More Knitting than Usual

One of the effects of me making teaching a significant part of my business is that I'm spending a whole lot more time knitting than I had been, and I didn't realize how much I'd missed it.  I never stopped, but I was doing pretty minor things -- a pair of mittens here, socks there, now and then a hat.  Now, I'm spending a lot of time making up demo projects for classes and trying to come up with simple projects that showcase my yarn.  It's kind of nice, to have stuff on the go.

I've been knitting a sweater for my Sweaters Without a Pattern class out of the tweed yarn I handspun a while back.  I'm so in love with this yarn, i can't tell you.  It's springy and robust but still soft on the skin, and the way it's knitting up, showing off those little bits and pieces of

 leftover fiber bits from my previous spinning -- love, total love.  I didn't have quite enough for a sweater to fit me, though, and I agonized for a bit.  I could just make a sweater for my daughter, and it would be lovely, but I worked so hard on making this yarn that I couldn't quite bear the thought of it not being for me.  I could set the yarn aside for a vest, and make the sweater from different yarn, but I'm not exactly rolling in money, and if I could make the demo project without spending money, that would be better.

I decided to go to the yarn store and see if there was something interesting I could use for the cuffs and button bands, maybe a bit of detailing, and I struck gold.  I struck Noro.  Their new yarn, Yuzen, is an interesting crispy texture, and the silk content gives it a bit of a sheen.  And they had a colourway that could not have been a better match for my tweed.

Here is the project in progress, half the body and the sleeves done, ready to be joined up for the raglan shoulder.  If you want to lick the screen, then you're like me.

I can't knit anymore on the sweater until a week from now, when I demonstrate how to do an armscye and how to assemble the pieces to begin the raglan shaping, but I was enjoying the pretty mindless knitting on chunky yarn.  I decided to cast on for a felted bag.

I've said in the past that it makes me cry when I find out that someone wants to felt my yarn, but I can see the appeal -- the colours are lovely, and it does felt like a dream.  So I chose some colours:

Mindless knitting, pretty colours -- I can see the appeal.  Will keep you posted.

Class news:  By popular demand, I'm running a Beginner's Knitting class that begins this Thursday evening.  I hadn't anticipated that Beginner Knitting would be the one with the highest demand, but now I know -- next Winter, I'll run it twice.  There is going to be a 2-session Mittens class beginning on Saturday Nov 22 that I think will be fun.  I'm teaching a pattern that can be used with any yarn, for any size hands.  I like any pattern that starts "choose any yarn you like."