A Bit of News

So much has happened since I last posted.  After all, I did say that I was cutting back on my posts.  

Now that the guilt over not posting so frequently is over, I find myself being called back.  As long as I can return here when I think I have something to say, I may be able to pop in every so often.  A month's break was quite refreshing.  I hope I don't make this a seemingly never ending post.

One of my most recent bits of news is our new family member.  Harbor Humane Society called him Figg.  Here he goes by Figgy Puddin'.

 

It took until last night for him to come out of hiding.  For the first couple days we could usually locate Figgy by thes hisses and by Leo staring (or glaring) in his direction.  But he has come out and now sleeps a lot in out of the way areas.

The highlight of the last month was my confirmation.  It was after much study and prayer that I was confirmed at the Easter Vigil service.  

 

Midge patiently shepherded me through the process. Mary was my sponsor and Fr. Stanley celebrated the sacrament that brought me into full communion with the Catholic Church.    Much of my Lenten reading, especially a book called "When the Church Was Young" strengthened the decision I had already made.  I am very happy with my choice.  It is good to know your church actually takes a stand.  And that it has a tradition going back to Christ and Peter.

And I have been knitting.  (Not crocheting Doug!)

 

I am making a Shape It Shawl for Mary to use at the silent auction for the new hospice house she is a part of.  It will be a long triangle with tapering ends.  Perfect to wrap around and tie or let hang.

 

I am using the left overs from my handspun yarn.  I originally used it for the yoke of a sweater I made about seven years or so ago.  I also had stripes of it around the bottom ribbing and the cuffs.

Well, there you have it.  I won't promise I won't be gone so long because I just may.  But I will pop back from time to time.

I Said I Needed Something Quick

This definitely fit the bill.

. 

This was just what I needed, a very quick project.  

Now I may need to cast on with something new, since I hear we have a very light schedule for Board of Review.  Maybe this? 

 

Same pattern in "Dragon" colorway.  The finished Cowl is in Kimono colorway.  It is totally brainless.  I may at least cast on and knit the first row tonight to have it as backup.  Of course I need to hand wind this skein again too.

But I do have this to get going on too.

 

This is (obviously) a Crazy Zauberball and I will be making a pair of helical striped Mitts after I finish the cuff.  It is lesson one in the Year of Techniques being featured on Mason Dixon Knitting.  Next pattern is out April, so I may fall behind but each pattern is a new technique featured on a quick pattern.  

I can almost guarantee I will fall behind.

New Beginnings

After finishing the Graceful Harvest Cardigan, my thoughts turned to my unfinished works.  I need to sort through the Baby Hap and the purple Ten Stitch Blankie, checking against the patterns and seeing where I am again before starting with them.

But after the sweater and the Sockhead Hat (which was miles and miles of ribbing and stockinette,) I felt the need for something quick.  So, I cast on.

 

Well, first I had to hand wind this so I could knit.

 

As you may be able to read from the label it is mostly bamboo.  Actually it is bamboo rayon, with some wool and a touch of acrylic.  

After a couple days of knitting, including a near needle disaster I am doing quite well.  The tip came off the cable, leaving several inches of stitches swinging free.  I dug out a darning needle and heavy thread, and put them on a lifeline.  From there I was able to put them back on the needles and catch the ones that dropped back a row or two and all is well.

 

Did I mention it is going to be a cowl?  Easy peasy knitting, with some watching the one needle tip.

I also turned this:

 

into this.

 

I weighed them so they should be equal.  More on this project in the future.

The Scoreboard Flies Again

If you are a reader of my blog going back to the last year's Detroit Lion's ever dismal football season, you may remember a season-long project of mine called the Scoreboard Cowl. The idea was one round for each point scored in each game all season long. In this case Honolulu Blue for the Lions points, and a silvery gray for the opponent's scores. Between each game I added three rounds of charcole gray. At the end of the year I picked up the stitches from the provisional cast on and joined the ends of the giant tube with five rounds of charcoal. One game went into overtime and that is designated with a single round of the charcoal.

The season started rather heavy on the silver and very light on the blue. But the blue came on a bit stronger by season's end.

One thing that did happen was lots of scoring throughout the season. Which resulted on a rather long cowl.

It was a bit better doubled, but with my "no-neck" I was lost in it. (FYI--that is a mere sliver of my wool room in the background, including Gertrude, my duct tape dress form.)

Anyway, since I was swimming in it, and knew I probably wouldn't be wearing it, I posted my Facebook friends recently to see if anyone would like it.

My first cousin once removed jumped on it and I promised it to her. I passed it along to her mother, as she was out of state, and the mother passed along to her.

I think she likes it. It even goes with her Detroit Lions bracelet and tee. Glad to see it in the hands of a real fan.

