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!

Briggs and Little Yarn Regal from Schoolhouse Press.

Eleanor doing one of the things she loves which is working in her yard and garden.  This is one of the things aging is causing issues with for her. 

Eleanor all Jazzed up!