Process versus product

I been thinking lately about whether process knitting verus product knitting. I think it's fair to claim that I am largely a product knitter - 11 pairs of socks and 11 sweaters as a yearly goal seems to indicate someone who is concerned with the endpoint more then the process. And some of the evidence holds up that conclusion; for example:

 

Aquaphobia socks and my current book in progress. Luv. Him. To. Death. The socks are pretty good too.

It's barely halfway through the month, and I've got 1.65 socks there. Not too shabby.

But on the other hand, it's T = -4 days to my theoretical River Run deadline, and I've got this:

The ribbing and almost 2 full pattern repeats of the body chart. That's it. There is no way this sweater is going to be done by the end of the month, much less by the deadline. And I'm ok with that. After deciding that I would enjoy this project rather then rushing through it, I'm finding that I actually am really enjoying it. The way the colors are coming together is working much better then I anticipated, and I really like the semi-arrowhead pattern. I find it very difficult sometimes to translate Fair Isle charts into actual knitting in my mind's eye, and it's always a relief to see what the chart looks like knitted up.

So I guess I'm enjoying my foray into process knitting. It's funny - I'm definitely a process spinner, as evidenced by the whopping pile of handspun sitting up in my guest room, but not so much with the knitting. It's nice to be able to sit down and knit a few rows each night (or each night that I don't fall asleep at 8:30, like last night) and see how the pattern is developing, how the colors blend in to each other, and not feel like I have to keep going when I get tired. Which is good, because with the new addition to the family, I've been getting waaaay less then my usual allotment of sleep. Good things he's so cute...

I guess the only two questions now are: when will it get done, and will my Dad like it? I might need to ask him that now before I get too much farther on, I think. If he doesn't like it, he can have something else and this can be IM's 40th birthday present - he's already made approving noises!

The knitting I did on my Spring Vacation

I did this:

First sock is not finished because I lost the directions somewhere and wasn't sure what to do with the toe. So I put it on an extra needle and started #2

And worked on this, for the few moments I could keep my eyes open in the evening:

It's coming along, but oh so slowly! I'm pleased with the way the colors are working out though. So it's all good. Of course, knitting time is about to come to a dramatic halt (with the arrival of the wee dog) or take a large upswing (arrival of the wee dog = "working" from home for a while). We'll see...

I which I have a realization

So, on Monday night I wound up all the handspun for the sweater - it took two freakin' hours. Ugh! And then I cast on - 280 stitches on US 1/2.25 mm needles. And I started knitting the ribbing.

Approximately 45 minutes later I'd finished the first row and started the second. Items of interest:

1. Steeking this puppy will be a no brainer because the yarn is a wee bit sticky (understatement of the year that). This is a good thing generally speaking, but it does make for some slow knitting, as I pause to detach the two colors from each other every few stitches.

2. It is a good thing my professional life is not dependent on basic numerical skills, because I can not repeatedly count *two, one, two, one, four*. Because of this inability, I ended my knitting session last night at the same exact point I ended on Monday, having put in double the knitting time. Trying to tink back 200 stitches to fix the colorwork pattern in the Very. First. Row. is just not on. Riiiiiip, redo cast on, try again.

3. I've realized that I have two choices for this project. I can either drive myself (even more) batshit insane rushing through this thing and trying to get it finished in time for the Big Day, or I can enjoy the process of knitting a beautiful sweater for my Dad with yarn that I made and dyed myself, in celebration of the great milestone that is his seventieth birthday. I think I like the second option better...

I'm liking the second option even more given that, in exactly two weeks time, a large portion of my waking and sleeping hours are going to be taken up by the newest member of our family.

Meet the Wee Dog, a (somewhat crosseyed in this picture, but not in real life) Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Girls are way too excited to even be able to articulate their joy, and I go back and forth between glee and pure abject terror. It feels kind of like when I was pregnant with Devil, in fact. My only saving grace is that housebreaking him is going to happen a lot faster then with the real kids.

A big pile of handspun

The River Run yarn, now dyed and ready to be wound up and cast on. I posted the exact dye formulas on Ravelry, but I used jet black, silver gray, gunmetal and navy to get 8 shades (one black, three gray, three blue and one other blue). Now all I've got to do is finish up this:

February's sweater for Devil. Should be done tonight, if I don't spend too much time winding up handspun.

The bonfire and the hamster wheel

Last night I packed up my wheel in the lovely bag my Mom made, got on the Tube, and trekked over to Tricolette for an evening of spinning. When I proposed this excursion to my other half, I said "Guess where I might go with my wheel next week?" His response was "A bonfire?" Ha, ha, bloody ha mate. Just for that, I won't make you any more socks...

The trip on the Tube was actually fine, although I kept waiting for someone to ask me what was in the bag. It helped a great deal that I was going in to town when most people were coming out and the trains were largely empty. I made it there without too many problems, after a trek from the Tube station, and had a lovely evening. A lovely bunch of people, a gorgeous shop (!), and best of all, this is what I was spinning.

I was able to start on the Falklands for my mom because this past weekend, I finished up this:

Six skeins, ~2100 yds, of 2-ply fingering weight Falklands for the River Run pullover (aka March's sweater). I had an interesting experience with this stuff - the first four skeins I spun over the period of about 2 weeks, and they were in the neighborhood of 1600-1800 ypp. The last two, I did in the last week, and when I finished the first one of the two, it came in at 2100 ypp (435 yds/3.4 oz).

Gulp. Whaaaaa? whimpers

So I plied up the next skein and, instead of soaking it in cold water, soaked it in hot water, with a tiny bit of mussing around. It came out at 1847 ypp. Hmmmmmm, said the curious porpoise, perhaps I can utilize the Falklands-puffball effect to fix that darned first skein. Skein skinny got unwound, thrown in some hot water, and jiggled around a bit. After drying:

400 yds/3.4 oz, 1820 ypp. Done.

I checked the schematics for the pattern, and I fully expect to have to spin up some more yarn somewhere along the line, as the intended recepient of the finished item is both skinny and long*. So I will need to do some veeery scientific dyeing to minimize any dye lot issues with future skeins. But I think it's time to get started with the dye jars. Black, white, three shades of grey, three shades of blue and teal.

Now I need to see if I have enough dye...

* Must remember to find out how long the sleeves have to be...