Dithering

Proof that I did my part: This is before:

This is after:

However, about 4 or 5 rows in, I had an insight about theMinimalist Cardigan. Moss stitch is not the same as seed stitch. I know that comes as a shock to you all; it certainly was a shock to me. You see, I realized that the directions for the moss stitch of the Minimalist Cardigan consists of four lines:
Row 1: k, *p, k*, repeat from * to * to end
Row 2: p, *k, p*, repeat from * to * to end
Row 3: repeat row 2
Row 4: repeat row 1

Now, I had been thinking of this as if it were a chart and working a checkerboard of knits and purls - true seed stitch. Alas, what is specified is moss stitch - this cardigan is knit in pieces, not in the round, so rows 2 and 4 are written as if one is looking at the back of the piece. What you are supposed to end up with is short, 2-row columns of knits and purls, aka moss stitch.

So, after completing 15 dutiful rows on the baby cardigan, I picked up the Minimalist and dithered - should I take out the four rows of seed stitch I've already completed and start over with moss stitch? Or should I just keep on with seed stitch, because it won't really matter, right?

I couldn't decide. I put it all away and read a book.

And tonight I'm pooped. For work today, I searched for rare dragonflies and damselflies at this beautiful lake.

Found a couple, too, surprisingly, but it means I spent much of this evening writing up my field notes and keying out the shed skins of dragonflies (not to mention blogging), all of which leaves me very little time and energy for knitting a certain little green baby sweater.

Pant, Pant, with Minimal Lust

I'm in love. More accurately, I'm in lust. I laid my hands on the Malabrigo last night within seconds of opening a bin, wound it into cakes out on the porch, found the right needles immediately (OK, OK, I admit I had never really put away the size 7s from the b-a-b-Y blanket), copied the pattern, circled the correct numbers, and I was off! Oh, frabjous joy! Oh, the smoothness! Oh, the color! Oh, those k2, p1 ribs just tripping off my needles! Followed quickly by good old seed stitch, which the pattern calls moss stitch, but I'm calling it seed stitch, because that's what I used a lot of in the b-a-b-Y blanket, not to mention the two baby sweaters still in progress.

Speaking of which: I can tell that my heart is forever lost to the Minimalist Cardigan. Nonetheless, I must, simply must, finish those little cabled baby sweaters for the upcoming twins. Officially, they're due on Halloween, unofficially I'm betting on October 1st, and the word around the cubicles is that we may see the last of Melissa come mid-September, at least for a few months.

So, I am going to set up a carrot-and-stick arrangement - I knit ten rows of baby sweater, I get to knit two rows of Minimalist. I sew a seam for a twin, I get to knit two rows of Minnie Dearest. I finish Sweater # 1, I get to knit for a whole evening with the Malabrigo of my dreams. I have to finish both baby sweaters by mid-September, if I'm to have any hope of giviong them to Melissa in person, which I'd really love to do. It's a Goal with a Capital G.

And I promise to keep you posted, more regularly than usual. (I get 10% of any side bets, by the way.)

Give Me the Big Stuff

I'm ready for chunky yarn, aran-weight yarn , heavy worsted, bulky, super-bulky, 17-ply yarn. No more of this dainty DK weight. Last night I was dutifully trying to pick up 78 stitches around the neck of the magenta baby sweater. I had sewn the shoulder seams and one of the sleeve-to-body seams, and I thought I'd take a break and pick up for the neck ribbing before I moved on to the second sleeve. Mind you, I had already worked up about a third of the back of the olive-green baby sweater in the past few days, so I have indeed been a Good Girl in terms of my knitting goals.

I hate picking up and knitting stitches, especially in itsy-bitsy dark yarn. I tried picking up each stitch, knitting it, and sliding it along the working circular. No dice. I tried picking up stitches with the needle, and then knitting each one. This usually works for me, but this time the yarn kept splitting and I couldn't see what ply belonged to which stitch. After several more tries and various methods, I said screw it and read a book.

So tonight I wanna play with adult yarn. I want to cast on for something new. I want to do MY knitting, not all the knitting I think I SHOULD be doing for everyone else. [Remind me of this, will ya?] [About once a week should do it.]

So, I'm thinking about the Minimalist Cardigan from the latest IK. 20 stitches to 4 inches, good basic worsted weight yarn. 1308 yards for the size I want. Let us now consult the Holy, if Slightly Out-of-Date, Table of SABLE.

