If Dr. Seuss designed a sleeping cap for Superman it would probably look something like this. It's 100% acrylic, plus a bit of cat fur here and there. Absolutely no kryptonite. I tried it on. It'a too small for me so someone in Mongolia is going to be be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound if only to escape.

I've wanted to make a hat like this for a long time. I don't think I have enough of this yarn left to make another one but I know where they have more. I used a pattern from an OOP Mission Falls book as the basis. I made it flat and stitched it up so the stripes would match better than if I had tried to do the jogless job.

The pink Galway sweater has sleeves now and I'm working on the raglan decreases so that should be done sometime this week.

Thanks to everyone who left congratulations comments and sent emails on my Blogiversary. It's a real good, feel good sorta thing.

Four years ago I had just finished this baby's cardigan and had just started my blog. I usually observer April 1, as my blog anniversary but I don't actually know when I started. It was somewhere around that date. I didn't know about archives at first.

I had just purchased my digital camera and was beginning to save pictures of my projects but I didn't know how to upload them. This photo has never been on my blog even though it's four years old. I'm not much better at pictures now than I was then but I've learned a little about editing and stuff so I can at least fake things a bit.

I don't know why I blog. But it's been great. I've met lots of people online and even some of those people in person. It's a treat when someone comes into Skein and mentions that they read my blog. I rarely know what I'm going to write when I sit down to post. Maybe I have a general idea but I don't plan things out in advance down to the last comma. Sometimes I think something is good. Most times I think it's pretty ordinary. But I like going back through my archives sometimes and remembering what was going on then, perhaps not something I blogged about.

I almost stopped blogging a few times but I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet. I enjoy hearing from people all over the world and even Nebraska. So here's to the last four years and what the next one will unfold.

It's here at last. I've been waiting for this book since Kay and Ann first announced that it was coming. A friend brought her copy in yesterday afternoon for me to see. It was like being in a nursery of newborns. "Look at that! Isn't that cute? Just precious!" All the ooh-ing and ahh-ing that went on around the table, each person trying to get her own private look at the book. I didn't get much of a chance alone with it so my friend insisted that I take it home to read last night. Which I did and thoroughly enjoyed.

It's true that I didn't read every word. Not the patterns. At least not in detail. But I will. These women are witty, charming and just plain good at what they do. It was bit like a hardcover version of their blog archives. Lots of what's in the book has already been covered to some degree on their blog but here those events are expanded and embellished. Like a photograph album of familiar faces and events, this book draws you in and you just want more.

I do have my own copy now. Another friend came in to buy some Tahki Cotton Classic to start the Mitered Square Blanket and brought in one of her copies of the book last night to share with me. I purchased one of her copies so I don't have to wait to order it. I stayed up way past my normal bedtime in order to finish reading. Of course, that was just a quick once over. I know I'll be going back for more and more. And I have lots of Cotton Classic on hand. Log Cabin Blanket, here I come.

One of forty two. Only forty one to go and then I'll be able to start attaching them to the Circles Bag from Nicky Epstein's Fabulous Felted Handbags. When I showed this to one of the guys at the knitting table last Saturday he asked, "Does it stretch?" I'm not explaining that.

Here's the actual bag, before felting. Right now it's about twenty inches long and will felt down to about thirteen inches. Skein has the kits for this bag plus some of the others that are in the book. You have to buy the book to get the pattern. We've had all the bags but they've sold pretty well. I don't know if Ann Mary has ordered any more. From what I hear though, other shops have them but at a higher price. Now that's a surprise.

When I was a kid, growing up in a small rural town, a birthday was a one day event. If you were lucky your mom would remember and bake a cake. If you got a present it was most likely going to be socks or underwear or something else very practical. Well, that's the way I remember it. It's not that way anymore.

Look at this! Another birthday present. Three skeins of Regia Nation sock yarn, a new brand of plastic dpns that are supposed to be a great improvement over other dpns, ten skeins of Classic Elite Premiere and a Tootsie Pop. And a really clever and witty card. What a great surprise! Many, many thanks, dear friend. I can hardly wait to see how that sock yarn knits up. I don't know what nation it is but the colors are perfect for here.

I actually started this post last night but Blogger was having issues. I was also hoping to get a more color accurate image but there isn't any sunshine to be had. We're having winter again for a few days. I went out for my morning walk but carried an umbrella, just in case. I've been told that the walking will get easier. I can hardly wait. I don't do brisk all that well, except on the downhill parts. It would have been easy to not go because of the weather but I know if I don't go every day I will be back into my sluggish, procrastinating mode.

Speaking of procrastinating. I don't like to have to put things away while I'm working on them. So projects stack up everywhere, waiting for me to get back to them. But once every couple of weeks I have to sorta sort through things and try to make my living room, at least, look habitable. So this past weekend I started going through one stack and found a hat that I had started. Well, I thought, let me just finish this and then I'll go back to cleaning.

I didn't actually finish until yesterday morning but most of it was knit over the weekend, from just above the ribbing. I had to rip out the upper part first as I didn't like the yarn. This is mostly Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride that I got to make gifts with last Christmas. The tassel is some very old Reynold's Paterna.

I'm really enjoying making all these hats. I've been trying to funk-i-fy them but I don't seem to have that knack. The ladies at yesterday's Dulaan knitting thought this hat was funky but I'm not so sure. I think it looks too designed instead of spontaneous and iconoclastic. Everything in my background, designwise, makes me want things to be planned and precise. I even have a hard time mixing different yarns. But I'm working on it.

Do you think other cultures find the same things cute and amusing that we do? I wonder if that silly tassel on top of the hat will translate as whimsy or might it be threatening since it's so spider like. Will some kid be embarrassed wearing this hat or will he/she be envied by others? Maybe it's enough that the hat is warm.

I've been telling myself that I will do my income taxes today. It's too gloomy for that. I'd be better off knitting. Besides, it's not even April yet.

Okay, Mendy, and any others. You wanted to see what I'm making that calls for a 60" circular. Here it is in all it's 29" glory. The yarn is Cascade Sierra that I got at Yarn Lady in Laguna Hills about five or six years ago, before they moved to their present location. The pattern is a Trish Design and there's only one minor mistake in it. I think the color is pretty close, maybe a trifle more purple but not much.

Another knitting night has come and gone. I made a lot of progress on the new Dulaan sweater but I'm not quite as far as I wanted to be. I did manage to resist dessert. Key Lime Pie isn't one of my favorites.

What is so rare as a day in March? After a couple of weeks of winterlike weather we have achieved spring. So I decided I'd better get this orange tree transplanted. There used to be a rose bush in this pot. A Judy Garland. After many years it was no longer as pretty as it once was and was mostly surviving as suckers. The new tree is the one Lisa gave me for my birthday.

And here's the Mexican Lime that I got for Christmas. Also from Lisa. She started it from seed which is pretty difficult to do I hear. Anyway it's doing well but I don't expect to be having margaritas kissed with lime from this tree for a few years yet.

