After button shopping on Wednesday, sewing them on that night, and waiting for my dh to return along with his excellent camera and his equally excellent photography skills, I am finally* finished with Vertigo (rav link). And, as a result, with posting to this blog. But before I get to all the specs on the pattern and the goodbye (and redirect!), let me also give you the latest agent rejection. This one is quite possibly the nicest letter I’ve received to date, as well as the most heartbreaking.

“{. . .}Your writing is quite good; you do succeed in getting to the emotional core of the characters. However, I’m afraid I just do not have enough confidence that I could sell this to a publisher. Fiction is so difficult these days. It is a sad truth that in today’s market, I have to go into a project without having any doubts and I just don’t have enough passion to take this on. I am sorry not to be more enthusiastic. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to read your work.”

The good? After the two very different responses to the characters (too distant! too close!) this one seems to think I did just fine. Which is a nice note to read; even the way it’s phrased seems to answer my question (at least, answer it the way I want it to!). The bad? Besides the obvious NO of course, is that I wonder if she might have taken me on if the market was better for fiction. There’s no way to answer that question, and obsessing will do me no good. But still. Wah. Double-wah.

TRIPLE wah. Okay, I’m done.

But there is always knitting to make me feel accomplished. And this sweater, my friends, makes me feel damn proud. This is the first sweater I knit in pieces, as you know, and probably the biggest sweater project - cables on every piece, longer length, etc. Right now I’m knitting the omnipresent Drops Jacket, but am making it a one-piece raglan, and I practically feel like I’m cheating.

(I love how I tried to get dressed for this photo - two minutes prior I was in sweats and very much not showered. And then, despite my efforts there is the most wrinkled shirt ever, and maybe not the most inspired pose.)

Specs:

• Vertigo by Louisa Harding, Winter’s Muse Classics (some very lovely patterns in this book; I plan to make several.)
• Size: 32″, the smallest given. But - the pattern builds in over 6 inches of ease. I knew that the yarn would bloom, and since my bust is about 35 1/2″, I figured this would be somewhat fitted but not tight. So XS it was, despite my 6′ foot frame that does not fit into my 13 yo’s clothes.
• Yarn: Beaverslide Dry Goods Worsted in “Mountain Twilight”; six skeins, or about 1500 yards.
• Needles: Knit Picks Options US 7 for the cuff and hem ribbing, collar, and button bands; Knit Picks Harmony US 8 for the body
• Notions: one flimsy cable needle and cheap plastic buttons ($6 for 9) but damn, they are PERFECT for the yarn.
• Time: Three weeks from start to finish*.
• Mods: Very few. I subbed yarn, as you can tell. Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran is a) expensive and b) too drapey for the effect I wanted. I wanted something thicker and more substantial, more winter-y. I also knit on traditional button bands with buttonholes rather than the loops the pattern suggests. I also omitted the belt. And finally, I knitted the sleeves two inches longer than stated for the size. I got some monkey limbs.

I love this sweater, dammit. I luurve it. Last week I conferenced with 44 students, and knit on this in between. My apprentice saw what I was knitting and we chatted about it a little bit. Fast forward: I wore this sweater last Friday, and when she saw it, she asked if that was the same thing I was working on in my office. When I told her it was, she said, “Shut UP.” That was the best reaction so far.

I didn’t always love it, though. Cabling that much hurts, people! It hurts! I think I was also trying to knit it a bit tighter than usual, afraid that my purl stitches would be too loose. The yarn is alright to knit with, not soft per se but not lifeless either. And before blocking, OH MY GOD this thing looked bad. The body was shrunken due to the ribbing, and the sleeves were quite tight. It had the effect of making my shoulders and arms look HUGE, which does happen in some sweaters as I just seem to carry muscle there. Whereas the rest of me is a bit softer and longer, so well, linebackeritis does occur. I had decided I would send this to my very skinny and yet very tall niece-in-law, but then, a good soak followed by some mild pinning and this thing was transformed.

Even out of the wash machine (I let it go through the spin cycle to remove most of the excess moisture) the yarn felt considerably softer. Pinning it out, the cables still seemed to pop, but the ribbing relaxed and stretched. It looked like gasp, it might fit. The color was always something I liked; I picked it because it was on sale, but also because I just don’t have very much purple. This has a warm gray undertone with little flecks of hot pink and perhaps with my dyed red hair, I was subliminally influenced to match our new couches, lol. (This would not surprise me at all. I like match-y things.) And damn, I just love the back. I love those cables and columns. This sweater makes me feel like a Knitter. (p.s. Buy the yarn. It’s fantastic in the end, and a fantastic value.)

