Observant readers will have noticed a new project in my last post.  I wonder how many of you figured out it was the Acer Cardigan, designed by Amy Christoffers.  Given that there are currently 871 Acer Cardigan projects on Ravelry it is not unlikely that many of you tagged it.  Here is the pattern photo for the design:

When I got home from Vancouver, I was in the unenviable position of having nothing on the needles.  What to knit?  I fretted for a few days before having a light bulb moment and deciding on this project.  Acer has been in my favorites since the pattern was released in 2010.  That’s YEARS I have been thinking of knitting this cardigan.  Plus, I just happened to have an SQ (sweater quantity) of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a deep red. Perfect! (The photos look slightly more rasberry; the real colour is a deeper wine red.)

I whipped out both sleeves super fast (no sleeve island for me this time!) and cast on for the body.  As you can see from the above photo, the body – back and fronts – are knit in one piece until being divided at the arm holes.  This makes the rows fairly long and slowed me up a bit, but I am still making very quick progress.  As of this morning, I have 9 inches of the body done.

Last weekend, I went into Loop in London and found the perfect buttons:

I absolutely love these buttons!  I think they will be gorgeous on the finished piece.

I am really moving fast with this sweater and hope to be wearing it in a few weeks.  I am also very happy to be making it from stash; no money spent on yarn this month! Hooray!

Not spending money on yarn gave me more to spend on sewing lessons!  Yes, that’s right, I have decided to take the plunge and try to get into sewing again.  My plan is to take a dress-making course, but I decided to start with an afternoon intro to sewing class, just to get back in the swing of things.  (I was never a terrific seamstress, probably because my mom is a true expert, and it has been decades since I last did anything other than hand sewing.)

The class was great fun!  It is such a lovely way to spend an afternoon.  I took the class at Ray Stitch in Islington, London.  The instructor, Luisa, was both helpful and nice, and I had a great time with fellow classmates as we figured out sewing machines and made tote bags. (Of course, we all know that they are actually knitting bags, because what else would you need to tote?) Here we are with our totes: Louisa, Judi, Asia, me, and Alicia.

Knitting is a comfort to me right now as the world reels from political craziness.  It helps keep me (relatively) sane.  My advice – find ways to make your voice heard, don’t watch the news before bedtime, and keep a project handy for when you need talking down from the ledge.