Well, here she is. Ingenue. Completely, totally DONE. As in, not only finished (which she was several days ago), but now finally dry, too.

Although, in retrospect, the neckline might not be the best choice for me and my short neck, and it’s probably going to tangle my hair … but, that’s okay! I’m thrilled, anyway. And also very glad I added those three extra ridges at the bottom, or this really would be too short. This is a refreshing change from most other recent sweaters made from patterns, where my row gauge ended up being way too loose and the sweaters turned out much longer than they should have been.

And look what else I have today! Finally. I’ve only read the first few essays, but am charmed.

And, folks, if you hadn’t realized this yet, I need to tell you that Chappy is silly. Three times in the last few days, he’s gone into the office down the hall and started barking at my Secretary desk. We’re not sure why. The desk is beautiful and belonged to my grandmother. I’ve almost never used it as a desk, more for general storage, and the hutch on the top is where I keep little knick-knacks that I have nowhere else to put. Well, we don’t know if Chappy’s barking at the picture of Katy, or the little stuffed “Little Brother” from Disney’s Mulan, or what, but he stares up at the hutch and barks. I mean, I know it’s dusty, but does he have to be so vocal about it?

(Although, come to think of it, that could be the explanation right there. My grandmother in heaven is appalled at the dust on HER desk and is spectrally trying to clean it, making Chappy come in to either bark at her (since he never met her), or bark FOR her, as in trying to draw attention. Hmm. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt me to get out the Windex and Pledge, huh?)

So, today was my first day back to work after a four-day weekend, and all I can say is it’s lucky I didn’t take that time off to try to relax. Because within an hour of being back at my desk, I was stressed. Our (currently) most demanding client not only was being demanding and impatient over something we’ve been trying to get her to finish for weeks, but which she left until the day AFTER it was supposed to be complete and then dropped a whole slew of changes on us … not only was she being demanding and nasty about it, but she had the gall to complain that I wasn’t there on Friday. “What do you mean there’s no backup?” If she had gotten her changes to us by the time they were due on Wednesday, that wouldn’t have been a problem now, would it? And, sheesh, we’re a small company, and getting anything from her is like pulling teeth, but anytime she asks for something, she needs it immediately, and it had better be perfect–but she’ll complain for an hour about doing something we require that would have taken five minutes…

Ahem. Let’s just say that my day was stressful. If I HAD been all nice and relaxed from a weekend with my feet up (which it wasn’t), it would all have been wasted by 8:45 this morning. As it is, the four-day weekend went by in a blur, I was so busy. It barely feels like I had a weekend at all, much less an extra-long one!

Ah well, what can you do? At least I have Stephanie’s new book to help lift my spirits!

Oh, and that new sweater.

Okay–got to go and get my September reading list post ready to go for tomorrow morning!

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Ready for her Close-Up 2 // 5 Comments »

Well, Ingenue is ready for her close-up!

Because she is totally finished. Ends woven in. Neckband seam sewn. And blocked and drying as we speak.

Which, okay, means she’s not actually ready to be WORN just yet, but the hold-up is more a matter of laundry than knitting. I did everything I could. The rest is just a matter of water evaporation and I have no control over that. I did spin the excess water out in the dryer, though, so it should be a speedier process than when I hand-wash in the sink. (A towel can only absorb so much, you know?)

Anyway, you should be proud of me. I went through my entire pile of items waiting for those final little details, and it took remarkably little time. Weaving in the final end of three socks and a pair of wrist warmers, for example, took about 8.3 minutes. I also tossed my Flutter-Sleeve Cardigan in the dryer this morning (final result, if any, still undetermined). The only thing left to really figure out is what to do with Autumn Rose.

There was one, tragic ending, though. My beloved Susan Bates darning needle that I’ve had for about 20 years wove in its last end. While giving a pull on the seaming yarn for Ingenue’s neckband, there was a “pop!” and … this. The eye of the needle is no longer an eye.

This isn’t world-ending, of course, but seriously. I’ve had this needle since I started to knit–about 1987. I’ve tried Chibis and other metal needles but have never been satisfied. The eyes are too big, the needle too stiff. I’ve even tried to find replacement plastic needles as backup for just this sort of occurence, but haven’t been able to find one. Again, the eyes are always too big. This one was perfect–big enough to thread easily, but small enough to weave in and out without snagging at the knitting. (You can actually get a pretty fair idea of the size of the eye from the picture on this post from last year.)

(Sniffle.) I guess I’m stuck with Chibis now, huh? How ironic. My veteran needle shuffles permanently off-stage just as Ingenue makes her debut. … like 42nd Street without all the tap-dancing and catchy tunes.

I’ve gotten some spinning done. This is the 4 oz of “Floral Camisole” I started the other day. I’ve got the first bobbin done, and am about halfway through the second bobbin. This is exceptionally speedy for me, I know, but the sooner I get this done, the sooner I can start on my MVFF cormo, so, why dawdle?

Otherwise? Today? It’s felt like Sunday, and the fact that I spent most of the morning in the kitchen, baking, didn’t help–since that’s something I usually only do on Sundays. I baked the cake for tomorrow, and then I made one of those two-layer oatmeal cookie/brownie things I’ve made before.  And, yes, just as yummy as it was the first time. We’re all looking forward to seeing the family tomorrow!

Anybody else sad to hear about Paul Newman?

And, incidentally, did you know that today is the Worldwide Day of Play?? I didn’t, either, until I read about it at Liz Strauss’s.

• Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Ready for her Close-Up // 9 Comments »

  Okay, who guessed hood?

I’m really very happy with the way this came out.

Let’s recap:

The outside, you’ll remember, is one skein of the MV Fiber Farm yarn I bought in April. 70% kid mohair/30% cormo in the color Saffron. So, so soft, and such a gorgeous color.

