As you know, within the past year our house went from three to four and then back to three. I finished a this sweater as we were still four, and its christening coincided with a backpack in to Dogie’s favorite stick chasing lake to distribute some of his fur.

Wie ihr wisst, im letzten Jahr waren bei uns zu Hause erst drei, dann vier, und dann wieder drei Mitglieder des Haushalts. Als wir noch zu viert waren, habe ich eine Strickjacke gefertigt. Ihre Taufe traf mit einer Reise nach Dogies Lieblingsteich um ein bisschen seines Fells zu streuen zusammen.

The pattern was Peasy. Knit with Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. My row gauge didn’t quite match the pattern, and I also wanted full-length sleeves. Oh, and the leaves needed lace at the cuffs to match the bodice.

Der Muster was Peasy. Der Garn, Elsebeth Lavolds Silky Wool. Ich habe die Ärmel länger gemacht, und mit Spitzenaufschlag wie am Leibchen.

And the Beer? Le Quatre from Red Rock

Und das Bier? Le Quatre bei Red Rock

It was Lizzie’s first time to Haystack. We got rained and hailed on, threw disk and went on hikes. I think she had a good time.

Es war das erste Mal bei Haystack Lake für Lizzie. Es regnete, und hagelte. Wir haben Frisbeescheibe gespielt und sind wandern gegangen. Ich schätzte, si hat Spaß gehabt.

Whenever we visited Haystack Lake, we’d stash a ‘good’ stick or two for the next visit. Dry sticks that would float well and were large enough, but not too large either. At the lake shore there was one in just the place we left one last year. The same one? Maybe, maybe not.

Jedes Mal als wir bei Haystack Lake waren, verstauten wir einen ‘guten’ Stock. Einen der trocken war, der git flössen wurde. Gross genug, aber auch nicht zu gross. Am Ufer des Teichs fanden wir genau so einen, genau dor wo wir einen letztes Jahr gestellt haben. Der Selbe? Vielleicht, vielleicht auch nicht. Egal.

What has been going on with me? Somehow i have no free time. This winter i took on a side web site project against my better judgement and regretted it as the project expanded dramatically and then even more as the pay decreased dramatically as well. Ah well, lessons learned (and learned again). I have also been in the print studio a lot (Yay!) and enjoying myself there immensely, even as I take forever to do the simplest of tasks. What else? I’m taking a sewing class, oh, and i FINALLY finished a sweater…

Was ist mir passiert? Irgendwie habe ich überhaupt keine Freizeit. Diesem Winter habe ich ein Web-projekt nebenbei angenommen und habe es sehr bedauert. Das Projekt wurde grosser und grosser, verlangt mehr und mehr Zeit, und nachher hat sich meine Bezahlung irgendwie verkleinert. Na ja, man lernt (immer wieder). Ich bin bei der Druckerei häufig zu finden und habe viel Spaß dabei, auch wenn es mir ewig nimmt um die einfachste Aufgaben zu erledigen. Und ich nehme an ein Nähkurs teil. Ach! Und ich habe ENDLICH einen Pulli fertiggestrickt…

It started with this…

So ist es angefangen

I saw this gorgeous, earthy, local wool at my LYS. These Jacob sheep spend their time in Stockton, Utah (about 40 miles from Salt Lake City). As soon as I saw the yarn, I knew it needed to be my next aran sweater and I started looking for a pattern.

Ich sah dieses wunderschöne, erdige, einheimische Garn bei meinem LYS. Sofort erkannte ich, dass es meinen nächsten Aranpulli werden musste. Die Jacob Schafe leben in Stockten, Utah, etwa 60km von Salt Lake City. Wir sind praktisch Nachbarn

first swatch

erste Musterprobe

I ended up choosing St Patrick from Lisa Lloyd’s A Fine Fleece. The smallest size, however was 40″ and although my other aran is that size, I wanted something with a shade less ease so that I could wear it more easily under coats. I removed some of the box stitch pattern on the sides, oh and then I worked it in the round instead of flat and used the saddle-shoulder join techniques from Beth Brown-Reinsel’s Knitting Ganseys book. There were more than a few moments where I worried it would be too small, or just weird.

