Wednesday, March 31, 2004

I enjoyed a nice leisurely morning, finishing up the Alpaca Scarf.  Don't panic -- you haven't missed anything!  I think I knit this scarf over a year ago (there may be a photo somewhere in the Archives) but hadn't felt like putting the edging on.  My sister-in-law called a couple of months ago and asked for a red alpaca scarf to go with her new black coat, and since I already had this one almost done, I decided to finish it for her.  So now it's done, but it needs to have ends woven in, and to be washed and blocked, so no photos for you!  ("No soup for you!"  Anybody remember what that's from?)

Oh, and no donkeys for you, either.  I'm not usually so stingy, but a) I basically just altered the cow pattern from the Debbie Bliss pattern used for Tracy's knitted farm, and b) I didn't write anything down, and c) I absolutely despised making this donkey (although it was for a very worthy Bump!) and never want to do it again.  Sorry. 

So ANYWAY, I drove out to the Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop this morning to teach Beginning Knitting, and was delighted to have my friends Kathy, Irene, Debi, and Barb all pop in at different times to say hi -- well, okay, they were really there to shop for yarn, but it's all about ME, you know?  Kathy kidnapped me and took me out for a nice long lunch.  It felt great to get away and to talk a mile a minute about nothing and everything.  Life was good again. 

Oh!  I bought some yarn, too.  Let me go take a photo . . .

Okay, here:

Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in the color Winter Sky.  60% Superwash Wool, 25% Mohair, 15% Nylon.  Scrumptious! 

And now back to my story.

So I got back home, and my answering machine was beeping.  The first message was blank.  The second message was from Son Number Two's teacher, saying that the first message had been my son, who was supposed to be telling me why he'd gotten in trouble TODAY, and that they would call me back later.  The third message was them calling back later, saying they would try my cell phone next.  I looked at my cell phone, and saw the little voice message thingie, so I listened to THAT message, which said they'd try again later.  School had just ended for the day (I told you I'd been out for a long lunch!) so I called the teacher and got the skinny on this morning's incident (only ONE incident today!), and arranged to bring Son Number Two back into the classroom for a mini-conference as soon as he got off the bus.

Without boring you with any more details, let's just say that we made a big discovery today, which was that my son thinks the rules don't apply to him. 

The teacher said "We're all looking forward to Spring Break."  I looked at her and said "YOU'RE looking forward to Spring Break, because you get a vacation from the kids.  The KIDS are looking forward to Spring Break, because they get a vacation from school.  I personally am NOT looking forward to Spring Break, because I desperately NEED a vacation, and having my kids home for a week does NOT COUNT as a vacation." 

Oh, and did I mention that I've had to drive forgotten items in to school for the formerly perfect Son Number One not once, not twice, but four times in the last week and a half?  And that yesterday HE had to call me from school while a teacher stood by to make sure he told me that he had forgotten to do three homework assignments?  All very out of character, but he is a brand new teen, after all.  I can practically see the brain cells leaping out of his ears.

Enough complaining.  No more complaining for me!

I just watched Clueless (part of my ongoing self-study of Jane Austen's works) and they did indeed say "my bad" way back in 1995. 

Yo, that's whack.

Sarah

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

The Secret Birthday Gift has been delivered, so now I can show it to you:

Congratulations, Sweatergirl, it's a donkey!  At least I HOPE it looks like a donkey -- it started out looking like a hippopotamus, which just wasn't going to fly with the barnyard theme of the toys we made for Tracy's baby-on-the-way.  Of course, when this girl-from-the-suburbs Googled "donkeys" to see what they really look like, I discovered I had been influenced more by AA Milne than by Old MacDonald.  Whatever.

And here's the underarm gusset for my Fair Isle Sweater (so now I really AM up to my armpits in Fair Isle, Sharon!):

There's a matching one on the other side (on account of I've got two underarms).

