Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Son Number Two is currently studying his final spelling list of the school year.  The rule being learned is:  "Many words contain consonants that are silent."  Examples:  kn says /n/, wr says /r/, mb says /m/.

Do you see where this is going?

What's the very first word on the spelling list? 

KNIT!

What's one of the practice sentences? 

"Mother has enough yarn to knit a hat."

And then some.

I certainly had enough yarn to knit the sleeves of my Entrelac Jacket (still have to add the edging):

And I also had enough yarn to knit up to the armhole shaping on the back of Loll:

And -- can you believe it? -- Mother STILL has enough yarn to knit a hat!

Sarah

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

We went to the East Lansing Arts Festival on Saturday, to see The Weepers on their (two stop) reunion tour:

Notice the bright, sunshiny day?  That was Saturday.  After two tee times, a soccer game, and lunch with a mother-in-law, this was all we had time to see on Saturday before the Festival closed.

On Sunday, when I was scheduled to sit in our guild's booth for hours and hours, it was cold and rainy and generally miserable.  Fun to sit with the knitters and chit chat, but not conducive to Arts Festival browsing.  That didn't stop the crowds, fortunately.  And it didn't stop me.  In addition to a ginormous painting we purchased in lieu of sending our children to college, I acquired the following items:

Okay, I already had the cat.  The rest is from Karen, who didn't even have a booth at the Festival!  Her husband John was exhibiting his beautiful wooden vases and bowls.  Karen's been dyeing yarn and weaving tote bags, and I just had to have a little bit of both.  And the honey from their bees -- yummy!

And look!  The tote bag is the perfect size for carrying around a new little something I just happened to receive yesterday!

I have knitting photos, but I think I'll save them for tomorrow.

Except for this one:

Finished!

Sarah

Monday, May 23, 2005

My mom sent me a card containing this photo:

The caption read, "We loved you then and we love you now."

Awwwwwww!!!

Get a load of the poncho!  My mommy must have knit it for me. 

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Sarah

P.S.  Quebec comes to mind when I see this photo -- was this taken during our vacation there?

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

I sent my husband two e-mail messages yesterday, one right after the other.  He got one of them right away.  He found the other one today, quarantined by his anti-virus software.  If you think I owe you an e-mail, please check back with me, or check in your anti-spam folder.  I haven't knowingly been ignoring anyone.  Except my family, who keep asking me silly questions like "What's for dinner?" and "Are there any clean clothes?"

I worked on Abby's sweater quite a bit today, only to realize it's probably about four inches narrower than I'd like it to be.  It's now having a time out in the corner.  I'll measure it again in the morning to see if it's gotten any wider.

So you get pet photos.

Here's Keiko, who has appeared in this pose in numerous locations around the house in the past few days. 

Belly rub, anyone?

And here's Mica, whose sole purpose in life is to hold down the cable modem and firewall router behind the printer. 

I don't know what we'd do without her.

Sarah

(Photo credits:  Keiko photographed by Son Number Two, Mica photographed by yours truly)

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

SARAH

I AM a princess.  Look:

Jacqué knit a scarf for me for our guild's secret scarf swap, and it makes me feel just like a princess.  Have you ever had anyone knit something just for you?  In your favorite color?  Out of incredibly squishable baby alpaca yarn?  If you have, then you know just how I feel.  If you haven't, then you need to get chummy with more knitters and hold a scarf swap.  Or a sock swap.  Or a felted bag swap.  Or an honest-to-goodness sweater swap.  THEN you'll know how I feel.

THANK YOU, JACQUÉ!!!!!!!!!!!

happyhappyhappyhappy . . .

So here's what I made for Teresa (whose name I drew for the scarf swap):

Now that it's no longer in my possession, I can see what a sucky picture this is, but it's all I've got.  Except for this one:

It's a moebius, from Cat Bordhi's A Treasury of Magical Knitting, knit with bamboo yarn from Southwest Trading Company.  It was fun to knit, and took no time at all.  Which was important, because I didn't want to waste a lot of time knitting for Teresa.  JUST KIDDING, TERESA!!! 

I just love these secret swap thingies.  What's on the agenda for next year, Madame Vice President? 

