Yes, my love for Bill is undimmed after 36+ years, but this post is about, OF COURSE, a knitting pattern.  Love Note  (designed by Tin Can Knits) is a pattern that has consistently been on the Hot Right Now Ravelry list for years now.  I have consistently ignored it because the large lace pattern over the bust and the sort of frumpy loose mohair fabric did absolutely nothing for me.  A few of my friends have knit it and raved about it, and that made me look again.  But when I did I just didn’t see the appeal and continued resisting.  While I was recuperating at home, another friend brought it to my attention again.  Having finished my Gramercy Park adventure I was at loose ends.  I’m not teaching this month and nothing pressing on my To Be Knit list.  So WTH, I bought the pattern and went into my stash to see what could be sacrificed for this gamble.  I have a pretty good stash of silk/kid mohair and Lord knows I have more sock yarn than I will ever be able to work up.  For my size I need 750 yds of each yarn . I had lots of options and choosing yarn almost took more time than knitting the sweater.  I grabbed some self-striping Claudia Handpaints in dark greens and browns, and Rowan Kid Silk Haze in Green.  The ribbing is size 7 and the body needle is size 10, and this sucker knits up FAST.  Great mindless knitting, it knit up in a weekend.  That wasn’t long enough/ I didn’t have anything else lined up to knit, so what was there to do but go back into the stash and find yarn for another one?  This time, the sock yarn was something I bought at the first Sock Summit, Sanguine Gryphon “Mithril” in pale blue, and matching Kid Silk Haze.  This sweater ended up being slightly longer in the body as I used up all of the sock yarn.  I think the Mithril skein was more than 750 yards!

This morning I threw both sweaters into a warm bath. They are now “blocking” in the warm sunshine.  No pins, as the fabric you get with sock weight and size 10 needles is going to do what it’s going to do. That’s part of the charm.  The bath gave the fibers the chance for the stitches to even out, and the sweaters look beautiful.

I could keep knitting this sweater over and over, but it’s time to think about knitting something else!  There was a Romi Hill MKAL for a shawl a few months ago.  I might look that up and give it a go.  Romi is a great designer, and following a complex lace chart sounds like fun….stay tuned!