Picked up my bifocals today (can I still call them bifocals if they have progressive lenses?).  It was my second attempt.  When I went in to get them a week ago, the lenses didn't fit (I'm using my current frames).  This time, they fit, but I couldn't see diddly.  Well, I could see diddly, but it was all woobly.  The technician was explaining how it would take one or two weeks for me to get used to them, and that I should be careful on stairs and would have to turn my head to see the car mirrors and nod my chin up and down until I figured everything out.  I was thinking it might take longer than a week or two to get used to these things, and in the mean time, how was I going to get HOME?  Then she handed me a card to read and I couldn't see ANYTHING on it.  She looked puzzled, took my glasses away for a long while, and finally came back, laughing, and asked me to try again.  I put them on and PRESTO!  I can SEE!  Apparently bifocals work better when the left lens is on the left side and the right lens is on the right side.

I'm exhausted today -- this mom stuff is taking a lot out of me lately.  I'll answer questions about the alpaca lace tomorrow, and we'll revisit the Anjuli buttonhole question.

Until then . . .

Sarah

Monday morning, March 29, 2004

Just so you don't think I've abandoned you, I'll post a little something this morning.  I fell asleep in my chair last night before I could do my usual Sunday night entry.

I'm way behind on e-mails and such, so hang in there if you're waiting to hear from me.  I'm only teaching one class this week, and none next week (Spring Break), so I hope to get my head above water (and keep it there).

I finished the Secret Birthday Gift this weekend.  I can't tell you what it is yet, in case the recipient is reading my blog, so I'll give you a teaser:

My guild brought in Margaret Radcliffe (of Maggie's Rags) this weekend for a series of workshops.  What a great instructor she is!  I took my camera, but neglected to include the memory card, so no photos.

Friday night was the Lazy Knitter's Guide to Pattern Stitches, highlighting slipped stitch patterns, knitting into the row below, and lace patterns, all of which avoided the purl stitch.  We also tried tubular knitting on two straight needles, which was very cool indeed.

Saturday morning covered Knitting Shapes, including circles, squares, triangles, pentagons, hexagons.  One of the participants was trying to figure out how to knit a soccer ball (made up of pentagons and hexagons) and Margaret showed us how simple it could be.  I want to try it out -- do round(ish) pillow forms exist?

Saturday afternoon was a Designer Yarn Workshop.  Margaret's definition of Designer Yarn includes anything that's not a normal, plied wool.  I brought along that pesky alpaca yarn I used for the Cardigan with Crocheted Ridges, and learned that instead of trying to contain the unruly nature of the yarn, I just needed to give it some room to breathe.  Here are my before and after swatches:

On the left, the uneven stockinette stitch I was so unhappy with when I made my cardigan, done on size 5 needles.  You can't tell, but it feels kind of bumpy, and not particularly soft, despite being alpaca.  On the right, the Turkish Lace stitch, done on size 8 needles.  This swatch looks lustrous and feels oh-so-soft.  I see a lacy alpaca sweater in my future!   

Saturday night was capped off with dinner at Altu's Ethiopian restaurant and listening to LynnH's band perform.  What fun!

I wasn't able to attend Sunday's session, called Fitting Your Knitting.  I'm looking forward to hearing how it went!

I haven't done anything with the buttonhole-less Anjuli yet, although I'm past the pouting stage.  My first reaction was that I would use a zipper instead, which would be a New Thing for me to learn how to do.  Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of overlap built in, and I'm doing the sweater in one piece, so I can't switch to a zipper at this point without adding about four inches to the sweater circumference.  Next idea:  buttonholes inserted in the narrow edging, which is added at the end.  But will the narrow edging be stable enough to support the closures for this sweater?  Hmm.  I'm back to thinking about the zipper idea.  I could tear back the existing three or four inches without too much agony . . . should I go for it? 

My friend Theresa S. is the proud new owner of Homestead Needle Arts in Grand Blanc, Michigan.  No yarn (yet!), but a myriad of other delights for your stitching pleasure.  Go check it out!

Sarah

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Sigh.

I woke up this morning with an extremely inelegant intestinal issue.  Followed by chills and body aches.  No fever, though, so that's good (gotta find that silver lining, right?).

I found some Spring outside:

I found some Entrelac inside:

And I got this far on Anjuli before I remembered that I forgot about the buttonholes:

Poop!

And so we've come full circle . . .

Sarah

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Thanks, friends, for being there for me.  All I accomplished today was fifteen minutes of #5 on my list, but I have tomorrow morning free so I hope to be a little more productive then.

I took a minute to hang out with my friend Sheila-dummy today:

She borrowed my Einstein Coat, while I kept snuggly warm in my fluffy sparkly Dune cardigan.

