A Bit O' Spring

Spring is already here, and summer is knocking on the door here in Central Texas. I'm not oblivious to the fact that many of you are from a part of the country that hasn't seen a single sign of Spring: Not a hint of green, a crocus bud, or a forsythia bloom. That's the situation for all of my far-flung kiddos, who are more than ready for Mother Nature to make the transition. One daughter in particular, going to college in Philadelphia, pleaded with me to make her a pair of socks "that are bright green, cheery, SPRINGLIKE -- I NEED these!" I made up my mind to get them to her in time for St. Pat's day, so they include shamrock-like lacy legs and clovery eyelets on the foot. My favorite way to make socks is toe-up, Magic Loop, using Judy Becker's Magic Cast On, so they're that, too. Enjoy making Bit O' Spring.

If you need a Bit O' Spring in your life, I'm happy to share mine with you, provided you don't knit them to sell, don't claim them as your own pattern, and respect my copyright to them. Please DO knit them for charity: Sharing the love that way is a way of saying YES WE CAN.

NOTE: I'm having trouble posting the PDF for the pattern! If you know to do this (from a document folder; PLEASE leave a comment for me telling me how to fix this glitch!

Inaugural Spirit and Yarny Goodness

At long last! It seemed as though it would never come: The Inauguration is a done deal, Barak Obama is our first African-American president and the 44th person to hold the office, and we can get on with the business of repairing the horrific damage that was done to our country over the last eight years.

The economy is in the tank, housing is shot to heck, our troops are still mired in the Middle East, but it's going to get better. I just know it. It might take some time, but at least we have a president who is smarter and wiser than I, which is a huge relief.

This Inaugural couldn't pass without a special celebration, in spite of all the challenges that lie ahead for the new chief executive and us. Surely, there are a lot of others I know who would watch the proceedings at home, far from the record-breaking crowds in DC. Wouldn't it be more fun to do it together? So the Inaugural Watch Party was born. I invited our entire Austin Knitting and Crochet Meetup Group for it, and 11 other revelers (and Ravelers!) thought it was a peachy idea, too. All had our projects to work on as we watched.

At noon, we followed up with a potluck lunch. We had quite a spread: Cheese and crackers, salsa, queso, guacamole and chips, romaine salad, fruit salad, crazy lasagna, pizza, even Senate Bean Soup and a special red velvet cake that Gayle made with Obama's campaign logo sugared into the top. Oh, and brownies. It was a fun, communal way to celebrate such a historic event. Decades from now I will know what I was doing (and even knitting: A special Swallowtail Shawl, cast on just for the Inauguration). When the inevitable question of "what were you doing on the day Obama took the oath of office" comes up, the answer will be a cinch.

Today I'm off to contribute to the common good. We don't have a minute to lose.

June, July, August, September ... is it really October?

I'll just whoosh through June, July, and most of August because there's nothing noteworthy in muddling through oppressively hot, unbearably humid days, and the less said about summer in Texas, the better.

At the end of August, I became an empty nester, but not before transporting the fledglings to their respective schools.
<---- The Girls saying their good-byes to the pooches minutes before heading out.
My poor little Subaru was packed airtight, the roof loaded with Liz' bike, and behind balancing a cargo carrier with Claire's scooter, with only a 22" wide slot for one of them to squeeze into behind the driver. Claire said it was even too small knit! The girls took turns riding there; about the only thing one could do was nap, or watch one State after another roll by. Usually it was a retreat for the one who finished driving a leg, so even though it was a close fit, it was a snug little nest for resting.
Three days later, we arrived at my mother's in northwestern PA, for a two day layover to rest up and finish school shopping. The Subaru couldn't begin to hold what they needed, so we raided discount stores in Erie for lamps, bedding, electronics, batteries, art supplies, books, and goodies.
<--- Claire, Grams, and Liz
Liz and her fella Caleb------>
Liz's fella drove over from Philadelphia with an enormous truck, and they loaded her entire life plus a brand new full size bed into it, and off they went. I promised to head over their way after getting Claire settled in her dorm. After all, Philly's only eight hours out of the way.

Claire and I repacked the Sube, heading west 90 miles to her college in Ohio. Move-in day was gorgeous: In the low 70s , with nary a cloud in the sky. I thought we were going to be in for a long morning of lugging boxes up three flights of stairs, but the college organized teams of returning students to unload cars, running boxes, baggage, and keepsakes to the the rooms! It was AWESOME! ---------------->
The scooter attracted a lot of attention, creating a small stir and some head scratching among students and faculty alike. "We've never had one on campus before!" exclaimed the Dean of Students. Everyone wanted to take it for a spin. Campus security wasn't sure if it should be classified as a car, sit in a remote lot and pay a parking sticker fee, or if it should be considered akin to a bike, parked next to the rack of Claire's dorm. After two days of leaving it on the front lawn of her dorm, they decided it was so cute and small that it could go next to the bike rack.
<--- Cuteness wins every time.

Now, after a week-and-a-half of being shoehorned into the car, it was absolutely empty. I was officially an empty nester, with a long roundabout drive back to Texas, where my new job as assistant to the Deans of the College Liberal Arts and College of Science at Concordia University awaited my return.
No grass grows under my feet.
So went all of September and more than half of October. This interminably long summer may just be beginning to winding down. A summer where water bills ran to high three figures each month, more than double the cost of electricity. Yesterday, for the first time since mid-March, it was in the 60s for a daytime high, and only a tad cooler overnight. It rained an inch earlier in the week, which was almost 20% of our total rainfall thus far this year. Mother Nature's been messing with us for months, and is finally cutting us a break, however temporary.
So where'd I leave off? Oh yeah, socks. I've been a sock knitting fool since my internal porch light went on, all six of my brain cells feverishly cementing the concepts into variations on patterns. Definitely toe-up, and definitely some sort of pattern.
<---I dyed it! At YARNORAMA, on WorldWide Knit in Public Day in June.
In July, the resulting socks, a pattern called 'SPRING FORWARD', which I knit toe-up. ----->

After one pair of plain stockinette socks with a ribbed leg, I called it a day. If it ain't interesting, I won't knit it. Besides, if I am crazy enough to knit socks, they should be challenging and noteworthy.
<--- The only pair of plain socks I'll ever knit. (Famous last words, right?) At least the yarn was interesting. A bit large for Liz, who modeled it in progress for me, but a perfect size 12 fit for her fella Caleb: Magic Loop, toe-up, two balls of Regia Crazy Color #86 on US size 3 circular needles, matching the yarn striping placement on both socks.

<----- First ever pair of completed socks in OnLine's SOXX APPEAL, 'Los Monos Locos.' For me!
'Scion' is my own pattern. Great guy socks, if I do say so myself. Sean will be getting these for Christmas. One hank of DREAM IN COLOR Smooshy, color "Midnight Derby", knit toe-up on US size 2 circular needles, using Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On.------>

<---- Little Pumpkins by Sabine Rupert. Knit in a 8 ply, DK weight Regia Uni 6 Fadig yarn, in the color-- what else?-- Pumpkin! on US 3 circular needles, toe up, Magic Loop. Very dense and warm! A Halloween Treat, I loaded them up with chocolates and sent them on their way to Claire today.

<----- Wendy Johnson's Double Eyelet Rib Toe-Up Socks. My Halloween surprise for Liz, made from the same Regia DK weight yarn as Little Pumpkins (I got a great deal on the stuff : less than $3 a ball at Jimmy Beans Wool). I may have gone overboard a bit, buying 10 balls, but I'll have Halloween sock yarn for at least three years. Anyway, they are knit toe-up, Magic Loop, and I eliminated two pattern repeats for a total of 48 stitches on US size 4 needles. Yes, these were stuffed with chocolates, too (second pic), and sent off to Liz a few days ago.

