Here’s contestant number two in the Union Market Square Pullover personality contest. Knitpicks Andean Treasure. The main color would be that nice, heathery orange, with that deep burgandy as its accent color. This is a sport-weight yarn, and at 6 stitches per inch . . . may be too large for me to use for this one.

Still, it’s lovely and soft and the colors are great. Definitely a good addition to my stash, even if it doesn’t get used for this sweater.

Maybe I’ll be lucky and my third option will come in tomorrow’s mail. Then I could swatch all three this weekend!

  And, what’s this that came today? Is it a briefcase of some kind? An art portfolio?

  No, it’s a Spaceboard for blocking! Like the one Theresa uses and that I’ve been lusting after for ages. I got mine from Patternworks, and it came so quickly. I had compared it to a couple other sites (like Angelika’s) and while the board itself was a little more, they didn’t charge extra for shipping and it was shipped directly from them rather than the manufacturer, so there was no extra waiting. Now I can block my NbaT properly when I get that second sleeve done.

Really, it will be so unusual to be able to actually measure things as I block them, it will be quite refreshing!

  Look what else I did last night. I turned my row counter into a [badly made but I don't care I'm proud of myself anyway] beaded stitch marker. Now, I’ve had this actual row counter for years. Like,15 or so years. I haven’t lost it and it’s treated me right. But there’s been one problem–getting it on the needles, especially since I love circular knitting whenever possible.

Using a tip from Maggie Righetti’s Knitting in Plain English (a book I recommed to just everyone), what I HAD done was string a piece of yarn through the counter and tie it through one of those plastic stitch markers. That worked for the longest time, but eventually the yarn wore through. Fine. I replaced that. Then I accidentally knitted the marker into a stitch and had to cut it free. That’s okay, too. Plenty of markers where that came from. But in its most recent incarnation, it was on a split-ring marker–which kept snagging on my Chai yarn last night. (You can see this for yourself in the photo I posted last night.)

So last night, I was daring. I strung this on an eye pin and somehow or other managed to connect it to a metal split ring. The workmanship is lousy, but I’m proud of myself! It will be easier to slide from needle to needle and, while it’s no work of art, it certainly looks better than it did.

Now, as to the Chai shawl. I’ve been thinking about it all day–even at the dentist’s office–and I think I’m going to frog what I’ve got and start fresh. The pattern is coming too close to the YO increases at each end of the sections. It’s tricky, you see, because each diamond increases one stitch at either side–easy to shape around, but then there’s a jump of four stitches before the next diamond, and already that’s caught me off-guard. I think I need a bigger buffer around the lace pattern. And I also think that–since I need to do shaping increases not only on the front side, but also on the back–I may do all of them as M1 increases instead of YOs since the holes will get kind of busy looking . . . All things to think about!! But I think I’m going to start fresh. The lace pattern is beautiful, the yarn is beyond gorgeous . . . they deserve as good a pattern as I can come up with.

I am so looking forward to my long weekend! Longer than some, even, because my company always gives a four-day weekend for Fourth of July. (There’s such a drout of summer holidays, the PTB decided years ago to give off two days instead of just one for this holiday. Wasn’t that nice?)

  Oh, and I almost forgot! While sitting in the dentist’s waiting room, I saw a display for a veneer product that you can use to cosmetically improve your teeth without having to actually pull or do anything drastic or painful to your actual teeth. However, that’s not at all what the display actually read. “These Lumineer Smiles Were Created Without Removal of Painful Tooth Structure.” Oh, that adverb placement is so important–it should be modifying “removal,” not “tooth structure!” What this actually says is that they won’t be removing that painful tooth structure of yours. In other words, your teeth are still going to hurt, but they’ll look pretty. This company CLEARLY needs to hire better copy editors. Or to, you know, read what they’re printing on heaven knows how many promotional items to display at dentists’ offices around the country? Sheesh.

(Be proud of me–this was the first photo I’ve taken with my camera phone–and I figured out how to e-mail it to myself, and everything!)

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Just . . . Stuff // 2 Comments »

  Let’s see. I started my Chai shawl which, at the moment, doesn’t really look like much of anything. I may have to rethink some of this, though. The way, at least, that I’ve got this charted out, I have to move the markers every other row, and as we remember from my comments about Peacock, I don’t like having to move my stitch markers. And, every other row for the entire shawl? Ick.

The lace pattern, of course, I got from the Heirloom Knitting book, but I pieced it together for the triangle shawl myself . . . so any difficulty is my own fault. But also, therefore, theoretically fixable by me. So what you see here in this picture may be history in another day or so!

  I did get a decent picture of my Calmer colors (at least not so glaringly pink and blue). In fact, this is a picture of my knitting bag . . . the bag that I adore not least because it holds a lot and stays w-i-i-i-d-e open. All in all, it’s a remarkably coordinated knitting bag at the moment–doesn’t the sock yarn from my KRSecretPal go perfectly with the NbaT colors?

  And, oh yes, the first yarn contestant for my Union Square Market Pullover arrived today. It’s this incredibly soft, very nice Alpaca from Misti in a nice, mossy green, with deep purple as the potential accent color.

Did I not explain? Well, I’m kind of out of control where the yarn for this sweater is concerned. I’ve ordered yarn from three different places and am waiting to see which one will give me the gauge I need . . . and I’ll figure out what to do with the “rejects” later. Do you think this means I have a problem? Maybe I should have just gone with the Plassard Alpaga in the first place and saved myself all this guess work . . . and really, if I end up being too lazy to return the yarns I don’t want, it would have been cheaper after all! (Though, it was hard to find a source for it….)

The thing is, with this one, I bought lace-weight . . . I’m not exactly sure why, except that that’s closer to Fingering weight than the Sport weight version would have been. The sweater requires a gauge of 27 stitches over 4″, and since I tend to be a loose knitter, I figured I’d have a better chance with thinner yarn rather than thicker. Hence the lace weight. I’ll knit up a swatch later or tomorrow or something.

Incidentally, if you haven’t checked them out before, please do visit the YarnDex, an online index of just about every yarn out there, that can be sorted by manufacturer, weight, fiber . . . extremely helpful when looking for a specific (or a specific kind of) yarn. Useful!

Oh! I almost forgot. Thanks, Natalie, for adding the Union Square Market Pullover Knit-Along to your site of 2005 Knit-alongs!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Progress? // 4 Comments »

Just to confirm that the colors for my NbaT really aren’t pink and blue and that I’m not trying to pull your leg, I snitched these color swatches off the internet (since my camera isn’t cooperating):

Coral on the left.

Khaki on the right.

Don’t they look great together? I wouldn’t have done anything with roughly equal amounts of color with the two of them, but with just the edging around the sleeve and the neck, I think the Khaki adds a nice accent to the Coral. Like I said, just different enough to be interesting without being weird (grin).

I bought my yarns, incidentally from Colourway in England. Even with the currently abysmal exchange rate, and the shipping, the price was cheaper than buying this from just about anywhere in the U.S. that I could find, and the service was wonderfully fast. I placed my order on a Thursday, and my yarn arrived on Tuesday. In New Jersey. From England. Over a weekend. Fast!

I finished reading “1776″ by David McCullough tonight. He tells such a good story and is a darn good historian. (Though, I read in an interview that he considers himself a writer who happens to write about history, not a historian.) Anyway, what I wanted to share? I came across two names that sound like something that JK Rowling would have made up: Albigence Waldo and Philip Fithian. Too funny, and yet real!

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Color Check // 5 Comments »

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one nuts about my dog (or cat, or horse, or any other kind of pet). Look at the great toy that Sarah made for her dog. One thing that Chappy does not have is hand-knit dog toys! (Hmmm….)

Now, just to prove that I have, in fact, been knitting lately, here’s a current picture of my NbaT. Which, again, looks pink in the photo (it’s not), and the edging on the sleeves looks blue (it’s not, either). Sigh. Digital photography simply isn’t perfect. The main color is actually Coral, and the accent is Khaki, and they really look nice together–complimentary, yet a little unexpected. My favorite kind of combination.

And, naturally, since the pieces are just laid out on the floor and are unblocked, they don’t look the same size. Don’t worry, they are. I was busy making sure that Chappy–whose foot you can just barely see in the top right corner–didn’t grab the sleeve and run off, as I could tell that he was longing to do. You can’t quite see it, but I cast on and knitted the first two rows of sleeve #2, but the needle’s kind of blending in with the floor . . . but it’s there.

  The other thing I’ve been working on? Charting the lace for my Chai. I copied the chart onto Excel and have been working on figuring out the best, most graceful way to accomplish the increases necessary for a triangular shawl, and the darn thing’s being difficult . . . or at least, it’s being difficult because I only have about 5 minutes at a time to think about it before I’m interrupted or my concentration wanders off (grin).

Which isn’t to say that I’m not enjoying the process–just that it’s taking longer than I thought it would. I’m starting to go into the dreaded Lace Withdrawal. And with my T nearing completion and the yarn for my Union Square Market Pullover not yet here, this means that I’m perilously close to being AWAP (Altogether Without A Project). I’m sure it won’t actually happen, and there’s the lovely sock yarn my KRSP sent me last month–you know, from the box that I didn’t accidentally recycle–and which I’ve been carrying around in my knitting bag the last couple of days. (And which, I might add, coordinates incredibly well with the Coral Calmer.)

  And of course, there’s the spinning. I’ve been a neglectful spinner lately. I’ve got that lovely blue-green roving from Liz, that I’ve been spinning on my drop spindle . . . and you know, I know that it should be easier to just pick up the spindle for a few minutes than to sit down at the wheel . . . and it is . . . but it never really seems to work that way! And so the spindle sits there. The only person who’s touched the waiting roving lately is Chappy . . . he pulled the roving out from my lap desk the other day . . . naughty, naughty dog! I hope he didn’t felt any of it . . . but maybe he just felt that somebody should be doing something with this lovely stuff!

And yes, I prefer to sit on the floor, leaning back against my ottoman when I work on the computer, rather than sitting at a desk. The bed table keeps the hot computer off my lap, and the side spots give me someplace to stash things (like roving or books on HTML, which I know very little about). I can fidget better than I would at a desk–especially since I don’t have a real desk chair in my bedroom, just a little Bombay Company bench–and besides, if I sit on the floor, Chappy can come and sit next to me, and really, the floor’s not that uncomfortable (grin).

You know, Medium is on right now. I started watching this around the third episode or so of the season and didn’t miss one the rest of the year . . . but I never caught the first one. The episode on right now is the first one I saw, which makes me wonder–have they already repeated the pilot and I missed it?? If so . . . darn!

