Knerdy Knitting
where spelling isn't as important as awesome

Here ye see the detail o' the cables

Arrrr!  Saturday, it were Talk Like a Pirate Day, so in keepin’ with that theme, this post be in pirate speak.

Avast be the name of the pattern for this sweater, being of a nautical turn and suitable fer the man in yer life.  I be makin’ it fer me boyfriend, a fine pirate and a fine man.  It has a construction new to me, in that it be a bottom up cardigan.  The cables ’round the waist be knit in a long strip, then stitches picked up along the top to form the body.  It be knittin’ up well, though the stockinette be a bit tirin’.  Eventually, I’ll be knittin’ the sleaves seperate than then joinin’ them to the body in a raglan style, so there’ll be all but no seamin’ in the project.

Now, there may be some among ye that shiver at the mention of a sweater fer a boyfriend.  There’s some that say knittin’ a sweater fer a man before a-weddin’ him be bad luck, and that such a sweater be Cursed.  Cursed this sweater may be, and a full minute o’ breakup may be comin’ of it.  But Pirate Boyfriend be wantin’ a sweater more than we be wantin’ a weddin’, so a sweater he will have.  Also, I have heard of no curse on the makin’ up after.  If ye know what I be meanin’.  Arrr!

Sheep are ok, I guess, but goats are great!  They have rectangular pupils!  They give delicious milk for making even more delicious cheese!  (And nun goats make even more delicious cheese!)  My favorite book as a small child was about a goat pulling a cart!  So clearly, goats are a superior animal.

Therefore, when I got the opportunity to buy some cheap mohair, I jumped at it.  I should not have jumped.  It is beautiful, sure, but it’s still in the lock and hasn’t been well washed.  So I’ve been picking away at the locks, breaking them up and brushing out as much dirt as I can.

Notice the pretty orange in the top corner.

It takes a lot of time, but I’ve found it’s almost as relaxing as spinning itself.  I open the front door, which faces west, and sit in the afternoon sunshine and brush through my mohair.  The cats play around me and sniff the wool suspiciously, and all is right with the world.

What this yarn will become is a mystery.  I’ll have about 350 g of the orange stuff, and it’s spinning up about fingering weight.  A shawl?  A scarf?  A something?  Something tells me it is going to be much more fun spinning this stuff than wearing it.  So I try to pretend I don’t care what it’ll become.

So, I have had a livejournal for many moons.  I never use it, as nothing interesting happens to me.  At least, it doesn’t seem interesting until someone mentions I should blog it.  When I hear this, I immediately agree and resolve to blog it and many other interesting stories very soon.  Very soon never happens.  Maybe this is because I am forgetful.  Maybe it is because I suspect these events aren’t interesting after all.  Maybe this is because I am scared of writing in general, and the Blank Page in particular.  Whatever it is, the livejournal is not used.

But this blog will be used!  This is not because knitting is more interesting than other parts of my life.  In fact, I suspect that the college friends that read my livejournal would be more interested in my real life than my knitting life.  This blog will be used because I don’t care if anyone reads it.  I just like blathering on about yarn, and this will provide a place where I won’t drive people crazy with it.