I LOVE MY CHURCH!

Today, the United Church of Christ premiered its Internet-only ad. This is what a progressive, grace-filled, diverse and loving church looks like.

In Which a Trip Through the Olympics with Pink Socks and a Traveling Woman Leads to the Clap

First, an Olympic report: I am claiming victory, though not a Gold Medal, in the struggle. As the Canadians were barely beating the Americans in the gold medal hockey game, I was weaving in the last of the ends of the flap of the Olympic Satchel.

After a good long soak to relax all those tortured fibers, it got pinned out to dry. I have to admit that the intarsia section doesn't look as awful as I had feared (but note, I'm not providing a closeup pic just yet), and the stranded pieces came out great. I still need to do some duplicate stitching on the flap to add some dimension. Since I need to use the pieces to make the pattern for the lining, I either need to find something to make a pattern from then get to assembly or wait until M and I can get to the fabric store together to pick out the lining fabric so I can cut it out before assembling the bag.

Victory? I survived intarsia -- that's always a victory. To be perfectly honest, because the bag needs to be lined, I never expected that I would finish it by the end of the games, but at least I managed to finish the majority of the knitting (after assembly, there's about a mile of applied i-cord to do). And there's sooo much yarn left -- but I have a plan that maybe, just maybe, involves another shawl or two.

In other pink/purple knitting news, the Pink Breeze socks are done, and I love them.

Pattern: Breeze by Jennifer Appleby from Knitty, Summer 07
Yarn: Kollage Yarns Luscious in magenta, 2 skeins
Needle: Knit Picks Harmony 2.5mm 32" circ
Mods: added a 2" cuff; did plain slip-stitch heel flap

As I mentioned before, these magical socks fit my not-narrow size 8 feet and M's narrow size 10s just perfectly. And being cotton and short, they'll have a long wearing season here in Tucson (well, as long a wearing season as any socks have in the land of sandals). And I have mentioned on more than one occasion just how much I love working with Luscious.

And then there's the beauty I can't wait to get off the blocking board so I can wear it

Pattern: Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
Yarn: Handarbeitskram by Selana sockyarn in "pink is beautiful", 1 skein
Needle: Knit Picks Nickel-Plated interchangeable, #6 w/32" cord
Mods: Increased stockinette section to 187 stitches; worked 4 repeats of chart A because I wanted to use all of the yarn. And I did use all of the yarn, plus about 1/2 yard of something else to finish the bind off.
Dimensions: 52" wide and 16" deep before blocking; 68" wide and 24" deep after blocking

I already love this shawl, and it's not even off the blocking board yet. Must wear it the first chance I get because it's nearing the end of shawl season here.

Next on the needles? A Clapotis -- I'm finally going to join the masses who've knitted and loved this pattern. Many moons ago I fell in love with some Jitterbug in Raphael and had to have it. Now, it is destined to become a Clapotis. Because I have only two skeins, it will be narrower -- plan is to weigh the ball, increase to 89-95 or so stitches (will decide when I get there), weigh the ball again to see how much the increase section took, then knit until I have just a bit more yarn than that left before starting the decreases. After reading a lot of notes on Ravelry, I've decided to start with a size 6 needle.

And, just because I can, gratuitous pictures of the stranded bits of the bag:

Monday is for Ends

These ends to be exact:
I finished knitting the body of the East Meets West Satchel last night (you'll have to take my word for it that I have already finished -- and even sewn in the ends on -- the strap -- right now a photograph would just look like a rolled bit of knitting, cuz that's pretty much what it is) -- today I must sew in the ends, secure and cut the steek, then pick up the stitches for the intarsia (yuck!) flap. Entering the home stretch as the Olympics enter their final week.

Of course, I lose a whole boatload of knitting time this coming weekend because M and I are going to a workshop Friday evening and all day Saturday, so I need to crank on this. Fortunately, the body pattern (knit starting with 478 stitches and decreasing over 65 rows down to 22) was a bit addictive, so I had no problem spending most of Sunday working on it while watch the Olympics (it has surprised me how easy it has been to knit this and watch the Olympics at the same time). I suppose I should admit that I have a late-night curling problem, so last night's bonus, bonus coverage of the overtime Canada-China women's game gave me the chance to finish the last couple of rounds.

