Pink baby set finished

Finally got around to finishing the sweater and matching bonnet for my soon to be born niece. The sweater is Elizabeth Zimmerman's sweater on two needles from Knitter's Almanac. I knit the sleeves in the round instead of flat, eliminating some seaming later on. I used Plymouth Encore in a really pretty heathered pink for the yarn and some mother of pearl buttons to add a bit of sweetness. The bonnet pattern I found here, changing the stitch pattern from feather and fan to gull wing to match the sweater. I really like the end result and hope they'll keep my niece warm and toasty once she's here.

I have the Plague

Well, not the actual Plague, but it sure feels that bad. The whole house has been sick since last weekend, with high fevers, lots of vomiting, and piercing headaches and fatigue all around. We've been living on congee and soups, soft scrambled eggs, dry toast and lot of tea and watered down orange juice. The boys and I are going stir crazy since neither of them has been well enough to play outside and have been too contagious to hang out with Grandma. I've been morosely trying to knit here and there on the couch (a February Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman for my soon to be born niece), but have mostly been resting and waiting for this to blow over.

Even my car is sick. Scratch that. It's essentially in it's death throes. We took it to the mechanic yesterday for a tune up and a check of a few things that haven't seemed right for a long time, and the list of things that are wrong is over two pages long. Official diagnosis from the mechanic? Get a new car. This is an unhappy surprise, since the plan was to limp this car (which isn't even that old - it's a 99 Saturn) until I'm out of school and bringing in another paycheck. So much for that plan. At this point, fixing it just so it's safe to drive NOW would cost $1,700, which is crazy since we know we need to replace it as soon as we can. So in the meantime we're running on one car, with me driving Dan to Vancouver in the morning and picking him up again with boys in tow on days I need to drive, and staying home on days I don't. We're racing to figure out what kind of car to buy: something inexpensive, good gas mileage, safe, reliable, one that *actually* seats 5 (instead of that pie in the sky dealership "seats five!" that really means three supermodels might fit in the back seat comfortably), ideally with a hatchback or good cargo space in back. Nothing fancy, just something I can drive for the next 5 years or so until I'm working again and we can afford to be picky. Edmunds is now my friend.

I was supposed to be posting about meeting Cat Bordhi, which was amazing. She looks at the world in such a different, beautiful way. It's not just intelligence, which she has plenty of, but an almost childlike wonder at the world around us and how it all works, something she shares with scientists and people who create things most of us can hardly fathom. On top of all of that, she's a genuinely nice and approachable person and gives a really interesting talk. And can she ever knit! It was an inspirational night in the truest sense of the word, and I'm happy I went. And thankful to my friend Vicki Jean, who guided us to a fun sushi place for dinner before and showed me the ropes of the MAX system.

Also never thought that bringing a plastic fork would win me a prize! I was making an amulet pouch for a friend of mine and wanted a nice, smooth cord instead of a crocheted strand. I've always wanted to learn how to use a lucet, but didn't happen to actually have one around. Hmmm. What could I use? Immediately rummaged through the "party supplies" box until I found a strong plastic fork, broke the two inner tines off, and voila, a home made lucet! Now, to learn how to use it. I roamed all over the web, finally coming across these instructions. Studied them, swore a lot, then finally got the idea and I was cording like a mad fool. Well, slooooooowly cording like a mad fool. It takes a lot longer than making I-cord, but the end result is so much nicer. Smooth, firm, a bit stretchy, and perfect for this project.

I took the fork along with me to Cat's book signing since I figured it was a pretty nifty trick and wanted to show my PDX knit buddies. I had just finished showing them what I was using it for when Tina from Blue Moon announced games....with yarn prizes! Oh, joy! I've never, ever had a skein of Socks that Rock in my life and desperately wanted to get my hands on some, but sadly they weren't selling any that night. I perked right up at the mention of yarn prizes, and what do you know, the very first one was "most unusual thing in your knitting bag". I waved that fork high in the air, and next thing you know I was up front, explaining what the heck I was using it for and selecting my very first ever skein of Socks that Rock. It's medium weight "Hollyday", and I'm beyond thrilled. I keep petting it. And I gave my fork and a good long strand of the cording to Cat, since she was so tickled at the whole idea :-)

Bobbie gave me two pairs of Groucho glasses to try to cheer me up. It worked - it's incredibly hard to be down when you're wearing goofy glasses and a fake nose. Here's the picture of the boys wearing them once I got home:

Sockapalooza socks, finished

Thank you all so much for all of your support and comments. They all warmed my heart and made me smile, which helps more than I can say. I still miss Tabby in all kinds of odd moments, but I'm feeling a lot better.

