I've been remiss

I just can't get over how quickly time flies. I know that I say that all the time. Enough times that it sounds trite and meaningless. But I do mean it, truly I do.

For instance, Doug and I went to Michigan to retrieve my lovely daughter from her visit with her father. When was that? Would you believe that was the weekend of July 20? Me neither, but that's what the calendar claims.

The designated weekend began with a trip to Fort Custer Rec. Center near Augusta, Mich. Why? Because it has one of the sweetest mountain bike trails that I ever hope to see. Doug and I like to ride, and we ride hard. We do not do the extreme variety of biking which requires one to maneuver across bridges just wide enough for your tires, elevated trails, or really BIG jumps. We like two-track trails between the trees with switchbacks, bouncing over roots and rocks, some challenging up-hill climbs followed by thrilling down-hill rides. More than the average ride you'll get on a paved bike trail around here, in other words. Fort Custer is maintained by the Southwest Michigan Mountain Biking Association, and they do a tremendous job creating and maintaining. In fact, they do their job well enough that we always purchase a one-year pass to the Michigan State Parks, even though we don't even live in Michigan. How's that for a great recommendation?

The second thing we did that weekend was visit with family -- lots of family. I have five brothers and sisters, and four of them live near Battle Creek. Along with their spouses and children. There's a lot of us. Did I take photos? Nope. Just snapshots with my heart. Dang, I do miss seeing them more often.

The third thing that we did that weekend, and one that I try to always do when in the area, is visit my favorite yarn shop in the Battle Creek area. Yes, I do have a favorite yarn shop in most areas that I visit. For this area, it's the Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan. The owner, Lindsay, has done a marvelous job collecting an assortment of delectable yarns, patterns, buttons, shawl pins, and especially the atmosphere of that place. It's a good thing for me that I don't live any closer than I do, because I always find at least one item to purchase there.

Did I say purchase? Why, yes. Yes, I did.
Doesn't that look interesting? After two weeks, it is still all contained in the original bag. I take things out, spread them around and look at them, fondle the yarn, dream about the finished item ... But they are not quite yet ready to grow up, move into stash or become finished. So they stay in the bag, near the knitting light so that I can just casually reach over and ... So what did I find too irresistible for words?

This is O-Wool Balance, destined to be a dress for my little niece. She will be one year old on the 28th of August, and I think this little dress and the hat -- oh my goodness, the cuteness of the hat -- will be perfect for her. She isn't quite walking yet, and her birthday is rapidly approaching, so I think I'll make the largest size for her for next spring/summer. Besides, she only wears a hat for the 30 seconds it takes for her to find it on her head and rip it off. Maybe by next year she'll be more fashionable?

I have wondered about getting something glittery and sparkly for my own shop. This wool, called Yin and Yang, from Southwest Trading Company was just lying there, calling sweetly in my ear. Coincidentally, there was a pattern right there as well. Talk about good planning, eh? (Doug--it's all in the name of market research, really.)

And THIS--
The photos in the pattern do not do it justice. This is truly an amazing wrap. Very many different stitch combinations, and done up in Noro? Breathtaking. My fingers are all itchy, my breathing is rapid, my heart is palpitating ... All over again. Must.Finish.One.Project.First.

Truly in the name of market research, I also purchased these single balls of Elsebeth Lavold Cable Cotton and Cotton Patine. I've wondered about bringing in these two lines for next summer, and I figure this is the best way to decide. Actually knit with 'em.

Since this post only covers through July 20 weekend and Blogger seems to limit the number of photos to 5 per post, you'll just have to wait to see what else I've been up to. But I'll give you a hint -- Stitch 'n Pitch and retail therapy.

It's about time!

In my previous post, I promised a good photo of my haul from The Knitting Den in South Lyon. At long last, here it is--
Two hanks of Auracania Ranco Multi -- colour nos. 308 (browns) and 305 (greens). These are destined to become socks for Doug, in appreciation for all the driving he does on my behalf.

I had initially ordered these yarns in for the store way back in late October or November of last year, to be delivered in January. When the end of March rolled around and the sales rep. was making his pitch for spring/summer yarns, the Ranco had still not arrived. Hmm. So I canceled the order, with regrets because I had really wanted that yarn.

In other knitting news, I had a customer who came in with a Mary Maxim sweater that needed to be finished. The back was "almost done." I should learn to be more skeptical. The back was done up to the beginning of the fair isle panel. So I finished it, and the rest of the sweater.
All in all, I have to say that it did turn out nicely. I really like that mock cable pattern in the lower section. Wouldn't it make a great baby blanket? I'm working that up next so that I have an additional easy blanket pattern for my customers.

