Road knits III

It’s cold again, which means I finally get to wear the sweater I finished in Buenos Aires! It was so hot at the time that I could hardly bear to even try it on for size. This is only the second sweater I’ve ever knit. The first was a bad experience more than ten years ago. I lost an entire arm from my bag while riding my motorcycle around San Francisco and when I finally finished it, it looked horrible. This free driftwood pattern is perfect for people who don’t like the idea of knitting four pieces for a sweater and sewing them together. It is worked in-the-round (no seams!) and has fun stripes so it’s not boring to knit. I’m happy with the way it turned out. I think if I were going to do it again (and I purchased enough yarn to), I would make the arms and the torso longer–I was a little too impatient and so the fit is a bit short.

We spent four nights on Chiloe Island, which is green and lush and like a rain forest. Because of the cold and rain and sheep-farming, it has a lot of interesting wool goods; the artisan market in Dalcahue is full of knitted sweaters, accessories and woven blankets.

The wool was not cheap, so I limited myself to two small quantities in some of the nice dyed brights. Mostly you find natural colors on the island, which are mostly made into bedspreads and rugs–all very hearty and warm-looking but not super attractive. Most of them are woven.

Now my challenge is to use up all of the yarn we’re toting around. It was 3 degrees Celsius last night, so I’m sorely tempted to just knit it all together as quickly as possible into a big ugly blanket, or better yet–just burrow into it. But I think a slew of hats and scarves and socks are in order to tide us through to the south pole. It’s only going to get colder.