As proof, I finally finished my Sockapalooza 4 socks! I know, there hasn't even been a mention that I was working on them, but I was. Rather late. Way back when this fourth sock exchange started I did a little mental math: hmmm, due in August, which is after my sister's wedding....no problem. Several weeks before the wedding, I stared in shock and horror at the finish date for this SP round: August 2nd. My sister's wedding? August 3rd. Sure, I could finish up the shawl and get the socks done on time, aside from another teensy fact: I had a major test to take a few days before we left for the wedding. Studying and knitting may well go together for those talented few who can read and knit at the same time, but not for me. Then Alison amended the finish time to August 7th. I could do this! No problem! I started the socks right before we left for the wedding, figuring I'd work on them while in CA and finish once we got back. No time at all while we were there, though I did do quite a bit of knitting during plane trips. Then we got back and finally mourned properly. Which also doesn't seem to go well with knitting. I emailed my sock pal, apologizing profusely, and she was incredibly sweet and understanding.


Pattern: Rock And Weave
Designed by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
Color: Spanish Moss
Buttons: purchased at The Yarn Garden (don't they look just like the cosmos I have growing in the garden?)
Needles: size 5 for the linen stitch cuffs, size 1 1/2 for the rest of the socks
Modifications: None, really. The pattern was really easy to follow and the socks were fun to make up. I've been itching to try this pattern for a very long time and was thrilled that they seem to fit what my pal wants really well. I'll have to make another pair of these for myself very soon!

Almost Cobweb Crepe Shawl, complete

I can't believe I finally finished the shawl for my sister's wedding. The edging went on for seemingly miles and miles, but I finally grafted the ends together, blocked it out, and got a chance to sit back and marvel at the airiness and loveliness of it. The pattern is simple, yet elegant. I made more mistakes along the way than I can count, but those mistakes are part of being human and proof that someone made this with imperfect hands.
Pattern: "Cobweb Crepe Shawl" from the book Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 in white
Needles: US size 4s for the center garter stitch section, two long size 3 circulars for the wider Old Shale border(I knit that in the round), then size 2 for the final Clematis edging
Modifications: The Zephyr is a larger gauge than the cobweb yarn specified, so I had to adjust the original number of stitches for the center section and do a bunch of math to end up with everything the correct size and have the edgings and center balance well. I also knit the Clematis edge without picots, which I think works much better with a larger yarn.Here is my favorite picture of all. The chair belonged to my great grandmother, and it's the same chair Dan sat on when he looked at me, face shiny with tears, and asked me to marry him. I thought it right that my sister's shawl should rest here for a moment.

Turning a corner

Literally! I started the Clematis edging on the Almost Cobweb Crepe Shawl and just turned the corner. This is the first time I've done a lace edging that attaches as you go, so it was a little nerve-wracking at first but simple once I figured it all out. The shawl still looks like an odd blob of itty bitty yarn, but I'm starting to see stretches of finished edge, which is exciting. I have to finish this before we leave on the 31st, so I'm knitting like mad at the moment.

I'm doing the Clematis edge without the picots (as per sister), and I really like how it's coming out. The final double yarn overs make a nice outer edge and should fall into really pretty waves once I block this out. Good call, Laurie!

In other news, I just took my first test in almost ten years. Food and Nutrition, when it's aimed at nurses to be, is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Lots of chemistry, lots of detail, lots of studying. So I was a bit worried when I took the first test on Tuesday, since I really need to get an A in this and all of my other pre-requisite classes so I can get accepted into nursing school.

