Death by chilis

I've been gradually testing these chilis that Mendy's husband gave me. So far I'm doing okay, except for the hiccups. Those bright red ones though really push the limit. The others, so far, are tasty but they do leave a little tingle.



And in the Be Careful What You Ask For category. I went to Needle in a Haystack today. I just needed to pick up a couple of skeins that Mendy had on hold but I thought I'd look around. I tried for nearly an hour to find something to buy. It's not that they didn't have lots to choose from but I guess I just wasn't ready. I did pick up another skein of the Araucania Cotton to add to the four that I got last month, just in case, and a couple of skeins of Grignasco's Sweet Print.



It's a cotton/polyester/acrylic blend. I think I have something in stash that will work for a simple scarf. And while I was there I did help a new knitter figure out her pattern instructions. She's promised to come to Skein tomorrow for a class.

On the way home my car was acting strange. So I guess I'll have to leave it with the mechanic tomorrow. I'm thinking clogged fuel line or something like that. Good thing I didn't spend a lot on yarn today.

rabbit! rabbit!

Kofi

My friend Robert used to have an African Grey named Kofi. He didn't look a thing like this.




This is African Grey lace weight merino from Cherry Tree Hill. You'll notice the prominence of orange.

I wasn't sure how the orange would blend in with the other, very muted colors. I think it looks pretty good. Now I just have to find something to do with it. There are 2400 yards. I'm thinking shawl. Any other suggestions or patterns for shawls that would work with this yarn?

I've been wanting to go visit some of my favorite yarn shops but events have kept me from doing so. We got this yarn in at Skein a few weeks ago and I've been waiting for someone to buy this hank so I wouldn't have to. But no one did. And since I haven't bought any yarn in at least a month it seemed the thing to do. And besides, I used a store credit I had for making a sample. But I still want to go yarn shop hopping.

Enough already?
 

The current batch of socks. Except for the Broadripple, in the foreground, they're just plain ol' socks and only the Broadripple has one sock complete. I try to work a little on each pair everyday. I like them all and enjoy watching the patterns show up.

There are at least two other pairs of socks around here somewhere that I've just barely started. They'll move into the current line up when I finish some of these.

The Wednesday night class went well and there were no requests for crochet help. Well, except for one special knitter who made the trip in to give me a hard time. She brought her charming mom though so it was okay.

Photo finish
I lugged my camera and tripod to Skein today to try one more time for a photo of the Lost Points shawl. 


It looks better on the mannequin than I expected it to. But it's really more of a scarf than a shawl. 



You can see the diagonal line of increases, if you look carefully. But maybe it's easier in this shot.

But that's it. No more.

It was pretty quiet most of the day except for the usual flurry around noontime. And that was pretty intense. I did have a couple of students in the mid-afternoon, a mother/daughter combo. They were a lot of fun to be with. Totally different in their ability to grasp the concept. The daughter really had difficulty understanding the step where you pull the yarn through the stitch, you know, back through the window. I've noticed that lots of people have trouble at this point and I can't figure out why. But anyway, by the time they left they were both comfortable with the knit stitch, casting on and binding off. And we had had some good laughs.

I'm covering for the Wednesday night teacher tomorrow. She usually teaches crochet as well as knitting. I hope there aren't any crochet students. My crochet technique is pretty free form. I never crochet except to set in sleeves or maybe put an edge on something. Don't ask me about shaping. But I may try it again just so I can make a hippy shawl on poncho.

 

 

Another post with no pictures
 
I tried to take a picture of the Lost Points shawl but none of the three were usable. I spent part of the morning trying to block it to see if I could stop or reduce the curling. As soon as I spread the towels on the living room floor Patrick came and stretched out. Then he was very interested in all the pins I was using. But I got it all laid out and then noticed a loose stitch that was starting to run. Out came the pins. I fixed the loose stitch and decided to try steaming the shawl instead. It helped some but wasn't a permanent fix. So I'm taking it to Skein tomorrow and giving it to Ann Mary. I'm done.

I finished the main section of the mañanita poncho and have started the border. It took me a while to get started because I thought the border would be worked counter clockwise. But it isn't. I don't have many repeats done but I'm beginning to remember the pattern. There are only a few stitches per row so I have to turn the work all the time and that's kind of irritating. I think I'm going to see about getting this blocked professionally.

Tonight it's sock knitting, for sure. Too hot to handle anything bigger.

 
 

Public Service Announcement
This is a pretty neat feature of the new Blogger. You can select color from a drop down menu and it just does it for you. For me that's a big deal.

But the public service announcement I really wanted to make is here. Lisa sent me this link a week or so ago. If you're in the San Diego area, or anywhere really, you might be interested in helping out.

It continues to be hot and humid around here but that doesn't seem to deter the knitters. It was slow for a while this morning but then the crowds arrived. I had four students and two kibbitzers most of the afternoon. We're still selling the ponshawl like mad. Poncho mania. I may have to practice my limited crochet skills if this keeps up.

We had our Thursday night knitting group last night. We haven't met for a couple of weeks so it felt great to be back together. Smaller group than usual. Summer does that. Next week we're having a yarn re-distribution. I've already seen some of the available yarns. I hope there's no fighting.

Way done!
 
Did you hear any trumpets last night at 10:31? Well, I didn't either but I certainly wanted to. I bound off the last stitch of the Lost Points shawl. I must say the shawl is even less interesting than I thought it was going to be. Also, it's way smaller than it's supposed to be. I'm going to try to block it out a little. Plus the edge is rolling. A lot! Given the pattern instructions that should not be a surprise. If you work stockinette all the time that's what's going to happen. I have a few ends to weave in and then, that's it. There may be pictures later.

So now I can get back to the mananita shawl. And the moving cable sweater and my beloved socks. I'm also looking around for my barely started heart patterned scarf. I know it's here somewhere. Serves me right for trying to tidy up my projects. I know someone who could really use a little scarf with hearts on it right now.

 

Sweltering!
How many days 'til winter? Pity the poor firemen fighting the Santa Clarita blaze. It's hotter up there than Pasadena, even without the fire. That blaze is not close to where I live but there are hills and mountains above Pasadena that are as subject to wild fires as anywhere. So far, so good. We're just hoping that no one does anything stupid like go target practicing or even worse something malicious.
 
I thought I'd finish the Lost Points scarf today but didn't quite get there. I have another two rows plus the bind off. The last of the yarn is badly tangled so I spend most of the time undoing it. I now know, thanks to a friendly email, that the Melody yarn should be re-wound into a center pull ball before beginning to work with it. Should there be a next time, I'll be prepared.
 
The mañanita shawl has been stalled for a couple of days. Hope has finished hers and it's fantastic. If I can get anywhere near that one I'll be happy.
 
 

Orange you special!
 