Which brings me to gift knitting, which is consuming all my off hours. I never claimed to have a life.
Next post. (Gotcha!)

Knitting on 100+ degree days

It's been hot. Damn hot. 19 days over 100 degrees Farenheit in the last month kind of hot. And it's ONLY JUNE!!!!!! So why would anyone in their right mind knit during this spate of god-awful heat? And what WOULD anyone want to make?

Tiny stuff. Little things that don't drape in your lap. Things that don't FEEL warm while knitting. I have chosen to knit tanks/camisoles in non-wool yarns and socks. Even the tops seem a little much at times, but I have to switch up the projects to stay interested.

So what are you doing during this hellacious heatwave in Austin? Or wherever you live?

Finally, sock pictures

I didn't find my camera, but did find an older one we have kicking around, so here is living proof that I made socks:

To the left are the toe-up version of the Monkey sock pattern, called Los Monos Locos. I'd give the pattern five stars: It's so well written that even a sock doofus like me could follow it to successful completion.

On the right is the first sock, nearly finished, for Liz' boyfriend. She tried it on for the picture. It's one looooooong sock: the boy has size 11.5 feet. Still have a few more inches of 3 x 1 ribbed cuff to make and another whole sock. It's a handsome looking sock to wear with jeans, I think.

Sixth Time Charmed: The Sock Curse BUSTED

Everyone makes socks. Except me.

Until now, that is. I started five cuff down first socks: The first pair was on two circs and really skinny indigo/forest green/charcoal/ivory Opal sock yarn. Everything was fine until the gusset. My brain melted. Same with first sock #2: I tried the same yarn on two circs again, trying a different book and pattern. Same problem: My brain hit the wall at the gusset. Then I tried with double points for first sock #3, and by that time, the yarn was looking a little chewy. The whole mess went into the trash, needles and all.

I set socks aside for a couple of months. Meanwhile, everyone and their dog in our knitting group was making socks right and left. I fumed and fussed over the fact that socks were besting me, so I enlisted the help of a knitting goddess, Lynn. She's a great teacher who knits beautifully. Try a larger gauge yarn, she said. You WILL knit them on double points, she said. So I brought up the yarn weight a notch to Lang Jawoll sock yarn and size 2 double pointed needles. Everything was fine with this first sock #4. I knit up to the gusset. Then I actually knit the gusset. The only problem was, the foot was large enough for Bigfoot. I left this charred-bone-of-a-project up on the Ravelry board; it is the lavender sock that is hibernating at the bottom of my projects page. The sock is still under the sofa, sulking in a ziploc bag. Once again, I went on sock hiatus, knitting up a beautiful lace shawl for Claire, two lace shrugs, a pair of colorwork mittens, the Mr. Greenjeans cardie, and three different winter hats. No socks, but everything else under the sun.

Another person in our Austin Meetup group, Sherrie, wanted use the month of May to make socks together at our Thursday morning group. Everyone loved the idea, so I sighed, went on a stash safari, and yanked out another hank of sock yarn, this time going for the heavy artillery: Hill Country Yarns INSTANT GRATIFICATION. It is big yarn for socks, and I could use size 4 or 5 needles. Maybe being able to see what I was knitting would help, I reasoned. Sherrie had just finished a toe up pair of socks, and was singing their praises: Better fitting toe, better fitting heel, the ability to try it on while in progress, and NO PICKING UP STITCHES. What the heck. Why not.

So I selected the toe-up version of the Monkey sock by Cookie A, called Los Monos Locos. Sherrie taught me the Figure 8 cast on, which was surprisingly easy, and off I went on first sock #5 via Magic Loop. (Here is a great video tutorial for the Figure 8 Cast On; be sure to scroll all the way down to get to the video.) Everything was going along beautifully. I knit the gusset, then the heel turn, then the first row of the leg. I couldn't believe it: I had made a complete body of a sock. Without incident. Without tantrums, tears, ugly ragged picked-up-stitches lines, unlimited frustration or sleepless nights.

But. And there's always a but, right?

It was far too big, as in too wide, too much sock. Not exactly looking like a sock for Bigfoot, just far too large proportionally. It was my huge yarn and huge needles. That was the trouble. I really like the yarn, so I frogged and rewound it, hoping to find the right pattern for it eventually. Like maybe a squishy pair of slippers or something.

Knowing I could knit this sock, I went on another stash safari, and decided to use the Knit One Crochet Too SOXX APPEAL I had bought on a whim during one of our yarn crawls at Stacy Klauss' shop THE KNITTING NEST. Out came the US size 3 32"circs, and voila! Sixth time is charmed, the sock curse is broken. A perfect fit on sock one! As soon as I bound it off, I began sock two. And two days later, it was a perfectly matched pair.

You know I need a life when I am ecstatic about making a pair of socks that fit and match.

Things went so well that I thought I'd make a pair of socks for my daughter's boyfriend, Caleb. He is pining away for her back in Philadelphia, and bought her an airline ticket to come back for a visit over the Independence Day holiday. (Never mind that she's only been home from school for a little over 3 weeks!) It seemed appropriate that I make him a pair of gift socks. Truth is, I am now on a roll. After yet another stash safari in the Closet of Doom, I found two balls of Regia STRETCH COLOR , color 91, that would make perfect guy jean socks. After searching for a guy-ish pattern on the Ravelry pattern browser, I settled on Wendy's Fingering Weight Toe Up Socks With Gusset Heel. My modifications include using Judy Becker's Magic Cast on for the toe. That's a step up from the Figure 8, and Cat Bordhi made a humorous video to demonstrate the method here. I've completed 50% of the first sock, just now at mid-gusset. I also decided that instead of doing M1's, I'd knit through the front and the back loop (k1tfbl) for the edge increases so there'd be no holes. And Eye of Partridge slip stitching, so they'd be cushiony on the heel. Oh, and I am ribbing the leg to the cuff after the heel turn. Just not sure what ribbing style yet. (This is a 70 stitch sock with jacquard yarn ... got any ideas?) So far, they look great, even to me. Stay tuned.

I want to share these babies with you but have a new problem: I can't find my daggone camera! I have been searching high and low for two days now. I know it's here somewhere, but it's hiding very well. Must have thrown it in a drawer .... or a bag ... or something, during all the graduation/party/houseguests/visiting relatives hubbub.

For now, you'll just have to take my word for it that I can FINALLY knit socks.

Mr. Greenjeans Does Paris

Mr. Greenjeans is a DONE DEAL.

<----On the left is friend Ruth, and me happily wearing the newly-finished sweater, hot off the needles only moments before, on a barge on the Seine.

Working furiously for five days on a ship during long, sunny afternoons, I was unswervingly committed to finishing in time to wear in Paris. Even at that pace, I still had most of a sleeve remaining the night before we docked in LeHavre, France. But I was determined: During the 2.5 hour drive to Paris, I finished the last third of the remaining sleeve with twenty minutes to spare before we parked next to the Seine for our river cruise.

Sweet!

While I didn't have the button on it, I did have a cable needle, which acted as a chopstick-like closure.

The Sweater, in progress, hanging from the balcony railing --->

And Paris? It couldn't have been more beautiful that 22nd day of April: Sunny, warm (70 degrees), with all the Spring flowers and trees in bloom, including the infamous horse chestnut trees that line every street, boulevard, and park in the City of Light.

Mr. Greenjeans Disaster

For MALABRIGO MARCH on the Ravelry malabrigo junkies board, I took on the challenge to make the Mr. Greenjeans cardie from the Fall 2007 edition of Knitty. Make no mistake: I love this yarn, Malabrigo 'Silky Merino'. I love this sweater: After reviewing hundreds of photos on Ravelry of this sweater finished and on every conceivable body type, I decided to make it. It looks good on EVERYONE.