I started knitting this in June, and finished the outside just a couple days after Chappy’s birthday. I used a “light” cable stitch and, in fact, used the exact same stitch on the socks I made for Susan, it just seemed appropriate, somehow.

Then, using some of the Sublime Yarn I’ve had in my stash for ages, I started the lining. (I bought it in July 2007 and, except for the yarn for my Autumn Rose, the STR at Rhinebeck, and those couple skeins at the MV Fiber Festival, it was more or less the last yarn I bought.) Anyway, it IS sublime: 75% extra fine merino, 20% silk, 5% cashmere, and just heavenly soft. About its only flaw is that it splits fairly easily, but it’s so gorgeous, it’s worth it.

I picked up stitches along one of the long edges and then knit the lining in a nice, textured stitch. I forget what it’s called or which stitch dictionary I got it from, but it’s like a double moss stitch. You knit into the front and back of the first stitch, purl into the front and back of the next stitch, and alternate all along your row. Then when you turn the work, you knit-2-together, purl-2-together all the way back. This gives this really lush, textured, thick fabric.

The idea was for this to resemble shearling–with the smooth outside and the fluffy inside. I did this for a couple of reasons. One, since the MV Fiber Farm yarn has so much mohair, I wanted to cut down on the amount of friction to avoid pills for as long as possible.

Two, the one other time I tried knitting a hood, it looked fine but it did nothing to keep my head warm when the wind blew–the wind would go straight through all the little gaps between stitches. I wanted this one to have a fair shot at keeping my head warm, so it’s got the outer layer with mohair, the inner layer with extra-thick moss stitch, and seems like it should have a fair chance.

The only thing left to do is to add something to the neck to keep it on. (Because, you know, one of the advantages of a hood is you can slide it off your head and not have to CARRY it–something you can’t do with a hat!)

I’m thinking either something along the lines of a frog knit out of matching yarn, or maybe some I-cord with a couple tassels at the bottom. I had also knit eyelets along all four borders, in case I decided I wanted a drawstring, and am thinking that  I could run a ribbon down the back of the hood for decoration. I had thought about lacing it together in the back, but decided I wanted something more secure and wind-tight, and sewed the back seam instead. But the eyelets are there if I want them!

I said yesterday that it hadn’t come out quite the way I wanted? So, what, you’re wondering, is the problem? Well, my gauge issues being what they are, I ended up with vastly different-sized rectangles for the outside and the lining, but since they were already joined at the one edge, there was nothing I could do. I had planned on the lining being longer, so that I could fold it over at the front edge, but I didn’t expect it to be so much wider, and for a little while, I was afraid I had ruined the project with my poor gauge skills.

But, it turns out, the extra white hanging down past the front corner actually looks pretty nice, and it will give me some place to attach the closure (whatever it turns out to be), so … even though I didn’t plan that, it worked. The problem is that I don’t see how I could write up the pattern and sell it without re-thinking all the math to either fix it or take the happy-circumstance into account so that it can be duplicated with people whose gauge does NOT change in the middle of a project.

Anyway, I’m really happy with the way it came out, and it feels so nice on my head–warm and cozy, with some real weight and substance to it.

Just what you need on an August night.

So far as weekend plans go, I’m getting my hair cut tomorrow. You can see how badly it needs a trim. My last one was March 29th, and this cut has done really, really well, growing out. Now, it’s not looking its best in this picture. I had it in a french braid all day today (because I figured I won’t be able to do a “decent” length braid after tomorrow’s cut, so I should take advantage while I could). And then I wore the hood for the photos–though hopefully it will be ‘curl-friendly’ come winter–so my hair looks a little less curly and a little flatter than usual. But, still. It’s definitely getting long. No complaints about the hair cut, though–even though it’s been almost five months, it still looks good–not all over-grown and “poufy,” so, no complaints. But, really, see how long it is? Especially around my face? It definitely needs some more shape!

And, one more question: My review of Wendy’s book went over so well the other day, I was thinking I’d make it a regular thing. But let me ask you–when you read a review of a knitting book, what specific details are you looking for in the review?

• Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Hoodwinked! // 5 Comments »

Well, it’s done … What do you think it is?

Now, I haven’t shown it before because I was hoping to maybe sell the pattern, but there were a couple glitches, so it’s not a perfect pattern. (Yet?)

That said, I am really, really pleased with the way it came out, so who cares about glitches? It’s really just what I hoped it would be. It just needs one final touch.

The big question? What do you think it is?

(I, of course, already know.)

Oh, and the Bias Eyelet Stole? It’s hit a second snag. While knitting earlier, somehow the yarn got too tightly wound and it broke on the stitch I was trying to knit into. Which means, of course, that the whole thing is in danger of unravelling. This is two problems so far, and I’m leery about a third! But, we’ll see.

• Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Well, it LOOKS finished // 7 Comments »

Appearing now, on your computer screen, something never before seen. My sister found an old camera with some used film, and when she got it developed, she found these:

Baby Chappy photos!

These are from October 2001, when he was three and a half months old, and they’ve just been SITTING there in her camera for the last seven years.

Say it with me now … “Awwww!” Because, wasn’t he just adorable?

(sniffle)

Then there are these lovely socks. Completely done and ready to be mailed back to Martha’s Vineyard whence they came. We just need to cross our fingers and hope they fit Susan, is all… All that’s left is wrapping them up and putting them in the mail.

And, how about some brand-new yarn? I haven’t gotten very far, plying it, but this is from the singles I finished on Saturday. It’s stil got that pretty, “Old Rose” feel and is soft as anything. (50/50 Merino/Silk, you’ll remember.)

Okay, this isn’t new–in fact, it’s from 1962–but how about a tour of the White House, hosted by the First Lady, herself? I’ve seen pieces, but never the whole thing, so it’s new to me.