When a friend, remembering how much you like sock yarn, and further remembering how much you like orange in your sock yarn, spies some, buys it, treks to the post office in the heat and humidity of summer, stands in line so she can send it priority and it arrives overnight, it seems meet and right to do something with it right away even though you said you would not start anything new until you had finished something else.
 

 
And so I did.
 

 
Thanks, Greta. These are my Brighter Day socks.

Even though I've been knitting there's not much to talk about. The Lost Points shop sample shawl is still giving me fits. The Melody yarn is without a doubt the most difficult yarn I've even knit with. The yarn just slides off the ball into a tangled mass. Patrick was eyeing it last night and I was sorely tempted to let him have at it.
 
I haven't touched the mañanita shawl for two days. I really want to get rid of the Lost Points scarf so I can forget about it. And I'm still trying to get back to the Artful Yarns Celebrity poncho I started last month. Who has time to even think about holiday knitting? The Broadripple socks are still at the one and half sock point. I wonder if I'll be able to remember the pattern. And I have two other pairs started that haven't been out of the bag for at least a month. The red Mexican Wave shawl isn't exactly stalled but I only work on it while I'm running the Ad-aware program. I'd better stop this list right now, before I get depressed.
 
I see that Blogger has changed their format once again. I wonder which font will show up when I hit publish.
 
 

The air is on

and I'm just waiting to feel the effects. I should have left it on this morning but I forgot that it was going to be so hot. I hope Patrick will forgive me.

I haven't heard any more about the fire except that it was put out fairly quickly, relatively speaking. There appeared to be another fire the next day but it turned out to be a house, not a brush fire. The speculation is that it was a meth factory that blew up. I'm waiting to hear on that.

I spent a large portion of yesterday working on the mañanita shawl. I finally stopped because both of my wrists were aching. They seem okay today. I started another row this morning but kept messing up the pattern repeat so I'll try again tonight. It's hard to stay on track when your cat keeps talking to you.

Busy day today at Skein. I went in an hour early because I was expecting my bi-polar student. Haven't seen her in a few weeks. She was there and ready to go. She gave me five balls of Gedifra Barocco to play with.



She said she thought she had some more at home somewhere and that she just couldn't work with it. It has a thin central core with tufts and strips of fabric attached. I've no idea what I'll do with it but I do have the Gedifra book that featured this yarn last year.

As weekends go

this one was exceptional. After a fairly busy day at Skein on Saturday I went home and spent the evening with Lisa. She came over to borrow my digital camera. Then she came back again on Sunday evening to load the pictures. We usually get together about every two weeks so being able to spend two whole evenings with her was extra special.

She needed to borrow the camera to take pictures of the new minister at her church. She also got this picture.



A brushfire had just started in the hills near where her church is. I haven't seen or heard anything in the local news about this fire so I don't know if it's been stopped or contained.

Summer seems to have finally arrived. It's supposedly going to be in the mid 90s for most of this week. I was planning to go out to lunch with a friend today but we had to postpone. So I'll be spending most of today on the mañanita poncho. If I can keep my focus, i.e. not start anything else, I'll be done with it this week. I'm not sure how I'm going to block it. The only space I have that's big enough is the middle of the living room floor. I'm not sure I can keep Patrick off of it long enough for it to dry.

Trash!

There are four sofas lined up on the curb in front of my condo. It looks like a cross between New Year's Day on Colorado Blvd. and a parking lot sale. These sofas, as well as the mattress across the street, have been left by people who no longer want them but don't want to take the responsiblity to dispose of them. Who do they think is going to haul them away? I know at least one of the sofas belonged to one of the tenants living in my building who moved away in the middle of the night. The owners of the unit have listed the condo for sale and are apparently cleaning it out.

I hate this kind of disregard of others. The idea seems to be that if one leaves it on the curb it's no longer one's problem. Anymore than the trash that flies out of car windows or the food containers that are dumped in the parking lot or thrown on the lawn or shopping carts left in the middle of the parking lot instead of returning them to the collection points or the store are problems. Who do they think ends up paying for this? These people are the true trash.

So much for the rant.

We had the good sense today to eat lunch early. And it was a very good thing. I don't think we stopped from noon until around four. I had a few students for most of the afternoon but I was able to work on the shop sample scarf for most of the time. I'm almost back to the point where I was when I had to start all over. The Bamboo yarn is a pleasure to work with but the Melody is terrible. Railroad yarns are bad enough but this one is also limp and saggy. I have to watch every stitch to keep from dropping one of the "rails" or slipping a stitch.

The mañanita shawl is progressing. I only have another 25 rows to go and then the border. But those are some very long rows. I'll probably get three or four more rows done tonight it the cat will leave me alone. He's been gorging himself for the past week. I have to walk him to his dish every time he wants to eat. I know that's dumb on my part but otherwise he just sits and wails pitifully. I can't stand that. So, anyway, I'm up and down most of the evening. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing.

I managed a few more rows on the mañanita shawl last night and this morning. I'm finally up to 500 stitches which I think is the max number. I may have dropped a stitch on the last round. I won't know for sure until I start the next set of repeats. Fortunately the Wildfoote holds on to stitches pretty well so if I did drop a stitch it should be easy to find and pick up. Or maybe I just miscounted.

We had an invasion of pregnant Chinese women today. Just as we were finishing up the early morning rush and were getting ready for lunch a group of ten or twelve women came in. Of the group at least six were pregnant. Ann Mary said they were probably all staying in the US waiting for their children to be born here. They weren't buying yarn to make baby things but instead were buying yarn for scarves and shawls. They were there for at least two hours. I was happy that a new student came in for a lesson which took me out of the mob. And I had a second student before it was all over. Neither of us had lunch until after three o'clock. I didn't even get the shop sample scarf out of the bag.

My friend Renee came in to look over the new yarns. She and her husband and son just moved into their new home this past weekend. We're all very pleased and excited for her. There were so many delays and fiascos along the way that I imagine she's just glad it's all over. I hope she can relax now and begin to enjoy it. We went for an early dinner at Amigos and had sangria and margaritas.

No knitting night this week. Mendy and her husband went off to celebrate her birthday and their wedding anniversary over the weekend so she's home catching up on all her paperwork. Next week should be fun.

Mañanita, maybe

Thanks to Lynn H I now know how to insert a tilde. And I can tell you that I only completed two rows on the mañanita shawl last night. The rows are long but that wasn't the problem. There are just so many other things to get done before I can sit down and knit. Errands that I don't get done in the morning, playing with the cat, answering emails and phone calls. And dinner and dishes. But I did get those two rows done.

I had four new knitters today, not quite all at the same time but they did overlap. A school librarian, an elementary grade school teacher and a mother/daughter combo. Two of them were really quite comfortable with what they were doing in a fairly short time. The other two, well, it will take a while longer. Even though it's summer the shop continues to be quite busy. Most of the traffic is in the afternoon now. More shelves have been added but the yarn just keeps coming in. A few fall/winter things and more books. Some gorgeous hand painted skeins of Cherry Tree Hill lace weight that will make beautiful shawls. There's a couple that I'd like to have but I don't think I'll get them. Or maybe just one.

