The Blob Grows

This shawl is going to be big! As of yesterday, I've completed tworepeats of section three and, when stretched, it's already about 4 feet.

It's an enjoyable knit. At this stage, the knitting is almost rhythmic, soothing. In the words of the McDonald's ads... I'm loving it!

Tuesday is Canada Day (akin to the american 4th of July). I've got Monday and Tuesday off. My daughter and granddaughter will be arriving here within the next couple of hours and we'll have the chance to spend some time together before she goes camping with her stepmom on Wednesday. Life is good!

This and That

I'm certifiable. I'm addicted to lace knitting, no question about it. Either that, or I have knitter's ADD. It doesn't really matter, does it? At least, I'm creating something beautiful.

So, what did I do now? Well, I finally cast on (for the second time) the Orkney Pi Shawl. A few months ago, I joined a knitalong for this shawl, started it in laceweight hemp, made a mistake somewhere, couldn't find it, frogged it and put the yarn back into the stash. This time, it's progressing very well and I'm really enjoying the process.

Right now, it doesn't look like much. It's a blob. It's going to be a large blob. One woman blocked hers out at 9' across. That's a big shawl! The yarn I'm using is, once again, the Jarbo Garn Gastrike Lace 1 tr (ply). For shawls, I really love this yarn. It's almost like a handspun; you can tell by feeling it that it's wool, but once blocked, it's quite soft, with lots of body. This is the third shawl I've used this yarn for (Icelandic shawl, my Evolution Pi shawl, and now this one).

If you'd like to see what the Orkney Pi shawl will look like when finished, click here. This shawl was designed by Liz Lovick of Northern Lace, and is comprised of traditional Orkney motifs. The lace itself isn't as open as most because these shawls were meant to be worn and used by the Orkney women. They were functional, rather than dressy. I like that.

This morning, someone on Ravelry posted an interesting link to a turn of the (previous) century publication that's been scanned and posted to the worldwide web. I've read through a few pages and intend to spend more time exploring this document; it's fascinating. It's meant for the ladies of the time, and contains knit and crochet patterns and information, as well as recipes for their toilette (or as is written, the toilet). Check it out here. Pretty cool!

And finally, I have a list of blogs I like to read and one of my favourites has got to be Franklin Habit's "The Panopticon". This past week, he wrote a post about this obsession that is knitting (at least, it's an obsession for some of us). It's a post worth sharing and I would direct you to this post. Click here. Share it with any golfers you know (read the post!).

See you next time. I'm off to create something beautiful.

Buried Treasure or Fool's Gold?

When I left work today, I popped into the Bibles for Missions store in the same complex as the shop. I went straight for the section where all the craft stuff is located, and found this....

What is it? One pound and 5.75 ounces of cobweb weight yarn. The colour? eh! Not the prettiest, but that's easily remedied, right? So, what does cobweb weight really look like compared to other yarn? I'll show you.

The green yarn is the KnitPicks Shadow Lace, regular lace weight yarn. The light coloured thread is the cobweb weight. It's like thread, sewing thread! We're talking FINE in all caps!

The best part of this find, though? (Incidentally, this next pic is closest to the actual colour.)

Fifty cents. Half a dollar. Treasure? Or Fool's Gold?

I Swatched! I Swatched!

It's not something I do often (shhh.. don't tell the knitting police). For the second Swallowtail shawl, though, I wanted to know how the beads will work with the yarn. Would they be too heavy? What combination of beads would work best?

So, I swatched.

I worked two pattern repeats. On one, over the 5 nupp pattern, I incorporated 3 medium beads and two small beads. On the other, I used two large beads, two medium beads and one small bead.



Here's what I've decided so far. First, these beads aren't glass, so weight doesn't seem to be an issue. The swatch has been blocked and holds up quite nicely, even with all those beads. Second, I like the combination of all three sizes of beads (on the left) better than just using the two sizes (on the right).

What do you think?

This, so far, has been a great weekend. John picked me up from work on Friday and asked if there was anything I had to do at the apartment. After a negative response from me (that is, I said no, nothing), he said that was a good thing because we weren't going home. Instead, we picked up a bottle of wine, ordered a pizza and went to our favourite spot in Kelowna, the Sibell Maude-Roxby sanctuary. We ate pizza and drank wine out of to-go mugs at the very spot where we were married almost four years ago (June 28). (click here to see the pics)

The wind was really whipping up the water and it almost felt as if we were in the prow of a boat. As we wandered through the sanctuary marvelling at how high the water is and how serene the inner sanctuary was compared to the wildness of the lake, I realized that it was for the little things like this that I so love this man. Neither of us is perfect and I'm sure he gets as frustrated with me at times as I do with him, but no one can deny that this man is a romantic at heart and I love him for it.

Then yesterday, he went to work for a few hours and I had plenty of time to putter around, doing some cleaning and lots of knitting. The Heartland Shawl (in the grey yarn) has been frogged; well, at least as much of it as I could frog. When the yarn became a tangle, I simply tossed it. It was not going well. The grey of the yarn and the "stick" of the yarn, combined with a pattern that needs constant diligence finally did me in. Even in frogging back to the lifeline, I somehow ended up one stitch out.

I went stash diving and came up with another yarn, restarted and am now farther along than I was just that morning. Here's how it's looking now...