Got an A :-)

Portland sure has a lot of knit bloggers

I went to the first PDX Knit Bloggers meet up tonight. First I made my way over to West Linn to meet Patty, who offered to carpool with me. Well, I went along for the ride while she used the GPS and got us right where we wanted to be - Knit Purl. As we walked in, I thought it seemed pretty empty, at least until one of the staff there pointed us downstairs. That's more like it! A room filled with knitters, cookies, brownies, and glasses of water. Perfect! Sat myself down, and eventually we all introduced ourselves. The smarter, more well prepared ones had cards to pass out. Oops. But I did write down names and blogs. Oh, and while I was doggedly writing out the chart for my shawl edge, completely oblivious, a gorgeous deep eggplant skein of ShiBui Merino Kid yarn landed right in my lap! Knit Purl had door prizes for people with stickers underneath their chairs, but one prize went unaccounted for. So it was tossed into the air and right to me. Reward for working so hard, or karma, I'll take it.

You can't quite see everyone(and the ones here are only make up half the PDX Knit Bloggers list), but here are:

• Angela - The Enchanted Daffodil
  
• Barbara (and her incredible knit-enabling partner) - The String And I
• Bobbie - Tiggywinkle Knits
  
• Chrispy - Pursuit of Fiber
  
• Cindy - Knit For Joy
  
• Dawn - Dawn's Projects
  
• Deb - Fearless Fibers
  
• Duffy - FiberQat
  
• Judy - Persistent Illusion
• Karen - non blogger (for now) who is *just* starting to knit
  
• Kelley (and fluffy non-knitter Xena) - Yarn Rambles
  
• Lynn - The New Homemaker
• Melissa - Days of Tea and Knitting
• Mims & Peggy - k2tog
• MonicaPDX - Animorphia
• Natalie - I am addicted
  
• Patty - Fiberly One
• Rodger - Over Abundance
• Sara - the quacking fiber addict
• Tammy - Lavender Knits
• Terrisa - who works at Knit Purl and is starting a store blog soon
  

That was so much fun! Great group of people, all kinds of beautiful (and soft) projects to ogle, luscious yarns to drool over at Knit Purl. We'll have to all do this again soon!

(oops - missed Natalie, who is now on the list)

Twenty eight rows later...

Hmmmmm. It's hard to tell much of anything by the picture (lace is famously unphotogenic before it's been blocked. I also swear the shawl isn't yellow - what happened?), but I don't think that's a wide enough border. Do I add a third twenty eight row repeat? It looks like that might be just about right. I keep trying to take some kind of wild stab at how large the shawl will be, but putting a tape measure against this airy blob it a bit like wrangling a bunch of wet noodles - everything keeps slipping and sliding as I try to find a flat surface. The goal is a smallish shawl, one that will go nicely over my sister's very petite shoulders and that will eventually wrap well around a tiny niece or nephew (hence the square shape). Sigh. I was hoping this second repeat would be enough, but it just isn't wide enough against the garter stitch center. Have to get this border done so I can get cracking on the outside border - I only have twenty nine days left!

To picot or not to picot

That is the question. This is a swatch of the final "Clematis" edging for the almost Cobweb Crepe shawl. It's going to be knitted sideways around the Old Shale border I'm finishing up now. The picots (those little triangular bits with a hole in the middle of each one) are optional, and I'm not sure if the design would be better with them or without. I'll leave the final decision to my lovely bride to be sister Laurie (please comment at the bottom, Laurie!), but I'm curious to see what others think as well.

With picots:











Without picots (imagine the rounded bits curving a little at the edge - the edge wouldn't be flat or a straight line):











What say you?

Actual, bona fide knitting progress!

I know it doesn't look much bigger, but trust me - it is. I just finished the 28th row of the Old Shale border pattern, which is halfway through that border. Well, at least in terms of rows. Since each row gets progressively larger, I'm not quite that far yet. But doesn't it look much more like lace now? I need to finish this almost Cobweb Crepe shawl by August 3rd, so I'm working hard on it right now. I still have a bit of a tremor, but I'm plowing through regardless. My sister needs something home made and special on her wedding day and I'll finish it if it kills me. Though I'd prefer to just finish.

