moonfrog

Check out my first tomato of the year! It’s almost ripe. The amazing thing is that the plant is alive at all. Our summer has been very cold. We don’t get warm enough here to grow tomatoes, so I picked out an Early Girl just to have fun. The Husband chose a couple heirlooms and is rather petulant that his don’t even have fruit set and I have about a dozen with this little ripe one coming along. I’ll have to let him eat it to make him feel better.

We had a good time at the Kate Wolf Music Festival, even though we cut our trip two days shorter than usual. The music was great. Seeing friends was awesome. It was actually relaxing compared to life at home right now.

As soon as we got back home we collected the keys to our new house and started the work that needs to be done before we can move. The biggest job is putting in a kitchen. The before picture shows the old wall and island that had to be torn out. Then the really hard work of tearing up the old floor, which was particle board, so it had to be removed down to the bones. Lucky for us, the husband is a retired flooring contractor. We will have nice floors!

When we aren’t working on the house itself, we are knee deep in the planning and choosing. A trip to the lumber store with our cabinet maker was lots of fun. Such pretty wood!  We’ve met with many people this week to arrange all the details. Today we ended our day buying our stovetop and ovens. They went on sale right before we got them, whoopee!

Here’s what the kitchen looks like after the tear-out and almost done with the under-floor replacement. The old man worked hard and is snoring in his recliner as I write this.

And what’s going on with my knitting, etc.? Well . . . I added a square to a traveling scarf, and, um . . . yep, that’s it.  Maybe the triangle scarf got a few rows farther along. I still have a baby sweater started — with one month to complete it. Yikes! Is it wrong to say I hope the baby comes late?  I think it is, poor mama.

Tomorrow is our guild’s demonstration at the Farmer’s Market and I’m in charge of getting us all set up. I’m looking forward to a day outdoors weaving on my rigid heddle and inkle looms. I’ll try to remember to take pictures for a change.

Oh, wait!  I forgot that I haven’t posted my hats for the last round of Caps for a Cure. They are all fairly simple, but patterns that I hadn’t tried before.

The purple hat on the left is shown inside out and right side out. It’s reversible! It’s Beret Gaufre by Veronik Avery. I made it more a beanie than a beret. One side looks ribbed and the other looks like seed stitch. I believe it is a broken rib pattern. I used the leftover yarn from my Mondo Cable Vest. It felt virtuous to use up every last bit of the Debbie Bliss cotton.

The red hat with the cabled band is a Ravelry free download called Esme. I used an old favorite — Paton’s Shetland Chunky Tweed – for this one and blocked it into its beret shape.

The last one is the One Ball Really Easy Instant Chemo Cap from HeadHuggers. I used some GGH Esprit that didn’t work when I tried to crochet it, since it is so fluffy and hard to see the stitches. It worked fine knitted. And it is soooo soft! I think it must be like the Chinchilla yarn that the pattern calls for, which is recommended for chemo caps.

So that’s my life right now. Very busy, not much crafting, but enough of everything to make me happy. A special thanks to Carrie for prompting me to post what I’ve been up to lately. It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness and let the blog slide. I’ll be back soon with a report on the Farmer’s Market.

Last Saturday, World Wide Knit in Public Day,  found me at my LYS, sitting on the patio knitting and having fun. On Friday, I worked hard at home to get my chores done so I could spend the whole day knitting without guilt. There was a nice group of knitters there and sunshine replaced our cloudy skies for a change.

I worked on a baby sweater for a while, but mostly on a group project.  There was a fun trivia contest and drawings every hour. And I won a bundle of six knitting magazines. Yeah!  One of them even had the Heather Hoodie Vest that is in my queue, so I was quite happy with that. I hope to make it this year sometime. A bulky knit would be an interesting change.

While waiting for escrow to close on our house –it has been four months! — I have continued knitting to calm my nerves. It’s worked great and the waiting is almost over. We signed papers yesterday!  I can’t think of anything that will hold up the process now *fingers and toes crossed* so we should get the keys to our new place on Monday. Then begins the long process of rebuilding the interior where the kitchen was torn out.

