I think its fair to say that I've been in a knitting funk of late. I've made a few hats, which have been nice to, but not terribly fulfilling, given that I have all the hats I could possibly want, and while I do plan to give a few away, I need a "finished hat" box (like my mom's sock box) where you let finished projects sit for a while, so you can let go and give them away. This is ironic, given that one of the things I want to make (that I don't currently have yarn for) is a sweater for someone else, but that's different, because you're making it specifically for someone else, in a style/fiber that you don't particularly like (or feel suited to you).
No matter, so I made a few hats, started a 52 stitch garter stitch rectangle (why oh why?), knitted some more on the plain shawl that will never end, and just yesterday I started another sweater. It's going to be a wool drop-shoulder pull over, with a cut neck a high collar. As is usual I'm debating how exactly to execute the neck. Steek for sure, clasps (rather than a zipper), and I think I'm going to put 1 inch of ribbing (1x1; to match the other edges) on either side of the cut steek. The other option is to put like 2 garter ridges (much narrower) on either side, which is about half as wide, and could be adapted to accommodate a zipper if I changed my mind. The one problem is that, without a zipper, the garter ridges probably wouldn't counteract the inherent curl of the steek, and would therefore look crappy.
The wool I'm using is a grab bag of worsted weight wool, gathered from various sources. The bottom is this black yarn. From the vintage when Red Heart still made 100% virgin wool, obtained at a rummage sale, and from the same vintage, some more vintage yarn: Sears brand medium-light grey. Finally, I have some left over sheep colored fisherman's wool (Lion Brand) this stuff is still available so if I run out and need to augment my supply, it'd be eight bucks at just about any craft store. I think it's going to get a trip through my blue dye pot. I have a lot of stuff that's going to get died blue: two hats, a shawl, this sweater, plus the never-ending shawl.
After this sweater, I have yarn enough for two more sweaters: an aran and plain (I think) pullover of some fun design, and countless shawls. I'm sort of turned off of shawls for a while. I think I thought that I could knit one shawl for every sweater I made, but I think I need to institute a 2 for 1 policy, other wise, the shawls just wont work out.
I have two knitting lusts at the moment. The first is to knit the Rams Horn cardigan from Meg Swanson's Knitting. I might get some sort of plain worsted wool, but I think I should just come to terms with the fact that it's going to be done in Icelandic Wool. It's not that expensive, and I think my knitting deserves the right kind of yarn. This is an old crush, but I've done some color stranding work, just for grins, and I'm really pleased with it (and my abilities) so I have a renewed interest.
The second crush is on This Sweater. I'd want to do it with the cut neck, probably in the blue (second link) colorway. Melt. On the up side their so generously sized, that I could make the extra small and still have like eight inches of ease. The kits are ungodly expensive. There's no other way to put it. Mind you, if you buy a Dale sweater from their US distributor, it'll cost 3 times the cost of a kit. I'm going to see how long this crush lasts, and I don't think it'll take very much to keep me from buying the kit (because of the price), but at some point I'll probably break down and get it as a reward for something. Lets say, right here, if I live through next semester and more or less run out of yarn, and have some sort of summer income, and have the money, I'll do it.
Ok, so there's your knitting update for the week. I'll catch you all soon. I'll keep you posted on the developments of my sweater as they have a habit of progressing pretty fast.