We are celebrating Christmas in July at the store. Helping people remember that the holiday is only 5 months away ... and they do go by oh-so-quickly.
Carrie assisted me with the window displays. The sheep wearing the Santa hat is her special contribution. Cute, eh? That's why I keep her!

What is coming in my next post? Well, there was a second trip to Michigan and a visit to my other favorite not-so-LYS ...

Mini vacations

Now that I have the wool shop, my hubby and I don't get too many vacations. So we seize those opportunities that present themselves by way of long weekends and trips to Michigan to have a little fun. Interestingly enough, our idea of "fun" and the daughter's idea of "fun" just don't seem to mesh up. So we delivered her safely to her father and brother, and took off.

We had previously biked at Island Lake Rec. area with some friends several years ago. With that in mind (and a potential detour to Windsor), we hauled the bicycles with us on the trek to the border. Doug's memory was excellent and he drove us directly to the park, where we were pleased to learn that our collective memory of how nice the park is was also correct.

There was a very nice gentleman filling up his water bottle with whom we chatted. He suggested that we might like the Blue Loop--there wasn't very much sand in the trail. And when I say "sand," I do mean sand--inches deep and very difficult to ride through. So we ventured out onto the Blue Trail. This picture shows how happy Doug is with our decision. The trail was developed by the Southwest Michigan Mountain Biking Association. Their signature style was evident--the trail was mostly single track, winding through the trees with frequent turns and overhanging brush. The trail itself was mostly flat -- about 7 miles of flat -- interspersed with some very challenging up-hills and some truly exhilarating downhill stretches. All in all, a 9.25 mile ride, and worth every bit of the energy and time expended.

Originally we had planned to swing through Windsor to visit some friends there (Hi Louise!). Unfortunately, they were not available by telephone for several days prior to the trip and the day of, so we made a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants decision and called my good friend Phyllis. She and her husband live not far from Island Lakes and were the persons who introduced us to the park. They were home and suggested we should come right over. Then they insisted that we should spend the night and not go to some impersonal hotel. Wonderful friends, these two. So we did.

In the morning, Phyllis and her husband had to go off to work at a very early hour. We stayed in bed and out of their way while they did their morning routines. After their departure we did an abbreviated morning routine and departed as well. Looking for breakfast, we ventured into South Lyon (MI) and found this delightful coffee shop, the Gallery Cafe.

We had two different breakfast sandwiches (bagel with egg & sausage or bacon) and a fine cuppa tea and coffee. (I'm still not drinking coffee much and not missing it a bit!)
This coffee shop does an awful lot of things right in my humble opinion. They have a selection of board games, children's activity toys, plenty of room for tables, a piano, good food and a very nice atmosphere. If ever you are in South Lyon, I suggest a stop here.

On our way to Phyllis' house on Sunday evening, Doug wondered outloud "Isn't there a wool shop somewhere close by?" I looked up from the directions and immediately saw this:
The Knitting Den in South Lyon. I swear that man has wool radar, and he doesn't even knit! Or crochet! Or weave! Or spin! He just has a knack for finding wool. Gotta love that in a non-knitter. This little house hosts the wool shop on the main floor and it is filled with more wool than one can imagine. Well, perhaps not. In any event, we browsed for quite some time, and I even purchased some wool. No photo of it, darn! You'll just have to wait until next time!

Ta-ta for now!

Is it summer already?

So the school year has whizzed by with a speed equaled only by the rate at which my daughter matures. I truly don't know where the days go, and I do wish they wouldn't speed by so quickly. Or that I could have a "do over." No such luck though.

My daughter has been lusting after some Noro wools ever since I opened the shop. She walks over to the display, pets the wool, heaves a deep sigh, pets it some more, and reluctantly walks away. She didn't really know what she wanted to do with it, but she adored the colours. Then this wonderful little book titled "Mini Knits" from Noro entered the shop. (And just as quickly exited I might add--if you see it, grab it 'cuz it's filled with wonderful patterns.) I managed to hold onto one book long enough to finish a design. Here, in its finished glory, you see:
This was knit with four skeins of Noro Iro, colour no. 19. The pattern specified Kochoron, but I switched out the yarn since Carrie loved the Iro better. Other than that, I followed the pattern religiously. It took less than a week to knit.

Home knitting has also been produced. Several years ago, I purchased some gorgeous cotton yarn from Knit Around in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The yarn matured in my stash, until I decided that (a) the yarn was ready to be knit and (b) the perfect project had been chosen.

So I cast on for the Cream Tea from Knit Net and featured in the 2007 Pattern-a-Day calendar. No go, the yarn was not right. Switched needles and tried again. Still not working.

Undaunted, I frogged the project one more time and put on my thinking cap. There had to be a reason why I had purchased the amount of yarn that I did. After all, in those days I hadn't graduated to random yarn purchases. Yes--in those days I only purchased yarn for which I had a pattern in mind. Ah, the good old days.