More Fair Isle fun:

Dawn is steam blocking her newly "opened" fabric, Jessie's (one of two -- overachiever!) is on the left waiting for some borders, and Bonnie is using the scissors (we don't use the "C" word, so as not to frighten anyone -- I hate it when my students cry) (which they don't) (at least not in front of me).

Aren't the color combinations fun?

I was making progress on Serial Killer Abby's secret sweater (more secrets!), but my Fair Islers needed to borrow some needles, so I had to put Abby's sweater on a holder for now.  No, Abby, I'm not even going to tell you what size needles I'm using.  You get NO HINTS!

You may not even get your sweater, because I'm liking the way it's turning out, and I may just keep it.  I'll make you a dishcloth or something instead.

I can do that, because I'm a princess.

Sarah

Friday, May 13, 2005  (Hey look!  It's Friday the 13th!)

Sarah

Thursday, May 12, 2005

In the continuing saga of "A Week in the Life of a Knitter" (not to be confused with A Week in the Life of a Knitter's Cat):

On Wednesday, I decided to see whether the Revelation Cardigan was ready to come out of its time out in the bottom of the knitting bag.  It was.

There were a variety of reasons for Revelation's knitting project non grata status, the most recent of which involved an incredibly uncooperative button band.  Other issues involved second sleeve syndrome, an unfortunate pooling of colors on the first sleeve, a feeling that the fabric was too tightly knitted, the thought that it might be just a little too colorful for actual use . . .

After a very intense one-on-one session yesterday, the status is as follow:

• The button band (and buttonhole band and neckband) has (have) been successfully completed.
• The second sleeve is finished.
• The first sleeve has been ripped out and is being re-knit with special attention paid to color pooling (or the avoidance thereof).
• The fabric and color, during the multiple try-ons staged throughout the day, have been deemed "Pretty Darned Good" and "This Is So Fun!", respectively.

All that remains is to complete the first (third) sleeve, give it a really, REALLY good blocking, and find and install a big black separating zipper.  Then, and only then, will there be a photo of the actual cardigan.  'Cause until then, it looks awfully lumpy and bumpy, and not particularly attractive.

Continuing . . .

On Thursday (that would be today, but when you're reading this, it was probably yesterday), I was due to teach the last session of my Introduction to Entrelac class at ThreadBear.  I ventured into the big scary basement to find my class samples, one of which contained the oh-so-close-to-being-finished jacket from my Entrelac Design class of over a year ago.  It just needs one and a half sleeves, a little bath, and some tail maintenance.

I sat down in my favorite knitting chair, in the sunlight, with a a cup of blueberry tea (mmm!) and Entrelac-ed away:

I finished the first sleeve except for the cuff, so basically all I have to do now is duplicate it, which won't require much thought.  Can you imagine -- I may only knit two sleeves for this sweater (knock on wood!)!

So what appears to have been happening over the last almost-week is that I've been getting most of my outstanding projects past their sticky points to where they're easy to pick up and knit.  There are still other projects that need my attention (like Serial Killer Abby's sweater), but I really need to finish one or two of these before I move on.

I'll leave you with my students' work from class tonight:

Fun, fun, fun!

Sarah

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

We survived the birthday, and Mother's Day, too, although I'm still waiting for the dishes to be washed.  I'm not doing it.

I spent Saturday working on St. Brigid, when I wasn't being showered with breakfast, gifts, lunch, naps, and dirty dishes:

(Sister Number Two, should you be watching the progress of your sweater?  Maybe you should avert your eyes.)

This is two full repeats of the main charts, which I copied and taped together so I could lay a straight edge across and follow the row, rather than flipping between the pages of the pattern in the book.  The smaller charts are easily memorized, but the larger ones are definitely not.  This was my second attempt at taping the big charts together.  On my first attempt, I sequenced them alphabetically (C-D-E).  As soon as I resumed knitting, however, I remembered that we read from left to right but we knit from right to left, so I cut them apart and tried again (E-D-C).  MUCH easier.

I spent Sunday just "Loll"ing around:

The left front is finished, although I suspect that I won't be able to button this sweater unless I shorten the body, which of course would include taking out everything above the armhole, so of course I'm going to wait until I have all three pieces done to make that decision.  That way I'll have three pieces to tear apart, instead of just one, and that would be a lot more fun, wouldn't it?  I made a size big enough to button around my chest, but the sweater is long enough that it needs to get around my stomach and hips, too, which are significantly slightly larger than my chest.  Thank goodness I took out all of the shaping already. 