And finally, in my citrus orchard/balcony tour, here's the current crop of lemons. This tree is a few years old. The lemons are kinda scrawny, probably because I didn't feed the tree well enough. But they're just the right size of squeezing on fish or vegetables and not having any left over bits to save.

Have you figured out that I don't have any knitting related stuff? I'm still working on the felted bag shop sample. Almost done with the body. Now I have to make all those I-cord rings. And the current Dulaan sweater is moving along at a pretty good pace. I may finish the lower body today or this evening at Thursday night knitting.

Here's some more Dulaan Hats. This is one of the images I was trying to post yesterday. They're all knit from stash. The one at top is Unger that I've had for maybe four years. It was already a discontinued yarn when I got it and I think the company was discontinued by then too. The hat on the right is from leftover Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted. I think that was from yarn I got last year for some holiday gifts. And on the left, two strands held together. The solid is Wool-Ease that I've had for maybe three years and the multi-color part is Encore that I got about four years ago.

Of course, like most knitters, I have lots of other stuff in stash that I could use for hats or mittens or just about anything. I still keep buying yarn though. Six skeins of Clip, a heavy cotton from On Line, were added to my stash yesterday, along with an Addi Turbo, 10.5US, 60" circular needle. I just stopped by to say hello to a friend at Unraveled.

This is the beginning of a new sweater for Dulaan, the one I mentioned yesterday, in Plymouth Galway. I got this yarn at a weaving show at least seven years ago. I have ten hanks so I will have plenty for the small child's sweater plus several hats.

This post is late because I ran out of time this morning. Is anyone else having problems with Blogger? All the blogs that I read that use Blogger were very slow to open this morning and some I couldn't get to open at all.

Maybe later. I have some photos to post but Blogger seems to be having a problem this morning.

I am completely obsessed with knitting for the Dulaan Project. If I try to work on some of my other projects I feel guilty, like I'm not doing my part. Yesterday I went to our weekly Dulaan gathering and knit from 9:30 until just after 3 in the afternoon, with a short lunch break. I've finished another three hats and am still working on another one. But I needed a change so I started another sweater.

I'm making another bottom up raglan using some Galway that I've had in stash for ten or twelve years. I decided I'd better get it out and see if it's been infected by the great moth attack. Everything if fine.

I really like how the Galway knits up. It's smooth and even. I'm using a size 7US to get a bit denser fabric since the sweater really needs to be warm. The color is almost magenta so I thought I'd add a mock cable rib to make it a bit more girly. I'm just about done with the initial ribbing and will start the lower body in a few minutes. Still have to decide if I want some of the cables to carry over into the body. I think I will since it'll make the knitting a bit more interesting but not slow me down too much.

If Blogger gets it together later today I'll add the pictures.

Apparently it's Spring again. We're still having Winter. Well, winter as it's known in Southern California. Low 40s overnight and mid 50s (both F) during the day. When I went out for my morning walk it was still cold enough to make fog of my breath. I don't usually go out quite that early but it's been one of those kind of days.

I woke up at around 2:30 and when I still wasn't asleep again by 4AM I decided I'd just get up and knit. Pat the Cat is very confused. So I went out at around 6 for a very brisk walk. I think my over-indulgence last night is to blame.

I had dinner with my friend Robert for the first time since Christmas. I had already decided I would not burden him with any special dietary needs. I should have been more careful. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a few days late. Corned beef, colcannon and glazed carrots followed by a banana/croissant bread pudding. We won't even talk about the wine. So that's what I think made me wake up so early. When you're getting used to eating only tiny bits of food, most of which is pretty plain, a meal like the one I had is bound to cause problems. So now I have a new resolve. Back to plain whole wheat with a couple of ounces of turkey and some unsalted broccoli.

Except today is Dulaan Knitting Day and Mendy always fixes something tasty.

It was cold last night at Robert's. I wore my red wool hat most of the evening even though we were inside. I had made a hat for Robert's room mate a couple of years ago and when he saw my hat it reminded him that the hat I had made for him was full of holes. You guessed it. That hat was made from some of the wool that I just threw out last week, the stuff that had been attacked by moths. So I guess the eggs were already in the yarn that long ago and I just didn't know it. Fortunately he had kept the hat wrapped in a heavy plastic bag since he discovered the holes so, we hope, nothing has happened to anything else.

I did manage some knitting this weekend. I took a break from Dulaan knitting and finished a feather and fan scarf that I started a few weeks ago. And I've added about eight more rounds on the beach cover-up that I'm making. Most everything I'm working on now is stuff that's just in progress and will be for a while. Not interesting enough to take a picture of. Besides I forgot to turn off my camera so the batteries are being recharged.

Cute, eh? Click on the image for a bigger view. There are six hats and three pairs of mittens knit for the Dulaan Project by an online friend in Carolina. The three pairs of mittens are the first she's ever done. Aren't they great? She'll be sending them directly to Flagstaff so I wanted to get a photo posted before it was too late. Thanks, Carolyn, for your help. And if you want some more yarn, just let me know.

Today is the first day of my glucose monitoring regimen. I went yesterday, before I went to the Unraveled sale to learn how to use the little semi-automated finger pricking device and the sorta high-tech monitor. The nurse wasn't too pleased with the reading. You could hear her, in her mind, going "Tsk, tsk, tsk." So the reading is higher than it should be, even after I've been more or less focusing on the new diet. And practically starving most of the time. I don't think I should have had that chocolate French silk last night.

So I've started walking again. I used to walk a lot, a couple of miles every morning. Right now it's difficult for me to walk for ten or fifteen minutes without stopping. But it'll get easier.

I'm getting ready to shape the top of another hat. I knit most of it last night at Thursday night knitting. I should have some photos in the next day or so. Not a huge crowd last night but a couple of folks whom we haven't seen in a while. So catching up was good.

Sometimes I'm pretty sure I don't have good sense. I just came from Unraveled where they're having a storewide sale. Twenty percent off everything, including stuff that's already been marked down. I only meant to buy a couple of sets of double points. Well, they didn't have any size 13US dpns so I bought yarn instead. A little more than $200 worth of yarn.

Some Anny Blatt wool, some Schaeffer Lola and Anne, some Mountain Colors Bearfoot and a few other things that I don't remember right now. Oh yeah. A circular needle and a book. None of which I need or know what I'll do with. But I did run into lots of friends and had a nice lunch next door at the Peach Cafe.

Unraveled is one of my favorite shops. They carry a wide selection of mainstream and out of the ordinary yarns. The staff is super friendly. They offer lots of different classes too. I'm there at least once a week. The sale runs through Friday of next week so I'll probably go back at least once.

I could never climb a rope, or figure out why anyone would want to. We were required to take physical education though. PE was my bête noir all through high school. I never got above a C except for the year I played tennis. I only played tennis so I could switch my sixth period English class to third period because I wanted to take English from a particular teacher. You could only have PE in the sixth period if you went out for some kind of sport. So tennis it was. And I got an A even though I was, and still am, a lousy tennis player.