In an amazing feat of logic and memory, I recalled the time frame during which I purchased the yarn (not the difficult part since the yarn carried the name of the store on the price label). So then I just had to figure out what I might have been knitting or reading at that specific time to find the pattern.

Viola!! (If your name is Coris and you are married to my son Jason, please stop reading immediately!)

This is the Too-Cool! Halter Top from the 2005 Pattern-a-Day calendar, modeled by the delightful Carrie. This, too, was a super easy and quick knit project. I used one and a half skeins of ___________________, in a kelly green. Followed the pattern precisely as written, and this is what you get:

I don't know if the daughter-in-law will wear undergarments with the top ... in any event, it is a delightful summer fashion. Coris saw my version of this same top (knit in a white cotton blend) and loved it ... and when next I was near a yarn shop I acquired the yarn. Too bad it took 4 years to get around to it.

Carrie has completed her in-class portion of driver's training and is preparing for the G-2 test in August. Her driving skills are improving rapidly, which is a good thing. I fear my days of having sole control of my automobile are rapidly drawing to a close.

I do hope to have more finished objects to show you ... as soon as the camera batteries recharge!

It's been a quiet week ...

It has been so long since I posted here. There's just so many things to do, and so little battery life in the camera. Still, I should do better.

In fact, there are things which need to be photographed and displayed before they are handed off to the recipients. Things which I WILL get photographed. Just not today.

For today, I can show you the two newest afghan squares completed in my Great American Aran Afghan. This is the Marion Tabler block. It was as much fun to knit as it is to look upon. Which is to say that it required much counting and attention.

This was followed by the Meredith Morioka square. This square was fun to knit in that it did NOT require a lot of brainpower and attention. Which is a good thing because I wasted so much of my brainpower on the previous square. Interestingly enough, the directions stated that I should knit 100 rows of the pattern, but doing so would have made the square entirely too long to match the other squares.
So this raises the question that Barb and I have been debating all week. How do you affect your ROW gauge while knitting? For STITCH gauge, you simply change needles. Need more stitches per inch? Move to a smaller needle. Need less stitches? Move to a bigger needle. Works great for stitches.

So how DO you affect a change in your row gauge?


In other news, I am hosting a Knit in Public party at the Joe Fowler park in Port Perry on Saturday evening, beginning at 5:00 pm. Bring a dish to pass and your knitting, and we'll have a grand time!

Finished Objects -- and it feels good!

Since I've started feeling better, I decided it was time to get my knitting baskets cleaned up. After all, at last count I had something like 6 (it MAY have been 7) projects on needles.

So I finished up the Patons top-down sweater. I put the finishing touches on the summer entrelac top. Life was good.

But there were still a lot of projects in the baskets, especially at the shop. So I took a deep breath, and dived in.

Look! It's the ubiquitous Clapotis!
This was knit in Atacama from Araucania Yarns, colourway no. 503. (I see that the manufacturer has reworked their colourway numbers. Dang, I hate when they do that! I think it is PT4 that I used.) I love the purples. This shawl was originally intended to be a gift for a friend who loves purple, but the daughter changed her mind about gifting it. And abandoned the project! I couldn't stand the thought of this being left lonely, cold and lost in the bottom of a closet somewhere, so I finished it. Besides, in my drug-induced haze in March and April, this was a good project on which to knit. Not a whole lot of thinking involved, which was a good thing.







I have a very nice customer at the shop who fell in love with the Austermann Step, colourway number 18. She purchased the ball and attempted a lacey scarf. Unfortunately, the wool was too fine for her fingers to work with.

She refused to bring the wool back for credit, although she was willing to bring it back for me to play with. So I knit up a scarf for her to enjoy, and filled it with good wishes.

Good thing, too, since she had recently tumbled down a flight of stairs and torn loose the ligaments and tendons in one foot.

The stitch pattern is a simple Fishtail Lace, with two garter stitches on each side. I've linked to a scarf pattern, but only to illustrate the stitch details. I just knit this one without a pattern at all. I used a 4.5mm needle and 42 stitches and knit until I was mostly out of wool.

So you may be asking yourself, what remains in the knitting basket? I am still working on Arabesque in lace-weight merino, on the Great American Aran Afghan in Patons Canadiana, as well as a new project -- KnitNet's Cream Tee in a lovely green cotton. No photos of this one, though, since I am still not certain I have enough to finish. Trips to the frog pond are better left undocumented ... (The pattern was published in the 2006 Pattern-A-Day calendar on June 5.)