[Anyone else just a bit obsessed with the curling? I have been fascinated by the sport since the first time I saw it (probably on ABC's Wide World of Sports when I was a kid). It's as least as much strategy as physical skill, which I think is probably the biggest reason I find it appealing (that, and how many other Olympic athletes are older than I am, really?). Besides, curling and hockey are the only things we get to see live here in the west. All that stuff the rest of you get to see live -- nope, not us. In fact, last night we watched much of the US-Canada hockey game live as it was happening (and nearly gave the cats heart failure when they scored that empty-netter) -- two hours later, we are watching the delayed broadcast of the prime time coverage on NBC and they break in to the bobsledding to show the end of the hockey game. I try to find it amusing and not annoying and satisfy myself with the fact that a lot of the stuff shown on the "live" prime time broadcast isn't really live anyway.]

Thought you might like to see a picture of the "pretty" side of the body -- pre-blocking, so it's all nice and wrinkly.

Pink and Breezy
Just to prove that it's not all stranded colorwork here, a finished "Breeze" sock in luscious magenta Luscious. This sock is like magic. Not only was it a joy to knit, but it magically fits my wide-ish size 8 feet AND M's narrow-ish size 10s. Now that's a sock I can love. I documented the mods I made to Jennifer's original Knitty pattern on Thursday.

Oh, and the thing that made M say "I hate you" twice in the last week? The strap for this bag starts with a 450-stitch cast-on; the body with a 478-stitch cast-on. Each time, I finished the long tail cast-on with about 16" of yarn left. Purely luck, I swear, but it made my day.

February is for Pink

Honest, I didn't plan it that way, but all of my current projects are some shade of pink or pink and purple:

The East Meets West Satchel kit from KnitPicks in the purples colorway (which is really a whole lot of pink AND purple). This is the strap with the pink flower motif band insertion.

Last night I finished the 24-row insertion -- while watching Lindsey, Shani and Shaun all bring home the gold -- phew! I don't know for whom I am more relieved: myself, or the athletes who managed to live up to the hype.

As you can see from this picture the band is shaped with short rows to allow the bottom of the bag to widen gracefully from the handle. It's a very nice construction, and I do like the finished product, but ugh!, stranded colorwork knitted flat just isn't any fun. There's a reason that steeks exist, and I have to say that I am very, VERY happy that the body of the bag is knit in the round and steeked rather than knit in two pieces. But I'm done with that portion now, and it's knitting in the round for the forseeable future (I'm thinking after all that stranded purling, the intarsia of the flap is gonna be nothing).

That picture also gives a hint at one of the "joys" of this kind of colorwork: ends, ends, ends. Is now that proper time to confess that I actually enjoy most of the finishing process, INCLUDING weaving in ends?

Pink Thing #2

Okay, this one I confess was planned to be pink, since pink is the February color for the Solid Socks challenge on Ravelry.

Yarn is Kollage Yarns Luscious, a luscious blend of 63% cotton/37% nylon elastic, that is a joy to work with, a little heavier in the knitting than other sock yarns, and oh-so-soft in the wearing. Have I mentioned that I love this yarn? The pattern is Jennifer Appleby's Breeze from Knitty a couple years back.

Because the rules of the challenge specify a complete sock, and to make them more wearable (I wear footies to work out, and that's about it), I'm making these as short socks. I cast on 60 stitches and knit 5 rounds to get the rolled cuff. For the leg, I did two of the cable/lace panel without the garter stitches at the edge (one for the front and one for the back), and since I needed to add 4 more stitches, I added a mock cable at either side (which then splits at the gusset with one stitch going to the front and on becoming part of the heel). Make sense? I also used a simple slip stitch heel rather than the cabled one in the pattern.

