January 16, 2006 Pirate in Progress

I've finished the back of the pirate sweater. While I was knitting I thought that I didn't really enjoy the endless rows of stockinette stich, however, now that I'm struggling with seven different little balls of yarn in an effort to complete the pirate motif on the front, those mindless rows seem pretty darn appealing! I've only done one thing with intarsia (see elephant sweater in project gallery), and that project just had one large motif in the center- pretty easy. This one is requiring a more nimble approach- juggling multiple small balls of yarn. The tangle factor is pretty aggravating. It makes me amazed that people can do more complicated things, with many colors, since I'm struggling with only 2! The other thing is that I really like knitting while doing other things, such as watching movies, chatting with my book group, etc. and this is requiring all of my concentration. Well, at least its only 50 rows and I've done a whopping 9! I may have to start on one of the simple striped sleeves for a break. Book group is tonight and we'll choose the next 3 months- I may suggest In Cold Blood by Truman Capote as a possibility, or Summer of Ordinary Ways by Nicole Lea Helget. I mainly think this one might be interesting in light of the whole James Frey (Million Little Pieces) controversy. Do memoirs need to be completely true and authentic?