Anyway, when it comes to doing anything physical I'm not usually the person to volunteer or to be called on. Well, except for bowling. So what to do when it comes to installing a new DVD/VCR player. The hard part is not hooking everything up. I figure if I can install additional memory I can do just about anything. So that wasn't the problem. It was moving the entertainment center so I could get behind it to plug in all the wires.

I took my time and unloaded everything I could to make it lighter. I even dusted the top. You could have planted an herb garden up there. And then, because it had been sitting so long in one spot the cabinet had sunk pretty deep into the carpet. But after much groaning and grunting, and wriggling to and fro, I managed to rock the cabinet out far enough from the wall to get the old wires unplugged and the new ones plugged in. And everything worked just the way the manual said it would.

The next problem was getting the cabinet back. I came close but it's still not lined up with the old dents in the carpet. I have to wedge it closer. While I was at it though I cleaned out some old books and assorted memorabilia. I don't remember putting those twelve Christmas mugs up there behind all those art books. Or the slides of art work my students did when I was teaching at Cal State Fullerton. And what a surprise to find how many decks of Tarot cards I have, and the books to go with them. I don't remember getting that interested in Tarot and I'm not at all now. There was only one fiber related book, a 1917 issue of Needlecraft,a magazine I got when I was in Florida twenty years ago. And the winning recipes from the Camarillo Press-Courier, Sept. 23, 1980.

And then I finished another hat.

It's what we do on Mondays. Sometimes Tuesdays if Monday doesn't work. Our little gaggle of knitters, most of whom I met through Skein, gets together to work exclusively on items for the Dulaan project. The hats just keep on coming. It's lots of fun to see what has been produced during the previous week as well as what is currently on the needles. Clockwise from the right are the hands of Estelle, Lulu, Larry, Mendy, Susan and Renee. Judy was playing photojournalist, high overhead, shooting through the stairs, so her hands are not in the photo. Thanks, Judy, for sending me the photo and allowing me to post it.


I finished a couple of hats yesterday. And here's a couple that I did over the weekend. Most of the yarn I'm using is coming from stash and much of it is pretty old. Or it's from leftover yarn used in more recent projects. Mostly it's great to just make up things on the go. Not that that always works out. I do have a few things that need to be recycled into something more resembling a hat for a reasonably sized head. I'm also thinking I need to make another sweater. Must go see what's available.

Does anyone know if washing yarn that looks like it has been attacked by moths is sufficient to get rid of the pests and their eggs? If you knit it up and then wash it, will that be enough to keep the eggs from hatching?

I must have been joking when I said I was done with my birthday for the year. Here's what I've been doing. A jigsaw puzzle called Knitter's Stash, not to be confused with the book. Lisa and I started this a couple of weeks ago and finished this weekend. I haven't done a jigsaw puzzle in years and years. I'd forgotten how much fun, and addictive, it can be. I had planned to let Lisa put in the last piece but she outmanouvered me and let me have that bit of fun. I'll take this apart and loan it to the gifter, if she wants it.



And still more birthday goodness. Sock yarn! Three skeins of Regia, I have longish feet, and a hank of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. The CTH is browner than the photo. Thanks. That little bit of pink poking up from the bottom is some Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Fondo that I got at Stitch in Time last week when I went to get some markers. Buying sock yarn is almost a knee-jerk reaction. There were some other colors. I may have to go back.

I'd have been here earlier but I've been busy. Today was our Dulaan knitting group and I wanted to finish this sweater. I used the bottom up raglan pattern from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. The previous raglan I made was from the top down. I'm not sure I prefer one over the other. But someone remind me before I take on another plain stockinette sweater of how boring they are to knit.

I didn't pay any attention to how this yarn striped or pooled. I do think it's interesting how the pooling occurred in almost the same spot on the two sleeves and on the body.

I've had the yarn for about three years, Encore Colorspun, but had never found anything to do with it. I sent a couple of skeins to a friend in South Carolina who made some hats and mittens with it. I still have four skeins left that I'm going to use for more hats and possibly some mittens if there's enough.

We had a good turnout for our Dulaan Day. Everyone has been super productive. There were lots of patterns to share, mostly hats, but there were a couple of vests and sweaters. I took along some of my hat books to share and for inspiration. Maybe next week I'll remember to take pictures.

Conventional wisdom

Conventional wisdom

Charts. I prefer working from charts rather than text. It's the main reason I avoid Sirdar patterns although Sirdar seems to be the most error-free of the pattern publishers. Charts make it possible to see where you're going and where you've been.

There are a number of conventions used in charting that I've grown to trust and rely on. Symbols tend to be fairly uniform now so it's easy to use information you already have to read charts from different companies.

I think that was the reason I had so much trouble with the lace pattern I'm currently using. The symbols are easy to understand. It's the chart itself that's the problem. Usually symbols tell you everything you need to know, including where you're going to get the stitches you need to do the pattern. The vertical rules that tell you what section to repeat are generally reliable. That's the conventional wisdom.

That just hasn't been the case with the pattern I'm using. There's a symbol that tells you to do a double vertical decrease, S2KP (slip two as if to knit, knit one, pass the two slipped stitches over). The symbol kind of reminds me of the peace symbol from back in the hippie days.

I finally figured out that the stitches I need are actually in the section adjacent to the repeat. If I hadn't been using markers (conventional wisdom again) I would probably have had no problem. As it is, I have ripped the first sleeve for the third time. I'm much happier with how the whole thing looks now. I'm glad I wasn't working the back though since there are about 20% more stitches than on the sleeve.

I was going to post a picture but the batteries need to recharge. Anyway, I'm done talking about this so there won't be any mention of it for a while. I need to spend some time on something else. Tomorrow is Dulaan Day so maybe I'll work on the sweater and get stuff together for some more hats. And there's that poncho, er, beach cover-up that I need to get back to. And a shop sample from Nicky Epstein's Fabulous Felted Bags.

Ornithogalum

Ornithogalum



Also known as Chesapeake Snowflake. I've been waiting for it to bloom, ever since I got it from Renee for my birthday. The name is from the Greek for bird and milk. Not the Chesapeake part, the ornithogalum. Anyway, it's quite lovely and is cheering up my kitchen on this dark and rainy day.

I also got an orange tree that I still have to transplant.

I think that's about it for my birthday which was several weeks ago. But you never know. There could be something else that I've forgotten but basically we're done for another eleven months.

It looked good on paper

It looked good on paper



This is what's left after I ripped this.


Several days of knitting, gone in just a few minutes. I've been trying to make myself believe that this lace pattern would be all right even if there were an error in it. I just couldn't stand it though.

There's clearly a discrepancy between the chart and what results. It certainly didn't look like the picture. So I played around with the chart and I think I now have what was intended, at least it looks like the picture. I've already ripped the sample I did to try out my theory.