 

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WIPs Parade

This past Monday, before my Tuesday sock class, I spent some time on several of my active WIPs, or Works In Progress. While the Baby Hap was out of the question due to the heat, I did manage to work on the Ten Stitch Blankie for my Little Peanut.

Once the heat started getting to me, I turned to the Tapestry Hitchhiker. Being a rayon yarn, it was less fuzzy and much more comfortable to knit.

I have quite a bit of yarn left, and it is already wearable.

Poor picture, but you get the idea.

Finally I dug out the poor forgotten Smocked Brown Cow Socks and tried to figure out where I left off.

I figured out that I had left off with the gusset almost done. I am now working down the foot.

And of course on Tuesday I had my class on the Golddigger Socks. I have completed the cuff since this picture and am on the cable set up rows. I need to get through the chart twice before my next class.

I better get back to the charts.

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Look at Me Crochet

Well not actually look at me, but I can show you progress from my class today with a crochet sampler scarf.

The yarn is, as you can see, a worsted wool superwash. Wool because then I can stand to knit it. I am a yarn snob after all. And superwash because I think I will be putting it into the gift box and it probably won't go to someone who wants to mess with hand washing.

The pattern is a simple repeat of three basic stitches. I am working on the scarf and should have enough yarn left for the fingerless mitts to match.

I think I am getting the hang of it. I discovered I was wrapping the yarn around the hook wrong. And the wavering sides I had when I tried crocheting before seem much better.

I just need to count stitches after every row.

So far so good. I will see how far I can get before the class on finishing next week.

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Dreaded Crochet!

I suppose I have made it quite plain that crochet is not my friend. The relationship is tenuous at best, nothing like the way knitting and I get along.

One of the things I am dreading about when I finally get to the finishing stage of Bang-Out-A-Freyja is the crocheted edging get around bottom, neck, fronts, and sleeves. I may be able to manage it with my self taught single crochet, but I am not confident in it.

As a result, when our local yarn shop, The New Ewe, offered a class making a sampler crocheted scarf, I decided to jump for it. The class is paid for and I even purchased the yarn, Cascade 220, in a deep cranberry color.

Let's see if the relationship can warm just a bit.

I did want to share a photo of the catalogue page showing the style of my new coop. Like I said, it's like the Tiny House of chicken coops.

Isn't it cute? Just imagine it in blue with white trim.

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Resolutions, Finally

Now that is a week into the New Year, I have thought about at least my knitting goals for 2016.

1. I would like to finish my most active WIPs. Namely the Navy Tweed Vest, the Lilac Cardigan (before a certain purple princess outgrows size 12 months), my Stonehenge Hitchhiker Shawl (shown above before the last half skein was knitted), Sandy's Traveling Woman shawl (before July), the Rustic Blue Silk Triangle, and the Baby Hap Shawl (also for the purple princess).
2. Knit at least one cardigan for me, maybe two. I want to use the Fabjous Yarns fingering weight in Plum Cake that has been in the stash for over a year for one sweater. And I would like to make another out of some of my homespun. I have enough white, light gray, and dark gray Shetland, or some white mixed Leister crossed from a fleece I got a while back, and also I believe I have enough Jacob with all the colors blended together. Multiple choices there.
3. Socks, I need more socks. To that end I signed up for a free Craftsy knit along. Of course I did buy the yarn recommended. It's in the mail now. I need to work at getting them to fit better again.
4. Finish more of my other Craftsy classes.

Of course while these are noble goals for the year, I did accidently cast on something new yesterday. More on that tomorrow. When will I ever learn? At least the Scoreboard Cowl is finished.

Now let's see how well I do with these goals.

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Season's Over, Cowl Done

With the end of Detroit's 2015 football season, so did the 2015 Scoreboard Cowl finally end.  And as I have been predicting....just a bit large.

Notice the bit  laying on the floor.  I measured the cowl when I was laying it on the bed to match the ends without any twists.  It was just a rough measurement when I had matched the ends and then folded it again.  

It was approximately 31 inches.

And since it was folded over in fourths, that would make....gulp....120 inches.

I went ahead with the three needle bind off.

I do like the ridge it makes in the separation between the beginning and ending of the season.

 At least it should be warm.

Still Here, Still Knitting

Bit of a bump in our New Year's celebration here on the farm. Turns out nice wine comes in bottles with a cork. Not good in a home with no corkscrew. I know we could have poked it through, but I didn't want to deal with cork floaties.

So instead, armed with a new corkscrew, we drank out the first day of the new year.