Oh yea, the seaming! I was scared. Oh yes I was. I tried splitting the plies of the yarn to try the crochet method Elli talked about in this post (that sweater is PERFECT). I was able to seam one shoulder that way, but the yarn was too weak and in subsequent attempts at splitting it, it broke. I tried to find a similar color in a thinner yarn, but you could see it on the RS. So I ended up using the same yarn and I *think* used backstitch for the whole thing. I didn’t do anything special with my selvedge stitches, and with the ribbing and cabling and waist shaping my edges looked like oatmeal and mattress stitch, as easy as it sounds, seemed to be impossible. I took matters in my own hands - something I do often in knitting and usually to ill effect - and no matter what pieces I was seaming, pinned the sides together with WS facing and then seamed as close as I could to the edge. I did a stitch forward, came back halfway, did another stitch… I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but you know what? My seams, although not perfect, look pretty darn good for a first timer.

Shit, I think they look better than my picked up sts for the collar (there’s a few holes but the yarn is so slubby you can’t really tell. And it’s a bit uneven. But whatevs. I love it in all its imperfections!) Knitting in pieces has convinced me of two things: first, top-d0wn raglans are indeed the bee’s knees. The day devoted to seaming alone is unnecessary, and there is no bulk. Not to mention the speed. Second, knitting in pieces allows more instant gratification, early-on. And seams have their place. I think instead of deciding which way to go, I’ll probably just be more open to sweaters of all types. Not a bad thing to learn, I think.

*Well, fine, here’s the asterisk note: it won’t stay buttoned. There’s one more thing to do should I want to button it (not sure if I do): stitch around the buttonholes to make then narrower. There’s always something.

And that’s Vertigo (Purpigo in Ravelry).

And that’s the end of Auragone Knitting. It’s been a lovely ride. This blog served many purposes; it started out as a way to reach out and have some space to myself during some not so happy times. It was just as much about therapy and, well, bitching as it was about knitting. It was also a way to feel part of a cultural shift towards crafts and handmade goods that I think is necessary and good and ADDICTING! It also, later, became a way to connect with others on the writing front as well as just plain connect. I was never the kind of blogger that attracted pages of comments, and that was and is okay, because the friends I have made are just the kind of people I think I’d want to hang out with in person. (And since most of ‘em are in the PNW, that could happen!) Some I communicated with more in the early days of the blog than I do now; some I discovered later on. Either way, I hope you know who you are. Through this blog I’ve been the recipient of some amazing gifts - both tangible and not. Through my shenanigans here, I hope I gave a little too.

I plan on keeping up with Ravelry by documenting my knitting there, and there is no way I can give up my daily blog perusal. And those who read here regularly know that I’ll be blogging elsewhere, mostly about writing and general life. Just in case you missed it, don’t be a stranger - e-mail me at auragone AT gmail DOT com and I’ll give you the link. I think I am going live tomorrow.

Happy knitting, happy blogging, happy living! Y’all go on with your bad selves, and THANK YOU.

Onwards!

It’s done. Purpigo, that is. (Vertigo from Louisa Harding.) It’s sewn up, it’s blocked, it’s finished - except for buttons, which I hope to procure today.

It is soft, the cables are lovely, I look like a linebacker in it, but I don’t care - there is something about this cardigan that I love.

What I don’t love is that my husband has the camera cord to my camera with him while he’s out of town. So I have no pics to show you. Soon, I promise! I suppose it’s nice to delay it a bit - now that I made the decision to stop posting here in favor of other pursuits, I am a bit sad, and keep thinking of good blog material. But I know myself - I’ll still just keep on sucking at keeping up with the blog. However, if you don’t have linebacker arms like me, hopefully my parting gift will be to convince you to knit this pattern. It makes a lovely sweater.

If only I could show you.

**Update! I found a cord that fits my camera and woo-hoo, here you get a shot of the back, where I think the cables look amazing. They just pop out, even after blocking. I love them. They hurt my hands, the sons o’ stitches, but I still love them.

GAH! As I typed this, Iggy jumped on the kitchen table, grabbed my newest knitting, and ran off. With the WHOLE thing. Sixteen dropped stitches. This is his one flaw - besides the time he crapped on the living room floor: he LOVES yarn. Anyway.