Fluffy!

Sparkly! 

Sarah

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Having a horrible day -- wish you were here.

Sorry to be such a poopyhead, but maybe if I write this stuff down, I can quit worrying about it. 

Without enumerating all of the various and sundry phone calls, e-mails, meetings, heart-to-heart discussions and pep talks I've experienced today, let me just say that I'm feeling overwhelmed and totally at a loss regarding how to:

1. get my youngest son to behave at home or at school (there are no books that deal with the too-happy child)
2. help my aging parents from 350 miles away
3. get caught up on my knitting-for-hire projects
4. get caught up on housework
5. get caught up on paperwork
6. get caught up on ____ (you fill in the blank)

Plan of action:

1. I'll be sitting in on one of my son's classes every Monday for the next I-don't-know-how-many weeks (in addition to the time I already spend in the school each week)
2. I'll be making phone calls tomorrow to gather information about assisted-living options in the mid-Michigan area
3. I'll be working on my knitting-for-hire projects an hour at a time starting tomorrow morning
4. I'll be cleaning that damn toilet tomorrow afternoon, followed by that damn bathtub, and then maybe those damn fingerprints all over the walls -- or better yet, I'll start asking my neighbors who cleans their houses
5. I'll be attacking those leaning towers of paper fifteen minutes at a time starting as soon as I post this pitiful entry
6. I'm not even going to worry about anything else until I get a handle on some of those other issues

First step (after those fifteen minutes of paper control, of course):  Pouring a glass of wine, sitting down to knit, and trying to quit feeling sorry for myself.

Oh damn.  There went the timer.  Off to the laundry room . . .

Sarah the poopyhead

Sunday, March 21, 2004

Cathi and Vanessa are joining the TKGA Knit-along.  Welcome, ladies!

I'm up to the armpits on my Entrelac Jacket, and I'm not sure where to go next.  I'll have to do some research tomorrow so I'm ready for class later this week.

I'm almost up to the armpits on my Fair Isle Cardigan.  I'm at the beginning of the underarm gussets.  I've never done underarm gussets before, so this should be exciting.  Stay tuned.

Since neither of these projects are mindless right now, I dove right in on Anjuli, which Tracy assures me will be mindless garter stitch once I get it going.  Here's where it stands right now (swatch included):

Thrilling, isn't it?  Not quite up to the armpits.

I spent most of this evening getting caught up on two weeks worth of e-mail.  I hope I'm caught up, anyway.  I've been deleting a LOT of what I think is spam -- make sure you put something relevant in the subject line if you e-mail me, okay?

I had an e-mail inquiry from Barb (hi Barb!) asking about northern Michigan yarn stores.  I directed her to this website which lists yarn stores from all over the world, and I thought I'd mention it here, too, in case it helps somebody else out there in blog reader land.  There are almost 1500 yarn stores listed -- go visit one.  Support your local yarn shops! 

Having said that, mail order is good too:

I received the new Two-End Knitting book by Anne-Maj Ling from Schoolhouse Press recently.  I was able to peek inside it today, although I didn't get very far yet.  Once I get Anjuli on cruise control, this book can be my garter stitch reading.  I'm lucky enough to own a copy of the older Twined Knitting book (in hardcover, even!) which is too far way from me to see the author's name right now (okay, I'm too lazy to get up out of my chair to get it). 

Also pictured is the sample I knit up for a presentation I gave on twined knitting to the Sons of Norway a number of years ago.  I had done a demo for my knitting guild which had been advertised in the newspaper, and the Sons of Norway were looking for programs and gave me a call.  So I presented a Swedish technique to a bunch of Norwegians (one of whom slept through the whole thing), and in exchange I got a yummy meal.  Those Norwegians know how to throw a great potluck!

I, on the other hand, fed my family fast food all weekend.  No Norwegians on my family tree.  Just Brits and Scots.  Apparently from the "Mac"Donald clan.

That's a joke, mom.

Sarah

Friday, March 19, 2004

This has been another crazy week.  When do I get a day off? 

Despite the busy busy busy life I lead, I'm managing to get some knitting done.  Here's my Fair Isle Cardigan with another motif done:

And here's my Entrelac Jacket, almost up to the armholes:

Purdy!