I know it looks like a messed up ball of kitchen twine



but really it's the current status of my Mananita shawl. I've just started row 27 so I have less than 40 to go, not counting the border.



Here's a close-up of the big holes. These are interesting to make. I sure hope when the shawl is washed and blocked that the stitches will look neater. Using a size 10US needle with yarn that calls for a size 1 makes for some loose knitting.

I know there's a special code for creating a tilda over the first "n" in mananita but I don't remember what it is. Anyone?

Happy 5th of July!

I hope you had a great 4th! This extra day that many people get due to the holiday falling on Sunday is one of my normal days off. Skein is closed on Monday so I never really get those extra holidays that I used to get when I was working in the real world. So it's not much of a holiday since I still have to do all the usual chores that I do on Monday. And I won't be getting any mail.

But I don't have to go anywhere so I'll be able to spend several hours on the Mananita poncho/shawl that I started yesterday. The pattern is in Shawls and Scarves from XRX and is a Meg Swansen design. I'm using Wildfoote sock yarn from Brown Sheep. The pattern calls for a 24" size 10US circular. I thought I had every needle size known to mankind but apparently I don't. So I'm using a 16" which seems to be okay for now even though I currently have 250 stitches. I'll probably switch to a 29" later today if things get too tight.

The pattern is not very difficult but it's a lot more fun than the plain knitting scarves I've been making lately. It's definitely one of those just one more row type of things. It took a while for me to figure out the charting though. And creating 18 stitches on three yarn overs it a little fiddly until you get the hang of it.

So, even though I have several other projects that need attention, this is my holiday knitting.

Happy 5th of July!

I hope you had a great 4th! This extra day that many people get due to the holiday falling on Sunday is one of my normal days off. Skein is closed on Monday so I never really get those extra holidays that I used to get when I was working in the real world. So it's not much of a holiday since I still have to do all the usual chores that I do on Monday. And I won't be getting any mail.

But I don't have to go anywhere so I'll be able to spend several hours on the Mananita poncho/shawl that I started yesterday. The pattern is in Shawls and Scarves from XRX and is a Meg Swansen design. I'm using Wildfoote sock yarn from Brown Sheep. The pattern calls for a 24" size 10US circular. I thought I had every needle size known to mankind but apparently I don't. So I'm using a 16" which seems to be okay for now even though I currently have 250 stitches. I'll probably switch to a 29" later today if things get too tight.

The pattern is not very difficult but it's a lot more fun than the plain knitting scarves I've been making lately. It's definitely one of those just one more row type of things. It took a while for me to figure out the charting though. And creating 18 stitches on three yarn overs it a little fiddly until you get the hang of it.

So, even though I have several other projects that need attention, this is my holiday knitting.

All better

Thanks to a lot of help and suggestions from friends and readers (plus Lisa) I'm now clear of pop-ups. The puny pop up blocker in my SBC/Yahoo is once again blocking. I installed Adaware and it found 367 items to quarantine. I will also install a couple more that will provide some backup to Adaware.

We celebrated Mendy's birthday tonight. What an incredible chocolate cake that was! It was all a lot of fun with perhaps a lot less knitting than usual. I know I didn't make much progress on the red shawl or the current poncho. We'll be skipping next week though. It's a good thing we had a second cake. At least I won't be behind on desserts.

I taught a couple of 10 year olds today. I thought they did well and they seemed pleased with their efforts. So were the grandmother and great aunt that brought them in. I had one other knitter going at the same time so it was a little intense for about an hour. Kids are fun to work with when they're really interested. Generally they don't have any of the "I can't do it" attitude that many adults have. I think it's also their ability to focus on what they're doing without all the other mental distractions that most adults have.

We're already receiving some of the fall yarns. They're not out on the floor yet. But it won't be long. From what I've seen so far I'd say the colors are deeper and richer even than last fall/winter. Still plenty of novelty stuff though. But I've been seeing some interest in more traditional looking yarns and traditional knitting. More classic shaping. I tend to believe that fashion is an emotional reflection of the times. I'll be watching to see just how conservative things become.

Pop ups all over the place

I don't know what happened but two or three days ago I started getting masses of pop-ups. And I'm suddenly not able to link to my comments, at least when I'm using my regular SBC/Yahoo browser. I seem to be okay on Mozilla. And then I get disconnected from the internet for no apparent reason. I'm not sure what to do. I'll be calling TechSupport at SBC as soon as I finish this. Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a while it's probably because of this problem.

I've been busy with students at Skein for the past couple of days. Some brand new knitters and some just looking for some help. Either way works for me.

Final fling

No, I'm not on hiatus or ill or anything like that. It's just been busy around here. Most of my projects look pretty much the same as they did the last time you saw them. Some progress but nothing worth using up battery for. There is this new poncho though.



This is Artful Yarns' Celebrity that I got when we went to the customer appreciation sale at Needle in a Haystack. I'm using a free pattern from Crystal Palace. It's a simple pattern of alternating reverse and plain stockinette.

Yesterday was a fun day of yarn shop hopping. Here are few of the things I got.



Two skeins of Steadfast Yarn, hand dyed using Brown Sheep Worsted.





Nine skeins of Rio, because it was on sale, and five skeins of Wildfoote for the Mananita shawl. The rest are still in the bag.



Seven skeins of On Line Summer-Mistral. Probably for a poncho or a shawl.



One hank of Schaeffer "Anne" for some socks or a small scarf.

I also got five skeins of Araucania Nature Wool in a dark, dark green varigated. The picture was worthless. You can still smell the vinegar in this one. They were still unpacking it when I spied it. I don't know what it's for just yet.

So I'm done with buying yarn for the month. But there's a month long sale at Bishop's in Chatsworth coming up.



Patrick is a big cat. He's almost two now. I was going to throw this box out but he claimed it as his daytime sleeping post.

Oh, wow, another scarf.



What you see here is three hours of teeth-grinding torture. It's a new scarf kit from Southwest Trading Company. The scarf is called The Lost Point Scarf, but I don't know why, except it will have three long points on each end of the scarf.

I've worked with other railroad type yarns but this one is the most tedious I've run across. It's nylon and rayon and is limper than the other railroads I've used. Right now there are 156 stitches, and that's just the center stripe.

The second yarn, still in the box, is 100% bamboo and is called, appropriately enough, Bamboo. I haven't tried it yet but a friend did. I thought it was a little stiff on the smaller size needles but on the US8, which the pattern uses, I thought it was all right, not soft but not stiff.

I must remember to tell Ann Mary that this pattern and yarn are definitely not for the new knitter, unless he/she is very determined and strong willed.

