Binding off

We found a buyer for our amazing house, which, now that I'm leaving and trying to find a new place to set down roots, taunts me with all the advantages it has. Lovely wide open spaces, yet plenty of closets and a huge and comfortable kitchen,close to train, town and parkways.. It will be difficult to duplicate this set-up elsewhere! Close to shops and my friends, yet private and leafy. I know the new owners will enjoy many years of fun here!
So, binding off is an odd phrase, isn't it? In knitting, it is where you finish the edge of the knitting by slipping one loop over another, and marks the end of a journey of creating a piece of cloth. Because most of my projects tend to be big and all in one piece, the binding off comes after a long acquaintance with a project and many hours spent knitting, designing, tweaking and sometimes ripping out and starting over! But if you consider the phrase itself, "binding off!" can also imply releasing the shackles and gaining freedom! So, in a way we are doing that also.
Here is my latest project: a vest knitted from a pattern by Brooke Nico in Vogue Knitting Fall 2010, #13 Lace Jacket. I left off the sleeves and made it a vest.

Onward to the next adventure!

Spring into summer

Our fickle weather has gone from spring right into summer, and back to spring several times already, so it is a challenge to know what to knit next! I have been finishing up two linen sideways cardigans, working on some infinitely boring stockinette pullovers, and playing around with some  fingering weight yarn that I got from the Eileen Fisher Lab store, which is selling some of the excess yarn ( on cones!) from their production. I fell in love with a grey linen and have been enjoying making a lace pentagon cardigan by Brooke Nico from Vogue Knitting Fall 2010 issue. As I am not using the yarn specified, I had to make some changes to the pattern, but it is a lot of fun and I think it will be interesting. The blue yarn is holding the space for the sleeves, which will be inserted when the body is done.
I also heard from a volunteer at Woodland Public Library who has been teaching crafts to students and ran across my website in a search for quilting information. She writes:

One of the girls in my group, Emily, found a great quilting resource during computer time that I thought I'd share with you, http://www.bedroomfurniturespot.com/bedroom-comforters-guide-to-quilting. 

So, I'm passing it along, and I am really proud to share my love of making great things with the next generation! Thanks, Heather and Emily!

Enjoy the weather...