Carrie has returned from her art trip to New York and is now fully immersed in the race to the end of the school year. She had fun, saw lots of museums, saw Hairspray, did some shopping, and some sightseeing. The trip included a visit to Ground Zero, which she reports is a construction site now, and she is pleased to report that there will be a memorial garden to commemorate the folks who died on that sunny September day.

And even more exciting? Progress in the bathroom. I am waiting just a wee, tiny bit longer to show you all the photos, though, because I am still savoring them. Tee hee!

Bye!

What's this?!

If you had happened to stop by my shop today, you would have seen this largish pile of yarn ends. Just laying there, looking mussed and tousled.


"What's this?" You might have asked. After all, it's been a while since you would have seen me working on anything in these colours. Well, until this last week, that is.


The answer? It is the ends that were snipped off of this--a sweater knit from the Patons Upside
Downers booklet. What makes this sweater truly unique and interesting is the fact that I knit it using donated bulky wool and appropriate sized needles, using the directions for the child size 2 sweater.

Yes, you did read that correctly.

This is a child's size 2 pattern, knit with bulky wool and 6.5mm needles. Gauge worked out to 3.5 stitches per inch, giving me an adult's medium sweater as the finished product.


The truly great news is that I managed to consume a fair amount of stash yarn in this sweater. Of course, I did run out of the white main colour with the bottom ribbing and sleeves left. A double strand of Patons Classic Merino was the perfect substitution both in colour and weight, though, so no harm done.

The sweater will be donated to the Mitten Tree project at my local church. This is a collection of warm clothing that is sent to a reservation in upper northern Ontario, where there is much need for this type of item. I hope that it is enjoyed in the wearing as much as it was in the knitting.

The daughter has gone to New York with the Visual Arts department at the high school. She will be visiting various art museums, doing some shopping (of course!) and seeing Hair Spray, returning home on Monday evening. This means that Doug and I will be child-free and foot-loose for this long Victoria Day weekend! We are contemplating wild and crazy plans, such as seeing the newest Chronicles of Narnia movie.

Such wild and crazy plans, eh?

And what else is new and exciting? How about a self-designed entrelac top knit in Butterfly
Super 10? The pattern is in the process of being written and test knit, and quite possibly submitted for publication, so keep your eyes on this site for updates!

Fun at the Knitter's Frolic

Saturday, April 26, was the Big Day. My friend, Barb, and I ventured down to Toronto to partake of the delights of the Knitter's Frolic at the Japanese Cultural Centre. As always, it was a delightful day.

Barb and I agreed that we would go around the entire show before we bought anything. Yeah, right. We've all heard that one before. I CAN say, however, that Barb had the first falling down. She claims it is my fault--that I shouldn't have left her alone with the wool fumes. All I can say is this: at our ages, one would think that one of us could visit the facilities by herself and leave the other one to behave herself.

Turns out that I have a major weakness for sock yarns. As if I didn't already know that ... in any event, when sock yarns are available at better-than-wholesale-prices, one should indulge. Especially if the offspring enjoyed receiving hand-knit socks for Christmas last year. I scored one ball of Regia--that's the yellowish one in the upper left corner. (Sorry about the German site.) Then there are three balls of Super Soxx from Lang & Co. Followed by three balls of wool from Lana Grossa. I can feel a little bit of difference in the wools just by handling them, but I suspect they will all knit up in a very satisfactory manner. (Sorry about the lack of links for Super Soxx and Lana Grossa. Just not having a good internet day.)

Having satisfied the sock cravings of the offspring and spouse, I continued to browse. Until I found --
Socks That Rock in the colourway called Calico from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I've heard about this yarn, but never knit with it. So I decided that I should rectify that oversight.

The coup de grace was the Arequipa from Estelle. This is 65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca and 15% nylon. All I can say is this: It feels heavenly. I'm going to make toe-up socks for myself out of this ... toes-up so that I can use every last little bit available. After I spend more time fondling -- I mean -- petting the wool.

(Doug is jealous as he thinks this wool should become HIS socks. I am sticking with my original intention to make socks for ME from this. He can learn to knit his own socks and get his own special wool!)

So much for being the mature one, eh?

Interesting Times

There is an old Chinese curse -- May you live in interesting times -- that has become quite applicable to my current life. For many reasons, one of which I will share with you today.

The month of April, 2008, has become ice-out on the lake. Normally, this is a fairly benign process, at least for us. You see, we live on the southern shore of the lake and our property sits quite high on the bank above the lake. So when the ice goes out, we are normally untouched. We watch others along the shoreline have their boat lifts crushed by the ice, or their docks get swept away. Or their shorelines get gouged out. You get the idea I'm sure.

This year, the lake dumped all the ice on our shoreline. And normally this really isn't a problem since we have this big concrete wall protecting our lake access. When I say "big," I do mean big. It's about 10 feet high by 12 or 13 feet wide. Doug stores the dock parts up on top during the winter, which saves him hauling them another 12 feet up to the yard. Generally this is a good plan.

