I wrote 2024 for a good part of the week … is this a Freudian faux-pas? I may be in denial or I may be overworked and stressed. Not sure which is the most accurate statement or if it’s a combination of all of the three. LOL. Regardless, it’s been a crazy busy week and I am glad to have “nothing” to do today on Easter Sunday. None of our kids live close-by and they’re not able to travel to be with us so we are going it alone again and I have such mixed feelings about being along on holidays. This year it just wasn’t possible for us to travel because of my work schedule. So we will tough it out and maybe we’ll go out to the local nursery and buy some pretty flowers … time will tell.
I worked two extra days this week at the shop because the boss is away. Tuesday was Thursday and Thursday was Saturday and I have no idea what to say Saturday was but I taught the second half of my Colorwork Workshop which included a crochet steek reinforcement and cutting a steek and then adding button bands to the “swatch” so it can be used as a coffee cozy. I had fourteen students and it went quite well. I’ll add this to the classes that I can teach in my list of possible workshops/classes. It was fun to meet the new people who I didn’t know before, which was the majority of the class. AND one of my students went to my high school so it was very fun to reconnect (and we will be getting together again.) After my workshop I stayed and worked at the store. Have I said how much I enjoy the customers at the yarn shop? That’s the best reason to keep working for a small family business.
I finished one sock and will start a second one today. Little socks for my little peanut. Purple is her favorite color for now. This colorway is purple but called “red onion” and I think it’s a perfect name. I am making these little socks 5.25 inches long and hope someone’s little feet don’t grow too much before sock season starts again.
On Friday I finished the embroidery for the pink mitten that I started ages ago. I don’t love working with the fabric that the embroidery pattern is printed on, it’s sticky, but I can now finish the knitting and wash the fabric off and decide as I knit the second mitten if I want to duplicate my efforts on the second one. They may look really odd if I don’t embroider the second one, too.
I’ve cast on for the Big Love cardigan with Berroco Pima 100 … what a bizarre start to a cardigan! You knit two pieces of the collar starting with a provisional cast on and then you pick up stitches for the back and the shoulders … this is a first but I will prevail. I’m trying to find something relatively simple to take with me when I fly to California at the end of the week and so far I’m coming up empty handed. I guess we will see what progress I make and then I will decide.
Last project this week and the one I keep picking up is my Little Tern blanket by Tin Can Knits. This, as I have mentioned before, is the second Little Tern I’ve knitted and I am loving it just as much this time despite my big faux-pas. I didn’t remember until I had nearly finished the knitting the first skein of yarn that I had bought an extra skein “after the fact” and so I didn’t check the dye lots before I started knitting. Needless to say, I have three skeins of one dye lot and one of the other. I had “planned” to use the three original skeins for the body of the blanket and use the last one for the lace edge. Ha! Ha! When you plan … God laughs. Guess which skein I grabbed to start this project? Yup, the odd ball. AND there is a definite color change but I am just going ahead and finishing the blanket because it’s beautiful and I am beautifully human … and I am not pulling out a full skein of work for this! I have yarn for a purple Little Tern in my stash and I will (hopefully) remember to check the dye lots when I start that one. Fingers crossed.
So, today I hope to 1) spend some time on the porch in the sun and 2) go buy some primroses or pansies at the garden center and 3) knit a little. Tomorrow I have to go to the bank for work but I am not going to work today.
Happy Easter to those who celebrate! Gone knitting.
What a beautiful thing to wake up to snow-covered trees this morning. Yesterday was a mixed bag of precipitation but starting at about 5pm, it snowed. I’d say we have about three inches of wet, heavy snow on the ground. AND we have no more ice on the lake! During the night we may have gotten some wind which would have demolished what thin ice was left as it got dark last night. This morning there is no more ice. Warm weather can’t be far off now!
So, over the last few days, I sewed on the buttons and tried on my finished Bolin cardigan. This sweater was the featured design in MDK’s “Bang Out a Sweater” this year. I really liked the look of it and took a special trip to Freeport, Maine to buy the yarn. I was determined, I guess. But this is what the sleeves looked like when I tried it on …
The sleeves were way too long. I would have had to fold the cuff fully over and that’s not what I envisioned for this sweater. So I pondered solutions. First I tried to unravel the yarn. If you have ever worked with mohair, you know it’s fuzzy and sticky and difficult to frog back. I struggled with finding the woven-in end and pulling that back … it wasn’t going to work for four inches of knitted and blocked fabric. So, the only other solution I could think of was to cut off the cuff and another two inches of fabric and then re-knit the cuff. I certainly wasn’t going to wear it as it is and I had invested so much time and money into the garment, I had to try to fix it.
