Thursday, May 29, 2003

The knitting gods were smiling on me today! 

It was making me nervous (I mentioned it yesterday) that Patternworks didn't list the Herb-colored Galway on its website, so I was being the pessimist and assuming that the color was discontinued and that I wouldn't be able to find it.  I was bumming.

Flash forward to this afternoon, when I was weaving in the ends on the cotton version of my pillow cover and also on a sweater I added bands to for a customer.  Since I was being such a good end-weaving girl, I opened the magic basket next to my knitting chair to see what Miscellany I could finish up in a hurry (I have a pile of hats, mittens, scarves, etc. that just need little finishing touches to be considered complete).  I also keep class samples in the magic basket.  Lo and behold, there were three little knitted pieces that I use to demonstrate seaming, knit out of leftover Plymouth Galway in the color Herb.  I stared at the little pieces for about half a minute -- it took me that long to realize the value of what I had found. 

Can you guess the happy end to this little story?  Between the two tiny leftover balls of Herb I had and these three little knitted pieces, I had enough to complete the Herb stripe on my wool pillow cover, with a few yards to spare!  I'm now well into the darker green (and final) stripe, which should be finished tonight or tomorrow.

Phew!

More progress:  I finished the "sheer skirt" for the back (or front) of Sally's Favorite Summer Sweater, and pressed it.  I'm starting the "opaque" upper part, and trying to figure out how to juggle the two colors I'm going to use.  To recap, I knew I wasn't going to have enough of my stash yarn to complete the sweater, so I bought four balls of the same yarn in a related color in order to make it work.  I was going to alternate colors every garter ridge, but there are short rows at the top so that idea won't work.  I'll try splitting the remaining area into quarters and alternate colors after every quarter.  We'll see how that works.  I'm thinking the big wide stripes will look more purposeful than tiny stripes.  Trying to avoid that "oops, I didn't have enough yarn so I had to buy something that wasn't exactly the right color" look.

In other "I'm a knitting failure" news, I stopped after knitting a ball's worth of alpaca for the Cardigan with Crocheted Ridges, because I didn't like the way the stockinette stitch was looking -- very uneven, which is not the way I normally knit (I'm a trained professional, after all!).  I'm already on a 3.0 mm needle, and didn't really want to go down any farther (further?).  So this afternoon I knit up a swatch and washed it.  It's on my blocking board, along with my swatch for the Short Ribs sweater.  If it blocks out nicely, I'll keep going on the sweater.  If not, I'll swatch with the next smaller needle (if I can figure out which stalled project it's in). 

That's about it.  Lots of busy work, and nothing much to show for it.

Sarah

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

I was kidnapped today by my friend Karin, and taken to The Yarn Garden in Charlotte, where I refrained from buying ANYTHING (although I bought a sweater's worth of yarn there last Friday).  I was looking for the Plymouth Galway that I'm out of for the pillow cover -- anybody have about 20 grams of color 121 (The Patternworks catalog calls it "Herb", but it's not on their website)?  It's the lighter of the two greens in my photographs.

On the way out of Charlotte, we debated running over to In Sheep's Clothing in Marshall, but that was entirely the wrong direction and I was trying to beat the school buses.  We did, however, stop by McDonald's for McFlurries, and then, full of ice cream, were able to justify heading due south to Eaton Rapids, where we marveled that Old Mill Yarn still has the exact same yarn it had on the shelves about ten years ago.  I mean the EXACT same yarn.  The same skeins and cones that we pick up and put down every time we visit.  Kind of creepy, but kind of comforting, too.  I found the perfect buttons for my Galway pillow cover (I need fourteen per pillow, due to my forethought-lacking design decision.  The buttons had probably been there at Old Mill Yarn forever, too, but I never noticed them or needed them until now.  I bought five three-button cards for 60 cents each, for a grand total of $3.00.  The best I'd found prior to that were going to total over $15.00.  I also found the Spin-Off with the garter stitch gloves that someone was raving about on their blog a month or so ago.  Not a bad haul for an unscheduled side trip. 

Here are the buttons being modeled (falsely -- they're not sewn on yet) by the Herb-less pillow cover (actually, that's Herb in the second stripe down, but his partner on the other side of the center purple stripe is missing):

And a close-up (in different lighting, apparently):

Aren't they perfect?

During the impromptu road trip, when I wasn't in an ice cream stupor, I managed to get enough of the cotton version done so that I could quickly finish it when I got home.  Here it is:

It still needs the perfect buttons (fourteen!), as well as having the ends woven in.  I'll photograph both pillow covers with some innards once they're done.

