Summer Sweater

Believe it or not .... I haven't worked on any lace shawl projects for a while now. In fact, at this moment, I have only one project on the needles -- the sweater at the right. It's made of KP CotLin on size 5 circs. It's from one of Chrissy Gardiner's patterns, Lacy Rib. I'm making it from the top down because of gauge problems mentioned in my last post. (It was worth redoing. I love CotLin, the color Moroccan Red and also the lace borders.)

The main reason I'm knitting it from the top down is that I like to knit from the top down. Plus, I wear a petite sizing and so have to adjust most every sweater pattern I try. Starting from the top down is the easiest way for me to accomplish the adjustments.

Of course, the "only one thing on the needles" is about to change. The Monthly Dishcloth group is starting its July KAL.

This is why I don't get many socks finished. I started this pattern (my own pattern) about a year ago. Several friends thought it looked more like a pattern for a men's sock. So, I let it sit for awhile. I really like the pattern, but it is more of a man's pattern. Now I'm going to frog the sock, use the yarn to make a different sock (to be determined later), and use some gray KP Essential yarn to make a pair of socks in this pattern for my DH.

By the way, I'm still planning on casting on for Casablanca, but I haven't re watched the movie yet. Plus I'd like to knit it with KP Palette but am not sure if I want a shawl that big.

Finally, here is the result of my latest crochet project, Pleiades by Jennifer Benson. It's also available on Ravelry. I test-crocheted the shawl. .... I chose this picture to post more because of the cute cat than the shawl. But, you can see how nicely it drapes and how comfortable it is. ;)

The Fisherman's Wife

I'm so happy to have finally finished the Fisherman's Wife. It's a beautiful pattern. (I used KP Shadow Vineyard and size 4 needles.) And I think the yarn is happy as well (and I hope the yarn doesn't mind being anthropomorphized ;) ). I first used the yarn on another shawl pattern. It just didn't look right. So, I frogged it. Then I thought it might look good with this pattern. It did and does. But, I had to buy a couple more skeins -- because this Faroese shawl is large. Well, I ended up having to frog a couple rows at the end because I didn't have enough yarn to bind off. It was interesting putting over 800 sts back on the needles but surprisingly doable. What I finally did was to put the pearls in early by lopping off the bottoms of the waves.

I've also found that I like the k2tog (without yarn in back) bind off when ending a shawl with garter stitch. I like what I call the yo bind off when ending a shawl with lace. That's what this shawl has as its bind off since the last 3 rows were k across (WS), k3, *yo, ssk* across, k2 (RS), k across (WS). I had to get the pearls in somehow, and this seemed the best way to get them in without major frogging.

I accidentally felted a wool sweater (in Paton's worsted weight wool). It looks nice and still fits (since it was short sleeve to begin with). But, the lower edge of the sweater is a little higher than I'd like.

I haven't cast on for Casablanca yet since I'm waiting to watch the movie again before casting on. In the meantime, I going to make a short sleeve sweater in CotLin Moroccan Red. I actually knit and finished the sweater last year and have worn it a couple of times. But, it's a little wider than I like. So, I frogged the entire thing and am going to start over. For some reason, I get a strange gauge with CotLin (4 sts and 7 rows per inch with size 5 needles) -- a ratio of sts to rows a lot different from most yarns I knit with.

I've also decided to make my k2tog's differently -- at least for the time being. With yarns that ssk's look better with just the first st repositioned, I'm going to reposition the first st on the left-hand needle before making a k2tog. That way k2tog and ssk match -- with the top st straight and the bottom twisted. (When knitting with cotton, I make ssk's the "proper" way. When knitting with a wool blend or acrylic, I reposition just the first st.)

Mystic Light

Mystic Light is now finished. This is the first shawl I've made with fingering weight yarn. I really like it. It's much more substantial than the ones with lace weight yarn. I used KP Palette apricot with size 7 needles. It grew a lot when blocked. But, the stitch definition is still there. And, I find that I like triangular shawls.

Now, I'm going to take a break from shawls until the first clue for Casablanca comes just before the weekend. Casablanca is one of my favorite movies. So, I'm going to watch it while starting the shawl.

My DD got on my case for having too many UFOs. And she was right. So, I've finished Bad Nauheim and Mystic Light. I'm getting to the finish line with the pair of knit socks I've been working on for a while -- from the Sockamaniac Yahoo group. The second sock goes much faster than the first. And knitting the second sock gives me a chance to write up and check directions for the sock. (The stitch pattern comes from the Yahoo group. We were to use the pattern to create a sock. There are also complete sock patterns in the group pages.) And I'm keeping up with the Monthly dishcloths.

I've also finally finished weaving in ends for a sweater that I'm making for my DH for his birthday. (I hate weaving in ends. I finished the sweater except for weaving in over a month ago.) It's one of Chrissy Gardiner's designs. I didn't know whether I'd like a sweater knit in cotton (Araucania Nature Cotton), but it came out nicely. And the unevenness of the yarn added to the sweater. Mine is in green, but I won't be posting a pic until after his birthday.

Palm Tree

This is the latest installment from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL (done in Peaches & Creme #55 with size 7 needles). (I'm glad that I ordered the bags of Peaches & Creme made up especially for the Monthly Dishcloth KAL.) I think the pattern is lovely -- although not blocked too well on my part. It's one of my favorites.

My DD thinks I have too many WIPs, and so I've been gradually trying to get them finished. I've finished Bad Nauheim. However, the Fisherman's Wife still needs me to find the box that the final skein of yarn was packed in. I've almost finished the crochet projects I was working on -- a pair of socks and a shawl. And I've finished one of a pair of socks I've been working on for a while. (I'm going to cast on for the second of the pair tomorrow.)