So, starting over. I'm pretty sure I won't make my self-imposed deadline but I'll be a lot happier with the result. Otherwise, it's back to the drawing board, again.

The long day

The long day

Wednesdays are usually my best day, at least in number of students. I don't know what happened today though. Was everyone recovering from Mardi Gras? Are they holing up in anticipation of the rain we're supposed to be getting? Have they finally reached the saturation point of yarn stash? Whatever it was, they sure stayed away in droves today.

It's a ten hour day for me so when I only have four students it really goes slowly. I did have a few other quick question types. So I got a bit done on the new poncho that I started yesterday. I'm not going to call it a poncho though. I'm calling it a beach cover-up since ponchos are out. It'll be nice for summer, at the beach or not. I'm using some Cascade Sierra that I got four or five years ago on one of my yarn shop crawls. It was going to be a sweater for me but when I got ready to make the sweater I discovered I hadn't bought enough. After I figured out what the pattern problem was, the one I mentioned yesterday, I had enough done that I thought I might as well continue. It's an easy enough pattern that I can work on it while I'm at Skein and not go too far astray.

I made some progress on the St. Patrick's Day sweater this morning and will be able to spend several hours on it tomorrow. Maybe finish the first sleeve. That one needs too much attention to take out anywhere.

Before all those hats

Before all those hats

there was this sweater. I had planned to make it for my Olympics project but I ran into some problems.

I'm still not convinced that there isn't an error in the chart but the only way I could make any progress was to follow the chart as shown. You can't tell much from the image but there are some seed stitch diamonds in the pattern. On one row the chart shifts one stitch to the left and that stops the seed stitch. On the next row the seed stitch resumes and matches the new position of the stitches in the previous row. I don't know if this was intentional. The pattern doesn't say. It sort of makes sense in a wacky way. When I compare my knitting to the photos of the sweater there seems to be a slight shift. I can't tell for sure.

I do have quite a bit more done than in the picture. It's really a pretty easy stitch, just a series of yarn overs offset by ssk and k2tog. I started with the sleeves to use it as a gauge and that seems all right. Increases happen every six rows and they're a bit tricky to incorporate into the pattern. Most of the time I'm just working in St st until I have enough stitches for another pattern repeat.

I'm going to try to finish this in time for St. Patrick's Day. That'll depend on how many times I get distracted. Like today. I spent a couple of hours working on a poncho pattern for one of my students. There is an error in the pattern. Why do I always end up with pattern errors? Anyway, I worked the eight row repeat and found the missing instruction so I'll be able to pass that on tomorrow. I think I'll work another eight rows before I put it aside and go back to the sweater.

Everybody's doin' it

Everybody's doin' it



All over Blogland, wherever I read today, there were cries of joy and frustration, depending on whether he/she had finished or not finished the chosen Knitting Olympics Project. I was one of the ones who decided not to sign up but to stay on the sidelines and work on what I called my Olympics project and to cheer others on as the time passed.

These three hats are the final push to meet an arbitrary goal of sixteen hats in sixteen days. No. I didn't make it. I think I finished ten and started four or five others. One thing I learned is that I have a lot of distractions. There were several days where I could only spend an hour or two working on the hats. I also learned that I care a lot more about the finished product that I do about quantity. I'm pleased with the hats I did get done and they'll all go in the Dulaan Project pile.

I still have lots of yarn that has been earmarked for hats. But now, for a change, I'm working on a sweater I started a few weeks ago. It's a raglan, in the round, bottom up. The body is done to the armholes and one sleeve is done. I worked on this sweater for several hours today. My friend Mendy has decided to have a Dulaan Day once at week at her house. Today was the first day. It was great fun to be able to sit and chat. A lot like our Thursday night group but this group will only work on projects for Dulaan. Already there's a stack of hats. No picture because even though I remembered to take my camera I didn't remember to use it.

Try not to squeal

Try not to squeal

More birthday! February is the nicest month, to coin a phrase. These delightful Gingher scissors are from a couple of the Monrovia Moms. When I saw the Moms a couple of weeks ago some of them had these scissors and I was raving all about how neat they were. Yesterday I got my own pair. I love the cheetah print pattern on the handles and the little scabbard that comes along with them. I do have some of the original Stork shaped one, which I rarely use. These though will be part of my everyday paraphenalia. Except I won't let anyone else use them. They'll have to settle for my Hello Kitty ones.


And, adding to the general merriment, there was this skein of sock yarn from another student. She wasn't sure, because she forgot to bring the label, but thought it is Anne from Schaefer Yarns. I think so too. It's not so electric IRL and there's some teal or jade green streaks that just don't show in the photo. I'm planning to do some more sock knitting real soon.

Visualize a pom pom

Visualize a pom pom

That's all this hat needs to finish it off. One of the patterns in the Oneskein book. I don't have one of those nifty pom pom makers and I'm too lazy to find some cardboard to make one. I think there's one at Skein that I can use when I go in today. If not, I'll just buy one. Not that I'm a big fan of pom poms but sometimes that's just what you need, either as a finishing touch or to hide the unintended sloppiness of the finishing. The actual color of the hat is more intense than you see here. I think it will look better on a real head instead of a cone of yarn.

This hat took less than four hours to knit in some bulky/chunky cotton I had on hand. Gauge and everything were perfect except I don't think cotton is all that warm so I'm going to see if there's still a skein of Rowan Polar available. I'm definitely going to make another one of these.


From the same book. A baby hat with unbrella lace on the edge. I didn't have the yarn called for, Lush from Classic Elite, so I'm using another of the SWTC Optimum. It's pretty close to gauge so I think there'll be a warm head somewhere in Mongolia. I still have a couple of inches to go before I start the top shaping but I should be finished this evening. All the fun happens in the first twelve rows. The rest is just a basic stocking stitch hat.

More or less the same thing as yesterday

More or less the same thing as yesterday


Remember yesterday when I said I wasn't getting much done because I'd been too busy socializing? Remember how I said I was going to start another hat last night and work on the one I already had started?

Guess what. It didn't happen. Lisa came over last night to show me her new car. And then we went to dinner and then we cleared out all the stuff on my old computer before I send it to be recycled. So not much got done and nothing new got started.

The hat you see here I started in the morning yesterday. It's from the Vogue On the Go book Caps & Hats Two. Slightly modified. I'm using some Andes wool that I got at Unwind a couple of weeks ago. It's a fairly nice yarn, 100% wool, that calls for a US8. I think it's a bit thin at that gauge but perhaps it will fluff up when it's washed. And I have it in two other colorways.

Have you seen this book yet? I just got it last Saturday. Oneskein by Leigh Radford. I really like it. There are several patterns that I really want to make including two different hat patterns. I got it at Skein. We didn't see it anywhere else when we went yarn shop hopping on Sunday. Anyway, it's worth the price I think.