Pink Thing #3

So, the bag is for knitting in front of the TV (21 balls of yarn and a whole book for the pattern doesn't make for portability); the Breeze socks are for knitting when the Olympics get too interesting to follow a chart; the Traveling Woman Shawl (pink thing #4) is resting for right now; but Sandy had nothing to knit while sitting in class or a workshop or while watching a movie, so:

The most basic-est of socks. Toe-up, short-row (probably) heel, stockinette stitch -- I can knit it in my sleep. Yarn is Filatura di Crosa Maxime Print Soft Socks.

That cat picture I posted before? Here they are today. Big difference, huh? That first picture was taken last September shortly after we adopted Willow (who was 4.5 months and 4.5 lbs at the time). Willow is now closer to 6 lbs and no longer has a baby face, but as you can see, she and K-Man are still the best of friends.

Back for the Olympics

Yeah, okay, it's been FOREVER, but I have my reasons (a vacation, a move, a crisis at church, a death in the family, a new addition to the family, good reasons all).

So, I am doing Stephanie's Knitting Olympics this year, and I don't want anyone to tell me the project I've chosen isn't challenging enough. It's pretty darn challenging when you consider it needs to be done in two weeks while watching sports on television.

This is the East Meets West Satchel kit in the purple colorway. I bought it for M for Christmas, knowing that she wasn't going to tackle it, but also knowing she fell in love with it when we first saw it in the catalog. I am looking forward to working on it, especially since my knitting of late has consisted of a lot of lace and a lot of felting (which I promise to share with the blog over the next few days). It'll be a nice change of pace to do some colorwork on tiny needles.

As you can see, I've already made myself a color card. There are 21 different colors in this thing, half of which are shades of pink and purple I could never keep straight without some help. My fingers are itching to cast on tonight.

Just off the needles (and off the blocking board):

Pattern: Leaf and Trellis Shawl from Victorian Lace Today
Yarn: Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in garnet, used approx 1145m
Needles: Knit Picks nickel-plated interchangeable 4mm with 32" cable and Knit Picks Harmony 8" DP 4mm for the border
Mods: As have many people with patterns from this book, I was going to run out of yarn if I used the beautiful border in the book, so I doodled up a very simple border which echoes the trellis pattern in the body of the shawl and allowed me to complete the shawl with 14g of yarn to spare. Also, the Silky Alpaca Lace is slightly finer than the yarn called for in the pattern, so I went down a needle size.

This is my first entry in the 10 Shawls in 2010 Challenge on Ravelry. I had originally hoped and planned to have it done in January, but it seemed to have a mind of its own (and then there was the freak eye injury thanks to one of the cats that kept me sidelined from knitting anything more complex than a garter-stitch blanket for a couple of days), so it wasn't off the needles until this past Wednesday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the knitting of this project and have become a convert to the knitted-on border idea. It's a little awkward at first, what with all that weight of the body getting in the way of working on the border, but once I was under way it was a delight. And I love the stitch pattern so much that I actually plan on making us some curtains (okay, valances and/or cafe curtains) using it sometime soon.

Next up for the 10 Shawls Challenge, Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante (aka Feministy). I already have the feeling that this will become (like my Daybreak Shawl has) a favorite:

The yarn is Handarbeitskrom by Selana Handpainted Sock Yarn in colorway "Pink is Beautiful", and I am loving the way the colors (more purple than pink, really) play in the stockinette portion of the shawl. I will probably keep this one around for the Olympics for when I need a break from colors and charts and just want to watch Shaun White flip and fly.

Check back soon for details on this:

And why we are now trying to furnish a massive outdoor room.

Back Online (with fingers crossed)

So, I've been having these weirdly predictable problems with my Internet connection for a while now. Every afternoon, sometime between 1:30 and 2:30 I would simply lose my connection -- then it would return anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00. Strange. ISP had no problems on their end, so finally on Friday a very nice tech came and, finding nothing wrong with the lines, etc here at the house, suggested just swapping out our old modem (which we own) for a leased one and seeing if that fixes the problem. If it does, I can go buy a new modem and return the leased one.

Well, I can say the Internet did not cut out Friday afternoon. The real test will be this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed that it works because I kinda rely on my Internet connection to make a living.

In the meantime, Enchanted Daybreak is done! And I love it. The interplay of the colors is just great; it's just the right size to keep a chill off; and the shape means it stays on my shoulders without a pin. It's just great.


