Do you realize that (as we write out the date here in the U.S., anyway), that today is six, seven, eight? And that at 9:10 this morning, that made for 06/07/08 9:10? Just a little trivia for you.

As for my cardigan, I got tired of waiting for it to dry–lying flat on the blocking board, it wasn’t making any real progress–so I moved it to my Wooly Board. I ran blocking wires along the bottom to keep it straight, and I ran one up the button band for the same reason. (And, I must say, it is so very handy having a guest room I can prop this up in, so poor Chappy doesn’t need to risk poking himself in the eye.)

As you can see, though, it angles ever so slightly to the left. My yarn wasn’t perfectly balanced, and so there’s just a little extra twist.

See? They lean, just a bit. No complaints, though, it’s still gorgeous and perfect and, being up off the bed, hopefully I’ll be able to actually try it on tomorrow.

Because, naturally, what ELSE does one do on a day with temperatures in the 90s? Wearing a handmade wool sweater is of COURSE going to be your first choice!

As to my next knitting project? Still a mystery. I read in front of the television last night and didn’t work on any socks while out for coffee this morning. My knitting bag is still empty, poor thing. I’ve been searching through my books, looking for ideas on what to do with that lovely MV Fiber Farm yarn, but all I can really decide is that I’d like it to be something to keep my head and/or neck warm during the winter, and that I’d love for it to be two-sided–the gold on one side, and the green on the other. I love the way the two colors look together, but don’t really want them intermingled, like in stranded colorwork. Ideally, whatever-it-is would be two-sided and reversible. And versatile. And, of course, warm and relatively wind-proof for walks. That doesn’t seem impossible, or anything, does it?

Or, I could browse through the stash and start another sweater, bypassing the lovely green and gold yarn, maybe by doing another top-down cardigan a la Barbara Walker, to go with my beautiful blue one. It certainly was one of the most rewarding sweaters I’ve made in a while (not least because it’s one I should actually get to wear). I could just pick a stitch pattern and go to town, no worries. It could be fun.

But, still, there’s that lovely MV yarn, just sitting there…. I love it, I really do, but I don’t know what I was thinking. I KNOW that I tend to dislike smallish projects, and yet I bought two skeins of yarn in different colors, even. Talk about the thinking process breaking down. At the very least, I should have at least bought the same colors! (grin). But, they ARE so pretty….

I hope you’re all staying cool. It’s in the mid-90s here, and humid, the first really hot day we’ve had so far. And, have I mentioned lately that I hate hot weather? My sister, the birthday girl, is participating in a community-wide garage sale today, and I certainly hope that she’s staying cool. They’ve got lots of trees for shade, but no air conditioning, and on a day like this, that can really make a difference.

Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Continuing the family “Birthday Season,” today it’s my sister’s birthday.

Now, I took this picture last month, when we were up for my brother-in-law’s birthday. I love the way my sister looks–confident, happy, striding forward with a flower in her hand … but the original picture wasn’t exactly the most flattering for the rest of the group. So … I cropped Patty out and let her be the focus of the picture. I mean, it IS her birthday, doesn’t she deserve to be the main feature for the day?

Of course, I couldn’t leave it there…. We’ve never been on Martha’s Vineyard together (no, really, never), so I tried to find a picture of me that she might like to visit, but the proportions were all wrong … this was the best I could do. (She’d obviously gotten bored with the photo shoot and was wandering off to enjoy the view.)

Anyway, happy birthday to my big sister. I hope you manage to stay cool today!

Tags: Family by --Deb
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Well, she’s had her bath.

And now she’s stretched out, drying.

  With all her buttons in place, of course.

Oh, and you want a better look at exactly how much yarn I had leftover? I rolled it into a ball, which is smaller than a golf ball. It neatly fits in the tiny plastic envelope that the buttons came in, with the extra button to keep it company.

Now, is that good planning, or what?

Well, I mean, OTHER than the fact that I finished this just in time for the first heatwave of the summer?

And, um, the fact that I have absolutely no other project waiting in the wings and my knitting bag is EMPTY??

