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I spun and finished four ounces of some combed top from Little Barn in Brite Blue this week. I had thought about getting out there this weekend, but that did not happen. It will probably be next month before I have a chance to make my way out there. I like the little Saturday fiber group they have, but just do not make it very regularly. It is even less frequent that I bring my wheel. I think I may prefer spinning alone at home, but I do admit I have not given public/social spinning much of a chance.
Anyway, this is a two-ply somewhere in the neighborhood of 370 yards. I have not made plans for it, but it has sat next to my Walker Treasury for inspiration. It is still a bit damp, so I am not completely sure about the finished yarn, but I think I might like it. I definitely enjoy gazing at the color. Its brightness (though not quite as bright as this picture) is quite a change from the current socks.
The knitting of the psc socks on the needles (we will not mention to which month they belong) is quite nice. They are modified Red Brick Road socks from the Fall/Winter 2008 knit.1 magazine. They do not look very good on the needles, but on the feet, the little mock cables show up quite nicely. This pair is for Brucie. He does not mind that the color is a bit on the plain side. I think I have a more colorful pair for him waiting to be knit in one of those psc bags.
A partial sock and a new skein of handspun is not much to show for the week. However, I have been sifting through the stash and swatching. I may have something meaningful to show for my efforts soon. Perhaps meaningful is a stronger word than I should use, but I am trying to be optimistic. I am also excited about the potential new project.
No, I am not posting a video of me taking my vitamins, eating my veggies, flossing, brushing, and making my bed. Instead, I offer a nupp-flash.
I finished the Swallowtail Shawl just in time for Mother's Day. I added a couple of extra stitches to the garter-edge, and I think that looks nice. I also added some glass pearl beads to the last charted row. Other than that, I knit it as written. As it really was down to the wire on finishing, I did not take measurements, but I believe it was close to six feet across and nearly four feet deep. I used nearly every bit of three skeins of Knit Picks Imagination in the Pixie Dust colorway.
I hope Mom likes it. It was hard to tell, as Sunday had many bumps. It had its good moments too. I received a very sweet card and flowers from the kids. My niece doubted my credentials to receive a Mother's Day gift. She thought that she had settled the matter when she told me that Taki is not a girl. It would seem she is a bit confused about the day. I wish I had captured video of her singing and dancing, "Boogie-Woogie-Piggy," but I saw her performance after she had been playing outside in her ballet outfit. Did I mention it has rained every day this month? Yeah. She was a vision of the boogie-woogie, as well as the piggy.
There was a tornado on our street yesterday. If it had turned a few hundred yards further, it would
have gotten us. That is about more than I can wrap my mind around. I feel grateful to have been spared, but feel for the people whose property was damaged.
I decided to try to move forward by working out my tensions on some bread dough. I mostly followed this recipe, and gave the second loaf away. I like it pretty well, and look forward to the next loaves I bake. I would give you a picture, but the pretty loaf is the one I gave away, and the less pretty one has been subjected to my very un-pretty slicing. I think my next loaf will come from a booklet I recently received. They are all no-knead bread recipes, and I have wanted to try out this method for a while now.
Paw is out-of-town, so we have been over visiting Mom a bit more. This is usually fine, but I am on the deadline to finish her shawl for Sunday. I guess it is good that she requested a simple dessert for the day. Mmmm...dessert. I am hungry. I had better make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and get knitting. Oh, but the spinning wheel is crying only slightly less loudly than the fiber stash, which is absolutely wailing for attention.
Yes, the piggy scarefest (h1n1) is officially here. They closed many schools for Thursday and Friday last week. Wednesday night my sister told her son that if he was very good and went to bed without another word he could stay home the next day, and if he kept to excellent behavior he would not 
have to go to school Friday, either. On our way home from picking him up Thursday, a big board from an even bigger truck bit our car. Bruce's excellent driving saved us from the worst of it, but the incident ate the following 36 hours. After being on the verge of a breakdown Wednesday evening, that nearly put us over the edge. Maybe it meant that I cracked up a bit more than I am willing to admit, but I finally settled on laughing as the appropriate response to all of this. The new mirror should be here soon.
I think I solved the dilemma of who should receive Ene's Scarf. A great niece graduates from high school later this month, and I believe this will be right for her. I finished grafting it Sunday night (maybe it had become Monday at that point), and now it just needs the weaving in of ends and blocking. With one lace off the needles, I cast on for new as soon as possible. It is a Mother's Day Swallowtail. I have a good start on it, but it could be that it will be a Graduation Swallowtail, and Ene will be Mom's.
Monday was a wonderful night with my Skanky Knitter friends. For too long, we have been missing each other, and we finally caught up last night. We stayed until they closed the store (10 p.m.), and talked a little longer out in the parking lot. We finally dispersed after random dude pulled his car up next to us and inquired as to whether we were experiencing any flu symptoms.
