I cast on my Hopeful sweater on Saturday, in time to have a little something to work on for my get together with Julia and Mary-Heather. If you frequent either of their blogs (you should if you are not, they are both wonderful.) you've already seen a version of the next picture. (Oh, and another reason to go to their blogs, you can see closeups of what they've been working on. Great stuff, I promise)

(click to see a larger image)

That's the three of us knitting on a shady porch in Julia's back yard. It was my first time meeting Mary-Heather, though we'd been commenting on each other's blogs and emailing for a little while on such topics as camping and of course, knitting. She's even more wonderful in person. I'm batting 1000 with these blog related meet ups. (Actually, I know nothing of sports metaphors, did I use that term correctly?)

Julia made homemade margaritas, quesadillas, mango chutney, pico de gallo and my personal favorite, guacamole. I challenge any of you to come up with a nicer way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

After 5 hours of knitting and chatting and stuffing our faces (that last one may have just been me), the evening was coming to a close and we began to pack up, but not before I twisted Julia's arm into joining me for some Vietnamese Pho from a restaurant near her house. She introduced me to this delight during our last get together and I was jones'n for a fix.

When I got home, I had knit most of the lower body of the Hopeful sweater. It's knit in the round, so the progress won't look like much, but here she is.



I made a couple minor modifications to the pattern. My waist is pretty small compared to my caboose, so I upped the frequency of decreases. Additionally, I'm not entirely committed to the garter ribbed hem, so I'm doing a provisional cast on and will revisit hemland later.

Alas, after trying her on, Hope(ful) was dashed. Jenna is just proportioned far differently than I, so more robust math would be required. My torso relatively long, while the pattern is written for a more petit and short waisted figure. A few calculations later, I was ready to start again.


I ripped back almost to the beginning and bonded with my ball winder for a little while.
I'm one with the rip.

A couple days later, I'm nearly back to where I left off.


I've pinned her out a bit to make it easier to see.

In more somber news, I'm sending my condolences and safe wishes to everyone effected by hurricane Katrina. It sounds truly unimaginable and I'm continually moved by the destruction I've seen in photos. I hope everyone can find a little something to contribute to the Red Cross or other reputable charities that aid victims in these tragedies. If you work for a larger company, you may want to see if your gift can be matched.