Where did it go?

I had this post almost ready to go and went off to check a link. When I came back the post was gone. I hate it when that happens. I've never quite figured out just how Blogger does things so it's always a guess, in this case a bad one, as to how I'm supposed to proceed. But anyway...

Skein reopened yesterday after being closed for a week and a half for vacation and TNNA show. It was a good day, made even better by one of those "small world" experiences. I was talking with one of the customers about some Cherry Tree Hill Suri Alpaca. She mentioned that she had a shop in the Oakland area but it didn't carry this yarn. I wasn't sure if she meant she owned a shop or if there was a shop she frequented. So we keep talking and pretty soon I figure out that she did indeed own a shop. And the shop is Article Pract.
You may remember her from Rachael's post from a few weeks ago.

And even more small world, she used to shop at Poobah's, the music store that used to be in the space where Skein now lives. We had a wonderful time discovering this and that she "knew" me via the blogs.

Speaking of Rachael, have you made your contribution yet? She's getting close to her goal so , please, go do it if you haven't already.

I'm getting closer to the finish line of the moving cable sweater. Two more decreases to go one the front and then on to the neck shaping. I'm having some pain in my right arm that I think is related to working with the Cotton Classic. It's a great yarn but it's a little stiff compared to wool and I think I'm a little tense with it. I may have to leave it alone for a day or two and work on some socks.

Good day/bad day

I always figure it's going to be a good day when I can read all the sixty plus blogs I read everyday without my computer shutting down even one time. That's the way it was this morning.

But SBC/Yahoo is having some problems with the email and I can't get in. I did read the messages this morning but now need to respond to a couple of them and can't access anything. They have sincerely apologized for the inconvenience, of course, but still. So I'll have to try again later today when I get home from Skein.

My faithful alarm clock, Pat the Cat, has been slacking off for a few days. I've come to rely on him to get me up somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30. Now he's just sleeping until I wake him up. So I've been a little behind schedule for the past few days. It's a good thing I don't typically have to be anywhere very early.

I managed two complete repeats on the moving cable sweater yesterday. Three more rows and I'll be at the armhole decreases.

And to finish off my vacation, one more yarn store trip. Last night we went to Needle in a Haystack for their customer appreciation sale, 30% off on all full price yarns. I got some Artful Yarns "Celebrity" to make a poncho. So far I have at least four ponchos planned but none of them started. I'm really trying to stick to the moving cable sweater until it's totally done before I start anything else or go back to any of my other projects.

Last day of vacation

I was planning to go on a yarn shop trip today but things didn't quite come together so I'm spending this last day of vacation working on the moving cable sweater. There's still not much sunshine but it's very pleasant just sitting in my favorite wing chair and calmly adding stitches and cables. So far I've added one full repeat of the pattern, 16 rows. I might get the knitting part finished by the end of the week.

I managed to get almost all of my stash put back in the storage/tv room. There are still some projects that I need to finish sitting around but at least there's room to play with the cat now although he seems to prefer playing on the bed.

Gloomy day

Literally. It's almost eleven o'clock and there's still no sign of the sun. It's very pleasantly cool though. I'm sure come Labor Day and the temperature is 110F I won't remember how nice it was back in June. But it does make taking pictures and telling what time it is a bit difficult.

We, Mendy, Judy and I, went back to Unwind yesterday and had a blast. It turns out they knew exactly where the shop is because it's right across from Sheridan Gardens, a plant nursery, where they used to go buy Christopher Radko ornaments. I bought Hot Knits by Melissa Leapman. I've always liked her designs and this book is full of great things. I have already picked out one top to make and for which I have the yarn in stash. That's pretty amazing right there. And I got some yarn too. Unwind carries Lana Grosso which I haven't seen much of around these parts. So I had to have some of that. And I got some Plymouth Prato, enough to make a poncho. I forget the particulars but they have a card program where after you spend a certain amount of money you get some special discount or something. I'm already halfway there, or more, in just two trips.

After that. we went to Needle in a Haystack in Montrose. I hadn't been there in a couple of years. (There's another shop named Needle in a Haystack but it's up in Alameda, near San Francisco.) They still only have a small knitting yarn section but it's a lot better than it used to be. A young woman I used to work with at another shop now works part time at this shop. I imagine she had something to do with their upgrading their yarn selection. I got four skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton. I'm anxious to get started using this. It think it uses from 5mm to 6mm. I'll start with the 6mm and see how it looks. I only have 660 yards (600mts) so it'll probably be a poncho.

We had a terrific lunch at an Italian restaurant that is across the parking lot from the shop. Sat on the balcony and enjoyed the sun (which we had yesterday) and dodged the bees and cicadas.

I wrote about some old yarn a couple of days ago. I was considering making a poncho and I tried it out. I've since thrown it all away. Not only did I realize I didn't have enough for a poncho but it just had this really odd smell. I'm not good at throwing away stuff, especially yarn. At the current acquistion rate, however, I'm going to have to do a lot more of this if I'm going to have room to move around. I went to the market this morning and got some more of the two gallon size freezer bags to help organize my yarns so I'm planning to spend several hours today working on that.

A word about cats and candles

If you burn candles watch out for what your cat is doing! Patrick lost a little fur on the tip of his tail this morning. I don't think he even felt it. I guess I'd better use my hurricane lamps instead.

Started another poncho yesterday and worked on the red shawl at Mendy's last night. We're going back to Unwind. I think I love this store. I wonder if they got anything new since last Saturday. I gave away some odds and ends of Lamb's Pride worsted yesterday so I think I have room for something new.

Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. I took Patrick to the vet/groomer in the morning. While he was getting all done up I went and had breakfast with Mendy. Then home to clean the floor while Patrick was out of the house. And I moved some of the stash that has been sitting around in the living room back into the stash room. Then back to the vet's to pick up Patrick. He was very suspicious about the new arrangement of the yarn boxes. And the clean floor totally mystified him. It took several hours for him to relax. But when he did he gave himself a bath. Guess he didn't think the groomer did it properly.

Here's a photo of the poncho I knit yesterday. Well, I started it on Tuesday night but most of it was done on Wednesday.



You can't really tell much about it. The yarn pretty much hides the detail. Basically it's a big roll brimmed hat but with more stitches.



This isn't much better but you can see the yarn and the stitches. I used some yarn I bought a couple of years ago at Needle in a Haystack in Montrose. Linen and synthetic blend. It's probably a little too wintery for right now but it will look good on Lisa with her dark hair.

