Wednesday, January 04, 2006

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  • Winter Follies

    The follies which a man regrets most, in his life,
    are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity.
    -Helen Rowland, A Guide to Men, 1922

    Last week I sought comments on whether I should knit this absolutely gorgeous sweater. We discussed the dangers and opportunities inherent in starting any new knitting project, the opportunity cost of choosing one project over another, the inevitable choices we must make in life. It was deep.

    And knitbloggers are smart people. Theresa, they said with great conviction, rip it out. It's in Inca Alpaca. You're moving to San Diego in June. Laura was appalled (as am I) that the center cable pattern is not charted. I considered the combined wisdom of the group. I considered the depth of commitment of this project. I fondled the baby blue Inca Alpaca and realized that it could happily become many things. And then I asked my sister her opinion.Meet the sweater I've decided to call my Winter Folly. (Cables and Lace, Vogue Knitting, Fall 2004) My sister's overwhelming compelling argument (and here it must be admitted that my sister does not knit) was that this sweater was just so me. Then I looked at the current San Diego weather. 54 degrees. And I remembered that actually, I was cold the entire month I spent in San Diego (September). It's warm enough during the day, but this sweater isn't exactly Navy reg anyway, and it gets pretty chilly at night. Plus, it's a great spring in New England sweater, and I made good progress on the back already.

    And there is that one other thing . . . Many of the aforementioned intelligent knitbloggers recommended that I turn my attention to Rogue in a nice cotton or silk blend. Like I said, smart people. What I had neglected to tell them is that I'm making Rogue in stash yarn, 100% (rustic) wool.

    What is that they say about changing horses mid-stream? Or should I pay more attention to those who forget history are doomed to repeat it?

    5 Comments:

    Blogger Chris said...

    And, since you're in Stashalong, no new Rogue yarn. :)

    It looks lovely, warm, and snuggly. Have you made your own chart for the center cable to submit to VK? ;)

    1/04/2006 1:31 PM  
    Blogger Elinor said...

    Theresa, that pattern is so beautiful! I think it will be fine. I can get cold in any climate so I wouldn't flinch about bringing it to SD. I have a great cabled sweater pattern that's not charted and I spent two hours charting it just in case I couldn't tell what came next by looking at the previous rows. It was well worth it. You might seek out some graph paper. What convinced me to do it was that the sweater had a back and sleeves with all the same patterning. ;-)

    1/04/2006 6:26 PM  
    Blogger Lynda said...

    Oh no, no, I'm quite sure neither of those axioms apply to knitting - we just want to do/knit what feels right at the moment.

    1/05/2006 6:54 AM  
    Blogger Laura said...

    It's gorgeous. And I love your quotes!

    1/05/2006 7:40 AM  
    Blogger Carrie K said...

    Seeking advice is admirable. Blindly following it is silly. Knit your heart out. May San Diego be unseasonably cool (when you're done).

    1/05/2006 4:55 PM  

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