On my way

Well. I’m at the airport -and I have an unfinished sweater with me. I know. I was hoping it would be done too, and I’m still hoping that it won’t turn into a real squeaker, but I fell behind last night because it turns out that I could barely knit during that baseball game. (We won, but the city very nearly exploded.)

sweater4 2015-10-15

See that? Sorry for the crappy picture. Airport photography is harder than you think. That sleeve is about 20 minutes from done, it just needs about 5cm of ribbing, and then there’s just the other one, and I totally did not run out of yarn, and I’m not going to.  All I have to knit is one little sleeve, and I have a wild fantasy where I manage to knit it between here and Boston, which is probably nuts, but it’s Rhinebeck. It’s totally the season for nuts. I can knit the sleeve today, then I can can weave in the ends and block it when I’m at my friends place tonight,  and it can dry in the back window of the car all the way there. It will even have tomorrow night to dry, and that makes the whole thing sound doable. (See the way I made it sound like the big deal is the drying, and not the fact that I think I’m knitting a sleeve in a few hours? Rhinebeck crazy.)

I’m going to pour on the burn.  I’ll post to instagram as I go.

78 thoughts on “On my way

  1. If anyone could do it, you could. I dare you to wear it with the DPNs in the sleeve.

    My home team is the KC Royals so I guess we will be on opposite sides of the next game 🙂

  2. I was worried yesterday when I saw the photo of the sleeve just above your wrist. I thought that meant that you had run out of yarn just a bit shorter than you wanted the sleeves to be! Good luck finishing – looking forward to photos.

  3. I had a dream last night that you finished the sweater (apparently I don’t have enough going on in my life) so I totally have confidence in you although my stomach was clenching up just reading this …..

  4. You can definitely finish the second sleeve today. One of these years, I will have to go to Rhinebeck. Oh, what a game it was. I love baseball and hope the Blue Jays go to the World Series!

  5. You can do it! I’m disappointed that I can’t make it to Rhinebeck this year (though I’m thrilled as to the reason why…working on a brand new opera in Dallas!) so I’m living vicariously through all other attendees! I’ll probably be glued to instagram during the breaks in rehearsal this weekend…

  6. Dear Steph, your Rhinebeck sweaters are always as exciting as that baseball game. And it’s really a good thing you didn’t knit during the game, can you imagine what it would have done to your gauge?

  7. Best of luck and success! You can totally do it! I’m sure everyone is cheering you on, so I wanted to add my voice.

    Absolutely beautiful cardigan, seriously considering knitting it too.

    Much love from a German fan of yours living in the USA.

  8. Considering I have at least 6 inches on the body of my Rhinebeck sweater, plus button bands to do, and I still think I might have a chance, you definitely do. Admittedly, I’m planning on wearing this one on Sunday (last year’s didn’t-finish-in-time sweater will be for Saturday) and I have a 7-hour train ride tomorrow, so…

  9. Every year Steph, your Rhinebeck sweaters are always a close finish game. We really wouldn’t want it any other way. Can’t wait to see you wearing it in the photo finish pic!

  10. Obviously, we’re with you on this (and the excitement of the Jays win!), AND on the fact that was not a knitting-friendly game (the ribs on my scarf went a tad wonky), except maybe in the length of the game. Knit On!!

  11. As for how long it takes to knit a sweater, did you follow the sweater saga on the newly-returned Maxon-Dixon Knitting? What fun!!

  12. Bizarro game!! Here’s hoping we play you in the World Series! But, man, if we do, here’s hoping CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!

  13. I just flew back from Lisbon Portugal, thinking I would have lovely airplane knitting time, and they wouldn’t let me board with my knitting needles. We ended up cutting off the needles from the cable, so at least my WIP was safe (somewhat — that cable is darn slippery!) it was a sad moment — watching someone take scissors to my circular Addi Turbo lace needles. Beautiful sweater by the way!

    • Oh god. I just about had a brain aneurism. Are these people savages?! Don’t they understand the value of addi turbos? Generally the TSA is pretty good about knitting needles, but any individual officer can hold our precious knitting hostage.

      • It’s because they have heard of ‘yarn bombing’ and do not understand what it is.
        What makes me so sad is that their action is so totally pointless, and they do seem to understand that either.
        Ha, and I get to touch the world. If only I could I would erase at least this one stupidity.

    • They confiscated my addi turbos at turks & Caicos and I spent an hour crying in the bathroom. I told my husband that knitting is just so personal.

  14. A sleeve in a day doesn’t sound all that crazy to me, even though most of the sleeves I knit are for a 2m-tall man. Maybe the Rhinebeck fumes are getting me from a distance, even though I’m not going.

  15. Ah, so lucky to be going to Rhinebeck….. in a few years, I’ll retire and you can bet I’ll see you there! Please post lots of pics.