I'm making great progress on Mystic Light. I'm starting on the last clue. The picture is through the end of the next to last clue. I'm knitting it in KP Palette Apricot with size 7 needles. I should have it done by the time Casablanca starts.

When I'm done with blocking the shawl, I'm going to decide whether Palette would make good curtain material. The windows in the house we bought have blinds on them (and I hate blinds -- mostly because they're so hard to keep clean).

I forgot to say last time that we have a new wash machine. I really like it. The one that came with the house broke. (It just wouldn't spin or agitate anymore.) We went to Lowes and picked out a new washer. It was delivered the next day. I'd never had a wash machine like it before. It has no agitator in the middle like most top loaders. But that means I can easily put pillows in it. (I like to wash pillows once a year.)

And, today's my birthday. That's why I like Friday, the thirteenth, and also Flag Day. (I am superstitious about Friday, the twelfth, though. ;) )

Mystic Light started

Since I've finished one shawl and finished one of a pair of socks, I've allowed myself to start another shawl, Mystic Light. It's the first shawl I've tried in fingering weight rather than lace weight yarn. I'm using KP Palette apricot and size 7 needles. This is a pic through the end of Clue 1.

There are so many wonderful shawls to consider this year! I've also joined another Yahoo shawl group, MMario, which has a very interesting collection of shawls in various stages of development.

There is also more to crochet. I'm test crocheting a circular shawl in DK weight yarn -- which looks really pretty and which gives me an opportunity to get rid of some yarn that just didn't work for anything else I'd tried it with. There's also a CAL for a lace-weight crocheted shawl at Trinkets By Tracey. The first clue was published on May 30th. There is also a Ravelry group for the same CAL.

Finally, I got to watch the International Space Station go overhead a few night ago. It was neat. I hadn't done anything like that in many, many years. The last time I remember watching an artificial satellite go overhead was way back when I was living in Colorado. Sky and Telescope has an article about tracking satellites with a clickable Java-script type thing to calculate when and where to see the International Space Station or Hubble or the space shuttle go past.

Bad Nauheim finished

Bad Nauheim is finally finished -- with a few changes from the original. (I feel uncomfortable when making something for myself or a family member if I don't make some changes.) For the border, I scooted the design over about 15 sts and changed the motifs to be over an even rather than an odd number of sts (in order to line up with the pattern on the rest of the shawl). For the center of the crystals (in the rnds with yo's), I did k2tog, yo, ssk in one row. In the next rnd, I kfb'ed into the yo in order to keep the same stitch count. The other major change was to reflect more of the motifs into the corners. It's made with size 6 needles and KP Shadow Campfire.

I've also essentially finished the sock I'd been working on. Here are the details from a previous post. I added a stitch on either side of the pattern at the back basically when the mood struck -- well, every 9th round to start out with, then every 3rd round, and then finally with no increases. The last 2 rounds are k around, followed by (p8, p2tog) around, followed by a yo bind off. This will probably change after I finish the second sock and figure out how much yarn I have to work with -- and also think about it some more. Even with the p2tog's, the sock seems to flare out. But, I don't want to change the bind off since I like its springiness.

By the way, I'm finally registered to vote in this state. I don't know what went wrong when I tried to register via the DMV (even though I had my passport and Social Security card with me there). But, the application that I later submitted at the library went through.

a visit from Ohio

May has been a busy month. This past weekend we got a visit from some friends of ours from Ohio. It was really nice seeing them again. Their visit also gave us the impetus to get the house straightened out -- at least, for the ground floor.

The visit also worked out much, much better than I feared animal-wise. We have 2 cats who are fairly territorial. They have an English bulldog. We put a child-guard on the steps so that the cats would have a safe place. But, the dog basically ignored them, and they occasionally got brave enough to sit on the back of the sofa and try to figure out the stranger to their house.

I've gotten some work done on my shawls. I decided to wait until finding my last skein of yarn for the Fishermen's Wife -- instead of trying to figure out a way to finish it off with 1 fewer skein than the directions call for. I'm also progressing on Bad Nauheim. I got a 60" cord from KnitPicks and am now knitting the border. This is a picture through the end of Clue 5. (I scooted the border design over a bit.)

I frogged the sock I was knitting back one pattern repeat in order to fit it over my calf a bit better. I should have a finished pic for my next post. And, I'm keeping up on the Monthly Dishcloth KAL.

This past month, I did quite a bit of crocheting for some people in the Crochet Liberation Front (a Ravelry group) -- and while checking for an external link, volunteered to do some more test crocheting. Here is a pic of a sock I test crocheted. It's amazing to me how different crocheted items can look from each other. I test crocheted for 3 people and ended up with 3 completely different looking items.

And, I got a special treat Tuesday evening. A friend was traveling cross country on Amtrak. She had a layover in Chicago, and so we got together. It was the first time I'd taken the Metra into Chicago. (The trains I took were basically on time.) We ate at a Greek restaurant (Athena) in the Greek restaurant area near the train station and generally had a great time.

Mother's Day

I had a fine Mother's Day. I got to talk with both my DS1 and DD who live in different time zones from us and from each other. They sent me the flowers at the right. Unfortunately, the balloon that my DS1 sent isn't visible in the pic. DS2 went out with me and my DH to get a few flowers for the garden the day before. He also gave me a ceramic snail for the garden plus candy and tea and a Star Wars book by our favorite Star Wars author, Zahn.

