Queue Check Addendum: Reader, I cast on

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Queue Check Addendum: Reader, I cast on

I’m in Denver for the weekend, at Fancy Tiger, learning to sew jeans with Heather Lou from Closet Case. I feel a million times more confident about this after my Summer of Basics makes (button-down! pants!), but still, please send positive thoughts toward Colorado! I didn’t get to pull together an Elsewhere before I left (although there are a million links that are potentially new-to-you in the scroll) but I did manage to cast about and cast on for a new project, despite my solemn vow not to start anything until I finished my WIPs. If there was an office pool on this, I hope you were smart enough to bet against me.

HERE’S THE THING! A) None of those were suitable for travel. B) I can’t knit the grey thing. I just can’t. It has to go. C) I did work on the purple sweater, finished the body, but it is still too warm (even in air conditioning) to be anywhere near lopi. So the second sleeve will have to wait a minute.

So what did I cast on? The most vanilla sweater imaginable: an ivory V-neck, stockinette, top-down cardigan. This is the sweater my closet has been missing for several years, after I said goodbye to a beloved old Chanel-ish sort of boxy ivory crewneck one I wore with everything. Plus I can’t let go of this Arranmore and have been dreaming of a cardigan ever since I knitted a stockinette swatch while working out the details on my fisherman sweater. (Ok, truthfully, I’ve been dreaming of the same thing in black Arranmore ever since finishing my St. Brendan, and actually have conversations with myself about not lenghtening my existing black cardigan and knitting the black Arranmore one longer, so I can have both!) (I have “seek help” on my to-do list for after Denver.) This will be a very plain sweater, but richly and deliciously so, and I’m also scheming about some interesting pockets, so we’ll see. The first inkling of a top-down sweater is my favorite travel project, and I’m happy to have this one with me.

ASSORTED UPDATES:

– If you haven’t already done so, make sure to visit the blogs of Kelbourne Woolens, Grainline Studio and Fancy Tiger Crafts to see who won all the #summerofbasics prizes (in addition to the prizes I announced on Tuesday) and what the Kelbourne/Grainline/Fancy ladies made!

– I did hear back from Dress for Success of Houston and they are currently seeking not just women’s workplace-appropriate clothing, always, but also casual wear for Harvey recovery. (They’re doing a clothing drive tomorrow including kids’ and men’s clothes as well, but I’m not clear on whether they’re accepting those things after today.) Please make sure they’re clean, presentable, no holes or buttons missing or anything like that, and send to Dress for Success, 3310 Eastside Street, Houston TX 77098.

– And we’ve restocked a bunch of bestsellers that sold out during the recent SPLC fundraiser: bonsai scissors, wooden gauge rulers, bone repair hooks, many of the Bento Bags, Knitters Graph Paper Journal, Stowe Bag patterns, nearly all sizes/lengths/parts of the Lykke Driftwood needles …. the list goes on, and you can find all of that and more over at Fringe Supply Co!

I hope you, too, are doing something fun and challenging this weekend! I’m sure I’ll be sharing liberally about my jeans workshop on Instagram @karentempler for the next three days. Keep an eye on my Story, especially.

(Lykke Driftwood needles from Fringe Supply Co.)

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PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: August 2017

16 thoughts on “Queue Check Addendum: Reader, I cast on”

  1. Absolutely love your vanilla aranmore, but at $34 a skein at my LYS, before our 13% HST (Canada’s version of a value-added tax), a sweater’s worth is out of the question. Enjoy your workshop and have confidence because you’re a superb maker.

    • Hi! Arranmore is very similar to Soft Donegal from Studio Donegal. The latter is a slightly smaller gauge, more worsted than Aran, and it is much more affordable. Some of the colours are exactly the same, like this “vanilla” colour (I think they are dyed in the same place). The colour name is 5207 Bainin. I made a cowl in it years ago and it has held up extremely well. Highly recommend it.

  4. I’m wearing a very similar sweater this morning, although more oatmeal in colour and likely a finer gauge, found at a thrift store some seven years ago now. Easily my most worn garment over its lifespan. Since I have become a knitter I have considered replicating the same sweater in baa ram ewe’s Dovestone – the woolyness I think will replicate this sweater’s feel quite well. Looking forward to seeing your project spec’s as you move along! Have a great weekend :)

  5. Loved your Summer of Basics, even though I didn’t participate. Hope that you do it again next year.

  6. Every time I say, just make it vanilla I end up with a rainbow of colors. I do need a black cardigan in my closet and that’s one my list…after I finish this 3 color saddle shoulder cardigan I’ve been working on ;)

  7. Edward Fairfax Rochester III was my first crush. Your Arranmore cardi looks just as swoony. Knit on!

  8. Ysolda either just came out with (or is about to come out with) a new cardigan that you might like. Very interesting pockets too.

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  10. There is something about Fall that makes us crave a beautiful cardigan. The yarn looks gorgeous. So, what will you do with the grey knit you cannot knit ? Frog and reclaim the yarn ?

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