You've been wondering what I'm going to make with the gorgeous Mountain Goat yarn I bought on Wednesday?  I bought it for the Simply Garter Vest in Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests, because I thought it was close enough to substitute for the specified yarn.  But after swatching, I don't think it's going to work.  I'll have to go UP a couple of needle sizes to hit gauge, and the garter stitch fabric will be too loose for my taste.  Fortunately, I marked about eight other vests in that book that I would like to make, so I'll see if it's suitable for one of those others. 

Maybe I'll try swatching for Anjuli again tonight.  I need a more portable project to lug around to basketball games (the two I'm working on are getting kind of large).  I'm going to have to go DOWN a couple of needle sizes to hit gauge -- I'm a loose knitter (no comments, please!), so since the pattern calls for a U.S. 5, I started with a U.S. 3, but my stitches are still way too big.  I don't really want to knit it on a U.S. 1 or 0, but I may have to.  And I'm using the yarn the pattern calls for.  Egad.

The current location of The Yarn Garden in Charlotte is only nine feet wide, and filled to overflowing.  Classes are held at long tables down the center of the narrow store, which prevents shoppers from getting to most of the yarn.  I was able to visit the future home of The Yarn Garden this afternoon.  The new space is much larger, has beautiful high ceilings and a lot of natural light, and a CLASSROOM -- woo hoo!  It's going to be lovely.  When I have the information, I'll let y'all know when the big move is going to be.  I wish I'd had my camera with me so I could show you some in-progress shots.

Off to swatch!

Sarah

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Another thing that makes me feel old:  language.  The particular phrase that did it to me this time:  "my bad."  The first time I heard it, I said "What the . . .? That can't be right."  For those of you who are as clueless as I am, it means (as my husband patiently explained to me) "my mistake" or "I'm sorry" or "oops!".  Now that I know what it means, though, I still don't know why anyone would want to say it, since it sounds so wrong.  Fortunately, no one I know actually uses this phrase (with one exception), so I don't have to roll my eyes too often. 

I spent a little quality time at the Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop in Lansing this morning.  These little beauties looked at me with their big sad puppy dog eyes:

That's Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, 55% mohair and 45% wool, in Obsidian.  Look a little closer at the gorgeous colors:

Linda, the extremely wonderful and friendly yarn shop owner, raised her eyebrows at me as I was checking out and said "Off the yarn diet?"

"No," I said.  "Cheating.  Again."

My bad.

Sarah

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Except for the word "knitting", there was no knitting content in my post yesterday.  That may be a first for me, but I'm not sure.

I was happy to hear from all the bifocal/progressive lens wearing knitters out there.  Obviously, all the cool knitters wear them, and I'll be proud to join your ranks in a week or two!

Vanessa, wanting to bring the subject back to knitting, asked very nicely about the cast on I used for the Fair Isle Cardigan.  It's a variation of the long tail cast on, and is called the German twisted cast on.  It's described in Meg Swansen's Knitting on page 13, and in Sweaters From Camp (also by Meg Swansen, along with Amy Detjen and Joyce Williams) on page 13 (again!).  Or, there's an excellent explanation here, except I scoop OVER the strand on the index finger (which is how Meg shows it in her books), rather than UNDER.  Seems like UNDER would result in stitches that are sitting on the needle "backward" (although "backward" to me may not be "backward" to you, depending on how you knit).  ANYWAY, the German twisted cast on results in an edge that does not roll, therefore making it ideal for corrugated ribbings at the bottom of lovely Fair Isle sweaters.  I hear it's great for sock tops, too.

I know most of you will read this on March 17 or later, so you'll think I'm confused about St. Patrick's Day, but my family celebrates St. Urho's Day, which falls on March 16.  You can read about it here and here.  I'm repeating myself from last year, but I have to share this photo again, because it cracks me up:

Happy St. Urho's Day, everyone!

And as if that weren't enough excitement, I would like to announce to the entire world that as of 9:10 p.m. today, Tuesday, March 16, St. Urho's Day, my first-born son is now a teenager. 

I've been dreading this milestone for two reasons:

1.  Teenagers, as a rule, can be difficult to be around (or so I've been told -- I, of course, was perfect)

2.  It makes me feel old, although most everything does these days.  (Have you seen the gray hair?  Have I told you about the bifocals?)