Speaking of finishing things, I left my job with the Grocery Game after only one month. Initially I felt pathetic for quitting a job so quickly, but it wasn't going to work for me or for my boss. She micromanaged and was passive aggressive, and I couldn't seem to figure out what she needed or wanted from me. Far too much stress for money that we didn't desperately need, especially when this wasn't part of a career path.

So now I have more time for other things like my family, knitting, and my first college class in over nine years. I'm taking nursing pre-requisite course on Food and Nutrition, which is turning out to be harder than I thought. Not so much because of the content, but because I keep having to bite my tongue on things like "artificial sweeteners are very safe and a good alternative to cane sugar" and "a healthy diet should include 2-3 servings of dairy foods every day." Sigh. I'll parrot back what I'm taught and toss out what I don't agree with when I'm done. But it's exciting to finally be back in school and working towards something concrete.

The Knitters Are Coming!

On Friday night, I had the most fantastic time. My new buddy Meghan swung around to my house and off we drove to Powell's. Why? To go see Stephanie Pearl McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot, do a book signing. Now I've been lucky enough to meet her twice before, and knew there were good things ahead.

I came prepared with a bag of Hood strawberry scones (have to share some Oregon goodness, now), cream cheese to spread them with, and of course chocolate covered coffee beans in case of very late or very early flights. I did feel a large twinge of guilt, since the last two times I've seen Stephanie I brought samosas. I wanted to make them this time, I truly did, but I ended up working over 30 hours this week checking coupons against a database and banging my head against the computer desk when the %$&# thing ATE ALL MY DATA. I spent the week in a bleary haze, staring at a computer screen and hoping that eventually I'd all get it done, interspersed with wrangling the boys. Wasn't even sure I'd get to go to Powell's on Friday, but darned if I was going to try. So in a rare moment of sanity I ditched the samosas plan and decided on scones, something I could do quickly and well and that should at least be tasty.

Meghan and I found parking and trotted over to the book store around 5:00. The original plan was to go find seats, get some dinner somewhere close, and come back in time for the signing. Well, when we got there the room had one row of benches, benches with knitters perched on top. The rest of the room was completely empty. We were told they planned on putting chairs out around 6:00, though eventually we managed to convince them to put chairs out earlier. We all sat, knitting and mingling amongst ourselves. I happened upon Rodger, the perfect fearless partner in crime. I look forward to many knitting adventures in the future. I chatted with Pauline, who sadly is blogless but was lovely to talk with. Then off in the corner I spied Bobbie, carrying the most glorious Argosy shawl. Everyone gathered around, stroking it and admiring the colors. Bobbie is sweet and funny and wonderful in person, and I was happy to finally meet her. I giggled over this little miss (her name is Charlotte). Her mama is Heather, and her dad bought her the shirt. I love it!

Eventually, we realized it was far too fun hanging out to leave and grab food somewhere else. Meghan and I illicitly, one at a time, slipped downstairs to purchase our books and grab sustenance from the coffee shop. Food was slipped into knitting bags and smuggled back up into the "Pearl" room, where we munched while no one was the wiser. I love breaking rules.

Finally, Stephanie arrived. Resplendent in her brand new sweater (which was flung off moments later - the room was really hot), she quickly lowered the microphone and began to speak. She warned against the "crochet marauders", spoke of her worries about a wool blight that would lead to yarn store riots, and detailed the machinations of CHOKE (Cultural Humiliation Of Knitters Everywhere). She was funny, endearing, and had us all laughing until our grins hurt. Then she spoke of what knitters can do, of how much money we have all raised so far for Knitters Without Borders, of the friendships and bonds so many of us have formed, of how special it is in this day and age to make something by hand. It was a beautiful speech.

Then we all lined up to have books signed. This is where sitting in the front row became a problem: there was no way to get to the line aside from walking all the way around the aisles while everyone else quickly hopped up into place. Seemed fair, though. So we stood in line and knitted and visited. I got to see Rodger's new sweater. Also met the very bubbly blogless Terissa, who suggested we all go out for tea and drinks later. Excellent idea! I met Christy, who talked of the Single Sock Liberation Movement and showed me a bevvy of proudly single socks. Carry on the good fight, Christy!