So I'm off to do the stuff I planned to do yesterday. I finally got all the rebate forms for my new computer set up filled out and put in the mail. Now I just have to get rid of the boxes that I was going to use for yarn storage but decided they really wouldn't work all that well and I'd rather have some more storage cubes instead. I also need to find some place to dispose of my old computer and its peripheral stuff. Goodwill and Salvation Army don't seem too keen on getting electronics.

Three more hats and a lot to go

Three more hats and a lot to go



I think I'm going to be the last runner in this marathon. What is this? Six hats total and I'm going for sixteen. And only how many days to go?

The problem, or the excuse, is that this month is very busy for me. Mostly there's extra social stuff having to do with my birthday which fell on the day the Olympics began. I'm not complaining. Just saying maybe I should have been a bit more cautious in setting my goal, or realistic. I've started another hat that's fairly simple and I'll be starting something else tonight so I can alternate between boring and not so boring.

Yesterday was a social day. Four friends from my Thursday night knitting group and I went to Long Beach to check out Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. I've been a number of times but it's been a while. It's a neat shop, located right on the water in the marina. It was a gorgeous day. Cool but sunny and breezy. We had lunch at Buster's next door and watched the sail boats and cabin cruisers passing by.

After lunch we went to Velona's in Anaheim Hills. It's like going into the catacombs or some secret vault. I'm always in a daze when I come out of there. Some of their yarns are from companies that no longer exist or are yarns that have long been discontinued. But it's the place to go if you're looking for that extra skein of an old yarn. Of course, there's plenty of the new stuff. I didn't buy anything at Alamitos Bay except one button but at Velona's I loaded up on Brown Sheep Naturespun worsted. Eleven colors, one skein each. Even if I don't make my goal for the Olympics I'll have plenty of yarn for Dulaan mittens and hats. I'll just be a little late.

There's talk of rain

There's talk of rain

It hasn't rained nearly enough around here this winter. Winter? What winter? It was 90(F) last Sunday and today it's down in the mid 40s, likely to climb all the way up to 60. And rain, later today and through the weekend. It's hard to believe that given how bright and sunny it is right now.

Yesterday was one of my days off. I spent most of the morning finishing the Cabled Watch Cap. Again from Charlene Schurch's Hats On!. I didn't do the four inches of ribbing though as I was pretty sure I wouldn't have enough yarn. Used up the remainder of the skein of Encore I used for the Turkish Sock Pattern hat.

I've started two more hats that are fairly plain, just some contrasting color stripes. These are for when I can't sit and concentrate, like at work or at Thursday night knitting. There are a couple of other hats in the Hats On! book that I'm going to try to fit in next week.

Someone asked me why I would do something so complicated for charity knitting. My answer is "Why not!" Not only do I get to try some things I rarely get to do but knitting for charity isn't about just doing something that's good enough. I could go buy something for a lot less that would be good enough. When I work on these hats I'm thinking about who might get them. I like to imagine them wearing the hats and feeling not only warmer but happy in something that's out of the ordinary. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the simpler knits. Afterall I'm making some myself because quantity is also a factor. You need a lot of hats to warm Mongolia. And I get to use lots of crazy color combinations.

Inside this box

Inside this box

are some of the best brownies I have ever eaten. A birthday/Valentine combo from a couple of students. They're like fudge in the middle with a cake coating on the top and bottom. I've been having one a day but now I can't have any more.

I went to Kaiser this afternoon for a diabetes diet class. Not that I have diabetes just yet but I'm on the way. Unless I radically alter my diet and get more exercise. I can do this but giving up chocolates is going to test my endurance. And pasta isn't going to be much easier although I can have that in limited amounts. So, I'll take the remaining brownies to Thursday night knitting and enjoy them vicariously.

It took a very long time to get Blogger to open tonight. Yesterday was the same thing. I hope this isn't permanent. Is anyone else having this problem?

Very little knitting today since I was in that meeting for a couple of hours and then I had a table full of students when I got back to the shop. I did finish another hat tonight after I got home but I've already wrapped it and didn't take a picture first. It's a gift for another student. If she'll let me I'll get a picture of her wearing it and post it later.

A couple of hats

A couple of hats

I already have several hats completed that are for the Dulaan project. These hats, however, are the ones I'm doing as my Knitting Olympics knitting. The first one is based on the Canadian Hat from Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch. It's a great pattern and works with lots of different yarns. This one is Soutwest Trading Company's Optimum, the discontinued yarn.

I haven't made this hat in a solid color before. I've used Kureyon and other multi-colored and textured yarns which I think I prefer. But this wool makes a very warm hat. I will have some leftovers from the four different colors I bought so I'll probably make something striped.

A Turkish Patterned Hat from Charlene Schurch's Hats On. Even though I've purchased lots of new yarns specifically for the Dulaan project I'm still using stuff from stash. This is some Plymouth Encore that I've had around for seven or eight years. I don't do much fairisle knitting so this one took a while, maybe three or four days off and on. I liked doing it but I think I messed up the top shaping, not the stitches, the needle size. I think I worked the main part on US6 but I used US8 dpns at the top.

There's a slight problem with the braided border. It wants to flip up. I hope it will stay down once I give it a good steaming. I've only done this braid one other time and I don't remember it behaving this way. It was fun to do. The Cocoon jacket, which I still need to get back to, uses this braid as the basis of some of its rounds. The yarn does get twisted but it untwists on the following row.

Given that we're already four days into the Knitting Olympics I think I'm falling behind. I'll probably do some simpler hats with really big yarn. I have started another hat that has cables and uses some more of the Encore. I'm going to work on that for the rest of today unless I decide to take a break and start something on larger needles.

Oh, bother!

Oh, bother!

I have some pictures I want to post but Blogger isn't cooperating this morning. So I'll save those for later.

It's been a great birthday weekend. My own private Christmas really, without the bother of putting up and taking down a tree. People are generous in word and deed. Thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes.

It's hard to believe it's the middle of February. I look at the photos of all the snow that fell over the weekend and wonder how that can be. It's still in the mid-eighties here is Southern California. It could be May or June. All the windows are open and I'm even considering getting out the fan.

I've run into a snag with my Olympic project. (I know. I'm not officially participating but I thought it would be fun to see if I could manage a whole project in sixteen days.) I should have swatched beforehand but I waited until Friday night. And it was going well. But there's a problem with the chart. Or I think so. I'm going to rip back about ten rows and try the chart again but I'm pretty sure there's a row missing or there's a symbol that shouldn't be there. I may just have to make an executive decision a change the chart to what I think it should be. And then figure out what that does to the remaining rows.

I tried to find an errata page for the book A Close-Knit Family by Melissa Leapman with no success. It may be that the book is too old. Meanwhile I'm continuing with Dulaan projects. I may just change my Olympics knitting to hats for Mongolia. I've already finished one and have another almost done. I know some others are doing this. And I can see how it would be a two birds one stone sorta thing.

