Saturday, December 24, 2005

Are we surprised?

No.

Wishing you and yours a joyous and peaceful holiday season!

Sarah

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Haven't been sleeping much, but I've been hitting all my knitting deadlines, so who cares?  And Son Number One has been chauffeuring me around town, so I don't have to be particularly alert for anything (except to remind him to stop at red lights and important stuff like that).

At the Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild's holiday potluck last night, Jessie showed off her finished handbag from my Introduction to Aran class:

Hooray, Jessie!  I think that's the first bag that's been COMPLETELY finished, both inside and out (and that includes the two I've been working on, too!).  I saw Cyndi's on Sunday, but she still had to sew the lining to her bag, so I didn't taken a picture yet.

Terri showed off a scarf she made using my free Frou Frou Scarf pattern:

I made a bunch of those last year as teacher gifts.

Here's the scene in my laundry room about an hour ago:

I was working on this mini-shawl until 2:00 a.m. two nights ago, and until I had to give up at 3:00 a.m. last night, but I still had three rows plus the bind off to go.  Everything but the blocking was done by 11:00 this morning, but since this is to be delivered at 3:30 this afternoon, I had to pull out the blow dryer in order to achieve some high-speed blocking. 

Here's what I was aiming the hot air at:

Pretty, eh?  Merino laceweight, hand dyed by Nancy McRay of Woven Art. 

And a rear view, on Dummy Sheila:

I'm very happy with how this turned out.  The pattern is the Elegantly Simple Triangle Shawl from Heartstrings.  It's a four row repeat, and three of those four rows are stockinette stitch.  The fifteen stitch repeat was easy to memorize, so the only thing I needed to keep track of was the increase section at the beginning and end of some of the rows.  There were a couple of spots where I thought there might be an error, but I didn't find any errata for this pattern on the Heartstrings website, so I trusted the designer and knit exactly what I saw on the chart.  The chart was perfect.  I've got another Heartstrings pattern I've been wanting to try -- I think it's called the Flared Smoke Ring -- with some Elsebeth Lavold yarn I've got in my stash.

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Three hundred and sixty days ago, on December 26, 2004, a water pipe burst under our driveway, which heralded the beginning of a very eventful (and expensive) year.  There hasn't been a day since then that we haven't been waiting for a repair of some kind or other to be completed (or started).  I'm firmly hoping that our unlucky streak will be drawing to a close VERY SOON, but it isn't giving any indication of ending yet.  Here's the latest . . .

We waited in vain for the delivery of our range during the appointed times on Saturday.  After many phone calls and numerous vague excuses, it has been explained to us that our range will be ORDERED on the 27th of December, and may be DELIVERED as early as the 28th.  That's AFTER Christmas, for those of you keeping track.  And the reason we're wanting a new range is not merely for an upgrade.  No, it's because our current one is BROKEN, which means I'm sort of scrambling to figure out how to serve Christmas dinner to my mother-in-law this year.  She expects drama and disappointment surrounding the meal -- that's a holiday tradition here at our house.  Last year I served raw Rock Cornish game hens (I tried blaming the oven on that one) and in earlier years I've roasted bags of giblets within turkeys, and baked hams with the plastic wrap still intact.  Why should this year be any different?  I've got a tradition to uphold!

I'm thinking about microwaving some burritos for Christmas dinner.  Anyone want to join us?

I got a new estimate for housepainting from yet another painter today.  We just finished putting the furniture back where it belongs after the last painter decided to drop off the face of the earth, and we're tentatively starting to decorate for Christmas, but we'll be moving the furniture once more in January, for what I hope will be the final time.

I got an e-mail from Amazon today, informing me that there will be a delay in the delivery of my husband's Christmas gift, which was due to arrive on the 23rd.  Given everything that's been going wrong around here lately, I was totally expecting this.

Sigh.

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Secret Santa strikes again!

Mmmmmm, lavender!  Well, at least I'll smell good while I'm wallowing in self pity!

Gotta run . . . still have some holiday knitting to finish up!

Sarah

Friday, December 16, 2005

I'm in the homestretch of this year's holiday knitting extravaganza -- just one triangular lace shawlette to complete by early next week, a vest to put the finishing touches on by the end of next week, and a couple of Entrelac pillows to finish before Sunday.  Oh, and maybe a St. Brigid by New Year's Day for good measure.  Okay, it's a pretty long homestretch. 

Here are photos from some of the classes I've been teaching lately.  The first one is from my Entrelac Design class: 

My three students have each chosen different colorways of Noro yarns, and I believe they're all using Kureyon, but I'm not positive.  There may be some Silk Garden in there.  Or maybe it's all Silk Garden.  I can't remember.  The blue one on the bottom is mine, using Seeds from Interlacements.

