FO: Gathered Pullover

I love perfume. I don't wear it often, but these are some of my all-time favorites: Chanel No. 5, Chanel No. 19, Gucci Eau de Parfum, Editions de Parfum Frederic Malle's En Passant and Lys Mediterranee.

Yes, I like the old-fashioned ones. The woody scent of sandalwood, however, might be at the very top of the list for me.

Sandalwood Gathered Pullover
Pattern: Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason
Yarn: Louet MerLin Tristan, a bit less than 3 skeins
Needles: US 8 Addi Naturas
Modifications: Knit the body longer before starting knot, knit full-length sleeves. Started sleeves with XS measurements, increased to S measurements at cap.

This sweater is making me so happy and so sad all at the same time. Happy because it fits beautifully and feels all wonderful and yummy. Sad because it is too darn hot to wear it right now. The Louet MerLin is stupendous yarn. Stupendous, I tell you. I steamed it to block and it just softened the linen part of it to give it elegant drape. I decided to make the XS size (even though I am not extra small) because everything I read implied that the sweater stretched a bit due to the loose gauge. Halfway through, I was nervous...but it ended up being a perfect fit. Hooray for Ravelry's pattern pages! I stuck with the S numbers for the sleeve caps because my upper arms are...uh...not quite toned.

Also, I knit this--with modified full-length sleeves and a lengthened torso--out of 750 yards of yarn. 750! That's remarkable! I love it so much that I'm considering buying up some Euroflax and making a summer tank dress from the pattern. I don't think I'd need more than 3 skeins considering there would be no sleeves and just additional length. We shall see.

On to book reviews, both knitting and not:

Of all the knitting books with men's patterns, this one is by far my favorite. It's full of classic silhouettes that have been updated with modern color palettes and I can actually see my friends and family members actually wearing this stuff.

Case in point:

A manly shawl-collared chunky-knit sweater. This one needs to be made before August. One of my friends, Clint, is moving to Chicago to start a lengthy M.A.-Ph.D. program in film studies. A month ago, he was deciding between programs in Santa Barbara and Chicago. He liked Chicago, but was scared of how cold it would be. To allay his fears, I promised to knit him a "professor" sweater. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have the winning pattern.

I also finished this short li'l book:

It's been translated from Korean and it's an odd story. Basically, the narrator is a man who searches for "clients" but doesn't tell you what he does for his clients until halfway through. And no, he does not offer sexual services. The story also involves several searingly lonely women and a pair of estranged brothers. It's terribly sad and bleak, but it also manages to be lyrical and beautiful. It's a quick, short read and I highly recommend it.

In other knitting news, I've started the border on my diamonds and triangle stole. I'm kind of afraid this is going to be gigantic.

A Happy Weekend

Last night, I arrived home at my parents' place to see these two munchkins at play:

These are my cousin's daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline. Elizabeth just celebrated her first birthday and Caroline is turning four in a month. Notice how Caroline is trying to help her mother by separating the lettuce heads while Elizabeth is mimicking Caroline? Not a coincidence. Caroline wants to do everything her mother does and Elizabeth wants to do everything Caroline does. Today, we had a grand feast for Elizabeth and then Caroline serenaded us with a karaoke rendition of children's songs. Elizabeth tried to steal the microphone whilst drooling over her very lovely pink dress.

I brought home flowers for my mom. There were white roses, daisies, black-eyed Susans, gerber daisies, and hyacinths. Stupid me forgot to take my camera home.

Plus, I gave my mother this:

I finally finished the durn thing. I love how needlepoint looks, but I don't know if I can become a huge fan. It just takes too long. I gave her the Veronik socks as well. The actual name of the socks is "Socks for Veronik." Well, now they're "Socks for Mom." They fit her perfectly, but she says no more socks for a while since summer is upon us. She wants a cardi.

I have to pause here and say a bit about my mother on this lovely Mother's Day. She was the middle of five children and a pastor's daughter to boot. But when push comes to shove, she can be pretty fierce. I once had a mean boss who was abusive and said horrible things to me. When I called my mother and cried, she released a torrent of curses against that boss. It would have made a sailor proud. That was the only time I've ever heard her swear.

My mother really truly believes that I can accomplish anything. It's hard for her to watch her Ivy-educated daughter struggle through freelancing while trying to write stories, but she bites her lip and lets me do my thing. When I get discouraged, she talks me out of it. I can only hope that when the day comes, I will be half as good at mothering as she is.

