Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Go check out my knitting buddy Sharon's way cool new blog!

I'll check in soon to explain my new knitting philosophy (it's all about color, baby!)

Happy New Year!

Sarah

Saturday, December 27, 2003

Thanks for all the nice comments about Snowfall!

I'm enjoying the holidays so far, except for this lovely cold I've developed (I forgot to take my Vitamin C while I was in Vestaburg, and see what happened?).  Fortunately, I'm able to take lots of naps, so I'm well rested.  Haven't felt much like knitting, though.  That's how I can tell that I'm really truly sick.  That, and the mountain of snotty Kleenex that's piling up next to me.

Instead of current knitting progress (since there isn't any), I'll regale you with photos of knitted holiday decorations:

These knitted lights are from an old issue of Cast On -- I'm guessing Holiday 1991.  I made four or five strands, and usually hang them on our Christmas tree, but since I let my husband and sons decorate the tree this year, the lights were left off.  I'm sure it was purely by accident. 

I love this snowman.  He's under-stuffed, which makes him very squishy and huggable.  The pattern was in the 12/19/95 issue of Family Circle Magazine, along with a flat version that can be sewn onto a sweater or sweatshirt.  I saw this magazine in the waiting room of my doctor's office way back when, and made arrangements for them to call me when they were done with it so I could have the pattern. 

Santa continued to be good to me this year:

And I must have been a very good girl indeed, because I got this:

Now I can print double-sided copies of my class notes without feeding each individual page through by hand!  Yippee!!!!!

And NOW, it's time to go to sleep.

Sarah

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

The pre-holiday weekend at the in-laws was lovely.

I delivered Snowfall (it fit its new owner perfectly!):

And received a treasure trove of knitting books to help me round out my library and get ready for the TKGA knit-along (more on that later this week):

I finished and delivered the last of seven Reverse Bloom wash cloths (this one was made with the leftovers from the previous six):

And I am now working on a pair of "One Skein Circus Foot Warmer Socks", using the pattern on the back of the label of Circus from Artful Yarns (95% wool, 5% acrylic):

These are knit in stockinette stitch and then turned inside out.  My mother is having to spend a lot of time in bed these days, and I thought these would keep her feet toasty warm.

My Old Year's Resolution is to finish out the year without any unloved projects languishing in my knitting basket. 

I gave 3xChic to my thinner-than-me sister-in-law (she loved it) and am tearing out the Mango Moon Ribbed Jacket as we speak (the yarn and I deserve something better).  I'll also be tearing out the Cardigan with Crocheted Ridges -- I have a pattern for a lacy cardigan from Classic Elite that might work well with that pesky alpaca -- I'll have to swatch first to make sure.  The felted basket, which currently looks like something the cat coughed up, WILL be a beautiful felted basket before the end of the year (THIS year, thank you very much).  The Lucy Bag will be made to look lovely as well, although I haven't been able to find a suitable fabric for the lining yet, so that detail may have to wait.  I did find a perfect fabric for lining Your Basic Bag, so I'll have to tackle that soon (I don't sew happily).  And I'll fix Bed & Breakfast so the reds match.

That's the plan, anyway. 

AND I have a mess of knitting-for-hire to get caught up on, since my holiday knitting is just about done (still two more gifts to go, due in a couple of weeks). 

That's it from here.  I'm off to look for my Christmas spirit.  I seem to have misplaced it.

Sarah

Friday, December 19, 2003

I'm off to the in-laws' for the weekend to celebrate an early Christmas.  I'll be sewing the buttons on Snowfall in the car.

I'll be back Sunday night.  You'll be fine without me.

I'll leave you with this, sent to me by my friend Lu, who received it from the Denver Knits e-list:

KNITTERS CHRISTMAS EVE

'Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
Was unfinished knitting not under the tree.
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care
'Cause the heels and toes had not a stitch there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
But I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep; he was no help at all,
And the sweater for him was six inches too small,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tripped over my yarn and fell down with a crash.

The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how much I still had to go.
Out on my lawn I heard such a noise,
I thought it would wake both Dad and the boys.