So. I cut it.
I started by measuring where I needed the sleeve to be before I cut it. The pattern said 14 3/4 inches from where I picked up sleeve stitches. I shortened it to 14 inches because I’d rather knit more than have to frog more or cut more. And then I carefully unravelled all the way around and placed my stitches on smaller needles. Once the cuff was amputated, I found the start of the round and adjusted my stitches and then I tried it on to make sure that the cuffs wouldn’t make it too long again. (Duh! Why didn’t I do that the first time?!) Once satisfied that I wouldn’t have to adjust again, I re-knit the cuffs and bound off. Twice. Now the sleeves are a good length and I can wear the sweater – I may wear it today, in fact. It’s rather cropped but I hope with a dress or a tunic it will be wonderful and today it’s cold so the warm sweater will be welcome!
Phew! Crisis averted.
I also finished a little sweater for my great-nephew to send off to Massachusetts. I knitted the Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Pullover #214 with a Sirdar Snuggly Aran yarn and it’s really cute. I blocked it and trimmed the ends and packed it up and mailed it off yesterday. I also finished a little Newborn Vertebrae cardigan for my bonus daughter’s nugget-to-be. Since she won’t be finding out what the baby’s gender is, I (or rather my hubby) chose a very neutral yarn. I had to buy a second ball just to knit the ribbing around the opening so I will probably knit a hat and mittens, too. The baby is due in late August so I think warm hand knits will be appropriate for Colorado weather. Apparently I sent off the pullover without taking a final photo and the cardigan is blocking as I write so this is the unblocked version.
I’ve also been working on the workshop that I’m teaching Saturday morning and I’ve gotten the patterns and hand-outs copied, and knit three pieces from different parts of the pattern for my demonstration purposes. One part is what the students were to knit for “homework” before the class so I can show them how to cast on the steek stitches and join it into the round to prepare for the colorwork. The second is so I can show them how to hold their yarn, one in each hand, for knitting colorwork and how to catch floats. And the third, I still have to finish, will be showing them how to reinforce the steek before cutting and finishing. I have to reinforce one side of the steek and then I’ll demonstrate how to do the other side and how to cut it.
I did block the sample so it will lie flat for me (and my students can do that, too, before the second class if they so choose. Not sure I love my color choices, there’s not quite enough contrast, but it’s just a sample for a class, right? I’ve also been collecting my books and things that I’ve knitted in colorwork so I can show the class all different kinds of colorwork … Intarsia, Stranded, Norwegian, Mosaic, Fair Isle, etc. So, except for finishing the third sample, I am well-prepared for my class on Saturday.
So now I have to decide what I want to knit next. I’ve got a bag of cotton yarn to knit a Big Love cardigan or some red linen-blend yarn to knit a Patti tank. I have swatched for the Patti and figured out how to compensate for my gauge being “off” but I think the Big Love might be another swatch I need to try. I’m having lunch with my knitting friend today and we’re going to knit a bit after that so I have to decide because tiny toddler socks aren’t what I want to be knitting today. I also have my pink mittens to embroider on and finish up. They’re part-way embroidered and I decided that embroidering on my knitting with cotton floss is not my jam. So, I may finish the first mitten and just make the second one plain. OR I may take the embroidery out and just knit the mittens. The pink color is perfect! More on those decisions later. Gotta run and get some more coffee.
The sunrise this morning was unremarkable because of the clouds. Lots of gray today but yesterday when we arrived home after a week in New York City babysitting for our granddaughter, it was a glorious sunny day. I always go through a bit of a depressive episode when we leave the kids in New York. It takes me a couple of days to recalibrate myself to being just me, just us, in Maine, away from the hustle and bustle and constant business of the city. Today is a little bit difficult but the last week was truly wonderful fun.
My eldest daughter, mom to our grand, is in San Diego opening a new play called Regency Girls and her husband had to be in Las Vegas for a work event so we were called to spend a week with our granddaughter. We have learned we walk more and move way more when we’re in New York with a two-year-old. Ha! Ha! And we did. We went to the playground, played in their courtyard, made lots of lego buildings and stacked blocks (and knocked them down). Read books, colored with Dot markers (they are very satisfying) and generally had a blast. We made challah one day and Sylvie was a big helper, mixing, punching down, helping to roll and braid the dough, and brushing on the egg wash
She may be only two but she’s talking a blue streak, sings all the songs, has some crazy one-liners and is fiercely independent. Yesterday she went off to school in black and white plaid pants and a rainbow dress with two differently colored socks but she got dressed mostly by herself … and the curls!!!