(Yes, I know it’s blurry. FO pics to come - perfect buttons found, sewn on, woo-hoo!)

So, got a rejection on a partial (100 pages) I’d sent out in December.

If you recall, I also rec’d a rejection on the same pages last fall (in addition to SEVERAL other rejections), and the basic feedback was that the characters felt distant, but the plot and historical setting were quite good. Now, check out this latest rejection:

“Dear Crazy Writer Lady,

[ .... ]The premise of the novel is very inventive, but I’m afraid I found the narrative somewhat too interior.  Much of the prose is occupied with internal monologue as opposed to exterior action. This made it difficult to engage with the plot. “

So, in essence, there’s too much time spent IN THE MAIN CHARACTER’S HEAD. Who is essentially narrating the story.

Hm.

And, GAH! What do you do with that? I have yet to receive anything consistent, besides typical rejection speak, which usually goes something like “Thanks; you’re pretty good; but it wasn’t enough for me. Keep looking.”

The good news? Two more requests - so now I have four fulls and three partials out. I’m doing better with the waiting and agonizing, but damn it would be great if there was a give and magically, the agent search would end. SUCCESSFULLY.

(Was that too internal?!)

Look ye below - methinks I see some sleeves! And a back! Made of yarn! And not connected!

Yessiree bobaloo, I am knitting a sweater in pieces. Vertigo by Louisa Harding (I added it to Ravelry but it’s not listed now; it may have to be approved. It’s in my notebook, however, under “auragone”). Since the photo was taken I have finished the back and cast on and knit two rows of the left front. My hands hurt, however, from the cabling and that was all I could bear for tonight. The fronts shouldn’t take too long; I cast on for the back on Thursday and finished tonight, and did the normal stuff in between (worked, cleaned, ate pizza, painted a wall, attended a kid birthday party, slept, etc.) so I am hoping to zip through the fronts. I have a feeling the right front is what will kill me - by then I will want to be DONE with the thing. It was my goal to finish this by the end of January, and that I doubt very seriously, as I am getting 51 papers tomorrow and have to hold the same number of conferences with students the rest of the week.

And then there’s that issue of seaming. Which I’ve never done. GAH! Tips? Please let me know!
But I do love the sweater so far - I’m using Beaverslide’s worsted in Mountain Twilight, a very pretty dusky purple with flecks of hot pink. I think I’m ready to knit things in colors besides green-blue and blue-green (and therefore I won’t be showing you the beanie I made in Dream in Color “Good Luck Jade.” But damn it looks good with my auburn hair - yep, I dyed it. Anyhoo.) Here’s a close-up of the yarn and cables:

In this pic the color is a bit gray - not entirely accurate.

In the top pic, you might also notice a furry creature. I now have two black cats (and a beautiful doggie as you all know). Ladies and gentlemen, meet Iggy.

We adopted him from the local pet shelter (there is one in my little town, complete with a very cute storefront and kittens in the window. We were powerless!) just before New Year’s. We had seen the little guy several times over at least a month, and all of us, including my dh, loved his cute little tufts of hair sprouting from his ears and the tinge of gray on his mane and tail. Not to mention his squirrelly nature. He was just very sweet to us and playful. The kids were DYING to have him, but both dh and I were apprehensive, about money for the adoption fee and how Simon the grouch would do, now that he had finally accepted Gracee after a year or more of giving her hell. But we kept seeing kittystill at the shelter and then one day the kids went to see him and he came running to them, and an elderly woman was there and she said, “You know, that cat has a connection with you. It just seems like he knows you.” So we struck a deal - the kids would each pay 1/3 of his adoption fee. And so Iggy became ours.

The eerie thing? I did the math and discovered that he was born sometime around Bernie’s death. Huh… And this kitten acts very, very similarly to the Bern-Tern although, aside from his absolute driving need to eat my yarn, he’s a bit better behaved and a little more love-y. As dh put it, “Bernie turned it up to 11.” Iggy? He can get close to 10, but no further. I adore him. He’s become very attached to me and I love that face. It’s hard to tell in the pics but he has a bit of a schnoz. I dig it. Simon would like to murder him but he’s been mostly good, and Iggy just keeps on trucking. Gracie loves to play with Iggy, although the Igster is still getting used to what that looks like. On the name: the youngest named him. Half the time I call him Bernie and dh likes Biggie, and at the shelter he was Toby, so he can be anything from Ignatius Tobias to Iggy Toby to, well, plain old Bernie. I forget a lot.