Pattern: Daybreak Shawl by Stephen West -- I made the largest size
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Fingering "Orange You Glad" and Noro Kureyon Sock #185, 1 ball each
Needle: Addi 32" #4
Mods: Well, to avoid running out of yarn halfway through the bindoff, I actually bound this off on the last wrong side knit row.

As I mentioned, when I saw Stefanie's blog post about her Daybreak Shawl, I wandered over to Rav to see what others had done, and knew immediately that I had to make this shawl and that I had to make it with this Kureyon Sock.

The knitting of the shawl was pretty straightforward, and I needed to refer to the pattern for only the first couple of rows of each section. And I only used a row counter for the first (solid) section. After that it was simply a matter of counting stripes and/or "purl" rows to keep track of where I was. By then end, each row was taking 12-15 minutes to knit and the needle was pretty full of stitches (I have deliberately not done the math to figure out just how many stitches were on the needles by the end -- it was a lot).

We had company coming for the weekend, so instead of wet-blocking or pinning out and steam blocking (both of which require the guest room to be free of guests for at least a day and a half), I simply gave the shawl a good ironing. I like the results very much.

And just because I love this shawl so, more pix (of course, clicking will take you to full size image at Flickr):





Color is probably most accurate in the pictures of it resting on the bird of paradise.

And remember the two skeins of Indigo Moon I needed to do something with? Well, what do you think?



This is #1 of a pair of Cookie A's Sunshine Socks from Sock Innovation. Loving the color; loving the yarn; and loving how the yarn shows off the texture of the stitch pattern. Now on to sock #2.

Random Thursday (Because the Internet Went out Wednesday)

1. As Levi Leipheimer said when Tweeting it, "Check out these mad biking skills."



2. Ever wondered what your favorite journalists, foodies, techies and fashion gurus read online every day? Now you can check it out with Google Readers' Featured Readers.

3. I saw this great story about the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck a couple weeks ago. You can follow his exploits on his blog.

4. Don't ask because I haven't a clue what it's about, but this car was parked on the street in downtown Grand Rapids, MI, while we were there for Synod.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with Synod, and (as you can tell if you click on the picture to see the original at Flickr) the deer aren't real. It certainly had us all quite amused for a couple of days.

5. This one is just for the word/grammar geeks out there: The UC San Diego Semiotic Zoo. "The UC San Diego Semiotic Zoo (UCSZ) is proud to present a special exhibition of exotic specimens and fabulous mutations, captured live in the jungles of academic discourse, and assembled here with great care for your entertainment and edification." Hours of fun for the whole family! Really.

6. Two things about this next picture:

• It's a good thing I love him because, while that's not a favorite shoe, it is one I wore frequently; and
• Look closely at his face. What if I tell you this picture was taken a couple of months AFTER we had his left eye removed? Spooky, huh?

7. And finally, I got a new cell phone last week, a Samsung Eternity. I wanted something that was capable of web browsing and stuff, had a full keyboard for texting, and that I could afford. Sure, I could get a refurbished iPhone for fairly cheap, but AT&T requires that you add the full iPhone data plan to your service, and I didn't say I wanted to USE the data service, just have a phone that could. Anyway, this phone comes with this "game":


Which is at the same time ridiculously pointless and rather addictive. I suppose if you're stuck somewhere and fell like playing craps.... [If you know HOW to play craps, that is.]

Yummy Yarns, A Cuddly Wrap, and an Enchanted Shawl

Before we get to the fiber arts, I just have to gush a little bit about this recent acquisition (purchased at a yarn store, however, so it fits). Isn't it just wonderful? It was made by Janey Katz of Lizard Breath Ranch. M and I went to Silver City, NM a couple of weeks ago on a (working, for her) mini-break. While there, we were directed by friends to Yadda Yadda Yarn because, well, we needed souvenir yarn, right?

We also knew we wanted a "Critter" and that we could get one at the yarn store. The friends who put us up for the night have one of her larger pieces (made from an entire truck door), and we were captivated. So our first stop (after checking in with friends at The Curious Kumquat) was to fondle (and acquire) yarn and admire (and acquire) art.