Hubby and I are getting used to living in the city and have found the grocery store, a mailbox, the local bodega for newspapers and quick purchases, and we even found Target this time (to buy some cards.) We are becoming accustomed to having noise outside the windows 24-7 and sleep through it anyway. We loved being able to drop the trash in the chute in the hallway and compost and recycling are an easy elevator ride to the basement. (B is for basement we were told!) There are three great playgrounds within a few minutes walk and we didn’t even stroll around the park!
I got a bit of knitting done and realized that a linen tank that I want to knit is going to need to be re-sized because my gauge is way (way!) off. I think I can knit it a couple of sizes larger on a much smaller gauge and it will work. I’m crossing my fingers. I have 8 balls of Chai by Berroco in a pretty red colorway that I’d like to make a summer top in. I saw the Patti tank and thought that would be great but I don’t want it see-through. I’m way beyond that age! As is my habit, I started the tank with the suggested needles and then measured my gauge after a couple of inches and it was nowhere near the gauge for the pattern – 4 or five stitches per inch – it was closer to 6 1/2 stitches per inch which would cut the finished measurement by almost 4 inches in total. Not ok. SO …. I frogged it and went back to Bristol Ivy’s way of swatching to see which fabric I like after I knit and block it. I’ve tried the US6 and US7 needles on 35 stitches. I’ve got to knit a bit more on the larger needles and then I’ll bind off and block it to see if the gauge changes. That will determine my preferred fabric and then I can figure out how many stitches I need to cast on to make the tank fit the way I want it to. More on that in a later post.
Meanwhile, I have finished a little sweater for my new great-nephew. I used a Knitting Plain and Simple pattern (#214 Baby Pullover) and a Sirdar Snuggly Aran yarn. The yarn is super soft and easy care for the new mom who also has a two-year-old. It’s adorable and just needs a little wash and block to be ready to send to Massachusetts.
I don’t want to show the finished version just yet … Baby Pullover #214
I also finished the knitting on my Bolin cardigan before we left and, despite the fact that I wanted to wear it, I didn’t have time to sew on the buttons and it wasn’t quite dry before we left for New York. It is now, though. I’m planning the button sewing today so I can wear it this week. I love the fabric, it’s so soft. We’ll see how I feel about a cropped cardigan when I get dressed one day soon. I hope that it’ll be ok with a long tunic and jeans or leggings. Pictures soon.
Socks- On the Round yarn, Yankee Knitter pattern
I finished the On the Round socks while in New York and left them there for Sheldon, one of the “kids” in our extended family in the city. He’s definitely knit worthy! I loved the yarn and hoped they’d be for me but I made them a little bit too long and they’d have fit my hubby but he didn’t love them. Sheldon’s feet are the same size as my hubby so he was the winner!
I cast on a little sweater for our newest grandchild (arrival late August.) We don’t know if they will be a boy or a girl and won’t know so I let Poppy choose the colorway and it’s gray with specks of color. A little Vertebrae cardigan for newborns. This baby will be living in the Denver, CO area and will be born in A/C season and will likely spend lots of time outdoors. We can’t wait to meet him/her!
Baby Vertebrae in Lang Bebe 200
I have made some progress with this cardigan and have finished one sleeve and am nearing the end of the second sleeve. I’m going to be playing yarn chicken with the edging around the fronts. OR I’ll have to buy another ball for the last little bit which means there will be a matching hat and maybe mittens for the first cold snap. This yarn is so soft and quite wonderful to work with. The pattern is one of my favorites for new babies because they spend so much time against a human body, they only really need a sweater on their little backs. This one is perfect. And the yarn is machine washable. (The green and blue cords are “knitting barber” cords like these. I have several sets for holding stitches. They’re great knitting tools!)
I didn’t have a chance for my daughter to try on the fingerless mitts that I’m making for her. I have a wee bit of concern that they’re going to be too big and I’ll have to start them over again so I’m not knitting any further until she tries them on. The next chance I’ll get will be late this summer or early fall when we’re at the beach. I’m just going to put them in time out until then. Meanwhile, I’ll finish the embroidery on the pink mittens I started forever ago and get those done.
In a week I will be teaching the first of two parts of a workshop on colorwork knitting. I’ve got to get a couple of examples together and knit a few swatches so I can demonstrate at different times in the workshop. I have a big group signed up and I’m excited about the interest. Our knitting project will be a coffee cup cozy knitted in the round and then we’ll cut a steek to finish it off. But it’s a great, worsted weight “swatch” to learn the techniques and to get knitters ready to knit a colorwork project with more confidence.
