The camera is back!

It turns out that the problem wasn't with the camera at all, but just its USB cable. Now I can finally display all of the recent happenings with my yarn and knitting.

My grandmother used to be quite a skilled and prolific knitter. She used to make sweaters for me, my brother, and each of my five cousins every year. Unfortunately her health is declining and she can't see well enough to knit anymore. I inherited her needle supply and most of her yarn a couple of years ago, but she has been holding on to the remainder of her stash. When I visited in August, she decided to give me the rest.
This is a huge quantity of very soft wool that Grandma bought on a trip to France many years ago.
She mentioned that you can prewash wool yourself to prevent it from felting. I've never heard of this process and would like to learn more about it.

There's also some wool made on a sheep farm in Maine. It might be older than I am. It is much rougher than the French yarn, and very thick. I think it might be good for winter hats and such.


What am I going to make with all of this beautiful yarn? Well I've already started a vest!

It's my own design. I'm making it up as I go along. So far I've had to start over a couple of times, but I'm pleased with how its turning out now. The big question is what to do with the cables when I get to the neck line. I would like to make the two outer cables snake around the neck hole, but I don't really know how to do that.

In my long absence from posting pictures, I also made socks. They're the "Coupling" pattern from the latest issue of Knitty.

Still no camera.

I need an SM card reader for the camera. Its USB port is broken.
There's been a lot of knitting going on though.
I'm beyond fed up with the tetris project. I should have known better than to attempt something so big. I'm mostly through the third square. At this point, I don't think there's any way I'll have enough yarn to do all four squares. So, the options are to order more yarn, or revise the project. Seven balls of cascade 220 will be pricey. I'm not even sure I can find all the colors I used. If I revise it, I would end with three panels in the tetris pattern and make three pillows instead of two, with the backs of the pillows either black or grey. If I do that, I won't be as happy with the finished product and it will mean much more knitting on a project I'm already sick of. Poop. When I eventually resume the project, and start working so that I can afford it, I will probably search the internet for more colors and finish it as I had originally planned.

I'm also knitting socks. They're from the latest issue of knitting, the pattern is called Coupling. I've never knit toe-up socks before and I can't decide if I like it or not. the pattern seems to create a better finished project, but it is more challenging.

Ben and I ended up with a lot of tee shirts that we don't want after college. I've started cutting them into strips to be used as knitting materials. So far I've made a dish cloth. The shirt-cutting tecnique is definetly still being perfected. The dishcloth was knit on size 13 needles and was still rather tight, so I need to cut the strips much more finely. I think the old tee shirts could end up being a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to get some cotton knitting material.