Whitfield

I bought a pattern for Anne Hanson's Whitfield Jacket at The Sock Summit earlier this month. I, too, thought it was strange that I would buy a non-sock pattern at a meeting devoted to footwear. But I saw a women's version of this on a mannequin, and the helpful salesperson at Briar Rose Fiber's helped me find this. It was mentioned in one of my classes later, so apparently I'm hanging ten on the wave of men's knitting fashions.

I wasn't capable of making decisions at the Briar Rose booth to choose some of the gorgeous yarn they had. I couldn't figure out yardage, plus my brain, while not focused on sock patterns, was still focused on sock yarns. I just wasn't in the mood. When I got home, I swatched with some leftover Cascade Eco Wool, but wasn't happy with the results. Then, I remember that I still had some bucks left on a gift card from Knit Picks.

Yesterday, several hanks of Knit Picks Swish Bulky in Onyx Heather (there are at least two awesome drag queen names in that phrase -- see if you can find them) arrived on my doorstep. I like this stuff. Very soft and I got gauge on my first try. Well, actually just slightly under gauge, but just spreading the fabric out by hand worked. I checked gauge with a new iPhone app that Janelle hipped me to, KnitGauge. You just pick two points on your fabric, count the number of stitches between them, line up the "pins" on your screen with the points, and voilà!, it tells you your stitch (or row) gauge. Genius.

So, I started a heavy wool jacket yesterday -- a day that reached 102 degrees. I suppose I'm engaging in magical thinking, hoping that I can invoke cooler weather by knitting warm clothing.

It was 104 today...