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Pattern: Faux Russian Stole from A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swanson
Yarn: A two-ply wool jumperweight I can't otherwise identify because the tag is all in some Scandinavian language. Photos cannot do this yarn justice. It reads mostly as brown, but it's got a lot of green to it as well -- and then there are bits of orange and blue and red and other colors -- in the sun it just glows with light and color.

I loved the pattern, and the knitting was fairly straightforward (if anything with a 95 row chart can be straightforward). I found that it was easier to keep my place and make sure I didn't miss any YOs (I don't tend to miss the decreases, just the YOs) if, in addition to the markers between the edge stitches and the body stitches, I placed markers 28 stitches in from each side of the body. This way I could keep track of the stitches in each of the three sections of the body chart. As long as I had 28-25-28 stitches in these sections each row I was good to go.

Before blocking, the shawl was 22x54" -- after blocking it is now 30x72". Yep, it's BIG, and it'll be perfect for snuggling into on cool winter evenings here in the desert. Nothing worse when you're chilly than a shawl that's too small.

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When Stefanie started her Daybreak Shawl I was intrigued (maybe it was the Manilow reference), so I went to the Rav page and looked at the other projects there, then wandered over to Stephen's blog and decided that I had to make myself a Daybreak. I had purchased some Kureyon Sock (#185) at Yadda Yadda Yarn during the aforementioned visit with another shawl project in mind, but Daybreak captured my attention, so on a visit to Tucson Yarn I picked up a ball of Nature Spun Fingering in "Orange You Glad" and as soon as the Faux Russian was off the needles I cast on for what I'm calling Enchanted Daybreak ("Enchanted" for the motto of New Mexico, "Land of Enchantment").

I am making the largest size which calls for 325 yards of the solid color; Nature Spun Fingering comes in 310 yard balls. I finished section 2 with just a few yards of the 310 remaining. Phew! I am now a couple repeats into section 3 and the rows are each taking 12 or so minutes to knit (yes, I timed the last one because I needed to get dinner started and it was a race to see if I would finish the row in time).

Stefanie has some tips on her blog post (link above) for working the solid section. I will just add this: I put a locking stitch marker at the center of each of the side sections. As long as you remember to move the markers two stitches toward the outside before each increase row, you can then just do the increase on the outside of the marker and not worry about counting stitches.

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Now if only that package would arrive from Knit Picks so I can do something with this:

That's two skeins of Indigo Moon Yarns Merino Fingering in Salad and Crabapple (I'm guessing you can tell which is which). They're to become socks. The Salad will likely become Feuilles de Vert, a pattern designed by Debbie O'Neill for Indigo Moon; the Crabapple may become Nancy Bush's Fancy Silk Sock or perhaps something from Sock Innovation. We'll see if Trish has other ideas since these are ultimately samples for her, but she's given me a lot of leeway with choosing the design.

I think that may be just about caught up. Of course, there are other socks on the needles (the reason I need the KP package before I can start the socks for Indigo Moon), and I've made some decisions about the Log Cabin Blankie whose squares are right now resting in the corner of my office, done but not assembled, and I there's a pink blankie for the hospital, and I know there's other stuff. Oh, and I just heard from Susan that she's sending me a new test knit. Ah, the fibery goodness!

In The Meantime...Catching up in pictures

Pupper has made the complete transition from Cone-Puppy to Padiddle-Dog.

He's doing great, and aside from occasionally bumping into things on his left side, he really doesn't seem to notice. And his depth perception appears to be just fine if his ability to snag thrown popcorn from mid-air is any indication.

M and I went to the UCC's General Synod in Grand Rapids, MI. It was a fabulous chance to see friends, experience inspiring worship, and (of course) kibbutz the parliamentary procedure (which this year was largely free of major snafus). While there, I managed to knit a couple pairs of socks:


Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina
Yarn: OnLine Supersocke Holiday Color #999
I call these Fruity Jaywalkers because the colors of this yarn just scream things like LIME! CHERRY! ORANGE! LEMON!. I made the original size, and they're a little tight for my chunky calves, so they'll be M's socks or I'll find them a different home.