All day long I've been thinking about this growing-up business that I can't do anything about, and wishing he and his brother could stay little forever.  This son of mine (ours) is growing up to be one hell of a fine young man.  Of all the thirteen year olds out there in the world, he is without a doubt my absolute favorite.  He's intelligent, hilarious, athletic, artistic, literary, musical, creative, responsible, thoughtful, kind . . . hold on while I go get a tissue.

I hope this amazing son of mine doesn't develop that teenaged attitude.  I hope he continues to laugh at his (and my) mistakes, and to learn from them.  I hope he'll continue to tell me all about his day at school without my asking.  I hope he'll still let me wrap my arms around him and tell him how much I love him.  I hope he knows how proud of him I am (he should -- I told him again tonight).

And I hope he stops picking on his little brother.

Sarah

Monday, March 15, 2004

Not much knitting today.  Too busy running around getting ready for the big day tomorrow (stay tuned).

Went to the eye doctor this morning. 

Them:  "Better One, or Two?"

Me:  "Uh, Two."

Them:  "Better Three, or Four?"

Me:  "Uh . . . can I see those again?"

Them:  "Can you read the bottom line on the chart?"

Me:  "Uh, E?  V?  O (or is it a Q)?  T?  Z?  5?"  (Why the heck did they throw a number in there?  Maybe it's really an "S"?)

Them:  (silence)

Me:  "It's not fair that you never tell me the answers to all these questions."

Them:  "It's a secret."

Me:  "Oh come on -- just tell me if it was an O or a Q!"

Them:  (silence)

Sigh.

Ordered bifocals today (progressive lenses, actually).

Really big sigh.

Sarah

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Well!  I managed to get quite a bit of knitting done this weekend, didn't I?

I've been a little nervous about the way the colors are trying to "pool", but I'm confident that (with my help) the colors will balance eventually.

I took my knitting to a Detroit Pistons basketball game this afternoon, got "wanded" and had my bag and purse "searched" (peeked into, more accurately).  When I said I had knitting in my bag, the first response was "okay," followed by "do you have long knitting needles in there?"  I showed the 24" circular metal needle (Sure it's long, but look!  A flexible cable!), and my interrogator voiced his displeasure but let me through. 

Good thing I didn't mention the Swiss army knife in my purse.

Sarah

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Obviously, the good wishes sent to my family were much appreciated.  My dad is home after only one night in the hospital, and is doing great (a little sore where they shoved the catheter into his groin, but that's to be expected, don't you think?).

Oh, and a belated thanks for all the blogiversary wishes -- I was a little distracted yesterday and forgot to thank you!

Michelle asked:  "So, what's behind being short on so many yarns? Is it because you buy yarn without a specific project in mind? Is it just bad luck with yarn and pattern matches; so that you could get full sweaters out of the yarns you have, just not these particular ones?"

I don’t know what my problem is, yarn-shortage-wise. 

If I fall in love with a yarn, I buy what I think will make a sweater, but often come up short when I finally figure out what I really want to use it for.  That’s one of the reasons I instituted my “No Yarn Buying Pact” (although that pact was blown all to hell when I saw that Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed, wasn't it?).    

I bought yarn for a cropped version of Anjuli (the purple one, of course!), but now that I’m more aware of what looks good on me, I want to make the longer version (and therefore don’t have enough yarn, but I’m working on finding more). 

The Euroflax Krystyna pattern called for a certain number of 100 gram skeins, and underneath that it called for one additional 50 gram skein, but I didn’t notice that when I bought the yarn and pattern, so I’m 50 grams short for that one.  I’ve already washed the 100 gram skeins multiple times (to soften up the linen – it’s quite stiff to begin with).  Dye lot will definitely be an issue, too.

And I have gained a little weight – not much, but enough that I need to make larger sweaters, so anything I bought “before” is based on a smaller size.

Sometimes I wonder why my students trust me to teach them anything.

I wore my Dune cardigan today.  It was a beautiful, sunshiny, upper 40s kind of day when I left the house, coatless.  Then the temperature dropped ten degrees, the wind kicked up, and it started snowing heavily.  Oh, and two dead bodies were discovered across the street from where I was teaching.  Not an ideal afternoon, but my fluffy sparkly mohair kept me safe and toasty warm.

