Something New in Something Old

For my next trick, I'll be making this lovely cabled polo sweater, as seen in "Knit It Now!" by Julie Montanari. I picked this book up at a crazy estate sale earlier this year. I say 'crazy', because you'd never believe how much yarn was spread out on the lawn that morning, or how much my friend and I saw people walking away with before we even made it through the gate. People were climbing over each other to get to the bins, picking things out of other people's piles, picking up things they didn't necessarily want because it looked like someone else might want whatever it was. It was a madhouse. We two-man teamed it, one of us guarding both of our hoards, the other venturing out to scout the bins for stuff that either of us might want. "Gold carry-along?" "GRAB IT!" "For what purpose?!" "DON"T CARE!" I don't even remember picking up this book, but I guess I must have done so, because I know I didn't buy it in a store. I also walked away with three lawn bags full of yarn, including ten skeins of Colinette 'Skye', but that's a post for another day.

The yarn for this project is going to be the very oldest yarn in my stash, purchased more than twelve years ago when I was still in school at Santa Barbara. It was the first yarn I ever knit, and it was an ill-advised first project. Who gives a beginning knitter a project on size 3 needles? I wasn't ever going to get through that thing. A couple of years ago, I frogged the three inches I'd knitted, and put all of the yarn in a bag. I had no idea what to do with it, but I knew I wanted to do something special, something that would make the twelve years of hauling this yarn around worthwhile.

Then, while flipping through a book that I didn't remember buying, a book that seemed to have found its way into my disorganized pile of knitting magazines completely on its own, I found this cabled, ribbed pullover. I have a strong hunch that this is going to be the perfect marriage between yarn and pattern. Here's hoping. I'm going to knit the swatch this week.