Pattern: Tidal Wave Socks by Deby Lake
Yarn: SWTC TOFUtsies #790
The theme for this year's General Synod was "Immerse Yourself" -- and few things immerse more than a tidal wave, so these socks were dubbed "Total Immersion". I cannot express how much I love this yarn or this pattern. This the third pair of Tidal Wave socks I've made from TOFUtsies, and I can't promise I won't make more. For Tucson winters, wool socks can be a little toasty on the feet, so a nice wool/soy/cotton blend is just what the weatherman ordered.


Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Yarn: Regia Mini Ringel Color #5219
Though these socks were not begun until after our return from Synod, I still call them "Synod Junkie Monkeys" since the yarn made the trip to Grand Rapids as backup to the Jaywalkers and Tidal Wave socks. As with the other Monkeys I have made, these have no purl stitches.

There was fiber crafting FOR Synod in addition to the knitting AT Synod:


Pattern: Very Easy Ripple Shawl by Lion Brand (aka just a whole lot of feather and fan)
Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun in turquoise
Knowing that it would be chilly in the halls and rooms at Synod, M and I each knit one of these shawls, mine in turquoise, hers in orange.


And the backup shawl, just in case I didn't finish the knitted one. This is one is woven from mostly 5/2 Valley Cotton. Main color is 8176 (natural), and both warp and weft have random threads of other colors left over from other projects. At least most of the color is random: once in each the warp and weft there is a pink thread right next to an orange one. Coffee drinkers raised in the Northeast may recognize the significance of that (one thing I desperately miss from back home).

There's more knitting and stuff, but I'll stop here for now.

Oh, just a few more things:

• Good gravy, people! Can't a woman wear shorts on vacation with her family IN THE DESERT?!
• Just stay retired, already! Please?
• Sometimes it has NOTHING to do with your orientation.
• Please tell me he's for real

Pupper Pulls Through

So, Pupper came through is surgery yesterday just fine. I'd put a picture of him at the head of this post, but I don't want to scare any small children who might be watching. He's still a bit bloody and swollen, and then there's the matter of that cone around his neck.

Speaking of scared, much to our surprise and delight, Mr. Skittish himself (aka K-man) didn't freak out and run away when Cone-Pupper came home last night. No, he was instead incredibly curious. As Pupper was lying on the floor, K-man walked over and completely investigated the cone, the dog, and all the strange smells. He wasn't at all frightened, thank goodness.

Pupper himself is nearly back to his old self. In fact, aside from sleeping a little more (and a little more deeply) than usual, he has been his old self since we picked him up last night. Because of how our schedules all worked out, we had to take him to our last Education for Ministry class at church last night. Rather than simply curling up and sleeping on the floor (as I would have done just a couple hours after anesthesia), Pupper was alert and greeting everyone and keeping his one eye on all the happenings.

Today, he's been a little whiny and a little more clingy than usual (and he's a velcro dog on the best of days), and he's still not a pro at navigating life with a cone on his head. [Note: one thing we did not consider is that he probably can't turn around in his crate with the cone on his head, and since he has to be in his crate when he's home alone (unless he's outside, and I'm not leaving him outside with a cone on his head, even when the temps aren't above 100) ....] He has figured out how to eat and drink, and he can even get the crumbs he spilled on the floor without choking himself on the collar, so I consider that progress.

On the knitting front, well, there's progress, and aside from letting you know that I've finished the fourth square on my log cabin blanket, I can't share. And just to prove that I'm not just the knitting lady, but the crazy knitting lady, I've just agreed to a few other sample/test knits that will probably consume all of my knitting time for the next few weeks. But how can I say no? I mean, to be in at the beginning of the process; to see something take shape; to knit something no-one (or nearly no-one) else has ever knit; to (in some cases) use yarn I couldn't or wouldn't buy for myself.... But, let's face it, the real fun is that I get paid to knit! Just how cool is that?

Photo information: Ukranian Eggs (black is mine; red is M's) we decorated in a workshop at church this spring; a mommy dove sitting on her nest in our bougainvillea; Queen B inside the wing chair in the living room (you may need to see the full-size version at Flickr to get that).

