Carrie does coffee

Remember a couple of posts back when I fell over in shock that Carrie was All Grown Up? Go ahead and look -- there are some stunning pictures of here there in her prom dress. June 29th was the prom -- a whole month and a bit ago.

Turns out that there is something else that means she's grown up. She does coffee now.

Well, sort of. You see, Carrie and coffee looks something like this:

Carrie sits at breakfast table with half bowl of Fruit Loops, almost snoring. When told that there is coffee, she sits up and her eyes open. She'll have to fix her coffee herself though, since only she knows how to make it correctly. That's OK -- she can do this.

Step one: Place three heaping teaspoons of hot chocolate mix in bottom of large travel mug.
Step two: Pour coffee, leaving 3/4" headspace in mug.
Step three: Stir vigorously, being careful not to spill.
Step four: Taste.
Step five: Add two more heaping teaspoons of hot chocolate mix, and stir.
Step six: Discover the last teaspoon of chocolate mix is stuck to spoon.
Step seven: Shoot patented "glare of death" look at mom, who is laughing.
Step eight: Shoot "death star laser beam of death" look at mom, who is now rolling on floor.
Step nine: Add milk and stir gently.
Step ten: Taste. Pronounce perfection.
Step eleven: Discover that lid of travel mug will not fit onto mug with this much beverage.
Step twelve: Shoot patented "glare of death" look at mom, who is once again on her feet but still laughing .
Step thirteen: Drink enough coffee from mug so that lid fits; place lid on mug; leave unattended to fetch knitting and purse.
Step fourteen: Moan loudly that mom has tasted coffee/chocolate.
Step fifteen: Subside into back seat of car, holding coffee with both hands to protect it from any more unwarranted "mom taxes."

There are no pictures of this event, mainly due to my laughing too hard to actually find and point a camera. But ... you know what? If you promise not to tell anyone that you read it here ... if you like coffee AND hot chocolate, this is a mighty fine combination. I'm so glad I -- er -- she discovered it!

In other news, I do note that I haven't done a recent count of current projects on needles. So here ya go:

1. Bulky cardigan -- being knit as a special order for a customer -- lacks three rows of the button band and it will be done, Done, DONE!

2. Great American Aran Afghan -- still no selection from my on-line group as to a square for August, so currently waiting that decision.

3 and 4. Double-knit Mittens -- have both skeins of yarn (retrieved from storage) so that I can proceed. These will be the class project for September, so I hope to finish them soon.

5. Mock cable baby blanket -- Half finished! Still need to write pattern.

6. Wavy-baby from Casbah -- finally unraveled and ready to start knitting again. If nothing else, it'll get worked on this weekend when we drive Carrie over to see her dad in Michigan.

7. Surprise present for my swap partner at Knit & Chat .

I have the Rusted Root to block, the Botanical Medallion to block, and the suri alpaca & silk shawl to block.

Apparently I am a little slow to the finish line these days.

Sometimes ...

Many, many years ago my grandfather was a farmer out in Winnipeg. He brought a richness to my life from those experiences. A richness that I do often miss. I remember spending hours and hours with him in the flower gardens, drawing charts so that we would remember where things were, and him letting me choose flowers to plant. He had an earthy wisdom that meant a lot to me. I learned some very valuable lessons; lessons that I strive to pass on to my family and friends.

One saying that he did NOT impart, however, is this: Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. This little gem came from one of the newer animated movies, and I'm not certain which one. I *think* it was the Bee Movie, but having never seen it I can't be sure. I just know that I heard this line, and it resonated.

What does it mean? Well, sometimes you're the windshield (and life is good):

This is the Spring Flowers Cardigan from the May 2009 Creative Knitting. I used 8 balls of Filati Carezza, colour number 9, and the suggested needles (US 4 & 6). I expect the gauge is a wee bit off -- on the larger size -- but otherwise I'd say the cardigan is a success. One thing I have yet to accomplish is to sew the buttonholes a bit closed as the buttons I selected weren't quite as large as those envisioned by the designer. All in all, this was a fun and delightful romp.

Here we are, once again, the windshield:
This is a basic little hat made with two strands of fun fur and two skeins of Noro Kureyon. The fun fur was Schachenmayr Brazilia Lungo, no. 210, and On-Line Smash, number 0007, held together. The Noro was colour number 211. You might eek by with only one ball of Noro, but the balls seem to be running short of late and the second ball was a necessity. Of course, since I was breaking into a second ball, I lengthened the hat enough to completely cover my ears. Again, a truly delightful outcome.

And sometimes you're the bug (and get splatted all over the windshield):

This is Wavy Baby from the Spring Knitters. The design is flawless; the technique is likewise flawless. Does anyone see the problem? Yeah, I thought so too. The colours are different. Not different colourways, but different in intensity. One ball of yarn has obviously come from the beginning of the dyepot and the second from the end.