Another day, another

Another day, another

year older. That's right, it's that time again. It's me, not my blog. This is not one of the big ones, just an ordinary one between the big ones. We had chocolate cake at Knit Night. My daughter will come over on Sunday to round off the event and then it'll be on to the next one.

I did go in to Skein today and taught a beginning crocheter. I'm only about a step ahead of her. And then I got her started on a knitted scarf. I had another new/returning knitter later in the day. And that was about it. I'm glad I went in because it's really hot here right now, mid 80s, and that's just not right for the middle of winter. Not good for the knitting business or for cleaning house.

I'm just about to the armholes on the raglan sweater I'm making, maybe four rounds to go and then I'll be able to do the sleeves, probably tomorrow. But I started another hat tonight using some Southwest Trading Company Optimum. On sale for $6.00 a ball, marked dowm from $26.50. Now that's a sale! I guess SWTC decided to discontinue the yarn and is getting rid of it as fast as it can. It's a nice yarn, soft but firm to knit. It'll be a warm hat and I have four different colors.

Things seem to be working well with my new computer although there are a few side issues that still need to be fixed. It's really nice to be able to open links without having the thing freeze or give me a message about how it doesn't have enough space to do the thing I'm asking. I also have to mail in all those rebates before it's too late.

Not up for the challenge

Not up for the challenge

I've let the sign up date come and go without signing up for the Knitting Olympics. I just couldn't commit to doing one project for that long. I tried working for an entire day on a sweater that I'm making for the Dulaan Project and it nearly wiped me out. The tedium and monotony were overpowering. But I did get a lot done.

I have selected a pattern and have the yarn, from stash, set out and ready to go. I'll start on Friday, at the appointed hour, and see how far I can get. I'm easily sidetracked and am always up for a new start.

Right now it's hats. My stash for hats is rapidly approaching my stash for socks. And I added significantly to it yesterday. Mendy and I went to Unwind yesterday and helped ourselves to the leftovers from their No Super Bowl Party. Lots of yarn for $1.00 to $4.00 per ball. I think I have enough for at least seven hats.

I really need to spend tomorrow putting my living room back in order. The two days I've spent installing and uninstalling and installing computers has left a havoc. Ann Mary hinted that she'd like it if I came in tomorrow to cover for the other teacher who is ill. I'll see how much I can get done in the morning and if there's time I'll go in for a few hours.

Back from nowhere

Back from nowhere

I've been without a computer or access to the Internet since the weekend. I've been through two computers since then, trying to get my Internet connection back. I've learned a lot, at least about that area. If all goes well I'll be able to get back to knitting and will have some pictures soon.

I have lots of blog reading to do and some email that needs attention. I'll have to wait until tomorrow for that, and to find out if this connection is really going to work.

Say what?

Say what?

"You are not authorized to view this page." What kind of message is that? I can't read my own blog? I've received this message before but usually I can just try again and I can open my blog, or any other that produces this message. Tonight though nothing seems to break whatever lock is on my blog, if that's the right term.

Anyway I can still post even if there's not much to say. I did have a very busy day. Three of the five Monrovia Moms were is. Haven't seen them since before the holidays. It's almost like a party when they come in. They're fun, cheerful and enjoy knitting. I was able to spend some time with them before other people started to arrive. We're going to try to get the two missing members to join us some afternoon or early evening to do a little catching up.

I finished the second skein of Dune for the feather and fan scarf and then worked a bit on a sock. I'm ready to start the heel on that one. At home I have almost reached the toe of the second sock of a pair I started last fall sometime. I might work on that tonight or one of the other scarves.

The owner of Cascade Yarns was in today. He gave me a skein of their Peruvian cotton, Luna, to try. Skein doesn't carry Cascade as a rule. I think we should but Ann Mary seems to have a block about their yarns. About the only time we get anything from them is for a special order, except for Fixation which she does carry because she thinks people will want to make bikinis. Mostly we sell it for socks. I'll knit up a swatch of the Luna and show it to her. I don't know if it's a new yarn or not but I kinda like the way it feels so I hope it looks good in the swatch.

Double aargh!

Double aargh!

It's not always my computer's fault when things don't work right. I spent the first two hours of today talking with my good friend Sean over in New Delhi trying to figure out why I couldn't connect. We tried everything he could think of until he finally concluded that it wasn't my computer.

So then it was over to Lucy. I don't know where Lucy is. She says that Sean shouldn't have sent the call to her but she would schedule someone to come out and check out their line, at no charge to me. Then Lucy sent me to Sabrina who works in Northern California. Sabrina tells me that in fact there's a problem with SBC in my area so I should try again in two hours to connect. Which I did. And everything looked fine. So I went shopping.

I had already gone to Best Buy and purchased the new computer. It's sitting, with all its constituent parts, in the middle of my living room where it will remain until Sunday when Lisa will come over and help me get everything transferred and set up.

Anyway, when I got home from my second shopping trip I tried to connect and found that my phone was dead. So nothing worked. Went next door and called the phone company people who are the same as my DSL people. The whole process is automated and takes about half an hour to get through. So someone else is supposed to come out, but not until tomorrow, to see what's wrong with the line. I call Ann Mary to let her know I may be late tomorrow.

So back home to putter around since I can't read my blogs or email. A knock on the door. It's the guy from SBC to tell me that he's there to see what the problem is. I tell him great, but the phone is dead. "I know. I've been working on it." So he gets everything fixed and promises to tell the phone company to cancel the Friday appointment. I hope he doesn't forget. I called Ann Mary to tell her I won't be late after all.

Went to Thursday night knitting. I was early so I decided to wait in my car. I went to sleep. The next thing I know Mendy is banging on my car window afraid that I've had a stroke or suffered a heart attack. Actually I'm just tired from all this back and forth and the frustration of not having a computer that works right. You're probably just as tired of hearing about it.

In knitting related news. I seem to have lost one of my size 11 needles that I was using to make the feather and fan scarf. I really hate it when that happens. And it does seem to be happening a lot recently. But it's not as bad as I thought. I thought it was one of my Brittany size 13s. Those are home safe on the table. Not in the needle case where they belong. Maybe I need to pay more attention and put things away when I'm done with them. I've never tried that.

Scarf-a-rama

Scarf-a-rama

So, I've decided that I'll get a new computer and I hope to have it up and running sometime this coming weekend. Meanwhile it's not going to be possible to post any pictures. Or much of anything else that I normally do when I've finished reading all the daily reads etc.

It was pretty stressful for me yesterday, trying to figure out what to do and making up my mind whether to just go ahead and get a new PC. I had a hard time settling down and working on any of my existing projects. So I started three different scarves, things I'd been meaning to try for a while. I thought maybe I'd make every scarf in the Box of Scarves, I and II. I've already made some of them so I'm going to try to make the rest of them. Admittedly, some of the scarves are not worth doing, or at least they won't work for anyone I know. I may skip those or I may do them just because they're there.

