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?

A New Skill

Remember my new socks? My only pair of handknit socks? The ones that had a slight accident to one of the pair, the first time I wore them?

All fixed now.

A helluva week

Well! I've had better weeks, let me tell you. My dad had a heart attack - he's home now and doing fine, but still...

And I've had a week-plus of pain and discomfort - a kidney stone? Gall bladder? Ovarian cancer? But it seems to have been none of the above, just a UTI that blocked my ureter and caused my kidney swell. Swollen kidneys are no fun, let me tell you. It's still bothering a good bit. I was supposed to be spinning at bryghtrose's today, and then that changed to I was supposed to go visit my dad, but frankly, after this post, I'm going to go have a lie-down.

And the hotwater heater crapped out again, for the fourth time in three months. Maybe it's fixed now, but we'll see. And I have still to deal with my cat's joint problems worsening and a boatload of work-work, all due by the end of the month and on and on...

You know, the usual nonsense that hits everyone sometime.

But at least all those doctor/ER/radiology visits have added up to a lot of knitting time. Here's the red-and-blue zigzag afghan, about 80% finished.

That's Sophie, holding down one corner for me. She used to be a black cat, but in middle age, she's turning into a brown cat. This throw is turning out very nicely, so nicely that my friend Sue - yes, that Sue - has been hinting broadly, excessively, unashamedly, that she deserves this much more than the the couple who are getting this as a wedding present, that only she can appreciate the work and color sensibility, not to mention how well it would go in her living room, and so one. Piffle, I say .... but I might have a good bit of this yarn left over, so we'll see.

And do you remember that gorgeous blue BFL I was spinning up last time? Well, it has turned into 600 yards of the nicest, sproingingest, maybe a tad overspun but still lovely, DK-weight yarn I've ever made. I've started knitting myself a basic shell with it -

and it feels wonderful - sort of like a good-quality wool-cotton blend, very soft. On size 6 needles, I'm getting about 19 stitches/4 inches, and that's providing a nice drape, as well. I'm thinking of some sort of asymmetrical V-shaped opening at the neck - maybe a straight-line opening straight down from the right side of the neck opening, with an eyelet grid between the opening and the shoulder. Then, imagine how if the fabric is slashed straight down from the neck (not literally, of course, but I hope you get what I mean), the triangular piece of fabric directly in fron of the neck should hang open. I'm thinking I could encourage that triangular to curl back on itself and be weighted a bit in the corner by a heavy bead. Then, between the neck and the other shoulder, maybe the eyelet grid again, maybe a sinuous cable or two.

I'm hoping 600 yards is enough, but if not, I have another 4 ounces of BFL roving in a different, but related colorway, that I could spin up for additional yardage.

I'm sure that's all as clear as mud. If my drawing skills were worth mentioning, I'd draw it for you, but I don't think it'll help. You'll just have to wait and see how it turns out. That's what I'm doing, too.

Hey, I Missed You

It's been a while. I've been working like crazy, weeding like crazy, and cranky in between. I missed going to Cummington, to see the Harlot at WEBS, and to various other knitting extravaganzas. Harrumph....

But I've been knitting. And spinning, even.

That's BFL from Cloverleaf Farms. I started spinning this back in the winter, and only just finished up the 12 ounces of singles. This bobbin is the first of the final two-ply. I suspect I'm over-plying, but I'm aiming to overply a little, because usually I underply way too much. Making this yarn is reminding me how much I love spinning.

I love spinning so much that, when I go to the Maine Fiber Frolic next weekend with Sue, I'm dropping off four fleeces to be processed. Two of them are white; when the roving comes back, I think I'll play with dyeing.

As you may remember, everyone's getting married/having babies/turning 50 this summer, in my vicinity. This is the beginnings of an afghan, a wedding present for Dave and Shelley, out of S. Charles Baci, a merino/viscose blend. I bought this yarn from Webs a while ago, thinking I would knit my parents an afghan, since the red and blue would go nicely with their living room. Then Mom and Dad got Binky the Vicious, the Destructive, the Well-Equipped with Pointy Ends, the Cat of Doom, and I thought that an afghan out of a loosely spun merino single would not last long in their house. Dave and Shelley have no cats, just a love of soft comfort. Especially Shelley - they just bought a house for the two of them and there's finally room for Shelley's two big looms in it.

Remember that handspun lace shawl I wanted to finish for the Harlot event? Well, I finished the body of it, but I've only finished one repeat of the lacy border. Despite this photo, the border is the same color as the body of the shawl. Clearly, this border is not the sort of knitting one brings to knit at the weekly knit 'n' drink margaritas at my not-so-LYS.