As was this. I saw an article in the newspaper this morning. Apparently there was a young, indie singer named Katie Reider in Montclair who died recently from a rare disease, and as a tribute, some of her fans are trying to get 500,000 people to visit her website and download her music. You can download 9 of her songs for a $1 donation–which I did (hey, money can’t be that tight, right?), and have to tell you, I’m enjoying them. They also ask that you “link” to one more person to add to their count. (Actually, the only thing I can’t find on their site is what the current count IS.) Anyway, their mission statement is this:

For over 10 years singer/songwriter Katie Reider (pronounced RIDER) has inspired the hearts of thousands with her music and genuine personality. Just as she was reaching the peak of her music career a tumor developed in her upper left jaw that progressed into her sinus, skull base and left eye orbit. Over the course of one year, the rare facial tumor took away her sight in one eye, her voice, and most importantly her ability to perform.
500Kin365.org, was created with the help of Katie Reider’s loyal fanbase to reconnect and introduce 500,000 people to Katie Reider, her music and her story over the next year. Help us continue to spread her music over the next year by downloading “katie’s Voice” (9 original songs written and performed by Katie Reider over the last 10 years) for a $1.00 donation to her cause and linking up ONE other person to www.500Kin365.org

Go take a listen. The comments over at her blog are kind of heart-breaking, too. What a shame. Because, really, I’ve got her music playing right now while I type, and what a nice voice she had…

Ooh, and this is also new to me–”Endless Shoes and Handbags.” Doesn’t the name just sound heavenly?

• Tags: Chappy, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Never Before Seen // 8 Comments »

Well, that’s done…

Normally, a finished object would be a GOOD thing, but since I’m still in the Project Doldrums, this just means that now I need to find something ELSE.

Sigh.

In the meantime? I started another of these in a different color. I mean, don’t get me wrong. This is a lovely little pattern and all, and the bag will come in handy. I just want to find something FUN to knit.

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Doldrums // 8 Comments »

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 • Permalink:Six, Seven, Eight… // 9 Comments »

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 • Permalink:Bathing Beauty // 3 Comments »

Today was a surprise party for my brother-in-law, who turns 45 tomorrow. We were there, his brother, sister-in-law, and niece were there, and his aunt and his cousin were there. Chappy and 18-month old Kaitlyn were adorable together and a good time was had by all.

And, naturally, I had my new camera with me (grin), and I may have taken, oh, 200 pictures or so … Here are just some. Or, okay, a lot, but, well … it was a good day!

And, yes, Chappy WAS in the crate while Kaitlyn was smiling into it, and he did kind of wonder why she kept shaking his back paw to say hello. And I love the picture of Betty taking the picture of Kaitlyn and Chappy–I was disappointed I was behind them when I realized that the best shot was of the mom TAKING the picture. Love that.

Great day. Tired now….

(I went back to add a picture of Kaitlyn inside Chappy’s crate. She liked it in there!)

• Tags: Family, Finished Knitting • Permalink:Surprise Party // 6 Comments »

Hey, remember that bag I made a couple years ago? The felted satchel? Well, I decided it was about time that I write up the pattern. So, I did. And I’m offering it for sale–just in case you’re interested!

Size: 15″ x 9″ x 14″

Needed: 5 skeins EACH of two different colors of Cascade 220, wooden dowels for the framework, a magnetic snap–or alternative hardware of your choice!

And, the cost? Just $5.97.

You can buy it on Ravelry, if you’re signed-up, just click the link here:

Or, if you’d like to buy it directly from me, click here:

• Tags: Finished Knitting • Permalink:House Calls // 1 Comment »

Well, as close as makes no difference, my Flutter-Sleeve cardigan is done. I still need to sew the little tabs onto the sleeves, and sew on the buttons, but that’s not exactly going to be a strain (grin). I finished sewing the side seams last night and washed/blocked it to get the sleeve cuffs behaving, and now am just waiting for it to dry so I can do that last little bit of sewing to make it 100% done instead of just 99.5% done.

The buttons, to remind you, are these. Though, again, the camera isn’t reporting the colors accurately. Believe it or not, the third one down (Montrose) is actually the best match, even though to the camera it appears to be a completely different color. The Donan (the top) is a lot more brown than green, and looks good as an accent. Mom and I both have a soft spot for the Vencencia button–which seems a little fancy for a simple sweater, and yet looks lovely.

I have to make up my mind soon, though, because as soon as this sweater is dry, I don’t have any more excuses!

Otherwise? I did some serious dusting/vacuuming this morning to get my bedroom clean. My asthma’s been bothering me the last couple of days (and, have I mentioned, I hate having asthma!), so I figured I should make a point of getting my room as clean as possible. (With, of course, the awareness that doing the cleaning myself may simply aggravate the problem, but what can I do?) And when I haven’t been cleaning, or cooking, I’ve more or less been curled up on the couch with Chappy. I’m reading a really good mystery, A Test of Wills, which I’m grateful is the first in a series, because I’m enjoying it quite a bit and am always thankful when there’s more. It takes place in 1919 England and Inspector Rutledge is trying to drag himself back from shell-shock from the war, and it’s just really very good.

This reminds me, though–it’s just about the end of the month and I need to get my monthly reading list posted in two days … well, at least it will give me something to do in my knit-less state. Because, except for the almost-finished wrist-warmers and a (yawn) pair of socks I started in self-defense the other day so I’d have something to do at the hair salon, I’ve got nothing. No sweater. No shawl. No interesting projects of any kind. Sigh.

Here’s a nifty link for you–recreated photos from Hitchcock’s classic movies. Some gorgeous photos, there. It reminds me of those Annie Leibovitz Disney photos (also beautiful).

Oh, and because these are fun once in a while (seen at Sandy’s):
83 words

Speedtest

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Fluttering // 11 Comments »

Here’s a mediocre modelling shot of my shawl. It’s not much of a picture, but at least you can see the relative size of the shawl. (Two more pattern repeats really would have made it too big!)