Fortunately, we will be gone for the weekend, working at the Kate Wolf Music Festival. It will make the wait easier. The music line-up looks great this year, even though the the Neville Bros. canceled, Little Feat will take their place. I’m looking forward to seeing Greg Brown who is one of my favorites and hasn’t been there for a couple years. The Waifs are also returning and we loved them a few years back when they were just getting their start.  (Artist bios can be found on the artist lineup link for the festival.)

Here’s the latest result of my overdrive on knitting. This is the Simple Summer Tweed Top Down V-Neck.  I used Plymouth Yarn Kudo color #145 which is a cotton/rayon blend and very soft in spite of its rustic look. It feels good next to the skin. It took just 6 skeins.

I made the sleeves and length slightly shorter than usual since I want this as a summer top. I also did a 1×1 ribbing on the edges instead of doing rolled edges. The yarn is just too bulky for that.

I know I will get a lot of wear out of this top. It fits great. I still don’t know how I’m managing to get such good fit in my recent knits, but it is making me feel good about working on bigger projects.

As soon as this sweater was finished, I picked up the triangle scarf I’ve been avoiding. I knit a bit, ripped a bit, which is the way this scarf has been going all along. Finally, I am on a roll with it — forward progress all the way. I’m hoping it will move on to completion next so I can cast on something new. Well, something new besides a baby sweater. What is it with me and baby knits?  I just never have gotten excited about them.  I’ve heard that they are so quick and satisfying that they are a favored project with some people. Maybe that will happen later, but right now I’m tending to avoid it by knitting a stalled WIP.  No matter. I’m making progress.

In fact, I’m in a bit of a frenzy to keep this knitting streak going.  Soon, very soon, the fiber play will be set aside for other important tasks.  Not only will we be fixing up our new house and sorting and moving all our junk (I’m determined it won’t be all our junk) but we will be helping Mom move once again.  She moved to her “new” house a year ago, but is moving yet again in a few weeks. She will be happier not living in the house where Dad passed on, and she has found a lovely house across town.  I foresee a huge lull in my knitting!  In the meantime, I’ll get back to my scarf and baby sweater — and a nice trip out of town for the weekend!

My knitting schedule has been fairly well planned lately. I have goals and challenges to meet! Yes, I slip in an occasional hat or small project, but my main works are carefully considered. So, what a surprise for me when I received some yarn and knit it up before it even reached my stash.

Here’s how it all started: Over Memorial Day weekend The Dizzy Sheep had a spin-off, where a yarn bargain is put up hourly, or when something sells out. This is a special version of their daily deal. As a fun part of the spin-off, there’s a grab bag called a Bag of Knit. These sell out in a matter of a couple of minutes, so I was pleased when the opportunity to purchase one came up late at night and I snagged not one, but three of them. It was also my birthday weekend, so I was quite in the mood to treat myself. Happy birthday to me!!

Well, mine were full of goodies when they arrived. One had a single ball of Gedifra Byzanz that went straight to the stash, another one had a gorgeous Lantern Moon project bag, plus a ball of Milli Colori that I’ve been wanting to try.  The last one had five balls of Lana Grossa Cento bulky yarn.

I was so excited to receive a quantity that would make a substantial project that I hit the pattern archives immediately. I wanted something that I could donate to a fundraiser — so one size fits all. I found just the right shawl pattern, with enough yarn to make a shortened version. The package arrived Saturday afternoon and I cast on  La La’s Simple Shawl that evening. By Sunday night the yarn ran out and Monday morning found it on the blocking board. It’s lovely soft and cozy!

Several things made this knit happen. First off was the fun of the spin-off and receiving surprises in the mail. Second was maybe just a bit of middle-of-a-big-project boredom, brought on by inch upon inch of stockinette in the round. Third was probably a bit of nervousness about being in never-ending escrow on our house, so I really must keep my hands and mind busy. (“Our” house?  Almost!  Hope has turned to expectation in spite of all the waiting.)

