Wool-n-Ski: This is Eleanor. All JAZZED UP!

This is Eleanor my next sweater which is now off the needles.

The sweater is done!
This is what I call a barn sweater: functional, durable, wearable in many conditions, useful, a workhorse sweater that will be used for hiking and outdoor activities.
Knitted in Jamieson's of Shetland Chunky Weight.

Provisional cast-on, as I am not sure if I will have enough yarn for the sleeve and body ribbing. I did have enough yarn but opted for a hem on sleeves and body. I will use a crochet cast-on for this technique as it can be pulled easier. Think grain bag of feed and this will make sense to those of you who know about grain bags.

Eleanor is a story in the making and yet Eleanor's story has been lived, is still being lived, and drawing towards a close. Eleanor is my mother who always went as Betty and NOT Eleanor all my life. As I was knitting the first sleeve and looking at the colors of the yarn a story started to form. The name of the sweater, the colors, the mystic of a person's life all came together.

I am not sure others knit like this or in this fashion. I must have some connection to either place, yarn, design there is something that pulls me to knit an item with a certain yarn that will eventually become a story. This sweater, yarn, and location will meld itself together into Eleanor my mother and her story through my eyes, fingers, needles, and yarn.

I leave tomorrow for a rather long air flight to New Jersey. For the amount of time, it will take me to travel I could be going to Scotland to walk in the Lake district or the Shetland Isles. I will fly from the village I live in on the Bering Sea to Anchorage about 400 miles away if the weather allows a plane to land and take off. Once in Anchorage, I will meet up with some ski friends and head to a dinner. I will come back to the airport and wait for my 12:33 a.m. departure to Seattle. I believe I arrive in Seattle close to 5:00 a.m. I will be off for some good coffee and a nice walk around the airport to get the blood flowing. I will board another plane and take off for Philadelphia about 8:00 a.m. Fly non-stop to Philly and land around 4:30 p.m. My sister will pick me up and hustle me to my mother's home.

There I will find an aging Eleanor who is struggling with growing old and its limitations. For me it will be a look into the future will I age like this, will I have the same ailments, the same struggles, will I be alone, will I what? What will I find? What will I see? What will Mom be like? Shorter, almost deaf, aging . . . we all age and we all will struggle some more than others.

The sweater is coming with me for several reasons! I need to knit on such a long flight, I need to have something to do once I am at my mom's house. She can talk and tell her stories I can knit and listen. Those stories will be knitted into my Eleanor that I will wear for years to come. Like Eleanor the yarn is strong and sturdy it is Shetland chunky weight yarn with depth. Three strands spun together a dark grey, a light grey, and a slate blue-grey.

The soccer champ and his coach/dad.

This is the Jazz part of Eleanor as well this yarn needed a burst of life! A nice Briggs and Little Regal 100% wool yarn to give this sweater a bit of JAZZ!