The ice on our lake is thinning rapidly. We’ve had a typical mix of Maine spring weather while we were away and with a couple of warm days, the ice wlll be gone from the middle of the lake. We will be watching for “ice out’ (when a boat can navigate from one end of the lake to the other) this week. I’ve not looked at the weather report but we’ve had a report of the first loon sighted at the north end of the lake … they always seem to know when they can come back to the lake. Before we know it the hummingbirds will be back, too.
It’s a beautiful sunny morning and a critter made tracks all the way along the shore as far as the eye can see. I’m guessing a fox. Living this close to nature is a daily thrill and we are so grateful to be able to be here on this lake in Maine!
I’ve been busy this week. I worked for my friend Bette on Monday and it makes me laugh every time I work on a Monday my body and brain thinks it Thursday so my week is all thrown off. But this time I seem to have reclaimed the week and since I’m heading to New York for grandma duties on Friday, I had to get stuff accomplished before I leave …. like the laundry! 🙂
Anyway, I’ve been knitting away and am making some really good progress on my Bolin cardigan. It’s about nine inches of ribbing away from being finished. I even found buttons that I think will be perfect. With any luck, the ribbing will be finished today and I can block it and wear it this weekend. I’m excited. This sweater has been a lot of fun to knit. Not difficult at all and the fabric is amazingly soft and I imagine it will be very warm. Perfect for New York City spring?
On Monday evening I cast on a fun quick project with some “scrap” yarn, Rowan Felted Tweed, and made myself one of the Esther, Ernie & Enid Easter Chickens. I made mine in green and it’s really silly and totally makes me smile. I want to make a couple more so they can be friends in a group. I even made the little glasses for her. This one is Esther, I think. (They’re all the same.)
Yesterday I cast on a little pullover for my newest great-nephew. I got about half-way done with it yesterday and will finish it up this week or into the weekend. It’s a quick knit in worsted weight yarn in a tiny baby size. I am really liking the yarn that I bought for it. It’s a good colorway and the yarn is soft (and washable). While I’ve been knitting this one, I am reminded that I have to start knitting for our newest grandchild due in late August. I’m thinking a fall in Denver kind of sweater … it could be warm but the A/C could be cool. I’m pretty sure this little one will spend a lot of time outdoors!
I’ve turned the heel and decreased the gusset stitches for my On The Round socks. They’ll be done before we arrive in New York on Friday. Sock are good car knitting. I may have made the first sock a bit long for my foot so they may end up belonging to my hubby. He needs socks more than I do anyway! The yarn is lovely and I am glad I have more for future socks … or maybe a baby sweater to match Poppy’s socks? Hmm.
I got to the dentist yesterday and I’ve got a broken crown that will be replaced in the upcoming months. They do it in one day with an appointment in the morning and the afternoon. Wonderful! No temporary crown (mine have always gotten loose!) I’ve done the big load of laundry. Towels are today and tomorrow after work I’ll put one more load of wash in before we go to bed. I made a zucchini lasagna for dinner last night. It would have been wonderful but the noodles were a little bit over-cooked. Bummer but it will be dinner tonight, too, regardless. Dearest hubby, of course, made himself a sausage so he’s not meatless. I’ve had two and have one more Maine Arts Academy committee meeting today but between times, I’m running to school to pick up the board laptop and then dropping my car off for an oil change and tire rotation … I should have left it there last night … oops! Something always slips through the cracks but thankfully, I realized it early and can recover.
What a morning! No fog today and we saw the sun come up this morning after a couple of days of fog and gray, rainy weather. It’s been downright dreary but today feels so much better. I’ve been busy tearing apart and putting back all the stuff in the sewing side of my atelier. I’m making room for my granddaughter to have a space of her own for when she comes to visit this summer. I have a few more things to do until it’s finished but step by step we are building a little nook for our little monkey.
It’s also been a good opportunity to go through and clean out a little bit more (again) and clean it all up. Spring cleaning? It feels good. Today I got a thing to hang up my ironing board and put away the iron … I had to assemble it and when I put it where I thought I wanted it, there wasn’t enough room between the wall and door to work so I moved it to another door but not before the iron fell out of the little shelf and hit my arm on its way to the floor (and it dented my floor). Oops!
I’ve been really working on my Bolin cardigan this week. I’ve mostly finished the first sleeve and I’m working my way down the second one. When they’re both at the same place (just before the ribbing) I’ll try it on and see how much more length I need to make it “just right” and then keep going. I’m getting close!
I really like the color of the fabric, too. The base is a camel color with the rosey mohair it has a haze of mauvy rosy neutral It’s different from other sweaters that I have and I think it’ll be good to wear with jeans or dresses. Time will tell.
AND I have finished my Cardoon! I wore it yesterday (without having cut all the bits left after weaving in all the ends. I’ve done that now and will probably wear it to work on Thursday. I like it a lot. I’m still not 100% sure of the way the collar/neck works but I like it.
