Last night I finished another sleeve. Turns out I had to revise the sleeve a little bit, and the sweater looks like crap at the moment, but I trust that a little bit (or a lot of blocking) will do it good. This means that in the great sleeve-off of 2007, I only have two more sleeves to knit. This sweater is one that hasn't made it onto ravelry or the blog, but it's coming. I swear. The yarn is Patons classic merino/wool, and though I had a bit of a honeymoon with this yarn over the last 15 months or so, I think I've recovered. It's good yarn but it's a little pill-ey, and I think for a basic worsted weight yarn I'd prefer something with a little firmer twist.
I have a knitting lesson today. It's my hope that as this store gets established, I can spend more time teaching and less time selling yarn. Though it's great to work in the store, and I do like it, I don't respond to fashions very well, and if left to my own devices--as I've spoken earlier--knit with the same two kinds of yarn for years without getting bored. Anyway, my lesson, I'm teaching this cool young woman how to knit, and I'm going to do it my way (though I borrowed heavily from Joyce Willams' method described in Latvian Dreams which I think is becoming the store standard.) Basically, we're teaching casting on last and purling almost immediately, so that people know how to get stocking stitch before garter stitch. With hope this will mean that people will have a framework to learn casting on when they get around to it, and they'll be able to avoid aversions to purling as well. I'm looking forward to it.
More to come!