Did I take any pictures today?  Let's check the ol' memory card . . .

Oh!  Why lookie, Sharon . . .

. . . my Entrelac Jacket!  Aren't I a good girl?

And here's a little more of my Fair Isle Cardigan:

Look, Nanette -- no curling!

I put a new batch of projects in my sidebar, and will introduce them to you as I work on them.  Right now, I'm happy working on the two projects I just showed you, but I'm getting ants in my pants about working on Marissa's Grandmother's afghan, so that will probably happen soon.

Or not. 

Sarah

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Jennifer asked whether it's too late to join the TKGA Knit-along.  No it's not!  I think I'll even join in myself one of these days (what a bad hostess I am!).  Welcome, Jennifer!

Sweatergirl asked whether it was a tough decision whether to wear my Einstein Coat or my Dune cardigan today.  Um, not at all, since the ends aren't sewn in yet on the Dune cardi.  Go back and look at the photo in yesterday's post -- you can see an end dangling on the bottom.  Ack!  My secret is out!

While I was snuggled in my bed in south central lower Michigan (yes, they really call it that) in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, my dad was having a heart attack in western Pennsylvania, which shocked all of us, since he has a very healthy heart (confirmed today by that catheterization procedure thingie).  He's fine now, just tired.  It was caused by his most recent blood transfusion (he has to have them every two to three weeks).  The doctors say it'll be easy peasy to keep it from happening again (not in those words, obviously), so that's a relief.  Please send positive thoughts to Sarah's Daddy in Pittsburgh, and while you're at it, send them to Sarah's Mom, too, who has her own serious medical issues but had the presence of mind at 2:00 in the morning to call 911, give directions, and call a neighbor to come sit with her.

While I was waiting to hear that everything was okay, I went into emergency mode, looking for an easy project that would be good hospital knitting in the event that I needed to rush to my dad's bedside (Sharon, you can add that to your Knitter list).  Unfortunately, my stash wasn't in a cooperative mood.

Deciding that I should get a jump start on my spring/summer knitting, I pulled out my Schachenmayr Rainbow (from the Fiber Haus in Grand Haven) to swatch for the Simple Cardigan from Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch (I've knit everything I wanted from The Knit Stitch, so now I can move on to the next book).  Got gauge, it looked great, but I don't have enough yarn.  Tried again with my Australian Merino (from Romni Wools in Toronto) -- couldn't get gauge, and probably wouldn't have had enough.  Tried some pretty blue acrylic/cotton blend (from Irene at one of our guild's "stash relocation" sales), but the thick and thin slubby yarn didn't show the stitch pattern well at all (although I would have had plenty of yarn).  I found my lilac Rowan Summer Tweed (from Stitch in Time in Howell), but didn't have enough of that, either. 

I gave up on the Simple Cardigan and looked at Simple and Sleeveless, which I thought I would make with the Adrienne Vittadini Adriana I paid half price for in Grand Haven last summer.  Not enough of that, either, and who am I kidding?  I don't do sleeveless much at all.  And it's hourglass shaped, and I'm not, so it wouldn't end up being Simple OR Sleeveless.

Okay, how about the Krystyna sweater out of Euroflax linen?  I bought the pattern and yarn at Stitches Midwest two summers ago.  Apparently I didn't look at the ingredients list closely enough, however, because I don't have enough yarn for THAT either (can you hear the bad words I'm spitting out at this point?).

I looked longingly at my Jo Sharp Silk Road DK, but don't know what project will be worthy of that yet.

I finally gave up and cast on for my Entrelac jacket, which is definitely NOT a spring/summer project, but I'm supposed to be knitting along with my Entrelac Design students, and Sharon made me feel guilty at last night's knit-in.  See?

And I'm minutes away from swatching for Anjuli, after having been inspired by Sweatergirl's beautiful version.

AND I'm still plugging away on my Fair Isle Cardigan, although I had stopped to have a fling with my fluffy sparkly pile of Trendsetter Dune (see Anne, it CAN be done!).

So I think I have my hospital knitting figured out (hooray!), but now I don't have to go to the hospital (hooray!).