So having splatted unceremoniously against the windshield of the Knitting Gods, I will frog this one. My lovely husband feels that this could be salvaged if only I weren't so fussy; that no one will see the front AND back simultaneously, and thus frogging is not warranted. I, however, will KNOW that there is a mismatch on the colours. So a frogging I will go.

The project will be repeated -- I'll be using two rows of the intense colour followed by two rows of the faded colour. The yarn is way too nice to put away, and I like the design and colours. (The yarn, after all, IS Handmaiden Casbah.)

And so ... remember this little gem: Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug!

Man, this is an interesting summer.

I don't know how things go at your house, but here at Under Construction the last six weeks have been extremely busy. Is there some phrasing to denote something worse than extremely? Because if there is, that's the word I want. Things have just been crazy.

Carrie has finished Grade 12. Watching her apply for university, be accepted for university, audition for the theatre program. These things should have made me feel old. But they didn't. These were just things that she, my baby, needed to do in order to progress to the next phase of her life. They just were things that she did.

The prom, on the other hand, is what brought home to me that she is pretty much grown up. She had her hair done, she donned the great party dress, the red shoes, the gloves. And grew up right in front of my eyes.



She also borrowed my camera to take to the prom with her. There are better shots on the camera at home, but they do make her look very grown up. Extremely grown up. (Sob) She was just a little, wee girl yesterday. I swear it!

In any event, with the camera off at the prom and a slight delay in getting it back, I wasn't really able to get photos of the knitting done in the meantime. But there has been knitting. Most of it is at home, awaiting or being blocked. But there is one piece here at the store:


This is the Betty Salpekar block from the Great American Aran Afghan.

When I started this afghan, I knew there would be difficult squares. In fact, I had heard that some knitters even took a whole month to finish some of the squares. I figured that since I do a lot of knitting at the store, that I'd have plenty of time to finish the squares. Two a month ought to be possible. And it HAS been possible ... right up until this square.

This square is knit in three main pieces: the centre portion, the cabled border, and then stitches picked up for the garter stitch edging. The centre part is a real humdinger. It is complex and challenging ... And when you finally figure out what the heck you are doing, you feel SO accomplished and professional.

The cabled border is a delight to knit. I love watching the corner turns develop. I just couldn't "ooh" and "aah" over it enough. Simply fascinating. This is how the border around the entire afghan will work. And it will be fabulous.

Having finished this square, I now feel confident that i will be able to finish this afghan. Possibly even this year, even though I do have nine more squares to knit. Eight squares will be from the pattern book; the ninth square will be a simple square with garter-stitch borders, and the year and my initials worked in reverse stockinette. At one per month, plus the border ... yeah, it can be done by the end of the year. The question is: Will it?

July Dishcloth of the Month

SAILORS' RIB DISHCLOTH

Materials: One ball Bernat Handicrafter cotton; 4.5mm needles

Cast on 42 stitches. Work 6 rows of garter stitch (knit every row). Begin pattern:

Row 1 (right side): Knit 3 stitches, place marker (this is for the garter stitch border); Knit 1 through back loop; *purl 1, knit 2, purl 1, knit 1 through back loop; repeat from * to last three stitches; place marker (for garter stitch border), and knit last three stitches.

Row 2 (wrong side): Knit three stitches, slip marker; Purl 1; *knit 1, purl 2, knit 1, purl 1; repeat from * to last three stitches, slip marker, knit 3.

Row 3: Knit 3 stitches, slip marker; knit 1 through back loop; *purl 4, knit 1 through back loop; repeat from * to last three stitches; slip marker, knit 3.

Row 4: Knit 3 stitches, slip marker; purl 1; *knit 4, purl 1; repeat from * to last three stitches; slip marker, knit 3.

Repeat these four rows until work measures approximately 7 1/2 inches. Work 6 rows of garter stitch. Bind off. Run ends under.

So much to do--so little time

Do you remember that breathless, don't-want-to-ever-be-parted, heart-pounding excitement of new love? Well, that's where I'm at with some of my knitting projects. The ones that I'm not passionately in love with ... well, they're just gonna have to deal. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my active projects.

First, there is the Botanica Medallion Cardigan from Vogue. We started this one Sunday afternoon at 2:00. I've knit the centre medallion, and am one-sixth of the way finished with the outer ring.

Misti International Misti Cotton ... doesn't get much better than this, I tell ya. Soft, supple, rich colour, fascinating pattern. Who wouldn't love it?