I do believe that the laundry mated while we were away. I would complain, but I am just grateful that the dishes behaved themselves. Actually, the housework is helping me get back on track. I find that I am a bit more emotionally fragile than I would have expected. In fact, the 10 on Tuesday topic left me overwhelmed. This stuff just takes time, and I will even out again soon.
Lest you think I do not realize that our absence affected others, I share this picture with you all. This was the stray cat greeting us on our front porch when we got home. It was actually quite loose, but maybe not something the cat could get rid of on its own. I was able to remove the ground beef wrapper so long as I promised to refrain from threatening actions such as petting. By this evening, the cat had recovered enough to resume its assistant gardener activities.
Now it is time to get out the wheel and ply like the wind. Actually, I will enjoy taking my time and enjoying each treadle. Getting those dishes out of the way earlier today means I will be able to soak the new skein tonight. Yay, Doing Chores First!
We are home from the hospital, and being home is so good. After extensive testing, poking, prodding, analyzing, imaging, injecting, and observing, all doctors are in agreement with a high level of confidence, that the problem which brought Brucie to the hospital is not going to cause him to expire in the immediate future. Beyond that, they have differing opinions. Although we do not have all the answers, we did gain important information, and some of it is even positive. It was a real roller coaster of an adventure and emotion. We are keeping the focus on thankfulness for being home and doing well.
Only three doctors annoyed me, and of those, just one is on my avoidance list. The three other doctors were great. All of the nurses and patient care techs were beyond fabulous, and they took quite a liking to him. When it was time to leave, the charge nurse was the one to bring him downstairs in the wheelchair.
I have had such a wonderful outpouring of support and love during this ordeal, and I cannot begin to express how much it helped. It means so much to me, and I am so very grateful. All of this powerful love is almost overwhelming. I learned much more over these past few days then I thought possible. Thank you.
If I compete in Sock Madness next year, I think I might become quite nervous at round three. Last 
year, it was the daughter's turn for a trip to the hospital. This year, it is the husband in the hospital. He is doing fine. They are running tests. This happens sometimes. He has cardiovascular troubles. We try our best to take it easy as the waiting game does its thing. It is good to have knitting.
I was glad to have knitting when my coughing would not let me sleep last night. Knitting kept me company in the ER this morning. That was where I finished the latest Sock Madness socks (Talia's Wings). Now it is time for lace to be my companion.
It has been a high fiber week, but there is not much to show for it. I have reached the halfway point on spinning some singles. I do not know what kind of wool this is, but I like it. The bundle of fiber was more than a little compacted, and I was concerned this would not be an enjoyable spinning experienced. However, once I spent a bit more time with it, the fiber agreed to be friendly. After that, it seemed like it did not take long before I had finished spinning the first half.
I suppose the wheel got a bit more time because my knitting takes so long per row. Ene's Scarf starts with 375 stitches, and then the rows get shorter. With all the stitches bunched together, it took a little more effort to read the lace. The long rows have also made me think before picking up the piece. If there was not time to knit at least a full row, I just let it sit. Now that I have made my way through the first chart, I feel like my speed is going to pick up considerably. Someone did the math, and according to her, I am already 25% done. The second chart looks to be quite light, with most rows being mainly plain.
Now that I have spinning and lace underway, perhaps I should open April's psc package. I had better hurry, as the second round of SM3 is over.
For today, that is in reference to my voice. Seriously, I unintentionally scared someone on the phone.
OT: What's going on?
me: Not much, how are you?
OT: What is happening?
me: Easter is tomorrow. Be at Nana's at one.
OT: Sarah, what is wrong?!?!
me: Oh, I have the crud.
OT: You scared the #%$@ out of me.
We will skip a physician rant and just say that I am having difficulty feeling the love for them. I probably just need to suck it up and find a different one. Also, my regular doctor was not even the one I saw on Friday. I still find myself a bit annoyed when I think back on it. It makes me hope even more that I am recovering because I just do not want to see any of them.
The answer to the dessert question was coconut cake, and it was wonderful. It had been a long time since I had baked a cake not from a mix. I mostly followed this recipe, with a little tweaking. Additionally, I substituted her frosting with stabilized whipped cream. I baked and filled the cake Friday evening, and then frosted it Sunday morning. It all worked so much better than I had expected. The secret was timing the doses of medications just right so I could be in a state to bake.
As for my tale of knitting fail, it was, of course, my most recent attempt at a Swallowtail shawl. I ran out of yarn. Again. I ripped and re-skeined the yarn. I took the opportunity to re-check my yardage. It would seem my initial calculation was off by about 150 yards. That would explain why none of the three attempts with this yarn has worked. I still do not have an explanation on how I made such a serious miscalculation. Once I found my error, it was so obvious that the initial yardage estimation was way off, and I can only suppose denial wishful thinking is what kept me believing the lie.