I found some yarn this morning that I don't remember buying. It was probably at a thrift store since the skeins have a handwritten price of 25cents. The label doesn't give fiber content or yardage. Just says aiguille/breinaalden No. 3 and laine d'aoust. The name appears to be Imosa and the logo has the initial G.D.G. Anyway, I'm wondering if there's a way to tell if yarn has been eaten by moths as opposed to just being old and weak. I rewound the yarn so I could get rid of all the short pieces that kept showing up when I tried to work with it. If a yarn has been invaded by moths does washing the yarn do any good? Will that take care of the problem? I'd like to use the yarn for another poncho but I don't want to if there's a danger of moths. Anyone have any information about this kind of thing? The yarn is very nubby and I think if I use it double that it will look kind of like Persian lamb.

Another day, another yarn shop hop

I didn't manage to get the pictures taken but I will. I have a few more purchases to add anyway. I went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company this morning. It's about an hour drive from here but it is so worth it. They always have great samples and lots of new yarn. I didn't buy much, just some token sock yarn.

On the way back we stopped at Stitches in Time at their new location. More sock yarn and a pattern book of ponchos. The new space is bigger but just as funky as the old one. And they're carrying some more fashion-forward yarns than they used to. I forgot to get a business card or ask if they have a web site.

I'm well underway with the second Broadripple sock. And I did a couple of rows on the red shawl. I'm about half way on that I figure since I still have five of the original ten skeins. I'm trying to decide what to use for a fringe since I don't think a self fringe would do much for the piece.

Happy Father's Day, to me anyway!

I know. It's next Sunday but Lisa came over last night for the festivities since she'll be away at a conference next week. (Is it just me or do Methodists really have more conferences and meetings than anyone else?) We had a wonderful evening.

It's really nice to have a kid that knows stuff. Not only did she bring me some rolling plant stands for my lemon tree and rose bush but she pruned both of the plants for me. I usually just lop off any old branch that I think looks like it's going the wrong way. She, however, studies the plant and makes informed decisions and the lops off appropriately.

She also brought me four grey tee shirts, which I had mentioned I'd like to have. All in the new and improved larger size that I now require. Ahem! And a Sunset book about container gardening. And we went to dinner at El Portal, a more upscale place than Amigos where we usually go. The margaritas are tasty but not as powerful as the ones at Amigos.

I spent most of yesterday, and will do the same today, working on organizing my yarn stash. Patrick is getting very nervous as cats do when you move stuff around. Half of the boxes are now in my living room waiting for me to go through them. I haven't found much yet that I'm willing to part with. Mostly I'm packaging the yarns individually instead of just letting them all mix together. I've ripped several abandoned projects and have put the yarn into hanks so I can wash them and get rid of the wrinkles. (I wish that worked on me.)

Let's see. What else?

Oh, I went to a new yarn shop on Saturday with my friends Carol and Renee. What a treat! It's in Burbank, near the airport, in an area that looks like it's being revitalized. The yarns are arranged by color and everything is priced, two things I really like.

I don't remember all the brands but there was lots of Tahki/Stacey Charles, including my current favorite Cotton Classic. And plenty of novelties from Plymouth. But, new to me, Southwest Trading Company yarns. I got some chenille looking stuff that is made from soy. I didn't get any but they also have a yarn made from bamboo. Renee bought some so I'll be waiting to hear how she likes it.

The shop is well laid out. I wouldn't call it minimalist but it leans that way. There's a "club chair" area right in front before you get to the yarns. Lots of waiting and relaxing room. Then there's the yarn area. At the back is a large table where they teach. I'm really looking forward to going back, maybe later this week if I can talk Mendy into it.

Unwind
818 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505

818-840-0800

Unwind


If you're in the area, give them a visit. If you're not in the area, the airport is close so you could just do a fly-in.

If there's any sun later today I'll try to get some photos of my weekend shopping.

On vacation!Hooray!!

I did manage a little bit on the Broadripple sock yesterday while I was at Skein and some more in the evening at Mendy's for our regular Thursday night group.



I like it.

Skein is closed for a week or so. I'll be heading out to visit some new shops and revisit some old ones. I hear talk of Temple City Knits reopening sometime late this summer. New owner, same location. And then there's a rumor that Monrovia will be seeing a shop sometime soon.

Anyway, today I'm going to Bishop's and Happy Hooker 2, both shops that I've been to before but that was about a year ago. And I'm going back to the same two shops tomorrow. Two different friends want to go but we couldn't make the schedule work. So it's two trips for me. I'll browze today and if I see something I like I'll have a chance to think it over before committing. Of course I might buy something today and then get something else tomorrow that I saw today but didn't buy.

Broadripple

Have you knit these socks? I've been meaning to ever since they appeared in Knitty last summer. I finally got around to it this morning. I worked on my cable sweater last night for about three hours and didn't feel like picking it up again this morning. So, I already had the yarn, Cascade Fixation. I've used it before when I made Lynn H's Fast Florida Footies. The stretchiness of the yarn is a little unsettling at first. But once you get used to that it is fun to use.

I thought I'd be able to get a lot done on it today at Skein but I had a couple of students that needed a lot more attention than most. I had completed the Garter Ripple pattern at the top and had done a few repeats of the main pattern before I went in. I did manage a few more rows but not enough to photograph. Maybe tomorrow.

I've been trying to get some pictures of Patrick but haven't had much luck. His eyes are very blue but I always get gold. I'm trying to figure out how to set the red eye mode on my camera. It's supposed to be there but I'm having trouble finding it.

Well, it's something.

I haven't had much time, or inspiration, to knit the past few days. But I did finish this pair of socks.



Regia Cotton that I got at Velona's. I had a differnt sock a few weeks ago but the pattern I was using was just going to be way too big plus the stripes looked a little over the top in the lace pattern. I have another skein of this yarn in another color way. Once I've used it I don't think I'll knit with it again. It's easy to split and doesn't have much give. I do like the colors though. They're really a lot clearer than they look here. No sunshine available.

This is the first time I've deliberately made a fraternal pair. I wasn't sure I would have enough yarn so I didn't want to waste a lot looking for the matching point. The color transitions are soft enough that the difference between the socks isn't all that apparent. And I had plenty of yarn after all.

I'm trying to get back to the cable sweater. I did manage to wind three more balls today while I was at Skein but I didn't have any time to actually work on it. Tonight is looking pretty good though.

Just so you know.

Skein will be closed for a few days starting Friday, June 11, and will reopen on Tuesday, June 22. Ann Mary is going to Columbus, Ohio, for the annual trade show and will take a few days off to try to recuperate from some of the stress and overwork of having moved the shop. The move has been very successful, at least from what I can tell. Seems to be a lot more traffic and I know I have had more students.

So I'll have a few days of vacation. And what am I going to do? Well, what does any knitter do when given the chance? I'm going on several yarn shop hops with Mendy and some of my students. There's a new shop called Unwind that I think is in Burbank that I want to check out. And we'll be going back to some places I haven't been in a while. I don't have anything in mind to buy but I'm sure there'll be something. And on the days I'm not shopping I'll be knitting on some of the still incomplete projects and maybe explore some more unopened stash boxes.

