For a knitting blog, this one has been pretty pathetic with the content of late. I am knitting, I am. I just can’t show you much of the Shibui project, and the little boy sweater I’ve been cooking up needs a good stiff blocking before it will lie still for photography. In desperation, I offer you a scintillating glimpse of… stockinet and 2×2 ribbing!

This, friends, is the better part of a Frost Flowers sleeve. More mindless knitting can scarcely be conceived of, but it’s about what I’ve been good for this week under the dread thumb of the virus. I was afraid this Trendsetter Spiral (and I hereby swear it’s the last time you’ll see me knit with such unnatural fiber – I trusted Norah Gaughan, but now I think her patrons told her she had to do something with this yarn and she just gave the salute and did the best she could. If I hadn’t been so wet behind the ears as a knitter when I took this project on, I would have substituted a decent cotton at least.) was going to look like a pox victim knit up, but I’ve decided it’s more like the hide of some desert-dwelling feline. The African Plastic Sand Leopard, recently extinct and known to Western science only through the appearance of its skin in ceremonial robes among the native tribal elders.

But hey, check out those surprise flowers that suddenly popped up in my garden! I’ve been so tickled all year to see what my new yard is going to do next. I’ve added almost nothing to it because every month brings something unexpected sprouting up just where I’d thought about putting some new plant or other. Who knew I was the owner of a foxglove and a calla lily?

I’m also the owner of some fabulous discount Rowan Plaid in Soft Kelp:

I’m thinking Leaf Lace Pullover ala Teva Durham. I loved knitting with Rowan Plaid so much during the construction of Lightning and my very first sweater for my mom that I had to spring for some more at half price. And a skein of sock yarn, because who can resist discount sock yarn? I love you, Webs. In the interest of full disclosure, this is not my own stash enhancement of late. On the whole, I’ve been pretty good, considering that I work in a yarn store and they give me a wicked discount. Last night I caved and came home with a skein of Artyarns Supermerino 4 in colorway 139, the most enchanting mix of sky blues and grass greens. It was new in the store and I could tell that it wanted so badly to be a wee baby hat for our neighbors’ firstborn, due in September. I had to take pity on it and give it what it wanted. And then there was Habu bamboo laceweight. Oh, the happy knitter born into an era where technology makes such treasure possible. Get thee to Knit/Purl, on foot or online (it might not be up on the site until Monday or Tuesday), if you don’t have easy access to Habu itself. It’s new, it’s fabulous, you’ll wonder where it’s been all your lace-knitting life. I brought home a skein of shimmery, sleek charcoal, 515 yards for the absurdly reasonable price of $15 and a nickel. It’s so pretty I almost don’t trust myself to photograph it. I want to mail it off to Jared so it can have its portrait taken properly, but I know he’d never give it back. Victorian Lace Today, here I come!

Rorschach Jacket is ready for the spotlight. She’s painted New York City red (seriously… she did the East Side bars with a cowboy showing his concealed handgun permit to bouncers… but that’s for another post) and now she’s ripe for her debut on the internets:

Click for bigger, as always. This is, as far as Google and I can tell, the very first Elizabeth Zimmermann Rorschach Jacket to model live on the web. I hope it won’t be the last, because this excellent pattern deserves a renaissance. Specs:

Rorschach Jacket from Knitting Workshop

Unspun Icelandic wool, two strands held double, most of four 300 yd-wheels cream and most of one blacksheep

US #8 needles, 4 stitches per inch

I cast on the number of stitches given for the 40″ size, but stopped when I reached the body width for the 36″ size. In other words, I have a long torso and a medium bust and I wanted a slimmer, less boxy fit. After weighing the many opinions you offered about buttons, I went with the smaller, square-within-a-circle choice. And I’m happy with the effect. I did make some slight modifications to the sleeves, working them over 80 stitches (decreased over 10 ridges to 70 for a small gusset) instead of the suggested 1/3 of the total for a blousey look. Then I nipped them back to 38 stitches for a snug cuff. I can’t tell whether EZ’s version had full length sleeves, but I made mine 3/4 length. I also sewed the two halves together inside-out, intentionally creating a raised seam to emphasize the construction. It’s a pleasing detail, I think.