And though I was tired, my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
But what I heard then left me perplex-ed,
For not a name I heard was what I expected,

"Move, Ashford! Move, Lopi! Move, Addi and Clover!
Move, Reynolds! Move Starmore! Move Froelich -- move over!

Paton, don't circle 'round; stand in the line. 
Come now, you sheep will work out just fine!

I know this is hard;  it's just your first year,
I'd hate to go back to eight tiny reindeer."
I peered over the sill; what I saw was amazing,
Eight woolly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing.

And then, in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa's feet coming across the porch floor.
I rose from my knees and got back on my feet,
And as I turned 'round St. Nick I did meet.

He was dressed all in wool from his head to his toe,
And his clothes were hand knit from above to below.
A bright Fair Isle sweater he wore on his back,
And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.

His cap was a wonder of bobbles and lace 
A beautiful frame for his rosy red face.
The scarf 'round his neck could have stretched for a mile, 
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.

The back of his mittens bore an intricate cable.
And suddenly on one I espied a small label,
"S.C." was duplicate stitched on the cuff,
And I asked, "Hey, Nick, did you knit all this stuff?" 

He proudly replied, "Ho, ho, ho, yes I did. 
I learned how to knit when I was a kid." 
He was chubby and plump, a quite well-dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself, for I'd thought up a plan.

I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air, 
And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair,
He spoke not a word, but looked in his lap
Where I'd laid my needles and yarn for a cap. 

He quickly began knitting, first one cap then two,
For the first time I thought I might really get through.
He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks. 
While I sat back drinking Scotch on the rocks. 

So quickly like magic his needles they flew 
That he was all finished by quarter to two.
He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me, 

And I heard him exclaim as he sailed past the moon, 
"Next year start your knitting sometime around June!"
 

Sarah

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Today was a GOOD day.

Judith wore her adaptation of Dana's Scarf, knit with a frou-frou yarn called Ranee and a black eyelash.  The colors of the Ranee are accurate in the photo on the left, but you can actually see the scarf in the photo on the right.

My family decorated our Christmas tree without my help for the first time EVER -- what a relief for me!  (Hey, where's my knitted garland?)

Snowfall is ready to have its last sleeve attached.  Then all it needs are some ends woven in, some buttons sewn on, and a good blocking:

My good friend Irene married her childhood sweetheart, Rod, 35 years after they parted ways:

And I got to meet this, um, guy:

Isn't he festive?  I'll bet he was the talk of his company Christmas party!

Sarah

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

The Pittsburgh Christmas Extravaganza is in the mail (whew!).

The current holiday knitting crisis involves a little something for Son Number Two's teacher (for the holiday party on Friday), a little something for Vestaburg Christmas Extravaganza #1 (on Saturday) and Snowfall for Vestaburg Christmas Extravaganza #2 (on Sunday).  Then I can slow down a little until my Sister Number Two's New Jersey Christmas Extravaganza (sometime in early January).

Then the 2004 Birthday Extravaganza knitting commences. 

Okay, this next part is going to be a little weird, but I have to vent.

Do you have strange, pointless memories from your childhood that pop up from time to time?  One of mine is from elementary school -- fifth grade, maybe?  I was very, very shy, and had been asked to read aloud in front of the class from a history book or social studies book or whatever, and I got to the words "Forth Worth", which I stumbled on for what seemed like forever, and no one offered to help me out.  I was pretty sure there was a city called "Fort Worth", but I had never heard of "Forth Worth", and couldn't get the words out right.  It didn't occur to me until much later that there could have been an error in the book.  It was traumatic at the time, and pops into my head occasionally for no apparent reason (my past likes to taunt me).  Like I said -- pointless.