And if I hadn't eaten so many Valentine chocolates, I could be making smaller sweaters and would probably have had enough yarn for all of those projects I swatched for today.

Sigh.

Sarah

Tuesday, March 9, 2004

First things first:

Hooray!  My Einstein Coat is finished!  I bought the perfect buttons at the Fabric Gallery in Williamston today, sewed them on, and voila!  Son Number One and I ran outside to get a shot before the sun went down on this gorgeous day.  I am NOT hiding anything sweater-construction-wise by standing with my arms crossed -- it was COLD outside!  I love love love my Einstein Coat!  Wore it to the weekly knit-in tonight.

And now on to other things:

I wrote my first blog entry one year ago today.  I realized about a week ago that this anniversary was imminent, and traveled back in time to read that first entry.  I was surprised by what it said.  Here it is (in part):

My thinking is that by airing my dirty laundry, I'll be held accountable for all the unfinished (and unstarted) projects lurking around the house.  I start more projects than I finish.  I refer to this as my "knitting deficit", and I am always on the lookout for ways to reduce said deficit.  The ultimate goal, I suppose, is "balanced" knitting, whereby I can walk into a yarn shop, buy some yarn, go home, and begin working with it immediately, without any feelings of guilt.  That, of course, is not only unattainable but undesirable as well.  I'll settle for a happy medium. 

I started laughing as I read this, because, while I'm a long, long way from truly balanced knitting, I had, just a few days before, almost a year after writing those words, walked into a yarn shop, bought some yarn, gone home, and started working with it immediately.  Guilt free.

Proof:

Happy Blogiversary to me!

Sarah

Sunday, March 7, 2004

More felted Entrelac bags!  These are (from left to right) Eileen's and Margaret's:

Bee-yoo-tee-ful!!! 

I finished the right sleeve (as opposed to the left sleeve, not the wrong sleeve) of my Dune cardigan today:

What you're seeing there is a beautiful but poorly laid out piece of knitting, with the front at the top, the back at the bottom, the right sleeve at the right, and the big gaping hole that will become the left sleeve at the left.  Collar #1 is shown here (but you can't really see it).  Collar #2 is on the needles now.  Collar #1 was made using leftovers from the other balls of yarn, which resulted in lots of ends to weave in, which turned out to be a not very good idea.  Collar #2 is from a fresh ball of yarn (since I have so many now!) and more stitches, so it will lay a little flatter, too.  I hope.  Otherwise, we'll see Collar #3.

And in the biggest knitting news of the weekend, I finished my Einstein Coat (hooray!) which is currently soaking in a nice tepid Eucalan bath.  I'll get buttons for it Monday or Tuesday, and then you can see the finished product.  I really liked the look of this coat in The Knit Stitch, and enjoyed the simplicity of the pattern, and now that it's done (after miles and miles and miles of garter stitch!), I'm just head over heels in love with it.  It looks as good as I'd hoped, and fits perfectly, although it reinforces my opinion that Sally Melville likes tight cuffs on her sweaters.  I almost had another yarn disaster on my hands.  I had to weave in and trim all the tails and then splice them all together to have enough yarn to finish the collar.  Here's what I had left over:

Nothing!!

Sarah

Thursday, March 4, 2004

Look what the cat dragged in!

That's four more balls of Trendsetter Dune #86, purchased today from Woven Art in East Lansing, where I teach on Thursdays.  And it's the SAME DYE LOT as the yarn I bought on Friday at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte!!!!!  Can you believe it?

I finished the back of my sweater today, using only three balls instead of the four I had estimated.  What the heck?

Tamsyn showed up at class tonight with this felted beauty:

She designed it herself.  Isn't it great?  Reminds me of a flapper's dress.

Time to tackle the collar on my Dune cardigan.  Wish me luck!

Sarah

Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Oh, and I neglected to mention that I lengthened the body of the Dune sweater by about five inches, too.

And here's another funny thing.  For the size I'm making, the pattern calls for fourteen balls of Dune.  I bought ten.  I made the back above the armholes narrower, but I added five inches to the length of the body.  Each front used less than two balls (so, less than four balls total so far).  The back is going to use less than four balls.  All those partial balls will easily make the collar, with some to spare.  That'll be eight balls used.  I'm pretty darn sure each sleeve will use two balls.  That makes a grand total of twelve balls -- two less than the pattern called for.  How the heck did THAT happen?

