Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.

Remember last week I said I had knit another scarf but didn’t have any photos of it?

Now I do.

Not blocked yet.

Yarn: Noro Shiraito, a super soft blend of cashmere, angora, and wool in Parakeet; 2 skeins/395 yds.
Needles: US#6.
Pattern: My own super simple improvised one.

When I started this I wasn’t sure whether I would keep it or put it in the silent auction in May. When I finished I knew I would keep it because it has that rare quality of not making my neck itch. Score!

Speaking of not making my neck itch, the Knit Picks City Tweed DK is also lovely soft*.

Progress on Fairfield: sleeves are roughly half done.

I remember now that I enjoyed knitting this pattern that first time: it is the perfect blend of mindless stockinette with just the right amount of cabling to be interesting. Unlike the first go, I changed up the cables this time by eliminating the lacy bits inside them and making them simple mirrored 2-stitch rope cables. At least, that is what I did on the sleeves. Cable patterning on the fronts and back TBD but similar. Also unlike the first time, I am marking every sleeve increase with a stitch marker (not visible in the photo). It was screwing up the sleeve increases the first time that provoked me to frog the whole thing; also, I was unsure if I would have enough yarn. I have lots — and lots! — of the City Tweed DK.

So far this is a totally pleasant knit. Two potential problem on the far horizon, though. I might prefer that the sweater be a v-neck rather than a crew neck. Pretty sure I can modify the pattern to accomplish that, just need some diagrams and some maths and some thought. The other possible snag is being sure the sweater will fit when I sew it all together. That is always the bugaboo with sweaters knit in pieces, isn’t it? Difficult to tell how it will fit. I have a dress form, but it doesn’t help with the hips; I have not figured out how to pad them out to duplicate my Hips Of Substance™. Once again, some maths and some thought when I start the fronts and back should take care of the fit.

I finished Circe last night. Greek mythology has always been a favorite, especially after I took a classics course in college. We read Robert Graves’ monumental Greek Myths plus all 36 Greek tragedies in the class. In high school my AP English course read The Odyssey and I read The Aeneid; I have seen at least one Greek tragedy at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Given all this, it was no wonder that I thoroughly enjoyed Circe. Highly recommend!

In the car I listened to a couple Audible originals: Strong Ending; From Combat to Comedy and Have a Nice Day. The first was a nonfiction piece about veterans doing standup comedy as a healing mechanism, the second a comedic play about knowing death is coming. They were both nice quick listens, <2 hours. Next up is Montaigne in Barn Boots by Michael Perry, narrated by the author. Perry is practically a neighbor, being from and still living in northern Wisconsin. I have at least two other Audible audiobooks in my library that I haven’t listened to yet; that book about the Chinese Opium War really slowed me down.