And contrary to my fear of leaving one knit like a lover scorned — never to return to it –  I did indeed go right back to working on my Kudo V-neck pullover. It now has an entire body and the sleeves are on the way. A little neckline ribbing and it will be done.

I’m getting lots of practice at new things, especially at sticking to larger projects! I know that we all go through phases when we are not real enthused about our knitting or other crafts, and then there are the all-out, totally committed times that come along. I’m riding this wave to the end!  Happy knitting, indeed.

Last weekend found me, once again, in class. This time it was an Inkle Weaving class. In April at CNCH, many of my fellow guild members were weaving bands on their very portable inkle looms. My hotel roomie, Connie,  even bought a new full-size inkle loom while we were there. You can see it here next to her Ashford Inklette.

So, when Connie was scheduled to teach Inkle Weaving at NorthCoast Knittery, I signed up to learn. The price of the class included an Inklette loom, and earlier I had bought a wider model off eBay so I could make scarves and other projects on it.  For the class, I used the smaller loom and made a cute band. It was a super fun class, and easy, too. I was really surprised to finish my band during the class.

I really want to use my new little band, and I wanted to try warping my bigger Inkle Loom, which Connie had figured out for me during our class. So, here’s a pic of my little band and my big band, which will be sewn together for a bag for my shuttles.

I was going to make the warp wider and didn’t, so the pattern is offset, but it will work for the intended purpose. I’m really enjoying seeing the pattern emerge, which is the same on both bands. I had some plain cotton  for the big band and the small band is done in mercerized cotton, so it has a sheen the the bigger one doesn’t. It’s amazing how well they match, though. I was really pleased with that.

In spite of this detour, I’m making good progress on my raglan sweater. It’s at the waist decreases right now. I’ve tried it on twice to make sure the fit is right, and I’ve found a great way to make the trials quick and easy.

When I reach the try-on point, I switch to knitting off to one of my old Denise needles with an extra-long cord created by using the extensions. This could be done with either Knitpicks or Addi Clicks needles by using an extension to add more cable length. The plus with using the Denise cables is that the cords are thicker but pliable, and there are caps to put on the ends so that no stitches fall off. My knitting seems very secure.  I’ve even put the raglan sleeves on Denise cords to hold them and will just pop on the needles when it is time to knit them. The wide variety of cord sizes in the Denise set make custom cord lengths possible.

All this makes me feel better that I don’t use the Denise needles much anymore. They still have a purpose. It’s also way easier than putting all those stitches on waste yarn or holders and then having to move them back to needles.

Although I’m happy with this sweater and enjoying the process, the color pattern is so far outside my usual that it is hard for me to adjust to it. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I’m not quite sure.  I remember that my beige Hey, Teach! sweater was borderline for me, too, but ended up being just fine.  I’m hoping this one will be like that.

I’ve always known that knitting relaxes me; this weekend reaffirmed that for me. For the past three months, we have been trying to buy a house. I’ve tried to keep it in the maybe category so I won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen, but for three weeks we’ve been told not to leave town, we’ll be signing the papers any day.

Last Wednesday a major glitch came up and it didn’t look good. I went straight to my chair and started knitting. Another phone call on Thursday sent me to my chair to knit. For some reason, I saw myself very clearly, as if standing outside my body.  I picked up my knitting and the tension melted away. It made me smile to see this effect knitting has on my frayed nerves. It happened again Friday, then I settled down and let it go. (We still are waiting for the glitch to be resolved.)

I’m glad my knitting calms me, even when my project isn’t working out as well as I’d like. The knitting I was working on was a rip and re-knit. I had finished the entire back of the Scoop Neck Cardigan and realized that the pattern will not work without rewriting which is beyond me right now. The sizing does not go large enough for me, so I was adding extra rows. It was not going to work with the side-to-side construction.

So I chose another design, this time a simple v-neck raglan. This means the stripes will go horizontally, but I’m all right with that. I’m ripping out the previously knit back and knitting directly to the new raglan shoulders. There’s only an inch of back left to undo now. I’m happy with how this new incarnation is moving right along and like how it looks.

