Wednesday, June 22, 2006

Hi!  What have I been up to?

I've been getting cash out of the ATM, buying small bottles of shampoo, getting caught up with the laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator, hiring a house sitter/cat wrangler/flood preventer, knitting warm weather sweaters, deciding which knitting projects to take . . .

. . . doing an inventory of my knitting supplies for insurance purposes, sorting through piles of papers to make them go away, digging two years' worth of grassy turf out of the flower beds, keeping tabs on my dad who's in the hospital with kidney stones, signing up for quilting classes . . .

What haven't I been up to?

Packing for our trip to the Bahamas.

I was doing well at first, but then I got distracted (see above).

We leave on Saturday -- well, we leave TOWN on Saturday, but we leave the COUNTRY on Sunday.  I've got a pile of books to read and books to listen to.  I've got four knitting projects ready (NOT ENOUGH!  NOT ENOUGH!).  The knitting projects include the Gull Wing Tank (see previous entry), a lace scarf, a pair of socks, and a tote bag.  All blue, since I haven't done anything for June's Project Spectrum yet.

Oh!  That's not true!  I finished the second Baby Sweater, except for tails and buttons (okay, so I didn't finish it, but at least it's blue).

I also finished the Screaming Orange Tank (okay, not finished, but just tails to weave in), but no photos yet.  I haven't woven ends in on the Chainmail Shell yet, either.  Or the Mystery Blanket.  And I'm still two months behind on the Almanac-along.  I thought about taking May's and June's projects along to the Bahamas, but who wants to knit wool mittens and hats in the tropics?  I'll stick to lace and socks, thank you very much. 

My father-in-law thought I shouldn't take knitting along, since we shouldn't be doing any work on our vacation.  Silly man.  I tried to explain to him that there's WORK knitting, and then there's SARAH'S knitting.  He didn't seem to see the difference.  I'm starting to wonder if I see the difference.  I've been knitting these tank tops and shells almost non-stop for the last month, and my hands could use a break, quite frankly.  But I can't imagine not taking knitting with me, or not knitting on the plane, or while reading or listening to an audiobook . . . I can't really imagine relaxing, either, at this point.

I think I need a vacation.

Hey!  I've got one coming up in just a few days!  How convenient! 

My husband and I went to the Bahamas once before, on our honeymoon cruise.  We landed at Nassau, but there was some kind of national holiday going on, so everything was closed.  This time we'll be on a little tiny island (one of the Abaco Islands).  I have no idea what to expect, so I'm a little anxious, but I'm sure we'll have a lovely time.

I haven't got much on the camera.  Here's what I've got:

Husband Number One had a little bump on his pinky that started to interfere with his golf game.  Can you see it to the left of his knuckle?  No? 

Well, like I said, it was interfering with his golf game.  So we went to the hospital to have whatever it was removed ("S" added by yours truly, to mark the correct finger for surgery).

We debated about what they would put on his pinky afterward.  Husband Number One thought he'd end up with a band-aid.  I thought he'd have a splint on his little finger.  We were both wrong:

A lumpy cast!  It has since been removed, and we've been trying not to look at his Franken-finger for the past week.  He gets the stitches out tomorrow (thank goodness!).

Oh, and he can't play golf for a while.

In knitting-related photo news:  Imagine my surpise when I ordered the health-conscious Fish and Chips at the Claddagh Irish Pub, only to be served this:

Anyone else see what I'm seeing?  Yes, that's right -- it's a deep fried sock!  Yummy!

See you in a couple of weeks!

Sarah

Friday, June 9, 2006

My Chainmail Shell is finished.  Isn't she beautiful?

A closer look at the chain effect:

I'm not sure I like how I did the shaping -- letting the chains merge into each other -- but it was fun to figure out the technical aspects of making it work.  Someone (lisa k!) asked if I would write up the pattern for sale, which sounds like a great idea to me, but I've got waiting lists for a bunch of other non-existent patterns to deal with first. 

Oh, all right, fine.  The observant among you will notice a long tail hanging down in the first photo.  No, I didn't weave the ends in yet.  How the heck do you securely weave in the ends of such an incredibly slippery ribbon yarn?  I'm currently debating between tacking them down with sewing thread (shudder!) or supergluing them in place.  Any other suggestions?

In honor of Project Spectrum's June color (blue), and in order to use up the last remaining Kona Superwash in my possession, I started a second Baby Sweater from the Knitter's Almanac:

Even though I'm now two months behind on the Almanac-along, I'm still working on Almanac projects, so that's something, right?