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:It’s Not Just Me // 9 Comments »

If I had realized how much fun it was going to be, hosting a Knit-along, I would have come up with one months ago.

  Well, no, it’s better that I waited until I had some idea what I was doing–AND found a pattern to get really enthusiastic about–but I’m having a good time, and I’ve barely begun (grin). We’ve got five people signed up already which I think is pretty good considering I just set this up and it’s the weekend, and all that.

In the time when I haven’t been trying to figure out Blogger and basic HTML stuff for setting things up, I’ve been working on the lace chart for my Chai shawl. It’s not a complicated lace pattern–just basic diamonds with a double row of YOs outlining them–but it’s 20 rows by 16, and my brain just hasn’t locked into the math/geometry needed to figure out how many increases I need and with what frequency to gracefully shape this into a triangular shawl. Not because it’s too hard, mind you, but just because my brain and I have been going in 20 directions at once!

I finished the front of my NbaT last night, and started the first sleeve–it’s a short little sleeve and I know it won’t take that long, but I’m not enjoying those knitted-in hems. I love the way the look, and I love the weight they give to the bottom of the pieces, but I do not like knitting them in! I think the hard part is picking up the stitch from the cast-on edge. I’ve tried it with my knitting needle point and also with a crochet hook and don’t like it either way.

Reading ahead on the Union Square Market Pullover (a mouthful of a name, but at least all easily-pronounced, recognizable words, unlike the Clapotis phenomenon)–it also has a knitted hem but it starts with a provisional cast-on whose stitches get picked up by another knitting needle before joining the hem–so it’s more like a combination of K2tog and a three-needle bind-off. I’m sure I’m going to like that a lot better.

Actually, reading ahead on the USMP pattern is a good idea. It’s a nice, challenging pattern–not a sweater you can dash off in a weekend. (Or at least, not one that I could dash off in a weekend.) It’s got all sorts of interesting touches–short rows in the slightly belled sleeves, the fold-over flap in the front, contrast edging, buttons at the shoulder . . . not a boring sweater to knit at all!

I can’t wait until that sport-weight Alpaca from KnitPicks comes so I can try a swatch and see if I’m anywhere near the gauge I need. Gosh, I ordered it on Friday and here it is Sunday . . . what’s taking them so long?

Must be the heat slowing them down. All I’ll say about this weekend’s weather is . . . ick. It didn’t rain, and we have air conditioning, but ugh. Hazy, hot, and humid. Blech!

And, I just came across my Button on another site–the first time I’ve seen it anywhere but here. Thanks, April! Which makes me wonder–has anyone else borrowed it, and I just didn’t know? If so, let me know!

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:If I Had Only Known // 7 Comments »

Okay, I’ll do it! I’ll host the Union Square Market Pullover Knit-Along (and therefore will only have myself to blame at the long name for the group). I even checked with Kate Gilbert (the designer) herself to ask her opinion, and she said:

Deb,
Go right ahead! I’d be honored. I have heard here and there people threatening to eventually start a knit along, but I couldn’t tell you who and who could stop you even if someone else is doing it!
Have fun and thanks for the compliments!
Kate

So that pretty much answers that!

And so, I’ve designed a button and everything:

The next question is, format? I figure I’ve got two, real options:

• Either set it up as a Yahoo!Group so people can post and link to pictures and all of that, or
• Set it up as a Blogger blog, with multiple authors

Edited to add: It’s the Blogger group! And I already have one other member!

Hey, you folks know me well enough to know I’m thorough! Which one do you like better??

(Yes, I know there’s a third option where I just give weekly updates on how everyone’s doing, but in the KALs I’ve been in, I find it more fun to be able to post for myself–not to mention sharing advice and tips and questions and all that amongst the group.)

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Okay, I’ll Do It! // 5 Comments »

So, Marina suggested that I host a Knit-along for the Union Square Market sweater. I don’t know . . . I’ve never hosted a KAL before! Is there some sort of protocol involved? Or do you just have to be the first to say “I’ll do it?”

What do you folks thing–I’m willing, but could use some guidance!

Vote here!

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Union Square Market KAL?? // 3 Comments »

I’d say this qualifies as a pretty good day.

  First, I got my box from my Secret Pal 5–thanks! Red Lines, Jolly Rancher lollipops–both good, though I’m really more of a chocolate girl (grin)–a copy of Cooks magazine, a container of biscuits which Chappy claims taunted him all afternoon until I got home from work, and two skeins of Debbie Bliss DK Merino. Thanks, Pal!

Second, my Interweave Knits arrived. I really do love that Union Square sweater (the cover) and hope somebody starts a KAL for that one, because, well, sign me up!

I didn’t have time to actually look at the magazine, since the mail came just as I needed to head back to work, but I did glance at the gauge for the sweater, and then at the yarn I’d bought . . . nope. Not going to work. The [expensive, French] Plassard Alpaga used in the sweater is fingering-weight alpaca, and the “Andean Silk” yarn I’d bought from Knitpicks is worsted-weight. That’s a difference of 4.5/5 stitches per inch to 6.5/7 per . . . no way that’s going to work.

So! I’m trying this instead. Yes, yes, I know. This is still not the same gauge, but it’s a whole lot closer and at almost a third of the price of trying to get the Plassard yarn (which, mind you, looks lovely), it’s worth a try. And then I’ll decide what to do with the Andean Silk. I still love the colors I picked and it’s wonderfully soft . . . it’s either save it for something else, return it to Knitpicks, or “recycle” it by giving it to someone else. I’m torn because it’s really lovely and would have been beautiful in this sweater . . . but then, it would be equally beautiful in another sweater, too, so!

Has anyone noticed how much I’m enjoying Knitpick’s new, relatively inexpensive yarns? It still blows my mind that the yarn for my Peacock shawl only cost me $15 and change. (The “change” being the 1 or 2 yards from that fourth skein that I needed to use, and that I’m still grumbling about.) I really don’t mind spending reasonable amounts of money on yarn, but if I can get the same quality at these super prices . . . even better!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:And It’s Friday, Too! // 7 Comments »

  I just made myself a little Candy Bar paper doll that looks JUST like me (except for being about 20 years younger and a bit thinner and mysteriously having a penguin). Cute, though, huh? Go make your own!

(Though, I should warn you that these things are addictive. “No, no, let’s see if I can find a better match for my hair . . . there are only 800+ options to choose from, it won’t take long.” That’s the kind of rationale you need to look out for–especially if you’re stealing the time to do this at work . . . ahem . . . not that I would!)

And, seriously, that’s all I’ve got for you right now. I’m busy charting the lace pattern for the corners of my soon-to-be Chai shawl, but therefore don’t have any knitting progress to show you. I’m just glad it’s Friday at last.

Edited to add: See? Dangerous! Now I’ve done two . . . (Couldn’t help it, it’s supposed to be in the 90s and humid this weekend, that first girl just looked too hot. I’m really just looking out for HER.) (And yes, I know, capris and 3/4 sleeves aren’t exactly heat-wave clothing, either, but I really don’t like shorts and camis.)

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:What a Doll! // 3 Comments »

  Thank, you Liz! As a thank you for the yarn I sent her a couple of weeks ago, she sent me a copy of Knitting on the Edge. Wasn’t that nice of her? (And, Liz, I’d send you an e-mail, but I can’t find your address–I really should just start archiving ALL my e-mail, I know–but in the meantime, I hope you see this, my public acknowledgment of your good manners. Your mother would be proud!) Thank you!

I’m actually still looking for the right lace pattern for my Chai shawl. I thought I had it a couple days ago, but while it was nice, I didn’t love it. I think now that I’ve settled on one from “Heirloom Knitting.” I actually liked the Horseshoe Pattern (aka Fishtail) since it would have done a nice little wavy thing at the color changes, but I’ve liked this Trellis Diamond II for a while. In fact, it was my first choice. I swatched it tonight and it seems like it will work out . . . this thick-and-thin yarn makes it a little tricky. Bigger needles helped, too. I don’t know if it’s the looser gauge or if it’s the fact that I’ve knitted this same yarn several times by now, but it’s much softer now. I’m loving it, in fact.

Next step is to (1) force myself to stop looking through pattern books which keep making me doubt my choices and (2) chart out the pattern with the shaping increases included–you know, the ones I have yet to figure out.

And, oh yes, no surprise here, but the consensus seems to be that the shoes I posted about yesterday are perfect!

Here’s a a funny link from Mirabilis.ca . . . about following the so-called “Jesus Diet.” I laughed, too!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Edging Closer to Chai // 2 Comments »

Okay, tell me honestly.

Do you think these shoes go with my Peacock shawl?

Uh-huh.

But, do you think the colors match?

Yeah, but, more importantly, do you think I could find better shoes? You know, to wear to a wedding?

{giggle}

See? This is one of the reasons I love the internet. I would never have found these shoes in a store. They’re Kenneth Cole shoes in a color called “Pool,” and they are perfect. At this point, I could practically wear a t-shirt and shorts and be adequately dressed for this wedding–the shawl and shoes together ARE an outfit. (Okay, maybe another layer is necessary for the demands of propriety, but really…)

I tried the shoes on and they’re even reasonably comfortable, but my goodness–that toe! I’ve never worn such a pointed toe in a shoe before. But true to Stacy‘s claims, they’re not as uncomfortable as you might think. At least, you know, for five minutes of wearing them around the house. And sometimes you just have to suffer for beauty.

Look what else arrived at our house today. Eight skeins of Golden Chai yarn. Oh, so beautiful! That’s four skeins of color #36 (the lovely green at the end), two skeins of the bronzy-green in #34, and then #28 that’s mostly bronze, and #22 that’s kind of a golden-peach. These four will become a graduated shawl.

(Oh, and incidentally, there’s nothing on the label about ironing this yarn. Just thought you should know.)

Ben, one of the fellows who’s been working on my bathroom, is upstairs right now, connecting my second sink. When he finished up on Saturday, he was missing a couple parts. (More precisely, the ones he bought at Home Depot were damaged.) So, he came back yesterday, did one sink and then . . . the new box o’parts he’d bought was still missing something . . . and so he’s back again. It’s not really his fault and he’s a perfectly nice fellow, but I’m hoping he doesn’t have to come back again. I want to reclaim my bathroom now.

Chappy feels the same way–he’s sick and tired of having people working in his house, and who can blame him? And to add insult to injury, tonight, Ben showed up while Chappy was eating his supper. Can’t a boy eat in peace, for heaven’s sake?