But it doesn't love me. Not one bit.
After swatching and hitting gauge almost immediately, I started it on March 1, quickly knitting down to the armholes and then moving those stitches onto waste yarn while I finished the body. A few inches later, I had finished the top, and tried it on. Elated that it fit so well, I pressed on to the cables.

Two weeks later, I bound off the bottom and eagerly tried it on. It was no where CLOSE to fitting. The top fits, but the inward pull of the cables is merciless. After a day of shock, a heavy steam blocking was in order. This was my only weapon short of ripping it all back and starting the bottom cables anew. I tried it on. It was still a no-go.

Today, after a week of leaving it folded and resting in my knitting bag, it's going to be frogged. The only option is to redo all the cabling one size up and use a larger needle size as well.

In the meantime, I've been knitting smaller things, most notably Retro Redux Shrug from the book Lace Style. The owner of Yarnorama, Susan, had knit one up for a shop sample, and during spring break the girls and I stopped in Paige to fondle yarn on our way to Houston. Both Liz and Claire tried it on, and it looks adorable. So I moved the project up in my queue, and when Greenjeans turned into a nightmare, I turned to knitting the shrug as a confidence builder to get away from my sweater woes. I'm almost finished with one, in Malabrigo 'Worsted Merino' colorway Water Green. I've started the ribbing for the top and bottom edges. It knit up side-to-side very fast and without incident and the color is lovely.

BIG Decision Time

Claire has heard from all the colleges where she applied. The last week has been one of agonizing decisions and sleepless nights.

Tonight, we have a winner: Hiram College, in Hiram, Ohio.







Above is the new Library, where she'll spend a lot of her time.

The scholarship award was a major factor, and it's a small, personal kind of a place, located in the beautiful wooded and rolling countryside of the Western Reserve in eastern Ohio. It boasts a unique academic calendar, small seminar style classes, and some fantastic study abroad programs.

Here are some pictures of the campus we took on our Grand Tour last summer. The barn above is a ceramics studio, located about a mile from the main campus at a field station. Claire really loved that, as she intends to develop her potters skills as a part of her art educator program.







One of nine residence halls, below

I LOVE last minute travel!

So this morning I was reading through my email as usual with a cuppa joe when I spied the ever-dangerous one from my travel agent. My eyes popped out of my head when I saw an eastbound transatlantic sailing in less than three weeks on one my favorite ships going for peanuts. A chill ran through me when I saw the arrival port: Harwich, England. Shoot, I already have a return air ticket from London that I haven't used and will expire if I don't.

What to do?

Call the woman, of course, and book it FAST!

So I did. And I'm on it! It was meant to be.
Here's the skinny:

Day	Location	Arrival	Departure
Friday, April 11, 2008	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	--	04:30 PM
Saturday, April 12, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Sunday, April 13, 2008	Kings Wharf, Bermuda	04:00 PM	--
Monday, April 14, 2008	Kings Wharf, Bermuda	--	03:30 PM
Tuesday, April 15, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Wednesday, April 16, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Thursday, April 17, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Friday, April 18, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Saturday, April 19, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Sunday, April 20, 2008	Cork, Ireland	08:00 AM	05:00 PM
Monday, April 21, 2008	At Sea	--	--
Tuesday, April 22, 2008	Paris (Le Havre), France	08:00 AM	11:00 PM
Wednesday, April 23, 2008	Cherbourg, France	07:00 AM	03:45 PM
Thursday, April 24, 2008	Harwich, England	04:30 AM	--

I'll post pictures when I return.

<--- Our fantastic aft cabin on the same ship during last September's westbound transatlantic. The glass screen divides our main bedroom from a 2nd sitting room/bedroom (Claire's), which leads to a huge balcony out back.

Our aft balcony. Fabulous! Docked at the time in St. John, Newfoundland. --------->


On the knitting front: I am almost finished knitting the body of my Mr. Greenjeans cardie. I think two more complete cables will do it. Then it's onto the sleeves and the button band and it's finished.

My SOTSii got far behind the weekly schedule, and I am currently working my way through Hint 8 --- only about 80 or so rows to go to total completion! Whew! There will be another SOTS in August, and I think I'll do that one, too.

March 26 is the start of the MysticLight shawl KAL, and I signed up for that. I have a cone of Jaggerspun Maine Line fingering weight for this.

The Malabrigo Junkies board on Ravelry is winding up Malabrigo March Madness. I started the Mr. Greenjeans cardie in Silky Merino. And I've finished the Herringbone Mittens in Vaa and Frank Ochre Merino Worsted, a Tudora neck ruff and a Capitan hat in Amoroso, and will cast on a few more small projects before March is over.

A Maine state of mind

Claire and I just returned from a few days in Maine. Yes, it's March, I know. She had an interview at a college in Bar Harbor, with the rest of our time spent enjoying the quiet winter beauty of the Maine coast. Oh, and a few yarn stores, too.
Of course.

Here are a few pictures of the campus. It's right on Frenchman's Bay, on Mt. Desert Island, just a stone's throw from Acadia National Park. I can't think of a more gorgeous setting for ANYTHING.

And yes, this all of these pictures are ON CAMPUS. Amazing.

College of the Atlantic offers only one major to its 400 students: Human Ecology. What the heck does that mean? Anything you want to self-design into a personal program.

The college grows many of the veggies used for meals on their own organic farm. The balance of the school's food is purchased from other Maine organic farmers. We had lunch on campus one day, and the food was fantastic! The entree was a pork tenderloin with fennel roasted with a teriyaki glaze, mashed sweet potatoes, fresh sesame green beans, steamed broccoli that was as good as a three star restaurant offering(read crisp-tender and very fresh), homemade whole wheat bread, and dense, crunchy, uber-dark-chocolatey oat bars. Not a pizza or a burger in sight. Who'da thunk?

Bar Harbor is a wonderful place once the crowds and summer visitors are gone. We got to know one of the owners at Ben and Bill's Chocolates, Yvonne, VERY well. Originally from Ireland, her rich accent and amazing expertise at all things chocolate AND TEA were just the ticket for us. It's so hard to get a good cup of tea at a restaurant or shop: No one seems to know (or care) that the water must be freshly boiled to make a decent tea. You can't make good tea from a Bunn coffeemaker, or a decanter of hot water on a warming plate, thanks very much. But Yvonne knew exactly what I was looking for when I asked for a "proper cup". Living above the shop, she dashed upstairs to find tea from her own personal stash! We were rewarded with huge cups of Irish Breakfast tea, perfectly brewed and delicious. We went back twice a day, every day, for tea and a few of her decadent chocolate offerings: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Creams, Buttercreams, Turtles, Maple Walnut Creams, Wintergreen Patties, Deep Chocolate Truffles, Coffee Creams, Bark, Honeycomb, Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Penuche, and more. That was only the tip of the iceberg of her offerings. Every time we'd walk past the store, she was hard at work, dipping and crafting chocolates or making fudge. She always waved when she saw us, and I think she must have recognized my bright yellow parka; it's pretty unique and hard to miss. Her chocolates are fabulous, so if you visit, you must go and savor them. For all the chocolates that we bought, not too many made it back to Austin with us, though. We just couldn't resist.

My birthday fell right in the middle of our visit, so to celebrate we spent the day traipsing around a wide area visiting local yarn stores. At Bee's in Bar Harbor, we encountered the lethal combination of hand-dipped chocolates and yarn. The shop is tiny and cram-packed with yarn, cards, handknit sweaters and an old-fashioned candy counter. There's no place to sit and knit -- barely enough room to maneuver in -- but the owner is friendly and helpful, whatever your needs or desires.

THE LILAC LILY was the highlight of our day, though. Located in Southwest Harbor, it has a wonderful selection of Maine artisan yarns and a wide selection of labels that are well known nationally. It started to snow while we were there, and Leslie, the welcoming and gregarious shopkeeper, invited us to stay and knit with her. Another regular patron, Nancy, came in and joined us, and we knit, talked Ravelry, and watched the snow come down in big, lacy flakes.