Today, I was reading my TIME magazine from a week or two ago (I'm always behind).  Oh, here it is -- the December 15, 2003 issue.  (Okay, let's go off on a tangent for a moment -- why are the dates of magazines always a week in the future?)  Anyway, I was reading an article on violence in kindergarten and elementary school (a little light reading to go along with my lunch) and there on page 53 was a sentence that said (and I quote):

"The alarming trend has been confirmed by Partnership for Children, a local child-advocacy group that has just completed a survey of child-care centers, elementary schools and pediatricians throughout Tarrant County, which includes Forth Worth and suburban Arlington." 

Did you see that?  They said "Forth Worth"!  There I was, eating my leftover spaghetti from two nights ago, enjoying an article about violence among five year olds, and this huge, uninvited ghost from my past pops up and whaps me right between the eyes.  Can you believe it?  I'm still reeling.  

End of venting.

Let's re-cap Sarah's day, shall we?

1. The day dawns happily for little Sarah Peasley, as she has only one knitting student scheduled all day and can get oodles of holiday knitting accomplished.
2. Phone call from husband at 7:25 a.m. warning Sarah that Son Number One has forgotten about a birthday party this evening, immediately followed by . . .
3. Phone call from Son Number One, informing Sarah that he has forgotten to tell her about a birthday party this evening.  No present needed, thank goodness.  Oh, and by the way, he forgot his basketball gear and math project.
4. Frantic search finds basketball gear but no math project.
5. Frantic call to husband finds no math project in back seat of car used to drop son at school.
6. Trip number one to school reveals slippery roads and introduces the fact that math project never even made it into husband's car.
7. Sarah returns home, tears house apart, and discovers math project on large sheet of white paper hidden behind bench against white wall (like finding a polar bear in a snowstorm).
8. Trip number two to school confirms slippery roads and results in math project being left in school office for son to pick up.
9. Scheduled knitting student arrives late and stays late (which is fine, but eats up the rest of the morning).
10. Delayed, lukewarm, leftover lunch disrupted by inappropriate spelling of Fort Worth, reminding Sarah of her incredibly traumatic childhood.
11. Frantic wrapping of packages for Pittsburgh Christmas Extravaganza.
12. Trip number three to school to pick up Son Number One after basketball practice, followed by trip to post office to deliver Pittsburgh Christmas Extravaganza.
13. Notification by Son Number One of need for birthday gift for birthday party (WHAT???? See #3 above).
14. Frantic search for old birthday card and money to stuff it with.
15. Happy phone call from fellow-birthday-party-invitee offering ride to and from birthday party (which is at a skating rink in a town a half hour away).
16. Trip number four to deliver son to fellow-birthday-party-invitee's house to accept ride.
17. Arrival of husband home from work, to general hoopla from Sarah, Son Number Two, and dog.  Cat couldn't care less.
18. Arrival of Son Number One from birthday party, announcing winter coat has been left at skating rink in town a half hour away.
19. Announcement from Son Number One that math project was never turned in, since no one ever brought it to school
20. Prolonged, high-decibel tirade from extremely irate mother (that would be me), ranting against irresponsible children and incompetent office assistants.
21. Bedtime and goodnight kisses and hugs ensue.  (Ensue?)
22. Which bring us to the part where Sarah is sitting at her computer, wasting time by re-capping her day when she should be working on last-minute holiday knitting (only 11 rows to go on Snowfall!).

There was plenty more negativity in the day, but those were the highlights.

Have I mentioned that I didn't find any lucky pennies today? 

Sarah

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Ooh!  Remember these? 

My mittens were on Bonne Marie's blog today!  Can you find them?

I've put another little free pattern on my website.  If anyone finds errors in any of these patterns, you'll let me know, won't you?  Thanks! 

My good buddy Marcia e-mailed this link to me today.  What a find!  Now I don't have to rely on Anne and her (less than) impeccable grammatical assistance any longer.  Thanks, Marcia!

Here's the finished UPS scarf, in all it's fringy glory:

With any luck, it will go in the mail tomorrow, along with the rest of the Pittsburgh Christmas extravaganza.

I found another penny in another parking lot today.  I picked it up.  My husband asked me if these pennies I'm picking up are heads side up or tails side up when I find them.  Apparently he thinks they only bring good luck if the heads are up.  I think it's a penny regardless of which way it's facing, and it's already proven to be good luck by letting me find it.  So there! 