Reaching amongst the collection of brown paper bags for the psc intimidates me right now. I just finished the second round of SM3, and that was an involved pair of 
socks. Please, do not misunderstand. I like my new socks. They were worth the effort. It just took me a while to find my rhythm. My niece helped me pick out the colors, and now I have the perfect pair for Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday, I have been assigned the dessert. So far, the suggestions have been Red Velvet Cake, Boston Cream Pie, and Coconut Cake. I still have not decided. The menu for the day has been changed around so many times, and I am not even sure where we are getting together. I only know that it will not be at my home.
Pattern: TokenaYarn: Knit Picks Palette Lilac & BlushNeedles: US0 & US1Knit When: April 4-8
Speaking of home, that is where I stayed Monday night. I wanted to get out to knit with people, but I am a bit under the weather. One of the Skanks is scheduled for heart surgery next Monday, and I decided to play it safe. I miss knitting with everyone.
Next time, perhaps I will share a tale of knitting fail.
The feed troubles are getting on my nerves a bit. I was so busy with my routine that I missed that some friends' feeds were having problems. When I first thought about it, I hoped they were enjoying wonderful life adventures and did not have time to blog. So oblivious was I, that I did not notice that my feed was broken. It looks like it still is.
It's weird. I have been blogging for over four years now. When I started, I did not know what I was doing or what I hoped to get out of the experience. Then I reached out and found my place. I feel honored that people read what I post, but by far, get more out of what others are writing. With the broken feed, it is almost like being back at the beginning of my blogging. I say almost because it is different. It feels pointless and lonely now without you all. I hope everything is fixed by the time I post this.
It is a good thing I have my knitting. I have been working on a Swallowtail Shawl. It is a tiny one, and I think it is going to be for me. It is tiny because I used my handspun. It was this skein's third chance at becoming something besides a skein of yarn. I made yardage miscalculation after spinning it, and that is why other patterns have not worked, and why I thought this one would. I am not entirely disappointed that I have had to frog this yarn twice already. I like knitting with it, and I love the colors.
Anyway, I decided to knit the budding lace repeat until I had about half of the yarn left, and then I moved on to the Lily of the Valley charts. I put in a lifeline after the budding lace in case I had enough yarn left at the end to rip back and add more repeats of that lace. I tell you, I am enjoying this yarn.
Then my knitting came to a standstill. It was a combination of an odd wrist pain and a surprise out-of-town guest. The wrist pain had me a bit worried, and I did not pick up the needles lest I aggravate it. After a very long day, I decided to try, and it turns out that knitting does not bother the wrist. Brushing my teeth or fishing change out of my pocket was difficult, but not knitting. I wish I had known that earlier. Wednesday was definitely a day that needed the comforts of knitting. As far as that situation goes, I will just say that I now wish what would have been a bad April Fool's joke had been a joke.
When I learned that the 8" square I knit for a community afghan was lonely, I was not sure what to do. Then I remembered a long-abandoned crochet project someone gave me several months ago. I told the organizer I would examine the contents of the hibernating piece and see if it might be something that would work.
Let us fast-forward through the weaving in of many ends, gauge issues, seaming, and steaming. That brings us to the finished piece.
Did anyone else lose a day or three this week? It was not necessarily a bad week, but I just missed most of it. Still, I have been productive. I finished some yarn that I started long ago. It is a three-ply yarn from mystery wool top in the Indian Summer colorway from Little Barn. I think it is somewhere around 310 yards. I do not know what it will become. Finishing this yarn makes me excited to spin the next yarn. It is time to explore the fiber stash.
I like Sock Madness. First, of all, there are the organizers. There would be no Sock Madness without them. They put in so much time and effort into the experience. They set the tone for the positive experience that keeps players coming back, and the cheerleading going. They have worked throughout the year with designers and test knitters so that we can play once again. Thank you, Hillary, and Carole!
Then, there are the patterns. Each year, I learn at least one new technique, construction, or other helpful bit. It is a different experience for me to knit a pattern exactly as written, but that is how this game is played. Exposure to designs I might not have chosen on my own has also introduced me to different designers and different ways of knitting socks. Learning is always good.
Finally, there are the players. They keep the excitement and camaraderie going from the weeks leading up to the event, all the way through the last pair of knitters competing. They take time to post a helpful link or tutorial. They are quick to answer questions for new players, and warmly welcome the seasoned veterans of this game. They treat this competition with all the seriousness it deserves, and celebrate it with all the silliness that it is.
I made my way through Round 1 of SM3. I took advantage of the slower pace of the first round, and knit this pair more slowly. It feels like others have also chosen a more relaxed beginning to the game. The pattern was inspired by the Drunkard's Path quilt block. It does not want to show up very well in my pictures, but it was an interesting knit. I am a short-row heel kind of gal, but if I am going to knit a heel flap, it might as well be one with "Eye of Fauxtridge."