I have been working on my navy tweed vest. Because it is so dark, most of my work has needed to be done earlier in the day. I am just a few rows from the end of waist shaping on the back and then clear sailing to armhole shaping. Still worrying if I have enough yarn, I am seriously considering using a contrast tan or khaki color to match the tweed flecks for the arm, neck and front bands. Then I could perhaps add contrast patch pockets, for a colorblock look.

And did I mention the Hitchhiker scarf/shawl I started. It is so addictive. I am using some natural color millends yarn from Stonehenge Mills. It is DK weight wool and I have 500 yards to work with. All garter stitch makes it easy. I am thinking about making another with the sparkly yarn I bought with my Christmas present purchased yarn. If so I will do the eyelet row option once every repeat.

I have completed 5 more teeth on the far side. That will make one one side edge. The cast off will be the third and shortest side. It will be an asymmetrical triangle as shown, just much bigger.

I may do a picot bind off, when I get that far, just for fun. I always need to make some change to the pattern.

And this coming week will be the end of the 2015 Lions Scoreboard Cowl. Tomorrow is the last game and when I finish knitting this week's score, I can finish up and join the ends.

And see just how huge it actually is.

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The Wind

So here I sit, waiting for the power to out again. This time, I have extra water, to drink and flush with. All devices are charged to the max. I have a flashlight and a battery operated lantern nearby. Younger Son got someone else to take him to work. I am hoping he gets far enough ahead so he can catch a ride home with one of the second shift workers.

And, being Monday, in spite of the horrid weather, Hubby went to the livestock auction. I can only hope he makes it back home in one piece.

I didn't share any pictures of Christmas I guess, only the knitting. In the non-knitting realm, Little Farmer enjoyed his mega blocks, if only to take them out of the wagon, one by one.

Luckily, when you pull the wagon over the blocks, it rakes them into the wagon. He did the taking out and let Daddy do the raking up.

But what he really was impatient for was a ride in the skidsteer with his daddy.

After the boot got pulled back on though. Then they were off.

At home, gifts were opened and enjoyed as well as a wonderful ham. Younger Son had wanted an old school Nintendo with a Super Mario game. He took it to his friends to play with and has hardly stopped playing all weekend.

As for me, I worked mightily on my Navy Tweed Vest, and am caught up with the Scoreboard Cowl as well. Only one game left to add to that and then I will be joining top to bottom. I think I will pick up the stitches from the provisional cast on and then do a 3-needle bind off. The ridge from that will be a nice way to help define the season beginning and end. I am almost afraid to see just how long this is going to be when done. I haven't seen it stretched out since I tucked it into the plastic bag several weeks ago.

But this look down into the bag was from before I finished last week's game, so at least a game and a half more now, plus this coming weekend's game to add to it. There looks like several folds stacked up in there. I will definitely be able to wrap it around once or twice.

And it is barely possible that I cast on for a Hitchhiker shawl/scarf.

Hey, I think the wind shifted. It isn't hitting our east windows quite so hard now. Yea!

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Already? Yikes!

Is Christmas really next week? I have some fancy knitting to get done. I have made the decision that my current project will have to be my last bit of Christmas knitting. I still have some finishing work to do on the last gift as well.

Of course the Scoreboard Cowl took a big bite of Sunday and Monday knitting time. I have decided, reluctantly, that this weekend's scoring will need to wait until all holiday knitting is complete. Plus I need to schedule my wrapping day soon. A chunk of Friday is missing because I have to sit on the township Board of Review as well. Tomorrow is my Grammy day with Little Farmer, and Thursday is Bible Study. I need to hurry! Where did all the time go?

The Scoreboard Cowl has been growing. This photo shows the last couple weeks Lions games immortalized in yarn. I haven't looked at the whole thing since packaging it up in the bag for easier knitting.

During the time between knitting and the next game, it sits tightly wrapped up.

I am almost afraid to see just how long it is. And if I read the schedule correctly, there are still three more games left. It will definitely be long enough to wrap around neck and head.

If this stupid weather ever gets cold enough to wear it.

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Blazing Needles

You can tell I must be busy when I do not show up here very often. The reason right now is Christmas knitting.

One boot topper is cast off and the second is in progress. With only two rows with the cabling, it can go quickly. Especially now that I am doing them with magic loop.

With the second one going quickly, I can try to decide which project is next in queue. I am leaning toward a pair of slippers called Leethal Mary Janes. I have black and silver Encore Mega, I think, and another skein of the silver I am using on the Scoreboard Cowl. It will be knit with a strand of both. There will be silver left over, in case I need it for the cowl. The pattern is the top one on the pile I shared last time.

And speaking of the cowl, the Lions played last night. So tonight's knitting will focus on finishing the knitting scoring from last night. A loss, I might add. Then back to boot topper number two.

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