New/Old Knitting

On Thursday I finished knitting this cowl for a dear friend of mine. It's pretty wild: three side by side cables going around the cowl, and knit in this variegated yarn. She had received a lovely white jacket for a present and wants to protect the collar area every time she wears it by wearing a cowl. I think she might need a thinner scarf also as an alternative. This looks to be pretty warm and might be too warm for some milder winter days.

Of course, finishing a knitting project gives

me permission to begin another. This will be a sweater for the Dear One, who is always cold and wears multiple layers, even on warm summer days. But this will definitely be a winter sweater.

I bought the yarn when it was on clearance in Woodward's (Lethbridge) about 1976. That's the date on the pattern anyway. The price tag on the pattern reads: 90¢. It's a six strand "White Buffalo" unspun wool yarn. It's been in my stash for about 35 years. I guess it's time to use it!

The pattern is for a sweater coat, but I will knit the front as one piece, and make a pullover out of it. That's his preference. We'll see how it turns out.

This doesn't mean that I've abandoned the jazzy striped sweaters for the granddaughters. What is needed there is more machine knitting, which is a different beast from handknitting. Takes up a different space in the schedule altogether.

I thought, because this gauge is 2 1/2 stitches to the inch it would be really fast, but because it's so very bulky, it's more like knitting stitch by stitch by stitch. Wonder how long it will take to finish this sweater?