New Knitter Gettin' the Bug

I taught my friend Shelley how to knit last week, and she's steadily stitching along on a baby blanket for her neice. She's doing very well, really, and I like that I have someone new I can yammer to about all the things I've learned, all the things I think I've learned, and all the things I wonder about with respect to yarn and needles and knitting. So far she doesn't seem annoyed. I think I might be approaching that threshold though, so I'm trying to pace myself. However, I believe she has sufficiently caught the bug, as she has already begun weighing going to sleep at a reasonable hour against "just one more row."

On my knitting front, I've started the Angelina cardigan that will hopefully look something like this when finished (the bottom picture in white).



I know this will take me a very long time to accomplish. For instance, the pattern begins with a needle full of stitches that you are instructed to work in 2x2 ribbing for approximately 3.6 miles. Approximately. So far I've got five inches.

It's been very nice to work on, though. I've been using cotton for so many of my recent projects that I had forgotten what it was like to knit with a nice soft merino wool that has a lot of give to it. I like the cotton yarns, of course, and for those bright pretty dishcloths they are a necessity, but this wool is so stretchy and soft that it feels luxurious just to have it running through my fingers while I knit it.

Of course, this knitting has only been happening when I'm inside--with the happy air conditioning. Not outside, where it reached flingin'-flangin' hot degrees this weekend and wool is entirely uncalled for.