And then, it was my turn. Stephanie looked at me, smiled, and said, "you!" And then right after that, "where are the samosas?" We both laughed and I offered up the scones. She asked what I was working on*, I told her it was a shawl, to which she quickly remarked, "it's got a long way to go then, eh?" Then I had her feel it, and she may have said something like, "evil, evil woman." Heh, heh - I take great pride in my evilness! Meghan took a picture of both of us (note that she is still fondling the shawl) and I'm pretty sure I was in the middle of saying something. Better picture over here (squee! Yep, I'm on the blog). She gave me a big hug after that, and you know what? Stephanie gives a really good hug. Not a big surprise - she's a pretty neat person all 'round.

Afterwards Meghan and I walked over to the tea/lounge place (what was the name of it?), meeting up with Rodger and Terrisa later on. I actually got carded. At 38 years old - what a compliment! We all sat and gabbed and Meghan worked furiously on a wee baby sweater and had a blast. Many thanks to Meghan for the ride and for being my knit event buddy, and thanks to Stephanie for once again making us all laugh and think and feel proud of our knitterly ways.

* (I knitted! For the first time in over a month! Fittingly, it was on my sister's almost cobweb crepe shawl, since I need to finish before August. It felt strange, and my hands trembled as I did it, but I managed. I'm just going to bite the bullet and keep working on it even if knitting feels strange and uncomfortable for a while.)

Wee bit of knitting

I haven't been knitting much at all in the past few weeks. This puts me behind schedule on my sister's shawl, but there's not much to be done about it. My hands have been shaking recently and it's just hard to do things that take a lot of fine motor skill, so gardening has been getting a lot more attention. No worries - I went to a Neurologist last Friday and hopefully will be getting some answers and in the meantime the shaking is getting a bit better, so all is well. Here is the center and just a bit of the first edging for my *almost* Cobweb Crepe Shawl. I picked up stitches all the way around and am using two long circular needles to continue on in the round. Keeping track of where I am in all of this is surprisingly hard to do so I copied the chart and am marking off each row as I go along. It's starting to look lace-like - see? Hard to see much of anything without blocking, but it's coming along.

Spring Break

Haven't posted in a bit, mainly because there hasn't been a lot going on here other than finding creative things to do on one leg. This gets old, oh, within about the first 10 minutes of starting out on crutches. The ankle seems to be mending well, and thankfully the cast comes off tomorrow. I'm counting the minutes until that doctor's appointment - not only will I be freed from crutches and the itch way down where you can't scratch it cast, but I'll be able to drive! Oh, glorious day indeed. There's nothing like being stuck at home and put at the mercy of others for a ride. Brings me right back to fifteen, right at the cusp of being independent and just tasting freedom.

This is day four of Spring Break, and I'm proud to say that both the boys are alive. Oh, and I appear to also be sane. This is quite a feat, one accomplished so far by signing Arden up for drama camp (two hour rehearsals each day, rides from my mother in law), craft projects galore, many taped episodes of Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs, and the baking of many, many cookies. And a healthy supply of Mike's Hard Lemonade. It's medicinal.

Last night, I was able to have a Spring Break of my own. My mother in law dropped me off at Abundant Yarn, where I promptly sat down with a bag o knitting to wait for Ann and Kay of Mason Dixon fame. I worked on the not quite Cobweb Crepe Shawl since the center is really just a great big dishcloth knit on very fine yarn. Also brought my *almost* (really, honest!) finished Perfect Sweater. We all sat and waited and talked, and in the process I met two of the nicest knitters: Meghan (no blog yet, but I'm working on her) and Janna (brand new blog - go take a peek!). We had a great time talking and admiring each other's knitting, and I hope to see both of them again sometime soon.