There are a few plants that I always want to have in the garden no matter where we are: butterfly weed (attracts Monarchs), parsley (attracts Swallowtails and is good to eat -- at least, I like to eat it fresh), columbine (the state flower of Colorado), and bleeding heart (my DD likes it and so do I). I also like black-eyed Susans. I had a collection of different varieties growing near the back fence of the first house we owned -- back in NC. If we don't already have some growing here, I'd like to get some irises. My mom used to grow the nicest ones. And, if they would grow here, I'd like to get a bay tree and English lavender. We had them in Kent. The place we moved into is already landscaped. So, I don't know what kind of plants I'll be able to add to the mix. -- I almost forgot. I'd like to have some kind of fruit tree. I brought a blueberry bush from NJ (which has made the transition -- even though or maybe because I dug it up and replanted it in the dead of winter). But, I'd also like an apple tree. We're probably going to be staying here long enough for it to bear.

The end of the week, we had a short visit from my nephew, pictured at the right. He was interviewing at a local university. It was good to see and visit with him. He's also tall. I'd forgotten just how tall he is.

almost finished

I'm finally in the home stretch as regards to the shawls I'm making. I've finally finished Clue 6 of the Fisherman's Wife and am now about to start the border. It's a beautiful design. I can't wait to see what it will look like off the needles and blocked.

I'm not posting a picture of Bad Nauheim because it looks weird with only part of it blocked.

The number of WIPs I have is starting to bother me. So, I'm making a concerted effort to finish up the small projects. I started the May dishcloth KAL on May 1st and plan to keep up with the daily additions. (I know that that isn't a WIP, but in my mind it would be.) And I'm working seriously on finishing socks.

This is how far I've gotten on a mystery pattern from the Sockamaniac Sockalong. The front of the sock is the March/April 2008 mystery sock challenge. The back of the sock leg includes the pattern from the February 2007 mystery sock challenge. The sock is KP Essential Riverbed Multi in size 1 needles. The heel is from Fleegle's No Flap No Hassle sock pattern. The only other design element is k1p1 ribbing -- to provide enough width for the sock -- and for the center back of the leg -- so the back isn't just the 2007 pattern.

Illinois doesn't like me

Illinois must not like me. When my DH and I went in to the DMV to get our driver's licenses, the clerk asked if we'd like to register to vote as well. We said "yes" as that would save us from searching for a voter's registration office. Well, my DH got a voter registration confirmation. I got a rejection notice.

At the right is a picture of the latest dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth KAL. This was really fun to make. It's called "Dots within Stripes", but I call it "Asterisks" because the dots look like asterisks to me. I was going to put off making it, but my cat (the short hair one in the next picture) sat on top of the shawl I wanted to work on and essentially forced me to work on this -- if I were to work on anything.

In other knitting news, I'm almost done with Clue 6 for the Fisherman's Wife. It's now 807 sts across. I've finished the second time through for Clue 3 for Bad Nauheim. I've gotten to the leg of the knit sock I'm working on. And, I've finished the sweater I was test knitting except for weaving in loose ends. I've also finished my first crocheted sock but may make it longer.

This is really the year of lace. There is another lace shawl group starting at Yahoo, the goddess knits mystery shawl. This is going to be a round shawl. Whenever I get around to starting it (There are a few other shawls in the queue ahead of it.), I'm going to use Fleegle's way to cast on for a circular shawl.

My DD came for a visit this past month. It was great seeing her again. She chided me that she had been in the house for a total of less than 2 weeks and had her room completely unpacked while I still had boxes waiting to be unpacked for almost every other room of the house. (We moved in in mid January.) The pic is of my DD and DS2 and our two cats.

The long haired one made a remarkable improvement while my DD was visiting. She had a nosebleed that lasted almost an entire evening. But, now her breathing is much better, and she's even started to eat moist food again. I've also seen her play fight with the other kitty -- which she hadn't done since before we moved. Both cats (littermates) will turn 17 this weekend.

Misc Update

The thing that I enjoy almost as much as knitting lace shawls is test knitting. I'm test knitting a sweater for Chrissy. (When I need a break from the sweater, I work on my shawls.)

This week I also volunteered to test crochet a pair of socks. I'd never crocheted socks before. It's interesting how similar but different sock crocheting is from sock knitting. (edited Friday--) I bought a couple of crochet hooks in order to make the socks since the ones I had were either too big or too small. They're a light-weight aluminum, I think. I can see why some people say crocheting hurts their hand. I really dislike using them. (I hadn't bought any crochet hooks in the US in years if not decades. I even have crochet hooks that are older than I am.)

The Fisherman's Wife is getting down to the homestretch. I've started on the last clue before the lower border of the shawl. I've finished the first repeat of Clues 1 - 4 of Bad Nauheim. I haven't started Mystic Light yet, but I do have the yarn for it. A couple of weeks ago, I joined the Mystery Lace KAL. (Sign ups are closing soon for Mystery Lace.) This week I joined another lace shawl KAL, Casablanca. I'm also signed up for Slow Bee and Slow Bee 2. It looks as though I'll have enough shawl projects to keep me occupied for years.

I'm also working on the latest dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo! group. I enjoy the mid-month dishcloths the most. One gets to try something perhaps new and different. This mid-month's dishcloth is knitted in 2 colors.