The monthly Guild meeting tonight was great fun.  We had our annual holiday potluck, to which I took the El Azteco cheese dip, courtesy of Ann.  Hey Ann, my husband won't touch cottage cheese.  Would ricotta cheese work, do you think?

All of the food was lovely, and the knitting was inspiring, as usual.  I got to see LynnH, who I hadn't seen in quite a while, although I've been keeping up with her busy life through her blog.

And I got caught up with Sheila (of Dummy Sheila fame*).  Here she is showing off her latest bag:

Pre-felting, of course.  What a hoot!

And here's Colleen, who surprised me with her holiday version of my Seamless Sweater:

Sparkly gold trim adds a very festive touch.  Beautiful!

And another surprise:

The Guild gave huge, personalized gift baskets to the five of us who regularly host the weekly knit-ins, to thank us for opening our homes to the knitters.  How unexpected!  We were stunned.  I'm waiting until tomorrow to open mine so my husband and kids (who are currently sound asleep) can help, since they also give up their peace and quiet when the knitters are here.  Can you believe it? 

I think that penny was lucky after all!

Sarah

* Dummy Sheila is the name of the dressmaking form on which I photograph my sweaters.  It's on loan from Sheila, hence the name. 

Monday, December 15, 2003

The UPS scarf is knit(ted?), fringed, and washed, and should be dry by tomorrow morning.  I hope I remember to take a photo before shipping it off.  My pile of gifts to be shipped looks surprisingly meager, despite all of the frantic knitting that's been happening here.  Bummer.

Snowfall, on the other hand, is not meager.  Nor is it complete.  But it will be before it has to be delivered on the weekend.

Holiday preparations are occurring in a very slow and orderly fashion.  Mostly slow.  The tree was purchased Saturday, set in place Sunday, and stabilized today (Monday).  Lights may go on tomorrow, in which case ornaments may follow on Wednesday.  Or not.  We don't like to hurry the tree set-up, due to many years' experience with trees that have either:

1. toppled,
2. toppled,
3. toppled,
4. leaned ominously,
5. toppled,
6. blown all of its needles within 24 hours of set-up, necessitating a replacement tree which also blew it's needles within 24 hours of set-up, necessitating a third replacement tree which finally retained enough of its needles to make it through most of Christmas Day,
7. toppled,
8. cracked the tree stand without anyone noticing so that we were, in effect, watering the carpet for a week (and then toppled),
9. toppled, and finally,
10. toppled.

That just about covers the last ten years of Christmas trees at our house.  Can you blame us for being careful? 

And then there was the Christmas when Son Number One was hospitalized with pneumonia and strep throat, I had pink eye, and the cat (Sidney, may he rest in peace!) broke his foot.  Son Number One got out of the hospital two days before Christmas, so in a last ditch effort at creating a normal holiday, I tried to bake a batch of cookies, but only succeeded in burning my wrist rather severely when taking said batch of cookies out of the oven.  Still have the scar.

So which is correct for the past tense of the verb knit -- "knit" or "knitted"?  I knitted a scarf?  I knit a scarf?  I have knit a scarf?  I done knit a scarf?

Sarah

Sunday, December 14, 2003

You know what they say . . .

"See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck," or something like that.  This is the fifth or sixth penny I've found on the ground in parking lots in as many days.

This tells me that I ought to:

• Play the lotto NOW
• Quit staring at my feet while I'm walking through parking lots
• KEEP staring at my feet while I'm walking through parking lots
• Leave a few pennies for someone else to pick up
• Vacuum more often

I almost passed this one by, because it was in a very yucky puddle in the alley behind a bar (I don't normally hang out in alleys behind bars -- it was the shortcut to the yarn store from the parking lot).  I went puddle diving, however, because I'm convinced that if I spot a penny but choose not to pick it up, that my day will be filled with BAD luck.  Which I don't need any of.  Or of which I don't need any.  Or for which I have no need.  OF which I have no need?  Whatever.

