It's hot and humid today, but we had plenty of 40s-50s in May. A little cool, but that's okay. Mostly 'cause I dislike hot weather. But also because I can wear the knitted stuff that didn't get done until April.
I've had two trips up to Fort Ticonderoga, and my Stopover sweater filled its function as a field trip-measuring-in-basements-and-attics-warm-but-not-too-heavy-can-stand-up-to-tape-measures-and-dirt kind of sweater. This is the third neckline - much lower than the pattern called for, and comes close to falling off of my shoulders, but it does what it's supposed to do. It's that low so that it doesn't touch my neck. The Icelandic Lopi yarn is light and lofty, warm without too much weight, but a little itchy for my skin, so I have to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt and a blouse underneath. But that's what I'd be wearing anyway when working in unheated buildings in upstate NY.
Three trips to Ticonderoga in the early spring, and every one of those trips has been beautiful weather. I'm now writing about 1970s beaded board finishes, not at all fun, but it's worth the boredom for those three days on site.
My second knitting project is my favorite thing to wear right now. I'm so glad that it's been cool enough to wear it (until now)!.
My 3 color cowl. I wear it around the house. I wear it to work at least once a week. Twice, if I can get away with it. It turns out that I have a plethora of gray, black, and blue clothes. The yarn worried me. It wasn't the mohair/cashmere blend that the pattern called for, and I'm a rule follower the first time through. What if it didn't drape? It's so long! What if it was UP AROUND MY NECK? Blazing Needles in Salt Lake City recommended the yarn, and they knew what they were doing. It's mohair with silk, so it's extra drapey. No body at all, really.
And then there's the first pair of socks.
I used Tin Can Knits' Rye pattern, which includes clear instructions, tutorials, and videos. They turned out to be too big around the ankle, but not bad for a first try, especially since I didn't bother to swatch.
I first learned to knit when I was 10 or so, but made one square and went back to embroidery. Then, after college, when I was living at home before graduate school, my mother showed me how to knit the night before she left town for vacation. I'd read Dicey's Song once too many times, and HAD to knit. She taught me to knit a variation on the continental way of knitting, which is the way her mother-in-law taught her. Once I started working at my current job, I went back to embroidery because it was so much lighter to carry around. But whenever I pick up those knitting needles, I feel tied to my mother, and to my grandmother, and to my aunts and cousins. I feel part of some greater community.
Ravelry helps that community feeling. So do podcasts. So do the knitting groups at the local yarn shops. It's quite the changed world from 1989.