Cardoon
I’ve mentioned before that I love the yarn. It was in the clearance at the LYS where I work and I brought it home a couple of years ago. It’s been sitting in my stash waiting for me to knit it up – I een knew it was going to be a Cardoon. The yarn is Fibra Natura Kingston Tweed, a DK weight wool, alpaca and rayon blend. When I wore it yesterday, it was really light but also quite warm. It’s the perfect weight sweater. Of course the yoke is doubled because it’s stranded so it keeps my shoulders warm and toasty.
I’m teaching a workshop in April and I’ve begun planning the sessions and knitting the samples and doing some research on how to teach colorwork to a continental knitter. I can knit continental but I’m naturally a thrower so I’ve got to figure out how it works so I can teach it. I know I’ll have at least one continental knitter. I have to pull together some samples of colorwork knitting from my “collection” too. I have plenty!
I’ve just finished a book I loved. The Blueberry Pickers is a Maine story about indigenous people who picked blueberries and who lost a young child. The child disappears from the field one day and her brother Joe is the last one to see her. In a parallel story Norma is an only child of a wealthy Maine family that’s dysfunctional and she searches to uncover the family secrets and the reason why. I highly recommend it. AND I’ve been baking again which tells me that my soul is either in a good place or troubled or both. I made our favorite oatmeal scones this week and a pineapple angel food cake. We’ve finished the bread I baked last week and there are a couple of banana muffins in the freezer. In the last couple of weeks I’ve made s curried red lentil stew that was sent to me in Ann Budd’s newsletter. It was delicious! I also made my “dump, dump, stir, stir” soup recipe, too. Also delicious. So, while the country is going down in flames, I’m making soup and baking and I’m so grateful that I am not in danger of losing my job and I hope and pray that some sanity and balance is found soon.
My heart is feeling very tender today. I woke up thinking about my father and how long it’s been since he’s been gone. It’s 40 years today. My Katie wasn’t even a year old when he died. The kids never got to know him or he them. I’ve forgotten the sound of his voice and how he smelled of pipe tobacco. And for today, I’m feeling so sad about all the years he’s missed. But I do take comfort in believing that he’s watching over us all. I think he’d be pleased that we are living in Maine. He loved Maine (my mother did not) just as we do. I think of him with a smile when I see the wild birds here, when my husband is snow blowing and covered in snow, when I’m working in the gardens pulling up weeds and pitching little rocks. He died when I was 26 years old, just shy of 27, in his car, in his garage, under strange circumstances. We will never have the answers but I have to believe that he suffered a heart attack. I’ve grown up, raised a family, got divorced, started a new life at 50, lost my mother, found my big brother, got remarried, and moved three times since he died. A lot of life happened. I have to believe that he’d be proud of me and of my kids because we’ve all had a strong work ethic and have built good lives. I’m now older than he was when he died by a good margin. It’s funny how some years this day barely hits my consciousness and others it hits me (like this year) right in the solar plexus!
Today I’m putting my body to work and figuring out how to add a little spot in my atelier for a sleeping nook for our granddaughter when she comes to visit this summer. She’s still too little to send up to sleep on the third floor and yet she’s too big for the pack and play crib she’s slept in when she was here last year. We have lots of stairs in our house and in the dark, they’re a danger to little people so we’re making it safe for her so we all sleep better and I hope she’ll love it. My plan is to make her a quilt for her bed (she wants purple) and create a “nook” where she can sleep in a “big girl” bed without a crib to contain her. It’ll be interesting. Right now I’ve taken all of the bins and books out of my big IKEA shelf and we’ll move it to a different position creating a “wall” for her space. I’d like to make a sleeping platform that my walking pad and ironing boards can store away under. And one or two of the boxes in the IKEA “wall” will hold her books and stuffed friends. I’ll knit a heart for her wall just like she has at home and maybe we can paint the back of the shelf (it’ll need some plywood to make it safe) purple for her. It’ll be a project but it’ll be her space for now.
This week was a good and busy week. I had a board meeting on Wednesday, worked on Thursday and yesterday I taught. I’ve been working on deep cleaning/spring cleaning the ceiling fans and cobwebs and windows and rugs and I can’t wait to be able to open some windows and get fresh air into the house. I’m starting to feel stifled by stale air! It’s supposed to be warm-er today so I may risk opening my atelier windows … and maybe I’ll hit them with a bit of windex and elbow grease. (So much for my manicure!)