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Honest Opinion?? // 11 Comments »

  Isn’t it nice? I got a thank you gift from Amy for the yarn I sent her last month. Some peach tea and a gift card to Barnes & Noble. (And everyone knows that I can find a use for that.) Knitting people are nice.

  I made another swatch tonight for my Chai lace. As promised, I went back to my pattern books last night and picked out a couple of different possibilities–ones that are a little more “knit” and little less “air.” I came up with this diamond-shaped, trellis pattern, and knitted it up with all four of my yarn colors. Now that they’re all together, I don’t think that top one goes quite so well with the other three as I thought, but I still like it. And the sheen to this yarn! So, so gorgeous.

Now I’ve got the lace pattern picked out, I’ll figure out what I need to do to fit it into the shawl, the best shape for the shawl . . . all that kind of stuff. With luck, I’ll be already to go when the actual yarn arrives.

I pre-ordered the “3 Cornered and Long Shawl” book by Sigrídur Halldórsdóttir from Schoolhouse Press today. It’s been out of print, but is just being republished–in whichever Scandinavian language it was written in. (I’m not sure which one.) But Schoolhouse Press is offering the book–with all the illustrations and such–and the English translation of the patterns. I hope it’s worth it! This is what happens when you have a new lace addiction, I suppose.

Oh, and Cindy, one of my best friends just started a blog. She’s more of a “dog” person than a “knitting” person (though I did teach her to knit a year or two ago), but please stop by and say hello. She’s the mom of Chappy’s best friend, Horatio (the Corgi) and also owns a retired-racing Greyhound named Princess. She even has a store in Boonton called “The Greyhound and the Corgi.” (There’s a webstore, too, but she’s taken it down to do some work on it.) Anyway, take a trip over and say hello!

And, oh yes–some computer frustration. My father hit the rest button on our router and . . . poof! . . . back to the manufacturer’s settings. All the security things I had to turned on were gone . . . all except its memory of my password . . . which it refuses to agree is the same one I’ve got. So, I can’t get in to make any changes, but in the meantime, while we’re all online, we’re “insecure.” Sigh. I’ll just keep telling myself I love computers, I love computers….

• Tags: General • Permalink:Successful Swatching // 6 Comments »

Everyone knows that swatching for things like sweaters is important. Gauge is vital to ensuring a good fit, and making a swatch gives you a chance to make sure things are on track.

It’s easy, however, to assume that these things don’t matter with lace. It’s light, it’s airy, and when it’s going to be something like a scarf or shawl, what does it matter? A little bigger, a little smaller, what real difference does it make?

Well, it does. And I’ll give you two examples.

The first one, I mentioned the other day. My Peacock Feathers shawl is big. Huge. And so long when placed around my neck that the front corners almost touch the ground. If I had bothered to make (and block) a swatch in the first place, I would have known to use either smaller needles or something less slick, like bamboo, so that the shawl would have been that little bit smaller.

The second one regards pattern. I’ve ordered Chai yarn from Artfibers in San Francisco for my next shawl, and I thought I’d picked the lace pattern I wanted to knit it in. But tonight, since I’m waiting for my order anyway, I started a swatch.

  Yes, of course it’s miniscule–I only have a little of the yarn to work with–but this is two horizontal pattern repeats, and one vertical one, and you can see no rhyme or reason to the lace pattern in this swatch. The thick-and-thin nature of the yarn conspires to hide the airy, fragile nature of the lace stitch. An entire shawl made of this would be just as warm and airy as one in a different lace, the yarn would look just as beautiful, but just from this one swatch . . . I don’t think you’d ever see the actual pattern of the lace itself.

So, back to the drawing board. Or more precisely, the lace books, looking for a pattern that can stand up to the irregularities of this beautiful yarn. Something with a little more “meat” to it, I think, and with a more regular pattern, that the eye can “intuit” as it skims over the knitted fabric. Diamonds, perhaps.

In the meantime, though, I’ve discovered that I love the sheen of this yarn, and it slides pretty nicely across my Addi Turbos, but with a tiny bit of friction from the silk–but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. (See reason number one, above.) I also liked the size 5 needles I made this swatch on–stands up nicely to the overall weight of the yarn.

See? Swatching lace is useful after all! Who knew?

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:This is Why Swatching Lace is Good // 8 Comments »

Our kitchen-and-bathroom saga is almost over. The kitchen’s been done for a couple of weeks, my parents’ bathroom was finished on Monday, and mine is 98% done. Everything except the pipe/traps under the sink (as in, if you ran the water right now, you’d end up with a puddle of water at the bottom of the vanity–not really optimal usage!

  We went from this–that’s a scrolly-shaped blue tile floor (with scrolly-shaped, impossible-to-clean grout), formica vanity, blue sink and toilet, and blue tile wainscoting on the walls–and a matching blue tub and tub-enclosure behind the door….

  … Through this–no vanity, no toilet, no floor, and um, that’s the closet door leaning against the wall…

  …Past this–that’s the new floor (a blue-gray, slate-like tile–not yet grouted), and the matching acrylic “insert” wall from inside the tub, covering the blue tile on the walls….

  … To this! New, completely mirrored medicine chests (bigger than the ones before), a dark blue counter top, maple vanity, new Moen faucets and matching hardware for the soapdish, towel racks, etc, new Koehler toilet….

  And, you know, the shower/tub . . . I know it’s a very sterile white, but that’s why I went for the dramatically dark floor and counter. A bathroom can only handle so much white without looking like a laboratory. (Not that there’s anything with with a lab, but I don’t much care to bathe in one.) Next decision is what to do with the old wallpaper . . . I mean, yeah, replace it, but with what? . . . and what accent color I want the shower curtain and towels to be. Not exactly an urgent thing to decide at all, and for now, the gold-colored curtain is fine.

If only the sinks had running water . . .

Chappy, meantime, is exhausted, but happily collapsed next to me right now, glad to have just his family in the house–no workmen. (He doesn’t know that Ben is supposed to come back later to finish hooking up the sinks. I think I’ll wait to break the news.) I did some cleaning this morning, but have been trying to let him get some rest.

I’m almost done with the front of my NbaT–at least, I’m just about at the armhole. I got quite a bit of knitting done out on the deck with Chappy yesterday, though I didn’t do any last night–I was too tired. Instead, we watched “In Good Company” with Dennis Quaid, and I read through “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” (Next Saturday, it’s on to book #3!)

The fiction that I’m reading now is “World Without End” by Sean Russell, one of my favorites. It’s a fantasy book that takes place in a world similar to ours in the 19th century–except this world used to have mages, who have since died out. The main character, Tristam Flattery, is similar to Darwin, in that he’s a naturalist, interested in the study of plants and animals, unwilling to accept that there might be some magic left in the world. I love the book, love the world, love the characters, love the writing, love the story. This is the first book I’d read of this author, and remains my favorite, though his writing style is just superb. Eminently readable, interesting.

My Dad is having a good Father’s Day, too. I defrosted the little, mini, Christmas Stollen that’s been in the freezer since December for his breakfast. (Stollen is one of his absolute favorite things to eat, ever, which is the only reason I go to the extreme trouble of making it for him every year. He IS worth it.) He got out for golf. He came home to an apple pie and a happy grand-dog, and is now watching the US Open (or some other sport thing–he flips channels). Pot roast for supper. And, oh yes, at his Member-Guest tournament yesterday, they named something for my uncle, the “Boyken Pull” in honor of him and my Dad. Isn’t that nice of them??

• Tags: Family, General, Reading • Permalink:Almost There! // 4 Comments »

  Life is just a bowl of cherries.

Or, it was.

Apparently, it’s not safe to be a cherry around me, because I bought a bag of cherries at the grocery store today–a pound of them–and this is all that’s left.

I seem to have no will-power whatsoever where cherries are concerned. But, at least, they’ve got some nutritional value. (And I should endeavor to be grateful that I resisted the bags of potato chips at the store–they’re another weakness, but one which we luckily don’t have around very often.)

  I also spent some of my afternoon doing homework–the fun kind–browsing through pattern books, looking for a lace to grab my attention.

You know, I had the best intentions of knitting a stole next, using the Zephyr that’s been in my closet since about January. But now that I’ve ordered those four colors of Chai . . . I keep thinking about them. And you know how it is . . . when the creative urge strikes, you got to go with the flow . . . or some such mixed metaphor as that. So I spent a good hour this afternoon sticking post-its next to all the laces that I thought would match my inner vision of what to do with this yarn. Next I’ll weed them out, narrow it down, and hopefully by the time the yarn arrives, I’ll know what I’m going to do with it.

I’m thinking either a triangle or a half-circle, but I haven’t decided yet. I think that will depend on the lace pattern I choose–some are more angular, some or more curvy, and I’ll want whichever shape best fits the lace I select.

In the meantime, isn’t it lovely that I have enough yarn to swatch with??

Edited to add: I’ve got it narrowed down to two possiblities, and I plan on swatching both of them to see how they look in the yarn. It’ll give me something to do while waiting for my yarn delivery (grin)

All in all, I’ve had a very nice afternoon. I took it off from work–it gave Mom a chance to get out of the house (she was kind of stressed today), and gave me some extra time to putter around. I made another pound cake to go with the strawberries I bought . . . that’s one of my favorite desserts, with whipped cream on top, and the second time I’ve made it in a month.

I’m still looking for a really good pound cake recipe, though. My dear, departed grandmother made the world’s best pound cake (or so my childhood memories insist), only I wasn’t foresighted enough to ask her for her recipe. I’ve got her layer-cake-with-chocolate-frosting recipe (which is so famous in my family, it’s simply known as “Grandma Cake”) and given a choice, that IS the one I would have. But still, I keep trying pound cake after pound cake, looking for one that will remind me of hers. I’ve tried just about every one in every cookbook I’ve got, as well as trying various magazine versions, and still . . . no luck. They’ve been perfectly decent, but not like hers.

(Okay, there was that one that was so dense that when the outside was completely baked and it tested as fully done because it was thick enough to “wipe” off the toothpick on its way out of the loaf but was in fact still raw in the middle so that it fell apart as I turned it out of the loaf pan and landed on poor Jilly although luckily it didn’t burn her but that one really didn’t come out well at all unless you count the fact that it came out of the pan so easily even if it didn’t hold together if you know what I mean but anyway that’s why I don’t make pound cake in loaf pans any more because I think they’re just too dense for that and so I use a Bundt pan instead and that works really well as well as looking pretty, you know?) (Hmmm, I need to remember to breathe when I do that!)