  16. You totally have this. I’m pretty sure I could manage a sleeve in that amount of time if I had to, and I’m nowhere near as fast as knitter as you!

  17. Well, I am from Kansas City – so we will see which team comes out on top – that will be the Royals, of course! 🙂 There will be a lot blue for sure! By the way, love the sweater.

    • Oops! Late to the party, I see.

      I’m thinking what will happen when the sweater gets finished in time…it would be so very entertaining to be there if Steph discovered she hadn’t packed any other projects.

      Wishful thinking, I know. But one can dream.

      • Oh my. I’m imagining Steph staring in stunned silence at a suitcase devoid of yarn.

        But, she’s going to Rhinebeck. I’m thinking she could remedy that pretty quickly.

    • Second thought that crossed my mind when I read this post (first was a bit of concern that the last line was seemingly a challenge to the Knitting goddess..) Trust Stephanie’s earned a free pass this time around.

  18. I’m finishing weaving in the ends in my first Rheinbeck sweater and look forward to seeing your sweater completed! What would you recomend a first time Rheinbecker, that’s a word right, see at the festival?

  19. Since wool is warm when wet, there should be no problem wearing it a bit on the damp side from blocking. No, no, don’t go near an oven again!

  20. I am so thrilled for the Jays! It was an edge of your seat game so really, knitting could not be done with all that excitement. I am pulling for the Jays to go all the way. Have fun at Rhinebeck!

  21. You’ve got this. You knit and hike at the same time. So…walking from your gate to baggage claim, 1cm on the sleeve, waiting on your baggage, addl 2cm,the drive to your friends’s house, ribbing finished in their driveway!!..squeaky in that it wasn’t already done and just packed for the trip. New for next year-sweater is done well in advance, airport rush to knit matching sox
    Have a great time.and there’s always the search for button upgrade at Rhinebeck!

  22. I miss Rhinebeck. I would love to bring my daughter, but I’m afraid I would go crazy and buy hundreds of dollars worth of yarn that I won’t knit. Because, Rhinebeck.

    • Oh god, we need a like button! I know darn well I’d do the same thing, with mom’s encouragement.

      Side note: I had to touch the leaf to verify my humanity. Mom recently did a bit of Thanksgiving art for her work involving leaves.

  23. While sitting in a bar (the Ports, here in Kingston) with this amazing bunch of women knitters, and yes, we were all knitting, this lovely woman comes up to us and asks us if we had heard of the Yarn Harlot? Like, who hasn’t.
    Your Aunt Yvonne is proud of you and says hello.

  24. Okay, here’s a dose of reality for you: I’m the world’s slowest knitter, and I can get a sleeve done in two evenings. Surely you, with your legendarily flying needles, can do it in one. We will all look forward to seeing you in your Rheinbeck Sweater at Rheinbeck in a blog post soon.

  25. You literally crack me up with your Rhinebeck sweater knitting! Only you would have a blocked sweater drying in the back window of a car on the way there—you are just too funny!!! I better see you there so I can check it out! LOL

  26. Epic inning of baseball. Sbnation said “Jose Bautista came up and murdered a baseball dead, and now there are no more baseballs because they are all scared and hiding.”

  27. I thought throwing things on the field was something that only American baseball fans did. It warmed my heart to see the Jays fans being as unruly as a pack of disgruntled Yankee fans in the Bronx.

  28. Yep…it’s really hard to knit during deciding games when you care about the results. I usually get a lot of knitting down during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but not so much the last two years, when the Rangers were playing late into the playoffs.

  29. Saw you at Rhinebeck, but you were dashing by so fast that you were a blur… And I could not tell you whether you were wearing the finished cardi or not!
    Hope you had an awesome time.

  30. It was so lovely meeting you in the Harrisville Designs booth at Rhinebeck on Saturday! You were so gracious and kind. Thank you!

  31. Hi Stephanie,

    I’d like to get in touch with you asap. I’m with a Toronto production company which is doing a 1 hour doc on the history of knitting. We’re going as far back as the 12 century–social influences of knitting, fashion and knitting, history of knitting, materials/ tools and trends…lots of good stuff the knitting community is going to love! can you please call me asap–I would love your input: 416-646-4434 leave a number where I can reach you. thanks!

  32. I saw your Instagram post saying the sweater was finished. From what I could see of it in the picture, it looks great! I’m not surprised you finished it in time. I still can’t believe how fast you knit.

  33. I hope you finished the new sweater in time. If not, oh well, it will still be lovely next week. Congrats on the new PM. He gives me new hope for a more peaceful world, starting with Canada.
    Julie in San Diego

  34. Lovely sweater! One day I will not be intimidated by sweaters and will actually finish one. Good luck to the Blue Jays–I’ll be rooting for them now that the Cubbies are history. 🙁

Leave a Reply to Chistine Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.