Back in Bar Harbor that night, we had dinner at Geddy's, which is lit by the silhouette of a moose on the roof. We dined on the best clam chowder ever, giant lobsters, and slices of sinfully good wild Maine blueberry pie for dessert. Then we trekked over to see Yvonne for our nightly chocolates and tea. One of the best birthdays ever!

We explored a little of Acadia NP one day, though many of the park roads are closed for the winter. Echo Lake, with the famous carriage road circling its perimeter, was frozen solid and deserted, in stark contrast to the crowds, traffic, and congestion of summer.


On departure day, we checked out of hotel at 7 a.m. for the 4.5 hour drive back to the Manchester, NH airport. We built in an extra hour and a half for a stop at Halcyon Yarn in Bath, ME, which was not much of a detour for us. It's a huge old warehouse, stuffed floor to ceiling with 10' tall aisles of bins loaded with skeins, hanks, and cones. There's even an entire aisle of roving for spinners. That's just on the first floor. You're looking at an entire aisle of Jaggerspun on your right. ------------------------------------------------>
I won't torture you by telling you there are also aisles for Harrisville Designs, Casco Bay yarns, Brown Sheep yarns, Bartlett, sock yarn, and much more.

On the second level, there are looms, wheels, and every spinning thing made or known to mankind. Claire bought her first drop spindle here, and a cloud of roving. Now she just needs time to perfect her technique.


View of the sunrise from our hotel room

SOTSii Clue 4 finished

A week behind, Clue 4 is finished after waiting out a bout of the flu. My brain was not lace functional, which was maddening.

On Saturday my brain finally came home, and it was marathon movie & knitting day: I watched both versions of Pride & Prejudice, Barton Fink, and Phantom of the Opera. Claire picked out the last two, neither of which I would have chosen. But now I've seen them both and got some lace done to boot.

Yesterday at the North Austin Meetup, I mentioned that I'd languished about all day Saturday knitting and movie watching. When they heard I watched both Pride & Prejudice versions, they all wanted to have a movie day/night where we do the same. I'm definitely up for that!

See, I told you I was nuts.

Malabrigo Madness

Again, biting off more than I can chew.

On Ravelry, in the Malabrigo Junkies group, I signed on for the Malabrigo March KAL for the Mr. Greenjeans Cardigan, the FOLIAGE hat KAL, as well as the Herringbone Mittens KAL. Then I volunteered to moderate a Capitan hat KAL!!

It's official: I am NUTS.

These are projects in addtion to the already crazy ones I'm working on.

Oh. Heidi and I are going to make Malabrigo Loafers, too.

Hearts Aplenty

Happy Valentine's Day. I always called it a Hallmark holiday, but most folks aren't as cynical as me. Daughter Julia ignores it completely, but still expects a package of goodies each year. Go figure. This year, I sent each of my far away kiddos Chicago-based Fannie May chocolates in heart boxes. When they were little bitty kids, Fannie May stores were in every neighborhood in the D.C. area. I would get each of them a half-pound heart shaped box and a card, which they'd find at their place at the breakfast table on Valentine's Day. I discovered that just because they grow up and move out doesn't mean I'm off the hook, either. They still expect their Valentine chocolates! And their Easter bunnies, Christmas stockings, etc.

Claire's been seriously under the weather with the flu since Sunday. I had a less virulent version, so I went to GAUGE on Monday and bought some Malabrigo worsted for both of us to knit a couple of easy (mindless) projects. My brain was too feverish to work on SOTSii lace project, but I had to do something while taking it easy.
The too-cute-for-words hat to the left is one of them. Called Si CAPITAN, by talented fiber artist Rosi Garmendia, it took only eight hours to make and fifteen minutes to pack up and Express Mail to Liz. Claire felt too awful to knit, so while keeping her company and supplying endless pots of tea and bowls of soup, I knit. Claire wasn't really happy about modeling it, but it was the only option before it vanished into the ether. I think it looks cute on her --- she claims she isn't a hat person.

I bought two hanks of this Amoroso colorway, so another one will be on the way to Julia in March, when I make it during Malabrigo March (a challenge on the Malabrigo Junkies board on Ravelry.)

There was a lot left on one hank, so I knit up and felted these little hearts, which Claire then stuffed and whipstitched together as little Valentine gifts for friends.

Our knitting group met this morning, so last night I made a batch of my Aunt Esther's justly famous frosted sugar cookies for everyone to enjoy. They are exactly as I remember them as a kid: Slightly crisp, sweet, sandy textured, and very vanilla-y.

Every year, on the day before Valentine's Day, Aunt Esther'd spend the entire day making an enormous batch of these, coloring the icing the same pale, delicate pink. I was transported back to her sunny kitchen some 50 years ago, when I wasn't even tall enough to look over the counter. I had a sixth sense when she was making cookies, and since our families lived across the street from each other, I'd appear at her elbow with wide, expectant eyes. She never disappointed, and always offered me my own plateful with a glass of milk at her dining room table. Every Valentine's Day, she set that table with a lace tablecloth and a bowl of pink carnations. She made the evening meal a treat for her family, with those cookies as the dessert. Every year. Without fail.

Years after I'd left the nest, I always sent her a Valentine's Day card thanking her for all the years of Valentine cookie baking days.

She now lives in a nursing home. During a visit last summer, she asked me if I remembered all the Valentine cookies we made together. Well, she made them; I just ate them. But her touching reminisce will always stick with me.

Happy Valentine's Day, Aunt Esther.

San Antonio Yarn Crawl

This past Saturday, our Austin Knitting Meetup Group paid its last respects to a venerable fiber institution of 37 years duration in San Antonio, The Yarn Barn. Five of us drove on a yarn crawl there, and also included Yarnivore across town, and Old Oaks Fiber Ranch in Wimberley as a stop on the scenic route back to Austin.

The Yarn Barn isn't just a knitting and needlework store, it is a veritable archive. Nothing's been thrown out for the last 37 years on the premise that someone may need it later. That's a lot of interesting inventory in books, tools, yarn, patterns, buttons, bags, notions, needles, periodicals, and just plain curiosities. The doors close on April 15, due to the loss of the lease, but shop employees told us there are several buyers interested in the inventory. The owner just isn't interested in hoeing out and relocating after 37 years. Retirement looks mighty enticing when you look at the floor to ceiling bins of yarn, row after row after row of sagging shelves of books, and carousals of every conceivable size, make, and type of needle, knitting and otherwise. Wherever the new owner moves, the flavor of this shop that time forgot will surely be changed. Currently, all transactions are done manually, by hand. Not a computer in sight. Luddite heaven. On April 15, it all goes away. Where, we don't yet know. The Crawlees

NOTE TO OTHERS WHO MIGHT EXPECT GREAT SALES AND DEALS: Don't expect to find any great bargains; there are none. No sales, no inventory reduction. No need when you have potential buyers vying for the goods. It's just gracefully shifting from one set of hands to the next.

We spent a long time fondling and thumbing the goods there, which led directly to lunch at La Fonda on Main, a longtime San Antonio eatery away from the hordes at the Riverwalk and the Alamo, on the edge of the Olmos Park area. It was a gorgeous day, so we dined in the beautiful courtyard behind the main restaurant under a canopy of ancient trees.

The food was fabulous, and the company saucy and fun. A sunny, slightly breezy 70 degree day is as rare as hens teeth in this part of the world, where you are steamed and scorched into submission ten months of the year. All the planets aligned; this was perfection. Bliss.

Claire at our table at La Fonda on Main

Our stop at Yarnivore was one of convenience, since we were in the neighborhood, so to speak. They have a nice selection of roving yarn, so several of our Crawlees succumbed.

