I finally cast on for Wicked. I've seen some great ones out there in blogland, and that was the inspiration I needed to get mine started. I've completed increase number 5 of 17, so I've got a ways to go before I even put the sleeves on scrap yarn. Now that I've got a few more stitches on the needles, it's moving along swimmingly. The initial 124 or so stitches weren't enough for the 32" cable, and kinked up a bit for the cabling at the neck. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I should put on the kangaroo pocket. The pocket is cute, but I know I'll want to be done with the sweater sooner, so I can move on to a Project Spectrum project or two and my February SAM3 socks. Special thanks to Sknitty for showing me how to manipulate the f-stop to get better pictures with more accurate colors. The burgundy in the picture looks quite accurate compared to the real thing.
I am happy, however, to report that I'm enjoying the Durango yarn. It's working up to be a thick yarn, quite squishy, and the sweater should be warm enough, even though I'm only going to make it short-sleeved. I hope I get to wear it this season; temps in LA were in the '80s this weekend. Let's hope I will have it done for Stitches West which is only 2 weeks away.
The weekend was an exhausting and emotional one at chez dim sum. Sweetie Girl's best friend and family moved away and we said our goodbyes after dinner on Friday. Sweetie Girl also came down with the latest virus du jour, and spent most of the weekend just lazing around the house. Today, we finally got some meds for her, so I'm forecasting sunnier days for her ahead.
I taught my first knitting workshop (for pay) on Saturday, and it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I had a moment of fear before it started, and then once I got started talking about gauge, swatching, increases and decreases, I was fine. Once I figured out I knew more than the 13 (!!) knitters there, I was fine. It was a big group, bigger than I would have liked for my first experience truly teaching, but it worked out in the end. We didn't cover everything, because we ran out of time, but I was willing to stay later for whomever wanted more help. The money I made from the workshop funded my Unwind SuperBowl Sunday yarn excursion. I'll post about that later, but suffice it to say, it was nice having some cold, hard cash lining my pockets. I'll show you my finds in the next post or so.
Have a great week!