Anyway, afternoon at home. Beautiful weather this afternoon, in the 70s and mostly sunny. I sat out on the deck with Chappy for a while, and we even got out for a walk. Sure, sure, big deal, taking the dog out for a walk. You would think so, but with the heat, the household chaos, the passing thunderstorms, the tearing up of our neighborhood streets, it’s been two weeks since the poor boy got a walk. He’s had plenty of exercise guarding the house, and he’s had a few romps in the backyard–but the leash thing, where you leave the property? We’d almost forgotten how to do it.

My Dad’s playing in his club’s Member-Guest golf tournament this weekend, like he does every year . . . with the change, of course, that his partner is not my uncle. (You’ll remember that he passed away in April.) It’s got to be kind of sad for my Dad, but we’re glad that he’s playing. Originally, he was going to skip the tournament altogether.

Wish me luck, too. I’m getting my haircut tomorrow morning, and you know–that can be good or bad!

• Tags: Baking, Family, General • Permalink:Life is Just a Bowl of . . . Oops! Never Mind! // 3 Comments »

So, my shawl is exhausted from her day of strutting around the office, preening herself in front of my co-workers. (She’s shamless, really, quite vain.) Thank all of you for the compliments. Really, I’m flattered!

In a week or two, when the bathroom is done, and the guest room is back to normal, I’m going to try re-blocking her. Beautiful as she is, the width (i.e., the length of the front corners when short little me is wearing it) is a problem. I’m going to try to stretch it a little longer in the back and shorter in the front . . . more of an equilateral triangle. If it works, that will be great, and if it doesn’t, it won’t hurt anything!

Now, the one thing for sure I know I’m going to wear my Peacock for is a wedding that I’m [pretty sure to be] going to in August. My sister’s brother-in-law is getting married, and my parents and I are pretty sure we’ll be getting an invitation. (About which we’re all excited, we really like Betty and are thrilled for Tim. It’ll be fun!) Anyway, don’t you think my Peacock would just love going to a wedding??

  So the next step is to find the right dress and shoes. The dress, really, is going to be as simple a dress as I can come up with–the Peacock will be the star of this outfit. But I did just find what I think will be the perfect shoes–assuming they fit and are comfortable and all that! I just ordered them online, so we’ll see . . . but I’m hoping. Don’t you think they’re just about perfect to compliment my shawl?

I gave my best shot at making stitch markers tonight, which I’m not going to show you. Could someone give me some tips? I’ve never tried this whole bead-and-wire thing before . . . how are you supposed to hold the marker-on-ring still so that you can wrap the wire around the thing? I’ve found a couple good tutorial sites, though, here, here and here. It’s just a matter of getting my fingers to figure it out! If I can figure it out, I’ll sign up for “Marker Mania.”

I ordered that Chai yarn, too . . . too luscious an idea to pass up!

Do you know that as of tomorrow, the 17th, I’ll be out of high school for 20 years?? How is that possible? And as of yesterday, my niece is a Junior in high school, and my nephew is in 7th grade. Time is going just too darn fast.

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Shoes and Markers // 3 Comments »

Wow, thank you! My shawl got so many compliments yesterday, she’s turning a blush pink. My blog has gotten over 900 hits in the last 24 hours (that’s unheard of for me), and I just breezed past the 500 mark for total Comments. I’m touched. Really! I feel like Sally Field (“You like me. You really, really like me!”) And, honestly, trying not to let it all go to my head (though my shawl is preening.)

Anyway, here’s our picture. (Mom called this the “Betty Grable Shot.”)

In response to a couple questions: The bed that the shawl would not fit on is a standard, double/full-size bed (not twin, not queen, not king). But I also tend to knit loosely, and I used Addi Turbos which probably accelerated the process. I’m sure that if I had used, say, bamboo needles, or a smaller size, the whole shawl would have come out smaller–thereby at least not going into that fourth skein.

  That might not have been a horrible thing, either–now that I’ve had a chance to try my now-blocked shawl, the one problem is that it’s long. I’m only 5’3″ and with the shawl on my shoulders, and flat shoes . . . I’m in danger of stepping on the corners. Can you believe that?

Oh, and I started the shawl in March (on the 9th ot 10th), so . . . it took me three months. I have nothing but good to say about the pattern–it was by far the most challenging piece of lace I’ve ever knitted. As beautiful as the finished product is (and it is), I couldn’t have done it without having such a great pattern to work with.

Now, next project? I’m definitely thinking about a designing a stole for myself. A little more brain work than following somebody else’s pattern, but one that will be easier for my fingers to knit (grin). I’ll probably use the copper-colored Zephyr I’ve had in my closet for a while. I haven’t knitted anything with Zephyr yet, but have heard such good things about it, I’m looking forward to it.

There is another alternative, though. I called Artfibers in San Francisco for samples of their Chai yarn the other day. You know, famous from the Flower Basket Shawl that Stephanie made in April, and that Shelley is making now.

As an aside, not only does Artfibers have gorgeous yarn (and I hear the shop is just wonderful), but for those of us 3,000 miles away, they have a nice little outreach program–they’ll send good, substantial samples of several yards of their yarns (for a minimal fee) so that you can see the colors, knit a swatch, get a feel for the yarn–all before indulging in a “real” purchase. Very nice indeed.

Anyway, so I asked for samples of 4 colors, which came yesterday. I opened the envelope and immediately picked my favorite, then put the whole thing on my dresser before heading out for the dentist (grumble, grumble). Later, Mom and I were checking out the colors (she doesn’t knit, but has good taste in colors), and it occurred to me–all four look simply wonderful together. And, wouldn’t a shawl knit in graduated colors in all four be just stunning?? Kind of like that Koigu Charlotte’s Web shawl which made the blog-rounds not too long ago?

Yes, I think so, too!

I almost finished the waist shaping on my NbaT last night–and would have, too–had the power not gone out, again, just as I finished up a row. Now, I know the electric company has been doing serious work, digging up our neighborhood streets for over a month now, but this was 9:20 last night. Nobody was out there working. And it cut off right in the middle of watching “Veronica Mars,” too.

So, we lit candles, got out the battery-lanterns. I even added a little “flasher” onto Chappy’s collar so we’d be able to see him in the dark. (He really didn’t like it, though, and kept trying to grab it in his mouth.) I tried some spinning, but it wasn’t terribly successful by candle-light . . . which just makes me appreciate my ancestors all the more. I did read for a while, but ended up turning the light out . . . er . . . blowing the light out around 10:15.

I’m kind of disappointed about Veronica Mars, though–I was enjoying seeing the pilot again. It’s such a bad time of year for television (unless you’re a Reality-show fan, which I am not). I’ve got some good shows on DVD, though, including the newly-released “Lois & Clark,” which I used to love. Now I’m just hoping for “Jack & Bobby” on DVD . . .

Oh, and this is funny: http://www.knittersanonymous.com/

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Peacock Pride // 12 Comments »

Well, here she is! My Peacock Feathers shawl, laid out in all her glory.

I’m sure you’ll notice right away that it’s not on the bed. There was just no way that shawl was going to fit. I spread it out and the corners weren’t just hanging over the edge, they were dragging on the floor. There was no way I could block it like that.

As it is, the shawl didn’t even fit on the comforter cover I put underneath it, but we did our best. And the important thing is that she is stretched out and resting comfortably.

I’m really happy with the color. I used, you’ll remember the KnitPicks Shimmer, in Turquoise Splendor. I’m not always a fan of variegated yarns, especially for lace, but I like the way this came out. I like how, since it’s not a solid color, it mimics all those stunning shades in a real Peacock’s tail, and yet (now that it’s blocked) does not take away from the lace.

I suppose that a solid color might be marginally better because it wouldn’t detract from the lace even a little, but I have absolutely no regrets for picking this over a solid color. None. The yarn was a delight to work with, incredibly soft, and I didn’t find a single knot. I’ll definitely recommend it to anyone.

So, what did I learn making this shawl?

• You can never have too much yarn. I had to dip into my fourth skein for about 2 yards’ worth of yarn, but I was so, so grateful that I had it in the house when I needed it, instead of needing to buy more!
• You can never have too many T-pins. Because blocking this required a lot of them. I used up ever T-pin I had, and then every quilt pin, and then a handful of old, sewing pins that haven’t been out of my sewing basket in years.
• Stitch markers are a girl’s best friend–especially where complicated lace patterns are concerned. They were absolutely invaluable for this pattern, with so many repeats, but whose main, lace pattern changed from row to row.
• Counting the number of stitches between markers while purling the back side of the pattern is invaluable. If you come up with 23 stitches instead of 24, you can catch whatever error you made now rather than while you’re knitting the lace on the next row. It’s easy, at that point, to add in a YO or to slip one stitch over another in the correct place so that everything is where it should be.
• Patterns which require you to move the stitch markers to the right or left as you knit are evil.
• Moving the markers while on the purl-backs (wrong side) of the previous row in said patterns, so that when it came to knitting the lace rows, the makers were already in the correct place, is a sanity-saver.
• Noting whether l/r means to move the markers inward toward the center or outward toward the edge makes this much easier while on the flip side, than trying to figure out, “If it should be moved to the right on the front, since I’m on the back, that means move it to the left, right?”
• Fiddlesticks patterns are as much fun as they are beautiful!

Yay!

• Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:So Very Peacock! // 56 Comments »

Well, the Peacock needles have left the building!

  I have a 95% completed bundle of Peacock loveliness. I’m so happy with the colors of this shawl–I don’t think the variations are going to take away from the lace pattern at all (once it’s blocked).

  The remaining 5%? The blocking!

What, you ask, am I waiting for?

  Well, the guest room–where I usually do my blocking–is a bit of a mess right now. Filled with refugees from the bathroom renovation–all the stuff from the closet, the vacuum cleaner, the new medicine chests, waiting for their new home…

Mom’s going to try to clear off the bed for me tomorrow–which would be wonderful. Of course, I’m not entirely sure Peacock is going to FIT on the bed, and for obvious reasons, the floor (right now, at least) is not an option! But I’ll at least give it a try. I’m taking tomorrow afternoon off from work so Mom can get to her physical therapy appointment and I can go to the dentist (again!), but I’ll have a couple hours there to putter around, pinning out my shawl . . . Really, the timing would be perfect. (Cross your fingers for me.)

Meanwhile, I’ve spent the last hour flipping through pattern books and magazines, looking for something fun to fill in the rest of my Summer of Lace, but nothing’s really hit me. I mean, there are some lovely patterns out there, and I’ve got some books with great lace shawl patterns, but . . .