I would have tried harder to get you a good picture, but I was tired and cranky and I hope you’re just grateful you got any picture at all (grin).

Why was I tired and cranky? Without whining, let’s just say, you know how, sometimes, when you take a couple days off from work and you get back to your desk and just pick up where you left off? And other times it’s like chaos totally took hold of the universe and the vortex of insanity apparently centered on your office?

Guess which kind of day I had?

(grumble, grumble)

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Modelled, Sort of // 17 Comments »

There she sits. Done and Blocked. It’s such a relief to have this shawl done!

Now, ideally, it would have had a couple more of the “leaf” repeats before the edge, but considering the size of the finished shawl, it’s just as well I stopped the pattern repeats when I did.

I was lazy about pinning out every crocheted scallop at the edging, but just gave each repeat three pins to hold them in place while they dried, but I’m happy with that. It’s mostly dry now and I think it’s going to look great when it’s unpinned.

I started this shawl, you’ll remember, last May, and knitted it in “Curry”-colored Zephyr lace yarn . . . which hates me. The pattern is from the Japanese “Let’s Knit” Book #11, but doesn’t appear to have a name, just a number. Which is a shame, really–it deserves to have a name.

Of course, since I decided to use fewer repeats, I’m left with almost two complete extra skeins of Curry Zephyr–which, knowing how well we get along, you can imagine I’m very excited about.

But, still . . . done!

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Japanese Lace // 19 Comments »

Well, this is how close to the end I was when my yarn ran out last night. So close, and yet, so far! But at least I had more yarn to finish it out.

(I wonder if the shawl would have been more cooperative as regards the yarn if I hadn’t left it in the knitting bag so often while working on other things? Or, you know, if it hadn’t been Zephyr.)

Still, it’s done. It just needs to be blocked. I made my shawl smaller than the one in the book for a couple of reasons . . . One, considering the ennui that had set in anyway, if it had been longer, who knows when it would have been finished. (As it is, I started it last May.) And, Two, I had a feeling at full-size it would have been too large for me to wear comfortably anyway. (You can see a picture of the original here.)

It looks like a crumpled mess right now, of course, as unblocked lace always does, but just give me a day or two to get it blocked properly. It really is going to be stunning. Still, though, I want my next lace project to be a FAST one. Like Flower Basket!

Do you know what this means, incidentally? At this moment, I do not have a knitting project at all. I’m thinking the Flutter Sleeve Cardi from the new Interweave Knits would be nice, though. And it looks like it would look great in the green (#008 Moss) Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool I’ve got in my stash, too.

So, what did I do with my day off today? I know you’re dying to know. Nothing much exciting, though. I went to the grocery store this morning to pick up a couple things–but that included the makings for BLT sandwiches (which you know I love, and which my Dad loves, too).

Then, after lunch, I neatened my fiber/yarn closet.

Here’s the yarn side. I was getting some overflow of yarn coming into the stash but not stored in the correct bin. The magazines are still over-flowing their racks but at least, everything looks neat and just about everything is where it belongs. The orange bin and the milkcrate to its left that you can’t see are both filled with sweater yarn. The canvas bins are for (1) sock yarn, (2) lace yarn, and (3) odds and ends. On the right, there’s another milk crate also filled with yarn–that’s usually the “active” yarn–extra skeins for projects I’m currently working on. Although the Kid Silk Haze stash lives there now. Below that are the magazines, basket of knitting needles, sewing supplies, and other crafty things. The bookcase is filled with knitting, spinning, and craft books. The loose-leaf binders on the floor are for assorted, single patterns, and the cardboard box on the bottom left is filled with leaflet/magazine-type knitting books . . . the ones that aren’t quite “books” but aren’t regular periodicals, either. And the blue canvas bin? Filled with sweaters I no longer want that I plan (someday!) to convert to things like pillows or tote bags or something….

Here’s the fiber side. I reminded myself of the fiber I have waiting to be spun and then organized (again) the miscellaneous bobbins and such that just won’t stay organized. Right now, all my Lendrum bobbins/flyers are in that clear plastic bin, all my Majacraft bobbins/flyers are in the cardboard box. The two lazy kates are sitting on top of the Lendrum bun, the spindles are dangling from a hanger in the corner, and all the spinning fiber is in the mesh bin and the basket in the front. Such beading supplies as I have live in a plastic, under-the-bed bin on the floor. (And, the bookcase? Filled with YA and children’s books that I love and like to keep handy. L.M. Montgomery, Diana Wynne Jones, Nancy Bond, Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sharon Shinn, Elizabeth George Speare, Susan Cooper….)

And, really, except for reading Rose in Bloom and taking Chappy for a walk, that’s pretty much my day! Oh, that, and vacuuming about another dog’s worth of fur out of the bottom of my closet. (grin)

And, lastly, my verdict on I Love Melvin from yesterday? Cute, but not fantastic. Debbie Reynolds looked lovely (great hair, great  clothes). Donald O’Connor did fabulous dancing–the number on roller skates was even better than Fred and Ginger’s roller-skate dance. The little girl playing the kid sister was wonderful, and there was even a glimpse of a really young Richard Anderson (remember Oscar Goldman from the original 6 Million Dollar Man?). But, the ending? Even allowing for the silly 1950’s contrivances in these MGM musical romantic comedies . . . it was the absolute silliest ending to any movie I’ve ever seen. Truly, ridiculously silly. But all in good fun, and that number on the roller skates was well worth the price of admission, as it were. Not to mention making Mom so happy!

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Almost // 6 Comments »

First of all, no, yesterday’s Sky picture was NOT taken yesterday. Our weather from about 8:00 am onward was pretty much freezing rain. All day. Gloomy, wet, dreary day that at least was Friday. I tried taking a couple of pictures from my car on my drive home, but the vibration of the running motor made the low-light shots pretty much impossible, and this was the best I could do. Luckily, though–here at least–while the rain froze to all the vegetation and the sidewalks, the streets were not slippery for driving. Which is good because I don’t particularly like driving on ice. Snow is okay, but ice is kind of scary.

