No, I Haven't Disappeared!

It feels like a long time since I blogged last. After putting the podcast together last week, I had nothing on my mind but World Wide Knit in Public day. Oh well, I'm back and I've been knitting. 

I've been working on the little sweater for the Armstrong Fair and it's coming along nicely. I'm really liking how this yarn knits up. The sweater has nice body to it, without feeling stiff; and it's quite soft, too. I think that whichever little boy ends up with this sweater will be quite comfortable in it. And whichever mom gets it will be quite happy with the fact that, though the yarn is 100% wool, it is washable! Always a good thing!

The other project that has been growing under my fingers is the Estonian Garden stole. I took it with me to WWKIP last week and I've worked on it almost every day this week. At this stage, it's too big for the little 'bag' I have the yarn in, as you can see.

The main section, the Little Flowers, is finished and I've started on the first of the two edging sections. As of a few minutes ago, I've completed one repeat of the Lily of the Valley section and am six rows into the second 16-row repeat. After that, there's one final repeat and then the final border chart to do. Then I'll be undoing the provisional cast on at the opposite end and completing that end. 

At this point, I have just over half a ball of yarn left and I'm hoping it's enough. It should be. If it isn't, though, I'll have to go through my entire stash to find the other skein, the one I know I have somewhere but have been unable to find. I'm beginning to second guess myself. I bought this yarn originally to make the Luna Moth shawl (remember that one?). I know I wound one skein into a ball and put the other two skeins into the stash closet and started knitting the shawl. I wasn't happy with how it was coming along and frogged it. When I started this stole, I couldn't find that ball, so I wound up the second skein. I'm now about halfway into the third skein, but do you think I can find that first ball? I've gone through a good portion of the stash and still haven't found it. Oh well, I digress.

This really is a nice pattern. It's well written, like all Evelyn Clark patterns are, the charts are easy to memorize and the result is lovely. And the nupps? Trust me when I tell you they really are not difficult. The secret is to keep them loose. If you've never done anything with nupps, allow me to explain them. In this case, you work a yarn over before and after the nupp. The nupp is made by working k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 into a single stitch. On the back side, those five stitches are purled together. I've found that if I let my working yarn go loose and pull it up slightly when I do the knit stitches, the nupp remains loose enough to allow the needle to slide quite easily into the five stitches on the purl side.

If you're looking for a reasonably simple lace pattern, I can heartily recommend this one. 

In other things, next weekend there won't be a podcast. We'll be out of town for the weekend, visiting family at the coast. Later today, I'll be putting together the special Father's Day podcast and I may just expand it a little to make up for the lack of a podcast next weekend. 

Before I forget, I should update you on Ethan. There really isn't much to report as yet. He did have the brain ultrasound, which showed no abnormalities and he did have an EEG. Now, Kristen is waiting to hear from the pediatrician's office. Once she knows anything, I'll let you know. 

Now, I'm off to the hairdresser for a much needed hair cut.