Here are my requirements: Having just (mostly) finished Peacock, I want something a little simpler–one where I can memorize the lace pattern and that will be a little easier to knit. Still beautiful and lacy, but . . . easier. I’d like something that doesn’t end up with impossibly long rows as the shawl gets bigger–my last three shawls did that. Ideally, I want the next project to stay the same (like a stole) or get smaller (like Birch did). And last, I’d like to make one that (no offense) not everybody else out there has made (grin). As great as some of the existing patterns are, and as beautiful as everyone’s renditions have been, I’m just thinking it would be nice to make something original.

So my next step is to browse through my lace pattern “treasury” books, looking for a lace pattern to grab my attention and then, most likely, turn it into a stole. I could use a rectangular, lace creation anyway!

The yarn? Three choices: Kid Silk Haze, Zephyr, or (if I choose to wait until I can choose a color and for the order to come in) Artfiber’s Chai.

  Oh, and I totally agree with Cassie . . . even in hot weather, I’d rather knit with wool than cotton, anyday.

I’ve also pretty much decided to retire my “Elfin” cardigan. I think I’ve completely lost interest–which is a shame, really, since I have the back done and half of the two fronts, but . . . I still think it’s lovely, but don’t think I’d ever wear it anyway. So the question is . . . do I frog it, give it away as is in case someone wants to try to save the project, or just trash it?

Meanwhile–yay! My all except for the magic, Peacock is done!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:The Hard Part’s Done! // 7 Comments »

  What’s wrong with this picture?

Okay, other than the aesthetic issues of the carpet background detracting from the pattern, and the careless triangle of unblocked lace, and all that. Other than that.

You have to look closer.

No, closer.

That’s it.

Yep. I’m that close to finishing my Peacock, and my skein ran out.

Can you believe it?

  Luckily, all is not lost. I do have another skein, right here in the house. I mean, I’ll be able to finish tomorrow, so it’s not like the end of the world. It’s just utterly ridiculous to be this close to being done and then have to stop . . . and then use just a couple of feet from this new skein?

Sheesh!

At least I knew that all of you would understand . . .

Sigh.

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:And Yet So Far… // 10 Comments »

Ah, a normal Sunday. I did some household chores, baked some blueberry muffins, did some reading, worked on my Peacock . . . no doorbell ringing, no chaos, no extra mess. Ah. Bliss.

Well, that’s over!

Tomorrow, John will be back to finish up the last couple details in my parents’ bathroom and then start tearing up mine. I haven’t broken the news to Chappy yet. I want him to enjoy his peaceful weekend to the fullest.

Oh, you must check out the beauty pageant over at DogsStealYarn.

  Today is also Horatio’s, Chappy’s best friend’s, birthday. (Yes, honestly, my dog has a best friend. I know. We’ve never had a dog who had one, either, but Chappy does!) Horatio is four years old today. He’s a Welsh Pembroke Corgi and he and Chappy have known each other since they were three months old. Horatio is about three weeks older, and as you can see in the picture, Chappy was very much impressed when they first met–Horatio could do tricks already! At the time, Horatio was bigger and more assertive (and frankly, bullied my sweet little boy just a little), but as they’ve gotten older, they’ve calmed down a lot.

Now that they’re older, Horatio still outweighs him, but Chappy’s got longer legs, and they get along just fine. When they get together, they’ll wrestle for a bit and then Horatio will lie down to catch his breath, and Chappy will sit on him! Something which looks adorable–it’s not a “dominance” thing at all, just, “Yeah, buddy, I’m tired, too. You don’t mind, right?” Isn’t that what best friends are for?? This picture, incidentally, is from two years ago, when Horatio and his big sister, Princess (the Greyhound, obviously), came over to celebrate Chappy’s 2nd birthday by a romp in the yard. It says a lot–Chappy’s grinning back over his shoulder at the camera, Princess is being too “cool” to ever look like she’s interested in the treats I’ve got in my hand, but Horatio is being his charming self, big smile, but totally concentrating on the goodies. I really love this picture!

  Here’s a shot of Horatio’s beautiful face. (Although it’s not the best picture.) All Corgis are cute, but Horatio’s got one of the sweetest faces around, I think.

I finished “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” last night, and as promised, am waiting until next Saturday before starting the second. This wait’s easy–I’ve read the first three books about a dozen times–or more–and Chamber of Secrets is my least favorite of the series.

Am I the only person who has books she’s read so many times, she can’t even remember how many times they’ve been read?? Not even counting childhood books like “Secret Garden”–you know, the ones that predate having any real spending money, so that you had no choice but to read the same books over and over. But other books. For example, Lord of the Rings, which I read for the first time when I was about 12. I must be close to four dozen reads of that by now. I lost count at about read #25, which was my freshman year of college, going on 20 years now. Even the Harry Potter books–I know I’ve only read OOtP three times, but the first book? Really, it must be at least a dozen times by now…. and that’s in addition to all the new books I read, plus the knitting time (and that pesky full-time job).

And hey, three cheers for Afleet Alex, for his beautiful win at the Belmont! Two exciting finishes there, the Preakness stumble, and then the tear-away down the stretch in the Belmont. Amazing.

Did I mention that I’d been working on my Peacock today??

• Tags: Chappy, Friends, General, Reading • Permalink:Serene Sunday // 3 Comments »

First, happy Worldwide Knit-in-Public Day!

You’ll be pleased to know that I did my part not once, but twice.

  First, while out for coffee with Mom. (I know, it’s backlit, but I am knitting!) That’s the front of my NbaT, there.

  Second, after finishing my lunch.

If you KIPd today, too, go check out Kathy’s blog–she’s offering to donate $1 to the Illinois Burn Camp for Kids for every picture she gets of participation. How’s that for generous of her?

  My mother, sister, niece and I paused for photos after lunch. (Sorry about the weird lighting–my brown shirt and khaki pants look darker than Mom’s black-and-white. Go figure!) . . .

  While my nephew went to take a few swings on the driving range with my Dad and brother-in-law. (You can see how sticky, humid, and muggy it was by the opaque air in the photo. Ugh.)

And then, I got TWO boxes today:

  One, a thank you gift from Adagio Tea for putting a link to their site on my blog. Is that not wonderful of them? You should run right over there and order something from them, because they’re just that nice! (Or, better yet, leave me a comment and I’ll send you a $5 gift certificate to use on your first order!)

  Second, my order from Knitpicks. That’s a copy of “Knitting on the Edge,” which I’ve been eyeing for a while, and 18 skeins of their Andean Silk yarn. That’s 55% alpaca, 23% silk, 22% merino wool, and very soft.

  I bought 14 skeins of the “Olive” green yarn and 4 of the “Sangria” purple to be an accent.

  I’m thinking that should be perfect for the Union Square sweater from the upcoming Fall 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. Of course, I have no idea yet what gauge I’ll need, since the only thing I had to go on was the gauge listed at yarndex.com for the yarn . . . and this does not, in fact, match that (grin). But it’s only half a stitch off, and since I tend to knit loosely, I might be lucky! And if not? It’s beautiful yarn that I’m sure I can find a use or a good home for.

May I just add my own surprise at liking a sweater so much in the preview that I’ve gone out of my way to have the yarn handy (I hope) when the issue arrives next month? Kate Gilbert–who brought us all Clapotis–is obviously very talented!

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Sticky Saturday // 8 Comments »

We are ALL glad that it’s Friday–at last. Chappy has been so tired all week (all that barking and guarding and watching, you know), I’m sure he’s enjoying having a quiet day at home. Mom is off looking for a dress to wear to my sister’s brother-in-law’s wedding in August, and also quite happy about a quiet day at the house–and being free! Dad is so wiped out from the hot weather this week, he’s actually taking the day off from golf. And I’m just looking forward to getting home from work and it being the weekend.

Weekend plans? Celebrating my sister’s birthday. For the last several years, we’ve gone to lunch at my Dad’s golf club for Patty’s birthday–only fair, since hers is the last of four inside of a month, she’s always wiped out from doing “birthday” things, baking cakes, and so on. This way, she gets to just relax and have a nice meal, and we all enjoy it.

So, that’s tomorrow. I will also be bringing my knitting with me, because tomorrow is Worldwide Knit in Public Day, and this is my chance! (Mom bets I’ll be the first person ever to have knit at Panther Valley . . . I don’t know about that, but I guess I’m at least in a tiny, elect little group of people.)

Tina posted pictures of the not-yet-open Nonna’s Yarn Cafe coming to Denville in the near future. The location used to be a tea shop which I have been in, and so I can tell you that she took this picture standing outside the door. It looks like it’s almost ready to open to me! I just wish there were a “Grand Opening” sign somewhere giving a date.

Also this weekend, in preparation for the sixth book’s arrival in five weeks, I’m starting my re-read of the Harry Potter books. I’ll start one each Saturday between now and publication day for Half-Blood Prince (July 16th). I’m a fan of the books, you see, and a fast reader, and while it’s not going to take me a whole week to read each book (not by a long shot!), by starting one each Saturday, I’ll have a nice little rhythm going for when #6 arrives at my door, courtesy of Amazon.com. Not to mention a refresher course in case I’ve forgotten anything. (I don’t think I have, but you never know! And, well, I’ve only read Order of the Phoenix three times–which may sound like a lot for such a huge book, but which really shows what admirable restraint I can display when needed.)

And, I have been knitting–just nothing noticeable enough to be worth progress photos. I’ve got 5 or 6 more rows of pattern on my Peacock, so that’s 5 or 6 more nights’ worth of knitting, plus the crocheting/cast-off.

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Finally Friday! // 7 Comments »

Lucky me, I get to go for my dental crown tonight. (Gee, have I mentioned lately that I hate going to the dentist–sweet, nice, friendly though he is?) The truly sad part is that I don’t even have any knitting in my purse to keep my fingers occupied in the waiting room–I haven’t started a new pair of socks since finishing the others last weekend, and don’t have anything else to easily fit into my purse. I just hope I won’t have to wait for long! And I wonder what I’ll be doing about supper tonight, when my tooth is throbbing? (Man, I hate going to the dentist….)

Edited to add: Nope, still don’t have the crown. Turns out, he had to do a root canal, so I have to go back on Tuesday. (sigh)

Zoe, the technician, asked me where my knitting was, though, and we had a nice little chat about knitting before the dentist came in. That was something, anyway! (I told you they were nice people.)

Now, it’s quarter-to-seven. John is still here, trying to finish up my parents’ bathroom before he leaves, since he won’t be here tomorrow. Chappy’s downstairs, whimpering at being by himself (even though he doesn’t seem to want to be too near the dentist-breath–not that I blame him). I’m going to take my shower as soon as John leaves, make some tea and curl up with my knitting! Isn’t it Friday yet??