I didn't get any computer work done today, but it was a beautiful, sunny day (finally!), and perfect for a road trip.  Thanks, Karin!

Sarah

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Just back from the Tuesday night knit-in.  Good food and good company, although no sign of Krista, since I didn't get her e-mail in time to send directions (sorry Krista!).  Incidentally, I think Krista has the most beautiful blog button I've ever seen.  Just stunning.  It's over there on the right left, called "...for the record".

And no Daphne, either, so I couldn't tell her that I don't know why her button disappeared off of my blog.  It's there before I publish, but not after.  I'll keep working on it (I looked at all the tags, Tracy, and I believe they're all closed).  Sigh. 

Here's what I got a good chunk done on tonight (that can't be good grammar, but I can't figure out how to fix it):

It's the cotton version of the Beginning Knitting pillow cover, nearing completion.  I need a little garter ridge, the stockinette stitch stripe, and then the big garter stitch edge with the buttonholes.  Should be able to finish tomorrow, if I don't get distracted with my gazillion other projects.  And I really should do some work on the computer.  I haven't updated my website since March, which is really, really bad.

Hopefully I'll have a lot more to report tomorrow night.

Sarah

Sunday, May 25, 2003

Wow.  I got suckered into watching The Bachelor today, mostly because Son Number One was watching it and I didn't want him to think that was the way the world really works.  I hope I can relate this without saying anything incredibly stupid, but I told him, among other things, that every (I'm generalizing here) woman's/girl's dream is to find a handsome, rich, someone who will treat her like she's the most precious thing on earth, but even if you're not handsome or rich you can still treat her like that, and she'll be happy and feel very special.  My son asked me if I feel special.  That took me by surprise.  I told him that yes, I do sometimes, but that in real life no one feels special all of the time.  Now I'm worried that I either messed him up or pissed my husband (webhamster) off.  Wow.

Did I mention that I'm making TWO samples (pillow covers) for my revised Beginning Knitting class?  One out of cotton for Woven Art in East Lansing, and one out of wool (Plymouth Galway) for The Yarn Garden in Charlotte.  I had run out of one of the colors of yarn for the cotton version (which I picked up on Thursday), so I've been working on the wool version, but I ran out of yarn (again!).  Here's what it looks like so far:

It's done in the same colors as the sample for the original version of the class, but in stripes instead of squares, so there's no seaming involved.  The purple stripe is the halfway point, so I've just got the light and dark olive green stripes left to complete.  I thought it would be very clever to have seven buttonholes on each end, but that means I have to have fourteen buttons, which may get rather pricey.  I'll look into making my own buttons out of leftover yarn, I guess.  But first, I have to find more yarn.  In the meantime, I can get back to work on the cotton one -- for which I'll also need fourteen buttons.  Geez!

I kind of glossed over the yarn I bought at The Yarn Garden on Friday.  It's Plymouth Stone Cotton, 52% cotton and 48% acrylic.  I want to use it for my Short Ribs sweater.  Here's my swatch:

It looks blue here, but it's actually an icy lavender (goes well with graying hair).  I'm concerned about two things.  First, that it will become shorter and wider when washed (since it's cotton), so I'm going to wash this swatch and see what happens before I start the sweater.  Hopefully the 48% acrylic will help it hold its shape.  Second, I'm concerned about the loose knit stitches on the left side of each three-stitch knit column.  I'm hoping that won't be a factor when I knit the actual sweater, which will be done in the round instead of back and forth.  Yeah, I'm swatching back and forth for a sweater that will be knit in the round.  Not what I would normally recommend, but good enough for what I'm trying to do (if you're a student of mine, please disregard these last few sentences!).

I had been thinking I was starting to make some good progress on my project list and my stash, and then I had a couple of shopping accidents this past week, started umpteen new projects, and all that progress has gone to heck in a knitting basket.  Stress!  I'll go make some tea.  Maybe The Bachelor will show up at my door with a glass of champagne.  But then again, maybe not.

Sarah

Saturday, May 24, 2003

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, both in my comments and via e-mail.  What a treat! 

Influenced by the cute photos at Wendy's site, I made my sweet Mica a little mousie today, out of Plymouth Galway in a vibrant purple.  I seem to be in a purple mood lately (I bought myself yet another batch of purple yarn yesterday -- Plymouth Stone Cotton).  Here's an action shot:

And here's an "after" shot:

showing my little sweety gorked out of her mind.  Nice shot of her polka dots, too.

