I finally finished the back of Geoff’s Giant Brown Man Jumper (GBMJ). I am so relieved to have the biggest part done! Most people dread sewing up a jumper – I dread knitting the back. Not that the front will be much better – it’s basically the same as the back except for a crew neck. I think I’ll do the sleeves next because I can’t face casting on for the front right now.
I was going to finish it on Sunday but by the time we had finished the gardening, I was shattered.
Because we are not what you’d call diligent or regular gardeners, Sunday involved lopping off great overgrown branches and tossing them into a hired skip. When you need to rent a skip for your garden waste you know you should probably tend to the garden more than twice a year.
I even pulled up the tomato plants which were still bearing fruit of a sort. Maybe this is how sun-dried tomatoes were discovered? A lazy gardener let them shrivel on the vine. They didn’t look very appetising.
So it took us two hours of lopping, sweeping, weeding and swearing to get the garden in order. Afterwards my hands felt as though I had been rubbing sandpaper over them. I still had to do the grocery shopping, laundry and various other exciting Sunday afternoon jobs.
By the time I managed to sit down to knit I was just exhausted. I did knit twenty rows, but I had to admit defeat and walk away from the needles with only thirty rows to the end of the piece.
I want to finish the sleeves in two weeks which will take me to July 9. Then two weeks for the front and one week for sewing up.
Because I am at home sick today instead of at work, I could have cast on and knit most of one sleeve. Instead I cast on a shawl. I know this is not a good idea, but there is only so much GBMJ a girl can stand in a single day.
The shawl is helping me feel better though. I’m using my merino/silk blend yarn from Fiber Charmer. I know I’ve only just started, but I can’t say enough good things about this yarn. Maybe it’s because knitting a fine, silky, glossy yarn is so different to the brown, woolly, tweedy yarn of the GBMJ? Whatever it is, right now the merino/silk feels like the best yarn in the world.