I've been so busy the past few days at Skein that when I get home I haven't put much effort into my own knitting. I almost finished a pair of socks last night but I managed to put my decrease at the wrong end of the needle and had to rip a couple of rows. That wouldn't have been so bad but I lost my place and undid some decreases that I shouldn't have so had to go back a few more rows. And then I just put it aside and played with the cat.

Except for the warmth it could be February here. It's especially dark and overcast this morning. We do have June Gloom but this seems drearier that usual. And Humid!

Carmen Tamed



When Don Jose first meets Carmen he pretends to be indifferent but succumbs to her charms, with dire consequences, before you can say "ouiseau rebel". (I hope I spelled that correctly. It's been a long time.) I reacted much the same way to this yarn when I first saw it but I was, well, seduced by its obvious sensual qualities. I should have been suspicious when I saw the small swatches that the yarn shop had made. This is one wild yarn! Definitely has a mind of its own, including a tendency to be quite loose.

I tried working with it several times. I only had one skein so a scarf was the obvious choice. Just like Don Jose gives up on Carmen, I gave up and let the yarn go its own way. But it sat around tempting me back time after time.



I didn't take a knife to it though. I cooled it off with some Berroco Glace. I held the two together and knit another simple "drop stitch" scarf. I'd never recommend this yarn to anyone. It sheds, it is overspun. I had to cut it a couple of times just to release some of the twist. (Well, that's sort of like taking a knife to it.) A lot of its original appeal is lost because the Glace really dominates. Looks like something Escamillo might have worn to work.

Rabbit! Rabbit!

Well, I did get the sock done and am a little ways past the ribbing on the second one. I also got the cast on and a couple of rows done on the moving cable sweater. I could have done more but Morpheus came by a few times during the day. I generally enjoy it when he shows up. Sometimes, though, when I'm really counting on him he stays away for hours. Especially when I have Diet Coke.

Anyway, I had a very relaxing Memorial Day. It started with a bang. I thought it was a gunshot but I guess it was just an early firecracker. (Patrick doesn't do well with loud, sudden noises. I'm kind of dreading the Fourth of July.) And there was a formation of planes that must have been part of an airshow that I was able to watch from my living room window. And later in the day a firetruck went up my street but I don't know why. Just more or less an ordinary day.

For some reason I've been wanting to have sauerkraut and hot dogs. When I was a kid my mother used to fix this for us once in a while. It's probably been over forty years since I had this. So I decided to make it for dinner. I don't know, must be something about the way I opened the can or cut the hot dogs, but it just wasn't what I remembered. But I did find out that sauerkraut will really deglaze a pan. I've been trying for months to get the scorch marks out of that pan. If I'd only known about the cleansing qualities of sauerkraut I'd have saved myself a lot of time.

Saturday was a record day for me. I had thirteen students, most of them in the afternoon. Six of them were brand new knitters. Fortunately most of the others were just there for a little help with their current projects. I like it when it's busy but this was a little more than I'm used to. I'm glad I had yesterday to recover. Today looks like another easy day too.

All last week it was very cool, never above 75. But that all came to a screeching halt yesterday. I think it's already over 90 and it's only a little after seven. I don't think I'm going to be doing anything very strenuous today. I spent most of yesterday on a sock. I think I'll be able to finish that today and get started on the second one. I need to start the front of the cabled sweater which I may do if the heat doesn't get to me.

It was the kind of night that makes you wonder why you ever tried to knit in the first place. And secondly, should you just give it up and stick to bowling.

I took three projects with me to the Thursday night group. The first one, a multi-directional scarf, I have managed to lose a stitch somewhere. We're talking mindless knitting here, right? Well, I haven't found the stitch yet. I put it aside an worked on the current, very mindless knitting, sock. I'm also missing a stitch there, and even though I know approximately where it should be, I cannot see it. Un-knitting row after row of tiny stitches really wears me out. I didn't even try to work on the third project, casting on for the front of the moving cable sweater.

As if all that wasn't bad enough today I find that Teresa has decided to leave Blogland. I'm so sad.

The Floosie Scarf

We finally got the Mango Moon recycled silk that was ordered last January. It's kind of neat stuff but really needs something carried along with it. Most of their patterns call for something to be worked with the yarn. Of course we could have used something sedate and subtle but I thought we should tart it up a bit.



You'd need to see this live, in the flesh, to appreciate how wonderfully gaudy and delightfully tawdry it really is. One skein of Mango Moon recycled silk with one skein of Trendsetter Aura. I really expect we'll sell a lot of these this weekend.

Four hours from winding to weaving. 17 stitches on size 17 US needles. Garter stitch with occasional extended stitches (aka drop stitch). The scarf is about five feet long. I expect the weight of the yarn will cause it to stretch some.

I put the yarn in heavy plastic bags to keep them from tangling. I still had to keep an eye on it though. Not because Patrick bothers my knitting but he does love to lick and chew on plastic bags.

Some more finished socks

I finished the Gull Wing socks last night. The pattern is from Socks, Socks, Socks, designed by Vivienne Shen. I made the leg an inch and a half longer because Lisa likes her socks long.



I used some Socka that I got at Velona's a few weeks ago. Now I've started another pair in one of those self patterning yarns. I have to be careful not to buy any more self patterning yarn. To me, they usually look better in the skein than they do knitted up.

The fourth and final box

While I do have lots more boxes filled with yarn, this is the last of the original four that I packed up and put in a corner some ten years ago. Most of what I've shown I remember. Some of the stuff in the last box totally escapes me.



The yellow yarn is a wool and cotton blend that I bought in Taos on that first trip. I used most of it for a sweater for myself. After a couple of wearings I decided yellow, while a very nice color, does not look good on me so the sweater went away. The flat disks are skeins of Kid 'n' Ewe from Bryson. I'm not sure when I bought them or for what. We used to carry the entire color palette at Mariposa and I did once make a fairisle sweater using it. But I have no idea what this yarn was/is for.



Some more Kid'n'Ewe plus something called Spicy from a company I don't recognize, Milan Tricot. I have some more skeins of the Spicy but they must be in another box somewhere. I remember buying ten skeins and I've never used any of it. It's sort of a tufted chenille. It definitely needs a carry along even though it's kinda fat all by itself. I think I must have been planning to use the Kid'n'Ewe as a contrast. Who knows? Not something I would do nowadays.



Three different colors of Grignasco Old England. I don't remember buying this yarn. It's really nice though. At least a worsted, maybe a chunky weight. All together there's enough for a sweater but I can't imagine I would have ever put these colors together. Not even back in the '90s. I do like the tweed look though. This may be a yarn whose time has not come.



Some more yarn I don't remember. Grignasco Aran mostly. I must have been planning a sweater since there are fourteen skeins. There are two skeins of Rowanspun Tweed that I also don't remember. And some odds and ends. The Aran is 80/20 wool/mohair and has 130 meters per skein. It's a color I like to wear. Looks like this one will get outside the box, so to speak, and move close to the beginning of the line.