Next is the little lace cardigan from Creative Knitting. Back, both fronts, and half a sleeve. What's not to love here? A simple lace pattern that is easy to memorize and difficult to screw up. Nice colour, easy knitting. Again, what's not to love?
And then there's this little beauty. Rusted Root from Zephyr ... being knit in Debbie Bliss Cotton/Angora blend. I'm past the armholes, in case you can't see clearly.
A relatively simple 10-row lace pattern, yarn that absolutely glides over the needles, the absolute lush softness of angora, and a top-down sweater that will require little to no seaming. Life doesn't get any better, does it?

Or does it?
Handmaiden Casbah ... getting ready to be a little pull-over for summer wearing. Handmaiden is the knitter's crack, I swear. If it ain't the colours, it's the textures. They all feel like silk, or butter, or melted chocolate ... Compelling just isn't a strong enough word.

You know what really hurts about today? I have to go wind off yarns to drop into my gift bags for the Knit in Public picnic tomorrow. But I want to knit!!!!

The sooner I go wind off, the sooner I can come back to my knitting, right?

So many requests for pix

So many, many folks have requested pix of the Botanical Medallion in progress, I just had to oblige.

Of course, first you have to see the purely gratuitous cat shot -- Lizzie flaked out on our bed:

Hard to believe the little one is 11 years old this summer.

Also, the Rusted Root WIP, with my hand added for gauge:
Finally, the Botanical Medallion, in its blurry glory:
This is through round 41 ... only a FEW rounds ago. A better shot tomorrow, I promise!

Another month, another list

I have gotten in the habit of doing a count of my projects the first week of every month, and then posting them publicly. Here. The stated goal is to get back down to ... oh, I don't know ... 4 projects sounds reasonable. Two at the store, two at home. That sounds oh-so-reasonable. Doesn't it? Please tell me yes.

I don't even make a list of the projects for which I already have the yarn. That just sounds way too overwhelming for me. And discouraging. The old avoidance technique -- the list is too long, so I'll just avoid it. I do that with housework and stuff, so I think I'd probably do it with my projects as well.

But this, the first-of-the-month list ... It's motivational, in that I keep trying to whittle down the numbers. In that I can see clearly what's on my needles. In that I can see what it is I'm avoiding.

This month, I now number 10. Yes, 10. This is NOT a decrease. In fact ... well, we just won't go there.

There is the bulky cardigan for a customer. I have the back and two fronts completed. Sleeves are next, followed by the button bands. With a good movie, I could probably knock out one sleeve. Should be finished by the end of June.

The Noro hat. Well, I need to get this one finished so that I can display it for Christmas in July. Nothing difficult, just a knit hat with a little fun fur.

Great American Aran Afghan. Yes, well, I knew this would be a long-term project. The square for this month is the Salpekar square on page 24. I've heard lots about this square, ranging from "should be banned" techniques to amazingly difficult. I might just have to take this square home to knit.

There are still two pairs of double-knit mittens in alpaca. Again, I want to have them finished for display in July, so I've gotta get moving on at least one pair of these.

The mock cable baby afghan. The instructions are knit, it's just the knitting that's slowing me down.

The Rusted Root from Zephyr ... ah, yes. Knit in Debbie Bliss cotton and angora blend. Sigh.
I cast on for this one on Wednesday in the car, while Carrie was driving me home. Knit one round, then joined. 5 Rows later, at knit night at the store, I realized that I had been felled by the notorious "join, being careful not to twist." Rip. I started right back up, being careful not to twist, and am now on row 5. The yarn I'm using is thicker than the yarn for which the sweater was designed. I'm going to use the proper needle for the yarn and make the smallest size. The finished result will be a ladies medium, which is exactly what I need. Other than being navy blue (and consequently a little hard to see the stitches), this should be a fairly easy knit.

By the way, it's a top-down raglan, which means little to no finishing! Yippee!

There is a little drop-stitch top made from sock yarn in the spring Knitters. Casbah is SO tempting me ... The yarn is released from its stash hideaway and in the knitting bag, so I count this one as on the needles. Even though it's not.

On Sunday, we're going to start the Botanical Medallion cardigan from the summer Vogue Knitting. It's a knit-along project for the store, and I'm the leader. I probably should start this one ahead of time so that I can answer any and all questions.

Finally, there is a luscious alpaca and silk shawl that only needs the ends run under and blocking. Then it's finished. It seems I'm more of a project knitter than I want to admit, in that I just want to do the knitting and not the finishing. Wonder if there is a market in providing finishing services ... of course, I'd have to find someone to actually DO the finishing.

And finally, the one project that I managed to cross off my list in the last month:

Noro socks for Doug. These are intended as a "thank you" for him watching the store while I attended the Knitter's Frolic in Toronto. The colours of the Noro are delightful. Doug loves the wearing of the socks. I despise the knitting with Noro sock yarn. Twisty, tangled messes which require putting down the knitting and untangling. Grr. The pattern I used was a seed-stitch rib (4 knit stitches and 2 seed stitches), which I stopped two rows above the heels.