Thank you for all your nice comments -- they made me smile today!  And "Hello!" and an extra thank you to Karen, who is now my favorite blog reader/commenter in the whole wide world!!!  Read yesterday's comments and you'll see why!

I'm very loopy today.  I can't think straight, can't get a sentence out, can't read without misreading words.  I drove to class this morning by following the car in front of me -- that sounds silly, but what I mean is that it eventually dawned on me that I wasn't stopping at stop signs or looking at traffic lights -- I just kept doing what the car in front of me was doing.  Later, I walked into my brightly lit kitchen, reached to turn on the light, and was surprised when I flipped the switch and the lights went off -- how did that happen?  Oh!  They were already on!

Duh.

Best go sleep it off.

Sarah

Tuesday, March 2, 2004

I was able to take a better photo of the Trendsetter Dune I splurged on.  Here it is in the ball:

And here it is knit up:

Can you see the sparklies better now?

I fell in love with a model of this sweater at the Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop, where I teach on Wednesdays.  Here's what the pattern looks like.  The model was knit in a sparkly gold (probably color #68), and was very soft.  One of my students pointed out the lacy patterns at the hem and cuffs, which I hadn't even noticed (blinded by the sparklies, I guess).  I went home and thought about that sweater, and about how it was unlike anything I've made for myself.  I have no sparklies in my past, and one bad experience with a light pink fluffy sweater.  My wardrobe is not very flashy.  It's very Eddie Bauer (if they made underwear, it would be completely Eddie Bauer).

That Friday, while teaching at The Yarn Garden in Charlotte (that's Shar-LOT Michigan, not SHAR-let North Carolina), I eyed the colors of Dune on the shelves there, and spied this lovely tealy purply silvery gold (color #86).  Didn't buy it, though.  I wanted to get it from Little Red Schoolhouse, since that's where the mood had hit.  And there were only ten balls, and I needed 13-14. 

I started worrying about the cost (13-14 balls at about $13/ball -- yikes!), and whether the sweater would be itchy.  It was two weeks before I taught at the Little Red Schoolhouse again.  The color of Dune I liked wasn't there.  I took the model sweater off the display (sorry, Linda!) and wore it long enough to be sure it wouldn't be itchy.  It wasn't.

Two days later at The Yarn Garden, those ten balls of Dune in color #86 jumped into a bag, followed me home, and cast themselves onto one of my knitting needles.  Yes, I've broken a knitting commandment.  I knowingly didn't buy enough yarn.  Not only that, but when I bought the buttons, there were only six in stock of the ones I wanted, and I had made seven button holes.  Well, heck.  I don't think dye lot will matter with this stuff, and my friends were going on a knitting retreat that weekend, hitting at least three yarn stores, and they could bring me back a few balls of Dune in color 86, right?  Um, WRONG.  No Dune to be had, in any color, apparently.  Oh, and the other JoAnn Fabrics in town didn't have any more of the buttons either.

So here I sit, with enough yarn to make a beautiful one-sleeved sweater with six buttons and seven buttonholes.  I haven't tried to find more yarn, but I will (try), and I will (find more).  My loving husband stopped at the giant JoAnn ETC on his commute home from Troy tonight and found more buttons, so that's not an issue anymore.

And here's a funny thing.  I started knitting the sweater on Saturday.  I got almost to the underarm on the right front, and realized that you couldn't see the lace pattern in that busy yarn unless the knitting was held up to the light.  I don't happen to have light emanating from within my body, so I decided to tear back to the border and just go with stockinette stitch.  When I got back to the underarm, I decided to cut the armhole in a little more so the shoulders would be narrower and would fit me better.  I put the shoulder stitches on holders and I'll attach them with the three needle bind off instead of binding them off and sewing them as written in the pattern.  And I can't stand to sew in set-in sleeves, so I'll pick up stitches around the armhole instead and do a top down sleeve like I teach in my Seamless Sweater class.

So to recap:  I fell madly, deeply in love with a sweater, agonized about making it, decided to go for it, and now I'm doing it, only it's a different color and I've changed everything about the pattern except for the collar.  And I may not be able to find enough yarn.

It's exhausting being me.

Sarah

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