My soul-searching question for today is:  Why did I know how to make a braid for the mousie's tail?  I probably haven't braided anything in over thirty twenty ten years (umm, thirty was closer to the truth, but that makes me sound older than my "24" years).  It must be one of those things that you never forget.  Like kitchener stitch (just kidding!).

Sarah

Thursday, May 22, 2003

I had the whole day off today, amazingly enough.  To celebrate, I went shopping! 

First I headed off to Howell (about a half hour east) and hit the outlet mall.  Stocked up on towels, then cleaned out the Eddie Bauer outlet.  Finished that leg of the journey with some yarn shopping at Stitch in Time, where I bought some natural colored alpaca for my Cardigan with Crochet Ridges (which moved into the "what I'm currently working on" column soon after), and I splurged on this:

It's a cotton and rayon ribbon from Blue Heron Yarns.  The color is called Winter Sky, and I just love it.  There are 400 yards in a hank, and I bought two, so I should have enough to do SOMETHING with.  Impulse shopping rocks!

Then I headed back toward home, zoomed right past my neighborhood, and went to the mall in Okemos for a little present for myself (apparently the yarn, the towels and the wardrobe didn't count).  I went to seven (count 'em) jewelry stores before I found what I was looking for -- a cool ring to wear on my thumb.  It's three gold rings that are intertwined.  They keep rearranging themselves, and look sort of discombobulated (is that a word?), which is perfect for me, because that's how I feel most of the time -- discombobulated and constantly rearranging.

Oh my gosh -- I looked up discombobulated in the dictionary, and it's in there!  It says it means "upset" and "confused".  That's not exactly what I thought it meant, but it will do.  Confused, yes.  Upset, as in out of balance, yes.

I ended my shopping adventure with a quick trip to Woven Art in East Lansing to pick up another hank of the organic cotton for the sample for my Beginning Knitting class.  Nancy, the owner, wasn't there, so I didn't stay, which is just as well, because I got home just before Son Number One got off the school bus and then I had to do the mom thing for the rest of the day.   

I'm teaching a double shift (four hours total) at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte tomorrow, and then I'll crash until my webhamster gets home from work, after which we're going out on a rare date.  Hooray!

Sarah

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Okay, for posterity, I'm posting here the changes I made to Mary Tudor.  I put them in yesterday's comments, but my comments go away when I archive my entries (on purpose, to avoid error messages).

In the directions for the Left Front Band, on "Row 1" and "Row 2", you are told to use the color Oasis, but I believe that the color should be Damson.  Oasis didn't work there, pattern-wise.  And if you look at "Row 1" and "Row 2" on the Right Front Band, Damson is used in that area.    

In the directions for the Right Front Band, the "Next Row" tells you to knit to end of row with Oasis, but I think it should tell you to knit the last stitch together with the next edge stitch (which is consistent with how the "Next Row" on the Left Front Band was worked).

These are minor changes, but the directions didn't quite make sense as written.

No photos today, since I went a little overboard in yesterday's post.

Tonight was our guild's end-of-season dinner and yarn sale.  The dinner was catered by the Olive Garden, and was scrumptious.  I managed to inhale two of the four different desserts provided, and took a third one home to my webmaster/photographer/husband.  The yarn sale results were interesting.  I sold $104 worth of yarn, and bought $20 worth.  I sold 14 balls of yarn, and bought 15.  So I enhanced both my stash and my wallet.  That's good, right?  RIGHT?

Ooh, I transposed the "m" and "a" in "webmaster" in the preceding paragraph, and it came out looking sort of like "webhamster"!  I like that!

Sarah

Monday, May 19, 2003

Here's what greeted me in Pittsburgh:

Lilies of the valley -- the Official Flower for the Month of May (can you guess how I know that?).  These have been growing in my mom's garden since I was a little girl.  I should have brought some back home with me, but I didn't think of it until just now.  Darn!

Here's something I made a really long time ago in Pittsburgh.  It's still hanging in my parents' kitchen.

