Rowan

Dear Ann, You and I stopped by Knitty City last week, so we could ogle Lopi colors and I could  pick up some Size 10 double-pointed needles for my Stopover sleeves. I spied a cardboard box on the floor. In it was a shrink-wrapped stack of Rowan Magazine 59, hot off the presses. This is the Spring/Summer 2016 issue. Although I let my subscription lapse some time ago, I still pick up a copy of every magazine -- for The Collection, you know. It was a Rowan magazine that got me into knitting in the early 90s. Rowan brought me to the dance, and Rowan's taking me home. But in recent years, there have been issues that I flipped through quickly and put straight on the shelf. Nothing particularly grabbed me or spoke to me; my main sources of knitting inspiration lay elsewhere. When I got home, I started paging through Rowan 59, and got all fired up. I made a Periscope about it. Think of it as a preview of the issue. (What is Periscope? It's a smartphone app that lets you do a live video broadcast to people who follow your feed. While the broadcast is happening, followers can type in questions, which you can answer on the air. It's kind of chatty because people keep popping up with greetings and questions. After the live broadcast is over, followers can view a recording of it, but after 24 hours, the recording disappears from the app. You can save the recording, however, and publish it elsewhere. Such as on your blog. If you're interested, download the Periscope app. It works in a very similar fashion to Twitter and Instagram, or Facebook for that matter. There are fun crafty people making how-tos, showing their workspaces, and chatting up a storm.) https://youtu.be/W19nW81gghw   https://youtu.be/XNX8Fb_o1bU I'm on the Periscope learning curve. I am going to start using a real camera, and a landscape view, and maybe stop saying "um" between words. Bang Out a Sweater Report The first finished Stopovers are popping up on Instagram under the #BangOutASweater hashtag. They are beautiful, and they reassure me that I didn't tell people to bang out a sweater that is not bang-outable. Many more Stopovers seem to be approaching the step where you join the body and sleeves together on one circular needle, and knit the yoke. On my personal Stopover, I got the body done up to the armholes, started sleeve one, and learned something crucial: double-pointed needles -- large ones working a loose fabric, anyway--don't do well on the subway. So I can't drag my Stopover sleeves around with me and knit them on the fly. That has slowed me down a little, but I'm confident I'll have both sleeves done this weekend. Joining the sleeves and body up to knit the yoke is a very straightforward process. The pattern explains it clearly and simply. On Monday, I'll offer a few thoughts on the subject, but meanwhile, forge ahead, bangers! Love, Kay