My co-worker Chloe is having the first of the four babies due this summer - she's expecting a girl around August 31st. Thus, I am knitting the kid a Shetland wool bonnet, blue with a green ruffle framing the face and green/red/pink/yellow Fair Isle flowers. Now, while I can cope with three colors in a row of Fair Isle, I draw the line at four colors - thus, this greenery will get duplicate-stitched flowers at some point soon.

Why am I making a blue wool hat for a baby girl? Well, I had all the colors specified in the pattern (Blue Belle, from Lesley Anne Price's Kids' Knits), despite the lamentable fact that I don't have much Shetland in my stash at all. I took the presence of six correct colors as a sign that I should knit the hat. Plus, the hat is adorable in blue! Especially the real blue, not the blue that's showing up so strongly on my monitor right now. And Chloe's Canadian and will be moving back to Canada shortly after the baby's born - so the kid will need a proper wool bonnet, eh?

Finally, every knitting blog needs the occasional obligatory cat photo - here we have George, patting himself on Earle's stationary hand. Note the lack of hand-knit socks on Earle's feet - there's something wrong with that boy, I tell you.

Free at Last!

Look! It's finished!

It's so big, I can't get a decent photo of it.

Here it is folded up nicely, to fit in the linen cupboard (aka the Linnet's FO storage).

And can you see the two purl stitches I agonized over? Me, neither. Well, hardly, at any rate.

For those of you who haven't been slogging along with me on this project, here's the specs:

Pattern: Loosely based on the Moderne Log Cabin in Mason-Dixon Knitting.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, from my stash, in eleven colors (Clematis, Shadow Grey, Tahiti Teal, Periwinkle, Amethyst, Sunburst Gold, Raspberry, Ink Blue, Blue Boy, Seafoam, and something unlabeled) and 15 or so full or partial skeins.

Needles: Size 8 bamboo circs. No, I don't know what kind; I don't pay attention to needle brands, mostly.

Finished Size: 55" x 46.5"

What else can I say? Well, you know how sick of this I was by the end, but I'm really very happy with how this turned out. I didn't plan the placement of the colors very precisely, except for deciding that the red and gold should be accents, not full logs, and that I'd start with the smallest partial skeins and work up to the colors I had more than one full skein of. The Lamb's Pride was great to work with, as always, and it made a blanket with a good heft and substance to it. Not too heavy, except to knit on, but really a great weight for a lap blanket/throw sort of thing.

So, what's next? Well, I have a heel on my first sock to darn, and a handspun shawl to knit, all before the Harlot comes to town on the 30th. Then it'll be time to decide on baby presents - I'm leaning towards adorable bonnets with ties, at the moment. Maybe socks. Certainly no project that takes over 500 yards to knit. Almost certainly not the 1500-yard, short-rowed, garter-stitch Oat Couture baby blanket. You know, the one I started - not that I've showed you any of it; basically all I've done is a swatch.

Right now, I just want to spin. No knitting. Not even any purling. Tomorrow night is SnB with margaritas night, and I'm taking my wheel. I predict a good time will be had by all.

Breakthrough. Or Breakdown

I posted this over at the Mason-Dixon Slogalong; I thought I'd share it with you as well.

My Cheatin' Heart

I am so sick of my Lamb's Pride Moderne-istic Log Cabin Blanket that I don't even want to take the time to photograph it and show you how much I've done. I just want to spill my guts about this blasted thing and go on with my life.

As you may remember, when last I wrote, I had three sheins (yes, skeins) of dark teal green and three of purple to add to this garter-stitch monstrosity. I finished the three skeins of green. I'm just about done with the first skein of purple. And I am so sick, so very sick, so very cannot stand it anymore sick of this endless, boring, boring, did I mention endless and boring, blanket.

I have a confession: I purled two stitches of purple, rather than knitting them, and I am leaving them in. God, it just felt so good to purl! OK, I was under the influence of two margaritas at a new-to-me SnB in a yarn shop with cool knitters (one was knitting knee socks on size 1 dpns! With her handspun! My kind of obsessive!), but still - I purled. I purled and it felt reeeeeeally good and I'm not too proud to admit it in public.

That was Wednesday night. Friday night I went to my friend Pat's house for dinner and knitting. Pat's daughters are 8 and 12 and they're learning to knit (Pat is a Very Good Mother). Since Pat is just a beginning knitter herself (but she has three sheep, so she's forgiven), I was called in for back-up, along with Pat's other friend Brenda, who has Jacob sheep. I mentioned that I had had fun Wednesday knitting while drinking margaritas. Bam, Pat's husband made us margaritas.