Meanwhile, please check out this article about telling the story of Hamlet in the African bush . . . it’s hilarious. (And thanks to Christine at Mirabilis for the link!)

And, thanks to my SP5 for the e-card!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Throbbing Thursday // 4 Comments »

My poor mother and dog are so tired tonight. As we complete the third day in a row of household chaos, the strain is starting to show. Monday, we just had the fellow doing the bathrooms. (Yes, one person. John.) Tuesday, we had John–two hours late–plus the paving company pouring asphalt on our driveway. Today, we had John, the plumber, and the landscaper, here to cut the lawn.

Chappy seems to feel it’s necessary to bark every time John walks in or out of the house, or any time he speaks, and Chappy’s barking seriously gets on my mother’s nerves. Not that he’s really that bad, mind you–especially compared to the dachshunds we used to have–but still. It’s impossible to carry on a conversation.

When I got home from work this afternoon, Mom was tense and fighting a bad headache, and Chappy looked like he felt about the same (grin). I went and sat on the deck in the back with Chappy–that seems to help. The outdoor smells and sounds provide distraction, and he’s not seeing John going in and out as he cuts the bathroom tiles and goes back and forth, so Chappy, at least is calmer. He and Mom were going to try that this afternoon, but with the lawnmowers going out there–it wouldn’t exactly have had the same effect.

Tomorrow, lucky me, I get to go to the dentist to get my permanent crown, which will hopefully solve the achey tooth problem I’ve had for the last two weeks. I still hate going to the dentist, and this will mean another week of missing the Stitch-n-Bitch group. To be fair, though, it doesn’t sound like I’m missing much. It’s a pretty small group and there haven’t been any responses to my “Anyone going?” e-mails. It’s no fun to go and sit alone! If I want to knit by myself, I’d much rather do it here, with Chappy snoozing by my side.

I ordered something for my Secret Pal today, which I hope she’ll like. Actually, I know she will, since she specifically said she would like the item I ordered. (I won’t be more specific, you know, just in case!) I just feel obscurely guilty that I had to resort to buying something she asked for rather than coming up with something brilliant on my own! Silly, I know, but I normally take pride in my creative-gift skills and keep feeling that–nice though this gift is going to be (and it will!)–that it’s a cop-out. (For myself, you understand, not for her. Just me putting extra pressure on myself.)

I finished my re-read of the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, and please, let me recommend them to absolutely anyone looking for a good read with a sense of humor. They are laugh-out-loud funny and completely creative–with cameos from all your favorite fictional stars, like Edward Rochester! Miss Havisham! The Cheshire Cat! Miss Tiggly Wiggly! Hamlet! Not to mention re-sequenced and brought-back-from-extinction dodos, mammoths, and neanderthals. Plus an evil multi-national corporation called Goliath, an even more evil villain named Archeron Hades, and let’s not forget SpecOps departments like the Chronoguard (policing Time) and Literatec (keeping an eye on all those wacky literary fans, like the Baconites).

Titles: The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten. And there’s another, non-Thursday book, coming out this summer called The Big Over Easy–a murder mystery with Jack Spratt trying to solve the death of Humpty Stuyvesant van Dumpty III. (Yes, you’re reading that right.) While you’re at it, check out the author’s wacky website. The jokes, I grant you, will be pretty obscure until you’ve read the books, but still, it’s a hoot and a half.

• Tags: Family, General, Reading • Permalink:Weary Wednesday // 3 Comments »

Yay, another knitalong! This time sponsored by Wendy, her “Summer of Lace.” I’ve added a button to my sidebar and everything. (And yes, I know, she hasn’t even posted the options yet, but since I designed a couple of them, I figured it was okay to just, you know, start using one of them, so I picked my favorite.)

The next question is . . . what to knit? I could count my Peacock Feathers, but since it’s almost finished, that doesn’t seem fair. Since I’ve made three triangular shawls in the last few months (and one Pi-are-Square, whatever shape that counts as), I’m thinking something like a square or a stole this time. I’ve got some spring green Kid Silk Haze in the closet, and I have some copper-colored Zephyr, so no matter what, I’m going to try to pick something to do with one of those!

Meanwhile, I’m trying to assemble my first SP5 box for my pal. For no good reason at all, I’m suffering from Gift-Block. She gave great answers in her questionnaire, and she posts on her blog pretty regularly, so it’s not like I’m working blind, and yet for some reason, inspiration has not hit. Like I said, no good reason for this, just . . . it’s there. (Or more precisely, not there!) Still, she did list a specific thing she wants . . . so even though I generally prefer not to “gift” off of lists–I like to come up with things on my own–I think she’ll be getting that thing (about which I will not be more specific in case she reads my blog) and I’ll try to be more inspired for the next one!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Summer of Lace KAL! // 3 Comments »

Today’s my sister’s birthday (though I won’t tell you which one–I’d prefer that she continues to speak to me). But I’m more than happy to share a couple of old pictures!

  Me and Patty, back when I was still (obviously) very small! Patty would have been about 2 1/2 – 3 years old here. Gotta love her big, cheesy grin!

  Us at the beach, a few years later. (And yes, I really used to be blonde!) (And also yes, I am in fact wearing saddle shoes. According to Mom, I refused to step off the blanket onto the hot sand without them. Actually, I still don’t like going barefoot, so I guess somethings haven’t changed.)

  Doing a jigsaw puzzle (apparently a hard one since I’ve got that “I don’t know where it goes!” look on my face). And, the only excuse for the outfits is that this was the early 70s, what can I say? At least we were little and cute!)

  With our Daddy . . . (and, apparently, Tinkerbell, who found her way into a lot of these pictures!) I love this picture–and had it blown up for Dad for Father’s Day a few years ago.

  And last, one of my favorite pictures of the two of us–one which I had blown up for Patty for her birthday a few years ago. (What can I say? Nostalgic photos in a nice frame makes a great gift!) But weren’t we cute on whatever Christmas morning this was??

Anyway . . . have a very happy birthday, Patty! I hope you had a wonderful day!

• Tags: Family • Permalink:Big Sister // 2 Comments »

First, well, it’s Monday. It got up to about 90 degrees this afternoon–summer is most definitely here–and then dropped to the 60s in about 20 minutes, just in time for a massive thunderstorm. As in, tornado warnings were posted around 5:30. (And, believe me, tornado warnings are not particularly common in northern New Jersey!) We had at least one bolt of lightening strike very near our house. We’re not sure exactly where, but the flash and the [extraordinarily loud] boom were almost simultaneous and the house shook for a good 30 seconds.

At work, my boss and I had night-and-day kinds of a day–he was swamped, covering half the department since the two people who usually run it were out sick. I, on the other hand, had very little to do today. My work load tends to do the peak-and-valley kind of thing, and just now, it’s very valley-ish. Which means I sat at my desk all day trying to keep myself entertained, while my boss went nuts trying to do two people’s work on top of his own. No, no, really, why should I feel guilty?

The work on our bathrooms started today. We’ve got baby gates set up downstairs again–much to Chappy’s chagrin because, of course, he’s not a baby anymore! My parents’ bathroom is pretty much nonexistant–they’ve got walls and the rubbly remains of their tile floor and nothing else. So right now, the three of us are sharing my bathroom (with the help of the half-bath downstairs). Luckily, none of us has over-lapping shower schedules, because that is the hardest thing to work around. You can brush your teeth just about anywhere, but you can’t shower without, you know, a shower!

Nothing exciting to show on the knitting/spinning front. But really, you mustn’t be greedy. Didn’t I give you enough interesting updates–with photos–over the weekend? I did my nightly two-rows of Peacock . . . one row of pattern, one row purling back . . . which takes me just about an hour at this point, there are so many stitches. And then I did a few rows of my NbaT Front. All the while Mom and I watched a completely ridiculous movie with Julia Stiles called “The Prince and Me.” We figured going in that it was going to be silly, but it managed to transcend that, along with all the possible Cinderella/Prince-out-of-water cliches they could possibly squeeze in.

Also, check out Wendy–she’s starting a “Summer of Lace” knitting frenzy. As of yesterday, it was just her, but apparently it’s spreading and has blossomed into a Knitalong. This one, I must be part of! I even designed a couple of buttons for her. (Please vote for mine when she asks for opinions . . . or at least, think about voting for mine!)

Now, Chappy is exhausted–he barely had a nap all day, and had, of course, to bark at John (the fellow doing the work) every single time he went in or out, the entire day. It’s pouring rain outside (though luckily, no tornadoes . . . at least through my neighborhood!) And, oh yes, after all the prep-work, our driveway is actually going to be paved tomorrow . . . so we’re back to parking in the street for a few days. With exquisite timing, I might add, because the electric company just made it back down the street to be right in front of our house. Our poor neighbors who are getting the addition across the street didn’t know where to put their cars today! I’m starting to forget what it’s like to have a quiet street/house.

And, oh yes! My 7 packages were picked up by Sandi, our mail carrier today, and so are on route to the prize-winners. I hope everyone’s happy with what they’re getting!

• Tags: Chappy, General, Weather • Permalink:Just . . . Monday // 5 Comments »

Just "because," here are two links I wanted to share:

First, for any "Joan of Arcadia" fans–there’s an effort to try to save the show, but apparently time is short. If you ever watched the show (or, if you just want to humor me because Mom and I loved it), please check it out: www.savejoanofarcadia.com

Second, because it’s simply hilarious–I give you, the Ugly Bridesmaid’s Dress site!

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:Two Links, Just Because // Add Comment »

Now I know why they call that aerobic exercise in gyms on stationary bikes “spinning.” It’s exhausting!

I came up an hour early to start plying that purple yarn of mine. (The one where I had three, unequal spindles-full, and was trying to figure out the most efficient way to ply?)

Well, first, I had to set up the plying head on my Lendrum–for the very first time. Then I had to figure out why it was so creaky, squeaky, and hart to spin. (Answer: badly needed oil. I haven’t oiled anything else on my Lendrum since it’s not supposed to need it, but the metal orifice very definitely needed some lubrication.) By the time I got that working correctly and started to ply , I’d been up here almost 20 minutes.

Now, an hour later, I have this.

  That’s an almost-full, plying-sized bobbin of 2-ply yarn. (Which looks huge, right now, sitting on my dresser.)

  This completely empties two of my three bobbins of singles, leaving me with this much left on the third. Now I get to decide whether I want to unwind this so I can ply this to match the rest, or just hang onto it and maybe ply it with something else some day for some variety.

