I've been working on lots lately, getting ready for the KW Knitter's Fair, working on some new patterns, new colours, new ideas. The other day I was hit hard by the urge to cast on for something new, and something entirely for me, something that didn't require me to have to think too hard. I'd been admiring the Dahlia cardigan, designed by Heather Zoppetti from the the Fall 2011 issue of Interweave knits, and when I realized that I had the perfect yarn in my stash for it I cast on immediately. The yarn is a one of a kind colourway that I dyed up months ago, it's sort of along the same lines as Atlantic, but with more turquoise. The base is a merino/cashmere/silk sample that I've been playing around with, I don't think it's right for TFA, but it did inspire me to look in a new direction for future TFA yarns.
This sweater is really neat, it's a completely new construction for me, and though it is unusual it's very intuitive and once you get the swing of it the stitches just fly off the needles. It features afterthought sleeves which I'm really excited about. I've never knit an afterthought sleeve but I'm extremely comfortable with afterthought thumbs from knitting so many pairs of my Grammy's mitts.
I learnt something interesting about my knitting self while working on this the other day. Last Sunday we lost power from about 4pm until 11pm, I spent some time knitting in the afternoon, and in the evening though the light was getting dim I continued to knit. This sweater features a lot of stockinette so I am perfectly capable of knitting it in the dark, but do you know what? Even though I could knit with my eyes closed, I've discovered that a big part of the joy in knitting for me is in actually getting to watch the stitches form and the colours in the hand dyed yarn shift. I don't like knitting when I can't stare at the fabric that I'm creating, even if it's just plain stockinette, I really like watching it grow.