The choices:

• Malabrigo, 1512 yards in the color verdeazul;
• Classic Elite's Waterspun, 1380 yards in gray heather;
• Dale's Sisik, 1480 yards of navy tweed (I had started a mindless sweater of this some time ago, you may remember, but I didn't like the fabric that was resulting from knitting it at the stated gauge; it was too limp. Which means it will probably be too thin a yarn for this pattern, come to think of it); and
• Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca, 1400 yards of purple.

If I can find it in the bins, I'm going for the Malabrigo. Wish me luck!

The b-a-b-Y Blanket

Finally!

Pattern: My own
Size: 31" x26"
Yarn: Classic Elite Spotlight, 100% cotton, about 5 and 2/3 balls at 92 yards a ball; say 600 yards. The middle photo is the most accurate for color, at least on my monitor. Note this yarn was from the stash.
Needles: size 7 bamboo circs

OK, that makes two baby presents down, and three to go before the end of the year. I think I'm getting tired of cute. Luckily, this cotton Spotlight did not bother my hands to knit, but I do think it wore down the ridges of my fingerprints. I feel as though I can't quite grasp yarn as well or as quickly as I did before this project.

In other news, Sophie came through her knee surgery just fine this week, Dawn nominated me for a Rockin' Girl Blogger award [me? come on now!], and Dave and Shelley tied the knot this past Saturday in their backyard, with 240 people watching and cheering them on. It's been a good week!

Not Gonna Happen

This Friday evening: the multi-baby baby shower. That's 2 days away.

Progress so far:

Baby #1: Bonnet complete.

Baby #2: Blanket is more than half-way. Now can you tell what I'm doing?

Of course, you can't; that's a lousy photo.

Baby #3: All four pieces are completed - the ends are woven in, even. But they're not sewn together, the neck ribbing isn't done, and the button at the back of the neck isn't even bought, much less sewn in.

Baby #4: Well....

I'll blame the blurriness of that photo on my shaky hands. (Or my shaky grasp on reality, if you prefer.)

Obviously, I'm not going to be ready for this shower in two days. I'm taking the news well. In fact, since I am sick of knitting constantly whenever I have a free moment, I have given up trying. In the past few days, I have started a new book (Michael Korda's Another Life), weeded the garden of friends who are getting married there in two weeks, gone to the ice cream stand, and skirted a Jacob fleece.

I may actually be returning to normal, but don't hold your breath.

Time for a Yarn Diet

No, not because I have too much yarn. I do, but that's not the point.

And not because my wandering eye is now lusting after a drum carder. It is, but that's not the point either.

And not because I'm getting the house painted this summer and I'm looking for a newer car, not those reasons, either.

And not even because I felt a distinct sense of, eh, so what, when confronted with the extraordinary array of colors and yarn types at Halcyon Yarn a few days ago. That's true, but it's so not the point (although I'll try to remember that I'm satiated with yarn and fiber).

The real issue is that I just took Sophie, my 6-year-old black cat, to an orthopedic vet for a consultation. She's been limping off and on for over a year, particularly on her back left leg. Apparently, her knee joint is not well-constructed, such that the knee cap and associated tendons slip out of place easily. My vet and I have controlled this for the past year with glucosamine supplements, but she's getting worse. Hence, the visit to the specialist.

Sophie dear needs major surgery on her knee, to the tune of $1400 to $1700. Yikes! Now, I can well afford that, and Sophie is a lovely, healthy, affectionate cat in the prime of her life, so of course she'll get the surgery.

But I think I won't buy any more yarn or fiber or knitting-related books or patterns or whatever for a while. Maybe till Rhinebeck.

In the interim, let us enjoy the pretty cosmos, OK?

Lazy Sunday

Recipe for a lazy, hot, and humid Sunday:

Knit the first set of sleeve decreases. Yes, that means I finished the sweater front last night.

Then empty the dishwasher, fill the dishwasher, wash the dishes that need to be washed by hand, empty the trash baskets, clean the kitty litter, pick up the bittersweet vines Earle left to die on the driveway, quick before it rains.

Knit the second set of sleeve decreases.

The sun's come out; I think I'll get a walk in before it rains again, as predicted. So here's a short tour of the neighborhood. First, my garden, from a sufficient distance that you can't see the weeds. Nor the flowers, either, I'm afraid. Take my word for it, the garden looks lovely right now.

Next, the lake. I live a few houses down from a lovely lake, as you can see.