She keeps wondering how her mother's love of knitting passed right by her and into me. Here are two sleeves, brown and green:

The moss stitch on the cabled coat was getting to be too much for me. So I had abandoned it for a while. Then, voila! I learned how to knit and purl continental-style and am now breezing my way through the second sleeve. In the meantime, I have to find a cardi pattern for my mother now that she has specifically requested (nay, demanded) one.

A Tale of Two Linens

Sandalwood is growing.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that she is not growing quite enough. I've tried her on and she seems fairly drapey, but is she drapey enough to make me feel not quite like a sausage when I wear her? Only time will tell. I'm not ripping at this point so if she's too tight, I'll either have to lose five pounds or give her to a friend. Let's wait for the final installment before making any rash decisions.

Also, this here is another lover-ly linen sweater:

This was not knit by me or any other human being. It's a machine knit linen cardi my mother bought for me last summer. It was the most wonderful linen cardi ever until this happened:

BOOOOOOOO. That's all that can be said. I have no idea how this occurred and if I ever find the culprit (probably a sharp piece of jewelry on me or some other person), I will be very mad at the inanimate object and give it a real talking to.

I'd fix it myself, but...where in the world am I to find laceweight linen?

I've compared to my fingering weight yarns and this stuff is much finer. I wonder if Habu would have laceweight linen in a similar sage color.

Also, I had to buy this book this week:

Yep, it's a book called Sway. It's about the Rolling Stones and Charles Manson. Haven't read it yet, but it's a must since he named the book after meeeeee.

Scattergories & Stashbusting

There are periods in my life when my brain just cannot stay focused. This is one of those times. I've been sweeping out my room and trying to sweep out the dusty corners of my head, but I seem to be making little progress.

I think I've figured out why I have such bad luck with dates. I'm always looking for things that sweep me off my feet in a wave of emotion. I like rushes. I'm a seeker of immediate immersion. Unfortunately, this means that I don't have the patience to stick with something through the slow opening stages. I often read ten pages of a book and put it down for months or knit up half a front of a sweater and put it down for months. Also why I will go on a date and decide within fifteen minutes that I do not want to be there and there is no way on earth that I could ever end up in a meaningful relationship with this person.

This is the play-by-play in my head on a typical date:

Hmmm. I suppose you're empirically attractive, but why have you not shaved? I know you're all artsy and angsty, but that doesn't mean you have to sport perpetual five o'clock shadow, does it? You seem reasonably intelligent. Wait, why are you bringing up your fight with your sister on a first date? Doesn't bode well for my confidence in your ability to keep confidences. At least you're not a picky eater. I hate picky eaters...and now you're pushing all the carrots on your plate into a little bunch and not eating them. Yes, let's move on to movies. You don't like Back to the Future? What?? I'm just beginning to think that men with chest hair should really button that top button. Yes, that unbuttoned button is really starting to distract me. I need another glass of wine. Wiiiine, where are youuuuuu???? Maybe you're funnier when I'm tipsy. Let's try that. Nope. Why has my best friend not texted me about later plans? I may have to enter a convent. My cheeks hurt from forcing myself to smile. God, I am going to grow old and alone and live in a rickety Victorian mansion with only cats for company. I will be surrounded by mountains of stash and pull a Miss Havisham and wear a moldy vintage wedding gown and really mess up a little girl's life by poisoning her mind against evil, evil men.

Whew. Basically at this point in the night, I've decided this will never work. I'd rather read a book. Or knit a sock. Sad little single socks, that is.

Look at them, all alone in the world without a partner. But they are amongst friends, no?

I've also been distracted by more projects. I am a project ho. Fo sho.

It's Ysolda's Rose Red Beret pattern, but I'm making it in an electric purple for a friend. She says it's her favorite color. It's quite electric.

And I was looking through my stash and decided this wonderful Louet MerLin Tristan needed to be knit. It was crying because I'd ignored it for so long.

It's the very humble beginnings of a Gathered Pullover. I never really thought about this pattern until I saw Eunny's (Ravelry link). She used this same yarn and I suddenly knew that I must knit this sweater. It's so beautiful but in a streamlined, subdued kind of way.

The yarn is simply elegant in terms of structure and drape. This pattern calls for a sportweight yarn on a slightly larger-than-normal needle. I got gauge on a US 8. It's perfect for my wandering mind right now.

Look at the little purl bumps. The plies are so pretty. I am trying to think of dating like I think of this project. I thought I knew what I would do with the yarn (Linen Kilt from Knit 2 Together) but ignored its potential and simply let it sit in the stash for almost a year. All at once, an external trigger launched a closer look at the simple beauty of the yarn and I felt that immediate rush. So one day, maybe I will realize that both Mr. Wrong and I deserve a second chance. Here's to wishing.