Eventually Ann and Kay arrived and they were just as real and funny and sweet in person as their writing would suggest. We got to see glorious blankets, dishcloths, and my personal favorite, the wee baby Blu Jeans. So incredibly cute and so soft in Rowan Denim. As everyone was waiting in line, I sent up a basket of sugar cookies to properly fortify signers and signees alike. I waited until things thinned out a bit, then made my way up to the table. Ann gave me the warmest hug when she figured out who the heck I was. I laid out the Perfect Sweater, mentioned being chicken to finish the buttonholes, and got invited to the SlogAlong - which I will be joining. We all talked for a while (again, did I mention how nice Ann and Kay are? They're both just plain good people), then set off for dinner. Had some amazing pizza at Ken's Artisan Pizza, talked and talked and talked. Finally got everyone's name! Aside from the wonder twin powers of Ann and Kay there were Larissa of Stitch Marker, Jessica of Rose-Kim Knits, Sarah of Cafe Mama and Sarah of Zeitgeist. I got home after ten (Sarah took pity and gave me a ride - thanks again so much!). Felt like summer break back in high school, between bumming a ride, hanging out and talking at a pizza place, and the whole summer camp feeling of meeting people from far away.

Not a bad Spring Break at all.

Still off my feet, for the most part

My ankle is still very swollen and there's one huge bruise from my toes to several inches up my ankle (which actually looks rather like the yarn over there). If the skin there were yarn, it'd be one lovely sock. I'm thinking of it as temporary body art. I can walk on the ankle a little bit, though I look like a drunken sailor trying to use it at all. But I'm finally able to drive just a wee bit and I *can* get to the bathroom without crutches, so life is good. Looks like a really bad sprain that I'm babying by having it propped up most of the time.

Last night, as a celebration of my newly regained driving ability, I went to a dye and sock knitting class over at Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks. I already dyed my yarn a few weeks back with indigo (nasty smelling stuff, but really fun to use) and other natural colorants, so tonight was just knitting. They were having a fiber festival, so the first thing my instructor said was, "do you want to walk around a bit and see all of the yarn?" Walk? No, not really so much. So she sent me over to find a table to sit at while we knitted. When I got over to the cafe tables, a grin spread over my face.We sat, knitting and talking, while soaking our feet in one of these for an hour and a half. Now that's my idea of heaven...or Footopia. Ahhhh....need one of these at home.

Oh, and tonight I'm leaving Dan and the boys to fend for themselves while I go galivanting off to dinner with a friend visiting from out of town. We're going to go here because they have a gluten free menu. Well, and also because the food there is delicious. Expensive, but delicious!

I hate Daylight Saving Time

The concept of hours and minutes and days is pretty artificial to start with, I'll admit. But once we all agreed for the most part on what time it was, why mess with that twice a year? It's hard enough to get to bed at a reasonable hour without suddenly moving things up an hour. Grrr. But you know what I like even less? When someone decides, "hey, let's make the switch a few weeks early this year, just for the fun of it." Double grrrr.

I did finish Arden's socks and am feeling pretty decent today, so I can't complain much. But I'm still going to do so.

Hanging out on the couch, knitting

Haven't been doing much else this week. Had some surgery on Tuesday (let's just say female issues and leave it at that) and I've been on bed rest since. Normally I can't stand not doing things, so I planned ahead by getting a good book to read, plenty of taped shows on TV, and some knitting to do. Arden picked out this bright Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Dusk and decided he really, really wanted a pair of socks that he could wear with sneakers. No problem. I cast on Tuesday morning and stopped only when the anesthesiologist came in. "Let me finish this row" was I think the last thing I said before getting the happy juice and everything going all hazy. I've been sleeping and reading much more than I would have planned - really wiped out physically, but I still managed to finish one sock and am down to the heel on the second, which should be done tomorrow.

I'm healing up decently well, but sitting is less than comfortable right now. So more knitting and TV watching and lots of water and rest for the next few days. Once I finish the socks I'm on to start my sister's (not quite) Cobweb Crepe Shawl for real, since she gave the all clear on the Zephyr. Can't wait to get going!

