I am pleased to announce a finished object. Swing Swing, knit in Blue Lapis Valley Yarns Colrain was finished Tuesday night during the Dancing with the Stars finale.
As you may recall, I was concerned that I would have sufficient yarn. I had stopped short on the bottom of the sweater, and put the yarn skein in a baggie, which I pinned to the sweater. Each sleeve took a skein and a half, which seemed to be on schedule. However, the pattern required me to step out on faith, block it, sew up the facings, then pick up the collar stitches. There was nothing for it but to go ahead and knit the sweater hem to a decent completion.
All was well. I still have between half and a third of a skein, and the blocking was a dream. The swing panels coaxed out to their full glory without protest.
DH had given me a blue beaded shawl pin (based on a kilt pin style) several years ago. It is such a perfect closure for the neckline of Swing Swing that it will simply live on the sweater. Happy, happy! 
No, really I’m happy. The scowl is just the sun in my eyes. Sorry about that.
My current recorded book is Knitting, by Anne Bartlett. Here is the summary from my public library’s listing:
“It’s been ten months since Jack died, and Sandra, a tightly wound academic, copes with her grief by immersing herself in the history of textiles. When she and Martha, a gifted knitter, meet over an unconscious body on the footpath, the unlikely threads of their lives tangle into each other. Sandra invites Martha to join her in a professional collaboration, but what begins as a working relationship becomes something deeply personal. Martha seems at ease with herself, in spite of her own experience of grief. But what does she carry around in those three large bags?”
This book is certainly darker than Blossom Street or even the Friday Night Knitting Club takes on a knitting novel. Yet I have been unable to walk away from listening to this one while I knit.
My public library subscribes to the OverDrive Media program, and it has been a joy to both work with and listen to. Check out your library listings – they may have an eMedia program, too.
(Sounds of finished object dance, happy, happy!) The pattern was easy to work with, making it a good project to carry in my purse. The Fleece Artist Somoko (65% merino, 20% kid mohair, 10% nylon, and 5% silk) was beautifully dyed and yummy to knit with.
The A-line of the bottom of the sweater doesn’t show because it is contained by the cable caps. Once released it will flare out the way the sleeve does.
The yarn is Fleece Artist Somoko, the Midnight colorway, and is one of the skeins that I purchased from 
I really like the fact that the gusset grows out of the cable on each side.
Last night I got past the divide for the sleeves, and today I knit the first cable twists. The yarn is 50% Merino/50% Tencel, and is a yummy knit. As expected, the Merino is soft, soft, soft, and the Tencel makes for a fluid drape. After this 16 rows increases occur to create the A-line. They must be kept in pattern, and will require more of my attention. Whiskers crossed!