In Which Sandy Worries, and Knits

Pupper just left with M to go to the vet so his left eye (please, God, make sure they take the left one) can be removed. Me, I'm not quite a nervous wreck, but my fragile baby is having surgery, so I'm a little distracted. And last night I dreamed that they took the wrong eye, leaving him both deaf AND blind.

It is time for the surgery (he's been blind in that eye as long as we've had him, and he's so unaware of it these days that he doesn't even close it when he sleeps -- exacerbating his dry eye and causing chronic infections), and life will be easier for all of us when it's over. Funny, one of the things I'm most worried about is what seeing "his" dog in an Elizabethan collar will do to our rather skittish K-Man, whose life motto is "Panic first, ask questions later."

But, now to knitting (the best tonic for almost any situation).

The Magenta thing is done. I love it when a plan comes together, and this one did. The finished object is just perfect for wearing over a tank top to keep the A/C chill off.

When I got there, I decided to go with feather and fan for the skirt. I tried a few other things, but the classics are the classics for a reason, and I think f & f was just perfect for this application. So, after I made the eyelets and bound off the center 3 stitches (the seed stitch placket), I increased to some multiple of 18 and worked the feather and fan until it was about mid-butt length.

For the edgings, I picked up stitches along the edges of the lace section and around the neck, worked two garter ridges, an eyelet row (K2tog, YO), then another garter ridge before binding off. If I were to do this again, I would probably knit the edging along with the skirt, picking up three extra stitches at the bottom of the placket rather than casting them off.

I then picked up the sleeve stitches and knit just 6 stockinette rounds before edging them like the neck and skirt. Right now, the tie is just a long crochet chain, and I haven't added buttons to the placket -- a trip to the fabric store is probably coming soon to pick out some ribbon and buttons.

All together, this sweater used almost a whole 1-lb cone of Valley Yarns Hampshire Brights (a 6/2/2 mercerized cotton they no longer carry, though their Valley Cotton comes in a 3/2 which is the same weight). Because of the extra twist in this double-plied yarn, I am glad I chose a project for it knit in the round. I got the feeling that this yarn might have a biasing issue if it were knit flat in stockinette (the lace is okay, partly because it's garter-ish). A good thing to keep in mind, since I have a few more cones of this in the stash.

And finally, another new blanket project. I succumbed to the allure of making something useful out of all my sock yarn scraps and so I've begun my own sock yarn blankie. I have 17 foundation squares done, and have started to join them. I am knitting on size 3 double pointed needles (bigger than I would use for socks, but softness and floppiness -- rather than hard-wearingness -- are the aim here), and starting with 31 stitches for each square. I am randomly (or not-so-randomly in some cases) adding sections of stockinette to each square to add some interest. In some cases, I'm using the stockinette, too, to lessen that garter-stripe effect.

I don't plan on finishing this one anytime soon. In fact, unless I decide to sacrifice some of my wool sock yarn (which, let's face it, makes socks I can wear for about 2 months if I'm lucky here in Tucson), I don't have enough yarn to finish the blankie anyway. So, if anyone wants to send sock yarn scraps my way....

Say a prayer, light a candle, send good thoughts to the Universe for my baby and his surgeon.

Log Cabin Love

Since about halfway through the last of my recent stealth knitting projects I have been obsessed for some reason with the idea of log cabin squares and a log cabin blanket. (Contrary to popular belief, blankets -- especially lap-sized blankets -- are useful here in the desert for chilly winter evenings.) Just the project for Tucson as summer approaches (we're expecting our first triple-digit temps today, in fact) -- yep, seasonal knitting, gotta love it (thank goodness for the A/C).

So, as soon as I had that project on its way to its rightful owner, I hit the stash and pulled out three cones of Brora Softspun. For those unfamiliar (and unfortunate), this was a HUGE millend WEBS had a few years ago -- a 2-ply worsted weight Shetland in a whole bunch of yummy colors (about 40 of them shades of brown/tan). It is greasy and sheepy (though it doesn't have a lot of vegetable matter) and reminds me a lot of the Bartlett yarns that I grew up with. I love working with it, and it washes up into the softest, yummiest, warmest fabric that would just kill me if I had to wear it in a sweater (my original intent for the embarrassing number of 2.5-lb cones of the stuff I bought) down here.

