Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Knitting Races

My mother and I are having knitting races right now. I'm kicking her butt. This picture doesn't really show her knitting style. I just thought it was cute.
My mother is the one who taught me to knit. When we were kids, almost all our clothes were hand knit or sewn, and store bought cookies were a treat. She was the original Martha Stewart, except not obnoxious or belittling or greedy to the point of going to jail over it. She knit me a fuzzy mint green sweater with 1 giant needle and 1 regular one so that the stitches were huge. Hey, it was the early 80s, I think it was cool at the time. She knit me a bright yellow cardigan that I had to take to the movie theatre when a neighbour took my older sister & I along with her daughters to see The Cat From Outer Space. Air conditioning in the theatre gets cold, you know. I remember waiting in line outside the theater and swatting at a bee with it and getting stung on the neck. She knit us blankets for our doll cradles. She knit impossibly tiny bikinis for our Barbie dolls.
I always thought she was the fastest knitter in the world. She doesn't knit much anymore, and she's always talking about how fast I knit. I didn't really see it until tonight.
Yesterday, I started the back of the cabled double-buttoned jacket. By the time I went to bed, I was at the armhole shaping. Tonight, I finished the back, and I'm halfway done the left front panel.
On April 17, the day of my surgery, my mum cast on the right front of a cardigan she's making for one of my uncles for Christmas. She's finished the ribbing.
Now, I know that I've had a lot more time for knitting in the past 2 weeks than my mum has. She's got all the running around and stuff to do. She's retired and busier now than ever before.
But what really hit me tonight is how fast I do appear to knit. I think I did 3 stitches for every 1 of hers.
So now, when she says I knit fast, I'm going to believe her.
I found the usb cable for my camera! I knew I had brought it with me. So here are some pics of Cromarty (not pieced, don't forget, because I want to block the front & back) and the back of the cabled jacket.


If you know the Cromarty pattern at all, you can see that I left off the cabling around the neck. I think it looks better on me having a bit of a more open neck. I'll see how it looks after the blocking - it may stretch out the neck and I'll want to add it on.


Here is where the shoulder saddle is sewn into the front to make the square neckline. I've never done shoulder saddles before. I love the way the cabling goes up over the shoulder.


What am I loving the most about that cabled jacket? Using my new addi turbos! Awesome needles. Oh - and I'm knitting a size small because that's what I guestimate I'll fit into come fall!!!!!


And - more good news - I had real food for dinner tonight! Yay! I had 1/2 a cabbage roll, all chopped up in the blender, and a tiny spoonful of mashed potatoes. And I was ridiculously stuffed. I felt like I'd just finished eating the lunch buffet at The Mandarin. But boy, did it feel good to be eating real food again! The last week has been reasonably real, but one can only take so much soup & yogurt before feeling the need to kill someone. Let's be honest.
I'm already planning tomorrow's meals! It's so exciting!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe you take your knitting speed from Grandma - Mom says that Grandma could sit in the evening and knit a sock - or was it a pair of socks? Probably just plain ones, not the pattern ones you do. But holy crap! You're fast.
:) D
PS - nice picture of Mom having a nap - did she just sit down and then pass out? She usually lays on the couch!

The Queen said...

That's funny - mum mentioned that about Grandma, too. I don't remember her knitting at all, do you?
And yes, it was a 'sit for a minute' nap.
h.

Anonymous said...

I remember Grandma knitting...she used to sit down with me and we'd have a knitting contest. I'm sure she went much slower then her usual speed, as it was always a close race!

Queen Mum said...

Terrible picture of your mother! I guess all that knitting totally wore her out.