Rhinebeck 2007 Sweater WIP

I thought it might be fun to design and execute a sweater to wear to Rhinebeck this year. I had purchased 10 skeins of Claudia's Hand Painted Merino in a blue-green colorway that spoke to me and was aptly named "Caribbean Blue". This yarn sat in my stash for a while, until August when it was time to knit it.

An amalgam of many influences;I have been knitting a cardigan with cabled front, triangular upper back and shoulders, short row modular engineered to raglan form. Begun during a very long car ride to Vienna, Virginia for a Phideaux concert August 11, 2007 when I needed to start something fast. I began with a short stretch of the cable, then turned and started a triangular shape. I thought this might work, but decided to short-row it into a raglan shape so I could knit the body and sleeves on the straight of grain instead of bias. I liked how it was coming out, but I decided to use cables to nip in the waist and wrists a bit, and to see if I could make it flare at the hem by using some of the cable ideas in Debbie Bliss's Silver Belle sweater ( in VK 25th anniversary issue). I'm hoping to finish by Rhinebeck Weekend, and also hoping it will be wearable. Knitting is always exciting that way for me, as I kind of make it up as I go along! I plan to add a button band or zipper to the front, but I only have 6 nights of knitting left to do it! Wish me luck!

Leaf Lace Vest

After having a fun time knitting the Leaf Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark from Fibertrends, I wondered if I could adapt the lace to a vest. I was enjoying knitting with the yarn, Schaefer's Laurel, a worsted weight cotton in interesting variegated colors, on size 9 needles, and now that I had the tension numbers, I could use that info to make a raglan vest. The result took one skein of Laurel ( 400 yards), and I knitted it entirely during the week I spent flying to Los Angeles and touring around Southern California to deliver my son Michael to his freshman year at Caltech. Lots of good memories are encoded in every stitch.

Folk Art Gala

The Folk Art Museum gave a lovely reception last night, despite the rain, which was well attended and gave some of us an opportunity to view the works created and meet some of the artists. it was a fun event, with lots of wine, yummy shrimp and wraps, and a docent-led tour of the amazing exhibit in the Museum. It is worth seeing, to appreciate the artistry and the history of the wood carvers and the papercutters who immigrated here and created the Coney Island Carousel among other works. I wasn't allowed to take photos in the Museum itself, and so I only obtained shots of the cases in the front hall and some of our works on display in the Lobby. A fully illustrated catalogue of the 32 works is being produced, however, and Ethan Gold, egould@folkartmuseum.org , who coordinated the event, promised that each artist would receive one at the end of the month. The actual auction is later this month, details at http://www.folkartmuseum.org/

Here is a photo of me next to the case holding my Lion.