And, I work on the sock I was knitting when I get a chance. Socks are nice to tote around. I took them to the DMV last Saturday when my DH and I went to get our driver's licenses. However, I didn't get a chance to knit. Illinois had us take written tests. So, we spent the time waiting for our numbers to be called studying. (I had to take a written test for my first license, of course. But, North Carolina and New Jersey don't require us to take a written test. However, Ohio did. So, maybe it's a Midwest thing. -- And as my DH said, we've each now gotten driving licenses in 1/10 of the States.)

Blogger isn't cooperating with posting photos. So, I guess this post will be pictureless.

Shawls again

I've joined another shawl KAL, the Mystery Lace Yahoo group. I don't know when I'll have time to work on everything. But, since I know that there is no way I'll be able to keep up, I'm content to proceed at my own pace.

The 2 shawls I'm making from Moni's patterns are getting longer. It now takes me about 30 minutes to work a row for the Fisherman's Wife Faroese shawl. But, I still like the yarn and the pattern. Here's a picture of it through the end of Clue 4. I'm on my 3rd skein of KP Shadow Vineyard now. -- I'm definitely not going to make the optional extension.

Here is Bad Nauheim through the end of Clue 2. It's in KP Shadow Campfire. While waiting for Clue 2 to appear, I took the opportunity to unzip sts from the provisional cast on and put them on a spare cable. (The KP interchangeable needles are great for something like this. I don't know how I ever got along without them.) I even made sure the stitches were facing the right way. So, now I don't have to worry anymore about whether I'll be able to unzip sts successfully. They're unzipped and ready to be knitted.

The sock from the January mystery pattern in Sockamania Sockalong group is going nicely. It's a great pattern -- made even better for me because I love puzzles.

I haven't started on the April dishcloth for the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo group. But, I did order some yarn packaged especially for the KAL.

Finally, Chrissy, the lady I test knit for, is doing a series about designing. The first post in the installment came out April 1st. It's worth looking at just to admire the cables.

As to the weather here, we got an April Fool's surprise. We had snow flurries just before noon on April 1st!!! But, the snow is almost all melted from the previous snow falls, and bulbs, probably daffodils, are started to peek up from the ground.

Two shawls

I must really like Moni's patterns. I made Chrysopolis last fall. Now I'm in the midst of two of her other patterns, Bad Nauheim and the Fisherman's Wife.

The Bad Nauheim KAL is just beginning. (Sign-ups are closed, but sign ups are still open for another of her KAL's, Slow Bee, which is set to begin this summer, I think.) I'm using KnitPicks Shadow Campfire and size 4 needles. The pattern begins with a provisional cast on.

I wish I had thought to look at Fleegle's blog before casting on. She has a wonderful provisional cast on that leaves the provisional part on a circular ready to knit. Instead I used a crochet provisional cast on. (Notice the red part -- red crochet thread -- at the bottom of the picture.) I'm worrying about not dropping the knit sts when I unzip the crochet sts. The last time I used a provisional cast on like this was for a toe-up sock toe for a Sherman sock. I ended up redoing the toe after dropping a few sts while unzipping the crochet sts. I finally decided to start with a single cast on instead of a provisional one. I hope I have better luck this time.

Here is a picture of the Fisherman's Wife through the end of Clue 2 -- or rather a picture of a couple of panels from the shawl. It's a Faroese design. I'm up to the point that it takes more than 20 minutes for me to do a row of knitting. And there are many, many more increases to come. But, I like the design, and I like the yarn (KP Shadow Vineyard).

I'm almost ready to cast on for a pair of socks, the current mystery sock pattern from the Sockamaniac Sockalong group. You're given a stitch pattern, and it's up to you to design a sock around the pattern. This one is basically a ribbed sock with some twists. I'm going to work it toe up since I haven't figure out how I want to do the back of the leg.

We went driving on Sunday, to the north. We were driving along, trying to figure out if we were headed homeward or not. (It's more fun driving without a GPS system.) We commented to ourselves that the roads looked in a lot better shape than the roads around where we live. Then we drove by a post office and discovered that we were in Wisconsin. ;)
By the way, we got 11" of snow this past Friday. The sun is hot enough that it's almost melted away now.

It's green.

Since today is St. Patrick's Day and since Chicago had its parade on Saturday and dyed the Chicago River on Saturday, we decided to go to downtown Chicago yesterday - Sunday - (my first time there since our move). The river is actually green -- and not the green that comes from algae.

We didn't just look at the river. We drove around Chicago for a little bit. We saw the Theater District and, of course, the downtown area and the library (which looks scary) and the lake.

Then since my husband is a Cubs fan, we drove to Wrigley Field. Surprisingly to me, we weren't the only ones there. There were a fair number of people who had taken the opportunity to drive down to the area and walk around the ballpark -- even though the temperature was just a few degrees above freezing. But, when we were visiting Madrid, one of our must sees was the Bernabéu Stadium. (Our DS1 likes to look at football stadiums and also go to the games.) So, I guess it wasn't that strange.

On the knitting front, I've started work on dem Fischer sin Fru -- since I completed the socks and sweater I'd been working on since December or before. Here is my completed short-sleeved raglan with a v neck -- done from the top down. It's CotLin on size 5 needles. CotLin is a pleasure to work with. So, now I have my first summer sweater done. The picture shows it before blocking.

I had almost finished it on Saturday, but it wasn't clear to me whether or not one sleeve was shorter than the other. So, I decided to look at it again the next day. One sleeve was shorter by a row (which makes a difference for a short-sleeve garment). The center 9 sts are a wishbone pattern, then comes a 1-st wide garter pattern, then a 4-st wide braid, a 7-st wide ladder, and finally another 4-st wide braid. All the panels were separated by p2's.