Today’s weather was better, though not as nice as it was supposed to be. They’d forecasted partly-sunny and 45 degrees, and while it did reach the 40s, it wasn’t remotely sunny and it felt cold. We’d already promised Chappy a visit to the park, though, so we bundled up and headed out around 11:00.

We gave him a surprise, though. My friend Cindy lives right next to our favorite park, and while we always call to see if she’s available for a walk, our schedules never coincide. But, today she was waiting for a furniture delivery, so we detoured over to her parking lot so that Chappy could see his friends, Horatio and Princess. Horatio is Chappy’s best friend–he’s three weeks older and they’ve known each other since they were about three months old. Today was the first time they’ve seen each other, though, since Chappy’s 5th birthday, a year and a half ago, when Cindy brought her two dogs and Risa brought her two toddlers and joyful chaos ran amuck for an afternoon.

Anyway, Chappy and Horatio were delighted to see each other, and immediately started doing their signature wrestling . . . which starts as wrestling but very quickly (these days) ends up with Chappy sitting on top of Horatio. Something he doesn’t do with any other dog but which Horatio seems quite content with. Really, they’re very funny together. And thankfully a lot calmer than when they were puppies. That very first visit to the park back in 2001? It would take us 20 minutes to walk 10 feet because they’d continually stop to play. (Hey, when they went to puppy school together, they had to sit at opposite ends of the room, just so they could concentrate.)

After the park, we stopped at Starbucks for some hot beverages to warm us up . . . and a cupcake that we paid for but that didn’t get put in our bag but that we didn’t realize was missing until we got home . . . Chappy got a badly-needed bath, and then I baked a cake.

Cook’s Illustrated had a yellow cake/chocolate frosting recipe that I wanted to try. I love trying different recipes, and I really love the magazine which rarely steers me wrong, so since this is my favorite cake combination, I had to try it. I haven’t tasted the finished result yet, but I will say that I wasn’t impressed with the frosting when I was making it . . . far too runny for a supposedly “foolproof” frosting. As in, it was running down the sides of the cake and off the dish as I frosted it. And the layers kept sliding in opposite directions. Maybe the chocolate was still too warm when I added it to the butter/cocoa/sugar mixture? But it was still this runny even AFTER I added extra confectioner’s sugar in a desperate attempt to solidify it a little (grin). Anyway, Dad–the only one so far to have had a piece–said it was pretty good . . . but it doesn’t compare to the family-favorite Grandma Cake. (As if it could!)

Oh, and then I tried a little modelling. I put on my new sweater and then wandered around the house with my camera and my Gorillapod, trying to get you a decently-lit photo of me in my new sweater. Um. Some of them came out better than others, but here are the top three.

(As you can see, Chappy helped!)

And, lastly, a couple links.

Colleen’s post about a Ravelry thread written by a bunch of, um, overly-devout knitters who entirely misunderstood the point of her subway-pass mittens. It’s really a little frightening in its hilariousness.

The Writing Forward blog has an interesting challenge going–to write a sentence that’s over 100 words long and THEN to write it again in 10-words or less.

And, lastly, speaking of photography (as I was the other day), look at these great tips for flash and lighting things you can do yourself.  Personally, I’m enamored of the diffuser/ring flash made from an old milk carton. For that matter, here’s a page of “best tips” which are darn good all on their own. (Although, some of them require a more advanced camera than I have . . . maybe someday, though!)

• Tags: Family, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Satisfying Saturday // 23 Comments »

  

Who’s got the button? Because, except for sewing that on, this sweater is DONE. Woohoo!

I’ve got a stitch-marker marking the place, and then I just need to adjust the size of the buttonhole–it should take about 10-15 minutes, top.

(Interesting, isn’t it, how the color looks completely different in all three of these pictures? Same camera, same time of day, and except for the flash on that first picture, exactly the same lighting … always interesting!)

The only problem I foresee? The Karabella Aurora 8 is such a slick yarn, some of the ends aren’t behaving and are either sticking through to the right side or, in one particular case, standing straight at the unerside of the collar so that it shows when I’m wearing it. Minor quibble, I know, but really, that’s about the only thing that I’m NOT happy with at this moment (grin).

Of course, I haven’t sewn the button on yet, and you never know, I might hate it….

• Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:All But the Button // 7 Comments »

Well, I finished my Dad’s hat . . . modelled here by a candlestick, which is why it looks rather pointy.

And, didn’t I tell you the blue was so dark as to look almost black? I just hope Dad’ll believe me when I tell him it’s really blue (grin).

But the important thing is that it’ll keep his head warm, right?

Now, here’s a closer look at my raspberry-colored yarn. Clean, dry, and just so pretty. It actually looks more pink in this photo than in person. In real life, it’s a little darker.

This stuff is SO going to be a sweater for me. Cardigan, I think.

And, have I mentioned that it’s SOFT, too?

Have I mentioned that Chappy is a thief? He has a tendency to steal things like slippers, napkins, socks . . . towels.

Like, this one that he stole out of the laundry basket this afternoon.

Or, well, maybe this one doesn’t actually count as stealing.

Because, well, it DOES kind of have his name on it.

• Tags: Chappy, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Monday Stuff // 18 Comments »

  One finished object. The famous Clapotis, of course. (I held out as long as I could!). With my assistant for scale.

Knitted in Brooks Farm Four Play merino/silk blend. I used about a skein and a half. I wasn’t sure how the yardage would work out, so I made the whole thing narrower than the pattern called for, but not TOO narrow. It’ll make a great cross between a scarf and a stole. And the yarn is luciously soft, the color gorgeous.

All in all, very happy with this.