And then...and then.... well, I can't remember whether to blame Pat or Brenda, but one of them said if you're so sick of knitting on your blanket, just don't use up all the purple, that blanket is big enough already.

Heh. That thought had never occurred to me, properly brought up Puritan that I am. I mean, I had planned on using up as much of my stashed Lamb's Pride as I could, but I am so sick of knitting this thing and it's enormous already and heavy and awkward to move around and did I tell you that I also have three babies and one wedding to knit for this summer? Not to mention the unfinished baby blanket for one of these moms-to-be, unfinished from four (four!!) years ago? Plus the Yarn Harlot is coming to speak nearby and I need something suitable to wear, obviously, and, oh, I just remembered this morning that two of my friends are turning 50 this summer and I am so sick of garter stitch I could just scream. Sick of it, I tell you. Sick, sick, sick. Give me some purling, some yarnovers, some cabling, anything but knit, knit, knit. I tell you, I have lust in my heart for big, fancy cables, true hormonal lust.

So.

I am going to finish that skein of purple and I will border that purple log with the lovely dark red. I will add some more gold borders around the other edges. I will weave in the ends and wrap it all up in fancy paper and give it to Earle on his birthday the 28th of this month and I will stuff those two other skeins of purple back deep in my stash, very, very deep (I have true depth to my stash). I will do this, I will, I will, I tell you - I will break free of my artificial Puritan boundaries and not finish something I started exactly the way it was planned. This will be good for me; I'm entirely too well-behaved.

And then I will knit the lace shawl for the Harlot visit and adorable little cabled baby sweaters and that ripply wedding afghan and maybe even some socks for me. Maybe even spin on my porch to the sounds of happy little birds (Brenda wants to give me a Jacob fleece, bless her!). And do anything else I damn well please. So there.

[yes, yes, I know there are 10 or 15 - there couldn't possibly be as many as 20, could there? - unfinished projects tucked in cupboards and bookshelves and scattered bags around this house, but they're just on hiatus, they're not really abandoned - I just had these other deadlines I had to meet. Really, I swear it's true.]

An update, later that day: I am done, so done, with the purple. The purple has its red border. I'm almost done the final gold border on the top edge of the blanket. All that's really left is the gold border on the left and weaving in the ends, most of which are already done. I have a dentist appointment and an oil change today; maybe the blanket will be finished today.

I don't know why I set myself these unreasonable goals (e.g., see the 2007 Resolutions in the sidebar). Nobody is forcing me to make Chloe a baby blanket and Melissa two cabled baby sweaters and Dave and Shelley a wedding afghan - I could just knit baby hats and buy a beautiful pottery bowl for a wedding present. Everybody would be happy and I wouldn't have these self-imposed burdens. Just because I can imagine something doesn't mean I have to do it.

Keep reminding me of that.

Busy, Busy

I'm still here, but a few things are distracting me from blogging...

Sunflower, zinnia, and nasturtium seedlings.

My friend Pat's lambs - three pairs of twins from three ewes (two Shetlands and a Cheviot). All six lambs are rams - anybody want a nice chocolate or dark gray Shetland wether? Pat isn't keeping any rams or wethers.

It's time to certify vernal pools, too.

I have been knitting; here's the Moderne Log Cabin blanket, with only three skeins to go. This is getting enormous. And heavy.

In related news, I didn't go to the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival, nor am I going to Maryland Sheep and Wool, nor even the New Hampshire equivalent.

Let's just say I've been getting my fiber quotient instead at WEBS and at the 11th-anniversary sale yesterday at Emily's Needlework. Emily had quite a number of yarns at 50% off, if you bought all there was of one color. I do like to support my LYS, you know.

Finally, don't you wish you were this content?

In the Slog Bog

No pics today; I'm too weary of rain and snow and general late-winter-allegedly-spring-even though-it's-the-middle-of-April-here-weather-get-your-frigging-act-together! dreariness around here to take and post any photos. But I definitely feel a need to chat, so get your tea and settle in.

So, what's new? Well, I've joined the Mason-Dixon Slogalong, so I'll have company finishing up the Lamb's Pride Moderne-ish Log Cabin blanket. I have about 5 skeins of yarn to go - that's about 1000 yards of worsted-weight. Enough for some sweaters, if I were skinny or knitting for kids. The blanket is turning out really nicely, I must say. The Lamb's Pride makes a really, really nice weight and texture of blanket. I'm only slogging, rather than skimming joyfully, through this now because I'm getting bored with making square foot upon square foot of garter stitch.

But at least I'm plugging along on it. For some reason I'm into the mode of actually finishing projects, not just flitting mindlessly from new project to even-newer project without ever finishing anything. Odd, for me, but I'll take it.

