Yelling down a well .....

This blog thing is a bit like yelling down a well ... no idea if the sprites at the bottom are listening or not. But I hope it might help me organize my thoughts a bit. And provide a bit of a laugh for the poors dears swimming about below.
I have decided to start a sweater for my husband. This was not done lightly as this will be only my second one and the first one, once finished, didn't have the slightest resemblance to the picture on the pattern that I used. The front turned out longer than the back ... and the handspun yarn didn't spin up the same shade in every skein. And it was supposed to be a cowl neck ... tunic style sweater. But my daughter asked if I could make it shorter ... and since it was my first one I said "sure ... how hard can THAT be". Oh, and she didn't really like turtle neck things so could I change that too? And I thought "Sure, what could possibly go wrong"? This is how it turned out. A bit different ... but she kindly wears it. She even says she likes it. I love my children.

What prompted my thinking that I would knit another sweater is the fact that, here in Japan, buildings are not heated during non-business hours. This means that the pub we go to, Paddy's Irish Pub, is frigid for the first hour or two after opening. Believe me ... a person needs a sweater on to get through that first pint. Or the second for that matter.

I'm getting ready to cast on for the third time this evening. Somehow in the first 20 times I read the pattern I overlooked the fact that you need to cast on and work the first few inches of ribbing on smaller needles. The pattern is from KnitPicks ... called the "One For The Whole Clan" sweater by Sue Minks. Makes a great first sweater for the beginner knitter ... so I am off to a great start. Third times a charm .... wish me luck!

... no footprints in the dust behind us ...

At the urging of several friends I have been dragged into the new century and started a blog of my own. I suppose they became somewhat tired of my living vicariously through theirs ... ah well, what are friends for if not to make us better than we would otherwise be on our own.
I am hoping to share my knitting ... and my farm experiences ... and my travel. I currently live in Japan while missing my small ranch in Idaho something fierce.
On the needles I have a shawl that I was sure I could not live without ... about 3/4 done and about to be frogged ... turns out I can do without it ... but I also think the yarn will make a beautiful sweater that I could wear more often. It is/will be knit in Lamb's Pride superwash bulky in a wonderful colour called "Northern Lights" with a border and collar in white.
Just finished is a hat for my husband that I knitted using a pattern idea from Franklin at http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/ where in spite of the fact that I read it a dozen times I was still able to leave out the spacing stitches so that instead of cables I ended up with a sort of ribbony/twining effect ... pretty but not exactly what I was going for. And although he states that 100 stitches should be plenty unless you have a "freakishly large head" the darn thing barely fits. Guess I know where that puts us ...