So ... there you have it. A more or less complete list of what's on my needles.

The siren call of of wool

Having caught up with the on-line group of knitters doing the Great American Aran Afghan, I decided to take a break from knitting afghan squares and try my hand at something a bit different.

The truth of the matter is that Barb, who is also working on the afghan, said that if I didn't slow down she was gonna (sob) confiscate my pattern book! I wisely decided to take a wee break; after all, she IS younger than me. However, I advised her that I was only taking a break until June 1, which she thought was reasonable. Here's the fun part -- old age and treachery will overcome youth and innocence every time! June 1 is MONDAY! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

In the absence of a square to knit, I decided that the store definitely needed a new sample of Filatti Carezza. The May 2009 Creative Knitting had some lovely designs, and I had plenty of a really nice blue-green. Away I went.

This design is called Spring Flowers Cardigan, found on page 26. Considering I started this late last week, the fact that I've got the back AND most of the left front completed means that this is a really nice project. In fact, forget all the blustering about not liking Carezza. I'm really liking it these days.

My home knitting has been a wee bit frustrating lately. I've been trying to complete a super-bulky cardigan for a customer. I wasn't happy with the cable; I knit too few rows of ribbing; I knit too many rows of ribbing; I crossed the cables wrong ... Just plain frustrating. I don't love, love, love this project and it knows.

And just to make matters worse, my stash has been calling. Oh, has it been calling. More like screaming, actually. The problem is this: I have some really, really nice wool and yarn in my stash. Some of it has matured and is ready to come out and be knitted. Now, normally it matures one project at a time. This is good -- it lets me believe that I can get back to the one-project-at-a-time process. Not a LOT of variety in that you only have one project going, but man do you get a lot of finished objects!

The reality is that I'm never going to get back there. How do I know? Well, there are still 8 projects on needles, two waiting to be blocked; and then there is ...


Debbie Bliss cotton angora (sorry, it's discontinued) and the Rusted Root pattern from Zephyr Style. Technically speaking, the yarn is thicker than specified for the design; however, if I knit a smaller size it should end up fitting. I'll do the math first, but it looks like I can make the smallest size and have it fit me just fine. This little gem is knit from the top down, so there is minimal seaming. Nice, eh?

And THEN there's this little beauty:
Casbah from Handmaiden and a pattern from Knitter's Spring 2009 issue, requiring sock yarn. Mmmm. I knew there was a reason why the daughter got me the same colourway that I picked out last fall, and this is it.

The biggest question is which project will I start tonight. We're driving to Mississauga to see Tanglefoot in concert ... and there's a two-hour ride.

Just how big are those anyway?

Not long ago, a very good friend of mine celebrated a milestone birthday. I'm not going to say WHICH milestone birthday ... except to say that it ends with a 0 and ... is larger than the size of the needles her wonderful husband made her for the big day.

Just how big are those needles anyway?

As you can see, it requires a lot of concentration to work these puppies!

Happy birthday, Barb! Thanks for being my friend and a great sport!

Woman on fire!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Woman on fire!

Well, not EXACTLY on fire, but certainly getting caught up in a hurry!

Below are the Suzanne Atkinson and Ginger Smith squares, bringing me totally up to date with my knit-along group on Knit 'n Chat.

The Atkinson Square (page 28) was a lot of fun to knit and watch the church and tree take shape. I must admit that once the decreases for the church roof started, at no time did I have the proper number of stitches between the tree and the church. Everything worked out all right in the end -- as in the church and the tree did not collide, and no one will be the wiser except me. And everyone who reads the blog. It really was a well-charted square, and I enjoyed it.

The Ginger Smith square (page 40) was another square which I wasn't that keen to make. I had quickly read through the directions and was totally put off by the idea of knitting the thing in sections. Why would you do that, when the cables and such all ran the same direction? Since I don't have a love-thing with seaming, it just seemed to be a bit much. In fact, I had decided that I WOULD knit it in one piece when the time came.

The time came, and I read the directions more carefully. As in actually READING and not skimming at a preposterously high rate of speed. You see, there is a reason for knitting the square in sections. There is a little raised knit stitch between each of the cable patterns -- a raised stitch made by slipping a stitch every other row and then knitting the slipped stitch along with a picked-up stitch.

The light came on, the room grew bright and I understood. And knit the square in sections.

The added bonus of knitting this square in sections like this is that you only have to read one chart at a time. This sure makes finding where you are easy, and enjoyable.

I now have 16 squares knit, of the 25 I need for my afghan. The pattern only provides 24 squares, so I was trying to decide which square to duplicate. Then a friend had a brilliant idea. Why not make a square with my initials and a date? Like I said ... brilliant.

What's really interesting to me is that ... even as much as I dislike seaming my projects together ... I'm actually looking forward to sewing this baby together! Who would've suspected, eh?