So, that's it. Now all I have to do is separate the yarns into things for the stash redistribution program, things for Goodwill, and stuff I need to hold on to for a few more years. Oh, and put the boxes back in the corner now that I've vacuumed it.

Box Three

More photos of yarns of the past.



This is 1475 yards of Fingerlakes Soft Wool. Probably be nice as a multi-directional scarf or something similar.



Some worsted weight wool from Reynolds. I have this yarn in several colors but only this coral pink in this box. This is definitely jacket weight for around here. Not sure if it's a color Lisa would like so I'll have to check with her this weekend.



Ten or twelve years ago we had a pattern at Mariposa that was called "The Slouchy Jacket". It was very popular as it was easy to do and was easily adjusted for different weight yarns. I made several of them. This is one that I never finished. I remember working on it while driving to Scottsdale to visit my sister. Well, Lisa drove. The yarn is a mixture of Rowan Chunky Chenille, Magpie Tweed, Rowan Designer DK and a hand spun yarn called Rambouillet. I don't remember why I didn't finish it except I think it's too heavy to be comfortable to wear. Or maybe I ran out of yarn.



I bought this heavy wool in Taos on the first trip I made there, maybe 1986 or 87. The company was called Rio Grande or something like that. I think it now belongs to La Lana Wools. I remember thinking it was really cheap but I didn't think about how heavy it was. I started a sweater with the yarn right after I moved to Pasadena in 1990. You can see I didn't get very far. I think the wool was intended for rug weaving. I have some more of it in another color, teal, worked up in a sweater that I never put together. I'm sure that's in a box around here somewhere.

I'll have the final box tomorrow. I've already peeked and it's pretty good. Now I'm going to go cast on the front of the moving cable sweater. I finished the back last night, all 161 rows. I lost a couple of day's work because I didn't cross one of the cables. I tried fixing it with a crochet hook but that just made it worse. I have to admit that it was very tempting to just leave it but that only lasted about 30 seconds. I do have an image to maintain, after all.

Box Two



Wow! that's a lot darker than it looked before. Anyway, it's a very ugly yarn that I don't know why I have. It my defense let me just say it was probably very cheap. It's Bucilla's Sparkle. Mostly fake mohair with some glittery stuff. I got it at Super Yarn Mart, the late, much lamented chain. This yarn is so old! I don't think I had yet realized that all yarns are not created equal when I bought this. Although you can't see it there's a large block of knitting that was going to be a Rebecca Moses design. This yarn is at least fifteen years old, probably more. I feel good about dumping this yarn.



Hmm! Another darker than expected photo. But it doesn't really matter since the yarn is black, except for the one skein of burgundy. I remember seeing this yarn at TNNA a few years ago. It's 100% Virgin Wool from Quinnehticut Woolen Co. Sandra and I were very excited about it but we were about the only ones. I think most of it was sold for cost or given away. And I don't think the mill is in business anymore. I have five skeins of the black and one of the red. I'm sure I have the pattern I was going to make. So far I don't see any moth damage.



Living proof that glitzy yarns are not new. In the upper left corner there's some pale lime green stuff called Must. It's a kind of large scale chenille. This I might be able to use. Then there's a couple of stacks of something called Kilmory Jewels, from Hayfield. I don't think they're in business anymore. I have a lot of this. Might be okay as a carry along. And off to the left there's some of the world's oldest chenille, Hayfield's Crushed Velvet. Another yarn we had to sell off cheap. It knitted okay but it really grew!

I feel like I did when I went back to visit my hometown after being away for several years. It looked more or less the way I remembered it, but it was less interesting and somehow smaller than I thought it was.

So, what's in the box?



Here's one of the first boxes I filled with stash. It's probably been eight to ten years since I closed it and put it in a corner of my yarn room. So I had no idea what was in it.



First view of what's inside.



Fourteen skeins of Jacques Fonty worsted tweed. I have no idea of who Jacques Fonty is or was. I think this was for a sweater for me. And there are ten skeins of Tahki Tweedy Lamb. I found another bag of ten after I took this picture. I don't remember buying this yarn but there's plenty for a sweater for Lisa.



Seven skeins of worsted weight alpaca. I don't know what I'll do with this. Eighteen skeins of a chunky tweed. I remember buying this at Village Needleworks, a long out of business shop in Glendale. And three skeins of red merino, left over from a sweater I wore two times and put away for good. It pilled like crazy.



A hank of Lorna's Laces worsted weight, wound into a ball and a cake. Some Kid'n'Ewe left overs from a fairisle project. Three balls of microfiber from Unger. Are they still in business? Three balls of Crystal Palace Cotton Flamme. And five balls of Grinasco Flamingo that I got on sale.

One of our Thursday night group is putting together a yarn redistribution basket. I'm trying to decide what and if I can part with anything. Maybe the alpaca. And perhaps the Flamingo. I still have three more boxes that I packed at the same time to open. Maybe there'll be something in there.

What's your social?

There's something about this that really bugs me. It's not that I don't know what it means; it's more like "What's wrong with saying Social Security Number?" There's just a hint of something slightly off color about the way it sounds to me. Or perhaps it suggests "social class" or "social disease".

I had to go to my bank a few days ago to close my checking account and open a new one. (Don't ask. The answer isn't pretty.) The guy that was helping me just asked me, "What's your social?" I knew what he wanted but for a moment I was thrown. And yesterday I had to go to the local Social Security Admininstration office to give them my new account number. At least the lump receptionist asked for my social security number so I felt somewhat mollified and vindicated. Maybe I'm just stuck in the past when conversations were more than a string of acronyms and "you knows".

So, how's that for an opening? On the upside, though, I do have my new checks and new debit card so I'm back in business.

I didn't get as much knitting done yesterday as I had hoped. But I'm almost done with the gusset stitch decreases on the second sock. Nothing on the cabled sweater or any of the scarves. And I'm going to a concert tonight so the only knitting will be what I can manage at Skein. That will depend on how social things are.

I don't speak Cat, or read or write it for that matter. I wish I did. I'd post a sign that said "Do Not Disturb. Blog reading in progress." Patrick is constantly coming up to me and meowing about something. Usually he just wants me to play Snake or point him to his dish. I think he must have had a very disturbed early kittenhood. He almost never eats if I don't show him his dish, even though he's standing right beside it. And I'm pretty sure he thinks my days off are for his benefit. "Oh, goody! We can play Snake all day long." Sometimes, when I'm knitting, he comes and tries to tell me something. I wish I knew what it was. If I don't get up and see what he wants he will just sigh and flop down on the floor beside me. Or if he's really ticked off he will claw my chair because he knows how much that irritates me. But most of the time he's a sweetheart.