We wound our way back toward Austin on the back roads of the Hill Country up to Wimberley, where we made our final stop at Old Oaks Fiber Ranch. It's a beautiful spot, with lots of natural light, and comfortable chairs set around a big round table, looms and spinning wheels behind it. Yarn in cones, skeins, and hanks fill the side of the shop where the entry is located. The ranch is large, with alpaca barns and paddocks on either side of the long lane to the shop.
Lynn & Claire visit the alpacas

Not a bad way to burn up 250 miles and eight hours.

Hint #3: Caught Up. For a Day.

SOTSii Hint #3 is finished after getting behind on Hint #2 last week. I'm rejoicing in a day off, knitting a dozen or so rows on the Mrs. Darcy cardigan for Liz.

Not so fast, though.

Tomorrow is the release date for Hint #4.

Ah well. The bliss is lovely to enjoy for a few more hours. This color is so spring-like, so fresh. It will be gorgeous once blocked, in all its lacy splendor. Right now, it is 21" wide X 24"long, unstretched, unblocked, un-anything. Eight more knitting installments to go.

Yesterday was sort of a knitting milemarker for me: I have been knitting exactly one year and three months! Who'da thunk I'd be doing this in such a short time?

SOTSii Clue 2 complete ... onward through the fog

See that orange marker? I didn't mean to leave it on there, but since it's there, I'll tell you why. That's the point that I ripped back to this weekend. It was painful, but necessary.

As knitting friend Marilyn asked: "Could you have seen the mistake from a galloping horse at 40 MPH?"

Yes. You could have. So it had to come out.

This is the sound of ripping out 22 rows:

pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff



But now it's looking great, with Clue 3 already 12 rows underway (just not in these shots.) This should put me back on track now.

These pics are shown on the needles, unblocked in any way. I just spread it out. It is 20" wide now, and will probably block out at 23" - 24" in width. Since this is a "secret" KAL, the length is a mystery. Clues aren't a consistent number of rows each week, either, another bit of mystique.

Tagged! I'm an 'It' girl

Pam tagged me last week, sending a Ravelry message to ask if that was OK.
Completely baffled, I wrote back: "What the heck does that mean?"
Then didn't understand her follow up explanation.
I am SO out of the loop, so unhip. So born-in-the-50s.
But there's hope. Maybe.

I read Pam's blog, which led back to Sandy's blog, which led to ... well, you get the concept. Sorry, Pam. I didn't mean to be a bad sport, a party pooper, a fuddy-duddy. You just hit me during an Oldtimers attack. My list is altered slightly because I don't watch TV very often. So there's a subcategory. You'll see.

4 Jobs I've Held:
burger flipper at McDonald's
floral designer
freelance literary events consultant
graduate program coordinator

4 Movies I've Watched Over and Over Again:
O Brother Where Art Thou
As Good As It Gets
Pride & Prejudice
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

4 Places I've Been:
Every state in the union except Hawaii, North Dakota, and Nebraska
<-------The Panama Canal Newfoundland Italy
4 Places I've Lived:
Erie, PA
Boston, MA - Rockport, MA
Lexington, KY
Maryland, suburban Washington D.C.

Part A: 4 TV Shows I Watch:
FRONTLINE
The Lehrer Report
Fawlty Towers
NCAA Final Four
Part B: 4 Radio Shows I Listen To:
The Diane Rehm Show
Fresh Air
This American Life
All Things Considered

4 Things I Look Forward To:
Inauguration Day 2009
The next trip/adventure
Moving back east
Knitting with friends ----------------------------------->

4 Favorite Foods:
LOBSTER in any way, shape, or form
CHOCOLATE
RASPBERRIES
Anything grilled over hickory

4 Places I'd Rather Be:
Sailing the Baltic
Living in the Blue Ridge Mountains ------->
Watching loons at dusk on Moosehead Lake, ME
Drinking Manhattans on the porch at Fool's Creek (see picture below)


4 People I email regularly:
My Kids
"The Table 622 Gang"
Ken
knitting buddies




4 People to Tag:
Melyssa
Amy
Dawn
Nanette

SOTSii progress pictures

This is the first KAL that I've kept up with on schedule, and I'm bound and determined to finish it that way. Here is the first week's work in it's entirety.

I like working on shawls ..... no, lace .... this way. I don't feel as though it's eternal, and the light at the end of the tunnel occurs weekly, keeping me motivated and undaunted.

I'm working on short circs, which is a little dangerous: the stitches want to fall off when I spread out the work. Not cool at all. Extra vigilance required. As I took these pictures, 6 stitches came off one end. Thankfully, they were flat, so they didn't ladder down. I would've screamed if they had, believe me.

This is going to be a beautiful shawl, methinks.

The second hint was just posted an hour or so ago, and it reveals some lovely surprises. I'm glad the first clue wasn't too daunting, but just challenging enough. Clue two is a bit more challenging. I can't wait to knit it up! Weekly progress reports to follow. :-)

Irons in the Fire

2008
New year. New projects. Christmas is now behind us for awhile, and knitting is more leisurely now, right?
Nope.

Here's a look at the current (all new within the last three weeks, with the exception of The Damn Socks ) projects on the needles:

THE DAMN SOCKS

Yes, these are the same socks, thank you very much. These socks are a curse. A plague, a pox. I started them in October. This is still my first sock. They are still going nowhere fast. I did finish the gusset.

Then I took a long look at the sock: It looked as though I were knitting for Bigfoot. What in the WORLD happened? The foot circumference was looking HUGE. There were SO many mistakes, too: It had fallen off the needles a couple of times, tension was erratic, and to top it off, a big loop of yarn appeared between two stitches. I took it to the North Austin meetup this past Sunday to get a diagnosis. (As far as I was concerned, it was terminal. Is there a sock hospice anywhere?)

Meanwhile at the meetup, Elizabeth, one of my knitting buddies, had just bought a lovely pair of size 1 wood sock needles and was working on a new pair of toe ups. She is not a violent knitter. She is witty, smart, plucky; rough and careless aren't words I'd use in the same breath to describe her. While knitting a stockinette stitch, one of them snapped. That's just crazy. These fancy-schmancy wood needles are not cheap. She despaired: She was now without needles, and nothing to work on for the next hour and a half. I looked at my Terminal Damn Sock. Without blinking, I whipped the needles out of them and held them before her. "Take 'em" I said. She protested, but I insisted. My decision was final, the action irrevocable. She was able to keep knitting her beautiful socks. I was able to punish mine.

So what did happen to make my sock so ..... malshapen? Alicia determined that my heel flap was the culprit: It was too long, and that's where all the stitches come from for the foot. This bit of information was news to me, but it makes sense. So I frogged the foot back about thirty or so rows. It felt good. All those mistakes disappeared in a pile of yarn. (With socks, I always seem to have a pile of yarn next to the skein. Very telling, isn't it?) Then I stopped. Maybe I could switch to size 0's instead, shrink the foot somewhat, then do a few decreases down toward the toe. So I stopped frogging. We'll see. It's just sitting, needleless, in it's grubby ziploc bag for now. Timeout for The Damn Socks. AGAIN.

THE MRS. DARCY CARDIE for Liz

So far, so good. I'm on row 23. Only four more rows of twisted rib. All the buttonholes are in, and I am about to begin shaping the V. Thanks to a generous and kind knitter in Thailand (THANKS, RIKI!) who participated in the KAL on Craftster.com, I have directions rewritten for knitting it in the round. What a relief that seaming is now limited. I worried about getting it right, since there is a wide band of ribbing right at the waist that would have to match up on the sides. A lot of knitters on Ravelry had problems there. The Malabrigo is so soft, so gorgeous: It is a real pleasure to knit with. Sometimes I just sit and pet it. The color is happy, spritely. My only (and very tiny) problem is the wide color variance in the skeins of Malabrigo. So I am knitting every other row on a different ball of the yarn so that it all comes out purty. Another knitting buddy, Heidi, called it "Macaroni and Cheese Sweater". Everyone at the meetup cracked up at that one.