I've had a very knit-ti-ful weekend.  I didn't make it to the charity knit-in on Saturday morning because my husband chose to go up on the frost-covered roof to string Christmas lights and I didn't know if my kids would a) hear the big sliding crash over the noise of their playing, or b) be smart enough to dial 9-1-1.  I did, however, do a lot of knitting while I was on big-sliding-crash-alert.  See?

The motifs of Sleeve Version 2.0 (above) line up with the body motifs much better than did the earlier Version 1.0 (below):

Hooray!  And thank goodness I read through my Snowfall notes after Friday's post.  I thought I was working toward five pattern repeats, but I only needed four and a half.  I caught myself in time, so I didn't have any ripping back to do.  Hooray (again)!

 And here's today's progress on the final piece to the Snowfall puzzle:

Two pattern repeats done, two and a half to go!  The last half repeat will be done back and forth, rather than in the round, because of the way I worked the underarm (look at the photo).  I steeked the last half repeat of Sleeve Version 1.0, but the cut steek proved to be rather bulky for the underarm area, so Version 2.0 was worked back and forth.  I don't have a problem with purling in two colors, but I made myself knit back backwards in two colors because I had never done it before.  It worked beautifully, although it did slow me down a bit (but that can be a good thing, right, Nanette?).

I did make it to the Knitters Night Out at Yarn for Ewe on Saturday night, and to the Second Sunday knit-in at Woven Art this morning.  Good venues for mindless knitting, like the UPS scarf:

I got tired of the endless tube of stockinette stitch, so I went back to the beginning and worked on the fringe.  It's two stitch i-cord, and it looks really cool.  Here's a close-up:

I can't wait to try it on my scarf design that's been waiting for the perfect fringe.

I had a rather jolting self-awareness light bulb go on this weekend.  I've realized for quite a few years now that I'm fussy/a perfectionist/anal retentive/picky, but never realized the extent.  See the photo of the brown scarf up there?  The one with the wheel of yarn in the middle?  See the end of the scarf with the knitting needle in it?  See the shiny bead-like thing hanging there?  No?  Well, trust me, it's there.

You'd think that when knitting miles upon miles of plain brown stockinette stitch in an endless tube, that I wouldn't need a beginning of round marker.  But there it is, and it didn't dawn on me until yesterday that I really didn't need it.  And you know what?  I made a conscious decision to keep it there until I'm done with the whole scarf, because it's been along for the ride this far, and it might as well be there 'til the end.

Besides, if I end the scarf on any but the true last stitch, it might look lopsided.

I'm scaring myself.

Time to go.

Sarah

Friday, December 12, 2003

Yes, Teresa, I know all about the counter at the top of your blog.  I'm trying not to look at it. 

I'm knitting as fast as I can (after this, it will be a cold day in h-e-double-toothpicks before I pick up a 16" circular needle again, I can tell you that!).

Here's my progress on the Scarf (we need a better name, don't you think?  Any suggestions?):

How about the UPS scarf?  (Get it?  Brown?)

I started it in the car on Tuesday night, and have knit about 10-11 inches a day.  I don't usually watch much television, but since this is boring stockinette stitch knit around and around and around and around (and BROWN, which makes me shudder, although this IS a rather pretty brown, as brown goes), I've been hanging out in front of the tube a couple of hours each night.  Wednesday night I got caught up on three taped episodes of "24".  Thursday I watched "ER", and tonight we rented "Pirates of the Caribbean" (I loved it, although Johnny Depp has looked better).  I'm supposed to knit for 50 inches (it stretches when it's done), and I'm currently at 41 inches.  If all goes well (and I should know better than to say anything, because it's like the kiss of death for knitting progress), I should be able to finish the stockinette stitch tomorrow.  Then I get to learn the i-cord fringe!

Here's my progress on the sleeve of Snowfall:

In four more rows, I will have completed four of the five pattern repeats.  I hope to finish that tomorrow as well (knock on wood!).  Then on to the next (and hopefully last) sleeve.

