Not a good day

I did not succeed at much of anything yesterday. Eldest son had a "vehicular incident". He landed in a ditch after evading 2 deer crossing the road and I was called at 6 AM to go get him. He's OK, not sure about the car - the car that he has owned for only 4 months or so. It was towed and they are holding it hostage. My son has to be there to get it out, despite the fact that he works from 7-5 and they are only open from 9-5. If he misses a day of work, he risks getting fired. His boss is very particular about that kind of thing. So, he does without the car or he had a job. Is that fair?

No sewing occurred. I did some knitting, but not much. I was very stressed and tired and didn't risk doing much of anything for fear of doing it wrong.

Catching up

Well, since I wrote last, I finished the baby sweater. Yippee! I have 2 buttons to sew on and blocking to do and it's ready to be gifted. Pictures in a day or so.

The elemental boatneck body is complete.



I still have the sleeves to knit, of course, but somehow, with this garment, I feel like I have the majority of work done with the body complete.

Bob's sweater was tried on last weekend, but I had a headache and really could not make a decision about the fit, so that fitting will happen again today.

Last Sunday was DH's birthday. We have had a tradition of being on or near the water for his birthday but I had my doubts this year, what with the projects taking so long to complete. We made it, though, and had an absolutely wonderful afternoon and evening on the water. There was enough breeze to keep us comfortable, enough sun to make me happy but not enough to roast us, calm waters and a beautiful sunset. It was just about perfect.

We went out on the boat yesterday. I had reluctantly agreed to get up for a morning trip. I hate mornings, would prefer to sleep until about 9 on the weekends, but the forecast was for the winds to pick up in the afternoon on Sat. and stay high all weekend. If we wanted to go boating, Sat. morning would have to be it. We rose at 6:30 (I had to warn DH not to talk to me. I am not chatty in the morning) and off we went. Within 10 minutes of getting on the water, I was happy. It was worth it. We had a good day, swam a few times, did some fishing, had some good sandwiches (food almost always tastes better on the water) and when the wind did come up in the afternoon, came in to the dock. We actually had a good part of the day on the water - I think we arrived at the dock at about 6 PM. We cleaned and closed the boat, washed up ourselves and went for supper. There was a spectacular thunder and lightening storm that we watched as we drove home - nature's fireworks. ; )

I knitted while boating - no surprise there. I worked on some cotton wash/dish cloths for stocking stuffers,

eldest son's afghan (started years ago and recently resurrected)

and the mobius


in that wonderful blue/purple wool that I started a few months ago while I was suffering from startitits. Quite a bit of progress.

Today is going to be a home project day. I have the usual laundry to do (it's raining, so no line drying, I am afraid) and I plan to do sewing - the sweater I finished knitting weeks ago needs to be sewn together, the buttons need to be attached to the baby sweater and I have lining fabric that needs to be sewn onto some curtains that have been hanging for a while in our bedroom.

Boat painting is finished!

I thought this project would never end. DH is really pushing to get the other projecting stuff (he had to wait for the paint job to be complete) finished up so that the boat can go in the water for a weekend trip. We will have new cables and transducer for the depth finder and a swim platform that I can sit on or use to have an easier time getting in and out of the water.

I have about 2 more inches on the baby sweater body to knit, then it's on to the sleeves. Tonight's knit nite knitting will probably be the Elemental Boatneck, though. I haven't touched that since last Thursday.

I purchased 3 books during the IK hurt book sale. I am happy with all of them, but the one that makes me happiest is Knit So Fine. There are at least 4 projects in this book that I can see myself wearing. I hope I can deal with the slow progress that a small gauge yarn will give me (like the Elemental Boatneck), especially in stockinette. I will just have to be sure to have another project on the needles that moves faster. Or spin in between.

The other books I purchased are It Itches and Andean Inspired Knits
I don't think that I will knit any of the projects in Andean Inspired Knits (well, maybe one) but it's great reading and inspiration. I think that I might bring It Itches in to work and when I need a chuckle or to lighten my mood, that might just do the trick.

I am off now to get dinner and help with the swim platform installation, then go knitting with the crew at my LYS. Have a good evening

Work gets in the way

If only .....

I have lots of if only's. This particular one is if only I didn't have to work, I could gets lots more knitting done.