Maybe by the time I finish this batch I'll be able to post photos again.

Things that don't work

Things that don't work

These mittens work. It's another pair of mittens that I will be sending to the Dulaan Project. I hope to get the final version of the pattern posted to my pattern page in the next day or so. That is if I can get my computer to work.

I've been getting blue screened again and some occasional freezes. And lots of warnings that there is not enough system space available to function. Even though things happen. I just have to wait a bit. Most of the time.

I went to Best Buy this morning to get some ink cartridges because my printer doesn't work. I've been getting low ink messages so I think that's the problem. Best Buy is out of the ones I need.

So while I'm there I decide to look at computers. That works. There was actually someone there to help. Except I'm not real confident about how to transfer stuff from my current computer to the new one. He suggested that all I needed to do was copy things to a disk and load that into the new computer. Can it be that simple?

I also looked at VCR/DVD players because my current VCR doesn't work. It won't eject. I looked around and found someone who graciously pointed to where the players are and then he left. I didn't buy one yet because I know I will have to unload everything from the cabinet so I can move it out from the wall in order to hook up the new one. I'll have to work on that.

I went to the post office and that worked. I sent off a couple of packages to friends in North Carolina. If that works they should have them in a day or so. I also went to Kaiser to turn in some test material. Like to never have found a place to park. But that's done. So far all the regular check up tests I've been taking are fine. Normal, for me, is how the recording put it. I don't know what most of the tests are but I'm normal and that works for me.

Here's another thing that doesn't work. I swatched this on Saturday night and washed it. It's way smaller than it's supposed to be. But I figured I could just make the next size and everything would average out.

The yarn is really hard to work with. It feels almost greasy. It's a two ply tweed that was a gift from the Thursday night benefactress, the one who gave me all that yarn last week. I spent several hours working the rib and about ten rows of the cable pattern. The back of my hands felt like all the little bones had been crushed. Then I began to fret that I won't have enough yarn to make the vest I had started.

I looked inside the cone to see it there was any way I could figure out how much I had. The handwritten label said 839 yards per pound. But I don't know how many pounds I have. I'll have to uncover the kitchen scale. While I was looking at the label I saw that the yarn was rated at worsted, not the dk weight I thought it was. So I ripped the whole thing and my hands feel much better.

And furthermore, my local classical radio station doesn't work. They're having transmitter problems. So I've been trying to listen on line. That works, sometimes.

Share

Share

As much as I'd like to, there's just not enough time to knit everything I'd like to for the Dulaan Project. If you've seen the pictures on Ryan's blog you know how much the kids in Mongolia love receiving these warming gifts. I can't begin to knit everything I'd like to.

So I was really happy when one of my on-line friends offered to help. I'm sending these six skeins and will add more if I can find it in my stash. Well, I'll send more if she wants it. I'm trying to get as much gathered together as I can. Yarn that will be warm and easy to care for. If you're interested in doing some knitting for the Dulaan Project, let me know and I'll send it. I'll try to post pictures next week of what I've come up with.

And speaking of sharing. One of our Thursday night knitters decided she needed to reduce her stash, again. That's always a fun time. This is some Noro Sumile. I'd never seen or heard of this particular yarn. It's a flat chenille made of cotton, silk and nylon. I have nine skeins of it. About a thousand yards all together. No ideas yet.

There's also eighteen skeins of Dale of Norway Heilo sitting in a bag in my living room. A marled yarn of brown and beige. No photo because I forgot to take one while I was doing the others. I'll have to see/play with it a bit to know what sort of pattern I'd like to use.

Oh! and Happy Birthday, Mozart!

I was amazed

I was amazed



at how quickly I pulled the needles out and raveled an afternoon's knitting. Only a couple of expletives that were perhaps excessive given the circumstances. And only a brief twinge of an urge to trash the yarn and needles and give up knitting forever.

I can't really blame it on surfing while I knit. There wasn't anything wrong with the knitting. Except there were four too few stitches. Always check your pattern first. I've made these mittens before, just in a smaller size. I thought I remembered how many stitches to cast on and the pattern repeat worked out okay. It did seem a bit different from mitten number one but I thought it was probably just me not recalling the previous mitten correctly. So I kept on.

When it was time to start the hand, after two and a half inches of K2tbl, P2, I decided to check to see how many rows I needed to work before the start of the thumb gusset. (Here's where the expletives occurred.) I really didn't want to send one red mitten to Mongolia so Off The Needles. Cast on the right number of stitches and am about half way back to where I was yesterday.

It's good for me. Right? If you knit, you will rip. Especially if you don't read your pattern first.

All wrapped up

All wrapped up



I finished the Tzarina wrap, (Wrap Style by Pam Allen and Ann Budd) yesterday morning, including sewing on the buttons and giving it a good steaming. Lisa came over last night and picked it up.

I think I'm always a bit disappointed in how my finished objects look, at least until I've had some time to put some distance between them and me. Lisa had a shawl on last night that I had made a few years ago and I thought it looked fine. So, yes, I'm a bit unhappy with this project. I think maybe I need different buttons. These seem way too big to me now. But Lisa liked the wrap a lot. I do like the yarn and the colors. And it's soft enough given the angora that's in the blend. I'll see how I feel about it the next time I see it.

I've been a little slow at the shop. No one yesterday, which turned out to be a good thing. The shoplifter, or the person we think is a shoplifter, was back. I had to spend at least half an hour following her around and watching her every move. She tried to return three balls of yarn but she didn't have a receipt so I wouldn't let her return them. She said she'd be back on Tuesday when Ann Mary is back from TNNA. (Note to self: call Ann Mary and warn her.)

Back to knitting. I've just started the second of a pair of Dulaan mittens. And I found a pair of socks that is almost ready to have the heel turned on the second sock. So I'll concentrate on those for the rest of the day.

I never did get the books and magazines organized but I did get them picked up and put on the bookshelves. I had to take a lot of yarn off the shelves to do it so now I have some new piles to deal with. But I did manage to empty one cube in my wall o' yarn. I sent the rest of the Kitchen Cotton away.

I found 30 skeins of Barufa Baby Alpaca that I'd forgotten about. I got it as payment for knitting a sweater for one of the yarn reps, probably ten years ago. There was also a bunch of stuff, a cotton blend, that I got when I first started knitting seriously, from Super Yarn Mart, a chain of yarn shops that used to be all over the place around here. They've been gone for ten years or more. So this is some pretty old stuff.

Sometimes there's just no news

Sometimes there's just no news.

Things are pretty quiet around this blog. There's nothing really new to report. I am almost done with the bind off on the back of the Tzarina wrap. I should be able to pick up the stitches for the collar tomorrow and finish it by the end of the weekend. That's really all I've worked on this week. I did discover I'm missing a stitch. I can't find anything dropped so I'm assuming I didn't cast on enough when I joined the two fronts. I'm going with it the way it is. If something shows up later on I'll do whatever I need to do to fix it. Once this is done I'll spend the next couple of weeks finishing up some more stalled projects.