And more blue!  I like the lacy pattern from this baby sweater so much that I think I'll use it for another summer sweater:

What you're seeing there is an upside-down swatch showing the progression of my ideas:  Stockinette stitch on U.S. 3 needles?  Too firm.  Stockinette stitch on U.S. 5 needles?  Fine, but boring.  Cellular Lace Stitch from one of the Barbara Walker treasuries?  Not exciting enough.  Gull wing pattern from Knitter's Almanac?  Gorgeous!  I haven't decided whether this will be a shell, a tank, or a short sleeved sweater, but I DO know that I'll be wearing a camisole under it!

I also started a mindless (and blurry) stockinette stitch shell in a screaming orange hand dyed cotton from Woven Art, called Safari III:

And another (even blurrier) one in a black linen/cotton blend (I think -- I can't get to the label right now) from Maggi Knits:

All three of these sweaters will probably look exactly like the Chainmail Shell, except not chainy or silvery, because it fits PERFECTLY and looks exactly the way I wanted it to.  I'll try to get an on-the-body shot after the ends are woven in.

Why am I cranking out all of these summer sweaters (and who said anything about Christmas stockings)?  Have I mentioned that I'm going to the Bahamas for a week?  Yippee!

Nona ventured out of the basement today:

Nona wants Mica to know that she's not really a mean, scary cat, even though she's twice as big as Mica and keeps trying to jump on her.  She just wants to PLAY!

We've been locking the two cats in the basement at night in order to force them to get used to each other.  The feline part of that strategy has been working all right, but Keiko (the canine) goes nuts and barks and runs all over the house every time the cats hiss or meow at each other.  Which is frequently.  At night.  At all hours.

Last night I gave up and let the cats go to their preferred nighttime positions -- Nona on Son Number Two's top bunk, and Mica on my shoulder.  We all got a much better night's sleep.

Sarah

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

There's bad news, and good news, and bad news.  And knitting.

Mica, the cat who has lived in our house for 4 years, abhors Nona, the cat who has lived in our house for 2 months.  Mica is 4 years old and weighs about 5 pounds.  Nona is 2 years old and weighs about 11 pounds.  Nona wants to play with Mica.  Mica does not want to play with Nona.  We keep both cats' food and litter boxes in the basement.  This is non-negotiable.

We also have a dog, Keiko.  Keiko is 7 years old and weighs 16 pounds.  Keiko wants to play with Mica, and she currently wants to eat Nona.  Mica is fine with playing with Keiko (especially since Nona moved in).  Nona does not want to get eaten by Keiko.  When Nona isn't eating in the basement (she eats a LOT), she's either hiding out on Son Number Two's top bunk (where the dog can't reach), or hanging out on the top basement step (where the dog can't go, under the threat of never getting a treat again for as long as she lives).

When Nona is in the basement, Mica won't go near it.  Once or twice a day, we herd Nona out of the basement and escort Mica down to the food, water, and litter boxes.  She hisses on the way down, and looks nervous the whole time she's there.  After she's partaken of all that the basement has to offer, we let her back up into her safe zone (i.e., wherever Nona isn't).

That was all (probably completely unnecessary) background story for what I'm about to say.

Here's the bad news:  I caught Mica peeing in my knitting basket yesterday.

Here's the good news:  Most of the damage occurred to the Mystery Blanket, which

a) isn't my favorite project in the world, so if I end up throwing it all in the trash I won't be particularly heartbroken, and

b) is machine washable wool, although the ends haven't been woven in yet (really?), so I threw it in with a load of hand washing (which involves soaking for half an hour and then spinning out the water).

Here's the other bad news:  Color catcher sheets don't work really well when the water doesn't get swished around, especially if you're stupid enough to mix a brightly colored blanket with navy blue sweaters (what was I THINKING?  This is how my brain works these days, and I DON'T LIKE IT!):

Not the most horrible thing I've ever seen, but it certainly isn't doing much to improve my attitude about this blanket.  Yes, the huge gaping holes still need to be closed up, and no, I haven't sewn a single end in yet.  But I will, gosh darn it.  I won't let this blanket defeat me!  Besides, think what a good story it will make for my show and tell at Knitting Camp this year!

I closed out May's Project Spectrum color with a final green face cloth for our Guild's charity project (details on Finished Projects page):

And with a finished pair (really, there are two of them, but this was the best photo) of toe up socks (details on yadda yadda yadda):

AND, thank goodness, I finally finished Virginia's Cable and Moss Stitch Panel Cardigan (I know it's a horrible photo, but the sweater is lots bigger than Dummy Sheila):

Hooray!  Yippee!  Wahoo!  Only three more custom knitting jobs to go and then I'm DONE with THAT stuff FOREVER!!!!!  Or for a while, anyway.

Next up:  Christmas stockings!

Sarah

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