Speaking of finished projects, remember my socks? My brand-new, first-ever socks? I wore them all day Saturday. Now I get to add them back into the WIP pile(s) - they have a hole in them. Reassure me that if I knit socks with an appropriate amount of nylon in the yarn (these had none; not a good choice for Louet to put into their sock-dying kits), I'll get socks I can wear outside the house.

Along with my new compulsion to finish things, I seem to have acquired a glimmer of sanity. I went to Webs on Saturday (pre-sock hole) and only bought enough yarn in their sale for two projects. I actually put back enough yarn for two other projects. Should I see a doctor or something? This is so unlike me. And I even vacuumed yesterday, washed the bathroom curtains, did my taxes, cleaned out the fridge and the kitty litter...this is not normal behavior, right?

I'm paying for it today, though. I was supposed to go spend the afternoon knitting with my blogless friends Melissa, Chloe, and Jess, but I'm not going - I have a tummyache and it's a two-hour drive. I don't think I can chance it, especially in the car that is beginning to show its age.

You know, it's really unfair that buying yarn goes so much faster than knitting it up. I suppose if I knit more hats and other small projects, I could almost keep up, nut no, all I want is to knit sweaters and blankets and things than take well more than 1000 yards per project. Plus, it's beginning to occur to me that if I spent my money on clothes rather than yarn, I'd actually have something to wear.

The sun better start shining soon around here; clearly I'm beginning to harbor unhealthy thoughts.

Two by Two, Part Two

Look, it's a pair of socks! My FIRST pair of socks! Hoorah for me!

Details: Louet GEMS merino yarn, hand-dyed by me using the Gaywools dye in the Louet sock dying kit. The pattern also came from the kit - a basic 4x4 rib, top-down sock, with a slip-stitch heel. Fits me perfectly, although I would have liked a longer cuff. This pair of socks took well less than 100 grams of the 150 grams of yarn included with the kit. I might be able to knit another matching pair from the remaining yarn, but instead I think I'll knit a pair with solid-blue heels and toes, and use the hand-dyed yarn for the rest.

Next up: The Lambs Pride Moderne Log Cabin Blanket, shown here with one of the surprises in my Easter basket from Earle. Yes, that is a sheep head on top of that Pez dispenser!

Discipline

I've been having a bit of a life crisis recently. No, no, everybody's happy and healthy and all that, but I feel...like I'm not accomplishing enough in the way of knitting. Remember my whiny blogiversary post of a few days ago? That's what I'm talking about.

But today, I feel better. May I present The Hats?

Five wool hats, all cozied up into themselves, to give to the Yarn Harlot, or her designated recipient, when she comes to WEBS to promote her newest book. She's collecting hats for the homeless as part of her book tour.

Admire how the different yarns give very different effects when knit in the same pattern, on the same size needles. From bottom left, we have Elann's Sierra Aran, Christopher Sheep Farm's bulky 3-ply, and Candide's good old heavy worsted weight, in a beautiful blueberry-ish color. All from my stash, mind you.

Note that these hats are finished close to two months before the Harlot event! I am feeling exceedingly virtuous. [The virtuousity has yet to carry over into doing my taxes or getting around to planting the sunflower seeds indoors, however.]

Let me think.......I believe I cast on for the first of these hats on March 19th or 20th, and I finished the last one last night (I even knit on the blue one at staff meeting yesterday!) - that's five hats in about 15 days. Not bad, not bad at all.

So, I think I will turn my newly monogamous and disciplined self to finishing up those stripy socks in time to wear them to meet the Harlot. And if I'm really obsessive [me, obsessed? naaah...], I could finish up my handspun shawl, too. You remember, the one I made a little boo-boo on the night the Pats lost? The one I haven't touched since?

How about the Celtic Dreams sweater, too? No, the Harlot's coming to WEBS on May 30th, and despite the godawful sleet/hail/freezing rain crap we're getting as I type, late May will be too warm for a heavy cabled sweater like that.

Maybe instead Norah Gaughan's Lacy Waves Top from the new Lace Style! The yarn's in my stash (as of two weeks ago, ahem) and it's mostly just simple stockinette, with fancy sleeves and a jot of lace around the neckline - even the color of Hempathy I have will go beautifully with the handspun shawl. Easy! Of course, I can get that done, too! Meant to be! In fact, I bet I could make one of Annie Modesitt's wired lace hats to wear with the socks, shawl, and top, too! And a knit skirt, of course - a linen knit skirt, even! Wouldn't that be something?

Nothing more, of course, I don't want to go overboard or anything.