Long weekend in May

I am finding that my days go by entirely too quickly. After all, it is the long weekend in May, which is the traditional kick-off to summer. Summer. Wasn't it just yesterday that we celebrated Easter?

In any event, I have been working diligently on the Great American Aran Afghan for my knit-along. In the past 10 days or so, I've finished another two squares -- the Judy Sumner square and the Susan Rainey square.

The Rainsey square was the square that made me lust to make this project. A miniature aran sweater on an afghan square! How cool!
Now, I'm not saying that I am disappointed in the entire project. I am just gonna say that I found this square to be a let-down. The square is knitted first ... 10.5 inches of mostly stockinette stitch. What a yawner! Then comes the tiny sweater. Following the directions, I used 3.75mm needles and knit the sweater front and one sleeve. Sewed the sleeve to the front. Lovingly placed the sweater onto the square.

I admit that I had been thinking all along as I knit the sweater "This is kind of big;" and "this doesn't look like it's going to fit;" and "Yowza! This is looking pretty large!" Seeing in real life that the sweater wasn't going to fit -- no how, no way -- well, there just aren't enough polite words that can express my emotions.

I ripped the sweater back and started up again on 3.25mm needles. As you can see, the sweater fits as the designer intended. But doing the trinity stitch on 3.25mm needles with knitting worsted? Not a chance. I switched to a double moss stitch and decreased the centre panel by 2 stitches to accommodate the design change. Unless you look carefully, you won't see the alteration. This had the added benefit of making the sweater fit the square ... otherwise I'd have been ripping yet again.

The Judy Sumner square didn't really catch my eye, nor my imagination. In fact, it was a square that I had thought of not doing. Spider? On my afghan? I squash every spider I come across inside my house. So to put a spider on my afghan just seemed sort of sacreligious.

When the knit-along group decided to make this square I was less than enthused. In keeping with the spirit of the knit-along, I grabbed my needles and wool and started.

To my surprise, I found that I quite enjoyed it. Seeing the spider emerge was fun. Putting the wings on the bugs in the spider web was way too much fun. That part happened during a weekly knitting group meeting here at the store, and everyone was entranced. Myself included.

I guess it just goes to show that you can't be certain about the things you will like, or won't like, to knit. Keeping an open mind will lead to plenty of surprises ... in knitting as well as life.

Amelia's Dress

A while back I was at The Yarn Garden and saw this little dress pattern. Since I had a young niece at the time (3 months old, actually!), I picked up the pattern and yarn. I especially loved the hat.

Turns out that my niece isn't so much a hat fan. And I kind of ... got busy (yeah, that's it, busy, not forgetful!) ... and didn't get around to knitting it up. In the meantime, my niece was growing quickly. After all, the difference between 3 months and 2 years is pretty drastic.

With that in mind, I figured that this summer was the last chance I'd have to knit this puppy and have it worn by the intended recipient. A quick perusal of the pattern seemed to indicate that if I knit the dress with no hat I'd have enough. Since Amelia doesn't much like hats, it seemed like a great plan.*

I was correct -- I had just enough yarn to make the dress. With about 12 meters of the white to spare, in fact. I started this project the last week of April, and here it is, the second week of May, and it's done. Simple, straightforward ... and fun.

Details: Gussied-up Toddler Dress & Hat from Vermont Organic Fiber Co.; two skeins each of blue & red and one skein of O-Wool Balance and a size 4mm needle. I did modify the pattern a wee bit around the neckline. I was supposed to do a row of crab stitch; I don't like crab stitch at all, so I opted to do a mini-shell row instead. (Three SC in one stitch, skip one stitch, repeat.)

Now to drop this baby into a box and ship it to my niece ...

*Turns out that my Amelia's parents have been working on the whole hat thing. She is a pale blonde child and needs the sun protection ... Oh well ... Wonder if The Yarn Garden has any more of that yarn left.

Catching up

Over at Knit 'n Chat (Delphi forums), one of the ladies organized a knit-along of the Great American Aran Afghan. Since I was starting a knit-along at the store, I signed up. Was going great guns, in fact. Then somewhere last fall I bogged down. I'm not sure why ... that's not correct. I know why. On-line, the ladies selected two squares that I had already done. Since I didn't need to hurry and push myself, I kind of ... slacked off. That was August. Since then, the group has knit up 7 more squares ... of which I already had two. You do the math -- I don't want to admit how far behind I am.

In any event, I decided it was time to buckle down and get busy. For your viewing pleasure, I present:

On the left is the Berztiss square, directions on page 48. It was a fun knit, presenting no real problems. The four-stitch decreases were interesting; if you followed the directions one step at a time, the instructions were spot on.