It bled very slightly when put in water prior to blocking. I wouldn't have noticed the bleeding if I hadn't been looking for it.

Finally finished socks

I've finally finished the pair of socks that I've been working on for a long time. These are Errant Lace socks in KP Essential Shoreline Twist. (I got the pattern when it was still free online in a cybersocks tutorial.) Another picture of the socks, which shows the banded heel, is at the Sock-It-To-'Em blogspot KAL. This picture shows the toe pattern (which I'd never made before but which seems to go quite well with the lace pattern for the rest of the sock).

It wasn't until I finally quit working on (and frogged) the Spring Surprise shawl that I was able to finish the socks. I came to a point that I just didn't want to knit another circle on the shawl.

I'm also almost finished with the sweater that I'd been working on since December as well. I don't know whether it was the yarn or the pattern for the shawl. I'd used the same yarn (KP Shadow Vineyard Heather) to start the Secret of the Stole (I) last year. I ended up frogging that and reusing it for the Spring Shawl Surprise. So, of course, what do I do but buy some more so I can use it to knit up dem-Fischer-sin-Fru. The more I see of the fisherman's wife shawl, the more I want to knit it. But, I'm going to finish the sweater first. Then, I'll start the shawl. And then I'll start the Bad Nauheim and Mystic Light shawls and maybe a Tubey variation.

By the way, a belated Happy Pi Day to those who celebrate the day, March 14th ( 3.14 ). And an early Happy Pi Approximation Day to those who celebrate the day, July 22nd ( 22/7 ).

Prism Dishcloth

The Yahoo Monthly Dishcloth KAL has such wonderful patterns. This latest one is from mid-February. It took me a long time to choose the right colors. But, when I read a post that this pattern was great for getting rid of old yarn, I knew what colors to choose. The background is black. The other colors are: red, orange, yellow, sage green, hot blue, blue (?), and hot purple. I'm not sure of some of the colors since all I had left was enough for just a few rows.

I've also finished up to the end of Clue 8 for LUL's spring surprise shawl. It doesn't look like a garlic press any more to me, but it still looks like some kitchen utensil. Another guess is that it's a bracket and the circles are basketballs -- in honor of the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. :)

Also, happy birthday to DS2. We took him out to a rib/BBQ place here the other night. The food was good. They even had a special treat in honor of his birthday. -- At least, that's the way it seemed to me. :) -- Just before we ordered, a live blues band started playing. They didn't pause for a break until just after we paid the bill. While none of us is a blues fan, I have to say that they were good.

Garlic and Chocolates

My Spring Surprise Shawl is coming along. Unfortunately, the last time I was in the grocery store, I spied a garlic press that looked just like the image on the scarf. Though, I didn't walk over to make sure it was a garlic press. It might have been some other kind of kitchen gadget -- since I really don't know what one looks like since I've never owned or used a garlic press in my life. So, now, when I look at the scarf, I see cloves of garlic -- which is all right with me. I'll think of the shawl as protection from vampires. ;)

And speaking of shawl KALs..... The Secret of Bad Nauheim KAL is closing to new members in just under a week. The Mystic Light KAL is scheduled to begin around the end of March. It's by the same person who did the Mystic Waters KAL and is done with fingering weight yarn. The Slow Bee Mystery KAL will be starting this summer but is now taking members and votes as to the shape of the shawl.

In other knitting, I've finished the February dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth group. It's a chocolate candy box for Valentine's Day and hence the second part of the title to this post -- chocolate.

I haven't been working on my navy-v sweater much recently -- even though there isn't much left to do. I obviously didn't get it done by the end of the past year. But, it's a summer top in CotLin and so I don't have much incentive to finish it up yet. My biggest incentive is that I want to finish it before beginning another Tubey clone -- which I do want to do once I find where the yarn I'd chosen for it is packed.

I've gone one Errant Lace sock done and have started work on the other one. And, I like Andi's idea about using scrap yarn for the mid-February Dishcloth KAL. I think I'll do the contrast stripes as a prism.

Finally, yesterday was Washington's birthday. I baked a cherry pie in honor of the day. It was good to have home-made pie again. -- Even though the cherries came from a can, the crust was made from scratch.

London in January

This is a long overdue post about our trip to London over the last weekend in January. We had a wonderful time. And the weather was perfect. But, the best thing of all was that we were all together. The reason for the trip was the graduation ceremony for our DS1. So, of course, he and Liz were there. They flew in from California. We (my DH and I) and DS2 were there. We flew in from Chicago. And, DD was there along with Chris. They both live in London. She is in her last year of university there. The picture is of DS1 and Liz.

The ceremony was fun. The officials even let people cheer for the graduates. (Though, it sounded to me as if the word was graduants.) -- We just politely clapped for our DS1.

We arrived in London on Thursday and left on Sunday. But, we packed a lot into the trip. The graduation ceremony was Friday morning. In the evening we went to Cirque du Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall. DS1 had to spend a lot of time on line and on the telephone to get us tickets at the last minute. In the end, we had some wonderful tickets. The performance was wonderful, as well. I had never seen anything like it before.

(I also took some time that afternoon to get a bit of yarn at John Lewis.)

The following evening we went to a play, "The Sound of Music". We were wondering how we'd like it and how it would compare to the movie. It was like the movie but different. There were a few songs in the play that weren't in the movie. The play was, of course, done quite well. It was, after all, the West End.

Saturday morning, DD, DS2, and I went to the British Museum. The rest of the crew were out doing other things. I was worried that I might not get to see it this visit. So, I'm glad that I was able to fit it in. This visit we spent most of the time admiring the Elgin Marbles. The statue in the picture is near the entrance to the Marbles. It was on loan.