The amount of treadling, though, let me tell you, left me feeling like I’d had a good aerobic workout. The yarn came out to be about sport weight, I think. For each arm’s length of yarn–say, two feet or so–there were 6 treadles, at the fastest ratio on the plying head. Now, I don’t know the yardage yet, but . . . that was a lot of treadling!

Obviously those folks at the gym got their idea for those cool, new aerobics classes from watching a real spinner at her wheel.

  Here’s a close-up look at the yarn on the bobbin. (Again, it’s really darker than this, with more purple, but so far, that’s been impossible to photograph.)

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Now I Know Why They Call it Spinning! // 4 Comments »

I feel so accomplished.

  I finished the back of my NbaT.

AND

  I finished my second sock . . . finally. No more DPNs in my purse, hallelujah! Back to Magic Loop, two socks at a time, just as soon as I roll my next skein of sock yarn into a ball (or two). This was Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the “Mixed Berries” colorway. Very pretty indeed.

I feel so accomplished. Because not only did I reach two deadlines last night (finished piece and a finished project), but now I can go back to my Peacock! I’ve really missed her.

I also got seven (yes, seven) packages ready to ship out–contest winners, and the like. If you are in the U.S. and you haven’t tried it, by all means let me recommend the Click-and-Ship feature at the Post Office’s website (www.usps.com). Not only was I able to purchase the postage for all my packages, I printed shipping labels for each one of them. I will get free confirmation when the packages are delivered, and (if I’d had the email addresses with me at the time), I could have had a shipment-confirmation sent to each of my recipients. I could also have insured them, if I’d wanted to. Furthermore, the packages will be picked up at my house, by my mail-carrier, when she comes to deliver our mail on Monday. No extra charge. Isn’t that wonderful? I just shipped 7 different boxes without having to stand on line at the post office!

This is just one of the many reasons I really love the Internet. You have got to try this service out!

  I started spinning the pretty roving that Liz (now Lizzy B) sent me from Maryland. She’s been raving about spindle-spinning lately, and I started feeling guilty about my nice Kundert spindle, which has been hanging in the closet for months now with nothing to do. So I started that last night, too. The color is lovely–Liz (er, sorry, Lizzy B) said that it reminded her of the sea grasses on Martha’s Vineyard. It’s very pretty, mostly aqua, but with streaks of greens, browns, reds, and purples. The singles are turning out to be a really nice, medium blue-green.

  A close-up of the spindle.

Okay. Gotta go. Mom and I are going to take Chappy out for a walk, then I’m coming back to take my shower, make some tea, and then work on my Peacock!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Constructive Evening // 2 Comments »

First, look what I saw on Amazon.com today!

And now . . . let me think . . . what was I going to say?

Oh yes! Announcing the winners!

So, without further ado . . .

And with no nonsense about starting with the runners-up . . .

Or silly drumrolls . . .

Congratulations to Kristine, the First Prize winner of my “Suggest a Contest” contest! Much as both Mom and I hate Fear Factor, there was no question but that her contest idea was the most creative and fun. (But no, I refuse to watch during the Moth-smoothie round. Just, no way. The helicopter stunt sounds very, very cool, though.) She opted for the pretty, purple Setana yarn as her prize.

In Second Place, we have Chelsea with a cool and clever word game. I always love those. (And, sorry Laurie, there was no way I was going to wade through doggerel poems about knitting. Sure, it’s fun to suggest, but I’d be the one to suffer through them!) Chelsea chose the Jo Sharp Silkroad for her prize.

Third place goes to Samantha, who obviously is curious over my large library. How could I resist the temptation of making people guess about my books? She said she would love the Reynolds Lopi.

Which, you know, is nice because it sounds like everyone’s happy with their prizes!

Honorable Mention to Jennifer for looking for creative snash-sneaking techniques. Also to Lu for basically coming up witn an internet-wide Dare contest of “If I get rid of this, what will you get rid of?” (Although she was very unclear about where the yarn actually goes . . . bad planning for a contest coordinator, really.)

And, naturally, my sympathies to Jenn (aka KnitWit Momma) who is obviously going insane over at her house, but since she’s already declared herself the winner of her suggested contest . . .

Now, I still have the cool, textured yarn from Uruguay and the Boot-liner kit (as well as the embroidery and quilting odds and ends). If anyone’s interested, please let me know!

(Edited to add: All the yarn is now spoken for! It’s all getting a good home.)

My very scary Visa bill came today–you know, the one with all the vacation stuff on it, and book purchases . . . and yarn purchases . . . It has not been that high in a loooong time!

Thank heaven it’s Friday so I can regroup, financially speaking. Because, you know, I’m sure it’s not like I’ll be going out near any stores tomorrow or anything, oh no, because the weather’s going to be just beautiful . . . (and for those of you not actually in my head, please read that with as sarcastic a tone of voice as possible).

And, for those of you in the NYC area–my Mom just came up and said that WCBS FM radio is no more. It’s gone. In its place is “Jack” radio . . . no more oldies. (Although you can apparently still listen online at www.wcbsfm.com, but it’s kind of hard to lug your computer downstairs while you’re on the treadmill!) What a shame–that’s a station that all of us listened to. Hey, yes, I went to high school in the ’80s, but I spent my time listening to either the Beatles and their contemporaries or Mozart and his . . . WCBS was a fact of life. What a shame. I can’t believe it’s gone. Poof!

And lastly, for any of you interested in the evolution of our daily language, here’s an interesting link from one of the non-knitting blogs I read, about how “Chesterfields” seem to be vanishing in Canada. http://www.mirabilis.ca/archives/002993.html

• Tags: General • Permalink:And the Winner IS…! // 4 Comments »

Okay, actually, we (the judges) have chosen the winners of the “Suggest a Contest” contest, and are in the process of contacting the winners to let them choose their desired items. As soon as they have, I’ll be posting the results.

I got my Secret Pal 5 assignment today (thanks, Rox!) and have both contacted and been contacted by my secret pals. I’ve visited the blog of the person whom I’m privileged to spoil and read what there is to glean as to personality and such. She hasn’t been blogging for that long (but then, really, neither have I!) so there’s not too much to read . . . yet!

Actually, come to think of it, my KRSecret Pal (the one to whom I am gifting as opposed to the other way around, about whom I have no idea) doesn’t have a very active blog, either. I’ve basically just got the survey to go on . . . hope I’m doing okay!

Anyway. I’ve decided not to frog my NbaT Back, and am now up to the beginning of the neck shaping. As soon as I get the Back done (this weekend, at least, I’m sure!), I’m going back to my Peacock! I read in a comment on somebody’s blog (I’m so sorry, I forget whose) the other day that Wendy has ordered the pattern for the Peacock Feathers shawl, and we all know how fast SHE knits. I’ve got to get a move on or she’ll have hers done before I finish those last 12 rows of edging …

I have not yet decided how I’m going to ply those purple singles. There’s no problem, though, that the singles are too “fresh.” I spun this lovely purple roving back before I got my Lendrum, and the bobbins have been sitting in the basket on Chappy’s crate ever since. As “ageing” bobbins goes, these are ripe!

And, on an icky, non-knitting note, I found a tick behind Chappy’s ear tonight. Ugh. I pried the thing off his neck with my trusty Ticked Off spoon–the handiest tick-removal method ever. Then I checked him over–all by feel since ticks pretty much blend in with those brown curls–and then spritzed him with Cloud Nine. (An herbal flea and tick repellent which works wonderfully without being a pesticide like almost anything you’d buy at the vet’s office–I do not believe in applying pesticides to my dog’s shoulder blades, but that’s another story. The important thing to remember here is that Cloud Nine works better when you remember to spray it on your dog on something like a regular basis.) I also spritzed his crate–just because–and now he won’t go near it. (sigh)

What, if any, purpose do ticks have on this planet?? I mean, I’m not overly fond of spiders, either, but they have a valuable role in keeping other insect populations under control. As long as they stay out of sight, I’m more than happy to have them in my walls. But ticks? Other than spreading Lyme disease, what purpose could they possibly have? (As if Lyme disease is something you want spread, which of course, we don’t, so even there . . . not exactly a laudable purpose.)

And speaking of bugs somewhere between walking out of my office yesterday, and walking to my car, I got a mosquito bite right on my left hand ring finger. And it itches! I’ve been joking today that it was the Marriage Bug . . . yeah, yeah, I know. Baaaaad joke.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Judges are Tallying the Votes… // 1 Comment »

So, other than the Suggest-a-Contest Contest, what’s new, you ask?

Well, I finished plying my apple-green singles last night. I don’t think I did a fabulous job, though; I don’t think they’re particularly balanced. Even with counting treadles and all the rest, this is going to be energized yarn . . . but I don’t care. One, it’s my first yarn off my Lendrum. Two, it’s my first yarn of any kind in months. Three, it’s pretty anyway!

  I’ll admit to being less than meticulous in trying to get that balanced yarn . . . I really got quite a workout from this. Lots of treadling, and today, my back is stiff from the 45 minutes’ hard “exercise” while perched on my ottoman. But I was determined to get it done–for two reasons. Because, well, I wanted it to be done, and because I was anxious to see if it was going to work out. I just barely squeezed the plied yarn onto one bobbin, and I think I did a pretty good job judging the half-way point in the roving, too, because look how few singles I have left on my other bobbin!

Okay–a question for all of you. I have a friend who’s still fairly new to knitting who is going to be an Aunt in July and who has very little time to knit, but who wants to make something for her niece/nephew-to-be. (She doesn’t know the gender yet.)

Any suggestions for a quick, easy, but still cute pattern for a layette set of some kind that she could make? (Something online, with a link I could e-mail her?) She had planned on making an afghan, but time is running too quickly, and I think that boat has sailed.

Edited to Add:

Okay, I wound my yarn onto my niddy-noddy tonight. 144 times around, but what that makes the actual yardage, I’m really not sure (grin). I am, however, pleasantly surprised at how balanced it turned out to be! Lousy color in the picture, but you CAN at least see that it’s hanging straight with no twist. So, how’s that for a nice surprise? (And before you ask, no, my bedroom window is not, in fact, crooked. It’s just the way I was holding the camera, okay?

And here, I took a close-up of the yarn, too.

Now, I have one problem–I was going to use [finally] my Lendrum plying head for the purple singles I’ve had sitting in my basket for months now. But . . . how do you change the drive bands? I don’t see a way to get the current one off and the plying-one one without having to unscrew the wheel or something. (The mother-of-all is easy–it’s the drive band that’s the mystery!) I’m going to go surf the net and see if I can find something . . .