SECRET OF THE STOLE ii
AKA SOTSii

Lace and I have a love hate relationship. I love it. It hates me. Clue 1 of the SOTSii had just been released. Everything was going along swimmingly. For once. Then, on row 35, I just lost the left needle. I don't even know what happened. Even though it was only seconds, it seemed like hours before I was able to look down and survey the damage.

It was bad. Really bad.
Five or six stitches had fallen off, and in a trice had melted into oblivion about 12 rows down. Blink. It happened just that fast. I had no lifeline. (Serves me right to be so cocky about a repetitive pattern.) How far back did I have to go? Row 7. At least I didn't have to start over. After a couple of days of moping, I was able to get back to row 35. Then I paused for a bit: Got up, made cookies, did some chores, then sat down to squarely confront it again and get past that row. I knit four more rows. Then stopped for the day. I've learned when to stop. So that's where I am right now. Tomorrow I'll finish the last 13 rows of the clue, in the morning. I am sharpest, most productive and attentive in the morning. No lace knitting at night for me.

On Friday, clue 2 will be released. You better believe I'll have a lifeline inserted at the end of clue 1.

SPRING SHAWL SURPRISE

This is for me. It's also a real cluster. So many of the KAL participants have thrown in the needles on this one that it's easier to count those remaining in the pursuit than those who've left. This shawl makes one cranky, ornery, frustrated, and profane. So why continue? Because it's going to be gorgeous and so worth it in the end.

I couldn't do it if I had small kids or anything else that interrupted me constantly. This is a religious experience: It requires long stretches of solitude, undisturbed time, in deep concentration. (So what the heck am I doing knitting it?!?) I am taking my sweet time with this baby. I don't want to get so frustrated that I, too, throw up my hands in despair. So I have a plan: My goal is to knit five rows every time I sit down to work on it. No more, no less. And only in the morning. Five rows will allow me to see some progress, but won't tax my six brain cells to the point of overfatigue. When I get fatigued, I make stupid mistakes. I don't want to frog or tink this pattern. It is unforgiving. It is stingy and ungenerous. It lets you know who's the boss. But Oh My God Is It Beautiful.

CENTRAL PARK HOODIE

Last summer, I bought a whole kaboodle of Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran and DK weight yarn at a local yarn store offering it for 60% off. I bought every single skein in the store. It amounted to almost four hundred dollars at that price. Two totally stuffed 28 gallon bins worth in my infamous stash closet. There were 21 skeins of navy Aran flecked with purple, taupe, and gray. I used 3.5 of them in a cabled bag for a niece. The rest is going to MY Central Park Hoodie. It will be so warm, so cozy, so ..... me. Though the original sports an open front, I want to find some great buttons for it. That's a ways down the pike, but I'm already thinking about it. Right now I have to make a swatch before Thursday, when our Thursday morning knitting group is starting a Sweater KAL. Everyone is making or continuing to make a sweater. Carroll is making a Central Park Hoodie for herself, so we'll keep each other company. We can help each other. At least that's the plan. Some of the participants have made sweaters before, so they will take the hit during any crisis that develops. I will owe them lunch, dinner, and my first-born by the time I'm done, surely.

My husband will be grateful that I am finally using a big chunk of this pricey stash. Now I just need to find projects for the other 40 odd skeins of pink, natural, green, taupe, and goldish-brown. I love this yarn, and the price was just too good to pass on. It will get used. Promise.

And the other 4 giant bins and five shopping bags of yarn?

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

DRUM ROLL: Finally, something for moi

It's been a year and two months since I learned to knit. And I am not a scaredy-cat knitter, either. I keep pushing myself to try more complex projects with ever-wackier stitches all the time. Hardly a day goes by when I don't take a couple (or three) hours to zone out and knit. I have made something for everyone and their dog (literally), but nothing for myself. And that's included four tea cozies, two tank tops, one afghan, a baby blanket, two pairs of baby booties, a baby sweater, ten scarves, three hats, two shawls, six bags, and four DOG SCARVES (to go with the ones I made for their masters) ... and one sweater that I frogged after completing 7/8 of it. That's another story altogether, though.

That's about to change: I signed on for the Spring Shawl Surprise KAL, then got caught up, (what else is new?) knitting for everyone else. While swatching for the Secret of the Stole ii (which is for Claire), I stopped mid-stitch, right in the middle of the swatch, and thought "WAIT A MINUTE! MAKE SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF, STUPID!" Yes, I was screaming inside my own head. It was pretty scary. So I decided to get with the program and start the Spring Surprise Shawl in the gorgeous Malabrigo Lace "Geranio" that I'd just received a week earlier in a cute little box from Personal Threads.

Personal Threads is a brick and mortar yarn shop in Omaha, Nebraska. Through the never-ending stream of information gleaned on one of the Ravelry boards, I found out they were having a sale on darn near everything. And they shipped. Best Surprise of the New Year So Far: They are FAST! I received an online order acknowledgment in less than half an hour and had the cute little box from them in my hot hands in less than five days, standard shipping even. They're as good as Land's End, shipping-wise, and that's saying a lot. Woo hoo! The store must be huge, because they seem to have everything under the sun, in a dizzying array of colors and in decent quantities. I highly recommend checking them out. I don't know if I'll ever get to Omaha, but if I do, I'm making a beeline for this place. End of personal yarn store endorsement.

Back to the Spring Shawl Surprise: This shawl isn't for the faint of heart, but not impossible, either. It's a challenge. One just has to remember to breathe in, breathe out, and use a lot of lifelines. It has pattern on both sides. There are no 'resting rows', no mindless purling or stockinette to fill a lot of space. No, this is punishing stuff, row after row of YO's combined with k2tbl stuff or p3tbl, among other tricky athletic and acrobatic knitting maneuvers. Eeeek! 138 stitches in width and ultimately 570 rows, the first two clues of 88 rows reveal a beautiful, open, lacy extravaganza with an elaborate lace medallion border knit right into the pattern, mitering up the sides (no picking up and knitting at the end), and a large, rococo medallion just beginning to show a curve in clue 2. This one's for me. For making all those tea cozies, scarves, hats, tops, shawls, headbands, bags, baby gifts, and dog scarves. Oh, I'm still working on things for everyone else: Secret of the Stole ii for Claire, and the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan for Liz top the list. I'm just working this into the lineup, and stopped putting myself last on the list. That's my only resolution for 2008.

So there.

Secret of the Stole ii KAL: Swatching away

I'm on Ravelry, which is an incredible resource for knitters about EVERYTHING knitterly. There are groupings covering every kind of topic imaginable. So it's easy to go to the pattern tab and simply type in 'KAL'; up they pop. On one such search in November, this new kid popped up: Secret of the Stole ii. I was instantly intrigued, clicked on the link, and checked it out. Im guilty of signing up for a couple of KAL's, but never got past a swatch ... or even less. The overwhelming amount of email that members generate just daunts the heck out of me, even in Digest form. But THIS TIME I am determined to work along as the clues come out. I will finish! There's a huge a huge incentive in it for me: Claire's HS graduation. She wants a shawl for it, and this is a perfect way to keep me going consistently all the way to weaving in the last loose ends. As such, it will be my first KAL. Hoo boy.

The Secret of the Stole ii is organized and sponsored by DK the Nautical Knitter and her hubby. Every Friday for 12 weeks, beginning on January 18, a new "clue", which is the next section of the pattern, is posted to a file on the SOTSii Yahoogroups site to download and knit during the subsequent week, revealing a little more of the shawl's theme. We have no idea what the shawl is going to look like, which is part of the thrill. The pattern is secret, revealed slowly in these weekly increments of 40-odd rows (I think it's 40-odd rows -- it could be less) where all the magic happens. It rather 'unfolds' before our eyes as we knit. This charms me no end.