I’ve finished my Cardoon pullover. I have blocked it and only need to trim all the ends that I wove in and add a label and try it on one last time. I hope the fit will have improved post-blocking. I was chatting with a friend the other day and was trying to remember if I’d done a gauge swatch for this sweater and I couldn’t remember and didn’t make notes on my Ravelry project page. So, I’m going to assume that I started knitting the yoke and measured my gauge there. Not the best way to do it but I’m generally pretty close to gauge. I did have to block the sweater pretty aggressively to get it to the proper measurements on the schematic but I hope it’s going to be a good fit and wearable this coming week. I’ll post a photo when I have my shower and try it on.
Cardoon by Isabell Kraemer
I loved the yarn and the pattern, as all of Isabell’s patterns, was well-written and easy to follow. It really was a pleasure to knit … too bad I waited so long to knit it! LOL
Yesterday at work I started the sleeves for my Bolin Cardigan. The cardigan is cropped which may or may not suit me but I’m knitting on. I love the big 6×6 cables running down the sleeve and I’m eager to see how it all comes together. I’m hoping it will be something I can wear with a tunic and jeans or dress. I got about four inches of sleeve done … one twenty round repeat and a second cable twist … I’ll work on it again tonight.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cardoon by Isabell Kraemer
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.
Quick Lacy Slouch Hat in Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky
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.
Yankee Knitter Socks in On the Round yarn. One finished, another cast on
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!
This was my weekend to work and so I trotted off to work yesterday (and forgot to take a picture of the lake before I did. So I posted a shot from the winding table at the store and said that I’d be there all day. And lo and behold, I had two special friends appear at the store for a visit. First Bristol Ivy and her husband, Will, and then Ellen N. who used to come to knitting class on Friday but she’s been busy being a grandmother and has even taken a new part-time job which requires her to be there on knitting class day.
Ellen and Me (my hair was a mess!)
And on Friday another dear knitting friend, Katie, came in for a visit! Each of them gave and collected a big hug from me and it brightened my whole week seeing them. This is why I love working in a LYS! It’s all about the people, the community that is built in these small businesses, mostly women-owned, safe spaces for everyone. At least I can speak for my LYS.
At my last class on Friday I also “birthed” two new knitters! Anne and Liz are a mother and daughter duo who came in to learn to knit or get a refresher after a really long time. They caught on quickly and I am eager to help them get to where they want to be with knitting. So, all in all, it was a really good week.
My two sweaters are getting banged out even though it’s now March. I’ve been working on the Cardoon this week for the most part and an officially on sleeve island. One sleeve has been started. I’m also ready to pick up stitches on my Bolin Cardigan but, to be honest, I haven’t picked it up since I finished the shoulder seaming. It’s next for sure. Maybe I’ll get one sleeve started today.
I started another hat for my customer Judy. She picked up the black tam and I’ve cast on the (final for now) navy one. I ran to the shop this morning to pick up my check so it won’t get forgotten. I also got the car washed and picked up some sour cream for our beef stew dinner tonight. I haven’t got any new photos of anything I’ve been working on so you’ll just have to trust me. Maybe I’ll have some real progress shots for later this week.
For now, I’m going to put my feet up and knit and watch some “stupid tv”. It’s Sunday!
This morning’s photo was taken by my hubby, the real photographer in the family. I took one a bit later but his is exquisite. Mine is ok. We are having a warm-up here today with temps in the low 40s and two days of rain on the way. If it stays warm the road will become mud and yuck. I have to venture out the next three days to work so my car will be dirty again. What’s a girl to do?
Yesterday I had an incredibly productive day and got caught up on a lot of little tasks that needed to be done … watered the plants, did the laundry, descaled the humidifiers and filled them with distilled water (we are finding out if our water is causing the white film on the furniture), grocery shopped (picked up), applied for Social Security (yes, I am that old!), and various other stuff. AND I got up to my atelier around 2 to knit.
I made great progress on my Bolin Cardigan. The fronts and back are complete and I have seamed the shoulders. I know I said it before but I love, love, love the fabric that the combinations of yarn is making. I don’t always love knitting with the two strands. Every once in a while the mohair gets stuck and makes a weird extra loop or doesn’t get knitted and I have to go back to fix it. But this sweater is going to be snuggly and warm and cropped. I tried it on after the shoulders were connected last night and it’s going to be short … I’ll have to wear it with a long tunic/blouse or a dress. At least I think so. I have marked the arm holes as noted in the pattern and with any luck will pick up the stitches for the sleeve(s) today.
Bolin Cardigan by Norah Gaughan in Rowan Felted Tweed and Kid Silk Haze
I also have made a significant dent in the body of my Cardoon pullover. I have reached the eleven inches point and am ready to begin the colorwork that is at the bottom of the body. More on that after it’s done. Once the body is complete, only the sleeves remain … could I finish two sweaters in the month of March? I think I can … I think I can … I think I can!