I finished one of the lace socks I showed last week. I even grafted the toe. What a royal pain that is. Maybe it'll get easier with practice. I've cast on and worked the ribbing for the second sock and will try to get a lot of that done today. We've been so busy at Skein that I haven't made much progress on the cabled sweater so I might spend an hour or so on that today. I ripped one of the socks I've been working on, just too big, so now I can start something else. It'll probably be another sock although I'd like to do something with the La Luz yarn that Mendy brought me from Alberquerque. Or a top from some of the stuff I got at Velona's the last time I went there. And I have several languishing scarves that need to be finished or ripped. So I just don't have time for Snake today.

It's kind of boring but there it is. When you take on a big, slow moving project like a cabled sweater it's just hard to find anything to say about what you've been up to. It's like "See Wednesday's post". Almost always the same. Even though I worked for five hours yesterday on the Moving Cable Sweater it still looks the same. A couple more weeks of this and I should have something to show for it, just not right now.

I did take a break from the sweater and work on a sock last night.



I'm going to start the heel flap next but first I have to vacuum up some cat fur and do a little dusting.

And just so you know, Sarah, I'm still finding my orange wherever I can.

The Moving Cable Sweater



Here's the first third of the back of the current Tahki Cotton Classic sweater. Not much different happens from here on end. Just several more 16 row repeats and a little armhole shaping.

We've been trying to get more of the catalog and were finally told today that it's sold out. Lots of folks are going to be disappointed as there are several things in this catalog that lots of people want to make. I got my Ram Wools Catalog yesterday and I notice they have the book so I'm referring people there if they want their own copy.



Here's a detail. I'm pleased with how it looks and feels.

Not much new around here. I read in a couple of blogs this morning that Blogger had a new format so I thought I'd check it out and see how it works. I guess I'll have to play around with it for a while. So far it seems easy enough.

The cold is still hanging on. But I'm so much better! It's mostly a cough now, and fatigue. I'm taking it easy today. I should be doing laundry but I don't think I can. I'll see how I'm feeling later today.

I've finished the second sleeve of the Moving Cable sweater, the one I'm making in Cotton Classic. I've started the back and have completed a couple of repeats. This is going to be one slow sweater. There's some kind of cable work on almost every right side row. And there are fifteen cables. That's a lot of twisting. Now I remember why I don't do Arans very often. But I think this sweater is worth it. Lisa will love it.

I think I'll take a break and work on a sock for a while.

Day five

After five days of feeling pretty lousy I'm still feeling pretty lousy. Except now I'm coughing, pretty violently sometimes. I did go to my Thursday night group last night though. I didn't really get a lot done, just a few rows on the current multi-directional scarf. And I helped rip about eight rounds on one person's project. And taught a couple of people how to use a swift and ball winder.

I'll like to stay home today but Ann Mary has a doctor's appointment so I'm going in to help her husband open the shop. I don't know if I'll be able to leave early. Seems like something almost always happens.

This week is pledge drive on our local classical music station, kusc.org. You can listen on-line, as make a contribution if you'd like.

Sock yarn!

I was going to take pictures of my sock yarn but when I realized how many boxes of it I have I decided that would be too much work. I have six of those plastic boxes packed with sock yarn plus some that I haven't found storage for as yet. And I've only been knitting socks for a little over a year. I saw some new stuff that we got in at Skein. That will most definitely have to be added to the stash. I tell myself that it's cheaper than buying yarn for sweaters.

I've had several sock knitting dreams this week. It seemed perfectly logical that I could make a sock into a sweater for Patrick. Not that he'd wear it, but I could do it. And Stephanie was there, cheering me on. And Sarah was also there providing technical assistance. Mind you. I've never met either of these ladies but they were in that dream all the same. When I woke up I realized that a sock would not begin to fit over Patrick's head. But it was still a fun dream.

And last night I dreamed I was teaching knitting in London. I've never been to London so I don't know how I got there. But this one was very strange. I had two different groups to teach. One, the Well Turned Heel group, only made socks with DK weight yarns and none of them knew how to cast on. So I had to get them all started. The other group, The Surreptitious Sock Knitters, only knit with worsted weight and they also lacked casting on skills. Plus, it seems that sock knitting was a banned activity so we had to be very careful not to get caught. This was the kind of dream that seems to go on all night. I'll be glad when this cold is gone and I can get back to what passes for normal.

Whelmed!

Do you ever feel like you have too many projects going? I know I do. Right now I have three or four pairs of socks in various stages of completion, a shop sample (that's almost done), the sweater for my friend Robert, a shawl and a multi-directional scarf. And those are just the ones that are easily accessible. When we were at Velona's on Monday I got some Cotton Classic for a poncho/shawl, like the one I just made for Skein, and some Pingouin Coquillage, a blend of cotton, linen and rayon. I think it might be an old yarn since it was very inexpensive compared to similar yarns currently on the market. Anyway, I'm thinking I might just have too many things in the works.

I'd like to stay home today and rest some more. But I have one person coming for a "consultation" on a pattern that I've written for her. Plus she's going to pick up the yarn I bought for her at Velona's. And I have two people coming for a lesson. And the yarns I wound last night will be picked up. I am feeling a lot better today. Maybe by tomorrow this will be over.

It's Cinco de Mayo today. I'd love to go to Amigos tonight and join the celebration but I think I'll probably just come home and work on some of those projects.

I kind of knew what was happening yesterday morning but I decided to ignore it. After all, I had a yarn shop hop planned plus lunch with Mendy and a couple of other knitters. We spent a couple of hours at Velona's and then went to lunch. By that time it was pretty clear that I was coming down with something. So when I got home I went to sleep and slept from around two in the afternoon until eight this morning.

I feel somewhat better but my ears are stuffed up and my throat is swollen to the point that it's painful to swallow. I should have stayed home today but there were a couple of people coming in for a lesson. I ended up staying about an hour and a half late.

I spent a couple of hours winding some yarns for one of my students. If sweating is good for what ails me I should be fine in the morning.

Rabbit! Rabbit!

Where have all the Bloggers gone?

Seems like everyone but me has gone to Maryland to watch some sheep and feel some wool. Well, not everyone. But a lot! Will I ever get to go? Someday. And it's only six months until the Knitters Retreat.

I've finished one and a half sleeves of the Cotton Classic cable sweater but progress has been halted because Ann Mary wanted me to make this.





Filatura di Crosa's Giordino. The pattern is in the back of the current Vogue Knitting. There's almost nothing to it. It's hard for me to calculate but I think this took about four hours. I have to make another one exactly like it. And sew up two side seams. And weave in a few ends. Just tie the shoulder straps.

The yarn is a zigzag of ribbon caught in a tube of crisscrossing threads. There are tufts of white thread at regular intervals caught under the ribbon. It's not easy to photograph but the fabric looks like wild asters on a black background. It's pretty easy to work with if you watch out for the loopy "flowers".