Hubby's New Toy

Last week Saturday, Hubby went to one of those events so beloved by farmers: an auction sale.  It doesn't matter if he is looking for something or not.  I think he usually just goes to catch up on male gossip.
This time however, he had an object in his sights, a new garden tractor.  And he was successful. 

A 92 White, with bagger, and a 52 inch deck.

It even has a cup holder!

Maybe he can mow it in just a couple sections instead of a little each day for a week.

Or not.

We Have Sleeve Stubs

Well, what else can I call them?  They aren't real sleeves yet, but I have divided the body from the sleeves and set aside the sleeve stitches for a little later.  And frankly I am quite impressed with how much I have gotten done on the Duchess of Cambridge cardigan in the past week.
Just look.

 I know the front doesn't meet, but there is are stitches picked up all along the fronts and neck and the collar is knit from there.  I am qute happy with the progress recently on this.

I think I will do the sleeves after an inch or two more on the body, because sleeves are easier when the sweater isn't as heavy.  Of course though, this is a Featherweight.  How heavy can it get?
Since I will be putting this aside in the next few days to work on Bettys jacket, as well as my pentecost red shawl, I have time to think whether I want to put a ribbed hem and facing, or if I want it curly stockinette, or if I want to use seed or lace or something that won't curl. 
Decisions, Decisions.

Plugging Away

I have been knitting like mad on the newly re-christened Duchess of Cambridge Featherweight. No new pictures due to stitch count issues.
They were not entirely my fault though.
As anyone who has purchased this pattern knows, Hannah Fettig recently updated the pattern, changing the stitch counts and upsizing it. I had done my own upsizing, so I was cool with that. But then she noted that the sleeves were too full for some people. She said if you were in the middle of a sweater and wanted to follow the new version, just keep up your increases until you have the right number of sleeve stitches, then divide.
So I did. And after placing the correct number of stitches on strings to hold them, I decided to count the front and back stitches. The good news was that the fronts each matched. The bad news was that I was off a total of 28 stitches.
And that, my friends, is a difference of 4.6 inches. Not good for an ample one like me.
Sigh.
So, I put the stitches back on the needles, and went on increasing the fronts and backs,, but not sleeves. Got a couple extra rows to knit, but soon I hope to be dividing again.
And then I will post pictures.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

The New Tom

Cat that is.
Last year, in an effort to bring some new blood into our barn kitties, my friend Sandy brought a black kitten and two white ones from her brothers farm.  The white ones didn't make it, but the black one is just what we were looking for.  And he has grown nicely.

Sleek and shiny, and quite independent.  Although we have two other homegrown tom cats that handle things, Blacky here managed to breed a cat that came out of season very late last fall.  I am hoping for good things from him. 
The ears you see in the foreground belong to the mama cat who keeps having her kitties inside the barn wall.  Hubby is getting his lasso ready to retrieve the six she had a couple weeks ago.

Back to Normal, for Me

Well after practically overdosing on the Royal Wedding, I am finally getting back together.  I slept in some yesterday, but then had a business meeting. (More on that in future.)
Some knitting has been done, swatching at least.  The mohair silk for Betty's jacket is so soft, and has such sheen. 

It looks like I will be going down a needle size, now I have to figure out the crazy cast on.  Maybe I'll do a tublar cast on instead. It looks similar to that.