This is from my Introduction to Intarsia class:

These vests are all in various stages of completion, but are all adorable!  My camera did something horrible to the colors -- everything looks much too yellow here (including the yellow!).  Oh well. 

Here's what has been putting holes in my fingers for the past few months:

These stockings were knit sort of faithfully to Grace Ennis patterns from 1948 and 1951 -- modifications were made so they would match.  Grace liked a firm fabric.  Her patterns ask for a worsted weight wool (specifically, Brunswick Germantown, which was a fabulous yarn) and a gauge of 8 stitches to the inch.  Did you catch that?  Worsted weight yarn at 8 stitches to the inch. 

Now, worsted weight yarn usually knits up at about 5 stitches to the inch on size 7 or 8 needles (depending on how you knit).  I knit loosely, so I usually hit 5 stitches to the inch on a size 5 U.S.  I knit these stockings on a size 0 (that's ZERO) with Cascade 220 (which I would say is slightly lighter than a true worsted), and was only able to get down to 7 stitches to the inch. 

My hands ache, but boy do those tight little stitches look good!

Grace also liked a plain stockinette stitch top to her stockings, which resulted in a predictable and untameable stockinette stitch roll, so I fiddled around until I came up with a solution I liked:

With a 2.0 mm crochet hook (which was the smallest one I had that would actually hook worsted weight yarn), I worked a slip stitch in each of the "V"s of the first knitted row,  then chained a hanging loop, and then worked a second row of slip stitches in the diagonal swoopies (technical term) of my (long tail) cast on edge.  I'm very happy with the way this looks, and I hope to use it again sometime -- if I can remember it!

Today's schedule includes popping these puppies into the U.S. mail (they were finished in the St. Nick of time!), zipping down to Charlotte to teach an Introduction to Aran class, doing a little Christmas shopping on the way back home, and then settling in to my knitting chair (see below) to do some serious lace knitting.

My house was supposed to be painted this week, but the painter never showed up, so I guess it's time to put the furniture back where it belongs, hang the pictures back on the walls, and find someplace to store 20 gallons of paint.  We've been living on little islands of furniture in the middles of our rooms all week.  I suppose after I move everything back I can get the Christmas decorations out of the basement.

What is it with our house this year?  We've had the worst luck.

Well, not the WORST luck.  The house is still standing (knock on wood!).

My new range is being delivered tomorrow, so I'll be able to cook again (assuming I was able to cook before!).  Maybe some Christmas cookies?

Did I ever show you my scar from the Christmas from Hell, when Son Number One was in the hospital with strep and pneumonia, I had pink eye, either Husband Number One or Son Number Two had a cold, our Christmas tree kept falling over (an annual occurrence, but especially frustrating this particular year), and I tried to bring an iota of normalcy to the household by baking Christmas cookies, only to sear my wrist while removing said cookies from the oven?  No?  Maybe I will sometime.

May your weekend be filled with joyous and stress-free holiday knitting!

Sarah

Monday, December 12, 2005

I was tagged by Chris to show my knitting spot:

From left to right (more or less): 

• door and window looking out onto snow covered brick patio
• wrought iron shelving with (from top to bottom) general reference books, jade plant, pile of knitting books and patterns I've been looking through but haven't put away yet, topped by double-sided plastic box of knitting notions secured by very important (and potentially hazardous) bungee cord, and notebooks containing the notes from all of the knitting classes I teach
• tapestry knitting bag from Open Road overflowing with soon-to-be-finished knitting projects
• Time magazine from September (I'm a wee bit behind)
• felted tote from my Intro to Entrelac class with unfinished Kimono inside
• Ott lamp
• precious laptop on which I do all of my e-mail and blog reading (blog writing occurs on the desktop, because that's where my photo and blogging software resides)
• footstool and gliding rocker, complete with permanent impressions from my posterior (lovely)
• basket from World Market overflowing with soon-to-be-finished projects
• Lantern Moon folding stand holding my knitting needles, crochet hooks, and knitting journals
• triple window looking out onto snow-covered backyard
• wrought iron shelving with (from top to bottom) a tray of rocks I painted to look like bugs when I was a child, interspersed with candles and a snuffer, the ever-present glass of water, a fledgling Christmas cactus, a pile of Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Consumers Reports, Smithsonian, and Time magazines from the past few years that I'm hoping to read someday, box of comic books from my childhood that I want to read one more time before I pass them on, and gardening books

I think that's about it. 

If you're reading this, and you have a blog, and you haven't been tagged yet, well, now you have.  You're "it"!

Here's a fun pile of hats (pre-doo-dads) from the Continental Knitting class I finished up last week, along with a bag of melt-in-your-mouth, to-die-for caramels made by Pam.  Yum!