I didn’t get any pictures of Rorschach in NYC, as we killed our camera card on our friends’ wedding ceremony and forgot to bring the device to dump the photos onto the laptop. But this afternoon the sun came out, and after I guzzled a mint Dewlep (no bourbon in the house, but some leftover Dewar’s from my grandmother’s memorial party did the trick handily) while cheering Street Sense to his Derby win, I gussied up and made Mr. Garter take pictures of me with my bicicletta. It’s fun to play that you’re in an Anthropologie catalogue. There are some little girls down the street who like to dress up and play Fairy Princesses… this is my interpretation. And Portland is a great location for a photo shoot right now: spring is at full throttle.

Next time I’ll have a report and a few pictures from my New York sojourn. Teaser: Of all the wedding dresses I’ve ever seen, I coveted this one the most.

 Update: Gah, you guys aren’t making this any easier! Such well-reasoned advocacy for both buttons, and people whose taste I admire–nay, covet–on both sides! Even some votes for white buttons, which I hadn’t considered at all. I realized that EZ placed her black buttons on the black stripe, except for the top and bottom buttons, which does something visually different than what I’ve presented here. But my sweater has less ease, so placing them on the white band is more practical. I’m going to have to take both sets on the plane tonight and ask the flight attendants to parade them through the aisles and keep a tally of the responses! Seriously, I think I’ll sew on the small buttons (because I have to have some way to hold the jacket closed for now, but keep the large ones so I can change them if I want. And maybe I’ll look at some white buttons, too. Thank you all for your opinions!
Rorschach is still damp, but I need to act speedily and get some buttons sewn on if I want to take her to New York. And I need your opinions, my friends. Let’s meet the contenders:

Button #1 is the lower, smaller button. It’s shinier, and has a square shape within the circle that pleasingly echoes Rorschach’s mitres.

Button #2 is the larger button. It’s got a geometric design, too, although it doesn’t remind me of any of the sweater’s visual elements. Button #2 is also closer to a matte black.

Now let’s see them in situ:

As always, click for big. The closure in either case is an EZ button tab: a loop of i-cord with both ends hitched to a short tab of garter stitch, attached to the edge of the cardi front. This brings me to a final question: Do you think it matters which side the buttons are on? Is that whole men’s-on-one-side, women’s-on-the-other thing relevant? I can never remember which is which anyway.

Okay, cast your votes!

…And they sure do like an elbow-length sleeve. Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful consideration of the matter — I had a good chuckle over your concern about me revealing my potentially flabby arms in cap sleeves. (I’m glad to be able to allay your fears and say that an active youth of horseback riding, tree climbing, and construction work, as well as skinny-arm genes from my mom, have rendered my limbs fit for exposure. But I’m grateful you’ve all got my back when it comes to averting tasteless fashion decisions!) The point that swayed me, though, was the astute observations by Emily, Karma and Debby that the tweedy nature of the yarn seems better suited to longer sleeves. I hadn’t even thought of that, but I completely agree.

In case you’re wondering how the mods worked out, I offer you a few cruddy self-portraits. Mr. Garter has departed for NYC (I’ll be hot on his heels Friday night, and I can hardly wait to see my New York pals), so I had resort to ye olde mirror shot. With low light on a gray day. Lucky you.

I don’t have the placket stitched down yet, as you can see, and I haven’t attached the hooks and eyes, but I think at least we can see that the modifications were largely successful. The thing is going to close in front, and the waist shaping falls at the right place.

That’s Great-Aunt Priscilla (we have to distinguish, because there were two great-aunts Priscilla: this is the knitting, rug-making, ubercraft Priscilla, as opposed to mountaineering geologist Priscilla) looking over my shoulder. I can’t tell if she approves or not, but she’s always watching. She’s also way cuter than you can tell in these pictures — if only I’d gotten the red-headed-babe gene along with the skinny-arms gene. Mr. Garter would have been so psyched.

Better photos when Glee is really done, I promise. And pssst — look what’s blocking: