I started her last January… and here we are in the middle of December. It is good to have this little darling finished and off the needles!

Pattern: Hoodie from Patons Street Smart
Yarn: Cottage Craft 2-ply in Maritime Blue (100% wool)
Source: Stitches East 2006 (Baltimore)
Needles: Size US 7 and 8 circular needles
Started January 2007 / Finished December 2007

I did not make any modifications to the sweater, although I have to admit that I have not yet sewn in a zipper. I had a little mishap - purely my fault. I bought a zipper at the craft store and was thrilled to find such a close color match (without customization) and in my haste, I neglected to study the package: it was a non-separating zipper, which is really of no use for a cardigan. So, I have a choice of going back and looking again, or just holding off (à la Central Park Hoodie?) on the zipper all together. It does not pull to the sides, and is quite comfy, so it is quite wearable without it… still have to decide on that one.

The pattern was pretty easy to follow, and once I got going, quite enjoyable to knit. I really enjoyed the cables and the bobbles. The cables remind me of chromosomes (inner voice: hush now, your nerd is showing!) and I guess it is fitting that it is a female cardigan I considered cutting the cables out of the back panel, but I am glad that I stuck with it. They turned out really nice. I made the Medium size - which is supposed to be for a 38″ inch bust with ease to 41″ inches. I went up one needle size, so I think it may be closer to a 39″. It is a great fit - perfectly comfortable with different tops underneath.

The only notable problem that I had with this garment was the hood. It is BIG. Totally HUGE. It was a nightmare to seam up, and I am still not 100% happy with it (but I will settle for 98%) I blocked the thing like crazy, but when attaching it to the body in the seaming process, I had to do about five hood stitches to every body stitch. I looked at the directions, and I did it right, so I guess it is supposed to be that way. If I had known this earlier, I would have made the hood smaller in the first place. However, I do feel some accomplishment: this was my first hood ever, and overall the results are pretty good. Funny how a head covering can make you feel like a completely different person. (I can’t quite place it: I feel like a 16th-century milk maid, or a fantastical gnome…) Of course, the hood will be worn down most of the time.

I have already sung the praises of this yarn. I could easily sing an encore. It is amazing. I love it. It is a wonderfully simple wool yarn that blocks and blooms beautifully. It is one of those quintessential yarns that works for a large number of projects. I have only seen the distributors at Stitches, but I imagine that you can probably mail order from them as well. My stashbusting mantra forbids me from ordering more (now) but this yarn will undoubtedly be used again the future.

…and now my hoodie and I are headed off to the library for a first outing…

Bokeh: (from the Japanese boke ぼけ, “blur”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. [Wikipedia]

I have been playing with bokeh aesthetics for awhile in my own photography, and it is all the rage in some of the Flickr groups. (Check out Minty and her new camera - she caught on to the bokeh really quickly!)

Since I finished up all of the knitting for the Street Smart Hoodie, I thought some blocking photos might be fun… with a little but of bokeh on top!

Now comes the seaming… I have a feeling that this will take awhile to block, but finished photos should come soon. Nearly a year in the making, and I am so close to be finished!

PS - Sweet Tina over at Knitting Contessa and I had a little chat - and she posted the interview on her blog!

This hooded cardigan has been on the needles for so long that I can only call it a labor of love. I picked it up again in October after many months of lingering in my knitting bag. I started this cardigan in January. While I have not been knitting continuously on it - I had my seventeen day affair with Aftur - I have been working on it quite a bit.

Since October, I have finished the back, and have finished 3/4 of the second sleeve. I am trying not to feel bogged down; there are still have the two fronts AND the hood to knit. I hate to admit it, but this is no longer a process knit - it is squarely in the MUST FINISH THIS THING AND GET IT OFF THE NEEDLES category.

Please do not mistake my urgency for dislike of the pattern or the yarn - that is really not the case. I encountered the Street Smart hoodie soon after I learned to knit - four years ago last month - and dreamed about the day that I could have the skill and the patience to make it. And the yarn - so perfect and blue. It is a true joy to knit.

I just want it off my needles before the year is out. That seems like a reasonable goal, right?

Do you have any long-standing unfinished knits?

Oh! `darkly, deeply, beautifully blue’ / As someone somewhere sings about the sky. –Lord Byron

Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight. –John Ruskin

… …

Aftur update :: sleeve one complete, sleeve two in progress

Saturday errands in the new blue shoes (and store bought socks)

…More thoughts and observations on blue…

Remember when I said that I had a bad Saturday night? Well, my path of destruction did not end with the (dearly departed) Aran Accent Vest. It reached way down into my works-in-progress pile too. After months upon months of lingering at the bottom of my knitting basket, the Street Smart Hoodie made a comeback this past weekend… but not before I had to rip back a few inches after some wayward cable stitching. (What is it with me and the cables?) I seem to have this problem whenever I pick up a project after many months. My brain needs some time to reacquaint itself with the pattern and the yarn. Luckily, This story ends on a happier note: the Hoodie is working up perfectly now, and I am working through the arm hole decreases on the back.

Why in the world did I abandon this project for so long?

I bought the yarn at Stitches East 2006 from the lovely people at Cottage Craft. Just talking with them made me want to go to their idyllic shop on the bay in New Brunswick. After working with the wool itself, my urge to go there is even stronger. The yarn is great - sturdy, beautifully dyed, and perfect for textured projects. It is raw, with some “crunch” to it. There are a few flecks of vegetable matter, although nothing too coarse. Like so many other yarns, I know it will soften up after a nice dunk in the sink. This is their 2ply worsted weight in Maritime Blue. [See their colors here] (I also bought some of their single ply yarn in Black Cherry for a shawl or simple lace project… so this is not the last you will hear of this yarn!)

This project, as well as the yarn for my Aftur yoked pullover are going right into my travel bag: Kris and I are headed south to Williamsburg, Virginia for a little business (a regional archives conference) and a little pleasure (wineries!)