Remember when I said that the lake dumped all the ice on our shoreline? This is what we found last week: Those red planks up there? Those are 4 dock sections that require two strong men each to move.
The ice shoved up the wall, and then another two feet. Those dock sections started the winter with the short side facing the lake. Now? You can only see the long sides. The ice picked them all up and moved the front end by about 12 feet.

Just for perspective, here's a shot of me standing in front of the ice pile.
Impressive, eh? Never again will I scoff at the power of the lake.

In knitting news, I finished the Ada Fenick (page 46) square of the Great American Afghan.
It is delightfully well-written and fun to knit. One of the reasons I loved this square so much is that there was only one chart to follow. None of this switching from chart a to chart b to chart a stuff. Just one big chart. I loved it! Everyone that sees the square loves it.

I moved on to the Ada Hunt (page 20) square and finished it as well. Again, well-written and reasonably accurate. The down side of this square is that there were 5 charts, two of which were repeated. The pattern was, however, accurately written, so I can't complain. Well, I can and do. But I shouldn't.
So that's now 4 squares completed of my afghan. 21 left ... assembly and then the border. Did I mention that I'm looking forward to it?

Sort of an Update

Since there was so little knitting content in my previous post, it seemed only proper that I get a second post up this week--WITH knitting content!

Here you see the progress on my Great American Aran Afghan. The square on the left is Barbara Selesnick, found on page 16. On the right is Hanna Burns, found on page 32. This square (Hanna Burns) claims to be "easy." They lie. Big time. It was not easy. The third square is Ada Fenick, found on page 46. So far (and I do knock on wood as I say this) it has been easy. Who knows what joys lurk in the later rows.

We are teaching a class from the Patons Upside Downers book at the shop this month. Here is my progress so far. I'm using the number of stitches for a size 2; but the yarn is an older bulky wool and I'm using the proper size needles. I THINK this is going to turn out to be an adult large now. Sure hope I have sufficient wool to complete the sweater. The wool has been laughing at me since stitch one but I've persevered and forced the wool to do my will. I'm not sure I could stand the humiliation of having the wool stand victorious over my poor, defeated body as I struggle through the frog pond.

All other knitting has been studiously ignored while my brain attempts to find its way through the ever-present fog. Only three more days of antiobiotics, and hopefully I'll be in the home stretch.

A girl CAN dream, right?

Oy vey!

The past couple of weeks have been beyond interesting at my house, and hence the absence of blogging. I do apologise.

To bring you up to date ... My doctor has been quite obsessed with my alleged high blood pressure. She prescribed some meds three years ago, which have done nothing to bring down the numbers she sees. She asked me to purchase a home monitor two years ago, which I did.

The first prescribed med. was hydrochlorothiazide--a water pill. We started at a low dose and when that had no effect, climbed higher. Still no effect. Well, other than the fatigue that has been sucking my patience and body dry. After all, just who sleeps 16 or 17 hours a day anyway? Well, other than me, not many folks that I know.

When confronted with the actual numbers of hours of sleep I required instead of the vague "fatigue" word, she conceded that perhaps my need for sleep was excessive. So she prescribed an ASE-inhibitor by the name of Lisinopril. Again, at a low dose, but ...

I am amazed, totally amazed at the speed with which life changed. The lisinopril kicked in and my blood pressure dropped. Dramatically. As recorded on the home monitor. Unfortunately, so did the side effects. Major and uncomfortable. Nausea, dizziness, light-headedness. What I thought were unrelated physical manifestations were chills, insomnia, huge coughing fits for absolutely no reason and with no productive outcome, and emotional melt-downs. Turns out that everything but the chills were related to the lisinopril. Chills? Well, wouldn't YOU be cold if your blood pressure was somewhere around 100/65?

At the last check-up on March 5, the doctor and I discussed the situation. Turns out that the home monitor readings don't count. Are, in fact, worthless, because she didn't take them. (Why I got to spend $100 buying the blasted monitor I still don't understand, especially if she is just gonna ignore the numbers.) I had already decided to stop taking the lisinopril, a decision with which she agreed. Fortunately! Now I just had to wait for the meds to work their way through and out the body.

Thursday evening (the 13th), I ended up going to the local emergency room. I had a pain in my right side that basically had me hunched over and not breathing. The diagnosis? Well ... it MIGHT be a fractured/dislocated rib caused by coughing so hard; it MIGHT be pneumonia because there was shading in the lung on the x-ray; it MIGHT be a kidney infection since there was blood in the urine. Sweet. Got some lovely antibiotics and some of the good (pain) drugs and sent home. Things are improving, albeit slowly. Monday morning I get to go for an ultrasound and then we'll see how things go from there.