But not all of my walk is by the lake - most of it is in a standard small-town neighborhood. These houses happen to be closer than most to the road, and with no big trees out in front, so you can tell I'm walking among homes. Most of the time, the houses are set a bit farther back and there are big maples and such shading them.

I'll spare you the photo of Main Street, as it wasn't looking photogenic this morning, but here's a shot down my street, just as I turn down it from Main. My house is on the left, just past the first telephone pole and the big sign which says Road Work Ahead on the front (the reason why Main Street is not photogenic these days). You can't see my house; it's set well back from the road, more so than its neighbors.

Sigh. Back to work. Knit the third set of sleeve decreases.

Watered the house plants and ate lunch. Blogged about this morning's thrilling activities. Took some aspirin for my knit-weary tendons. Perused the knit-blogging world.

Knit the fourth set of sleeve decreases. This is beginning to get old. And I don't know if it looks this way to you, but I don't really feel as though this sleeve is really gaining much in length.

Filled out the rare animal report form for a Spotted Turtle I saw before I went to Maine. Planted the Red Elderberry seeds I picked on Matinicus; Red Elderberries are exceedingly handsome in fruit, not that I remembered to photograph any for you while I was on the island.

OK, deep breath. Knit the fifth set of sleeve decreases.

Cook Penne (OK, I used rigatoni, it was in the house) with Mushrooms, Leeks, and Dried Tomatoes for dinner, from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven cookbook. I hope it's edible; I've never made it before. I'm planning on making the Savory Corn Cakes, as well, from the same cookbook, once it's a little closer to dinner time. Now, mind you, I'm not doing much cooking these days, I'm kinda bored with it, but on Matinicus, I made the Pasta Shells with Marinated Chickpeas and an Unexpected Ingredient from this book and we loved it! It was perfect! I plan on making it again very soon.

Eat dinner - yum!

Knit the final 6 rows on sleeve. Bind off. Weave in ends.

Repeat for the second sleeve ... some other day. And, remember, I have a whole 'nother sweater like this to knit, too. Since the magenta sweater is only going to take three, maybe a bit of a fourth, balls of the Filatura di Crosa 501 (which goes on sale at Elann this Tuesday, btw), I certainly have enough to make a matching olive-green sweater.

However, I'm sick of magenta today; it's back to the baby blanket for me tonight!

ETA: Increases! I mean sleeve increases, not decreases! Geez, you'd think I wasn't paying the slightest attention to what I was doing all day. Thanks, Elizabeth!

I Don't Want to be Here

I want to be there. Perhaps forever.

The harbor on Matinicus Island, Maine.

The house where Elizabeth and I stayed.

The first full day we were on the island, it was foggy and drizzled a little. Thus, I give you the results of Day One:

Day Two we went to Matinicus Rock, another 15 minutes of boat ride from Matinicus Island. Matinicus Rock is a nesting site for Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, Common Terns, Common Eiders, and probably a few others I've forgotten - I'm sure you can tell the various species from this photo.

A raft of Razorbills came near our boat.

Day Three was hot and sunny. The knitting sunbathed on the deck and admired the view of the meadow.

What's that? You don't see seed-stitch hearts on the baby blanket? Well, that's because I changed my mind, again. Here are close-ups of Blocks 3 and 4 on this 4-block blanket - any guesses from the peanut gallery as to what I'm creating?

There were roses blooming everywhere - they made the whole island smell lovely.

But alas, Day Four dawned and we left for home. We stopped at Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine, on the way, just to ease our heartbreak, but I'm afraid it didn't help all that much.

I still don't want to be here, I want to be there. Perhaps forever.

All Packed

Wedding afghan, washed and blocked on the empty bed: check!

Baby knitting, stuffed into backpack: check!

New intriguing book, stuffed into luggage: check!

It's vacation time!

A Baby Deadline

As you will remember, there are four pregnancies amongst my friends right now (so many, I had to stop and count them on my fingers - really, I did!), with five babies expected before the end of the year. Currently, I have a grand total of one baby item finished - and I'm happy to report that after washing, the Blooming Baby Bonnet softened up, stretched out, and is now suitable for newborn baby skin.

So, Chloe's baby - check! One down...

Four babies to go - Gak!

A triple baby shower, for Chloe, Melissa, and Tara, has just been scheduled for August 10th. I found out the date of the shower a day and a half ago, on July 18th. Thus, I had 24 days in which to knit three baby items. Luckily, the final baby's not due till December and I can postpone that knitting for a while.