Okay, so maybe I didn’t plan everything as well as I could have….

Have a nice weekend, everyone! I bet YOU have stuff to knit….

Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Yep.

That’s right. The knitting is done and THIS is how much yarn I have left. I would maybe, maybe, have considered one more row on the neckband, but it wasn’t necessary and, well, look at this! Such a small amount of yarn to be leftover from an entire sweater, especially when it was handspun and there simply was not any more to be had. A nice, comfortable amount to keep around in case of unexpected emergencies.

Perfect. (happy sigh)

Now, I need to block the sweater to make the hem lie flat, and I need to sew on the buttons. I haven’t decided which I’ll do first, but neither is going to happen tonight, and I’m not showing you the finished sweater until they’re done. But … yay! I am just so ridiculously pleased with the way this sweater came out. Its length is perfect, falling right at my hip bone. The sleeves are 3/4 length and I hit just the right rate of narrowing them without having given it any real thought. AND they got to the point of the ribbing with exactly 48 stitches–perfectly divisible by four for the 3×1 ribbing I wanted to use at the cuffs without requiring any additional decreasing. The color is great. The drape and feel of the fabric is soft and cozy.

It’s SUCH a relief to finally end up with a sweater that’s going to fit and look good and be eminently wearable. Unlike Autumn Rose, which just couldn’t compete with my wonky gauge issues. Or the Flutter-Sleeve cardigan which looks lovely flat but I’d need to be at least four inches taller to wear. There are a couple things I can think of that might (might!) salvage it, but I just haven’t the inclination. So, this sweater? Entirely done by hand and being so very obliging about the entire process? I can’t wait to show it to you.

And, to think, it looked like this just a few, short months ago.

Oh, I’ve been seeing some beautiful flower pictures around lately (like Carole’s post today), but here are some more for you. So, so lovely! There are no words. And, Lord, I sure would love a macro lens! There are, I admit, things I want more (You know what they are), but that’s definitely on the list.

You realize what this means, don’t you?

My knitting bag is empty again.

Uh-oh.

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Yep, one little neckband to go, sew on a few buttons, and this sweater is done. So, so close!

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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This is going to be a short, short post tonight because my “S” key is sticking like you wouldn’t believe and it’s making typing an irritating experience. I’ll dig out a can of air later or tomorrow, but for right now, this is the best I can do.

So, the quickie update? I just need to bind-off my sleeve stitches and then all that will be left on my cardigan is the neckband.

Woohoo!

  (Yep, that’s it!)

Tags: General by --Deb
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It’s hard to see the details, of course, but if you look really carefully (or, okay, just trust me), I’ve started the ribbing on the sleeves. They are–or are just about to be–3/4 length which is one of my favorite sleeve lengths, and I figure I can put an inch or two of ribbing and still have enough yarn for the collar.

I did consider doing a hem instead of ribbing. It would have mimicked the hem on the body and the double-knit button bands, but I figured I didn’t need extra width on the ends of the sleeves. Instead, I opted for 3×1 ribbing which will give it a little inward pull without looking too much like ordinary ribbing, you know?

But, really, this mean this sweater is CLOSE to being done. Woohoo!

Photography question for you: Over at the Digital Photography School forum (a great message board for photography tips, may I just say), they have weekly “assignments” and the one coming up this week is for contrasting colors–photos using opposite colors on the color wheel. Like, say, blue and orange. For this week’ project, which of these two pictures do you think is a better photograph? (As in, not necessarily the best rendition of my current knitting, but the best-composed photo.)

Hey, Chappy got to do a good deed today. While we were out walking at lunch, we saw one of our neighbors pulling out of her driveway with a disgusted look on her face. She’s been sick and her mother came to help with the kids, and she went out to bring the dog in … unclipped her from the run outside, brought her into the garage, and then let go of the collar … and Ella took off. Because Ella–one of Chappy’s good friends–likes to escape and run around, playing tag, or whatever. (Don’t get me started on how terrible this is, especially since I lost Katy to a car.) But, anyway, Ella’s Mom asked us to keep an eye out for her. Well, as luck would have it, just a we got to the intersection, we saw her and called her name–she saw Chappy and came tearing over to visit. Now, if it had just been Mom and me, she might have come near us (I’ve done this before) but she might not have come close enough to grab her collar. But with Chappy? Well, she was MORE than happy to hang out with Chappy until her Mom came driving back around. So, Chappy did his good deed today and helped out a friend.