And on a whim, I threw my larger, rectangular Entrelac bag back in the washing machine for another round of felting (fulling):

It's now shorter than the smaller, square bag, and the fabric is much firmer.  I'm very pleased with the results.  I'm gaining confidence as a felter (fuller?).

I still have some other miscellaneous Christmas knitting I need to finish, but I can't post those results here yet.

There will be a lot of organized knitting this weekend.  Thank goodness, because I had to miss this week's Tuesday night knit-in in order to watch a bunch of grown men in baggy shorts sweating and grunting on a wooden floor.  (Originally, I wrote "sweatering and grunting" -- oops!)

Tomorrow morning is the Mid Michigan Knitters Guild Charity Knit-In at the Starbucks at the corner of Jolly and Okemos Roads, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.  Then from 4:30 to midnight is Knitters Night Out at Yarn for Ewe in Okemos, which is always the second Saturday of the month.  And last but not least, Sunday is the Second Sunday Knit-In at Woven Art in East Lansing, from noon until 4 p.m.  It's all knitting, all the time!

Speaking of Yarn for Ewe, I've been informed that Ann and Eugene Bourgeois of Philosopher's Wool will be giving a  free Two-Handed Fair Isle Workshop there on Wednesday, January 14th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.  Call Yarn for Ewe at (517)349-9665 to let them know if you plan on attending.  There will be lots of books and kits available for purchase.  Kits sold that night will be marked down 10%.  If there's one in particular that you want, let Yarn for Ewe know before December 17th so they can add it to their order.  If you'd like to take a look at some of the sweaters and colorways, visit the web site at www.philosopherswool.com.

End of public service announcement.

Back to 16 inch circular needles.

Sarah

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

HOW many days until Christmas?  Today's the 10th, Christmas is the 25th, which means . . .

I'm back to Snowfall.  It wasn't originally intended to be a Christmas gift, but it is now.  Two sleeves to go (of three!).  Here's progress on this one:

Mica thinks wool is itchy.  She gets that from her dad, who won't let me knit for him.

Also racing to be done by Christmas is this, which I started in the dark going to and from the Detroit Pistons basketball game last night (they lost):

Soon (hopefully) to be a fifty inch tube of stockinette stitch in brown (shudder!) 1 ply Icelandic wool from Schoolhouse Press (stash yarn!).  This is the scarf (scarf/hat, or "scat", or "harf") from Handknitting with Meg Swansen, to be adorned at either end with i-cord fringe, which I am VERY interested in trying.  I'm still shopping around for the perfect eeegomg (yikes! get your fingers on the right keys, Sarah!) -- the perfect EDGING to go on the ends of the scarf which matches my Knots and Spirals hat.  I've had people waiting for YEARS (literally) for the pattern for the scarf to match the hat (I use the hat as a class project for my Continental Knitting class), so it would be a Very Good Thing to find the proper fringe.  Then I would just need to finish up the matching mitten pattern, which, at the rate I'm going, will probably take another couple of years.

Speaking of patterns, I was a Very Good Girl today.  Look here.  That's right.  Not just one, but TWO new free patterns!  You may applaud.

Still working on some more, but I'm not making any promises as to when they'll be ready.  Tomorrow?  Next year?  Only time will tell.

And speaking of more patterns, look what came in the mail today:

I had filled out a thingie on Janet Szabo's website a while ago to pre-order the compilation of the Taste of Aran Afghan patterns from her newsletter.  Apparently she's been a Very Good Girl, too, because it's ready, and I've got it! 

Is it worthy of all the beautiful dark heathered purple Cascade 220 that arrived recently?  I was torn between this afghan and the Great American Aran Afghan from Knitters.  Maybe I'll combine the two? 

But not yet.  First I have to knit round and round on 16" circulars at high speed for a week or two (ouch!).

Sarah

Sunday, December 7, 2003

Presenting, 3xChic!

And Cameron's Cap, the adult version (front view):

Side view:

The earflaps still need to be steamed a bit, but this marks the final test-knitting of Cameron's Cap, the next free pattern to be added to my website.  It should appear there tomorrow (Monday) or Tuesday, with any luck.