The baby sweater is going fairly quickly but I am trying to spend time on DH's sweater, also, and they are both cotton, so I have to be careful to not overdo and get sore hands and/or wrists. The sleeve cap on DH's sweater looks like it will work this time .... I have to knit further before I can have him try it on to see whether the gusset worked and will be comfortable for him.

No Laminaria knitting was done last night. I always get home later on Mondays and by the time we finished eating, I did the dishes (DH does try to plan meals with little clean up on Mondays) and cleaned the paint brushes from the weekend boat painting, it was too late for that much concentration. Tonight, though, 2 more rows at least. : )


This is a swatch I knitted with some yarn I purchased at MD S&W. It's a wool/cotton blend from Shelridge farm. I love the rustic look and feel of it and I am looking for the right cable or other decorative item to knit into the fronts, leaving the remainder of the sweater plain stockinette. I liked this pattern in the book, but on the knitting it looks more like a spider than a celtic know. Spiders are OK, but not on my sweater. This one gets frogged.

My veggie garden is disappointing this year. I planted with care, fertilized as I planted, and we had so much rain at that time that I didn't need to water. Still everything is growing very slowly and just not thriving. I took some soil samples, then fertilized again. I hope to get the soil samples analysed by the county extension service to tell me what's wrong and what I need to do to fix it. we have noticed a tendency for things planted at the upper (closer to the house) part of the garden to fare better than the lower end, both in our yard and the neighbors, though more so in ours. It is down hill, but not a steep hill. It's a mystery to me. I usually kill only plants growing inside and do pretty well with the outdoor stuff. The only veggie that is doing well is the upside down tomato plant. It looks pretty good.

The flowers on the deck are doing well, don't you think?

Melancholy Sunday night

I always feel that way about Sunday evenings. I am happy that I had a good weekend (for the most part) and I still feel relaxed, but there is a slightly sad flavor to it also because I know that I have to return to work the next morning. I have never been one of those who was anxious to get back to work, or who lived for what they did for a living. I am even less so these days, as I get older and DH is at home. I don't hate work, I would just be so much happier if I didn't have to go there. ; )

I was able to knit 2 more rows on Laminaria. Each row takes a while because of the over 400 stitches, and now that I am on a chart that I have not knitted before, each row takes a bit longer because I have to learn the new pattern for that row. It is enjoyable knitting, though, and I might well knit another Laminaria at some point.

I knit on the baby sweater to the point where the arm stitches were put on holders. Now I will knit the body only. This is good especially because I think I may want to add length to the sleeves. I can now knit the body and when I move on to the sleeves, know that the rest of the sweater is knitted and I can use up all of the remaining yarn.

The veggie garden was weeded, the Clematis tied up so that the lawn mower no longer needs to dodge it, the pond filters are clean and the old flowers and leaves pulled out so as to not foul the water and the yard tidied up in general.

The boat was painted and sanded and painted again. Unfortunately, it needs yet another sanding and painting (3rd coat). This is one area where I am pleased to say to DH "I am off to work. See you tonight." Sanding in the sun at midday is no fun, and even in the evening it's pretty miserable. I think it will be in the water by this weekend, though. Finally we will be able to meet at the marina after work and go out for an evening boat ride, swim and supper on the boat. It is so peaceful out there, and sunsets on the water cannot be equaled.

Tonight's plan is to knit 2 more Laminaria rows and then work on DH's sweater sleeve. Must finish that sweater. Soon.

Week's End

I am so happy that the week is over. I can't wait to get in some more knitting time.

Thursday night at my LYS I was able to knit another inch of the lace pattern at the top of the back of the linen stitch top.

I also bought yarn. There is a sale right now - all Noro, Mirasol and Elspeth Lavold yarns on sale. How could I resist? I did indulge myself a little, but I also bought the yarn for the baby sweater I want to knit - that was actually most of the cost.

I purchased 5 skeins of this cotton yarn in red for the baby sweater for my cousin's little girl. See the cable? One cable down the front on each side but the rest is top down raglan styling, knit all at once. It should go pretty fast, and for a child's sweater, that's important. : )


















I also bought 3 skeins of this soft yummy yarn for myself. Nuna is a blend of wool, silk and bamboo and it just glows.