Tiny knitting

So what else have I been up to? Lots of eensy tiny knitting. I laid out all the shawl patterns I could find for my sister, and finally she ended up choosing the Cobweb Crepe Shawl from Sharon Miller, found in her Heirloom Knitting book. For some reason this doesn't seem to be a very popular pattern, or at least I haven't found much mention of it online. Not sure if that's because it calls for cobweb weight yarn or because it isn't quite as ornate as many of her other patterns. Anyway, I started knitting a wee swatch in the border pattern right away, simply to practice a bit. The picots are a bit fiddly, but it isn't bad to knit up at all. Then I ordered some cobweb weight wool over at KPixie. This stuff was sooo incredibly fine and soft! I started knitting a small diagonal square and then picked up just two corners to work out how to start the wide border.

At this point I was blown away with how ethereal and soft the yarn was. And with how easily it broke. I also noticed that the yarn was awfully deep beige/yellow, which normally wouldn't be any problem but wouldn't go well with my sister's diamond white wedding dress. You know, the whole reason for knitting the thing in the first place. I called my sister, explained that I was worried about the color and gee, while we're at it, is this the kind of yarn you want since I have to order something else anyway? She decided a heavier, stronger yarn would be perfect. I sent off the cobweb swatch anyway, just so she could see how things would look with the pattern. Oh, and made the world's smallest ball of yarn for Arden who loves all things teensy :-) Meanwhile, I searched high and low for actual white laceweight yarn. Just about impossible to find, I'm guessing because bleach would be too damaging on fibers that fine?

In the end, I bought a cone of Jaggerspun Zephyr 2/18 laceweight in white. Once it arrived I saw that it's actually off-white as well, but I think this will end up being perfect. I'll have to play with the size of the center section so the wrap doesn't end up too big, but it should be doable. And the Zephyr knits up so nicely! The silk really gives it strength, too - enough that I can't break the yarn by hand without a lot of work. I started knitting a much larger swatch (so large that Dan assumed I was knitting the actual shawl) so I could try out picking up the border on all sides and working on circulars. Not bad at all. I'll place the stitches on a holder for now and use it to practice working the border later. Now if I could only think of something useful to do with it later! Might need to make up a pillow or something.

Still not sure if this off-white will get the all clear from my sister. I sent another swatch off and am waiting to hear back from her. She's not extremely picky, but this is the wedding she's been dreaming of for thirty-five years, so I'd like to give her something that makes her feel like a princess if I can. And having a bunch of Zephyr lying around can't be a bad thing, can it?

By the way, would anyone like 2000 yards of Shetland cobweb weight yarn? I only used a tiny bit, and it's so incredibly soft and airy.

Slightly finished object

I've been baking up a mad storm (just finished using up four pounds of butter...and I need more) and decorating and volunteering at the boys' school and still trying to get my hot little hands on a Wii. In the meantime, I managed to finish up one half of that mystery project. This is yarn I got in the Dye O Rama swap from the incredibly talented Kate of k8knits. I wanted to do something special with it and set it aside for a while, pondering. Finally decided on fingerless gloves with the same edging as "Sideways Socks Supreme" from my ever trusty Socks, Socks, Socks book. Figuring out how to get the edging to work as a mirror image took a bit of fiddling. I offset the two edgings by one row so the decreases that make up each point would work out properly. Did a provisional cast on, knit until it fit around my wrist, added some extra short rows where my forearm gets a little bit wider, then grafted up to the bottom of my thumb. Then I picked up stitches as I knitted up the thumb gusset, finishing it off in the round with seed stitch to echo the side to side pattern in the arm. I love this glove - the colors are beautiful, it fits perfectly, it's warm, and the edging makes it somehow romantic and different and unique. One more, and I 'm all set.

Random Tuesday

First, some more dyeing. I wanted something special to gift to Anna when she got here, so I looked through her gallery to find the most likely colors. Orange, green, and pink it was! This turned out a wee bit brighter than I'd intended, so I offered to overdye in a smidge of brown to dull the colors a little, but Anna swore she loved it as is, so I left it like that. Also notice another project in this picture - home grown tomatoes that I picked before frost hits. They are ripening on the table, making a really nice edible centerpiece. The riper ones went into a marinara last week, which was delicious.

