Poor Dave spent all day Saturday in a business meeting, while I had a quiet yarn-y celebration at home. The Mountain Peaks shawl is draped over the couch in the family room for now, so I can see it every time I walk by, which is fairly often. Since it’s off the needles and blocked and everything, I decided it was time to figure out what to do with the red merino I have. The other day I sadly determined that I was not up to the math that my swatches showed I’d have to do in order to make the Green Gable sweater happen with this yarn. Drat.

To console myself, I dug through back issues of Katia and Rowan magazines. I found two patterns that should work with the gauge I was getting, one from each yarn company. I did a mental coin toss, and started knitting the Rowan sweater. I got a couple inches knit, and rechecked my gauge.
I checked it again. Rechecked it. Held the knitting up to my body. If I had enough yarn to finish a sweater this size, you’d be able to put three of me in it. Oh no!

You can imagine the results. Yes, I ripped it out.

Surprising thing, though, that boggled my little brain. You’ll never guess the gauge that I was actually getting. Or, maybe you will… Yes, I was getting the correct gauge for the Green Gable sweater! How’d I do that?

I have no idea.

But I decided to go with it. So after knitting a bunch of rows, tearing back half of them, knitting them again—correctly this time—this is what I have. Yes, the Project Spectrum sheep markers are having a terrific time in this, their first chance to help me with my knitting.

Yes, before you ask, once the Gable sweater was far enough along to measure my gauge, I did. I’m dead on, twenty stitches to four inches. Whew.

Lilac Basket

I got a lot done on Lilac Basket this week. It helps that most of it was not confetti stitching. The solitary leaf got itself finished, along with a lot of background golds.

Bedtime, Saturday night