On the right is the Martin square, directions on page 36. There are three charts to this square: chart A provides the cabled rope; chart B is the fishing net; and chartC is the fish. I don't mind having multiple charts; in fact, having multiple charts can make knitting the squares easier. The problem is when the designer (or editor of the book) tries to cheap out on the charts. For instance, in this square the directions state "knit 19 stitches in pattern established ..." OK, fine. That means the 3-stitch garter border, the 6 stitches for chart A and the 14 stitches from Chart B, followed by chart C, B and A, and the border. Uh, no. What that really means is the border, chart A and part of chart B ... all of chart C ... part of chart B, chart A and then the border. Deciding where to end in Chart B was no problem; after all, 10 stitches is 10 stitches. Unfortunately, it took several tries to figure out where to restart the pattern in chart B at the conclusion of chart C. I may be slow to figure these things out ... but I may also have a point that the designer/editor could've and should've included those first and last 10 stitches with chart C and made everyone's lives a little easier.

You know the worst part of it? Several customers have come in and looked at the square and commented how cool it is that there's a pineapple square for the afghan.

In other knitting, I have finished yet another pair of socks destined for someone's holiday stocking. This particular pair has a seed-stitch rib for the leg portion, which made the project more interesting than a plain stockinette stitch leg. You know what is really, really cool though? These are identical socks. Without any attempt on my part to make them so. They just turned out identical.

Go ahead. Admire the awesomeness that is my first (and only) pair of identical, self-patterning socks. I still am, and they've been off the needles for a couple of days now.

The yarn is Super Soxx, colour no. 630.0057. I purchased it at the 2008 Knitter's Frolic for half price, possibly because it was being discontinued? Does anyone know if this yarn is still available? It is really nice sock yarn. The colours are gorgeous, and right now I have several potential giftees making a pitch for ownership.

Speaking of the Knitter's Frolic ... the 2009 Frolic occurred this past weekend. Four carloads of knitters from my shop made it the Frolic. A good time was had by all, some goodies purchased (I only bought one skein of Noro sock yarn #S217 and a skein of Misti Alpaca Suri Silk, to match a left-over skein of #SP08 in my stash), and lots of fondling was performed. Shown here is one chance encounter of two of the carloads:

Dorothy, Cathy, Dot, Barb, Sharon and Linda. I, of course, am taking the photo ... and Irene was too busy at the Indigo Moon booth for the photo. Also seen at the Frolic but not photographed were Sue, Pat and Christine. (Hi ladies!)

Last Weekend

That was some storm Saturday evening, eh? Doug and I watched it blow across the lake, obliterating our view of Seven Mile Island. The winds were amazing, kicking up whitecaps on the waves. The wind very kindly cleared off the winter debris from the roof over the dining room, too, saving Doug a trip up.

Carrie drove home after her shift at the grocery store. She walked in and calmly announced that a "car was squashed by a tree." Not our car, thankfully. She was duly impressed with the strength of the winds. We were too ... and then we ventured out into the big wide world.

It is said that everyone gets 15 second of fame. The gentleman that owns this particular vehicle just found his:

Note that all four tires on this Caravan are still inflated. Yes, the frame is touching the ground in the middle. Thank heavens that no one was sitting in the van as the tree fell.

Doug and I tried a bicycle ride at Long Sault Conservation Area on Monday. No photos, because we didn't take the camera. But there were at least 12 trees across the trails ... several of them really, really big trees. One section of the trail was blocked about every 75 feet by a felled tree. Again, really impressive.

What else did we do last weekend? We visited with some friends, whose daughter has learned to knit. (At Never Enough Wool, coincidentally! ;-) ) Her latest project is this cute tea cozy.

I've gotta knit a tea cozy. There are just too many cute ones out there.

Another one bites the dust!

Another listing of what's on the needles, that is.

So I started the month with 8 items on the list. ... Added another pair of mittens to the list ... I added a cute little dress for my niece (I have enough yarn to make a size 2, and she's rapidly approaching that size so I better get to it, eh?) ...

I DID, however, finish one item. Ta da!

This is "Benedict" from Jane Ellison's Queensland Collection. I dutifully knit a gauge swatch; achieved gauge; and started knitting a large. Um ... no. That would have fit an elephant. Since the gentleman in question was not nearly that size, I thought it prudent to listen to the knitting and take a second look. Still knitting to gauge, mind you, but the pattern was coming out way, way too large.

Frogged it and started again, but making the medium instead of large. Still knitting to gauge. Interesting notes to self regarding this pattern, to-wit:

The design was designed and test knit for the small size. (No problem--it's what I would've done myself.) How do I know? Because the picture in the book clearly shows that the cable panel running along the front v-neck is a full cable panel. Also, and this is the part that really got me steaming, the designer states that she "asked my knitter on this one to work all neck decreases 15 sts in from the neck edge ..." Um, well, great. But why didn't you write the pattern that way?
And besides, following the directions caused me to split the centre cable panel and doing all decreases in 15 sts from the edge would have had me making decreases in the middle of the cable panel, not the way she pictured it. In addition, I ended up having a cable panel go all the way to the edge of the design ... the designer envisioned having one purl edge stitch, hence the 15 stitches instruction.

