I need some new inspiration and so I have decided to enlist the help of the Knitting Guild and take a class.

I was going to start at the Masters Level 1 but changed my mind at the eleventh hour and decided to take the Basics class instead … just to get my head in the right place, set the intention (so-to-speak) and get myself thinking more about my knitting process. The packet was delivered Saturday and I’m really excited about starting but must wrap up a couple of projects already on the needles.

My Kate Middleton shawl is zipping along (yeah, well, not really… it’s slow going when you’re increasing only one stitch every other row!) I really like this pattern and if I could require myself to sit and work on it for a couple of days, I’d be half way through! It’s going to be worth it though and I adore the color I picked.

I have not one but four socks to finish … one more “birthday party” sock to match the finished one, must knit the feet of the two socks on one needle and finish them up, and I cast on a new sock promised to my son (he actually has asked for a black pair of socks!) and I’d like to get them done by Christmas. So … once again, I’m up to my eyeballs in projects and haven’t started to re-work the cabled sweater for the Prima Dogma line.

Test knitters have the Señorita Lolita sweater and I hope it will be a smooth process for them … I’m eager to see how it knits up. I’d love to make a couple more that I could leave in California on consignment to see how they sell. I’m not sure it’ll happen for this next trip … but time will tell!

For now, I’m going to sneak in a little bit of knitting while Aunt and Uncle are still sleeping. Then off to an art museum and the little dogs have an appointment with their Uncle Doctor for check-ups this afternoon.

So, last night was my knitting group and it was good to be back. And despite today’s rain, my “sinus thing” is feeling better and I’m feeling better, too.

One of the reasons that I love knitting is the people that I’ve met. They’re such a diverse group – elderly religious women to outwardly gay men and everything in between. And I’ve loved them all! It’s a group of people who share a passion for fiber and for making things with their hands. You can’t do it on the cheap, it’s simply not possible – it’s an investment of time and money – but perhaps the real reason we all do it is for the community. The knitters. The people. Sitting and visiting for a couple of hours with busy hands. Helping each other with challenges of the fiber kind as well as those we meet in life.

Last night JoAnne was telling about meeting one of our other “girls” at the grocery store. She was stressed about a family matter and was being “bossed” by her relatives. JoAnne, in her fabulously direct way that women seem to get as they get older said, “they can all wait while you take care of you!” The best advice to a great person who wants to do for others.

Wonderful Betty helped me turn the heel on the two-socks-on-one-needle-socks-from-H@#$! Yippee! I’m not sure I really will ever try this again or that I would be able to repeat it. BUT, I have a concept of how it’s done and have learned something new in the process. I think I’m happy knitting one sock at a time and not having them matchy matchy. LOL!

So, now I have the following projects on the needles:

• Two socks on one needle (that used to be from H#$%) with the heels turned.
• Socks (magic loop … one at a time, thank you very much!) for my boy – in black.
• Hexipuffs for my Beekeepers Quilt (seven down, three gazillion to go!)
• Cambridge Shawl (version 4 … I think I’ve got it right. Next time, I won’t over think it!)
  

  Cambridge Shawl - WIP

• Celebration sock #1 is finished but I’ve yet to start sock #2.

And I need to find something fabulous to make for Aunt Judy’s 70th birthday party in October! Lace scarf? Bella mittens? Fingerless gloves? We’ll see what I can find. And my niece’s baby turns one in October so I’ll have to make him something! So many projects and so little time! 😉

For now, I’m so grateful for my knitting friends who I’ve met along the way … all of you … you know who you are. I need to put my computer down, pick up my fraidy-cat dog who’s afraid of the thunder outside. Bless his little heart!

Gone comforting!

Yesterday, I was sitting in my Maine office. Working. I was the only one here (well, the dogs were here) as N. had gone sailing. It was easy to imagine that I was the only person living on the lake … with the exception of a couple of boaters who were likely not lake dwellers (at least not in my imagination.) Oddly enough, he was thinking the same sort of thoughts out on the lake in his boat …

After the “season” ends, the lake changes. It’s so quiet that you can hear the rain showers coming down the lake or over the house. When was the last time you could actually hear the rain falling? I heard it yesterday.

I finished the hats that I was knitting. All of them. You’ll not see a photo of the hat sent to Stockings for Soldiers because I forgot to take one before it was packed up and shipped off. Suffice it to say that their pattern was VERY basic (translated in Queen Bee language, it was boring!) BUT it will keep a soldier’s head warm. I used Plymouth Yarn’s Galway worsted in  color 10 (navy blue.) I like this wool and have used it before. The price is moderate and it’s soft and good to work with. I included a note to the soldier (I hope they’ll send it along) thanking him or her for serving our country, etc.

New on my needles is the Cambridge Shawl. I’m using Cascade Yarns Cascade 220 Heathers in color 2450 (a medium purple.) I’ve already been challenged by this patter more than once:

Provisional Cast On - Right Side

Provisional Cast On - Wrong Side

Challenge #1 – Provisional Cast On. I am not sure that I’ve ever succeeded in using a provisional cast on. Probably because I don’t know how to crochet. BUT with a bit of tutoring on the internet, I’ve learned a single crochet which was enough to finish the baby hat edge and make a 25 or so stitch chain to use to provisionally cast on 22 stitches.

I’m thrilled and amazed to see that when you get it right, there is a right side and a wrong side just as they say in the directions. Phew!

Challenge #2 – Short Rows. I’ve done short rows before with the wrap and turn method. I figured that I could use the same method here but the pattern suggests using a different method with yarn overs. I knitted the first 18 (or so) rows and was pleased to see that the ruffles were starting to look like ruffles and upon admiring my work, I realized that there, in the middle of the ruffle on one side, was a HUGE mistake … I had totally done the wrong row somewhere. So, what’s a knitter to do? I frogged it and started over again. This time, I’m slipping the first stitch of each row so that edges look a little bit prettier… but I managed to get back to the point where I was forced to frog.

What I frogged.

I’m happy to still know that I don’t know it all yet. I like learning new things and I know it’s good for my brain to be challenged by the counting and reasoning. While I don’t always get it right the first time, I am happy to know that I can get it eventually.

Gone knitting!