Because of the lack of sleep and brain fog I have been experiencing, there really hasn't been much knitting done around here. By me, anyway. It was March Break for the daughter, and her brother was willing to come visit. This is the fabulous sight I saw on some evenings here at my house: Jeffrey may look a wee bit perturbed at his knitting, but the reality is that he was concentrating very hard. Such determination!

He was here at Christmas time and started and completed his first project: a hat!
Inspired by his success, he went searching for a special hat for a young lady friend of his. She performs dances wearing a black dress ... and needed a flapper-style hat to complete the outfit. He found a pattern, his step-mother provided the yarn, and he went to work.
The flapper hat as modeled by his younger sister. Turned out quite well, in fact.

He wasn't done knitting, however, so he browsed around the shop and decided to make himself a sweater. He selected a pattern, I suggested yarn, and he has begun the adventure of a lifetime. He is becoming a Knitter. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I made contact with a friend of the Yarn Harlot's who lives in his neighbourhood, and inquired about male-friendly shops and knitting groups. He now has a knitting buddy nearby. How cool is that?!

Time to take another of those good drugs and hit the hay. Tomorrow is another day, and since I'm starting to feel better, I'm actually looking forward to it!

New boots, how do I love thee?

I love thee from the tips of your wonderfully roomy toes to the top of your padded ankles ...

I love thee for the wonderfully secure three-pin bindings upon your soles ...
I love thee for the cool and flashy laces in your eyelets ...
I love thee for your wonderfully sturdy arch supports ...
I love thee for the way you keep me standing upon my skiis and gliding (somewhat) gracefully down the hills ...
I love thee for the way you keep me from getting bruises (unlike your predecessors!) ...
(That was one nasty tumble, by the way. Doug feared that I would be giving up skiing again, despite the fact that I snarled through clenched teeth that I really WAS having fun.)

I love thee for the hours that I spend knitting on my way to and from the Leslie Frost Centre ...
This is Bamboo On Your Toes from S.R. Kertzer--a delightful experience in knitting once you get past the casting on. The yarn tends to unply as I cast on, something to do with the fact that I cast on left left-handed and pull from the centre of the ball, no doubt.

PS--Note to Elizabeth Barret Browning: Thanks for letting me borrow your lines!

And I was having so much fun!

When my daughter and I moved to Canada , I had never really experienced the joys of cross-country skiing. Doug, on the other hand, enjoys the activity immensely. Enough so that when we landed, he almost immediately took me to buy the necessary equipment so that I, too, could enjoy skiing.

For eight years, I have generally enjoyed cross-country skiing. There was the one outing that went pretty sour, and I didn't ski again that season. Went out a couple of times the next year, and now I'm back to enjoying it.

Until this past weekend. As we were kitting up at the Leslie Frost Centre, I noticed something a bit strange with my boots. Upon closer examination, I discovered this: The binding part of the boot is pulling away from the boot part. Dang! And I was enjoying skiing so much! After a fair bit of discussion and examination, we decided to give it a try. Worse case scenario--I'd get to carry my skis and walk out.

The ski was ... well ... interesting is a nice word. I was vertically challenged (in other words, I fell. A lot.), but I'm blaming it on the failing ski boots, not on myself. Just because I hadn't been out for three weeks meant nothing. I tell you, if the boots had been 100% I'm certain that I would've handled the trail perfectly. (If you believe that, did I mention that I have some ocean-front real estate in Nevada for sale? Didn't fall for that one either, did you? Dang!)

So I now have a massive bruise on my leg. But at least I didn't break anything. We are planning to replace the boots at the earliest opportunity so that I can continue having fun this winter.

What I DID accomplish on the two hour ride there and two hours back is this:


These are the Annetrelac Socks from the Holiday 2007 Interweave Knits. I knit them in Regia Strato Colour and a pair of 2.75mm needles. I modified the pattern a bit. The instructions asked for a cast-on of 72 stitches, decreasing down to 48 stitches for the leg portion. This was HUGE! I cast on 60 stitches and then decreased to 48 stitches for the leg. They fit beautifully, so the modification worked.

In other news regarding the Saffron Cables ... my daughter really felt that the afghan was short. Upon further reflection, I decided she was right. Since I had three balls of yarn left over, I have decided that I am going to take back the border and add another pattern repeat. More photos of this later.

A FO, a close-up, and progress

Sibling rivalry is an interesting thing. As a parent, you try to treat your children equally, show no preference for one child over another. In fact, you generally try diligently to treat each child absolutely equally.