The sweater and the Igster are the two new things in my life… Now it’s time to present a decision. Once I blog the FO of this sweater, I’ve decided to post no more to Auragone Knitting. I’m developing my writer’s web site, and I plan on blogging there from time to time about writing and odds and ends. Since I have really been an unreliable knitblogger pretty much the whole time I’ve had this blog, I think it makes sense to close shop. And then there’s Ravelry - I figure I can put up all my goodies there and over time, update all my past FOs and stash and keep up with all of you. The best thing about knitblogs, for me, are reading what all you folks do. I love, love, LOVE reading new posts and finding new blogs and searching for tips and techniques. And I’ve made a few pals along the way, which I GREATLY appreciate. In that spirit, if you’d like to know the URL of my new web site (give me a couple weeks to put it up, though), please send me an e-mail (auragone AT gmail DOT com) and I’ll let you know. Until then, a few more posts to go!

In which I post all the Christmas FO pics that are, by the way, fairly poor quality in terms of detail, and then just say get on with it to myself so I can blogging normally again.

Shee-ut I’ve been a bad blogger. It’s a funny thing; I don’t have a huge readership, so I don’t feel that compelled to keep updating. However, I might have a bigger readership if I blogged more often and oh say, updated my ravelry account and commented on more people’s blogs. This all brings up the question of why do I blog? Which really is, for me at least, ultimately a social thing. It’s fun to write and put things out there. I also post this 95% away from my family’s eye, so it becomes something just for me. Which is what knitting is, really. That may explain part of why I haven’t blogged all the stuff I’ve knit since November, and damn, it’s considerable! But aside from a scarf and a hat (something I want to blog about, actually) everything that has come off my needles has been for someone else. And that’s been satisfying and fun, but I must be honest here, it wore on me. I was DYING to knit something for me, myself, and I. And I am - but before that, let’s just get back to where I started from and get this post over with! (Oh, I’ve also been very lazy these past few weeks. Winter break was hardly a break, so early January became my down time. It’s been nice.)

First, here’s a pic of my Manos one-row scarf that I made for SIL. It was a simple, fast project but it ended up being a great gift for her - the colors are great for her hair (she often goes very red) and she wears a scarf daily. So, natch.

(One thing I do like about these photos is that they do capture Christmas morning quite well. It was a great day.)

Next up, the mini-Juliet for my 13 yo. I was worried about the fit but it ended up perfect. And, let’s not pretend otherwise - small teenagers are a fickle bunch. But she loves it! I owe her a button (must send note to self to do that) but even so, she still wears it. And hangs it up in her closet. That speaks volumes.

Some quick specs: 3 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in Geranio. I cast on 63 and divided accordingly, based on the pattern’s ratios for fronts/sleeves/back. It hits about hip length on her, and I added some sleeves to it since wool + cap sleeves + winter = dumb (IMO). She wears it with a floaty tank and some skinny jeans (skinny jeans! This is a flashback to 8th grade for me) and she looks adorable. Pink is a great color on her - her hair is dark, her skin is fair, and her eyes are bright blue. Quite fetching.

Sigh. The little 8 yo who clung to me when we first met (she was not the typical stepchild who hated dad’s girlfriend) is growing up.

Onwards! (Sniff sniff). This next one is the project that nearly killed me, and we all know why: lace. My albatross. I confirmed my suspicions that my one singular problem is that I end up purling two sts on the off rows and then finding on my subsequent rows that my count is off. I was able to make this piece - a Kiri - without many mistakes. Emphasis on many. Of course there were a few, but none visible to the eye.

This Kiri was knit for MIL, and yes I wrapped it an empty Amazon box. Whatevs. I knit it out of HelloYarn’s laceweight in purple, which was a great choice for her. I used US 5 needles, and if I remember correctly, I used KnitPick’s harmonies. I wanted a bit more grab to aid me in my quest to stop p2tog already, but yet wanted the pointy tips. (I wholeheartedly recommend the Harmony tips. Sometimes the metal, although damn I love them too, hurt my hands. The birch is more forgiving, and they’re pretty too.) I did 13 repeats, I think, but the shawl still came out smallish. It is a nice size to throw over the shoulders, though, which I hope you can see here.