Here's something I started this weekend in Pittsburgh:

It's the beginning of the sample for my new and improved Beginning Knitting class -- my previous version was proving to be too complicated -- way too many seams.  This pillow cover is done almost entirely in the round, and will still cover all of the same topics as the original class except for seaming and picking up stitches, both of which are already covered in Beginning Finishing.  This sample uses 100% organic cotton from Woven Art in East Lansing.  The garter ridges are done in sage plied with natural, and the wider stitch patterns are done in two-ply sage.  It's turning out beautifully, but my hands ache.  I haven't worked with cotton in a while, and I worked on this nonstop while visiting my mom each day.  I'm about halfway done.    

Here's something I finished this weekend in Pittsburgh:

All right -- it's not really finished.  The knitting is, though.  In the evenings, when I could concentrate, I knit the front bands.  See the bottom corner?  It's mitered in a kind of goofy way.  I really think there were errors in Alice Starmore's directions for that section.  I couldn't make it work the way it was written, so I tweaked a few things and it came out right.  I hadn't found any errata for that pattern, though, so I'm wondering if maybe I just couldn't understand what she was saying.  Regardless, it's done, knitting-wise.  I still need to sew in tails, trim and finish the cut edges (I'll try to remember to take a picture of what I decide to do there), and sew that button in place.  I haven't tried it on yet -- I'm afraid to.  I'll wait until it's totally done.

Here's what I left behind in Pittsburgh:

I couldn't get a good photo because it was too shiny, but this is a "Smiley Angel".  The head and body are that smiley-face yellow color (which doesn't show in the photo), and the halo and wings are gold (in color only -- for $2.00, I seriously doubt that it was the real thing).  I'm not an angel person, but this was too cute to pass up in the hospital gift shop.  I wore it while I was in town, and then I left it with my mom to remind her to be happy.  She's supposed to be going home tomorrow -- finally!

Sarah

Thursday, May 15, 2003

I had tea this morning with LynnH, and we had a very nice chat.  It was a dreary, rainy day, and I didn't have anything else on my schedule.  It was lovely to just sit and talk without worrying about where I had to be next.  I used to have tea with Melinda every Thursday morning, until she and her family moved to Cleveland.  We would just talk about whatever came into our heads.  I miss that.  Sigh.

I started the first front band on Mary Tudor.  I ended up having to pick up the stitches twice, because I couldn't count properly the first time.  Then the bottom corner threw me for a loop, because it's mitered, and Alice's directions weren't as clear as they could have been -- they've been pretty darn good throughout the rest of the pattern, though.  I think I finally got it figured out, but then I had to drop Son Number One at baseball practice and take Son Number Two to a Cub Scout meeting.  I finished the second black and white sock at the meeting (twice, because I couldn't count again -- a recurring theme today), except for kitchenering the toe (is "kitchenering" a verb?  Not in Webster's -- I noticed last night when I looked up the past tense of "knit" that "kitchener" wasn't in there).  I'll finish the toe while the kids are eating breakfast tomorrow.

I made a little progress on Sally's Favorite Summer Sweater, and I stopped by Yarn for Ewe to see if they had any yarn that would go with my Cotton Twist, since I just know I'm not going to have enough.  They had some Cotton Twist in a related color -- both the old color and new color have a ply in common, if that makes any sense.  The old color is Color A plied with Color B, and the new color is Color A plied with Color C.  I think I can successfully alternate the two colors in the top half of my sweater.  I'm thinking that it will look pretty good, so I'm relieved about that project for now.

I cleaned up my yarn stash this afternoon.  It's sorted by color, and has been ever since I read Sally Melville's Styles.  I keep throwing loose balls of yarn in amongst everything else, though, and I've bought a wee bit more since the last time I went through everything, so it took about an hour to re-sort it.  No luck pulling anything out for the guild yarn sale on Tuesday night, though.  I'll have to go through it again on Monday or Tuesday and see if there's anything I can bear to part with.  I managed to leave everything IN the closet, and not take out anything new to work on, so that was good.  

I'm taking off for Pittsburgh again tomorrow morning, probably returning on Monday.  My mom is doing much better but is still in the hospital, and my sisters and I still want to keep my dad company.  I'm going to take a couple of small projects along -- one that has been close to completion for a number of years, and one that I haven't started yet but that needs to be done soon.  I wanted to take a third, bigger project, but I know that if I do I'll end up ignoring the smaller projects, so I'm packing light.

I'll see you on Monday.

Sarah

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Question:  Which is correct:  "I knit myself a sweater", or "I knitted myself a sweater"?  I think both are probably acceptable, although the second one sounds like you're stuttering.  Okay, I got up off my rear end and looked it up.  According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, both are correct.  Webster's also tells me that one of the definitions of "knit" is "to become drawn together".  I don't think they intended it this way, but that could apply to the formation of a community of knitters, such as in a guild or in blog-land.  Pretty cool!