Am Ende, wählte ich St Patrick von Lisa Lloyd’s A Fine Fleece. Aber ich wollte ihn ein bißchen enger machen da mein Celtic Dreams Pulli etw. 100cm ist und ich hätte gern einen Pulli der einfacher unter Jacken zu tragen ist. Auch entschiede ich ihn in der Runde zu arbeiten und den Schultern sie in Beth Brown-Reinsels Knitting Ganseys zu bearbeiten. Häufig befürchtete ich, daß der zu eng, under einfach seltsam, wurde.

the result

das Ergebnis

The only odd things at the end are that there is a bit of striping in the yarn, depending how much of the white fleece was spun in in a particular section, and i should have probably modified the dropped shoulders of the pattern into more of a fitted sleeve.

Die einzige seltsame Teilen sind Streifen, die abhängig von wie viel weisses Vlies in einem Teil des Garns zu finden war erschienen, und ich hätte wahrscheinlich die Schultern mehr als geformte Schultern gearbeitet.

the beer

das Bier

The beer is called Mo’Town Brown, and was brewed by a local craft brewery, Squatters. Mo’Town doesn’t refer to music here, it’s a reference to the local nickname for a Mormon, a “Mo”, which makes Salt Lake City “Mo’Town” (although anymore it would probably be more accurate to call Provo Mo’Town, as its population is much more LDS than SLC’s is, but SLC is still considered the capitol of the Mormon religion, so…).

Das Bier heißt Mo’Town Brown und wurde von einer örtlichen Brauerei, Squatters, gebraut. Der Name stammt nicht von Musik sondern von einem Spitznamen der Mormonen her. Wenn ein Mormon ein “Mo” sei, dann sei Salt Lake City “Mo’Town”. Obwohl heutzutage ist es etwas ehrlicher Provo als “Mo’Town” zu beschreiben, da einer größere Anteil ihre Bewohner LDS sind als die der SLC. Aber SLC ist immer noch als Hauptstadt der mormonischen Religion erkannt, also…

joining

zusammen

but she’s not out. Technically, she is not even down anymore.

Pattern: Seneca, by Jared Flood
Yarn: Classic Elite Lush in Vintage Blue
Needles: 4.5mm / US 7
Beer Pairing: Chimay Blue, a lush beer for a lush sweater
Modifications: Worked body to 14.5” before joining sleeves. (longer than pattern – and possibly a bit too long for me). Worked 4 rows after bottom cable of body, then worked decreases every 6th row (instead of every 5th). Interestingly, the schematic shows a slow decrease angle and then a rapid increase angle, but the pattern dictates the opposite.
Worked sleeves to 6” before increases, then 17.75” before joining to body. (perfect length for me)

Thoughts: I was hoping that the Lush would fluff up enough after blocking to hide the waviness caused by the decreases between cable rounds in the yoke. This is a main reason I stayed with the fluffy yarn even though it took 4 months to arrive. It doesn’t quite do the trick, however. I still like the look of the sweater, but i wish i could have done something about that.
I like the drape of the sweater, however, and love how the back short-rows help the fit of the neck and give it a bit of extra length in the back.

üppiges Getränk und ein üppiger Pullover

lush, lush and lush?

warme ärmel, warme arme

warm arms

und ein warmer Rücken

and a warm back

sop und ich trinken auf den Pullover

sop and i toast the sweater

Dogie bleibt unbeeindrückt

Dogie remains unimpressed

just got home from surgery. wow. that was fun. i still taste the anesthesia ,yum. this will be short, the drugs should kick in soon.

I will write more on the sweater when i can put my head above my foot. I am actually almost done – even though i pretty well knit it twice.

Good to see you again!

Ah, 2010. I had such high hopes for you. How are you looking so far? I have been sick twice. 2X! More than i am normally sick in 2 years. Is this in celebration of double digits? Not nice.

Then, on SOP’s birthday, on a simple ski in the trees, but on a fairly flat spot with layers of differently texture snow, i heard/felt a ‘pop’ mid-turn. Crap. We got patrol, and it was a fantastic ride out to say the least! Since we were back a ways, they got a snow machine for part of the trek – until the snow machine got stuck and the patroller and i buried. They all did a great job, but the clinic confirmed what I was pretty sure of already – my fibula was broken. Drats.

Last friday i had a follow-up appointment with the orthopaedist. The fracture has shifted and that means surgery. Double Drats.

The good news, however, is that I am now on my way to robot status! I’m getting metal in my leg!