Knitting

I hate Blogger! It's free, so do I have the right to complain that it just ate my carefully written post that included all sorts of good info and links? D**m blogger.

On to interesting things:

We were sitting, knitting and chatting away at our LYS last Thursday night when Angela came in. She was all excited about a pattern she was going to knit - the Saroyan scarf. She said that her mother had knitted it, it was a fast knit and it looks much better in person than in any photos she had seen. I had that pattern in my queue already, so it didn't take much of a push for me to decide to knit it. Several others in the group decided to knit that pattern too, so we have an informal KAL going.   Below you see the beginnings of my scarf, though I just finished ripping it out. I started again with a smaller needle. I thought the version below was a little too open. I am not sure if I will keep it or gift it, but it will feel great against the neck. The yarn is Mirasol Nuna and it glows.


This heartbreaking scene is one of my Thelonius socks. Both have holes in the toes. This is my absolute favorite pair of socks, and I really am upset. I will find the yarn and try to mend them, but plan to knit another pair once this self imposed year of "knitting man socks" is over. I'll choose yarn with nylon in it - the yarn below is just merino and obviously not strong enough for the use of my socks.









What you see here is the first of Sharon's socks. I am knitting the Calendula socks with Marks and Katten Fame Trend. I am concerned about the durability of this yarn, too, and it does not frog well. I love the pattern, though, and plan to make a pair for myself next year. I added ribbing to Sharon's socks to make them fit easier, leaving a 10 stitch stockinette panel on each side of the cable with the ribbing going the rest of the way around and I'll do that for mine, also.




Last year, before Christmas, I started knitting the Keelin Cap for my mother. When she visited for the holiday she tried it on and it was, as I suspected, way too big. I ripped back and was going to eliminate a pattern repeat to make it smaller. I emailed the designer to verify that I had gotten the stitch count correct, but she advised me not to do that - it would make things look out of proportion.



I decided to try using smaller needles and went down 2 sizes. I think it's working. This second photo is closer to the real color, and Mom likes it a lot, so I am glad that the needle sizing is doing the trick. The pattern is easy to follow and a fun knit. I have 3 of 4 pattern repeats (before decreasing begins) completed, so I think I can have the hat completed by the weekend.




This is my gauge swatch for my new sweater. I really like the Leaf and Picot cardigan on the cover of Interweave Knits. I resisted buying new yarn for the Saroyan scarf by choosing this yarn for the sweater.
This is Silky Wool, and I bought 8 skeins in a denim-y blue color. I swatched in the leftover yarn (teal) from my Slinky Ribs sweater (no, it does not yet have buttons on it. I had them in hand at the store but got side tracked). I like the swatch on the right more. That was knit on size 5 needles, the one on the left on size 6. I will swatch with 4s just to be sure, but I think I'll go with the 5s.
These are washed swatches.














My hand spun wrap is finished! I had these bits and pieces, didn't want to waste them, didn't quite know what to do with them. I don't care for the patchwork look. I settled on a stitch pattern that, I think, allows each different yarn, the color, the weight, the texture,  to shine.
The pattern is a variation of feather and fan with a cable thrown in every 8 rows. I love cables. ; )











This is the blocked photo. I just stretched it out on the deck - no pins or wires - and let the sun dry it. I am going to enjoy snuggling into this on those cool summer evenings.

Snow in the Spring

Spring is here!

It’s crazy and wonderful and I love it! On Monday morning, I was up in New York, on Long Island, visiting with my mother. We were actually supposed to have been home already (I should have been at work) but we had car issues and could not get home until Monday evening. Grrrr. Ruined most of the weekend, blast it.

Anyway, we had heard on the weather report the night before that there might be some snow in the mix in the AM. My brother assured us that only north and west of the city would see any snow. Boy was he wrong! Not that there was any accumulation, but there were huge flakes falling for about 30 minutes. Very pretty and it didn’t cause any problems, so we could relax and enjoy. By the time we arrived home on Monday evening, we had shed layers and had no need for jackets – that was much better. ;))

We went to Long Island so I could spend time with Mom and Bob could go cod fishing. He’s been planning this trip since our last trip to NY when the winds were too high for him to go. He was packed and prepped, we got to NY on Friday, visited with Mom and had a nice dinner, then drove out to Montauk (where the boat is docked) before 1 PM when it was due in from the previous nights’ trip. No boat. We looked around, came back, still no boat. We asked, they said the boat would be in around 2, ate lunch and came back, still no boat. Finally, around 3 PM it arrived. Bob got to reserve his place on the boat with a fishing rod and off we went to check in to the motel we were staying at.

We hung out and enjoyed the sun for a while. Then Bob settled in for a nap and Mom and I went to eat. The battery warning light had come on the dash during the day, but the gauges seemed to be OK, so off we went. After dinner, though, the battery gauge went down fast as I drove. We went straight back to the hotel. Bob was still sleeping. I was supposed to get him up about 10:30 to get ready to leave for the boat, which left the dock at 1 AM. He couldn’t go. We agonized over it, but not knowing how or when we would get back home, knowing that the next day was Sunday and nothing was open, and lots of other details made him decide he had to skip the PREPAID trip.

We slept, got up in the morning and did more agonizing. The guess was that the alternator was shot. How far could we get on what battery power remained? What damage might we do if we pushed it too far? What other choices did we have?

We left Montauk and drove to the Kmart in Bridgehampton - a very stressful 22 miles. We made it. Just. The car died as I put it in park in the parking lot. Bob bought 2 car batteries and we drove back to Mom’s house. From there we made phone calls, agonized more about whether Bob should try (remember, he’s legally blind) to install the alternator himself or have someone do it. We had it replaced by the repair shop because if he had tried and been unsuccessful, we would have had to tow the vehicle to the repair place. They fixed it but not until Monday, so I missed work and a meeting that I am expected to attend. We got home so late that we missed joining younger son and his partner for a birthday celebration, too. I’d like to set that blasted vehicle on fire or blow it up!!!

On a more cheerful note, I have been knitting on my handspun wrap and really enjoying choosing colors and knitting with yarn I spun myself. I’ll try to get pictures this weekend. I have also been knitting on the Eliina shawl and the two socks I have on the needles. I didn’t get spinning done this weekend – that was part of some ruined plans, too. I had planned to spin while on the beach, soaking in the sun ……

I have been researching what to do with my fleece when it arrives. I plan to order some Unicorn Power Scour and rinse. I’ll do a cold soak outside, let it dry and pull it apart to shed as much VM as possible. I’ll also evaluate it to see how much hot water washing it will take. The hot water washing will take place in the kitchen sink, near the stove where I can supplement the hot tap water as needed. I am hoping that one wash and two rinses will do the trick. According to my reading, this is not supposed to be a greasy fleece. I’ll do one small batch first to test my system, then try to do the rest in just two batches. I’m not sure if I will buy tulle to dry it in outside or use cheesecloth (to keep it from blowing away or being stollen by critters but still let air flow through). We have a nice big deck and clothes line to use for drying purposes. Then I have to figure out how to spin it. Brush with dog brushes? Use as is? I don’t own tools for fiber prepping, so I have to improvise or make do. What an adventure! I can’t believe some people go to fiber festivals and come home with 5 or more fleeces at once!

That’s all for now. I hope you are all enjoying spring and savoring your health and homes, especially after the devastation in Japan.