I know, I haven't posted anything to the knitting blog in ages; that's not because I haven't been knitting (I just counted and I finished 7 sweaters, plus a crocheted bunny, since then), but more because there just hasn't been anything unusual or interesting to write about. Since I finished the Celtic Knot Raglan in April, all my projects have been pretty straightforward, skill-wise.
My current one, though, is somewhat different: not quite two weeks ago I started Norah Gaughan's swirl pullover. It's definitely an odd pattern: you work the swirl in the round (which I did on two circulars since I'm not even sure they make DPNs in size 10.5 -- which is what I had to use to get gauge), and then when it's done you start working in rows, first on the front, then the back. It's hard to explain -- I didn't understand how it worked just by reading the pattern; I had to do it before it made any sense -- but the front is worked starting with the top and right edges of the swirl; you work in rows with a right angle kind of like the number 7 (well, on a digital display, anyway). Row and stitch gauge have to be spot-on for this one because it's worked in several different directions. And the back is almost as weird as the front; this is definitely not your usual bottom-up or top-down sweater. (I believe the designer now refers to it as "that damn thing".)
Tonight I finally learned the Kitchener stitch! I had been trying to figure it out from books for a while, but I could never completely understand it, so it occurred to me to Google and see if anyone had posted a video (duh - considering that I learned to knit pretty much entirely from knittinghelp.com, you'd think I'd have thought of looking for a video earlier), and lo and behold, there was a great one on YouTube. So tonight I turned off the TV so I could concentrate, fired up Ray's laptop, played the video, and a couple minutes later I was doing the Kitchener stitch! So the side seam of my pullover is now done. (Since they were already bound off, I did the shoulder seams the way I usually seam: crochet slip stitch on the wrong side. It's sturdy and can easily be pulled out if I screw up. And I don't have to estimate how much yarn I'll need beforehand, which is something I suck at when sewing seams: I usually end up with way too much and so it takes ages to pull it through.)
Anyway, at this point I have finished the body of the sweater, and will start the sleeves tomorrow. I am afraid I don't have enough yarn, though; I started with 14 balls (100 yards each) and now, with the body done and the sleeves, neckline, and hem still to go, I have only 4 left. I may have to swing by Nature's Yarns tomorrow and hope they still have some with the right dye lot (I bought this there several months ago). It would suck to get this far and not have enough to finish.
Edit: Success! The LYS had six balls of the same dye lot. I bought four (800 yards for the sleeves should be plenty, right?), and they're holding the other two behind the counter for me just in case -- I said I'd call on Monday to let them know if I'd need them. Also, it turned out to be serendipitous for the lady working at the yarn shop: when she saw the pattern I was working on through my clear knitting bag, she mentioned that she'd been looking for that pattern for several years now, so I said she could have it if she wanted it, because I had accidentally bought two copies -- the card-stock one I had with me plus an online copy. She gave me $4 (which was the original cost) for it. I'd been meaning to offer the extra one up on Ravelry or somewhere, but had been putting it off because I didn't want to deal with mailing it, so this worked out well.