So when my sons were both in the 3 to 4 years of age range, they both got an afghan made for them. Their choice, as I recall, although I did give them a limited selection from which to choose. Jason chose a crocheted afghan with a barn and a tractor. Jeff, with some coaching I do admit, selected an afghan with kitties playing with balls of yarn. And Carrie? Well ... I just never got around to making her afghan. Something about having moved to Tennessee, mired in a major depression, getting divorced, you know ... life.

So the boys used to tease Carrie -- "mom likes me better because she made ME an afghan" sort of thing.

Well, that is one claim that I am finally able to lay to rest. Carrie has an afghan of her very own now.


Doesn't she look very happy? She absolutely loves the afghan and proclaims me the best mother in the world. She might be a wee bit prejudiced, but I'm not gonna complain.

The afghan is the Saffron Cables from Interweave Knits Fall 2006. I used Butter (#03612) in Patons Shetland Chunky--19 balls in all--and a size 5.5mm needle. Carrie is going to add a fringe with the 1.5 balls remaining from the wool purchase. I found no errors in the pattern, which is a wonderful experience.
If you tip your head sideways, you can also see the progress on the Arabesque from Fiddlesticks Knitting. I'm loving this project--the tiny wool, the Addi lace needles, the painstaking counting of decreases and yarn-overs, the placement of life lines. Yes, it is truly a project to enjoy. I'm currently working repeat number 9 of 14 centre repeats, so I'm officially on the downhill side.
I wonder what lace I'll do next?

The problem is ...

I was reminded today that it was more than time for an update to appear. (Hi Gwen!) I meant to update last week, even took the photos.

But you see, I have a problem. A serious problem.

I am having a difficult time putting down the needles. And unless one puts down the needles, an update just isn't gonna appear.

I can hear you folks now, wondering just what the heck has me so entranced that I cannot stop knitting.

The daughter's afghan(Saffron Cables from Interweave Fall 2006) is within 20 rows of having the last pattern repeat completed. Then all I have left to do is the seed stitch border. I'm hoping to have that finished by next weekend.

The Annetralac sock from the Holiday Interweave Knits is also coming along. (There is no ling available to the Interweave Knits site as the issue is completely sold out. Sorry.) I've just finished turning the heel and shaping the gusset.

The Clapotis in Aracania Atacama is inching along slowly. I used it at the store this week to demonstrate how to drop a stitch and repair the damage.

The real problem is this:

Isn't lace supposed to not be pretty until it has been blocked? No one told this Arabesque shawl that, and I hope they never do. It's so gorgeous! The charts are easy to read, and the Malabrigo is a delight to knit. I work two rows, and then admire my work. Force anyone near the shop to also admire. Then work two more rows. I have completed one and a half repeats of the centre charts. Only 12 and a half to go!

Finally, there is the Great American Aran Afghan. We are doing the afghan as a "knit along" project at the store, beginning on February 26. I decided that I should work a square (at least) ahead of the group so that if there are any problems, I can troubleshoot them before my knitters get there.

I have lusted after this afghan for at least three years. Never quite found the motivation, until now. Starting this square was a wee bit problematic. For whatever reason, I am finding the charts difficult to follow. I don't believe it is a problem with the charts--just the knitter! In any event, here is the beginning of my afghan:

This is Hannah Burns' square found on page 32, and the yarn is Patons Canadiana in Oatmeal. I finally figured out that part of the problem was that the ribbons (chart B) don't both start on row 1. One side does, of course, but the other side is a reverse image. Consequently, it starts on row 17. I added a second column of row numbers to the chart, and suddenly things are progressing nicely.

Tomorrow I am going cross-country skiing at the Leslie Frost Centre. That means two hours of knitting time in the car, followed by two more hours knitting on the way home. I'm looking forward to it!

See you later!

The slope is just as steep as it ever was!

Remember how I claim to be a "one-project-at-a-time" kind of knitter? And how much I whine and complain about having four projects on the needles and the fifth one on its way? How I profess that it makes me uncomfortable and all that?

Well, I can hold my head up high. I finished the Sublime cabled shell. In all its finished glory, here it is!
I used 8 balls of Sublime #59 and the pattern from Pure Silk by Debbie Bliss. All in all, this was a purely delightful project. The directions were accurately written and the yarn was a joy. I do wish that there had been a chart provided in addition to the written directions, but hey--I won't complain. All my customers have been waiting with bated breath for the finished shell, and it is here!

Of course, having finished a store project, I immediately cast on another. (Leaving me with four -- count 'em -- FOUR projects on needles!)

This is the beginning of the Arabesque from Fiddlesticks Knitting, in Malabrigo Baby Lace Merino. Today was my day off and the shop was closed. Where was I? Back at the store, fondling -- er petting -- I mean knitting on the lace. Yeah, that's it. I was knitting!