No, wait! I found a site! http://www.lendrum.ca/drvbnd/drvbnd.html. Isn’t the internet wonderful? The tip about keeping the spare driveband attached the back is a good one, too and one I’ll definitely be using. (And see? I haven’t used them yet for beading, but those needlenose pliers are already coming in handy.)

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning, Uncategorized • Permalink:In Other News // 5 Comments »

Okay, time’s up! No more contest entries!

Now Mom and I will re-read through the ones we’ve gotten (and thoroughly enjoyed) and will contact the winners in a day or so. Thank you all for participating!

• Tags: General • Permalink:No More Entries! // Add Comment »

So, I figured out how to put the plying head on my Lendrum, and yet . . . I’m not sure what/how to go about plying my purple singles. (Yes, they really are more purple than blue.)

The problem is this: I have three bobbins of singles. The two on the ends of this photo have roughly the same amount of yarn, but the third has substantially more. I figure I can triple-ply these all together, which means that I’m going to end up with a fair amount of yarn on that one bobbin. Or, I could try 2-plying them, but no matter how I can think to do this, I’d still end up with a lot of singles leftover on a single bobbin, and no way to access both ends. Or, I could, of course, do Navaho plying one from the next . . . Ideally, I’d like to 2-ply these, but cannot think of a way to work out the logistics.

Any suggestions?? I’m thinking Navaho-plying is my best bet, but I’d love to hear from you other spinners as to how you try to balance these things!

My other quandry is that my NbaT seems to be too long. Now, according to Alison’s blog that there are an extra 7 rows in mine. (She has 24 rows between the decreases and the increases, not 24 plus the extra 7 from the last decrease “set.”) I only read that a couple days ago when I was well done with the increases. But tonight, halfway up the sleeve cap, I’m thinking it’s too long–not only because of the extra rows, but also because I’m getting 26 rows to 4″ instead of 28″ rows–not a huge difference, but it does add up.

The problem is that, to remedy that, I would have to frog back almost half the length of the sweater back I’ve got done. (See? To where I inserted the needle preparatory to actual frogging.) But then, when I laid it out on the floor, next to one of my actual t-shirts, the length looks about right.

So, here’s my second request for informed opinions. Should I frog back to get rid of those 7 rows? Would an inch or so of reduced length be worth unravelling almost half of the entire thing I’ve knitted? Or should I carry on? (Guess which direction I’m leaning in!)

Meantime, the judges are reviewing the submissions for the contest and will start contacting winners [hopefully] tomorrow. (Okay, maybe the next day. But soon, I promise!)

And my KR Secret Pal–in case you didn’t get the e-mail I sent you–the sock yarn you sent was the same kind (Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock) but NOT the same color as the socks I’m making. I like the yarn and the colors are nice; we’re fine! How great, too, that UPS is reimbursing you for our accidentally recycling that package–you’ll be glad to know that our kitchen (aka the incoming mail spot) is back to normal, so that should never happen again.

---

Now, on an unrelated note, you may remember that, the last several months, I’ve posted my reading list for the prior month. So, here’s May’s list. Please feel free to skip the rest of this post if you’re not interested. I promise I won’t sneak any knitting or spinning content at the end!

 

1. STORM WARNING
2. STORM RISING
3. STORM BREAKING by Mercedes Lackey. A fantasy trilogy set in Valdemar, with massive mage-storms closing in and causing havoc. She’s an appealing author and tells a good yarn, and Karal is a good main character.
4. DEERSKIN by Robin McKinley. Actually a retelling of a rare fairy tale called Donkeyskin, it’s unsettling in many ways, and yet her telling is beautiful. And, well, the main character lives for her dog . . . I can so relate to that.
5. CASTLE IN THE AIR by Diana Wynne Jones. A light little YA book. Silly. Fun. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
6. TWO TO CONQUER by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A Darkover fantasy novel set in the Ages of Chaos—a man and his “double” from another world . . . It’s one of her most feminist books, I think, and while it’s fantasy, there’s a lot to think about.
7. HOW DOGS THINK by Stanley Coren. A book whose title tells you exactly what it’s about—an analysis of dogs and how they perceive the world. Interesting.
8. WINTER’S TALE by Mark Helprin. This thick tome of a book was all the rage in the mid-80s. (I remember reading it the day I got my Senior photo taken in H.S.) I still like to pull it out from time to time, but I have to be in just, exactly the right kind of mood. His writing is beautiful and lyrical, and filled with flights of fancy and playings with words . . . it’s a bizarre kind of story, and yet a really good one . . . it’s just a little . . . off-kilter. This time, it hit just right.
9. PINT OF MURDER
10. MURDER GOES MUMMING
11. DISMAL THING TO DO
12. TROUBLE IN THE BRASSES
13. THE WRONG RITE by Alisa Craig (aka Charlotte MacLeod). A series of “cozy” mysteries with down-to-earth Janet and her Mountie husband Madoc. Set in Canada, silly, light-hearted, enjoyable.
14. NEVER LET ME GO by Kazue Ishiguro. Talk about an about-face from the last book. I don’t want to describe too much because I don’t want to give anything away. (And let me advise you NOT to visit Amazon.com’s comments if you don’t want the ending—the whole point of the story—spoiled for you.) Really good book touching on some deep subject matter. Focusing on a young woman’s reminiscences of her English boarding school in a slightly-alternate universe from ours.
15. BLIND LAKE by Robert Charles Wilson. Sci-fi. Somehow, a gov’t installation has come up with a way to study/spy on a being (called Subject) on another planet . . . when suddenly, all communication to and from the city is completely cut off, but no one knows why. Perfectly adequate sci-fi story, adeptly told.
16. WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare. This was Mom’s and my “trip book” of our vacation, read in turn, back and forth, chapter by chapter. I read this first when I was a kid and still enjoy it.
17. PATRON SAINT OF LIARS by Ann Patchett. Not as great as Bel Canto, but I really do like this woman’s writing! Here, the main character is a young, pregnant wife who runs away from her good-but-boring husband, goes to a home for unmarried pregnant girls and somehow . . . never leaves. Instead, she becomes the cook, marries the handyman, and never tells her daughter anything about her history.
18. CHASING SHAKESPEARES by Sarah Smith. Another DaVinci Code wanna-be, this one exploring whether Shakespeare really wrote Shakespeare. Not horrible, but kind of blah. (I picked it up out of desperation when my vacation book pile ran out.)
19. SATURDAY by Ian MacEwan. A slow, thoughtful book, told by a neurosurgeon on what starts out as a normal Saturday, but takes an abrupt turn when he has a fender bender on the way to his squash game. The writing, since it’s MacEwan, is wonderful and the story is find, but this is a slow, slow book.
20. ERAGON by Christopher Paolino. (yawn). It’s pretty clear, I think, that I enjoy fantasy books and that I enjoy YA books, but this . . . let me just say that the fact that it was written by a 15 year old boy is admirable. He did a fine, fine job for his age . . . but that doesn’t make it anything less than pretty predictable. Not bad. Just . . . I don’t recall any surprises, and that’s always kind of disappointing. I can see why it was so popular, but really, no comparison to Harry Potter.
21. HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I think this is my favorite book all year. Such a sweet and touching book. Leopold Gurzky is a man in his 80s, alone and lonely in New York, unknown to his son. Then there’s Alma, a teenager named for a character in her father’s favorite book, a book which her mother has just been paid to translate from Spanish. These two have very different stories, but there is such a wistfulness to this book, and a sweetness. I was enjoying it from the beginning, but the closer I got to the end, the more I loved it, and the ending was just . . . sweet. (I’m sorry for using that adjective so many times, but what can I say? It fits. It just was.) I just love that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you finish a book that was everything you hoped it would be–or even better–unexpectedly wonderful. I thought this looked good, but it turned out to be so much better than that. Literary serendipity, and easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. I am just so happy I picked this up the other day!
22. KNITTING IN PLAIN ENGLISH by Maggie Righetti. This is a classic how-to knitting book which I’ve had in my library since about 1989. I pretty much know everything she has to say at this point, but it’s still good to reread once in a while. One of the best, basic knitting instruction books around—it’s the one that introduced me to Continental knitting and circular needles. I practically worship this book!
23. BEADERS COMPANION by J. Durant and J. Campbell. A basic little guide to working with beads, mostly weaving. I figured, I bought some, I should look into it—and you know me, express interest in something and I’ll immediately buy a book to check it out!
24. LOOP-D-LOOP by Teva Durham. A collection of some wildly creative knitting patterns. Some are a little “too” wild for me, some are just lovely, but all are creative. I love to see a knitter stretching the envelope like that.
25. GILGAMESH by Joan London. Remember earlier when I mentioned that a book or two were slow going. They had nothing on this book about an Australian farm girl who gets pregnant by her cousin’s friend and sets off for now-Soviet Armenia in 1942 to try to find him. The writing was good, but the pacing needs serious work. It’s hard to read when your eyelids keep sagging!
26. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan Safian Foer. Turns out, he’s married to the author of “History of Love,” above. And yes, there are some similarities in the format of both these books. The difference was—this is told by a precocious, genius-level kid who lost his father on 9/11 and frankly, I didn’t like the narrator. I hoped he would find what he was looking for, but as much because I’m a good person as I hoped he would stop talking for a while. This is not to say that the book was bad, but since the “feel” was kind of similar to that other book which I loved, and since this character I couldn’t warm to . . . at the very least, I should have saved this a month or two before reading it.
27. CHRONOLITHS by Robert Charles Wilson. Since his other sci-fi that I read on vacation was decent, I thought I’d give this one a try. Suddenly, these huge monuments from the future, lauding victorious battles in the future, start dropping in on the planet, destroying entire cities. Cool idea, especially as world-wide tension builds as the date of the first conquest nears . . . but ugh. Bored.
28. WEAVE A WEB OF MAGIC. A collection of four mini-novels. Claire Delacroix, Lynn Kurland, Sharon Shinn, Patricia McKillip. Nice.
29. IN THE KING’S SERVICE
30. DERYNI RISING
31. DERYNI CHECKMATE by Katherine Kurtz. These take place in a fantasy world much like medieval England, with the exception that there are some people, the Deryni, with magic powers (truth-reading and such). The first one on this list is her most recent, which comes chronologically before her very first book—which is the second on this little list. Her books are really very good, and I adored this world when I was in high school. It’s just really unfortunate that, the more books she writes, the more characters die tragic and untimely deaths . . .

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:Fiber Quandries // 8 Comments »