I heard them crying from the bottom of my knitting basket, but I went along, merrily completing socks, sweaters, and scarves. And now, I am feeling a tinge of guilt…

Durrow is a long-neglected knit, from Magknits October 2005. It is not because the yarn, or the designer - in fact, I adore them both. It is because I feel like a doofus when knitting it.

I finished the back, and I have ripped out this %$@# cabled sleeve three times. I can't seem to get it. I am trying to stay positive about it, but I can't wrap my brain around these cables! However, I will not completely admit defeat, especially when I see that Anne is flying with her Durrow sleeve. It looks beautiful… so, why can't I figure it out? I want to get it right. The cable is what drew me to this sweater. Sure, I could skip it, but it would be just another ribbed sweater in that case. (I am not sure that Kris would care, but I want to say that I have done this cable!) Any tips for this knitter who has (almost) reached the end of the rope?

My answer for Durrow was simply placing it back in the basket - letting it marinate for awhile. That is why it has been buried, following the logic of knit basket stratigraphy…

The story with Sesame is simple - I was tempted away by other knits. Sesame is a beautifully designed cardigan, one that I will undoubtedly wear all year long. I am working on the back and sleeve 2 simultaneously, having already completed the front panels, and sleeve one. It is the notorious black yarn - hard to photograph and hard to get a sense about, but I just know this one will be a winner… whenever I finish it!

I knit a few rows while watching some TV this weekend, and while I am using cotton (Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Licorice to be precise), I know it will be a warm garment, and will fit into my layering wardrobe mentality very well. Cardigans are a staple piece - remember, I am an official librarian now, so it goes with the territory

It seems that there are new knitalongs cropping up all over the blogosphere, and like many of you, I went on a joining spree! 

So timely!  Cables are so hot right now.  Do you have any cable projects on the needles now, or some planned in the near future?  The group blog has started off with a bang - there are some lovely sweaters, cardigans, mittens, and scarves showing up!  While I am currently knitting up a cabled/rib pullover for Kris, I am also planning some other cabled cardigans this season… I don't know if I can fit them all in this fall, but I like to aim high!

1. Patons' Classic Hoodie, 2. Cabled Cardigan, 3. Green Cable Cardigan

Wool wool and more wool.  I recently added the middle cardigan (from the Fall 2006 Knit Simple magazine) to my list - especially when I ran into a good sale of Patons Classic Merino at a local craft store.  The first hoodie has been on my list for ages, and as soon as I finish one of my WIPs, this baby is going on the needles.  The third cardi is another great design from Stefanie at Glampyre.  I am planning to use a great eggplant-colored wool from my stash for this one.

When I saw Claudia mention this one on her blog, I immediately signed up.  Rich tweedy yarns conjure up images of winter wonderlands, fireplaces, and magnificent knit creations - it is the quintessential winter wool for me! (Yes, I like to wax poetic about yarn…) I have a lot of tweed in the stash, and I have one finished tweedy cardigan to my name. 

The Durrow pullover is a "two-fer": it is knit in the amazing tweedy Dale of Norway Sisik yarn, and it has cables galore up the sleeves. I am currently working the armholes on the back of this one.

This knitalong goes all winter, so I hoping to fit in some other tweedy accessories, specifically hats and mittens, and if I can really get going?  Maybe the V-neck pullover in the red Sisik…

I recently posted about my desire to jump right into color work and Fair Isle.  I received some wonderful tips from you all, and I think I am going to use Sandy's knitalong to experiment! Mittens seem like a great place to start.  Over the past few months, I have picked up two books that have great technical advice, as well as beautiful patterns:

Folk Mittens features traditional designs from many cold-weather countries. I love the folk aspect of this book, and as I improve as a knitter, I hope to have many of these mittens in my collection. The Knit Mittens! book contains some helpful diagrams and pictures, as well as several cute patterns. Techniques inside include colorwork, needle felting, and cables. There are also patterns specifically for children. Now the problem is choosing where to start…

Finally, the last knitalong that I joined is a great way to combine all of the knitalongs into one… all you have to do is watch movies and knit (or crochet, or spin!) while watching a movie!

Fiberflix is another brilliant idea from Craftylily Jennifer! The concept is simple: each month, the group chooses a theme and a corresponding movie.  Next month's theme will be film noir, and the voting is going on right now - go join and put in your vote! (I say Strangers on a Train…)  We will have an ongoing discussion about the movie throughout the month, as well as share the projects we work on while watching the movie. 

And have you heard about this other project?  a month-long sock celebration?  Sounds pretty fun!

Energy: either you have it, or you don't. You pay for it in many different forms, and you expend it in many others.

A few of the energies I have been using lately…

We made a big green change this month, but first a little background and some local politics: Our local electric and gas supplier will be hiking up the service price 72% over the next few months. Kris and I have been concerned about the energy crisis and how our local utility is responding to it, so we called them and asked "What are your green energy options?" and the operator paused and said she did not know what that meant. We took that as a sign, and immediately started researching our own options. There was recently a deregulation on energy services in the state of Maryland, and because of this, we chose to go with another supplier - Washington Gas Energy Services.

