just can’t stop.

I know I said in my last post not to fear that I’d forget the other projects I had on the needles – but it turns out that Garter Rib, part deux has taken a rather strong hold over me! I just can’t stop knitting it.

I just cast on on Friday, and have already knit 7″ of the body:

Given that this cardigan is going to be hip-length, 7″ isn’t as much as it normally is when I knit sweaters, but still! I think there are several things about this sweater that are making it the perfect object for obsessive knitting:

1. It’s for me. I can’t help it, I’m a selfish knitter at heart :)
2. I’m knitting with Eco Wool, which is one of my all-time favorite yarns.
3. My hands are happiest when I’m knitting on needles between size 5 and 10 – and this project is knit on 9’s. (It’s not that I won’t knit finer-gauge stuff, but tiny needles just aren’t as comfortable in my hands. Nor are giant ones!)
4. This yarn is seriously the most amazing heathered blue ever. It is going to be beautiful.
5. Garter Rib is supremely addictive for me.

Let me explain the last one. See, I have this thing when I’m knitting where certain kinds of patterns get me into this “just one more row!” mindset (stripes are a particular culprit), and Garter Rib does that to me. It consists of alternating rows of plain stockinette, and [k1, p1] ribbing, the former of which are “easy” and the latter of which are a little more tedious (but still very rhythmically pleasing). Anyway, what happens is that after I’ve finished a ribbing row, I think “oh, a plain stockinette row won’t take any time – I’ll just knit one more row”. But then I finish that row, and I think, “oh, I don’t want to make myself start with a ribbing row when I pick this up – I should do that ribbing row now”…and I’m sure you can figure out where this is going! So, yeah, I just can’t stop knitting. At least it means I’ll have a warm sweater waiting for me when it gets cold!