Why I didn't finish that sweater

This should have been the post where I showed photos of the new sweater I was knitting for the special event I attended today. I designed the sweater using a stitch pattern in a swatch from last week's post. If I'd been knitting a sweater for someone else, it would've been done by now.  But this week so many fun and interesting things happened, I wasn't able to finish the sweater. I attended that special event today wearing something else.

One thing about living in New York City is that there is always something interesting happening. I do my best to stay focused on the work at hand, and I made great progress on one project (the one that's still a secret) but sometimes...

What happened was that the very next day after my last post when I would have started the top, I noticed an event on my Twitter feed from @TheSewingStudio. It was called "Cupcakes and Couture" and held at The Sewing Studio New York. Part party, part workshop, and there were sewing machines and sergers on sale. (You knew I liked machines, didn't you?) I consumed a cupcake that I didn't need and tried a serger (for the first time) that I think I really do need.

On the next day I attended the Human-Textile Wellness Pop-up Clinic, "an action research lab" and project by Jessamyn Hatcher, who teaches at New York University's Global Liberal Studies Program. Jessamyn is studying and documenting the relationship of people to their clothing.  We were invited to bring a piece of clothing that needed repair, alteration, or embellishment to make it wearable again. I brought in a pair of DH's jeans, my favorite pair that he used to wear until the hole on the back side simply got too big. The "healer" assigned to my case was Hanna Astrom, a fashion designer in real life. I wanted to go wild and repair the hole with suede. Hanna suggested that I choose something a little more sedate, something that DH would actually wear.

And so I went with a deeper shade of denim. With Hanna's guidance, I brought the jeans back to life. Let me tell you, mending clothes in a social situation beats mending clothes alone.

"Now they look like the $600 jeans sold in the neighborhood," said DH.
"Why thank you, Dear. Yes, they do," said I.  ;)

The last bit of fun that kept me from completing my sweater was winning a contest! Really. I won the Lion Brand Studio May contest on Twitter! For a prize I could choose from three classes: a crochet chart reading class, a self striping yarn dyeing class, or a slip stitch knitting class. Since my crochet skills are minimal; I don't have room to take up dyeing; and I need to improve my hand knitting skills; I chose the hand knitting, a three-hour class on slip stitches. Patty Lyons was an excellent teacher. We covered lots:  principles of slip stitch knitting, single color linen stitch, simple 2-color stripes, stranding for decorative effect, mosaic and more. We got three patterns to take home. If I didn't love machine knitting so much, I'd be all over this hand knitting thing.

Unblocked and still on the needles

Next week would be the week that I actually finish that sweater, as well as continue work on the other project. My building will be undergoing  renovations soon, however. Some of this first bit of repair, alteration, or embellishment is adjacent to my knitting area. It will be necessary to move my entire studio: knitting machine, yarns, computer, storage, everything. I'm still not sure of the exact date the work will begin yet, but I'll have to make preparations and move things around considerably. This will be a major disruption.