I do plan on blocking it. I like the finished look it gives it, instead of the extremely-ribbed look the just-off-the-needles wrap has.

Two. This currently leaves just two things on my needles–the Celtic Icon sweater, and my second sock in my handspun yarn.

I know. Not even lace! Shocking, huh?

Three. The number of times I’ve sat and played at my new wheel. (This shows great restraint, I think.) The first two times, I was spinning the batts from Spinner’s Hill that I bought at Rhinebeck . . . unfortunately, we didn’t get along. I didn’t love spinning the fiber, despite its luscious colors, and adapting to that while also adapting to a new wheel just, well, didn’t go well. Not to mention the fact that something in that wool was bothering my allergies. I could feel my lungs filling up while I treadled away. So. That wool is now banished. At least, it’s out of my room. I unwound the singles I’d spun from the bobbin and have to figure out what to do with them. Right now, they’re on my niddy-noddy in the other room, sulking.

All is not lost, though, because now I’m spinning this, also from Rhinebeck, from the Sheep Shed. Beautifully prepared, silky-soft merino in colors that are making me think of a peppermint stick. (Hmm, when is Starbucks coming out with their Peppermint Mochas, anyway, this season?)

Anyway, this is going much better. (No extra wheezing is definitely a plus–at least I know I’m not allergic to my wheel!)

Speaking of my wheel, we are getting along just fine. She spins very smoothly, though the accelerated wheel takes a little getting used to–more or less instant stops and starts, when I’m used to a little leeway/momentum on the Lendrum–and the treadles are very sensitive, so any foot movement moves the flyer. This is not a bad thing by any means–just something to get used to. The Delta Orifice, which I know some people don’t like, is just fine by me–no orifice hook necessary? No problem! About the only thing I don’t like is the metal-on-metal yarn guide on the flyer–it makes my teeth ache (grin). Oh, and figuring out how to secure the yarn when I take a break is challenging, too–there are hooks on the flyer to wrap around, but they’re slippery. These are very minor complaints. Overall, I’m very happy, and she seems to be settling in just fine.

Four. The day that Gracie’s baby Catherine arrived! Be sure to go and welcome the new arrival.

Five Thousand Seventeen. The number of comments I had as of the time I logged in. Wow. You people don’t mess around! Word of a contest sure makes you spring into action! (grin)

Now, I know exactly who won the contest, but I’m not going to say who it is until I’ve determined the prize. Which will be this weekend. After I’ve found something suitably wonderful to honor such an important milestone. You understand.

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Counting. // 23 Comments »

I love it when a plan comes together.

• Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Satisfaction // 15 Comments »

Except for the handles . . . and the fact that one side is a little bigger than the other because it didn’t felt evenly . . . still . . . this came out just about the way I wanted.

You know, except for the fact that the other handle is a good 7″ longer than the other AFTER felting.

(I swear, before felting there wasn’t more than 1 row’s difference between the two of them.)

Now, the whole thing is actually kind of huge, but really, it’s just about the same size as the bag I modelled it after. Okay, a little bigger–I can just fit the canvas version inside, but really, see, that’s the beauty of this style of bag. When it’s closed it doesn’t seem ridiculously large, and yet when open, it can hold a massive amount of stuff.

So, all in all . . . and despite the odd handle problem (and the fact that one side is longer than the other), I’m happy with this bag.

I mean, when you consider that I’ve (1) never designed a tote bag of any kind, and (2) had never felted/fulled anything before at all, the fact that the finished product is so close to the image I was carrying in my head is pretty impressive, huh?

Except, it’s not QUITE finished. Although the knitting part is.

What do I still need to do?

1. Figure out a solution to the handle dilemma. (I know, that one’s obvious.)

2. Make a lining for it–also a challenge, since I haven’t touched my sewing machine in about four years.

3. Come up with some snazzy way to close it.

4. Even with the felting, it is still rather “floppy.” I’d like to come up with a way to give the sides just a LITTLE more structure, so that when it’s open, the sides don’t fall flat . . . maybe when it’s full of something like, oh, say, YARN, this won’t happen, but would you want to take the chance? I’m thinking if I go to a fabric shop and buy some of that boning they sell to reinforce shirts and corsets (!) and such, and sew some into the corners of the lining, that should about do it. . . . Unless anyone has a better suggestion?

But still . . . happy!

Added: Thank you all for the suggestions–they are appreciated and welcome! The main problem is that the bag is heavy in and of itself, which probably could be counteracted with stiffeners like plastic canvas or interfacing or . . . something . . . It’s the fact that there’s a metal bag frame at the top, giving structure to the satchel (a very necessary design element), but also adding weight to the top. I’m trying to figure out if there’s something I could use instead of the frame, like, say, a stiff wire bent to shape, but there has to be SOMETHING up there. And the sides of the bag have to be flexible enough to fold inward to the classic satchel shape. Ideally, the bag should stand up straight and wide when open–for that, it’s got to have the frame. Now it’s a question of figuring out how to give the fabric enough heft for it….

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Well, Except for the Handles… // 14 Comments »

Unveiling. Here you go, a look at my modelled Peacock Stole.

Up-do. (And no, I don’t usually put this many different things in my hair on the rare occasion I try to put it up, but I thought it would be fun to be extravagant with the accessoris for a change.

  Unusual Lunch. A Honeycrisp apple with peanut butter. It’s one of those combinations that sound strange–and I normally don’t even like peanut butter very much–but I’m telling you, this, you have to try. The crisp, juiciness of the apple against the sticky, nut flavor of the peanut butter . . . such a great combination.