Saturday afternoon, DS1 and Liz went to see Arsenal. She's a big Arsenal fan. They had bought the tickets way ahead of time and had really good seats.

The rest of us (except Chris, who had to work) decided to go to a Wycombe Wanderer's game. We used to go there often when my DH worked near there (on the same street as the stadium). Here is a picture of the stadium from the parking lot as we waited to leave. We just barely made it back to London in time for the play.

The only thing bad about the trip was trying to get on an American Airlines flight back to the States. We had to wait at the check-in desk for a long time while the clerk there, her supervisor, and finally someone else (either security or her supervisor's supervisor) try to sort out why the names on our passports were different from the names on the computer screen. After what must have been at least a quarter hour, they finally discovered that the screen truncated last names to 10 letters. (Our last name has more than 10 letters in it.) The supervisor said that that was the second time that had happened that morning. You'd think they'd catch on after the first time. But, the flight crew was nice and apologized for the check-in desk.

The trip to London was sort of like a trip to a tropical destination for us (now living in Chicago). The temperature when we left Chicago was 10F, and the temperature when we arrived in London was 10C.

Spring Shawl Surprise - Clues 3 & 4

I almost frogged the shawl. I'd been thinking that it might look better if the yo paths continued to the edge -- which would involve changing the first few pattern lines. But, luckily, I slept on it and decided not to frog.

My general rule on frogging is that I'll frog if there are 3 things that are "wrong" or if there is no way I'd wear it as it is. This shawl almost got frogged due to the "3" rule. One of the bird's eyes (or, as I like to call them, wind flowers) is a mutant. It's a double eye. Plus, one of the circles suffers from my doing m2's instead of m1's at the side, resulting in the k5tog in the row after the row after being surrounded by k3tog's instead of k2tog's/ssk's.

I wish I had time to make all the shawls that are on Yahoo right now. The lady who designed Chrysopolis has a Faroe Island lace shawl KAL going. It's beautiful. Plus, the Secret of the Stole II KAL is also going. It's even nicer than the previous one. I'll have to make these 2 shawls after this one is finished.

January Dishcloths

Here are the 2 January dishcloths from the Monthly Dishcloth Yahoo group. I didn't do the best job of blocking the dishcloths -- and the color for the first one is well off (It's supposed to be caramel.) -- but, oh well.

There's still a lot of work to do around the house. But, it's starting to be livable.

My main goal, knitting-wise, was to finish the football dishcloth before the Super Bowl. And I did get it done before then -- along with the mid-January lacy dishcloth.

My mom got here last Wednesday to live with us again. I'm surprised how frail she's gotten in just a month's time -- especially since my sister had said that our mom had been going up and down stairs in the month she spent with my sister. Maybe I just don't remember how frail she had gotten.

But, I'm more worried about one of our 2 cats. She's been ill since the week we packed up to move here. For the longest time, she wouldn't eat or drink. The vet had to hydrate her. She's now on steroids, which seem to help both with her eating and drinking and her asthma-like wheezing.

Spring Shawl - Clue 2

Clue 2 to LUL's Spring Shawl Surprise is finished and has been finished for over a week. Here is a picture. I can't believe it took me to a few rows into Clue 2 to realize that the shawl isn't symmetric. There is one fewer row next to the right side border. (That may be why I kept having trouble with the borders. I was using the left and right pattern sheets interchangeably.)

The shawl is not blocked. And so the pulling from the k3tog's toward the center of the picture is visible. (The brown threads show the dividing line between pattern sheets. The green marks the center.) I really like the little birds' eyes. I'm not sure I'm doing them right, but at least they look ok. -- When reading a pattern from left to right, I naturally switch a k2tog to a ssk and vice versa.

The move to north of Chicago went well. We got the cable tv, internet, and phone hooked up this past weekend. We got the printer hooked up yesterday. It is interesting trying to knit a pattern like this (ie Clue 3 of the pattern) off of a laptop screen -- but doable.

Spring Shawl - Clue 1

Clue 1 for the Spring Shawl Surprise is done -- and Clue 2 doesn't even come out until Monday. I'm using KP Essential Vineyard and size 4 needles. It's easier to knit than I thought it would be -- at least, so far. I like the edging -- and actually all of the design elements. Though, when I make a mistake, it's more than likely to be at the edging. I guess that my concentration isn't as great there as elsewhere.

added Sunday: LUL, the designer of the shawl, just sent a note out that the next section will be more difficult. She's posted a picture of the shawl to Clue 1, on her blog. You've got to like a person who can leave out a couple of rows and still have something that looks nice.

fyi. Sign-ups end on the 8th.

Happy New Year

Here are a couple of Christmas pictures that I thought I'd post. The first is of our 2 cats just after they opened the catnip presents we got them. Clearly, they didn't want to share. But, at least, it wasn't like last year in which both of them got so zonked out on catnip that they didn't even want to eat.

The second if of some of the presents we got. (I like the fireman with the cat. There's a bottle of glögg under his hat.)

I finished one sweater before New Year's and so have a total of 11 for the year. I'm about half done with another. So, I guess it will be my January sweater.

The first clue to the Yahoo! group Spring Shawl Surprise came out just after midnight Central European Time. And so I have a lace shawl to work on.

Purplish Socks

The socks that I started at O'Hare are now done. They're in Essential Meteor Twist with size 1 needles. The pattern is from the Yahoo! Sockamaniac Sockalong group and is called Fire on the Mountain. (A second picture of the socks is at SaM KAL4.) I really like how the feather and fan design changes how the shape of the top of the sock.

