Has it really been that long?

Apparently it has been almost three months since I've posted.  Most likely the reason is frogged knitting and no weaving.  I did just finish Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Lady sweater.  I made it in Cascade 220, purple heather colorway.  I can't tell you how pleased I am with the outcome.  I have made multiple sweaters throughout the years and for one reason or another I most always hate them.  Usually for the reason of them being ill fitting - too big mostly. I think the reason is lack of doing proper stitch gauge (with finishing and blocking).  I always think that my gauge is spot on with the patterns but over the years my gauge has loosened quite a lot.  Typically now to get a typical 5 stitches per inch, I'm having to go down to a size 6 needed where I used to be able to use an 8.  But I'm reverting (diverting?).  So hence, I don't knit for myself very much.  But this swear seems to have come out spot on for sizing. The pictures of it on people in Ravelry don't hold a candle to the way it looks and feels in person. It has beautiful color depth due to the heathery colors and it feels substantial.

A couple days ago I bought some grosgrain ribbon to put underneath the buttons to hold the button band down and to have something to anchor the 1" wooden heart buttons down.  I used tiny little invisible stitches to anchor the pretty dark pink grosgrain ribbon down and today I'll sew on the buttons.  I'll probably try to find little buttons, in the button box, to place on the grosgrain ribbon side, underneath each button, to anchor it even more.  I'll post pictures on here, Ravelry & Flickr when I'm done.  

Yesterday I went to 3 Beads and a Button store in Cupertino to pick up one button to match the 5 round horn buttons I already have.  I ran into Jasmin and Gigi of the Knitmore Girls podcast.  I was across the room from them but thought I recognized Gigi's voice and look up and there they were, in person. Jasmin is the one who told me a week or more ago that this lovely little store is going out of business. It's really a nice little store. It's always sad to see nice little mom and pop stores going out of business.  Anyway, I took the opportunity to go over and say hello and tell them I was a fan of their show and we began a conversation that probably lasted a half hour.  It was a lot of fun to talk to them, they are fun gals.

OK, just because I haven't been weaving or finishing lots of knitted objects, doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Earlier this year, I took the first of two classes that was supposed to prepare us to 1) weave fabric and then 2) weave it.  So in April, I took a workshop (through Blacksheep Guild in Woodside), for yarn and pattern selection for the fabric for the jacket, with Sharon Alderman. Then in September, we took a workshop with Daryl Lancaster, to put one of her Daryl jackets together using the handwoven fabric.  I could never figure out what yarn I wanted to use for the fabric so in the end, I just purchased some from JoAnn's fabric and craft store.  I didn't learn nearly as much as I would have, if I had woven the fabric but I did learn stuff and turned out a light weight unconstructed jacket, with Hong Kong seams inside (in 3 days).  Since then, I've put together two more jackets, one for my friend Vicki and one for myself.  They both turned out great. I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

I've also been doing a lot of dyeing of fiber in the last 3 months on the back patio outside.  I've done pounds and pounds of fiber.  I don't think I'll buy any more fleeces until I can see some noticeable reduction in the stash of fiber I own.  I haven't really been spinning much in the last 2 or 3 months since it's probably taken me that long to knit the February Lady sweater. It really surprised me how long it took to knit it since I'm always hearing about people popping things off the needles right and left on my podcasts. Sorry, digressing again.  Anyway, I think this blog post is long enough so I'll sign off now.  Have a lovely Thanksgiving everyone!