I watched Son Number Two play baseball tonight.  Here's what I did before the game and in between innings:

I'm working on the gusset decreases, then I just need to knit round and round on the foot, work the toe, and I'll have a new pair of socks! 

Oh, and I finished the second sleeve to Sally's Favorite Summer Sweater, and started the back.  I'm almost positive I'm going to run out of yarn for this sweater, which you might think would prevent me from plowing ahead, but I have this fantasy that I can find a matching or complementary yarn for the denser top half of the sweater.  We'll see. 

And I was very busy this afternoon, in between about eight hundred loads of laundry:

Yup, that's a collar on my Mary Tudor sweater!  Looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  Unless you look at it this way:

And then you get to see what I have to look forward to.  Icky tails. 

I should have taken a close up of the collar, so you can see that it's garter stitch.  That's right -- Fair Isle done in garter stitch.  I'm pretty sure I've complained about this before, but just take a minute and think about it.  Right side rows are fine -- just follow the chart with a color in each hand (or whatever method floats your boat).  But wrong side rows are another story entirely.  The yarn needs to be carried on the wrong side, but you're knitting with the wrong side facing.  That means every time you switch colors, you have to move the one you're going to use to the back (the right side) and move the one you're not going to use to the front (the wrong side).  A royal pain in the asterisk.  Fortunately, the wrong side rows are exact copies of the previous right side rows, so you don't have to look at the chart -- you just do whatever you see in the row below. 

Besides weaving in all the lovely tails, all I have left to do is to cut open the front steek and knit the front bands.  Or I could leave it the way it is and have a pullover with a collar and a strange stripe up the front.  Naahhh. 

I used what I like to call the "salt and pepper" method across my steek, whereby you alternate colors across the steek, then work the opposite colors in the next row, making a kind of checkerboard pattern (so why don't I call it the "checkerboard" method?  Beats me).  I have since done another Fair Isle pattern using striped steeks instead, and I think I liked that better, if only because it was easier to cut a straight line with my scissors. 

I've got to go through my yarn stash and see what I can put into the "stash relocation" sale at our end-of-season guild meeting next Tuesday.  I dread doing this, because I just know I'll want to start about three new projects once I see what's waiting to be done.  Can I resist?  No.  I'm not even going to try to fight it.  I'm going to try to finish off a few things first, though, like Mary Tudor, the black and white socks, and the Lacy Alpaca Scarf.  Then my "What I'm currently working on" list won't get any longer, and I won't feel so guilty.  And as long as I don't BUY any more yarn, I should come out ahead, right?  I'm getting extra nervous because I'm anticipating binge shopping at Knitting Camp, the Michigan Fiber Festival, and Stitches Midwest. 

Okay, I'm stressing myself out now.  Must go knit.

Sarah

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

I've made progress on Sally's Favorite Summer Sweater.  Here are the two sleeves:

The second (top/left) sleeve just has a few ridges left to knit.  It looks a lot shorter because it hasn't been pressed like the first (underneath/right) sleeve was.  Here's a close-up to try to show the difference in fabric before and after pressing:

I know, it would have been a better comparison if they weren't overlapped, but oh well.  The second (top/left) sleeve, which hasn't been pressed yet, looks and feels much denser.  The first (underneath/right) sleeve, which has been pressed, is more open and feels more drapey.

The bottom of the body of the sweater will look like the first sleeve (pressed, open, drapey).  The top of the body of the sweater will be denser, so it isn't see through llike the bottom and sleeves are/will be.

I also knit about half a round on my black and white sock, but that wasn't exciting enough for a photo.

Too many "/"s in this entry -- I'd better stop before I use any more.

S/a/r/a/h   

Monday, May 12, 2003

Lookie what I can do!

Okay, so what I CAN'T do is work the flash.  I would retake the picture but I'm wearing them already.

I took a beginning sewing class at our new and improved Joann Fabrics.  The class was taught by Colleen, one of my knitting students, and here's what I made -- p.j.s!  Here's a close up so you can see the actual color and the cute little trim:

On the way out to my car afterwards, I saw a bright blue Volkswagen Beetle (the new style) with stars painted on it.  Any guesses as to who it belongs to?  LynnH!  But I didn't see her anywhere so I couldn't say hello.  She's going to be teaching a class at Joann's, too.