Thanks to Bonnie's pattern idea (alternating stockinette stitch and reverse stockinette stitch, longways), and Jacquie's wonderful handspun, hand dyed yarn, I was able to give this scarf as a gift during our early Christmas at my in-laws' this weekend:

The recipient is also a knitter, and had this wrapped for me:

How fun is that?  Great minds think alike!

I made another scarf from the same pattern and more of Jacquie's yarn, for Son Number Two's teacher:

The Christmas cactus I brought home from Pittsburgh a month ago is blooming -- what a green thumb I have (snort!).

Guess what -- my secret Santa struck again!  Mmmmm, chocolate kisses!

(Pssst!  My Winter/Spring 2006 teaching schedule is posted on THIS website!  Thanks for pointing out my error, Vicki!)

Sarah

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Alarming red tip notwithstanding, this is my new best friend:

Why is a bottle of Envelope Moistener (with Adhesive) my new best friend?  Because today I mailed out 107 Winter/Spring 2006 class schedules to the people on my mailing list for whom I do not have a valid e-mail address . . .

. . . and there isn't enough spit in my body to lick that many envelopes on my own. 

AND, I figured out how to print my return address and the proper snail mail addresses from my mailing list directly onto the envelopes instead of printing them onto labels and peeling and sticking for hours upon hours, as I've done in the past.  I'm quite proud of myself.

Jacqué tells me she can teach me how to open all of the envelopes at the exact same time -- I haven't a clue what she's talking about, but it sounds like another handy time saver.

And THEN, after I teach my copier how to staple the papers and stuff and stamp the envelopes, I'll be all set!  I'll be able to oversee the whole operation from the safety of my knitting chair, and actually GET SOME KNITTING DONE.  Which I'm not currently doing.  Oh, I'm knitting all right, but I'm not getting anything done.  The holiday frenzy has kicked in, I can't focus on any one thing, and I just bought enough yarn to make three more Christmas presents.  And then I read the Yarn Harlot's entry, and believe me, I'm still standing!

Oh, and did I mention we're celebrating Christmas with the in-laws this weekend?  And that the deadline for some of this holiday knitting is, like, NOW?  So what am I doing sitting here at the keyboard when I should be knitting? 

Have I ever told you what a great procrastinator I am?

(Pssst!  My Winter/Spring 2006 teaching schedule is posted on my website!)

Sarah

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

My, how time flies.  I've been knitting my little fingers to the bone -- literally!  I have a hole in my right index finger -- I tend to poke at the left-hand needle to help remove the "old" stitch (are you a poker, too?) .  I've been flitting from project to project, though, which hasn't resulted in much finishing.  Except for one thing . . .

Here's an oldy but a goody.  Remember this?

I took this photo last May, and I'd probably had the sweater a good long time before that.  It belongs to Sister Number Two, and it had a big, torn snag (shown here skewered by two size U.S. 0000 needles).  The tear involved just one row of stitches, so the remedy was to graft (kitchener) across the gap.  The problem, however, was that this is a store-bought sweater, machine knit from what appears to be a thick and thin copper sewing thread.  VERY tiny stitches -- the 0000 needles were too large, so I couldn't load them up and do a traditional kitchener stitch.  VERY sheer -- where would I weave in the tails from the repair?

I thought I took a photo mid-repair, but alas, I didn't, and I'm not going to try to re-create the scene.  You'll have to use your imagination instead.  Imagine stitches so small that you have to take your glasses off and stare very determinedly to sort of maybe see them.  Imagine trying to identify a single line of stitches all the way across one of these miniscule rows.  Imagine trying to place a straight pin into the center of each of the stitches across that row.  Imagine trying to repeat the process two rows down.  Imagine fighting the heads of all of those pins to pull out, a half a stitch at a time, the entire row with the snag in it.  Imagine repeatedly dropping the little tiny stitches and having to find a crochet hook small enough to retrieve them.  Imagine using copper sewing thread and a sewing needle to graft the two sets of live stitches together.  Imagine weaving the tails invisibly into the neckband and the sleeve seam.  Imagine my relief at completing the task:

Whew!  Now imagine how happy I am to scratch this one off the list!

(Note to Dawn:  See how the rows are pulled up underneath the v-neck?  Pop quiz -- what does that mean?)

I found this on Saturday morning:

We were on our way to Son Number Two's first basketball game of the season, and I held the package in my lap all the way there and back.  Husband Number One was going nuts, wanting to know what was inside, but I was very happy to savor the experience.  And it was worth it!  Inside were two gorgeous candles from the Bullfrog Light Co. in Charlevoix, Michigan, along with some delicate paper snowflakes waiting to be opened.  These candles really glow when lit.  See?

I'm very fond of my secret Santa!

Son Number One was inspired to try a salami snowflake:

Not quite the same effect, but beautiful in it's own way, n'est-ce pas?

Sarah

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