Meet Virginia, Again

TL;DR: The update of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things is well done. It’s still a delightful read—and its sequel, The Universe is Expanding and So Am I, is also terrific. Go to your local indie bookstore and buy both!

Casting On Sleeves

Bang Out a Carbeth, Post 3 (see also post 1, post 2)

After swatching (and washing my swatch the way the sweater will be washed), it was time to start knitting the sweater! The Carbeth sweater has a classic bottom-up yoke construction: both body and sleeves get knit as far as the underarms, the stitches in the armpits for both sleeves and body get string holders threaded through, and the rest of the stitches get joined together and worked around with decreases to shape the yoke before the collar is knit. Once the knitting is done, the only finishing required is grafting the held stitches in the armpits to close the holes and weaving in yarn ends. It’s about as painless as finishing a sweater can get. I like patterns with minimal finishing! With this sort of construction, I generally like to start with a sleeve. That way, I can see if the yarn is going to drive me nuts (does it shed? does it pill? is it fragile?) while working on something more extensive than a swatch, and I can confirm that I like the fabric I’m making. I can also actually try a sleeve on to see if I’ll actually be able to comfortably wear what I’m making, both in terms of texture/itchiness and in terms of gauge/fit. And if for some reason I change my mind about what I’m making, I’m not out a large investment in either time or materials. In some cases (ahem!), especially if I’m using a yarn I’m familiar with, I may even dispense with a proper swatch and just start knitting a sleeve as my swatch, stopping to measure it after getting a few inches worked.

Choosing a Size, Figuring Yarn Usage, Shopping the Stash

Bang out a Carbeth, Post 2 (find post 1 here)

I rarely make sweaters from the exact yarn the designer specifies. Sometimes, the exact yarn is either not readily available where I live, or it’s prohibitively expensive in the quantity I’d need. Sometimes it’s because the yarn doesn’t come in colors that I like. Sometimes I just don’t like the yarn the designer has used. If the pattern is older, the specified yarn may no longer be made or distributed. However, I’m of the mind that if I can knit a yarn to a gauge that will work with the pattern and get a fabric that I like, it’s OK to use.

Banging Out a Carbeth Sweater!?

Kate Davies designed a sweater pattern that caught my attention, called Carbeth. (Ravelry link here.) I’m not comfortable grabbing photos from other people, so go take a look at Kate’s original, and the ones on Rav that others have made. The links will open in new browser windows or tabs. I’ll wait here for you.

Alsace, Continued

TL;DR: The rest of what we did in Alsace, continued from here.

An Alsatian Adventure

TL;DR: Finally, a (long) post about the first part of our stay in Alsace, back at the end of May, with a slight detour of our overnight in Basel, along the way there.

On updating novels

TL;DR: When is it OK to update a work of fiction?

Introducing Ulysses and Rosemary

TL;DR: We’ve expanded our family, filling the cat-shaped holes in our lives.

Good Content, Slightly Mistitled

TL;DR: The book is worth buying, with a few small caveats.

Car Radio Assessment Update: 6-Month Assessment

TL;DR: More familiar, some good, some still frustrating.