I worked a few inches on black and white sock number two today, and taught Session 3 of my Philsopher's Wool Sweater class this evening.  Made hotel reservations for Stitches Midwest in August, and worked on transportation to Knitting Camp in July.  Got caught up on a lot of e-mail, but still have a lot of paperwork to do.  I got a lot done today, though, and now it's time to sit and knit! 

Sarah

Sunday, May 11, 2003

No breakfast in bed after all, but I was allowed to sleep in (and spent some quality time with my sweet little Mica kitty).  Then an early lunch at the Olive Garden (eggplant parmesan) followed by a nice long nap and then some knitting time.  All in all, a nice relaxing Mother's Day. 

I started the mate to the sock in yesterday's post -- got just past the ribbing to the mindless stockinette stitch, then set it aside so I have some brainless knitting when I need it.  Then I got going on the second sleeve to Sally's Favorite Summer Sweater, then set THAT aside so I have some semi-brainless knitting when I need it.  Next I put a neckband and front bands on a top down cardigan for a customer, and now I'm thinking of whipping up a few of my world famous beaded stitch markers before I go to bed.  Although I'd really like to start the neckband on my Mary Tudor sweater, because I think I can finish that project fairly quickly, once I get going on it again.

I guess I ought to toss a coin.  Anyone have a quarter? 

Sarah

Saturday, May 10, 2003

I spent this morning in bed with Rob (on the phone), then Son Number One took me out to lunch at the Red Cedar Grill in Williamston (calamari appetizer for us, Caesar salad and ravioli for me and seafood salad for him), and then I took him out to a movie (X-Men 2) and to pre-order the new Harry Potter book.  We ended the day with a family outing at Oldsmobile Park, watching the Lansing Lugnuts trounce the Burlington Bees (Go Nuts!).  Here's what I did during the first few innings:

The game was followed by an incredible fireworks display.  We didn't get home until after 10:00, so I didn't even try to go the Knitters Night Out at Yarn for Ewe.  Bummer.  I hope Marcia didn't make her scrumptious Punchbowl Cake, because I would hate to have missed that.

I've been promised breakfast in bed tomorrow, so I'd better get to sleep.  

Sarah

Friday, May 9, 2003

I taught a double shift at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte today.  10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., plus a 45 minute drive each way.  That's a long day!  We covered seaming in the Beginning Knitting class, and started the gusset in the Basic Socks class.  Here's my sock, just after the pick up row for the gusset:

I really wish the yarn, when knit up, would look just like it does in the ball, but it doesn't.  One of my students agreed that looking at it makes you dizzy.  Let's see if I can get a good close-up:

See?  Okay, that's a bad picture -- it's blurry -- but I can see letters of the alphabet all jumbled up in there.  Maybe these socks carry subliminal messages?

I kitchener stitched the two halves of my Lacy Alpaca Scarf together last night:

Can you see the safety pin between those tails on the right?  That's where I did the kitchener stitch to join the pieces.  Now I have to block the scarf and then add the crochet border, weave in a few ends, and it will be done, and I can publish the pattern.  Finally!

Boy, that red looks bright.  It's not quite so bright in real life.  Almost, but not quite.

Well, I don't have any takers on my blog party yet.  Rob and Matt are making noises like they'd like to go, but I happen to know that they're poopyheads who won't show (I'm trying to shame them into coming!).  I'll just sit there all by my lonesome, channeling the spirits of everyone who isn't there.  Okay, that sounds too creepy.  We've still got lots of time to plan, though!

Subliminal messages, channeling spirits...what part of my brain is all THIS coming from?

I received confirmation today from Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp (in July), and I'm about to finish up here and go register for Stitches Midwest (in August).  Happy happy!

Sarah

Thursday, May 8, 2003

Both Michelle and Chris mentioned my "Sarah Peasley, Handknitter" label.  I ordered my labels on-line from Heirloom Woven Labels.  I was very happy with the way they turned out.  As a matter of fact, that's what gave me the idea for my business name and blog name!

Here's what I did today, after getting the kids off to school:

Showered quickly

Dental appointment

Shopped for Mother's Day cards

Hair cut

Picked up lunch

Ate lunch at Woven Art

Signed the kids up for summer activities

Met the kids at home after school and made sure homework was done

Returned phone calls

Volunteered at the flower sale fundraiser at Son Number Two's school

Dropped Son Number One off at baseball practice

Answered e-mail

Ate Subway sandwich handed to me by webmaster/photographer/husband (thank you!) when he brought Son Number One back home

Started working on tonight's blog entry

Watched ER (which I couldn't follow, since they did one of those goofy time sequencing things and I was too tired to keep up)

Oh, and somewhere in there I seem to have done a load of laundry.