There is even a supporting site to help those who need technical help along the way, called Knit With Us, with tutorials and technique support via video clips. Awesome! Even novice knitters can do this.

If you are interested in signing up for this adventure, (and what lace knitter, or hope-to-be lace knitter wouldn't be?) time is of the essence: Enrollment closes on January 17, when they lock all the doors and bar the windows. So if this idea appeals to you, hie thyself to the site and sign up NOW. You will need roughly 1500 yards of laceweight yarn, and make a swatch from the PDF file on the site. There's no time to dilly-dally around! DK will offer the completed pattern for sale to the public after the KAL. We participants have, as they say, the inside track.

Amazingly, there are prizes for participating. One of the prizes is a KILO of cashmere. Can you IMAGINE?!?!? I am knitting my SOTSii (as it is affectionately known) from Malabrigo Lace in the Apple Green colorway. Just think of Granny Smith apples, and you get the idea. Claire saw the yarn and fell in love with it, so my finished Secret of the Stole ii is my personal present to her. :-) She's my baby. ::sigh::

My "Apple Green" Malabrigo Lace

... and a Granny Smith. Yummy, right?

Sophie snoozes nearby while I knit.
Works for both of us!

FIRST DAY SCARF finished on the seventh day

The scarf I designed for Liz to match her alpaca tam is done! Just need to weave in two ends. But it's washed and blocked and ready to go to Philly with her tomorrow morning.

So now I can rest, right?

Well, yes and no. I promised to publish the pattern here when it was complete. I'll do that. Just not on this last night of Liz' stay.

1/11/08: I'm back to post the pattern for the FIRST DAY SCARF, as promised. Enjoy making this for yourself or as a gift, but not to sell in any way, shape, or form. That's a no-no. Thank you for respecting that.

FIRST DAY SCARF

MATERIALS
2 skeins Fable Handknits PURE BABY ALPACA, color 03, lavender. (100% baby alpaca, 22 stitches and 25 rows over 4" on 4.5mm (US 7) needles; 145 yards per skein) -- you will use roughly 1.5 skeins (approximately 220 yards)

4mm (US 8) circular or straight needles
stitch markers (optional)
tapestry needle for weaving in ends

GAUGE
Not critical for this project. My finished scarf was 6.25" X 54.5", washed and blocked.

PATTERN NOTES
Odd numbered rows are WRONG SIDE ROWS.
The first and last three stitches are always knit.

LOOSELY Cast on 34 stitches. (I used a long tail cast-on.)

Row 1: (Wrong Side) K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 2: K3, *YO, K3, ssk, YO, sl1-k2tog-psso, YO, k2tog, K3, YO, K1; repeat once from*. K3 the last 3 stitches.

Row 3: K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 4: K3, *YO, K3, ssk, YO, sl1-k2tog-psso, YO, k2tog, K3, YO, K1; repeat once from*. K3 the last 3 stitches.

Row 5: K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 6: K3, *YO, K3, ssk, YO, sl1-k2tog-psso, YO, k2tog, K3, YO, K1; repeat once from*. K3 the last 3 stitches.

Row 7: K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 8: K3, *YO, K3, ssk, YO, sl1-k2tog-psso, YO, k2tog, K3, YO, K1; repeat once from*. K3 the last 3 stitches.

Row 9: K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 10: Knit the entire row.

Row 11: K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 12: K3, Purl to last 3 stitches, K3.

Repeat rows 1-12 a total of 23 times.

LOOSELY bind off the first three and last three stitches in knit; the middle 28 stitches in purl. Weave in ends. Wash in lukewarm water and mild soap, and block out to finished dimensions of 6.25" X 54.5".

* * * * * * * * * * *

Next up in the batters box: The Secret of the Stole ii swatch, and (eventually) the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan.

2008: First Day

In celebration of the first day of this 2008 New Year, this morning I designed and started knitting a scarf to complement the Qivuik Webs Tam I made for Liz. The scarf that matched the tam was a pain in the tookus, but I was determined to make SOMETHING for her to take back to school for the cold Philadelphia winter. After poring through tons and tons of patterns and finding nothing that had the right 'feel' and 'look' to it, I decided to design one myself. Armed with enough of the matching lavender Fable Handknit baby alpaca yarn, I'm on a fast track to finish it before she has to leave for school on the 9th. I'll publish the pattern when it's done. Already there are things that I'd change. Liz loves it though, so this first First Day Scarf is safe from the frogging machine, and will likely be finished and blocked by the weekend.

On New Year's Day 2007, I searched the web for dog rescue organizations in Austin, and found Ginger! Ginger is the star of my RAVELRY avatar, and has been a wonderful 'sister' to our senior pooch Sophie for the last ten months. It feels as if she's been a part of our family forever. A perfect fit.

New Year's Day is probably productive for me as I can't stand to sit around and mindlessly watch football for hours on end; a girl has to do something to entertain herself and drown out the trite and inane commentary, afterall.

Claire and Ginger this afternoon.

Holiday Ho Ho HO

Christmas was mass confusion as usual: Loads of people, presents, food, drink, and zaniness.

Here's my wish that your holiday season is as happy and full as mine has been. I had the good fortune of having all my kids home for a few days: Liz arrived home from Philly on 12/18, the oldest two descended from DC on the 23rd. Now the older two are back in their regular lives again, and Liz will stay to enjoy her semester break until she leaves us on January 9. Claire's break ends on January 8, so at least she'll be able to enjoy a little time with her sister (and us.)

Happy Hanukkah! (belated ... it sure was early this year.)
Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year, everyone!

TAMS! FINISHED! Before Christmas, even!

Man O man, why do I always bite off more than I should chew? ;-)

The list of Christmas projects is as long as my arm, but the amount of time left for completion is becoming more precious by the day. I just finished my first stranded colorwork project, which is also a Christmas gift: a tam in an ombre yarn (Patons Classic Merino "Retro") and a solid that is the favorite color of the intended recipient (Patons Classic Merino "Burgundy"). Sort of a 'cheat' Fair Isle look. It took less time than I anticipated, only a week, for which I am forever grateful. I'm not Speedy Gonzales on the needles either, so it would be a really fast project for most anyone else. Once I got my tension and strand separation issues worked out, it went very fast. Many thanks to Kathleen Taylor, who created the pattern and posted it on her Dakota Dreams blog. She offers a new free stranded colorwork pattern every Friday. Be sure to check out her site; she is a wonderful knitter and designer. Her Ravelry ID is GrammaK; go look at her projects there, too.

This tam is in the Interweave KNITS HOLIDAY GIFTS 2007 issue, called the Qiviuk Webs Tam, but I substituted a delicious baby alpaca for a HUGE floppy tam. It was so large that I had to haul out the heavy artillery to block it: my trusty 18" round Christmas cookie plate. The yarn, Fable Handknits "Pure Baby Alpaca", is so so so so SO soft, but is tough to work with on the needles. To say nothing of the fact that this entire pattern is PURLED almost exclusively. UGH. It looked so floppy and lifeless, seeming to resist any kind of pattern. I was not happy while knitting it. It was very hard to stick with it, but knowing that it would be well-loved kept spurring me on. Knit on US size 2 needles, it took me three weeks to complete, an eternity for such a smallish project. But after washing and blocking, it miraculously bloomed into a gorgeous, ultra soft, ultra luxurious, lacy, ENORMOUS tam .... exactly what the recipient has been looking for! If I did it again, though, I'd figure out a way to knit it on the wrong side to avoid all the purling. It's those K1TBL, crazy P2TOG combined with YO's that would make that a tough conversion, though. But it sure would be a lot easier.

