Sisyphus is no myth

Have you ever noticed that sometimes in some areas of your life you're just pushing that rock up the hill only to watch it tumble back, while in others you have some semblance of control? I've been knitting like a stampeding horse of late, knitting being my area of control. Since blogging last, I've begun and finished two sweaters, one lacey, the other with a mad agglomeration of cables. And have begun another comfort knitting shrug, this one out of the new Noro cotton yarn.

Pictures, you want pictures?

The mad cable sweater: See how boxy it looks lying flat?

I was the photographer on this one, standing on a chair over at my LYS while no one was looking except Karen, who dragged me outside to take this one, telling me too late to behave myself:

and this one, in which I stood still:

See how well the sweater fits? Well and truly a knitting trophy. If it sounds like I'm crowing here, you betcha. This one's got all the makings of an everyday sweater, one of those that get worn out rather than hidden in the back of the closet.

The details: Summer Hours pattern by Chris Bylsma
Yarn: Owool Balance, which is half cotton, half wool, very light weight. You'd think this sweater would weigh a ton but it's more like a butterfly. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn. Balance is definitely worsted weight, but that old swatching and knitters' math and some shaping tricks worked their magic once again.

Next up we have the cover pattern from the current Vogue Knitting magazine, made in K1C2's Second Time Cotton:
Yes, I know, the VK cover version bares midriff. This is what I prefer to think of as the adult version. If you want to know what changes I made to the pattern, drop me a comment. And yes, this pattern was written for DK weight yarn, not the worsted weight I used. More simple magic, made even easier by the fact that the pattern begins with a 24-stitch cast-on for the sleeve. Sounded like a gauge swatch to me. If gauge works, just keep on knitting, which is what I did. The whole sweater took fewer than four skeins, which makes it a cheap thrill. I kept two more skeins, because come fall I'm going to grow some long sleeves on this sucker.

Photos of cotton Noro shrug later. Right now I'm going to go knit. It's a control thing.