I plan to make either a cowl or small scarf with it just because I had to have some and didn't want to spend a fortune right now.

Clapotis is finished, as I have already told you. I have left it unblocked for now, but will probably block it at some point. I like the gentle flow of it and the way the stockinette sections are softly rolling but I like the corners to lay flat and they won't right now.























I worked on the baby sweater and I worked on Dh's sweater last night. I have a gusset of sorts knitted and will try the sleeve cap today. I knitted 4 more rows of the first edge chart for Laminaria last night. I would love to sit and do nothing but that today, but duty calls.

I have to go do some sanding on the boat now so we can get the second coat of paint done and get it back into the water. I will leave you with some views of and from my deck.

Well, I was going to do that but Blogger seems to be having a problem, so I will post those another day. Have a great week end.

Laminaria progress

This post was started on Monday but I wanted to add photos and it took me until Wednesday to do it. Sorry.

It's a shame that lace looks so terrible on the needles. I can't wait to show you my Laminaria progress. Tonight I will finish the blossom chart (2 more rows) and start the edging charts! I am so excited to be so close to the end. I haven't hated working on this project, it's just that I am anxious to finish and wear it. I may gift it to someone later (I am not sure how the color will look on me) but I will wear it at least once. I hope to enter it in the county and state fairs this year, too.

(ETA I have since completed the blossom chart and knitted the first tow rows on the edging chart! )

The holiday weekend was great. The weather was good, the deck railing is finished, we had good food and good company to celebrate Independence Day and a day off after to recuperate. : )

I spent yesterday (Sunday) alternating between doing laundry, knitting and sanding the primer on the boat in preparation for painting later this week. The knitting was the most fun. ; )

Tonight's knitting will be Laminaria, all Laminaria. Maybe tomorrow, too, depending on how complicated the charts are. If the first one (there are 2 edging charts) is very complicated I might take a day off from that and return to it on Wednesday. My other projects for this week are Bob's sweater (which needs to have the sleeve cap ripped and re-knit. again.), sewing the blue/blue sweater (I can't believe that I haven't done that yet!) together and the boatneck top back section.

I have a cousin who had a baby girl a few months ago after many years of trying and miscarriages. I want to knit a sweater for their little girl and I am trying to resist casting on until I have more of my current projects completed. I think I will buy the yarn for it on Thursday at my LYS. Making that indulgence may help ease the craving. On the other hand, it also makes it easier to cave in and cast on .....

Our deck improvements are complete.





The railings have all been replaced, the railing boxes are back in place and it is lovely to sit out there to eat, knit, read or just relax. You can see the railing boxes, which were made by DH, and in the far corner near the swing, you can see the water garden that is also under repair. It was too heavy and was making the deck sink slowly. We removed the front overflow section and put spacers in the other section so that it would hold less water and therefore be lighter. It just needs new trim around the top and I can add the plants and fish.

The next project (not to be started until after the boat painting is complete and the boat is back in the water, I think) is to replace one of the sheds in our yard. We have 2 because one is used for yard tools, etc. and the other for storage of clothes, yarn stash, memorabilia and various other things. I don't want the two together. The storage shed is in bad shape and DH has decided to replace it this year. The big question is what to do with the "stuff" while the new shed is being built. If we had space for it elsewhere, we wouldn't need the shed. I think a few tarps will be tied down over it and I hope they can complete the roofing quickly. LOL.

My house is clean again. During the summer months, I need the impetus of guests coming to make me get to the cleaning. I would much rather be outside, otherwise. even doing outdoor cleaning (weeding and trimming). We'll enjoy this for another week before the cat hair, dust and other stuff starts to accumulate again. I may schedule a dyeing day at my house again this year, and that will trigger another house cleaning effort. Maybe I need to schedule a monthly social event all summer ....

Sunset from the deck

Happy Independence Day

Happy Birthday, America.

Thanks to all who have worked to give us a place to live where we have choices and are free to speak our minds.

Completed!

Clapotis is finished! I cast off and wove in the ends last night and wore it today. giggle.

Pictures maybe tomorrow. Yippee!

Next up for finishing is the boatneck top. I am on the lace knitting at the top of the back section.