I also finished the front of Bed & Breakfast, which used to be the back, but I decided while in the homestretch to work it as the front instead.  Here it is, very unblocked:

The directions for the front gave specific shaping instructions for specific row numbers (I love Kathy ZImmerman!), whereas the directions for the back just said to do the shaping after a particular number of inches.  By having the front done first, I can make sure the back ends on the same row. 

I did do short row shaping for the shoulders.  I'll post the row by row details after I get to that point on the back, too.

In yet another instance of "Why can't I do anything right the first time," please notice the color change just above the underarm.  That would be the start of ball of yarn #2.  Same yarn, same dye lot.  I was aware that there were differences between some of the balls of yarn (a common feature of hand dyed yarns), and I looked closely after working a few rows with the new ball, but didn't see a difference.  Laying it out on the floor after it's finished, with a bright light shining on it, I can see an obvious difference.  Not sure what I'm going to do about that.  If anything.  It gets to marinate while I work on the back.

Oh, and did I mention that 3xChic could be just a tiny bit bigger?  In one of my classes (I'm blanking on which one), I teach that if you use really big yarn, the inside circumference of your sweater will be noticeably smaller than the outside circumference, so you should make a larger size (oh!  I think it's the Seamless Sweater Design class).  But did I remember that when I finally knit a sweater on bigger yarn?  No.   

Sigh.

Sarah

(Oooh!  The new Knitty is up!)

Friday, December 5, 2003

No photos today (again), although I wish I had taken a picture of Elizabeth's Entrelac bag pre-felting, for which she used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, and which is nearing the proportions of an airplane cozy.  We can't wait to see what size it will shrink down to!

I'm nearing the top of the back of Bed & Breakfast.  I'll post the shoulder shaping here when I get to that point.

I'm also nearing the end of the second (fourth) sleeve of 3xChic.  I hope to block the sleeves and finish the sweater this weekend.

I'm getting all of this knitting done during small intervals of time between sending kids off to school, waiting for knitting classes or basketball games to start, waiting for kids' haircuts to be finished, waiting for water to boil . . .   

We have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING planned for the weekend.  That will give me some big uninterrupted chunks of time during which I hope to get caught up on some pattern writing and custom knitting, both of which demand more than five minutes here and ten minutes there.

Wish me luck . . .

Sarah

Thursday, December 4, 2003

Sorry, I've been busy typing 500+ entries into a new address book.  I demoted my old e-mail system after it puked out on me (AGAIN) when I tried to send a notification e-mail to my Handknitter distribution list to tell people that my new class schedule is posted.  I had broken my distribution list up into sub-lists (a through e, f through j, etc.), but they were still too big, apparently.  There's no rhyme or reason to how it messed up, either.  It wasn't alphabetical, it wasn't a certain number of addresses -- it was totally random.  All I know is that not everyone received my e-mail, and I can't tell who did or did not.  SO, the webhamster came out of hibernation last night long enough to connect Microsoft Outlook to my Comcast account (the stinkers), so I can use the Outlook address book (and sort and e-mail and print mailing labels to my heart's content).  Cross your fingers that this one works.

So if I owe you an e-mail or an answer to a comment, or whatever -- I'll get to you soon.

And if you received a notification e-mail from me recently, don't be surprised if you receive another one soon, 'cause if people don't look at my schedule, they don't sign up for my classes.  And if they don't sign up for my classes, I'm out of a job.

Stinky Comcast.

Sarah

Oh!  And Linda is joining the TKGA Knit-along.  I'd better get moving on that, eh?

Tuesday, December 2, 2003

Ta-da!

Finally, the smaller, square Entrelac bag, posing with Ludwig, who usually resides on top of the piano, but who insisted on having his picture taken.

And here's Sharon's masterpiece:

Sharon warned me that the colors wouldn't photograph accurately, and she was right.  It looks very green here, when it's actually much more blue/teal.  Stunning.