I spent Monday working on my Bearfoot Sock:

. . . which is now Bearfoot Socks.  Pretty!

I spent Tuesday re-working a neck on a friend's sweater, and we're scheduling a try-on for Friday.

Today?  I'm off to teach and have lunch, and then I'm done for the day, so I'll pick something else to work on -- maybe serial killer Abby's sweater. 

What?  I haven't told you about serial killer Abby?

Oops!  Sorry -- out of time!

Sarah

Friday, May 6, 2005

Michigan weather update:  below freezing this morning, seventies this afternoon.

I know you guys are just fascinated by my weather updates.  I can hear you saying, "I wonder if Sarah could figure out what to wear today?  Jeans or capris?  If jeans, regular or flannel lined?  Sleeveless shirt or wool cardigan (usually both)?  Winter coat or denim jacket?  Clogs and wool socks or sandals and needing a pedicure?

Fascinating, isn't it?

I'm in full birthday mode this morning, packing up the five dozen little cookie/kiss things I made last night for a classroom snack, taking the birthday cake out of the oven so it will be cool enough to frost this afternoon, wrapping presents like mad . . .

I've been knitting a bunch, but haven't any photographic proof.  Instead, for your viewing pleasure, you get more students' work:

Gail's bag from the Introduction to Entrelac class:

Gail used two different kinds of wool -- Lamb's Pride Worsted for the squares in the middle, and an unknown wool from her stash for the base, top and handle.  They felted at different rates, and I think the wobbly effect is very funky!  Gail's going to try throwing it in the washer again to see if she can firm up that gray a little more.  Pretty cool as is, though!

I showed you these before, but not completed -- Tamsyn's two (TWO!) Introduction to Fair Isle pillows:

Notice the rainbow corrugated rib, and also the rainbow chart she put on the end of each pillow.  I suggested that Tamsyn use multiple colors on the rib, but I never in a million years would have thought of doing it for one of the charted designs.  Yay, Tamsyn!

And with that, I'm off.  In the midst of all the birthday hoopla, I've got to go to work (and drop off the treats on the way).

Happy Birthday, Son Number Two!

Sarah

Wednesday, May 4, 2005

The spot on my calendar that says Wednesday, May 4 is completely empty.  No classes, no errands, no kids' activities, no nuthin'.  A VERY rare occurrence.  I'm currently hanging out in my p.j.s, doing a little laundry, doing a little knitting, thinking about a nap (it's 9:00 a.m.). 

The phone rings.  Caller ID tells me it's the school.  It's Son Number One.  "Hi Mom!  Don't you look lovely this morning?"

Me:  "What do you want?"

Son Number One:  "I think I left my math homework in my pants yesterday."

Me:  "You know I want to kill you right now, don't you?"

Son Number One:  "Yeah.  Can you get it here in forty-five minutes?"

Life is so unfair.

Sarah

P.S.  It snowed yesterday, and it was 25°F when my kids left for school this morning.  Isn't that nice?

Monday, May 2, 2005

So now that Cree is done and out the door, I'm free to start my next knitting-for-hire project which is . . . let's see . . . oh!  It's St. Brigid!  Well!  I guess I'd better get going on that, then.  After all, Sister Number Two has only been waiting for . . . um . . . since before 2002, anyway.  So I think it's time.

Presenting St. Brigid:

The yarn is Jamieson's Soft Shetland in the color "Wilkinson", from Yarns by Design in Neenah, Wisconsin.  I'm not quite hitting gauge with this, but I was assured that it was a good substitute for the yarn called for in the pattern, so I'm going with it.  It may be a smidge wide, but we'll just block that out.

I had this grand plan that I would do one repeat of the big charts each day, but this is ten rows done in one day, followed by zero rows done in two days.  I'm gonna have to do some cuttin' and pastin' to make the charts a little more user-friendly, I think.  And I'm going to have to actually sit down in my knitting chair, too, instead of doing all this other junk (laundry, work, meals, etc.).