The Saffron Cables was given much love and attention this weekend as well. I'm now 13 rows into the final pattern repeat, and in the home stretch. This is a good thing since it was so blasted cold this weekend -- I know I was hoping for a bit more winter so that I could do some more cross-country skiing, but really now. -20 was a bit extreme! It was really nice to sit under an afghan and knit merrily away.

Project number 5 soon to be on the needles -- we are doing the Great American Aran Afghan as a group project at the store. I'll be casting on soon for that one as well. Sheesh! Whatever happened to that one-project-at-a-time knitter?

And Irene? There was only a gap of 9 days between updates this time! I have been paying attention!

A Slippery Slope

I have been knitting since I was 8 years old, or there-abouts. It's been a while. For most of this time, I have been a very consistent, one-project-at-a-time knitter. I would decide what I wanted to knit, purchase the yarn, and make the project. Whatever was left over would go into a box, to rest there until winter and I needed to make mittens. Even when a yarn store went out of business I still only purchased yarn for the next project. (I know many of you are shaking your heads over this. But it is true--I purchased only yarn for the very next project on my mental list.) One project at a time, from start to finish. And life was good.

Then a bit of misfortune occurred. My friend Randi died. She wasn't quite as monogamous a knitter as I, and she had stash. She had rather a lot, in fact. But that was OK. I started knitting my way through her stash, one project at a time. And life was good.

From there, I discovered charity knitting. There are lots and lots of places that need hand-knit items, and I love knitting enough to want to assist those folks less fortunate than myself. So I adapted my strategy to accommodate this desire. One project for Dulaan, one project for the Durham Crisis Pregnancy Centre, and one for myself. Three projects at the same time. I'd knit for a designated period of time on one project, switch to the second for an equal amount of time, and then knit on my personal project for the same amount of time. Items were finished, and they were beautiful. And life was good.

Do you realize how big a knitting bag one needs to carry around three projects at a time? And enough wool to keep going on each of the projects? I decided that the concept was good and all, but one project at a time was just fine for me. And life was better.

I discovered the Knitter's Frolic. I discovered the Kitchener-Waterloo Spinners & Knitters Fair. I remembered how nice it was to be able to finish a project at midnight on a Saturday night, and be able to walk over to the Stash and immediately start a new project. I bought. And bought some more. I had Stash. And life was tremendous!

Next in my knitting adventures, I decided to open a wool shop. Never Enough Wool was born. Every wool shop needs store models, and mine was no exception. So I had to start knitting models from wools in the store.

This caused a conflict in my little psyche--how could I have two, TWO projects on needles at the same time? I resolved to designate one project as "store" knitting and one as "home" knitting. I would knit the "store" project while at the store, and the "home" knitting at home or on the knitting nights at the store. And life continued to be tremendous.

Now, somewhere along the line (and I really am not sure just how it happened), I started more projects than I had finished. I took inventory yesterday, and this is what I found:


This is a store project--a delightful sleeveless shell designed by Debbie Bliss and knit in Sublime. Coincidentally, the shell is just my size although I profess no knowledge as to how this happened. The back is complete, and the front lacks just the right shoulder. So close ...

Designated as a "home" project, there is this lovely afghan from Interweave Knits Fall 2006 issue. I am knitting it in Patons Shetland Chunky even though the design specifies an alpaca blend.
There are four pattern repeats in this afghan and I am currently half-way through the third repeat. I started this afghan on December 10, so I must say that I am really quite pleased with my progress thus far.

But wait! What's this? Another project, that's what!
My daughter wanted to make a wrap for a friend of hers and I suggested the Clapotis from Knitty and this wonderfully soft Atacama, an alpaca wool from Auracania. I had no sooner gotten her started when she changed her mind. Since the wool was already wound into balls and stitches on the needle, it seemed cruel and unusual punishment to consign the wool back into inventory or stash. So I have continued knitting, with the plan to display the wrap at the store as a model. It's a good plan, even if I say so myself.

But wait! There's more! What else do I find in the bottom of my knitting bag? ANOTHER project?!

Yes, indeed, it is another project. This is the Annetrelac Sock from the Holiday 2007 Interweave Knits issue, knit in Regia 4-ply Strato Color. Socks are such a nice LITTLE project, don't you think? One should always have a pair of socks on the go. Right?

That makes 4 projects currently on the needles. Quite enough for someone who likes one project at a time.

But wait! There's more!

Yes, I did say that. The store is hosting a lace knit-along project, beginning January 22. I have to have a project. So I will be casting on ... the Arabesque using Malabrigo lace-weight merino. Of course, I haven't actually cast on yet, so it doesn't count. Sort of.

The slippery slope is getting steeper and steeper. It will be difficult to get back to the "one-project-at-a-time" knitter that I was. But perhaps that is OK, since life is still good.