lovely Rhinebeck Sweater). In fact, I have never tasted a fried artichoke in my life. “What’s that?” I can hear you say. “She’s never had fried artichokes? Clearly, she’s never been to Rhinebeck.” The fact that I know about fried artichokes is, however, clear indication that I read knitting blogs.

Warning! This knit blogger is not currently spending all of her disposal income for 2016, in advance, by purchasing as much yarn as a human being can carry at one time, plus one set of interchangeable circular knitting needles, two cute knitting bags, a collection of handmade shawl pins, a spinning wheel, and some sheep. This means as well that my next three blog posts will not be documenting my exponentially increasing stash.

To conclude, dear reader, this post is not about Rhinebeck! You have been warned! Does this post gently poke fun at all of you knitters enjoying Rhinebeck this weekend? Yes, it does! Am I spending less money this weekend than all of you lovely knitters in Rhinebeck? Yes, I am! Would I change places with any of you knitters at Rhinebeck this weekend? Yes, absolutely!

Good news and bad news

Posted on October 11, 2015 by knitigatingcircumstances

The good news is that I managed to join Kate Davies Seven Skeins club. This means that I have just received seven skeins (one in every colour) of her new yarn, Buachaille.

The membership comes with the seven skeins, seven knitting patterns (to be delivered over seven consecutive weeks), a tote bag and a book produced by Kate. I have her other books and love them to pieces, so this seemed like a good deal. There was a mad dash online to buy a membership; I waited until the frenzy died down and then managed to snare one without any troubles.

Isn’t the yarn pretty? So very “squooshy”, too.

The bad news is that I am having pain issues with my wrist and thumb in my left hand, which is likely to be a flare up of my DeQuervaine’s tenosynovitis, which was supposedly “fixed” by surgery twenty years ago. I have not been able to knit anything for two weeks now. Let’s look at pretty yarn in an effort to cheer me up; this is the colour called “squall”:

This bad news is especially bad because I had just agreed to do a test knit for Jutta von Hinterm Stein. I am hoping that I will be able to get back to knitting this week, but if not, I will have to pull out of the test knit. This is so sad that I think we need more photos of pretty yarn, don’t you?