As to the color: Shortly after knitpicks.com came out with their Essential Twist colors, I decided to try them out. This is the first of the colors that I've knit up. (It looked loud while still on the skein.) I'm pleasantly surprised at how relatively muted the color knit up. The dappling is really nice.

My next sock project is Errant Lace Socks using Shoreline Twist.

I'm also taking the time between lace shawl KALs to work on sweaters. Until I made a list of the sweaters I finished this year, I didn't realize how close I was to finishing the goal of 12 sweaters in a year. So, I decided to work on a couple of quick sweaters. I've almost finished OJ, a drop-sleeve boatneck -- and, in doing so, discovered changes that needed to be made to my pattern. I also discovered that seaming isn't terrible after all. In fact, after getting over a reluctance to thread a needle, I had fun weaving the side seams together. Then, I used the crosswise bars in determining where to pick up sts for the sleeves.

I've started working on a short-sleeve v-neck raglan in CotLin with size 5 needles. I don't know whether or not I'll get it done by the end of the year. But, it's quick and something I'd been wanting to do.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have the Happiest of New Years!

Blackout

We had a power outage last night. It lasted from about 5 minutes before midnight to 5:38am. (DS2 was up with the kitties when the lights came back on.)

I was surprised that the house stayed fairly warm during that time. Of course, I did put a couple extra quilts on the bed.

The kitties didn't like the power outage. They were ok as long as one of us (DS2) was up with them and had a candle lit. But, the one that gets in most of my knitting pictures and helps me knit a lot of the time especially didn't like the house without electricity -- which is sort of surprising since cats are nocturnal. Maybe she likes having at least one light on in the house.

The picture at the right is a circular dishcloth made from a pattern Ruth gave out (with size 6 needles). I started it while waiting to leave from Newark about a week ago. I finished it in Chicago. It's the first circular one that I've made.

A Year of Sweaters

At the beginning of the year, I joined a sweater KAL with an aim of making 12 sweaters this year.

Here's my progress:
1. a smocked raglan sweater in a wool/alpaca blend and on size 3 needles. The pattern I used is here.
2. T-squared, a square-neck sweater knit sideways across the top -- similar to Tubey (in acrylic and size 7 needles). The pattern I used is here.
3. another T-squared. This one was knit from yarn I frogged from the Tubey I'd made the previous year (in acrylic and size 7 needles).
4. a basket-weave raglan -- in acrylic from the local post office to our previous home in Broadstairs and size 3 needles
-----May was the month that I started my first shawl (in Homespun Prairie and size 10 needles). It turned out more like a throw than a shawl, and so I frogged it this month.
5. a short-sleeved raglan, ribbed at the top. This was the first time I'd tried Paton's Wool Merino. I love the yarn. (I used size 7 needles.) I also really like the pattern.
July was the month when I discovered lace stoles, namely MS3.
6. Summer square, a ultra-short-sleeved wide-boatneck raglan (my own pattern)-- in KP Shine Worsted and size 7 needles
7. Tomato (in KP Swish Superwash and size 6 needles)-- and I see that I can't count. (Well, I never claimed that I could.) This was the first colorwork that I'd ever tried. It was fun. The pattern is from Knitting Daily.
8. Festive -- a yoked sweater with a wide neck and ultra-short sleeves, a pattern of my own creation (in acrylic and size 7 needles) -- which is not written up yet.
-----I tried to make Festive with KP Swish Superwash, but it didn't turn out. The pattern may work with cotton, though. It definitely didn't work with wool.
-----October was the month that I discovered that I really like knitting lace shawls. I finished knitting MS3 in September. I started Chrysopolis just before the beginning of the month and finished it in December -- just in time for my DD to take both shawls back with her. The second was made with KP Shadow; the first with KP lace-weight bare.
-----I also knit my first capelet (from the Bits and Bobs Yahoo group) and my first Faroese shawl (from Knitting Daily). Both were made with Wool-Ease -- another of my new favorites.
9. test knitting -- a short-sleeve scoop neck raglan (for which I'll post pics when the pattern comes out)
10. test knitting -- a short-set-in-sleeve v-neck (for which I'll post pics when the pattern comes out)

So, I guess I could conceivably finish 12 sweaters this year. I've got yarn to make a couple simple long-sleeve sweaters. ..... And the Spring Shawl Surprise doesn't start until New Year's Day. ......

The baby blanket for charity is finished. Some pics are at my crochet tutorial. (I used a crochet edging.) Other pics are at my Ravelry page.

Then, while waiting for a plane at O'Hare, I started a sock from the Sockamaniac Socknitters Yahoo group. I'm doing the Fire on the Mountain sock in KP Essential Meteor Twist.

Fudge

For the knitting guild December party this past Tuesday I was going to make some fudge. So, on Tuesday morning, I got out my old recipe and mentioned to whomever that when making candy one has to follow the recipe exactly and that the only time it turns out for me is when I make it around 10:00 pm.

The first thing I did was to say I might as well substitute 1% milk for the evaporated milk -- which would mean I wouldn't be following the recipe exactly. I was asked whether there was a can of evaporated milk in the pantry, and I answered in the affirmative. So, I used the evaporated milk. Well, I cooked it to too high a final temperature, and it turned out hard and crumbly.

The next afternoon, I decided to try again. I used the rest of the evaporated milk plus some 1% milk. I didn't cook it to a high enough temperature, and it turned out syrupy. So, I brought Oreo cookies to the get-together.

