Cabin Fever

February and August are tough months. My early resolve to get outside despite the weather starts to flag, and I find myself housebound, feeling like a prisoner in my own home. Good thing I have things to do, like vacuuming, dusting, laundry - NOT!

Of course, I am knitting and spinning, the former more expertly than the latter. I used to think YouTube was where 12-year-old boys posted videos of themselves going to the bathroom, but now I know better. There are spinning videos out there, each with their own little nugget of advice that helps me along this new path. And I am discovering there are as many ways to spin as there are spinners willing to make videos of themselves spinning. The only problem is, while I can see them, they cannot see me. When I am flailing around, trying to generate some spin with the spindle, I am glad I live alone, but it would be nice to find someone to watch my so-called technique and look at the resulting so-called yarn and tell me how to improve both.



I sent an email to a couple of LYS's, asking if they taught spinning classes. I didn't expect them to, as the whole point of LYS classes is to suck us into purchasing product and none of them sell roving. However, I now have the name of someone who may be able to help me. That is the good news. The bad news is, she sells wheels. You see where this is going, don't you?

Meanwhile, after I frogged the Sitcom Chick sweater last night, I felt the urge to start something new with the recovered yarn RIGHT NOW. I tried putting the yarn in a bag and putting the bag in another room, but it didn't work because this book was staring at me from the coffee table:



Ethnic Knitting Discovery, by Donna Druchunas. My maternal grandparents came from Denmark, so this book's subtitle, "The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and the Andes" pulled me in. Accustomed to glossy professional photographs in my knitting books, the monochrome illustrations and pictures initially put me off. But there is a sweater in there I'm interested in making, so I took a closer look and discovered that this book contains not patterns but recipes for knitting.

With my new found patience (is spinning responsible for that?) I cast on the liberated Cascade Pima Tencel and started working up a swatch with samples of stitchery deemed appropriate for my Danish sweater.



The bottom is garter stitch, then seed stitch, then two types of triangles, topped by large checks. I am going to try some small checks as well, then decide which I want to use.

Did you know that historically the most popular color for Danish knitting was red? How fortunate for me!

One more thing before I go. Over a year ago, I sprained my thumbs gardening (don't ask how) and they have bothered me ever since, especially when doing certain yoga poses and when knitting with DPNs. This morning I had a deep tissue massage and I asked the therapist to work on my hands. It hurt, but it was a good hurt. Now that the little knots have been erased, my hands feel much better. Highly recommended.