I decided to use Cara's basic recipe from her Blue Moon log cabin blanket. I will use the same 12 square configurations she used and assemble them randomly (or as randomly as I am able). Right now I am planning to then pick up a monster number of stitches around the edge and put some kind of border on the thing.

My squares are blocking to 14", so the finished blanket (with border) will be about 4'x5' -- a great lap warmer size. Of course, with 2.5 pounds of each color at my disposal and a nearly endless supply of log cabin configuration options, I could always decide to make it more blanket- than throw-sized. Stay tuned.

I am totally in love with this project -- the knitting, the finished squares, the colors -- all of it is just a joy. Unfortunately, I will shortly have to put these squares aside because the yarn arrived this week for yet another stealth project (still waiting for the pattern which is probably being written as I write this).

One final thought: with the weather here in the desert turning to the triple digits in early May, the boys would like you to know it's just not fair.

Purse Karma, We Haz It

Hello there. Yeah, it's me, the Prodigal Blogger. I found my way back to the blog, and believe me, I'm thrilled to be back. What's kept me? Mostly it was those allergies from someplace-even-hotter-than-Tucson-in-July that kicked my behind for a few weeks. I was at the point where I just wanted to lock myself in a hermetically sealed room with quadruple HEPA filtration and not come out until everything in the world had ceased pollinating. I even cried. It has been an unbelievably nasty allergy season here in the SW. Then M found this homeopathic allergy spray, Southwest formula, and I've been a changed woman ever since.

And there has been knitting -- lots and lots of knitting to keep me busy and/or feeling guilty while I've been "sick", and I can't share it -- sorry. In time perhaps some will be revealed.

But I did want to reveal the lucky score we made last Friday on a crawl through secondhand stores. First we found a pair of brand new Birkenstocks -- in my size -- in black -- for $8.

Next, we found two bowls by a Tucson artist whose work we have been drooling over since we moved here. [In fact, if anyone needs a gift suggestion, the 16" platter in her Tree of Life pattern would look fabulous on the lazy susan in the middle of our dining room table.]

But the best? The best came at our favorite second hand haunt when I did what I always do and headed for the place where they keep "the good stuff". Only this wasn't with the good stuff. There in a shopping cart, where it was waiting for someone to put it away, was the unmistakable pebbled leather of a Dooney & Bourke handbag. I pulled it out to reveal, well, what you see above there, priced at $4. That wasn't to be all, though. Digging through the cart revealed yet another D&B handbag, this one priced at $6 -- and brand new -- with the plastic still on the shoulder strap.

But that wasn't even the end. After we had snatched up these two bags and headed to the checkout with them before someone could change their mind about the prices, we found yet ANOTHER D&B handbag. This time an Essex -- in bone -- in very good condition -- for $8. I don't have a picture of that last one because it has already gone to a friend with a love of Dooney & Bourke and no budget to match. She was thrilled -- or perhaps stunned is a better word for it. And researching her new handbag has given her a bit of a passion for vintage handbags -- we may have created a monster.

We're guessing that someone either died or had to be moved into a nursing home, and the family just donated all her stuff. Then someone priced it without really knowing what it was (side note: in the same cart was a like new leather Prada handbag for $10 which we didn't buy). The Essex was clearly its previous owner's everyday bag for a while. Among the things I cleaned out of it: two Advil, one Alleve, one Imitrex, two Zoloft (who carries loose anti-depressant pills around with them?), a fortune cookie fortune, 12 cents, and a grocery receipt from 2003.

So, M has a new everyday bag (the drawstring bag); I have a new (and it's green!) fun handbag; and Lorraine is tickled pink with her new baby.

Oh, my everyday handbag? Another fantastic secondhand find. A vintage Coach we got for a buck (yes $1) at a rummage sale.

And since I finished all the stealth knitting I can't share, I have been working on a couple of fun projects which I can share, and I promise I will, let's hope tomorrow.