Quick Lacy Slouch Hat in Berroco Vintage Chunky
I have finished half of my order for a customer for two more berets. The first one is black and done. The next one is navy blue and she likes a true, dark, navy that Vintage Bulky doesn’t seem to have so I will be making this one in Berroco Ultra Wool. I should really cast on and get it done today so I can block it and bring it to work this week but I have a feeling the sweaters will win today. This is an old pattern that I’ve made for this particular customer at least a dozen times over the years. She loves them and is so happy to have them. It’s nice to please a customer and I know exactly what she likes and wants.
When the world is as unsettled and ugly as it is recently, I tend to dig into my knitting even more. It is true that the rhythm of the stitches is therapeutic and it mends my distressed heart. I really dislike the nastiness that is happening in my country; the name calling and hatred being spewed by both sides. I fully support dialogue and haven’t unfriended anybody for having different views. I believe in science and researching to find out what is true and what isn’t. A lot of stuff out in the social media world is untrue. (f you don’t want to read my political rant, stop here.)
I am fully in favor of following the laws as they are set out before us in the Constitution and in the states. If we don’t agree with the laws, we should work to change them. In the US right now, the Republican party controls the White House, Congress and the Senate. They could be changing laws, policy, etc. the “right” way but they’re not. They’re standing back and allowing an unelected billionaire in an unofficial department to rampage through the government firing employees, closing departments, accessing personal information of citizens, etc. In some instances, he’s fired people who are critical to the day-to-day safe operations of such things as airlines traveling in the country and can’t find them to re-hire them. And now, it seems, the Social Security department is in his viewfinder.
We, my husband and I, are going to need our Social Security and Medicare when we fully retire. We built it into our retirement plans. I have just reached the age where I can claim my full Social Security without penalty (literally this month) and I’m hearing that SS is being called a Ponzi scheme. What!? I know what a Ponzi scheme is, I’ve been the victim of one. This is not the same unless the government was purposefully deceiving me all these years. I’ve paid into SS for my whole working life and not because I chose to … it was required, automatically deducted. It was “promised” that it would be a good way for me to save for my retirement and now I’m being threatened by a man who could, if he chose, make the program solvent for generations to come without so much as a how-do-you-do. Instead, he’s threatening to cancel Medicare, Medicaid and now Social Security (because he doesn’t understand how the department has been operating on an antiquated system and what the process was. My government is stealing my peace and threatening my financial security during the last however many years I have left.
I have a friend who is Trans, I have several friends and family members who are LGBTQ+ and they’re all being attacked. If you don’t know anybody who is Trans or gay, how can you possibly judge whether they will harm you or your children? Trans women are not sexually aggressive men in dresses. They are not interested in hurting your daughters in the bathroom. If you don’t know a trans person you don’t understand. Didn’t Jesus ask us to love our neighbors as ourselves?
The SAVE act will prohibit most married women from registering to vote and possibly voting. Did you know that? I almost kept my maiden name when I re-married but at the last minute my husband said he’d love it if I took his name. It was such a sweet request. Now my birth certificate says “Rockwell” and all of my other IDs say “Warner”. Most married women who have taken their husband’s name will be unable to register vote (and some say to vote) in the next election if that passes. Don’t believe me? Research it! Google it!
I believe there is probably waste and lots of it in our government. Let’s start with the lifetime salaries and health benefits that all of our elected officials. Let’s talk about security details. Let’s talk about insider trading. All of these “offenses” take place on both sides of the aisle. Let’s start there. Why is it OK for my elected senators or congressmen to have a better healthcare policy than we the people who they are sworn to represent? Lifetime paid service was never considered by the framers of the Constitution and many of the elected officials work part-time for the people and also are paid to work another job. I’ve read about companies charging our military ridiculous amounts for toilet seats, etc. How is it that nobody has stopped that from happening. Any company that tries to rip off the government should be banned from receiving government contracts in the future. In fact, cancel their contracts when extortion/fraud is found. I’ve strayed away from my point which is the current administration could be passing laws legally rather than by decree. A president hasn’t got the right to unilaterally demand that his will must be followed “or else”! That’s why the United States was begun – to get away from the rule of a king who told them how to pray and how to live.
I have heard that there should be prayer in public schools. Who shall all students pray to? How would you feel if your child was forced to pray to someone else’s god? I’ve worked in public schools in Ohio, Florida and Maine. Children can pray any time they’d like. Silently and without judgement or bullying. Isn’t that more fair to all students? Private religious schools can do whatever they want. We’re talking about public schools here – where there are children of all faiths just trying to learn.
