the siren call of Ravelry

This afternoon, I was going to either pick my kiddo up early from preschool and take him swimming, or make shepherd's pie for dinner. But instead, I spent the last hour updating my projects on Ravelry and browsing my friends' newest projects. That place is such a time drain.

I keep forgetting to take photos of my kiddo's gansey, which I finished in January after my shoulder finally recovered enough for me to knit again. At first he complained that it was "too yarny," yanking and pulling at the funnel neck collar. But he seems to have gotten used to it, and will happily wear it. I still need to take photos of all the details, like the diamond gusset and the triangle neck gussets. Those Channel Island knitters certainly were clever about those little comfort-enhancing additions. I love feeling like I'm part of a centuries-old tradition by incorporating these features into a modern sweater.



I finished up a pair of cargo longies this week. They use my Moonlight colorway, and have a cute little cargo pocket on the left leg. I love the button that I was able to find--it was exactly what I was looking for.

gansey, part 1

About a week before Christmas, I started working on a gansey for my three-year-old. I'm mostly following Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel, with patterns out of Cornish Guernseys and Knit-Frocks by Mary Wright. I'm using the Northcott pattern for the main body, and a seed stitch variation for the upper parts of the sleeves. The yarn is a wonderful, silky soft BFL/merino/kid mohair blend that's a natural brown.



I first heard of ganseys when my husband bought one on our honeymoon. His is very plain, with some decorative stitches at the shoulder and armhole only. Like his, my kiddo's gansey is reversible (the neckline is unshaped, so there is no front or back side, so it will be easier for him to dress himself) and has triangular neck gussets. And of course, it has my favorite feature, the diamond-shaped underarm gusset.

I've made the body and started one sleeve, but somehow I strained my arm on Christmas Day and haven't been able to knit since. My shoulder hurts and I've got a bad case of tendonitis--it's not just near the elbow, but along the whole length of my forearm. I'm going to lay off the knitting for another week and see if it improves. I've been icing the tendon and doing stretches, but I think time is going to be the real healer here.