Today I am setting aside my knitting to clean my house. An unfortunate side effect of the renewed knitting enthusiasm is that other things are being sorely neglected.

Another thing that holds my interest these days is my porch garden. All my plants are growing great, in spite of our cool, wet weather.

I have Mexican Sage Bush, Johnny Jump Ups, dahlias and lots of over-crowded snapdragons that aren’t blooming yet. A friend gave me poppies, herbs, and foxgloves. My rosemary plant is bushy and smells great. I’m even growing tomatoes just for fun — our climate is not good for tomatoes. I love having my plants all on the porch, and the other yardwork has been diverted into the neglected category with the housecleaning.

Some of this diversion is the waiting . . .  waiting to put plants in the ground at the new house, waiting to clean house until the packing commences. So many things seem to be on hold, although in reality, they shouldn’t be.  My knitting helps with the waiting, though, so that is what I turn to lately. And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s been a busy, rainy day here. And we are all tuckered out.  Cali is 8 months old now and starting to mellow, but today she was just a great big puppy.

She has a boyfriend a couple houses down and goes crazy at the chance to play with him. He’s a 3-year-old chocolate lab named Ryan. They race around the front yard and wrestle whenever they get the chance. Today, they were playing in the rain while Ryan’s mom and I chatted.

As they ran around Cali splashed through a mud puddle in our driveway. She decided that was the best fun of all and lured Ryan into the puddle. Not satisfied with just splashing, she lay down and rolled in the puddle — over and over again — as she continued to play with Ryan. She was covered in mud. It was a hoot!

Next came a bath. Usually this is accomplished at the do-it-yourself doggy bath place, but it was too late for that. So we took off the shower doors and shoved her into the tub. It took her dad and I both to keep her in and give her a good wash. Whew!  Now she’s a clean and tired pup. I put her SpongeBob blanky over her and she fell fast asleep. Doesn’t she look sweet?

And while she sleeps, I’m knitting a new project. This is the beginning of the back of the Scoop Neck Cardigan which was designed for Noro Silk Garden yarn. I’m using Plymouth Kudo in a brown/gray/tan/black. The gray turns bluish and the brown has a reddish portion.

This cardigan is knit side-to-side so the stripes run vertically. I already added a couple inches to the pattern length. I’m anxious about the fit, but that will be clear with time. To prevent rowing-out (uneven tension) I am purling English style (throwing) and knitting Continental style (picking.)  I think I will start a practice project to  work on tension soon.

I’ve regained my enthusiasm for knitting and there are so many projects I’d like to cast on immediately. I’m holding it to three active projects at any time, though, and it feels good and manageable that way. I really just knit on a single pattern at one time, but like to have one for travel and one to switch off with in case I get tired of the current one.

It’s really hard to decide which project to begin next, every time it is a struggle.  I consider the season, the yarn at hand, and the degree of difficulty compared to my mood and available time. Sometimes I want to knit something for a special occasion for someone else, but I have to confess I’ve become a pretty selfish knitter. Besides my hats for chemo patients and some small knits, most of what I make now is all mine.

My current project is a cotton/rayon/silk yarn for summer, which I recently bought, but not for this specific pattern. The pattern is not really  difficult, but the shaping and sleeves are things I need to practice, as well as the button bands and edge finishes.  I was really fortunate to find the pattern book for sale cheap and it arrived just in time to cast on. The design has been in my queue for two years.

How do you make decisions about what to make next?  Or is it just whatever strikes your fancy in the moment?

My first sweater of the IntSweMoDo2010 challenge is done! It took just over two months, which seems pretty quick compared to my usual pace. Of course, it is just a vest, but it is a big vest — with a big cable.

Mondo Cable Vest
Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton
Circular needles US 7 and 6

The good:  I really enjoyed this pattern. Years ago, I bought the precursor of this pattern and didn’t get around to making it. When I realized that the new version was top-down, in-the-round, and had bigger sizes,  I gave in and bought the new pattern. It was well worth it. The sleeve borders and the neckline are knit with the vest, not added on later. The back neckline is joined to the back while knitting the border pattern. Pretty cool! The cable is fun, and breaks up the stockinette just a bit. And it fits perfectly!