And, of course, the whole rest of the walk home, Mom and I were talking about how concerned we were about Ella being loose–she’s a medium-sized, gray dog who practically blend in with the street, making it hard for a car to see her–and about how her Mom really didn’t look like she felt well at all, and how glad we are that Chappy’s not the kind of dog to enjoy running away. I’m not saying he could never get loose or lost, because accidents happen, but we’ve got two dogs in our neighborhood who think that running off on their own is just the most fun thing ever. Sure, 50 years ago that’s how every body’s dog acted, but these days? Much as I like Ella’s family, it’s just irresponsible, and I’d hate to see anything bad happen to such a sweet dog.

Now, I just need to figure out what my next knitting project should be … obviously, I’m going to need a new one soon. And, what luck, this nice, wool cardigan is going to be ready just in time for Summer! (grin)

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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First things first–for our Sleeve Watch update, you can see that they are moving along nicely. When I try this on (well, try on ONE sleeve, anyway), it comes just past my elbow, which is fine. Any length from here is perfectly satisfactory. I might even deliberately opt for 3/4 sleeves anyway, just to make this sweater that little bit more versatile.

In terms of yarn–I’ve got this much left. I’m not exactly sure how much is in there, and the center of the ball is pretty hollow, so … we’ll see what that translates to (grin).

Here’s a better idea of the scale of that collapsing ball of yarn.

I did some baking today, too. I finally got to try out a recipe from one of the cookbooks I won from Marsha in April.

I’ve been drooling over this carrot cake recipe in the Fresh Start cookbook. Actually, it could be either muffins OR cake, and I opted for cake. I used my Baker’s Edge pan, which I love, but which made frosting it rather challenging (grin). Worth it, though, because this was a YUMMY recipe, and I didn’t even need to grate any carrots for it–it uses baby food, strained carrots instead. Nifty, huh?

Dad and Chappy approved.

Mom and I turned our extra “MV Fiber Farm” pin into a refrigerator magnet, too. And I dusted and thoroughly-vacuumed my bedroom. And did laundry. And took Chappy for a nice, medium-sized walk. And have been working my way through the Little House series, and feeling all the while that, compared to the hard-working pioneers, I am a lazy, lazy person (grin). Which, really, compared to them, I AM (bigger grin).

Tags: Baking, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Here’s what I read in May:

1. The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters (350 p.)
2. Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters (381 p.) The last two “Amelia Peabody” mysteries. I read through most of the series last month. Delectable series, although the earlier books are better, I think.

3. The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby (209 p.) Exactly what it sounds like–a book on photography. Each page is a tip or a method written as simple advice, as if you and the author were out on a shoot together. Lots of useful hints, though many of them require a DSLR to use … but not all of them! Short, simple, helpful.

4. A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns by Lisa Lloyd (156 p.) Tips on preparing and spinning a fleece, and then patterns for using the yarn–including some very nice patterns. Good book, though I wish some of the sweater photos were less “artistic” and more practical in terms of seeing the actual shape of the sweater.

5. Search the Dark by Charles Todd (310 p.) Second Inspector Rutlege book, taking place just after WWI. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first one, a nice, intelligent mystery with an engaging lead character who’s stricken with a post-traumatic-stress-syndrome ghost of his very own who “comments” on the case as it moves along.

6. Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition) by Bryan Peterson (158 p.) Another photography book, and a really good one. It explains very clearly, with some lovely photos as illustration, what exactly “exposure” is in a photograph and the whys and hows of taking advantage of it. I was really impressed with this one.