We made the choice to go with 100% wind energy for all of our electric utility.

With 100% wind power, it is slightly more than we were paying before - however, a customer can get a discount from wind energy if you choose 20% wind power, or even 60% wind power. I am very happy to see that we do have a local supplier who is making sustainable resources available to customers.

More and more companies are offering green alternatives for energy supply. This easy step can conserve vast amounts of resources, and is very reliable. Please consider changing your energy supply, it is as easy as calling your utility company!

Our pond has been of great interest lately because it is teeming with life, both floral and faunal, and also because we installed a solar-powered circulation pump. The pond is several yards away from the nearest outlet, and instead of "running a line" to hook up an electric pump, I suggested that we search for a solar pump - this part of our yard gets a full day of sun, and the choice would obviously be better for the environment, and for our electric bills: Harnessing the energy of the sun!

We mounted the panel just outside the pond on the fence, and it is working like a charm! I am sure that the sunny hot days are helping it along even more. The water has cleared up, and the fish and the plants seem much healthier and happier!

These fish, called Endlers, are endangered in their natural habitat (Amazonian Venezuela) and are bred by many aquahobbyists (like Kris) in order to ensure the species' survival. Our pond is full of them - and a number of them are pregnant! They are quite friendly and they love to play on my hands.

And of course, there is creative energy - you probably have a good dose of it if you are here reading this blog! The ideas never stop! Unfortunately, there are not enough hours in the day to expend all of that creative energy! I have a number of projects going right now, and I am trying to give them equal face time. The Durrow pullover was the most recent recipient of my creative energies…

Almost to the armholes - Men's sweaters take forever!

And the creativity does not stop there… I have a big bag of August-appropriate craft supplies waiting for my attention. I am hoping to do some jewelry-making, some embroidery, and of course, more knitting.

I am thankful for the creative energies of others too…

…like my Flip Flop Swap pal, KnittingNurse Jannett! She sent me a great package with some fabulous summertime goodies! see my new shoes!! and she was so kind and understanding about my yarn diet! Thank you!

This pomegranate necklace was a gift from Maggi! Thank you so much! (of course, you know I love it! It has a pomegranate on it!)

…and thanks to Amanda for sending this adorable crocheted wristlet and a great antique postcard!

Thank you all for sharing your energy with me!

My Trekking sock has been on two urban outings this past week visiting friends in the big city!  What did socky see?

Last Wednesday, I met up with my best friend Becca.  She is amazing.  We ate some yummy food, caught up on all sorts of stories, and knit it up.  Unfortunately, Becca gets very little time to knit as a full-time PhD student, so she continues to work on the Hourglass sweater that she started nearly a year ago… but it is still lovely!  I worked on socks, but I also cast on for Kris's sweater - the Durrow pattern from Magknits.  (Many thanks for all of your suggestions in the last post!  It really was a variety of knit philosophies!  I am planning to make this sweater for Kris "first" but will start on my Sesame cardigan very soon…)

Durrow's front and back are straight ribbing - and I am working through the back pretty quickly.  I can't wait to start on the sleeves with all of the cable action!  The chart is a little mind-numbing at first glance, but I think I will be able to figure it out. *fingers crossed*  I am falling in love with the Dalegarn Sisik all over again.  I made another garment out of it last year (the Balmoral cardigan) using the Aubergine colorway.  Unfortunately, Dale of Norway discontinued this wool/mohair/rayon blend.  However, I got "wind" of this pretty early and stocked up - buying two more sweaters' worth as a birthday present to myself last fall.  You may recall that the red Sisik is slated to be the Vienna V-neck pullover.  The charcoal color does not have a pattern in mind yet… but I have several contenders! 

My sock and Durrow were also present at my other meetup in the city this week - my Saturday with Suzanne and Jenna!

All of us brought our socks along! Suzanne is working on the 2nd sock of her first pair ever. They are perfect - so much better than my first socks! Jenna is working with a lovely lace pattern on some KoolAid-dyed yarn for Project Spectrum!  and you recognize my Trekking sock… growing slightly longer since its previous apperance.

We stayed at the café for five hours - having three different servers in the course of brunch and dessert! - we had an absolutely wonderful time.  It's been said many times before - but it is worth saying again!  Knitters (and knitters that blog!) are the greatest people on earth.  Hands down!

Durrow in my lap - it grew several inches of the course of our long stay at the café!

…More DC sights…

Stay tuned… tomorrow is a very special day

PS–I just heard that Project Runway is running on NBC tomorrow night (Monday), so if you don't have Bravo on your cable lineup, check this out in primetime basic!  The first two shows were quite eventful and it looks like it is going to be another great season.