The bad:  The Debbie Bliss cotton yarn. It has a lovely soft hand, which leads to it looking a bit worn just from knitting, but the major bad is the preponderance of knots. Every single skein had a few knots. Every skein had a knot within the first four yards! There are so many joins in this vest that I’m not sure how long it will hold up.

It was so bad that I got this finished the first time — sitting on the blocking board, pinning it down — when I noticed a problem. A bunchy place. I tried to straighten it out.  Then it was a hole. I think it must have been a knot that I missed. I had to rip out four inches! That’s a lot of knitting for me. I decided to rip back six inches to fix what looked like a couple extra rows between the cable crosses. I’m glad I fixed everything, but it was a struggle to convince myself to do it.

As far as the knotty yarn — I knew it had this reputation, but got it on clearance, so I went into it willingly.  I’m still very pleased with the knitting practice and the finished vest. Even if it wears out quickly, it is something I would wear around the house until it turned into a rag. It really is that soft and comfy.  So I’m calling this a success!

Sweaters are still a big project for me. They are mondo knitting, even when that is not part of their name, especially now that I have gained enough weight to have to knit a larger size. I go back and forth about whether to knit sweaters at all or to stick to my usual hats and smaller projects. This year, I’ve decided that I really need to move on and learn new things in my knitting. And if I’m lucky enough to lose some weight in spite of trying? Then the sweaters I make this year will go into the category of much-needed practice and entertainment.

Now — What to do next?!  Besides my travel project — the never-ending Baktus scarf — I only have the never-ending Nordic Sock Sweater on the needles.  I have to admit that this has lead to a lot of pattern ogling on Ravelry and a substantial increase in the length of my queue.  I even got to the point of choosing a possibility and making a swatch, but that is on hold until I procure the pattern which is out-of-print.

Then last night I surprised myself — I picked up the Nordic Sock Sweater and started working on it and enjoying it. I finished the increases for the sleeves and have a whole two centimeters of straight garter stitch until the decreases for the neckline begin. The closeness of the end is spurring me on now. If I can just keep picking it up and finishing a couple rows here and there, it will actually get finished this year! I’m trying to keep copious (and redundant) notes on where I am in patterns nowadays and it is helping me pick things up without so much trepidation. I’m excited about how much I’m learning, too. Now I just have to set the sweaters aside for a few days and make a couple hats, and a baby something-or-other.

Any ideas on the baby knitting front? It has to be done before July. And it has to be cute easy or I’ll lose interest. Not much to ask, eh?

My latest project is on a roll. Everything else is secondary, so I’m taking a short pause tonight and then it’s back to it.
I hope all you mothers out there had a lovely Mother’s Day. Mine was very sweet. First, I started the day knitting. Then my grandson called from Kansas. Hearing his voice lifts my spirits incredibly. More knitting. Then we drove an hour away for our traditional dinner with my mom, my two sons, my husband’s daughter and her son. It was once again a good time together. Back home and more knitting.
What is it that is keeping my attention so forcefully? Nothing spectacular, but I feel like I’m actually making progress on this one. It’s the Mondo Cable Shell that has been in my queue for a long time. I’m on the last cable crossing (an extra one to add length) and then a bit of finishing and it is ready to wear. Well, that’s the theory anyway.

Before I rush back to my knitting, I want to show you a small weaving project.   It started last year. My friend Connie gave me some really lovely dishcloths that she made based on the WeaveZine pattern called Spa Wash Cloth. She varied the weaving techniques and included some loop pile in the pattern. They are beautiful and useful and I use them all the time.
When it was time for me to participate in our guild demonstration at the local coop grocery store, I noticed some Aruacania Chacaburo cotton that had been a prize from a local yarn store. Slubby cotton might be just the thing for some easy washcloths — I didn’t want to  try something as difficult as the spa cloths just yet.  I warped my rigid heddle with some turquoise worsted-weight kitchen cotton, then used the Chacaburo for the weft. I wove a sample and then two cloths in plain weave and hemmed them by hand.