Pattern: Tropical Mer-Tini
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette Salsa Heather
I truly thought I would have finished these this past Saturday, or Sunday, at the latest. Instead, I was done this evening. My first package from my psc was good. I have always liked looking at this pattern, and admired the fancy stockings. Now I have my own pair, and I think they are even fancier than those in the book are. I continued the lacy ribbing down the back of the leg, decreasing the plain stitches between the lace repeats. I also exchanged the heel flap for a short-row, y-heel.
I have already worn one of the socks. I was cold last night as I knit the second one. I was also fixing my sister's computer. Tired as I was, I could not sleep for anything. I wrapped myself in two shawls and worked away. Bruce laughed when he saw me. I was a bit of a sight. I wish the situation had been more conducive to other knitting, but was quite glad for the sock to keep me company. Also, I needed to clear the needles. SM3 starts in the morning.
More yarn=more knitting=yay!
Knitting the Shetland Tea Shawl has been wonderful. Even though the rounds became quite long, I loved knitting every stitch. I only ever retrieved one ball of yarn at a time. When I needed more yarn, I went to the closet, opened the tub, and pulled out another. I Russian joined the new to the old. The spent ball bands went to the bottom of the knitting bag, or into books to mark pages.
After much knitting, I finally reached the end of the last chart. It was also time for more yarn, so I repeated the same actions. I did not think of how many times I had done this during the knitting of this lace. What I can tell you is that I cannot do it another time. There is no more.
I was sure there was more. I should take that back, because I could not tell you how many balls of yarn I thought I had. What I thought is that I had enough to knit this. It would seem that I was wrong. I went through the stash. Had I not once swatched with some of this yarn a few years ago? Surely there were one or two more in there. They had just been taken out and never found their way back the proper bin, right?
Somehow, I must have made a miscalculation. This mistake has me somewhere between wanting to scream, wanting to cry, and feeling so very stupid. I am trying to obtain more of the yarn, and remain hopeful. I plan to keep knitting the Beechleaf Edging. Knitting one hundred fifteen chart repeats is bound to keep me busy. Perhaps by the time I reach the end of the ball, I will have more yarn. That should also let me know just how much more yarn I need. I should also be able to knit that chart in my sleep by then.
My energy levels have been a bit on the low side. In fact, yesterday, I fell asleep on my mom's couch amidst the noise of an energetic preschooler. My ear had been bothering me for about a week, so when I was in for a check up, I mentioned it to the doctor. "Ooh, that is very red; that looks very bad," were the doctor's comments after examination. I hope that explains everything, and that I will be back on my game soon.
When I am not slumped over or passed out, I am knitting. The March socks are coming along nicely. The Shetland Tea Shawl is a quite warm. That was wonderful when it snowed. Since it is over 80 degrees in the house right now, I am finding it less enjoyable to knit. I will want to make the most of the time I feel like knitting it so that I may finish soon. I am done with the body, and am ready to begin the edging. It is already so pretty, and I can only imagine how much nicer it will be after blocking.
I have also been easing my way into a more structured exercise program, and it has helped my back. I have been using the inversion table more, and have worked back to full inversion. It is uncomfortable around the heel and instep, but I am hanging in there. Oh, yes, I am hilarious. I wish I knew if the gravity boots/conversion bar kit would help. It would be a pricey investment, but one I would make in a heartbeat if I knew it would help.
There was a dare for me to knit and wear this hat. I decided to accept, and am glad I did. I love my new hat! Having it has made the brief return of colder weather welcome. The shadow I cast is pure entertainment. I am wearing the hat at every opportunity. At the birthday party, people suggested one of these hats would be perfect for someone else. I wore it to the Waffle House in the middle of the night. The waitress was puzzled, but told me she liked it. My headwear for the first Monday after Thanksgiving is ready.
I reached up amongst the brown paper sacks, and pulled down the selection for March. Nestled between the perfectly pine green yarn was a slip of paper. I will be knitting a Nancy Bush pattern from her 2001 release, Knitting on the Road! Yes, for the psc, I am knitting a nearly decade old pattern with the readily available Knit Picks Essential sock yarn, and I have never felt less exclusive. I love it! I can only hope I love knitting my New England socks as much.
It will be nice to have a more portable project. Sometimes I am just not up for a 574-stitch round. They will also help to satisfy my yearning for new lace. Still, socks are not a shawl. I think I know what the next lace will be, and I am OK to wait for it.
For today's photo offering, I give you a poor snapshot of the latest amigurumi. This went to my niece at the birthday party yesterday. It went over well, as did the ninja for her brother. Tomorrow will have a more entertaining picture.