In my usual excessive fashion, I decided to use stash yarn (good for me! but a limited selection, if I wanted machine-washable yarn) and to knit something more demanding than booties. More exciting than hats. I wanted more - something interesting, something that would use up lots of yarn, yet something that might possibly get done in time.

This last issue will be helped considerably by the fact I'm going on vacation next week to Matinicus Island off the coast of Maine with my friend Elizabeth. Now, Elizabeth knits, but she just broke her hand, so I expect to be the only knitter in our cottage. At least Elizabeth will be supportive and not demand that I do something 'fun' like lying in the sun getting a tan.

So, I've had to make a few quick pattern and yarn decisions. Here are the facts so far: Melissa is having twins, a boy and a girl. Tara is having a baby of sex-to-be-discovered-at-birth.

You may possibly remember that I have a half-knit baby blanket, started for Melissa's first child, who is now four and a half. Luckily, I have conveniently forgotten this fact, and you would do well not to remind me of it right now, either. You don't even get a picture of it, as it's too hot to dig that deep in the UFO closet.

I do have quite a store of four different colors of Filatura di Crosa 501 machine-washable, DK-weight yarn, however - five balls of a deep red-violet, four of a nice olive green, one of a nice orange, and a bunch of a lovely lavender.

There's more than sufficient of the lavender to make Oat Couture's Curlicue Coverlet, which in fact, I had started some time ago, when I thought I only had one baby to knit for this summer. I had acquired the red-violet and the olive green at a sale at a yarn store; I really liked how the colors went together and I had thought I might be able to squeeze out something cabled and sophisticated for me, like Annie Modesitt's Bi-Color Cables. Alas, there's not really enough to make something that would cover me decently, although in poking around to find a link for this pattern, now I see that others found it took much less yarn than the pattern called for.

Too bad, because I've already cast on for a little cabled baby sweater for one of the twins, using the red-violet and orange yarns and a pattern from Knitter's, called Classic Cables, by Mary Bonnette and JoLynne Murchland. The pattern is simple: drop sleeves, a placket and button at the back neck, three simple cables up the front and back, seed stitch at the sides and for the sleeves, and an accent color stripe in the bottom, neckband and wrist ribbings. Simple and very nice. The patterns calls for a worsted weight yarn, not the DK weight I have, so I'm using the stitch numbers for the 2-year-old size and aiming for an 18-month size. So far, so good, says Mr. Penguin.

If I can get a sweater out of four balls of the red-violet, then I'll knit the second sweater from the olive green, with lavender as the accent color. If four balls won't do it, then I'll knit a lavender sweater with the green as the accent. That'll mean I won't have enough lavender for the Curlicue Coverlet, but that's OK; now that I see how it's constructed, it's kind of boring to knit in one color.

One of these days I might knit that coverlet in a variegated yarn or in several colors, just to hold my interest.

Next, my stash yielded 920 yards of Classic Elite Spotlight, a nice machine-washable cotton in pale turquoise, 18 stitches to 4 inches on size 7 needles. Again, I bought this on sale at the LYS one town over, the same place I bought the red-violet and olive green 501, just to boast. This struck me as perfect for a nice baby blanket - preferably something relatively simple and mindless, perfect for knitting on the porch or deck or whatever there is at the cottage in Maine, something I could switch off to from DK-weight cabling and seed stitching. I thought first of the Big Bad Baby Blanket in Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch. That certainly qualifies as mindless, as it's only four big squares, two of knit, two of purl, bordered by seed stitch. It looks lovely in the variegated Koigu called for in the pattern, but in the plain turquoise I've got, I thought it would be a little plain (and show off baby droolings, etc., entirely too well). So I thought about various Barbara Walker knit/purl patterns, and about undulating columns of knits and purls, constrained by seed stitch on the sides, and about a great big seed-stitch heart centered on a knit background and bordered by yet more seed stitch.

Finally, I decided on a grid of four knit-stitch squares, bordered by swaths of seed stitch, with a single seed-stitch heart of reasonable size in each square. At least, that's the plan so far. We'll see what actually happens; I may get really, really sick of seed stitch (remember the sleeeves and side panels on the two sweaters for the twins). Here's the progress so far on the baby blanket:

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of knitting to do!

A Blooming Bonnet

First there were just little golden buds.

Then the lowest buds opened bright red.