I’ve heard that trans “men” want to play on girls sports teams to exert their superior strength. This is blatantly untrue. There are over 510,000 NCAA athletes. Ten are trans women. This is a ridiculous waste of time and energy. Trans women undergo hormone therapies and what little scientific evidence there is tends toward trans women having no clear biological advantages over cis athletes*. As an aside, Gov. Janet Mills was singled out recently and threatened to have federal education funding pulled if she doesn’t comply to the will of one man and remove all trans students from women’s sports in the state. It is not known how many trans students are playing in sports in Maine. Maine law supports equal opportunities for all students. Mills is charged with upholding Maine law. (Interestingly, other female governors are also being bullied and told what to do … Gov. Hochul of NY, for example, is being told to end the NYC congestion pricing in mid-town despite the fact that they seem to be working.)
I do not support tariffs being levied on our neighbors, Canada and Mexico. This not only hurts our neighboring countries, it is going to hurt all of us. Immediately, I can see the price of gas in Maine increasing significantly (we get our gas from Canada). It’s hovering around $3 a gallon as of yesterday. The stock market is going down fast with the announcement of the tariffs. For those Americans lucky enough to have investments, this will hurt. I hope it’s just a “blip” and the market will rally. Many of my friends in Canada say they and their friends/family will not be vacationing or visiting Maine this year. This is going to hurt Maine’s tourist economy, particularly at the coast. And the lack of migrant workers is going to destroy the Maine wild blueberry harvest, I fear. (Again! It happened the first time DT was in office. Remember?!)
There is so much more and I don’t want to write any longer. I’m going to turn on my TV and knit and watch Netfilx until it’s time to bake my bread. Tonight we’re having a vegetarian curried lentil soup and, I hope, homemade bread. I forgot how long it takes to rise! Hopeful that our extra warm laundry room with heater will cut the time by a few hours at least.
We got home from a fun weekend in Marblehead with my brother and sister-in-law and their family. We were to have seen our other brother and his wife who were in Salem visiting their daughter, our niece, who is about to deliver her second child. BUT the airport made them both sick and they were quaratine-ing (is that a word?) so the mom- and dad- and big brother-to-be stayed healthy. Sad to have missed them but we’ll have to go down again before they leave.
Meanwhile, we hung out in a bar, ate dinner out, had a wonderful family Sunday dinner and got caught up with my nephew(s) and my brother and sister-in-law. I needed it.
And then when we got home this afternoon and parked the car in the driveway, I was so grateful to be home. We love being home. It’s cold today but the sun is out and I’ve jumped right back into my busy life.
I took three projects with me this weekend and worked primarily on my Cardoon. I had separated the sleeves so I was merrily stockinette stitching around and around and around. It was great knitting-while-chatting knitting. I’m almost to the spot where I begin the colorwork bit just before the hem!
Cardoon in Fibra natura Kingston Tweed
I’ve also made some good progress on my Bang Out a Sweater, Bolin Cardigan. The fabric is so soft and it’s going to be a lovely sweater; soft and really warm! I’m knitting it with a strand of Rowan Felted Tweed and a strand of Rowan Kid Silk Haze held together. One yarn is camel colored and the other is a fuzzy rosey mauve. Together it looks wonderful! I’ve got one front and the back up to the shoulders and have started the second front. Soon I will be seaming shoulders and knitting sleeves with gorgeous big cables down the side. This is my first design by Norah Gaughan and the body has been simple enough but I’ve been waiting to knit the sleeves!!!
Bolin Cardigan in Rowan Felted Tweed and Kid Silk Haze held together
AND, this morning after my zoom meeting (on my phone, in the car) I worked on my On the Round socks. With a nearly vintage On the Round sock yarn, I’m knitting the Yankee Knitter #29 Sock pattern with a 3×1 rib on the leg and top of the foot. I’m almost at the toe of the first sock.
Yankee Knitter Socks in On the Round yarn
I have one half of an almost FO, too! I’ve finished, well almost finished the first of the mitts for my daughter. Whew! Knitting with black yarn is a challenge and the result is incredible. I really love the colors she chose and the mitts are going to be stunning. And they’ll be warm, too. I’m going to knit the second mitt next and then finish both thumbs.
Rain Shadow Mitts in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Fingering
The colors aren’t really accurate. They’re a true black and a denim blue. But they’re going to be really pretty!
Tomorrow I’ll be grocery shopping, doing the laundry and writing the newsletter for the store in preparation for working the last three days of the week. Including Saturday. It’s my weekend this weekend! Ha! Ha! And tonight we’ll be sleeping in our own bed.
Queen Bee Knits 