After ripping out the front right section several times, I finally got a look I was happy with. Finished the knitting, and blocked the sweater before attempting assembly. (To make sure that the vest would fit the gentleman for whom it was intended in reality, but I claim that it was to make the assembly work better!)

Again, following the directions provided, I picked up the requisite number of stitches for the v-neck ribbing. Row 1 was fine. How hard can knit 2, purl 2 ribbing be? Apparently more difficult than I thought as I had to tink back to correct the sequencing. The second row, however ... the designer asked you to knit down one side of the v, decrease in the purl stitches before the centre front, then decrease again in the next purl section, AND decrease again in the next purl stitches. Three decreases, not centred? Uh ... no. Fortunately I caught that little discrepancy before I had actually done it.

The yarn I used was Twilley's Freedom Spirit, in colour no. 517, and a total of 8 balls. I used 4.00mm needles for the entire project, and as stated earlier, achieved gauge of 28 sts - 10cm over the pattern stitch.

Currently, I'm knitting a square for the Great American Aran Afghan -- the Dagmara Berztiss square, and am approximately 25% done.

Tomorrow ... the Knitter's Frolic in Toronto. Should be fun getting there as the Don Valley Parkway is closed. I just love road construction season!

Life lessons ...

Life lessons can be painful. Life lessons can be expensive. Life lessons can be traumatic. Unfortunately for me, the latest lessons have been painful, expensive and traumatic. Fortunately, not many of these lessons are all three at the same time. The latest, however ...

The biggest lesson I have learned relates to my shop, Never Enough Wool. Previously I had stated with great excitement and enthusiasm that we would be moving. Now in the cold, harsh light of reality and lawyer bills I have to say that no, we will not be moving. I'm hopeful that my lawyer can recover the deposit, the loss of which has greatly hindered my cash flow. Failing that, I'm hopeful that my lawyer can prevent the (*in my humble opinion) snake-like landlord from cashing the second cheque given in deposit. You see, what I thought was an earnest money deposit the aforementioned SLL (*) has interpreted to mean that the APPLICATION TO LEASE was in fact a lease agreement and he gets to keep all the cash. I'm still waiting to hear back from my lawyer ... and in fact I have issued a stop-payment on the second cheque. Now it is a waiting game, and those of you who know me well understand how difficult waiting patiently is for me.

I keep telling myself that there are folks in a lot worse straights than I. Deep in my heart, I know that too, and understand it. It just hurts so damn much to think that I was gullible enough to sign an application to lease without understanding all the implications; that I was gullible enough to hand over the equivalent of three months' rent to someone who appears to be less than honorable; that I was stupid enough to just flush that kind of money down the drain. After all, think of all the yarn I could buy with that kind of cash!

Waiting is so hard.

To assist me in whiling away the hours of waiting I decided to finish up one of the projects on my list. To be specific, the black alpaca mittens that were started way long ago. Initially they were planned for Doug for skiing. Unfortunately, the mitten when finished was too small. (It actually fit me, what a shame, eh?) So I stopped knitting with black alpaca and moved onward to some green alpaca. Doug got his mittens and aside from the green dye running onto his hands when his hands get sweaty, he loves them. I thought that a quick mitten and I'd be able to cross the project off the list.

This brings me to my second recent life lesson.

When putting a project aside, be absolutely positively certain to make notes to yourself so that you know what size needle you are supposed to be using when you come back. Now, instead of crossing off a project I actually have to make two mittens. And added another project to my list.

You tell me -- is this a painful or a traumatic lesson?

MORE finished items!

Did I mention that I was teaching a "learn to knit socks" class at the Uxbridge Library? I think I did ... since most of the students there were learning to knit socks on double-pointed needles, I decided to knit a pair of socks on them as well. I should do this periodically since it reminds me just why I love magic loop so much.

In any event, I knit up a pair of socks beginning the second week in February, and finishing up just this past week. The yarn is Briggs & Little*, self-dyed into a striping pattern. The pattern was the standard vanilla sock, knit on 2.5mm needles. Sized to fit ... ?? After all, I DID miss giving out socks for Christmas this past year.
The dye we used for this particular workshop was RIT powdered dye, and apparently rather old. There is supposed to be some orange in there, but it came out terribly faded. The yellow is rather washed out as well. Since then, my cohorts in dying and I have switched over to newer dyes and it does seem to be working well.