I varied the picks per inch for each cloth, resulting in more warp showing on one. Next time, I will try a green warp. I was a little worried about how the slubby cotton would wear, but it is doing fine with regular use and it is very soft, so I use my sample as a face cloth. I will do more of these since I have another skein of the Chacaburo left.

Well, it’s time to get back to my knitting.  I should have a new vest to show you very soon!

There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar.

Yarn . . . such a plain, utilitarian word, and the thing itself is so varied and wonderous. It has provided me an adventure of discovery all its own through the years.

First came the yarns of the 60s. Yarns that served a purpose, that worked hard, were easy to care for and came in a rainbow of solid colors and a few ombres and variegations. I made lots of toys and household goodies with that yarn — so many that my mom and I started selling knit, crochet and sewn treasures at the holiday bazaars. I even crocheted a beautiful wool ski sweater for my brother, which he loved. And one of my favorites was a toilet roll cover — an old man in a derby hat taking a bath in a barrel.

Then I discovered fiber in the 70s — raw wool and alpaca — and started making my own yarn. That was short-lived, with 2 children I felt like spinning was too much of a luxury for my time, so my beloved spinning wheel went to a new home.

The next change came when my wrists gave out and I switched from crochet to knitting. This changed the way I look at yarn. Knitting gives a whole different look and feel to the finished projects, so I began to make new things. It even seemed to go in phases. There was the dishcloth phase — great for learning new techniques and stitches. And yarn gave way to tulle netting for the scrubbers my mom loves.

Next came the hat phase, which is really on-going as I make hats for chemo patients for my Caps for a Cure group. The Shedir hat took me to the heights of challenges with all its crossing cables. The yarn — Rowan’s Calmer — is still one of my favorites.

Then it was on to making anything that caught my fancy: socks, sweaters, simple shawls, mittens.  And the yarn collection grew. Just when I thought my closet could hold no more, I returned to spinning, this time really learning (and continuing to learn!) the right way to spin, rather than just teaching myself like I did in the 70s.

Now fiber spills out of the closet along with the yarn. And sometimes the fiber becomes new yarn. Today I’m plying some orange Romney wool that is destined to be another hat for the hat-loving husband.(I still need practice with the plying.) The yarn on top of the wheel is the biggest usable batch of yarn I’ve spun so far, giving me almost 700 yards of DK weight Cotswold/Merino/Alpaca goodness. I’m still searching for just the right pattern for this lot.

I could go on and on about yarn, but it’s time to bring this to a close. I’ve really enjoyed this week of blogging and hope it gives me the kick in the pants I’ve needed to get back to a once weekly schedule. As the old saying goes, I still have yarns to spin.

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits.
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Revisit a past F/O
Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

One of my knitting projects has come back to haunt me. It’s actually rather funny, but makes me cringe just a little, too.

Two years ago my son loaned me a copy of the Firefly TV series and the Serenity movie.
I really enjoyed them and thought it would be fun and appropriate to knit a Jayne hat after seeing the movie, so I made my Shiny Hat. Actually, I made two. One for a young friend who is a fan of Firefly and was undergoing radiation treatment, so she needed a hat. The first one came out too big, so I made a smaller one for her.

As soon as the bigger hat came off the needles, the dear husband declared it was his. He loves orange and he loves his Shiny Hat. How could I say no to such an eager recipient of my knitting?

Now, I don’t mind that he wears it around the yard, like he did today, but when he takes it on the road — and he will wear that hat anywhere! — it can be a bit embarrassing. I mean, in the movie the hat is the symbol of all the funky, weird things that a mother makes and that a good son wears because he loves his mum. Our friends shake their heads when he shows up in this hat, but we all can’t help but chuckle. The hat really shows his inner child, well, his child is not so much inner as perpetual.  And today he reminded me of his youthful spirit as he worked around the yard with that pom pom bouncing around on his head.

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits.
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