Knitting content ahead...

I finished my crazy teal blue socks Monday night.  Good thing, 'cause when I went to the Studio Tuesday night for my shift, Deb was waiting with the draft of the newsletter.  Deb is a fabulous crocheter, and when it comes to scheduling the classes, she's whipped most of us into shape.  Deb commanded me to get my calendar and have a seat.  I obeyed.

"Okay, I've got you down for the Intro to Arans, the Mobius Bag, and the Beginner's Gansey."  I was a little confused.  After all, I tried to meet the deadline with my class proposal sheets and had several proposals in the queue. 

"Uh... are those two sweater projects the same class?" I asked.  Nope was the reply.  "Uh... do you have the propsoal sheets?"  Deb handed me the sheets.  Aha.  The Intro to Arans was indeed the one I'd taught before, an Aran sweater and intro to cables on an American Girl doll-sized sweater.  But the Beginner's Gansey was actually the "Old Way Gansey" from the Interweave Knits Winter 2004 issue.

Teaching this pattern isn't a problem.  Cables, following charts, yadda yadda for me.  But... the sample garment.  I hadn't gotten the sample made yet -- side tracked with my many sock projects and other obsessions.  And I'd not finished the Mobius Bag sample either. 

Here was the deal:  Deb would loan the store the Mobius Bag she made in my class if I would make a closure for it.  No problem -- she didn't carry the bag because it didn't close and I can fix that.  But the sweater... I must start, knit and finish a man's sweater by the first week or so in February to display. 

We scheduled the classes, and I assured Cindy (manager and knitting guru of us all) and Deb that I'd get that gansey made.

I came home and informed Joel that I had to postpone his off-white gansey (which had been postponed along anyway) and had to reprioritize my knitting.  Found the magazine issue and tossed out a number of yarn catalogs for recycling during the hunt, much to my spouse's glee.

Back to the living room where I moved my "active knitting project" bags to the sewing/yarn room.  Afterall, if I'm going to get this gansey done, I can't be too distracted.  Sock yarn on display in baskets is one thing -- but projects in progress are a biiig distraction.

Then... the yarn closet.  I had bought yarn for this very project from Black Water Abbey yarns.  I don't always buy the yarn the pattern calls for, but in this case I did.  I love the Irish yarn -- it's the real deal and there's nothing like it for Aran knitting.  Joel dashed in the spare bedroom for a moment, but I warned him and asked him to leave the room.  I was shutting the door and going on a yarn hunt (and he doesn't need to know how much is in there).

I dropped a few things (arms to my wooly board) and he wondered if all was fine.  Did I get eaten or attacked by something in the closet?  I assured him I had been swallowed up was fine and found the Irish yarn (along with the off-white wool for his other sweater) in my large bin.  And some lovely sock yarn from Tess Yarns.  I stopped pulling out yarn with those 11 skeins.  Really.  I repacked the large yarn bin and the yarn closet.  Opened the door to the sewing/yarn room.

And then... I wound.  And wound.  And wound.  The off-white wool for the other gansey came in huuuuge skeins.  Probably 500 yards each.  Joel wondered when I'd be done, but was pleased to see and feel the gansey yarns. 

About the time my right arm threatened to fall off, I finished winding.  Packed my LARGE project bag and headed off to the living room.  Joel kept asking if I was going to eat and indeed, I took advantage of this break to have some cheese and crackers.  I would have had some wine too, but if you're going to cast on 192 stitches and join them in the round, the time to have wine is after you've successfully joined and not before. 

I read through the pattern and decided that I could write out detail later.  I had to cast on and get going NOW.  So I did.  When you use the long-tail Continental cast on, you have to approximate how much yarn tail you need.  I've taught many classes how to do this.  And what did I do?  I was casting on stitch 180 and realized I needed more for an adequate tail.  So I ripped out, got more yarn tail and went at it again.  Successfully.  Joined.  Successfully.  And knit and knit and knit... am on a pathetic row 3 now, but it's started.

I wonder if my choir director would mind if I knit during rehearsal tonight???

Comments

[Deb]

This is from Deb, the newsletter nazi. Corralling all of the Studio's creative instructors to produce a 4 month class calendar 3 times a year is no easy task. Laura is the absolute best about getting me class worksheets; I just needed to make sure the dates I assigned fit into her busy musical schedule. Sure enough, we moved some things around and everyone went home happy. (OK, Laura went home and went on a yarn hunt.) Laura, if you would like, I can send you some pix to put on your blog (or maybe in the Studio e-newsletter) of the adventures of Flossie and Deb and their mobius shoulder bags.
Deb

[Mary]

So that was what you were working on during the PS presentation yesterday??