7. The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde (382 p.)
8. The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde (378 p.) Ah, Jasper Fforde, with his wacky and totally unique sense of humor. These are his two “Nursery Crime” books–in the first, Detective Jack Spratt (with his new assistant, Constable Mary Mary) investigates the mysterious death of Humpty Dumpty, and in the second, he looks into the disappearance of an investigative reporter known to her friends as Goldilocks… Silly, funny, totally creative. I admit that I like the Thursday Next books better, but, really, no complaints. These were both highly enjoyable.

9. The Game of Kings (Lymond Chronicles, 1) by Dorothy Dunnett (543 p.)
10. Queens’ Play (Lymond Chronicles, 2) by Dorothy Dunnett (432 p.) The first two of the Lymond Chronicle books–one of the best historical fiction series ever (in my own, personal opinion). These two are almost stand-alones, telling a more-or-less self-contained story in each, but laying a lot of the background needed to appreciate later books in the series. I like the second one a little better–the first one always takes me a while to “get into,” but really, they’re both so good, who cares? Elaborate, multi-layered, you can never be sure what’s going on or who (since the author is ruthless) is going to get killed next, they’re just fabulous books.

11. Mystic and Rider (The Twelve Houses, Book 1) by Sharon Shinn (440 p.)
12. The Thirteenth House (The Twelve Houses, Book 2) by Sharon Shinn (423 p.)
13. Dark Moon Defender (The Twelve Houses, Book 3) by Sharon Shinn (435 p.)
14. Reader and Raelynx (The Twelve Houses, Book 4) by Sharon Shinn (420 p.) The “Twelve Houses” series by Sharon Shinn. Now it’s no secret that I adore Sharon Shinn, though these may not be my favorite of her books–they are much more classic kind of fantasy than some of her others–quest, magic, swordplay–and yet they’re still well worth the read. Each book has a love story at its heart, without being at all a “romance” kind of book. The love stories aren’t the point, they just add extra zing to the story of a world where there are mystics who are gifted with magic by the gods, and those who are fantatically against them and rebelling against the king. Good books, definitely enjoyable.

15. The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism by Megan Marshall (452 p.) A biography of a trio of sisters–Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophie–who were each instrumental in the Transcendetalism movement that swept through New England (and elsewhere) in the mid 1800′s. Fascinating women of whom I’d never heard before. Really good biography. Interesting.

16. The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (503 p.)
17. Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (486 p.) The next two books in the Lymond Chronicles. These two rather work as a pair because they both center on Francis Crawford trying to outwit and defeat the same villain.

18. Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa Brown & Martin John Brown (154 p.) A very nice book about the social aspects of knitting–whether from people sitting and knitting together, knitting for the same cause, or knitting the same pattern via an internet-base knitalong, it examines why there is such appeal for knitting WITH someone else. Interesting and enjoyable, with some patterns, too.

19. Nikon D40/D40x Digital Field Guide by David D Busch (230 p.) Exactly what it sounds like–a full-length guide to using all the features on my new camera.

20. The Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett (521 p.) Fifth Lymond Chronicle book, with him now the head of the Russian army under Ivan the Terrible, and his on-paper-only bride settling in at the English court of Queen Mary and looking into Francis’ “irregular” background.

21. Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones (214 p.) Mig, her brother and mother go to visit her father’s aunt–a sweetly manipulative woman who may actually be evil… and be able to turn people into animals!

22. Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One by Patricia Wrede (212 p.)
23. Searching for Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Two by Patricia Wrede (242 p.) The first two books of this engaging little series (and my favorites). They’re kind of a spoof on a classic fairy tale where the princess gets captured by a dragon and rescued by a prince–because in this case, the princess is actually bored with embroidery lessons and volunteers to become a dragon’s princess, and happily settles down to organize her treasure and library and chase off any knights who come to “rescue” her. Funny and light, they are YA books and simply fun.

24. Little House in the Big Woods Book and Charm (Charming Classics) by Laura Ingalls Wilder (238 p.) Well, it’s a classic–the very first “Little House” book from when the Ingalls family still lived in Wisconsin and Laura was 4-5 years old. Sweet. Wholesome. Classic. And the Garth Williams’ illustrations? Perfection.

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by --Deb
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