Finally, the rest of the buds opened! And, magically, little ties materialized under the neck and a swirl of decreases made this into a hat.

A completely impractical baby bonnet, mind you - it's Shetland wool, so not machine washable, and probably a little scratchy, too. And the baby, due in August, is a girl, allegedly. Plus, this is kind of a small hat, definitely a newborn size. So, here we have an August baby girl, who is supposed to wear a scratchy blue hat.

Well, at least the kid’s Canadian. And, if nothing else, she can put this on her dolly in three or four years.

And, the same day that I’ve finished one of four baby presents due this year, I find out that yet another friend is expecting. Babies are just budding up everywhere around here!

Charming

My spinning secret pal sent me this adorable birthday card, which she made herself, and an equally adorable llama pin. Thank you, whoever you are!

They're resting on my handspun shell, which has passed a critical test - I took it off the needles and measured it for width, when it was about 8 inches high. It passed the test - whew!

I love the texture of the plain old stockinette.

Finally, a pansy, just because it's pretty.

Community

I've been feeling the strong and gentle support of the knitting community recently, what with all my travails, so I'm joining a few more rings - see the sidebar. Besides, let's face it, I have definitely reached SABLE. I probably reached it a year or so ago, when I really was in the throes of a new and fully engaging obsession with fiber. Somehow, though, I have still to realize that every time I buy a sweater's worth of yarn, no matter how good the yarn and how cheap the cost, it means a month or two, at best, of my knitting time to knit it up. There are so many good yarn shops and fiber festivals around here that I can easily acquire two or three projects' worth of fiber a month, which means two to six months' worth of knitting, which means, yeah, I've definitely reached SABLE.

At least I'm in good company.

In other news, I've reached that point on the red and blue zigzag afghan where I'm so close to the end, I just want to keep knitting and knitting and knitting till it's done. All I have left is 24 rows of the red (plus binding off, weaving in the ends, and blocking, and maybe crocheting along the points if the blocking doesn't stabilize them, but never mind...). It's at the point where it's heavy enough that it's a pain to turn around. Being under the weather just enough that I can't garden or walk through rivers or even go visit my dad 6 hours away, means that I've gotten in quite a lot of knitting recently - and blogging, too. So, right now I'm obsessed with finishing that afghan. I predict that later on today it'll be finished, so if you'll pardon me for a couple hours while I go to the doctor's, again, and knit a bit.

.....

Well, lookee here! It's an afghan! It's finished! [Ignore the fact the ends aren't woven in and it isn't blocked, which it needs.] It's even finished more than a month before the wedding! I'm giving this to friends of mine who are getting married in mid-August - she's a weaver and knitter and he's a lover of all things luxurious, so I bet they love this.

Here are the details:

Pattern: Mesa Verde, from Knitter's, Summer 2005. I added another repeat, to widen the afghan a little. I also knit 24 rows of the red to start and finish off the afghan, rather than the 12 rows called for. I figured I had a lot of red to use up, and I wanted a slightly larger afghan than the pattern produced.

Yarn: S. Charles Baci in 11 balls of red (color #36) and 6 balls of blue (color #22), 62% wool/ 20% acrylic/ 18% viscose, bought from WEBS. They no longer have this up on their website, but they still have quite a bit of the red in the warehouse, if you find yourself in need of it. I also knit myself a Sally Melville Einstein Coat from this yarn; it's lovely to work with, although it's a bit soft and pilly for a coat. After I made the coat, I bought 20 balls of the red and 10 of the blue, because I enjoyed knitting with it so much. So this project is knit from my stash! (Ignore the fact I may have just bought 5 more balls of the red a couple days ago at WEBS, which is why I know they have it. That Sue is pining for this afghan; if she's good, she might get a similar one for Christmas. If she's really good.)

Needles: size 10 circulars, 29" length. These were cheap opaque white plastic ones that my mother gave me, but I have to say I like them quite a lot.

Finished Size: 33.5" by 56" (not yet blocked; I expect it'll grow a little)

Started: May, 2007, sometime.
Finished: June 25, 2007. Pretty quick time for this procrastinator.

Here's a close-up, with those mystery needles. Anybody know what they are? Also, note the double decrease, just to the left of where I'm knitting. It's the decrease specified in the pattern (SK2P), but it's not at all symmetrical - instead, the right loop is on top and gives the effect of a horizontal bar. I rather like it, because it shows off the yarn.

Hmm, so what's next?