When I got home, the fudge was still syrupy. So, I poured it back into the pan and added the first batch to the pan as well. I cooked it just as I would have if I had been starting from scratch -- except there was almost twice as much in the pot (another no-no when making candy). The other bad part about this is that the nuts and butter were already added. (They're supposed to be added at the end.) This time I did cook it to the right temperature, the soft ball stage. The soft ball stage is determined by dropping some of the candy (while still hot) onto a surface (like a pan lid). If it forms a soft ball, it's at the soft ball stage.

The fudge turned out perfectly.

So, I guess the morals of the story are: First, I can only make candy late in the evening. Second, candy making rules can be broken -- but only some of them.

A couple more comments. I use terms like "soft ball stage" instead of a temperature since I've lived in places that water doesn't boil at 212F. In Colorado Springs, it boils at a temp just under 200F. In Stockholm, it boils at a temp just above 212F. Because of the way the earth is shaped, sea level isn't always the same.

Second, if one pours the fudge mixture over popcorn without doing the last steps of adding butter and letting it cool (and then lightly mixes to coat the popcorn), one gets chocolate covered popcorn. My grandmother used to make it, and many family members still do. It's good.

Chrysopolis

My Chrysopolis stole is finally finished -- just in time for my DD to take it back with her to London. It turned out a little bigger than it was supposed to. I probably should have used a size 3 instead of a size 4 needle. KP Shadow seems to have different springy-ness from color to color. Size 4 worked well with Vineyard, but size 3 might have been better with Redwood Forest. I used size 5 with KP Laceweight Bare. But, I'm very happy with how it turned out. And the extra length is nice.

I finished a lot of knitting while she was here. I finished a top in her size which I was test knitting. Then I also finished a scarf -- another of Chrissy's creations. (As far as I know these haven't been added to her website yet.) I had knit a foot or so of the scarf as test knitting -- with Wool-Ease Dark Rose Heather. My DD liked it so well that she asked me whether I'd be so kind as to make the whole scarf for her.

My DD also loved the Swan Lake stole. So, I gave her both Chrysopolis and Swan Lake.

It's not as though I'll run out of stoles. Besides Bad Nauheim, dem-Fisher-sin-Fru, and Secret II, I've also joined the Spring Surprise shawl KAL. I think I'm going overboard with knitting shawls. It is addicting.

I've decided that I do like the KP chart keeper. I can put one half of a shawl pattern on one side of the chart and the other half on the other and not have to worry about losing my place. The charts are also kept at a nice angle for viewing. The magnets are also strong enough that I can put dishcloth directions (for example) on top of a shawl chart and use one of the smaller magnets to keep track of where I am on there as well.

The flowers next to the chart are from my DS1's girlfriend and her mother as a Thanksgiving present. They are such nice people.

The cats and the rest of us miss DD a lot. The cats were so sad to see her leave that they didn't eat their evening meal. They did join us at the table for some left-over turkey, though.

Finally, the charity baby blanket is going along well. I really like how it is turning out.

Blanket

Here's a perfect example of "Don't keep knitting, hoping it will look better eventually" and also "You can't expect a 7-color pattern to look good in only 2 colors". I finally decided to frog the blanket and start with a true 2-color geometric pattern.

Chrysopolis - 6.Teil

I can't believe that I'm 3/4 of the way through knitting the Chrysopolis shawl. I hope to finish it by the time my DD comes to visit. I'm going to give her a choice between the dramatic MS3 and the warm and comfy Chrysopolis.

I got a chart keeper from KnitPicks but haven't decided whether or not I like it. I should have read the dimensions more carefully -- or at all. It's half the size I assumed it would be. But, I am able to put one side of the Chrysopolis chart on one side of the chart keeper and the other on the other. The only problem is that the paper is bigger than the chart keeper.

I'm almost finished with my current test knitting for Chrissy -- just in time for my DD to try the garment on -- since it's in her size.

Please take a look at my crocheting tutorial on Bits and Bobs the Blog. It's the first tutorial I've written, and I would love some feedback.

I haven't started the Monthly Dishcloth mid-November KAL yet. But, I do have the yarn picked out. Instead I've just been working on the shawl, the test knitting, and a baby blanket for charity. I haven't started the Sockamaniac sock-a-long yet either -- though I have picked out the yarn for that also -- as well as for another sock from the Sockamaniac Yahoo group.

Happy birthday to my mom who lives with us and who turns 91 today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chrysopolis - 5.Teil

Here is a picture of Chrysopolis through Week 5 of the instructions.

Moni, the creator of the pattern, has just announced 2, yes 2, new stole KALs. The Yahoo groups are dem-fischer-sin-fru (aka, the fisherman's wife) and the Secret of Bad Nauheim. Both are based in German, but there are English translation of all the important information. (The German Yahoo info pages are in the same format as similar English-based Yahoo pages.)

The Nautical Knitter has also announced a new shawl KAL on Yahoo. It's simply named Secret of the Stole II. The name of the group has changed. Now it has a "-" in the name.

My viewpoint is that one can never belong to too many shawl KALs.

On another subject, I've posted the second in a series on crocheting -- at Bits and Bobs the Blog. This new post is on the chain stitch. (I'm starting out with the very basics.)

Here is a picture of our "new" car, a 2005 Hyundai. We bought it as a small commuter car. It's a pleasure to drive. It's the first red car we've ever owned. But, there are quite a few red cars around here (because of Rutgers being in the state), and so it won't stand out too much. (When we think red, we think either Ohio State or NC State.)