There are still three more bags and two vests to complete. Do you think Santa could use a couple of crack knitters on her staff? Pictured to the right is the Autumn Woods Bag from the Patons Yarn website, on it's way to becoming yet another gift. I actually started this before the fair isle tam, hoping to figure out the tensioning and stranding issues before working on the tam. Great plan, worked like a charm. The beauty of this bag is that even my beginners efforts won't show in the long run, because the bag will be felted and lined. No one will ever see my haphazard, uneven, beginner's-type stranded tensioning. Once I got the hang of it, I set it aside to work on the quicker tam project. Gotta have a little gratification to keep me going.

Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and it's going to be the quietest one ever for our family: Just three of us. Claire is working that day, too, which predetermines and dictates our celebration time to Noon. I'll be making the whole schlamoo: Fresh turkey breast and dressing, butternut squash, garlic and bacon green beans, an apple/cranberry relish, pear and spinach salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, and homemade dinner rolls. Hubby is making his potato leek soup recipe as a starter. Claire wants a Coconut Cream Pie, so I am caving and making that. I can't bear to have Thanksgiving without a fresh, warm Pumpkin Pie, so I'll be making that too. ( Pie is always perfect for breakfast the next morning, especially pumpkin pie with leftover homemade whipped cream, of course.) Calories be damned!

The other three kids and the rest of my extended family are still on the East Coast. The kids are driving together to PA to spend it at my Mom's. I can't complain about that; she's 86, and the more time they spend with Gramma, the better I feel. Liz is catching a bus from Philly to Maryland, where Sean and Julia will pick her up and continue onward. Now that Sean has a car he loves, he can't stay off the road. :-) My brother's family lives in the same city as Mom, so they'll all be together for a big, happy, noisy, excessive-as-always feast. We're already missing them all.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!

Knitting Between Meetings

Yeay! I finished one Christmas gift. The only hint I can leave, unfortunately, is that it is a pale blue-lavender baby alpaca something. The yarn is to the left. It is soooooo yummy-soft. If you are on Ravelry, you can see it in my Projects list, and the mystery will be solved for you. :-)

I'm smack in the middle of our quarterly business Board meetings, but will find the time to start two more Christmas gift projects: One is a tote that'll be lined and felted. I hate the colors the original pattern specs, so I redid the palette to rosier reds, olives, golds, deep teal, black, and an accent of hazy purple. Going to cast on when some of the guys go out for their cancer break, which they usually manage to drag out to a half an hour.

The second is another nameless project. I have it in my Projects list on Ravelry. Hints: It involves Fair Isle stranding, is a smallish project, and the pattern is available in the Interweave Holiday Gifts 2007 issue. That's all I can say right now.

I started another blog that has nothing to do with knitting but everything to do with expressing gratitude for the small (perhaps even infinitesimal) things in daily life. Even if you are having having a world-class shitty day, at least one good thing happens, even if it's just one teensy-tiny speck of a thing. We can choose to dwell on the crap that inevitably takes over our lives sometimes, or we can thank our lucky stars for small happinesses. That's why CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR BREAKFAST was born. Go visit and tell everyone about the good thing in your day .... or leave feedback.

Crawling Around for Yarn

Busy, busy, busy. Two yarn crawls. Yes, TWO. The first, on October 6, was sponsored by a LYS, carrying 50 yarnaholics just like me on a chartered bus to five different LYS in the Texas Hill Country.

The second Yarn Crawl was one that I organized for our local Austin Knitting and Crocheting Meetup Group. This past May, I organized one where we visited Sandra Singh in Spicewood, Yarnbow in Lakeway, Craft-O-Rama in Austin, and Artisan Yarns in Burnet. We had, in a word, a BLAST. There was such a clamor for another one that I figure we could do this each season, covering different shops.

Personally, I like this smaller scale yarn crawl a lot better: We rent a 12 passenger van. The ideal capacity, we discovered, is NOT 12.

It is 10, reasonably, in comfort. On our May crawl, we had 10. On this second one on October 20, we filled it to the stated capacity of 12, and it was tight. Twelve is just a tad too many, for a variety of reasons: First, the van. People need elbow room; we're knitters, after all. Second, most shops are overwhelmed when of us 12 arrive at once.
Tough to get personal service that some need, as well as make purchases a timely manner, since there's usually one computer per shop for all transactions. And as you already know, each computer transaction takes forever. Multiply that 12 times and you have wasted a precious thirty to forty minutes at each and every shop when you could be ogling and fondling yarns someplace else. All that time adds up fast: On our small scale crawl, we spent a total of more than two hours just waiting to make purchases in the various stores. That's a lot of waiting-around time. Third, it's tough to get timely and good service in a restaurant for a party of 12. We time our lunch to be on the late side, but it's still difficult on a Saturday. On this latest trip, we tried the Dodging Duck in Boerne. They offer wonderful homemade beers, and the menu choices include a delicious German lunch complete with homemade soft pretzels. Lastly, we plan an ambitious itinerary: This time around, we visited Sandra Singh in Spicewood, the Old Oaks Ranch Fiber Studio in Wimberley, Ewe & Eye and Rosewood Yarns in Boerne, and a brand new shop in Austin, The Knitting Nest. See? We could have used those two hours!


The best discovery? There are so many yarns and so many yarn manufacturers and small-scale hand-dyers that there are only a few common overlaps in the products each shop offers. Even with products overlapping, the colorways each offers are different. Everyone wins, and it is a bonanza for knitters, crocheters, and fiber artists.

So, all this yarn means I must have a lot of projects.

Projects?

Christmas is coming, and this Santa is busily working away on various items. I don't think it prudent to be more specific, since some of the giftees may peek in on this blog. Sufficeth to say there are currently 8 Christmas gifts on the needles. To top it off, I joined two Knit-A-Longs: The Mystic Waters Shawl KAL, which started today (eek!) and a Spring Shawl KAL, which begins January 1.

I can thank (or blame) Ravelry for my absence, too. I found the KALs there, and a bunch of patterns that I am adding to my queue soon (well, after Christmas is over). It is an astounding, globally diverse community of knitters making a mind-boggling array of projects. It's fabulous!

Teaser: A FEW Photos from Giverny, France

Giverny. Just saying the word evokes beautiful light, tangled gardens, the perfume of roses and waterlilies. It was amazing. Here are a few I just can't keep to myself. They are meant to be shared, like Monet's work.Not coincidentally, this is Monet's house, surrounded by those amazing gardens. Heaven. No wonder the guy lived to almost one hundred.

You can't imagine how heavenly it was to wander around his place and see the paintings come to life. There were so many "AHA!" moments.




Inside the house, the salon walls are covered with his work. COVERED, top to bottom. All the furnishings in this public room are shades of gold and ecru, so your attention is carried up and down the walls. It is such a happy feeling room.

Each and every room is painted in a different palette of colors, and all the furnishings are yet an entirely different palette, making for a strikingly lively yet harmonious scheme. Monet's love
affair with color really glows and shimmers here. Unfortunately, no photography is permitted inside the house. So you must go for yourself and see. Imagine the palette of the gardens in an interior space. That'll give you some idea of how color is splashed and dabbled around inside.

Home Again!

I missed my Austin Knitting Group friends. It was so good to see some of you again today at the North Austin meetup at Kneaded Pleasures.

A lot of you asked me about pictures. Well, they're coming. Soon. I promise. First things first, though: I really do need to finish all the laundry we generated from this trip and unpack the last bag, which is the wheeled carry-on loaded with the goodies we bought while cavorting around Europe.

Every time we travel, I SWEAR I won't buy any breakables. And every time, I break that promise. This time on the third to last day: I saw a lovely Portmerion 'Sophie Conran' teapot and mortar and pestle in St. John's, Newfoundland, in a WONDERFUL shop called HOME. I just couldn't come home without it. I came soooooooooooo close to keeping my vow, but that last port did me in. Mea Culpa.

Above: St. John's, Newfoundland
downtown area as seen from the ship