Knitting news

I’ve been meaning to catch the blog up with my knitting projects and was finally spurred to action… and now nearly a two months has have lapsed since I first clicked “Save draft.!” The story remains fresh in my mind, nonetheless, and I share here now, better late than never:

After too many weeks spent in triple-digit heat, the first week of autumn actually saw temperatures fall into a comfortable range of low 80s. Which is still a bit too warm to be wearing sweaters, but I decided to wear one over my t-shirt anyway.

While I was in line to order my morning cappuccino, a woman approached me.

“Excuse me,” she said (in a British accent), “May I ask where you got your sweater? It’s very nice.”

“Oh, this sweater?” I asked.

“Yes,” replied she, “It’s so lovely.”

“Thank you. I, uhm… I made it.”

“You made it?” she repeated – brows raised, eyes wide.

I nodded a bit sheepishly (she’d blurted that out loud enough to attract the attention of a couple of nearby coffee patrons).

“Wow! Well, it’s very, very lovely. May I take a picture of it?”

“Uhm, sure,” I said. Awkward smile, quick snap, and that was that.

The whole exchange happened in the span of 30 seconds or so, but it was such a strange sensation. I guess it’s a knitter’s dream that their projects look handknit rather than homemade, but I’ve never expected such a compliment, and from a complete stranger, no less. It made my day – it makes my day all over again, typing this a month later!

I knit this Katharine Hepburn Cardigan as a birthday gift to myself in 2013. I made some modifications to the pattern because I used a different yarn than that called for in the pattern, but I don’t remember what they are anymore. If I had it to do over again, I’d modify the front panels to be a bit narrower to accommodate how the lace pattern blooms after blocking. Overall, the fit is good, especially at the shoulders. The buttons came out of a Danish sewing box that I’d scored on Craigslist a year earlier.

Here are some in-progress photos (as proof that I’ve been meaning to post!):

The past couple of years have been good on the knitting front — especially last year, when the very distinct autumn and winter of New York afforded many opportunities to wear lots and lots of wool. Now that I’m back in California, I’m not so sure that I’ll be wearing my handknits as often, but I do hope to share my projects and reviews in future posts.