I'm moving a little slowly these days.  I threw my back out putting my credit card in my wallet.  No, seriously, I did!  I was at the gas station on Friday morning, pumping my gas.  I leaned into the car to put my credit card back in my wallet, and suddenly I was on my knees.  Ouch!  I'm doing much better now, but it still hurts to pick up my left leg (to put it in a pair of pants, for example) and to look over my left shoulder (to watch for traffic, for example), and I go into slow motion if I have to lean over to pick something up off the floor.  Maybe I should look for my long-lost yoga book?  Or the Pilates DVD that's still in the shrink wrap?  Yikes.

Here's a pair of toe-up socks I started this weekend.  I needed something to knit that I didn't have to look at, because I had rented a bunch of DVDs.  I kept messing up Loll, and St. Brigid wasn't going to work, so I started these socks.  The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Meadow colorway, from Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn Shop in Lansing.

Anybody see "Dogville"?  That was a strange movie.

And here's a little joke I heard this afternoon:

No, it's not snow.  It's hail.  I heard it pelting against my windows while I was working at the computer.  My husband said he saw some while he was mowing yesterday, too. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll limp on over to my chair and see how many rows of St. Brigid I can get done before my children ask me what we're having for dinner. 

Sarah

Sunday, May 1, 2005

Well!  Isn't Son Number One something?  He didn't tell me until Wednesday night about his Social Studies test, but he convinced me that he could make it up on Friday.  Which he did. 

Here's what our schedule actually looked like:

1. print out a bajillion class notes

2. finish and wash Cree

3. finish and wash the Beginning Finishing sample sweater

4. skein and wash "used" yarn in anticipation of re-use or sale at Guild garage sale in May

5. write a blog entry

6. go to a nice restaurant (my favorite part, too)

7. go to Office Max, the grocery store, the pet store, the bank . . .

8. do laundry and sort clothes (actually, he watched television while I did this -- I made him help last year when he spent "Take Your Son/Daughter to Work Day" with me, and, quite frankly, I can get a lot more done without his help)

9. cast on 104 stitches using long tail cast on in preparation for evening class (I showed him one or two stitches, and he cast on the rest for me while I checked my e-mail -- cool!)

10. go to Continental Knitting class at ThreadBear in the evening

11. snarf fast food in the car on the way home

12. go to bed way past normal bedtime

Son Number One and I had a lot of fun, and Son Number Two enjoyed his day with my husband.  What a good idea this "holiday" is!  Except for the test-missing part, and all the extra homework to make up for the lost day, and . . .

-------------------------

This was the main event at our Guild meeting last Tuesday:

We were asked to bring in needles for worsted weight yarn, and then were given yarn and instructions, without being told what we were making.  Log cabin squares!  The completed squares will be assembled into an afghan to be donated to a local charity.  Cool idea, eh?  My square screams "Shamu" to me.

Here's one of the new projects I started last week: 

It's Loll, a pattern from Rowan's Calmer Collection, using Rowan Calmer.

This is the first Rowan pattern I've used, although I've finished a bunch of Rowan sweaters for my customers.  The Calmer is a dream to work with, especially on my ebony Lantern Moon needles.  The little squiggly things take forever to make, but I adore them, so they're worth it!  I've eliminated the decreases at the sides and waist, since my body doesn't have corresponding decreases in those particular areas.

I can't show you the other new project I started last week, since it's for my secret scarf partner.  I finished it today, and will post a photo after the Guild swap on the third Tuesday in May.

I found the buttons I was looking for :

So Audrey is really, REALLY finished!  It's my favorite cardigan right now, especially since the weather turned cooler again.  The Araucania Nature Wool (Chunky) is pilling a bit, but it's nothing my d-fuzz-it can't handle!

Cree was handed off on Friday morning, in exchange for one last (I think?) sweater from Virginia's stash.  My heart leapt for joy when I saw the bag of yarn in her hands -- it's all one color.  Did you hear that?  IT'S ALL ONE COLOR!  That means no more Intarsia!!!!!  It's a lovely salmon colored wool, which means I can spit splice to my heart's content, which means VERY FEW ENDS TO WEAVE IN!!!!!  Thank goodness!

I started a few MORE projects this weekend, which I'll save for another post.  Until then . . .

Sarah

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