Another project that was finished up is this mosiac tee top from the from the Summer 2008 issue of Interweave Knits.
I used 5 balls of Butterfly Super 10 Cotton (two of the cream, two green {3766} and one of the light green {3777}) and the suggested needles (3.75 and 4.5mm). I didn't quite achieve qauge, but that turned out to be quite fine since I had cast on for a larger size than I really needed.

Even though this looks like fair isle work, it was not difficult. The mosaic technique means that you are working with only one colour per row and slipping the stitches that need to be a different colour. Very easy.

Everyone who has seen this top modeled and not have all loved it. Now for some warmer weather so I can wear it ...

Still no firm moving date for the shop. The probable new landlord and I are now in negotiations. Yahoo!

*The lady who ran the dying workshop wherein I dyed the yarn couldn't remember if she had ordered the sock-weight yarn with or without nylon reinforcement. I guess I'll figure it out by how well (or not) the socks wear.

Carol's Correctional Corner for Knits

After unraveling and knitting, and unraveling and knitting, and unraveling and knitting the Knit One Below vest, I did finally finish it. And I have to admit that the problems I had with this project were entirely of my own making. (Dang, I hate to admit that in public!)

The design itself was published in Knitter's Winter 2008 issue. Instead of the chunky/worsted combination of wool suggested, I used a worsted/DK combination and was able to get gauge immediately using a 4.5mm needle. According to my knitting bag, I used two skeins of Twilley's Freedom Spirit and one of Cascade 220 Heather (colour no. 513 & 2434 respectively). Of course, I don't have the vest here right now, so I can't weigh it to see if that is correct. I know that the vest didn't require a lot of mileage, but I'm finding it a bit strange that I used so little wool. My guesstimate would be three balls of Twilley's and two of Cascade, but what do I know?

In any event, it was quite a nice knit once I learned to pay attention to where I put my needles. Apparently there is a knit-one-below book just published that has some to-die-for patterns. My intrepid friend Barb has the book and will share with me ... but not until next week. Grumble.

In other news, and this is momentuous news, there will be some changes happening here at Never Enough Wool in picturesque Port Perry. The shop will be moving! Just down the street, so there isn't a lot of distance involved. Actually, it's only something like 300 feet or thereabouts (three football fields). The bonus? My shop space will be doubled, I will have all my yarn storage on-site, I'll have plenty of room for knitters for my classes and knitting nights (and crochet nights!), and the parking lot gets thoroughly plowed regularly in the winter.

Moving day will be sometime during the last week of April. Fortunately there isn't a lot that needs to be done to the unit -- a bit of blue paint on the walls, the floor needs to be stripped and waxed ... that's about it. Of course, there will be at least one trip to Ikea for more shelving units, and then the fun of moving boxes and boxes of yarn along with the existing inventory. My Wednesday afternoon group have all volunteered to help with the move ... Somehow I don't think that too few hands is gonna be a problem.

Doncha just hate it when ...

good knits go bad?

March 7, 2009

It has been an interesting and busy week at our house. First, the daughter had two, count-em, TWO, auditions for university. The first was for Ryerson, which went well but she isn't crazy about attending there. The second was at York University, and it didn't go as well as she would have liked ... only to discover that perhaps, maybe, she might have liked to attend there. Ah well. Where she REALLY wants to attend, the University of Toronto, has already accepted her via early admissions to their Fine Arts program. She now is in the throes of the audition woes for the drama program.

In addition to the audition trauma, there was the Improv competition to contend with. This year, the team was in the Robo-Ghost Zone of the Canadian Improv Games (CIG) organization. They came in first place, which was a tremendous position for the team. The photo below is the tableau scene from the Zone competition ...
The Regional competition occurred just this past week. Unfortunately, the team was eliminated entirely from progressing further. They missed the wild card round by two whole points. Bummer, eh? At least they had fun, and we parents were treated to three nights of improv comedy.

In further news, I finished the Infernal Hat. This is the hat I was knitting for Doug in the double-knit technique. I believe the wool really wanted to be socks, or perhaps mtitens. Instead, I forced it to become a hat. It had its revenge -- I had to restart three times; then after seaming it up, I had to unstitch the seam and add length. Twice. I have now decreed that the thing is DONE. If it doesn't fit Doug, I'll FIND someone it'll fit.

I also finished the baby gift for my neighbour. Tada! This is the ribbed, hooded sweater from McCalls Super Baby Book (circa 1979). I started this sweater on the 7th of February. It has actually been finished for about a week, but I've just now gotten around to photographing and talking about it. A three week sweater -- not bad.

The yarn is Maypole from Coats & Clark, found in my stash. The needles were 5.5mm, so the stitches moved right along. I used 2 skeins and a bit ... hard to say exactly how much since I started with a partial skein and ended with another partial skein.

So how many projects does this leave on my needles? Um ... 9. I really need to start finishing things before starting new ones!