Comments, I get comments!

Katie: The pattern is written "tangy," which means it's not for the rankest beginner, but it's not that hard either. I don't know if you've done cables before (they were something I was really, really afraid of until I tried them but they are not hard - and they look so cool!). Cables are not that difficult as long as you follow the instructions, and once you've done a few of the crossings, you get the hang of how they go.

I think the two "uncomfortable" places (the places that I'm not sure I will particularly enjoy when I do the pattern) will be the applied i-cord (but she explains it pretty well, how you knit it onto the edge) and then picking up allllllll those stitches from the saxon braid border so you can start the body. Once you've passed that it should be smooth sailing. (I do not like picking up stitches; I have a few socks where it went badly and the picked-up areas are kind of gappy and ugly).

Other than that, the body of the sweater is knit circularly which is very cool. I greatly prefer cardigans that are knit this way. (the SitCom Chic, an early Knitty pattern is also done this way. It's actually a bit easier I think than this cardigan would be, but not much).

There's a knit-along started for this; I'm not joining it mainly because (a) I'm not quite ready to start another sweater yet (have to finish a few other stacked-up projects) and (b) I knit so slowly that I'd probably be the last finisher, and that would annoy me. But - knit-alongs are useful in that if you follow along the blog, you learn tips and tricks and if there's an error in the pattern, someone may catch it before you do.

So, I hope that helps. I don't think the sweater is too hard as long as you're willing to branch out and try cables, attached i-cord, and picking up stitches.

Dragon knitter: I don't know. Ohio actually hasn't been "home" to me for close on to 20 years now. When I first moved down here, I sent off a whole mess of applications for other places in Michigan and Wisconsin and Illinois because the hot dry weather bothered me and the cultural differences freaked me out a little. But honestly, I do pretty much like it here, at least job-wise. (And when it cools down I will like the weather better). There are lots and lots of colleges/universities where the departments are either very competitive, or very politicized, or have factions that are fighting each other, and we don't. And I can appreciate that. And I can appreciate the fact that we don't have weekly faculty meetings that take up hours and hours just because "that's how it's done around here" and I appreciate that the administration doesn't try to micro-manage us like it does at some universities.

On balance, I'm pretty happy. I think the nostalgia I'm expressing might be my version of a pre-mid-life crisis. (One of my colleagues, who has kind of been my mentor, said that he went through a sort of midlife crisis around 35 or 36 where he spent a lot of time questioning choices he had made - not so much his marriage or stuff like that, but career choices.). I guess my main wish is that the nearest bookstore/craft store/Target/big non-wal-mart grocery store wasn't a full 1/2 hour away - I think I'm feeling a little bit cabin feverish right now, both with my decision not to drive to excess and not to spend money on frivolous things.

I haven't even looked at the job postings for four years. The thought of having to go through the tenure-application process again (and perhaps at a school with different standards than the one I'm at now) doesn't appeal to me.


On the knitting front, I finished the first of the armwarmers last night and cast on for the second. As soon as I haul a few of my picture diskettes home I'll put up a picture of it. It turned out really nice; the KnitPicks Andean Silk is a good yarn for these.

I'm thinking about mittens and gloves again. As I worked on the armwarmers, I'm reminded of the almost-socklike fun of making these things. And in one way, they're better than socks - you don't need to knit them at "will resist armor-piercing bullets" gauge to have them wear well.

I pulled out a skein of Museum (color: "Sister Wendy." I love that they have a color named after Sister Wendy.) that I've had on hand for a loooooong time, planning to knit the one-skein mittens that there's a pattern on the ball-band for. That's going to be my next small project once I finish the arm warmers and perhaps one of the pairs of socks. I also want to make the gloves I've been talking about so long, out of some Crazy Stripes Regia. And I'm also thinking hats - I was looking at the "Basic Cable Hat" in SnB Nation, and wondering what I had in stash I could make it from...I have a couple skeins of Mountain Goat, which I had bought for socks but now I'm not so sure about - the skeins are two different colorways and I'm not sure I could get a pair of socks from a single skein. But I could get a hat. And I think the Mountain Goat is a worsted weight.

The current simple socks - the purple stripey ones* - I'm sort of stalled out on. I'm not feeling the love for these socks. I think it's the hot-pink stripe. I don't know. I'm not going to rip them out but they're not a high finishing priority right now. (I might finish them and chuck them in a box to eventually go to the Dulaan project, if sock-weight wool socks are warm enough to include). I'm sure someone else would like the socks, but they're a bit brilliant for me.

I am working away on the diamond-purled socks (the Lisa Meyer pattern from The Joy of Knitting) for my mom. I'm really happy with them; I think she will like them. Good old JaWool. One thing I notice is that the Elann sockyarn, though it's nice and reasonably priced, is a bit thinner and scratchier than the more premium sockyarns (like JaWool). Her socks look better than mine. (I've not worn or washed mine yet; I suppose after washing the wool might "bloom" or get softer).