  Uncharted Territory. Yes, well, some adventures work out better than others. I felted my bag today, and while it went mostly well . . . um . . . as you can see, the two sides did NOT felt evenly. Granted, I deliberately made one side a few rows bigger than the other, so they would overlap when they were closed, but, um . . . the handles WERE the same size when we started…. I have absolutely no idea what to do about this! It’s possble that, once dry, the uneven SIDES will actually be fine and the difference in felting not particularly noticeable . . . but the handle is going to be a problem (grin). Maybe I can fold the long one to match and put a buckle on it, like I’d meant it to look that way all along? (Suggestions welcome–and I DID try hand-felting it to get it smaller, but I just don’t have the serious hand-strength to accomplish that. Even the original swatch for the bag . . . hand-felting and I do NOT get along.)

Underwear (well, sort of). Jane wanted to see creative pictures of my handknitted socks, so . . . here you go. Sock Art.

  Unheard of! Yes, here’s my knitting bag. Completely empty, at least for the moment. Although, I do have a pair of socks panting to be knitted, so . . . I won’t have empty needles for long!

• Tags: ABC-Along, Finished Knitting, Hair, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Uneasy // 21 Comments »

Okay–the stole has a seam, joining the two pieces in hole-y matrimony–hurray!

Right now, the seam is pinned out and blocking, since there was a pucker at the ends–and who wants that? So for right this minute, this is all you get to see–the seam. Because the finished stole isn’t moving off the blocking board until the seam is dry–sometime tomorrow.

It’s not a fancy seam, by any means. I thought about doing some, snazzy, lacy kind of join between the two pieces, to avoid that somewhat solid line up the center, but . . . I decided I was too lazy to do that. And it’s not like it’s a bulky seam. Oh no. In fact, it’s a mattress stitch-graft between one side and the other–no overlapping of any kind. We’ll just, um, hope that it holds together. Because, I admit, I didn’t do the grafting one stitch at a time. That would have taken too long! (Not to mention that the stitches from the cast-on row were really hard to see–one at a time would have made me go blind.) No, I made galloping big stitches (relatively speaking).

Like I said, we’ll just all keep our fingers crossed, right?

So far, this is an exciting week for finishing, here at Chappy’s. Not only is my shawl done, but–except for a little finishing, weaving in ends–so are my socks.

Not only that, I cast off the body of my tote bag last night and knitted the first of two handles tonight. Which means one more handle, and then a rectangle for the outside pocket . . . and that’s done, too.

How nifty is that??

Of course . . . you realize . . . the fact that all of my projects are going to be done witihin such a short time span means that, of course, any new projects are going to be started at more or less the same time. Which means that it’s likely to be a long time before I finish anything else.

So, really, I have to revel in this a bit, don’t you think??

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:It Seams Done… // 13 Comments »

See? Here’s part number two, stretched out and leisurely blocking, while part number one lolls around waiting. I really can’t wait to get these two together.

In fact, if things go according to schedule, I should be joining these two in hole-y union tomorrow–which is my parents’ wedding anniversary. Kind of appropriate, don’t you think? Lord knows they’ve been waiting long enough to get together!

Oh, and thank you for your concern. I’ve got plenty of yarn for grafting these together. I have a whole ‘nother skein of the yarn, sitting untouched in the yarn basket. It’s just that–who wants to have to join a new skein of yarn THAT close to the end of a project?? It’s practically heartbreaking! Or, at the least, really frustrating.

This leaves me with exactly two works-in-progress. My tote bag, which I told you, is nearly done. Handles. An outer pocket. I mean, I think there’s at least a week’s worth of knitting there, but still . . . it’s close to the home stretch. And then my Cherry Tree Hill socks, which are also almost done–a couple inches left on the second sock, and, voila, they’re a pair.

So what I’m going to try to do–at least for a few days–is not to start anything new at all until those two are done. Which would leave me with absolutely zero WIPs for, well five minutes or so, which I think would be kind of interesting. I can’t remember the last time that happened, so it would at least be of academic interest, right?

Although . . . if the sock’s done before the bag, I might have to cast on another one anyway . . . I need SOMETHING to take the dentist’s office next week! So . . . we’ll see.

Hey, did you know it’s National Spinning and Weaving week? Who knew?? (Well, Ina did.)

It shouldn’t surprise anybody that I broke down and bought this book. I mean, this is me–dog lover and obsessive reader. It’s a natural! And really, we taught Chappy to read his name the very day we picked him up, so….

Speaking of my boy, he’s a little wet at the moment. I took a closer look at his skin tonight and saw a couple little red patches. His infection HAD been clearing up, but it’s obviously not gone yet. So–medicated shampoo to the rescue! Really, Chappy is so good about taking baths, but I can tell that he’s tired of them now. One every few weeks is normal and accepted, but two a week? This is obviously excessive in his opinion, as evidenced by his curling up in the far corner of the bathtub while the water’s getting hot, and the longing looks past my shoulder while I’m lathering him up . . . he’s behaving, mind you, but still . . . he clearly does not want to be there.But still–such a good boy! (And hey, staph infections can be hard to get rid of!)

• Tags: Chappy, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Seeing is Believing // 13 Comments »

  You know, we all talk about the magic of blocking lace. And we all talk about how amazing it makes it look, so airy and light, the pattern so clear after the crumpled mess that is the freshly-knitted lace.

But how often do we actually get to see the Before and After, side by side?

On the left, the first half of my Peacock stole, fully blocked. On the right, my just-finished second half.

Yes, believe it or not, they are the same number of rows (give or take a couple), the same amount of yarn, the same needle. All of that. And yet . . . so, so different. Looking at this, I wouldn’t believe that the second half is actually the same size as that first half . . . would you?? And yet, in just 24 hours (assuming I do block it tomorrow) . . . it will be.

Magic, I’m telling you.

And, remember how the other day I was mentioning how concerned I was about running out of yarn? I reminded you how much I had left after the first half?

Well, if it’s a matter of a contest between the two halves, there’s no question. Part Two wins in the close-call contest. Phew!! Just barely enough to be able to weave in the ends.

Now. Next for this, clearly, is the blocking, so the second half can look as beautiful as the first half.