One thing I ran into with the Kiri is that I bound off too tight. I knew I was doing it as it was in process, but I was in such a frenzy to finish it… And then, when I blocked it, I found I couldn’t make the edges all pointy and pretty. So the shawl has a straight border, which is … alright. Not terrible, but not great. I could’ve blocked it bigger had I just followed directions but oh well, lesson learned.

And thank goodness, the knitting for gifts is OVER. Next year? If I do knit for others, it will be a) started much earlier and b) seriously considered. HEH!

Since the New Year I have knit two hats and a cowl (the one from Knit 2 Together). The cowl was great - and of course, no photograph. The hats - coming up.

Also coming up - stop the presses! I am knitting a sweater in pieces. This year, I shall conquer my fear of The Sewing. So far I am almost done with the sleeves. Tonight I hope to start the back. More on this later, and hopefully better pics too.

P.S. Four full manuscripts out, and another partial. I have misgivings about the fourth agency that requested a full, but not enough to prevent me from sending it. I think. Oh well, too late now. At least I can say four.

P.P.S. The partial request came via the mail. WEIRD. It’s almost always a rejection if it’s the mail - anything else comes over e-mail.

P.P.P.S. Recent movie viewed and loved that I think more people ought to see: Once.

P.P.P.P.S. Onwards!

Boy, it’s been too long since I’ve last posted. (And I don’t seem to be the only one. I think the holidays kicked many knitters’ butts this year.) I’m back teaching after a fantastic girls’ getaway last weekend, I’ve made some haphazard New Year’s resolutions, I started book #2, and I still seem to be in gift-knitting mode. On the needles right now: the Cabled Newsboy Hat (ravelry link) for my step-dtr’s 11th birthday. I knit one for my mom (and neglected to take a pic) and step-d tried it on and immediately fell in love with it. And it looks adorable on her new bob. So I’m knitting her one for her b-day and my mom roped me into knitting one for my aunt, and I have Koolhaas (do you even need a link?!) on the needles for my dh too. After that, it’s all about me! me! me!

In the meantime, with no good progress pics of any good projects to show, I thought I’d show off some of my Christmas knits. Up today is the sweater I knit for my soon-to-be 11 yo. This one came down to the wire - I finished it Christmas Eve, as the night before, not the day before, wrapped it quickly, and stuck it under the tree. The good news is, she loved it! I blurred out her face but I still hope you can see her very adorable smile in this pic:

Specs:

• Top-down raglan; used cast-on numbers I calculated after scaling down Zephyr Style’s Juliet for my step-dtr #1 (that’s coming up), with some minor fudging. I think I casted on 65 and used a ratio of 50% of sts for front and back, and 40% for sleeves. Something like that.
• Yarn: Handpaintedyarn.com Colonia in “Lettuce”; just under four skeins
• Needles: KnitPicks Harmony in US 8
• Seed stitch at collar, sleeves, hem, and edges of kangaroo pocket
• Oh yeah, there’s a kangaroo pocket! I fudged this too; I counted 13 stitches from each side, picked up 1-for-1, and then increased every other row, on each side, five times. I knit the pocket sts together with the body sts so I didn’t have to sew.
• I completely ignored the rule to alternate skeins and it’s so obvious. But she doesn’t care. The one thing she wants me to do is lengthen the sleeves. Still have to get to that (you can see the yarn tails below. Oops).
• This is about a kids’ size L for girls?

Verdict: We’re all happy!

No photos (yet), but wanted to pop in and give the lowdown on my Christmas knitting. Let’s just say my hands are sore but the recipients are happy, and that’s really what matters.

From November 23 until today, December 29,  I have knit:

• Four scarves (two Yarn Harlot one-row, one length-wise garter stitch, and one plain garter)
• Four hats (one cabled beanie, too small; one Cabled Newsboy Hat (Stitch N Bitch); two plain beanies)
• One mini Juliet (Zephyr Style) for step-dtr #1
• One top-down raglan with kangaroo pocket for step-dtr #2
• One smallish Kiri shawl
• One garter stitch mug cozy

I have also cooked Guinness beef stew, white chicken chili, sausage & bean soup, homemade mac and cheese, a ham, crostini with camberzola cheese and roasted garlic, brownies, and several breakfasts.
And, in a few days when I get the package together, I will have three full manuscripts out to agents. Huh. In one day I got two requests for fulls. Nice!

Hope your holidays were as full and fattening as mine!