So, since I didn't seem to get any knitting done, here's a look at the beads I bought the other day at the Bead Expo in Lansing:

Aren't they cool? 

But this might be cooler:

I'm in the process of registering for Stitches Midwest, and I had what I think is a great idea.  What if we set up a time and place for people with blogs to get together -- a blog party!  I don't know how many of us would be there, but if anyone reads this and thinks it would work, let me know and please spread the word!  I thought maybe we could meet an hour before the Fashion Show & Supper on Friday evening.  There's a "telephone room" to the right of the pool area that was usually pretty empty last year -- that might be a good spot?  And we could wear our blog buttons!

Let me know what you think.

Sarah

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Here's part of what kept me busy yesterday:

That's cupcakes (out of a box, but I baked them myself!), frosted with Cookies and Cream frosting (out of a can, but I spread it myself!), topped with Chocolate Cream Oreos (out of a package, but I opened it myself!).  I designed this treat all by myself.  Aren't I clever?  I thought so.  My bubble was burst, however, when one helpful child in Son Number Two's class said "Mrs. Peasley, the cupcakes are yummy, but when you drink the cranberry juice with one, it tastes really bad."  Okay, so I should have brought a gallon of milk instead.  Sue me.

Here's what I've been plugging away on:

The model for my Beginning Finishing class is complete!  It will be taking up residence at Woven Art in East Lansing in the next week or so.  Here's a close-up of the rolled collar, along with a kitty (and her shadow) and a little free advertising:

I've been saving up my responses to some of the comments I've received.  Here they are:

KnitDad said "If you need more samples to put together I think I could send you some of mine." 

He's a funny one, our KnitDad, isn't he?

Mare asked "do you have your students make the pieces in a certain way...are there extra stitches at the edges, etc." 

Yes, I do have my students make the pieces in a certain way, because there are little things you can do every step of the way that make finishing a lot simpler.  For example, if you do your shaping (increases and decreases) one or two stitches in from the edges rather than right on the edges of your fabric, you'll have a nice edge for seaming or for picking up stitches.  I don't ADD extra stitches, I just make sure the ones on the edges are whole.

Stonering wrote:  "Okay, I have questions. The blocking board looks a lot like one of those folding cutting boards they sell in fabric shops. Is that what it is? It would be great to get one for double duty.  Where does one look for blocking wires? And what are you spraying them with?  Your before and after pictures have me sold on blocking before sewing. Well, except I'm aspiring to not sew sweaters, I'd rather knit in the round." 

You sure do have questions!  The blocking board is called a "Spaceboard" and is available through Patternworks or KnitPicks.  I bought it recently to replace the cardboard Dritz cutting boards I had been buying at a fabric store -- the cardboard would eventually warp from all the spraying, and I went through a few of them.  Fortunately, they only cost about $8 a piece.  I finally splurged on the Spaceboard, and I'm glad I did. 

The blocking wire set is called "Blockers" and is available through Patternworks.  I didn't see it at KnitPicks.  I'm sure both the Spaceboard and the Blockers are available elsewhere, too.

After pinning my flat pieces out to the desired measurements, using my Blockers and Spaceboard (I'm a walking commercial, aren't I?), I spray the heck out of them with plain old tap water.  Perhaps distilled water would be a better choice, but I've never had any problems.  I suppose you could wash the items and then block them while wet, but I think it would be harder to feed the blocking wires through wet fabric.  After spraying, I leave everything alone for about a day, then come back and unpin the dry, blocked pieces.  Oh, one more thing -- you've gotta catproof the blocking area. 

It's possible to sew pieces together without blocking, but boy oh boy is it easier if the pieces are nice and flat.

It's true, if you knit in the round you can avoid seams.  But then it's not as easy to use your Spaceboard and Blockers!  For blocking sweaters that are already finished, which have sleeves that stick straight out from the body (drop shoulders, square armholes, etc. -- NOT set in sleeves), I purchased a wooly board, which has been another lifesaver.  It's hiding under two sweaters HERE. 

For those who want to avoid all that finishing baloney, I offer my favorite class, Seamless Sweater Design.  Not a single seam in the whole darn thing, and it fits, too!

