Thursday, February 23, 2012

Mid-Winter Doldrums and Knitting Success

Not much posting lately since there's not much to post.  Ah, the dregs of mid-winter.

I did finish another Knitted Quilt this week.  I'm not sure why this is such an appealing project, but I loved knitting this one as much as I did the first.  I suppose it's the fun of knitting with multi-colored yarn and the simple construction that is done in small pieces.  The secret is to finish----and I mean finish---each section as you go along.  If I had saved every end to weave in and every seam to do at the finish, the fun would get sucked right out of the whole deal.

There are mixed reviews about the Lion Brand Amazing yarn, but I'm a fan of that as well.  I like the subtle coloring and the "hairiness" of the yarn.  True, I can't vouch for how it holds up over time if it would be knit into something that gets more use.  I like it so much that I am already thinking about using it for another throw, the Mitered Squares Afghan.

To take its place, I've cast on a two-color cardigan pattern that is knit partially on the diagonal.  Now that I've started, I'm almost embarrassed that I had to buy a pattern to knit the darn thing, it's so easy.  That's why it makes good movie watching knitting though.  A no brainer.  Once I get far enough along, I'll snap a couple of pictures.  And...it's not brown.  It's violet and apple green.  Look out!

And I am making progress on my Cabled Afghan even though it's slow going.  Even at my speediest, it takes about fifteen minutes to knit across one row.  Not something I tend to pick up if I just have a little time.  I have to wait until I'm really settled in for the night.  Maybe it wasn't genius on my part to knit the entire width at one go.  I know I'll be happy when I'm done though.  Trust me.  I double-check each cable row to make sure I haven't made a mistake.  That would be deadly to go back too far on this monster.

In addition to mid-winter doldrums, the lack of posting is largely attributed to a lack of activity.  My cancer treatments are keeping me low on energy and very close to home.  No travel this winter.  We drove into Minneapolis last weekend and joked about how that's the farthest I've ventured from home since this whole thing started.  Not that funny though.  I miss getting away.  For now my excitement consists of hanging around home and getting out for clinic visits and treatment.  If there were ever a year when I have wished for an early spring, this has got to be it.  How ironic to wish time would fly by faster when you're not sure how much you might have left.  (Don't mind the gallows humor.  We're getting quite good at it.)