I may have missed it but my dear hubby didn’t (although he confessed he took it from his chair) and it was a beautiful sunrise on Messalonskee Lake this morning but the day has turned into gray and dismal. The ice is starting to turn gray which generally means it’s thinning and before you know it, the water will once again be open and boats will return. We’ve seen a lot of Bald Eagles on the lake. It’s breeding time for eagles here in Maine. I keep hoping to see a pair together. The circle of life on our lake is evident in each season and we feel so much closer to the Earth here.

I’ve just counted a train with 75 cars go past. They’ve increased their speed on the tracks a lot since we moved here full-time ten years ago next month. They used to poke up and down the tracks so slowly you could hear the clickety-clack of the tracks and touch the cars as they went by without being hurt. Now, though, the cars speed by at 45 mph and there’s no clickety-clack. A few years ago they replaced the rails. The new quarter-mile-long rails looked like they were being extruded (think play dough extruders) onto the tracks and they bent under their own weight. This is what allows them their greater speed and reports say that they’re planning to speed up even more in the future. What could possibly go wrong on mostly camp (dirt/gravel) roads with few or no RR crossing signs?

I worked Saturday so I recovered Sunday and yesterday and today I’m catching up with stuff around the house and planning for my big Maine Arts Academy board of trustees meetings this week. The second week of the month is usually full of meetings; the board meeting, a Charter Commission meeting, and a committee meeting or two. Some are in person and some are virtual. Today I’ll attend the Charter Commission monthly business meeting virtually and can knit while I listen. Yesterday I took all the plants and stuff off our bedroom window seat that we never use because it houses plants and cleaned the windows, the plant dishes, the giant Lake Tahoe pine cones and then put it all back. The cobwebs were getting out of hand in our room. N and I took his mother’s old “oriental” rug and the rug pad out of the living room to see if it’s any of the reason why my allergies are so horrible in the morning. Time will tell. Meanwhile, it’s out in the boat house chilling. I got our laundry done yesterday and today I’ll wash the guest room sheets and clean that room. I’m going to finally hang one more picture and then move the rest of the unhung to the little hidey-hole in the stairway up to the third floor. We have a lot of windows and not enough wall space for the framed pictures we have. Maybe we’ll sell them, maybe we’ll alternate. Time will tell.

I knitted until past my bedtime last night and I’ve got one finished sleeve on my Cardoon to show for it and another sleeve half-way done. It feels really good to be making progress on this much-delayed sweater. I may be able to wear it once or twice before it’s too warm. I love knitting Isabell Kraemer’s designs. Her patterns are clear and easy to follow. The charts are in a good place in the pattern and their placement makes knitting her designs a comfortable process. These charts and the colorwork happen to be only two colors which are easier, too. The yoke pattern is a bit more complicated than the designs around the wrists and bottom of the sweater but simple enough for an adventurous beginner to follow.

A couple of hints for those who knit colorwork or want to try it:

1. Read your knitting! What that means is, look down at your knitting and see the pattern as it develops. You’ll know when a stitch is misplaced or doesn’t look right almost immediately.
2. Use stitch markers on your needles to remind you about pattern repeats. This trick also helps you when your stitch count is off because the pattern doesn’t “fit” between the markers. It is possible to drop stitches even when you’re paying attention. Ask me how I know.
3. Knit colorwork with a wooly wool. The yarn blooms when you block it and lots of errors and outsized stitches disappear magically. Floats can be a bit longer, too, because the yarn felts to itself with wearing and creates an impenetrable layer or warm.
4. Relax! This is another technique that seems daunting until you practice. And you really do need to practice. With repetition, we gain what is called “muscle memory” and your hands and brain keep the movements stored in your data bank. You’ll be able to feel the mistakes.
5. Keep your stitches spread apart when you’re knitting colorwork so the fabric doesn’t pucker. Floats (the yarn that is carried behind your stitches) can look very loose when the knitting is bunched up and they should be able to stretch comfortably when the knitting is spread out.

I’m teaching a colorwork workshop at the Yardgoods Center in Maine on April 12 and 19. We’ll knit a colorowork “swatch” that we’ll turn into a cup cozy by cutting a steek. Two weeks of fun. Maybe you’ll join me? I’ve been preparing for the workshop and need to knit another sample of two – one for the shop, one for each step in the process so I can demonstrate steps along the way. I’m looking forward to teaching a new technique again.

I finished the second tam for my customer and got it washed and blocked yesterday. It’s nearly dry this morning. I’ll bring it to the shop with me on Thursday so she can pick it up at her leisure. This hat pattern is no longer available on Ravelry but it’s a quick knit with larger needles and bulky weight yarn and she loves it. This is her second order this year for a black and navy tam.

I’ve still got my Bolin Cardigan on the needles but I’ve not pulled it out this week. I’m focusing on the Cardoon pullover instead. BUT Bolin is ready for sleeves and they’ll knit up quickly in the heavier yarn and larger needles. It won’t take long to finish it up.

I’ve cast on the second sock in Over the Rainbow yarn. The first sock is finished as of the night before last. I stayed up way past my bedtime that night and paid for it in the inability to get to sleep. I am officially a creature of comfort and schedule. I still have to cast on the second mitt for my daughter’s fingerless mitts and I hope to get that started this week. The first one is done and I’d like to take them with me to give to her at the end of the month when I have babysitting duty. I haven’t taken any photos of Bolin or the fingerless mitts because they haven’t been out of their bags! Soon, soon!

Gone knitting.