Did I mention that I offer "Virtual" classes?  You can purchase my notes and I provide e-mail support.

Okay, enough with the gratuitous advertising.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Oh, and I finally got smarter than the glitch in my blog software (if that's what it is) and moved my Finished Projects to their own page.  Well, I'm not sure I'm smarter than the glitch, since I never figured it out, but I OUTsmarted it, anyway.  That's gotta be worth something. 

Sarah

Monday, May 5, 2003

I'm back.  Did you miss me?

My mom will recover, but slowly.  She entered the hospital with pneumonia (she has COPD from a lifetime of smoking), and was put in intensive care and intubated.  When they put the tube in, her vocal cords were severely damaged.  She had surgery to try to correct the damage and restore her voice, and now she's recovering from both the pneumonia and the surgery.  She's finally out of intensive care, and Sister Number Two arrived to relieve me.  Sister Number One will be there later this week (I'm Sister Number Three).

I was able to do little spurts of knitting.  Here are a couple of them:

I'm knitting a plain old sock along with the students in my Basic Socks class.  As often happens, I like the yarn better in the ball than knitted up, but these socks will get a lot of use.  The yarn is called Big Socks (how appropriate) from Stahl Wolle.  It makes me dizzy if I stare at it as I knit, so I try not to look.  The shiny thing is a safety pin, marking the end of my ribbing.  I use lots of safety pins.  It was mentioned tonight in class that I must own stock in safety pins.  I don't, but that's not a bad idea.

And this:

I'm due to teach a Toe Up Socks class in a little over a week, and haven't yet settled on how I want to work the toe.  This patriotic sample was an attempt to use Wendy's short row toe, but something about her instructions didn't seem quite right to me, so I altered it.  I do short rows a little differently than the way she described.  I'm not happy with the way the toe shaping looks on the sides, though, so I'm going to try again and follow her instructions exactly.  The yarn is called Stars and Stripes, and it's from Wee Woolies by Jolen.  I got it at the Michigan Fiber Festival last year.  See the safety pin?

I'm seriously thinking about postponing the Toe Up Socks class, so I'm available if I need to go back to Pittsburgh.  I can't decide.  I'm obviously not quite ready for it yet. 

Here's what I made the most progress on while I was away:

This is Dana's Scarf, which I started to describe in my April 26 entry.  It's basically a simple garter stitch scarf, but with a twist, which I'm not going to tell you about.  It will be added to the Free Patterns page of my website in the near future, and you can find out what the big secret is then.  Oh, rats, I just looked back at April 26 and saw that I told you about the big secret then.  Well, I won't repeat it here -- you can go look for it, but the good news is that my new best friend Melissa* gave me the a-okay. 

This scarf was the result of a private lesson I had with Dana, who didn't know how to knit but wanted a long, skinny, stretchy scarf to wear under the lapels of a jacket, or tied around her waist as a belt.  I wrote out this pattern for her and got her started on it.  I got an e-mail from Dana while I was gone, telling me that she had finished her scarf and was ready to start another one.  Success!

I also got about half of the second half of my Lacy Alpaca Scarf done (which would be a quarter of it, technically), but the photo looked remarkably similar to the last one I posted on April 21, so I'm skipping it.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that we kind of figured out what was making my blog look so screwy.  It wasn't the tagboard itself.  The page seems to go screwy if I use more than a particular number of lines in the right hand column.  We're not sure why, but we've certainly experimented a lot and narrowed it down to that.  It started when I added the "What I'm done working on" section -- so that's only a partial list of finished projects at the bottom right -- any more and it all goes kerflooey.  Does that mean I shouldn't finish any more projects?  That's easy enough.  Ah, but that means I can't add any more to the in-progress list, either.  Hmm. 

The knit-in is at my house tomorrow (Tuesday) night, and it's Son Number Two's birthday, so we'll be having cake and ice cream -- do you think the knitters will agree to wear party hats?

Sarah

* that was for the benefit of Rob, who thinks it's funny that I have a new "best friend" every time I meet a famous knitting personality.  I met Meg Swansen when I went to Knitting Camp two years ago, and couldn't stop talking about her.  Last year at Stitches Midwest I met Norah Gaughan, my all time favorite designer, and went on and on about HER.  And this year, I met Melissa Leapman, who I seem to be talking about a lot.  Hmm.  I'm going to both Knitting Camp (I hope) and Stitches Midwest again this year -- I'm going to have a LOT of best friends!

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