I'm still deciding which project to do for the Knitting Olympics. The Aran Pullover is the frontrunner but today I pulled out some cotton/acrylic blend from my stash and did a swatch. (Sirdar's Opium which I think is discontinued. I've had it for at least seven years.)I'm thinking maybe I should do something for the coming spring/summer season. I can still do something with cables to make it interesting. On the other hand I really ought to use the Jo Sharp Aran Tweed.

I'm also trying to organize my books and magazines. Right now I have a bunch stacked in the middle of my living room. Pat the Cat loves to sit on magazines so they're getting a bit strewn around. Tonight he was playing with his new catnip toy and rolling around on the books so they're even more strewn. I'll try to get them put away tomorrow night.

What to do, what to do!

What to do, what to do?

I suppose everyone knows about it by now. I started running across references to it this morning when I was doing the blogs. Since I read blogs alphabetically it was a while before I got to Stephanie's blog. And there it was, the Knitting Olympics challenge.

That's seemed like a great idea. But what to do that would be a challenge. I have several projects that I would like to get started on but I'm notoriously bad about completing them. So that's really the challenge for me. That, and picking something I really would enjoy working on and that would keep my attention from wandering.

I could do the Lady Eleanor shawl from Scarf Style. Probably not interesting enough. And there's a sweater I want for myself from the Noro Kureyon I got last week. Too easy to keep me going. I may have to use that yarn for something else now that I think of it. And then there's the Aran Pullover by Kristin Nicholas from the current Interweave Knits. I think that's the one I'll do. I have the yarn and now's a good time to work on it. I still have some time to think about this since the challenge doesn't start until Feb. 10.

Meanwhile. I went to Stitch in Time on Monday to pick up a circular needle for the back of the Tzarina wrap. The stitches will fit on a regular length straight needle but it's a squeeze. Stitch in Time has the best prices on knitting accessories of any local shop. You might do better on line but you'd have to wait for it.

While I was there I came across this yarn from a company named Lucci. Never heard of them? Neither had I. They're in Bayside, NY. I liked the colors and the sort of fuzzy, felted look the yarn has. So I got a couple of skeins. $8.00 each. I'm at the end of the first skein and just about ready to start the decreases on this, the fortyleventh hat I've made in the last two months. I know. They're easy but at least I finish them.

It's a wrap!

It's a wrap!



Well, actually, it's half a wrap. I'm making the Tzarina wrap from Wrap Style. The yarn is Noro Kochoran. It's going pretty fast so far. It would have been faster except I didn't go back and check the dimensions so I knit the fronts two inches longer than the pattern called for. I think that will be a better length for Lisa. I've already purchased an additional skein.

Getting it right the first tie

Getting it right the first time

Not that there weren't mistakes. Most of them were caused by my not reading the pattern carefully enough and miscounting a couple of times.

I'm using the Lady Eleanor shawl from Scarf Style as my initial sampling of entrelac. So far I think I'm getting it. I looked at a couple of other entrelac pieces just to see how they're similar and different from this one. Certainly they're not all the same but there's a generic quality that's helpful.

I'm using some scrap Encore just to see all the steps. I can understand why a more "rustic" yarn might be appropriate for this shawl. It has a blurring quality that will help to minimize some of the irrgular stitches that happen when you have all that picking up and slipping and SSKing going on. I'm not sure if I'll proceed much farther with this but if I do I think I'll use some Noro Shinano that is somewhere in my stash. (There's that Noro thing again.) I imagine the gauge is going to be different but I think that won't matter so much.

Knittin' Mittens

Knittin' Mittens

I finished these mittens this morning shortly after I got to Skein. I asked a couple of people to try them on. And they liked them. I used about two thirds of one skein of Brown Sheep Nature Spun.

I need to fine tune the pattern before I post it. I'd rather use a make one increase than the bar increase. And I'd like to test drive a different size. I'd like to get this down to a simple, quick to do project. If I'm going to knit mittens I want them fast.

I had a really nice day. It's amazing what an extra day off can do for your attitude. This seemed to be the day for socks and the somewhat related wrist warmers. I worked some on my current pair and some on the Tzarina wrap that I'm making from Wrap Style. Now I'm going to go see what's involved in doing entrelac. How hard could it be?

More yarn and other stuff

More yarn and other stuff

I had a gift certificate that was burning the proverbial hole in my proverbial pocket. I could have waited until Thursday when I would be in Monrovia anyway but I didn't want to wait that long. I'm glad I didn't. This Ironstone handpainted ribbon, Infinity, would probably have all been gone by then. They still had some of each of five colors but there wasn't much of some of them. Anyway I got this. Sorry about the photo. I even went outside to take the picture. Probably should have used the tripod. This is 100% cotton. The label says "Spun in England" whatever that means. I have 785 yards which I hope is enough for a top for Lisa.

Here's the Brown Sheep Nature Spun I got yesterday at Velona's. I've started a pair of mittens that will go in my Dulaan box. I'm adapting a pattern kind of as I go. The original pattern called for working flat and sewing the side seam. I'd rather not do that. Not sure yet if I'm going to graft the end or turn it inside out and use a three needle bind off. I made some mittens last year for the project but I wasn't very happy with how they came out. I think these will be better.

And also from Velona's. Five hanks of Classic Elite Waterspun. I think each one will be enough for a child's hat. I've never used or seen this yarn. But I have heard of it. It is very soft, 100% merino. Should be warm. It's probably also going to go to Mongolia.

Someone, I don't know who, must have made a contribution to Doctors Without Borders in my name. I got a form letter from them thanking me for my recent $35 contribution. I haven't sent anything to them since the beginning of last year. So I don't know who to thank. If you sent it I'd love to know. If you wish to remain anonymous, okay, but thanks anyway.

Did you know?

Did you know?

You can still get Noro Kureyon at Velona's for $8.95US per skein. That's one to two dollars less than other stores in my area. So, depending on who you compare them to, I saved twenty or forty dollars today. And I already have the pattern in a book for something else so that's practically free. Now all I need is a little more time.

This may be the year of knitting Noro. I've started a wrap using Kochoran and I have a cardigan in Silk Garden that is ready to go. Now this sweater, for me, plus there'll no doubt be several multi-directional scarves along the way and some one skein hats. I want some of their new Silver Thaw but haven't found exactly what I want to do with it. And I'm going to wait to see if I can get it on sale somewhere.



I finished the Dulaan red cotton sweater just a few minutes ago. I still need to wash it but the ends are all woven in. I only had about half of the yoke done when I put it away last year. So I guess it really only took about a week to actually knit. I'm so glad I'm done with it. I don't think I'll ever use Kitchen Cotton again. Gotta find someone who wants seven or eight balls of it. There's a pink dot on the photo that I think must be something on my camera lens. Another thing to add to my to do list.