Regarding the Bed & Breakfast Pullover that I accidentally started knitting yesterday, Suzanne asked:

Do you plan to shape the shoulders as the pattern calls for, or will you use a three-needle bind off?

Um, to answer that question, I would have to read ahead in the pattern, which is not something I normally do.  Hold on a second . . .

Okay, I'm back.  The pattern asks you to work the shoulder shaping by binding off little bunches of stitches on both the neck edge and the armhole edge.  When I get that far, I'll probably try accomplishing the same thing using short rows so I can follow up with the three needle bind off, which I usually prefer for shoulder seams.  If that works without messing up the rib pattern, I'll try to remember to blog about it, so you can share my success, Suzanne.  If it doesn't work, it's a small amount of knitting to tear out and re-do as written.  Kathy Zimmerman is a very talented designer, and I'm assuming she's an excellent pattern writer as well, although I don't think I've knit from one of her patterns before.  What I'm trying to say is, we may just want to trust the way she's written her pattern, but I'm still going to experiment with short rows first.

Sweatergirl says she's going to make two Christmas stockings between now and Christmas.  You can do it, Sweatergirl!

Not to show Sweatergirl up or anything, but here's my Christmas stocking story. 

A few years back, shortly before Thanksgiving, I was contacted by a gentleman who wondered if I could make some Christmas stockings for him -- he wanted to surprise his family.  We met so he could see some different yarns and patterns.  He settled on Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, and wanted me to duplicate the stocking my mother had knit for me when I was a child (which I still use).  To make a long story a little shorter, he was incredibly handsome and well-mannered and offered me a lot of money, so of course I said yes, no problem, I can make giant Christmas stockings for you, your wife, and your six children between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

He wrote down all the names for me, because of course I was going to knit them (Intarsia!) into each and every stocking, along with lovely Christmasy motifs.  (Actually, on second thought, I may have duplicate stitched everything.  Whatever.)

We had to order the yarn, which of course was the wrong color when it arrived.  The reordered yarn was correct, so I whipped up a stocking and called him for his approval.  He stopped by (sigh!), took one look at it, and called his wife on his cell phone.  "Honey, how do you spell Jonathan?"  Apparently not the way he had written down for me.  I cut out the incorrect spelling, re-knit the section and kitchenered it back into the stocking, and then zipped along on the other seven. 

I finished two days before Christmas, with holes in my index fingers and with a neglected family and an undecorated house.  I called him as soon as I completed the last one and made him come get them immediately, because I had told my kids I wouldn't start decorating the tree until those stockings were out of the house.  He drove through a blinding snowstorm to pick them up, and was so thrilled with them that he tipped me the cost of an additional stocking.

As he left, he mentioned that he has lots of brothers and sisters, who all have large families, and that when they saw his Christmas stockings, they would all want me to knit them their own.

I said, "I have one word for you . . . JANUARY!"

Sarah

Monday, December 1, 2003 (ack!)

Nancy K. has joined the TKGA Knit-along!

I had a long, productive day off today, and managed to avoid doing any of the things I really needed to do, except laundry, which was unavoidable.  In amongst countless (and still counting) washer and dryer cycles, I managed to do this:

Finally!  I'll post a "ta-da!" photo as soon as it's dry and assembled.  The handles are peeking out here:

Sheila Dummy is getting quite a workout!  She's also sporting felted intestines (I'm trying something different with my felted basket non-success) and an interesting interpretation of a Lucy Bag, using the yarn from my stash that turned out to be only half wool.  Here's a close-up:

Hmmm.

And I have no idea how this happened:

It seems to be about half of the back of Kathy Zimmerman's Bed and Breakfast Pullover from the latest Interweave Knits, knit with Kimmet Croft Fibers worsted weight merino.  Weird how it just kind of magically appeared on my knitting needles this afternoon, when I was supposed to be doing something else.

And NOW, I have to go get ready for my Jr. Great Books presentation tomorrow, which is what I SHOULD have been doing this morning.

Oh, but maybe just a few more rows before I begin?

Sarah

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