Next, another something from the garden: my first carrot! There's something mysterious about pulling a root vegetable from the ground - will it be long, thin, thick, colorful? No way of knowing until it's out of the ground. Each time I pick one, it's an adventure. So far, the carrots are crunchy and sweet and Ryan has taken to picking them when he feels like a snack. Score one for mom!

Next, a cat bed for Tabby. Since the surgery, I've really wanted to do something that would help her feel better physically. It's been getting colder here lately, and she doesn't really have any insulation to speak of (unlike her owner), so I figured a cat bed would be perfect. I used some Patons Classic wool, doubled, and some Cascade 128 that I bought at half price last week. My own pattern, not felted yet. As soon as I laid it on the floor, she came over to sniff, so I'm thinking it will probably go over well.

Last, a calender picture for Deb. Also a bit for me, as well. You can't see it, but there are red letters on the 28th. Won't say what they are for, but I will mention that I was born on Thanksgiving day a few decades ago. The real fun of that comes every 4th or 7th year, when my birthday actually falls on Thanksgiving. I love when that happens - cooking, people I love all around, and a big meal that I can plan for and cook? My idea of heaven.

Twist and shout

What is this, you ask? Some sort of mutant lingere? A cute, fuzzy upside down heart? Perhaps the start of a very large, yet to be felted pirate hat? Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner here. I managed to twist 150 stitches and somehow not notice this fact until I had knit the first ten rows...twice. Dan asked for off white "fluffy stuff" at the edge, so I oblidged and bought some Fun Fur and cast on. Got into the non fluffy part of the pattern and started to worry that the fringe would be too thin, so I quickly knitted up a sample and felted it. Yep, way too thin. Frogged the whole mess and began again, this time carrying three strands instead of two. Perfect. Sigh. Oh, wait, something's wrong here....
I flat out refused to rip out all of this AGAIN and set it aside overnight, glaring at the fun fur as I stowed it in a dark corner. Bad yarn. No donut for you.

But wait. I have a sewing machine. I could steek this sucker! People steek every day and come out completely unscathed and sane. This was going to get felted anyway, so nothing should show in the end. If worse came to worse, I'd just have to start over. Nothing to lose. So I gritted my teeth and started to sew. Sewing is easy. I do that all the time.
But what about the cutting??? Please excuse the blurriness of this picture. I believe my hands were shaking just a wee bit. Nerves. Cutting knitted yarn on purpose just seems so....wrong, so horrible, I had a hard time keeping my hand still.

Well, there's no turning back now, is there?

I untwisted the yarn, grabbed a needle and black thread, and whipstitched the ends back together. You can just barely see where the ends meet in the middle of the picture above. Not a chance it'll show once everything is felted. And now I have technically steeked, albeit not exactly on purpose. I've steeked and lived to tell the tale and didn't have to frog over a thousand stitches. Nice.

Red scarf at night....

Finally finished up my first red scarf. No pictures draped luxuriously across pretty foliage - you'll have to make due with one of my ever patient Dan, who laughed at me the whole time I was trying to take this picture. "Should I try to look saay-a-xy? Does this make my butt look big?" Sigh.

Thought I'd share the pattern I came up with (though honestly, it's barely a pattern at all, more of an anti-pattern, really):


Take it Easy Scarf

Yarn: I used Patons Classic Wool in Bright Red, 1 1/2 skeins
Needles: I used US size 8s
Finished Size: My scarf ended up a little over 60 inches in length and about 6 1/2 inches wide

Cast on 30 stitches (add or subtract groups of 6 stitches to make it wider or narrower)

First row: (K3, P3), repeat to the end of the row.

Repeat this row until you're bored, until the next commercial, until you hear "stop looking at me!" from your little ones, or until you think it's time to do something different. Then, move on to the second row.

Second row: (P3, K3), repeat to the end of the row.

Repeat this row as long as you like. Then switch again. Keep alternating these two rows however you like until the scarf is as long as you want it. Cast off however you like. Fringe, or don't. It's all good.