Then. Grafting the two pieces together. The only part I’ve been a little nervous about, since the grafting really needs to be pretty much perfect so as not to take away from the lace. But . . . can’t wait.

I cannot believe that I’ve been working on this since March. Almost seven months! The original triangular version only took me three months. Even though the number of stitches in each half remained constant at 126, instead of increasing with every pattern row, obviously, that didn’t save me any time (grin). And having basically knitted this pattern three times now . . . I’ve had my fill of this lace for a while!

I did get a treat for myself. A Samsung DVD-recorder. I’m trying to be good about spending these days, but there were a couple reasons. First, there are some conflicting shows that Mom and I watch (House vs Veronica Mars is number one), and this way, I can record it up in my room and then bring it downstairs to watch. Second . . . I don’t (well, didn’t) have a DVD player in my room. A VCR built-in to the television, and my laptop does have a DVD player, but . . . that’s not practical if I want to watch a movie while reading all your blogs, you know? So I decided to get myself a DVD-R.

Although, I haven’t tried playing the DVD-RW from this machine in the DVD-R downstairs . . . fingers crossed! And if not . . . I still have a recorder and player in my bedroom, so I can watch things that I enjoy but Mom doesn’t. So, well worth the money, right?

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Comparatively Speaking // 23 Comments »

This was ALL the yarn I had left in my skein.

Just barely enough to thread onto a needle to weave the ends in.

Granted, I have another, untouched skein (one in each color, in fact), but you understand . . . it’s the principle of the thing. Having to blend a new skein of yarn solely for the purposes of binding off the sleeve? That’s just wrong. Wrongwrongwrong. On so many levels.

But, you realize what this means, right?

Yep. My sweater is done.

You’ll have to forgive the mediocre picture, but this way you can see the nifty diamond shape the sleeves make when worn. They have a strange little “pouch” to them when lying flat . . . which, I admit, I would have avoided if I had known ahead of time. But I consider the downward diagonal to be a serendipitous occurence. I like the sleeves.

The colors look pretty accurate, too–the green looks green and not yellow, so that’s a plus.

I like the way this came out. I like the stripes (Shelley’s idea, originally), and I like that I staggered them in different thicknesses instead of doing regular stripes. I like the 5×2 rib that I opted to do the body in–it adds a little heft to the fabric, without making it too clingy. It was also interesting enough to knit that it didn’t feel as endless as stockinette stitch sometimes does. I shaped the shoulders and the sleeves with shortrows . . . I suppose I could have used a little more shaping at the shoulder, but, then, they mostly look odd in this picture because of the ribbing on the sleeves.

The reason the sleeves look so strange in when it’s unworn is that I knitted them in 2×2 ribbing, mostly because when I picked up all the stitches around the armhole, it wasn’t divisible by 7. It’s a tghter rib than 5×2, so the sleeves “gather in” more than the fabric of the body does, although worn, they fit and “match” just fine.

The specs again, such as they are: knitted in Karabella Aurora8/Aurora Melange yarn, in my very own design.

---

It’s been a lovely family day, here. Lots of silliness and laughter–and playing. Chappy’s toys were very popular (as was he). Even my sister got in on the game–a goal-scoring game where she tried to get the soft frisbee past my nephew into the dining room, and he tried to get it past her into the living room. Chappy mostly stayed on the outskirts of the game, but every now and again, he would jump in to grab the toy (it is HIS, after all). At one point, he saved the toy and pranced around with it in his mouth, head held high, tail going a mile a minute, just clearly so darn pleased with himself.

Really, they were all very entertaining.

The food was good, too. Mom broiled some chicken which came out nice and juicy and very tasty. I made potato salad, which is always a hit with my family. (Personally, I only like potato salad when it’s freshly made, and really only like my own, and once or twice a year is plenty. But even mine, once it’s passed 24 hours or so . . . blech.) I also made two desserts–an end-of-summer one and a beginning-of-fall one.

The summer dessert (illustrated here) is a frozen lemon pie. Now, the inspiration for this came from my 1999 trip to London, when my friend and I ate at one specific pub and had a dessert that tasted like–and had the texture of–a frozen lemon meringue pie. Delicious. (In fact, we made a point of eating at that pub twice, just so we could get the pie again.) I’ve wanted to recreatre it ever since, but had no idea how to get that meringue-like texture in an ice cream. But then, the cookbook I got last month had a recipe for lemon-curd ice cream AND one for a caramel semifreddo which got its texture from beaten eggs, rather than air churned into the mixture as it freezes. Hmmm . . . . So, I made a crust out of crushed ginger snaps, made the lemon curd ice cream, and then made the semifreddo with a couple of adjustments. (No caramel, and instead of using two eggs used the 4 egg whites left over from the lemon curd.) The result? Almost perfect. I poured the lemon curd ice cream base directly into the pie shell instead of churning it in the ice cream maker first, and so it ended up with big ice crystals–not as creamy as it should have been, but still . . . the flavor was great, the idea worked, and so far as my memory serves, it’s darn close to the original. (Granted, it’s 7 years since I tasted the original, but . . . maybe that’s not a bad thing, huh?)

Oh, and the other dessert was an applesauce cake–the recipe from the Joy of Cooking, and which has been a family favorite for about twenty years now. And which remains about the ONLY way I like raisins at all.

  Lastly, take a look at the picture they gave my mother. The drawing was done by my niece–that’s her in the front, and Ocean Park on Martha’s Vineyard in the background. The frame was assembled as kind of a family project. Isn’t it wonderful? I can knit and all just fine, but I cannot draw a jot . . . gotta admire this kind of talent . . .

Okay . . . very tired now. It’s been a full day (grin). And, oh, you should see poor Chappy . . . he’s doing his rug imitation–as flat out on the floor as a dog possibly can be. Happy, but exhausted!

• Tags: Baking, Family, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Photo Finish // 16 Comments »

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