The yarn I'm using now is Louet Gems Pearl, a fingering weight 100% merino wool in a colour called Ginger; I'm still using the 4.0 mm needles. This is knitting up much better and it's still an earthy colour, which is what I wanted for this pattern. The pattern is made up of two lace patterns, the bison track pattern and the river of life edging. I think the ginger colour is just right. At the moment, like most lace, it doesn't look like much at all, but, once blocked, it will be very nice.

Apparently my mom reads my blog when she visits my sister, so I won't be showing the completed, blocked shawl until Mom's got it in hand. She should be the first to see it complete, don't you think?

Because the Heartland Shawl demands concentration, I couldn't work on it with John home, so I've been alternating between Icarus and the second Swallowtail shawl. Icarus is in the last repeat of the first (striped) section and I'll be starting the edging next. At least, I think I will. When I stretch the shawl out to see approximately what size it is, from the center of the neck to the outer edge is more than half my "wingspan", so I'm pretty sure it's big enough. There's no need for me to skimp on yarn as I still have the leftovers from the previous incarnation of Icarus. I haven't taken any pictures of Icarus at this point because it is, in all honesty, a boring piece of work right now. There's nothing interesting to take pictures of, just a mass of stripes.

I've also been working on the green Swallowtail. I do have pictures of this one, if only to show you the colour. The pictures in my last post did absolutely no justice to the colour. These pictures show the colour much better.

I will have to work quite a few more increases of the budding lace pattern to make this shawl a decent size. At this point, I've worked 13 repeats of the pattern and the pattern calls for 14 repeats. It's tiny. Really tiny.

Thank goodness for Ravelry. I've been doing some researching and reading about how others have increased the size of this shawl and, thanks to the work of others, I now know that, in order for the edging to work out correctly, I need to work increments of five repeats of the budding lace pattern. Others who've made the shawl larger have also added more repeats of the lily of the valley section, but I don't think I'll do that. I don't think it will be necessary; the edging, as is, is large enough for the shawl.

The one concern I do have is that the beads I'm planning to replace the nupps with may be too heavy for the shawl. I think I'll have to swatch (ack, the dreaded swatch!) the lily of the valley section with beads to see how it will turn out. Thankfully, I bought three skeins of this yarn (I love KnitPicks!), so I do have plenty.

On a final note, today is Father's Day. Though he'll never read this, Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you and I miss you, the man you were.

Tagged

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been tagged by Rob with a meme. I don't usually respond to these, as most of them seem rather silly to me. This one, however, seemed a bit more interesting, a sharing of more personal information. And, so, I decided to participate. Here we go...

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was an unhappy housewife, working part time in a print shop and preparing for separation. I left at the end of August that year.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

-Lace class (I’m the teacher)
-Do some grocery shopping with John
-Knit a bit
-Visit John’s step-sister?? (We've been trying to get together for a couple of weeks now)
-Blog. :)

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Cheetos, Fresh, hot-buttered popcorn, potato chips, cheetos (yes, I know, I’m a junk food junkie)

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

-Set up an education trust fund for my children and grandchildren
-Travel
-Build a nice (not big, just nice) home on an acreage somewhere, making sure it has a functional and inspirational crafts/art room

5) Places I have lived:

Winnipeg, Manitoba; Abbotsford, BC; Calgary, Alberta, Kamloops, BC; Kelowna, BC

6) Jobs I have had:

-Deli clerk
-Janitor of my church
-Secretary/receptionist
-Craft store manager
-Bindery/graphics person in a print shop

There you have it. I, in response, will be tagging Gloria, Robbyn, Lisa, Omly, and Ari

Where does the time go?

I just realized that I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks; time has flown! The knitting is going well. Icarus has 6 completed repeats; there's really no point in showing you because it's still in the striped section, nothing interesting to see. It's become my tv knitting because, at this stage, it's relatively mindless.

The Heartland Shawl, for my mother, is moving more slowly. The pattern is not intuitive (even the designer, Evelyn Clark, agrees... I'm in a Ravelry KAL for this shawl, and she's involved in it as well), the yarn is dark and it just isn't easy to see the individual stitches. I may yet decide to scrap this one in favour of a different pattern. We'll see. Right now, I've completed one repeat and the first two rows of the second repeat. I'm out by one stitch. I assume it's a missed yarn over, but I can't find it so I'll have to tink back the two rows. *sigh*

This little lovely, though, is moving right along.

The picture does not do justice to the yarn. It's a lovely leaf green. The pattern is Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail Shawl, my second go at this pattern. It's a very comfortable knit, easy to read, easy to memorize. The beads are for the lily of the valley section. Instead of nupps, I'll be using beads; I had planned on using pearl beads, but thought they might be a little too stark. These beads are opalescent and look very nice on the green. There are three sizes of beads in the packet I bought, and there are five nupps in each pattern repeat, so I've decided to use 2 large beads, 2 medium beads and 1 small bead for each repeat.

The yarn, as you can see, is KnitPicks Shadow, 100% merino laceweight yarn. I love this yarn! I love the colour, I love the texture. Did you happen to notice the needles? Yep, I got me some KP Harmony needles and I love them! They're pretty. They're slick, with just the right amount of grab for lace knitting. I highly recommend these needles.

This week, I was tagged for a meme (how do you pronounce that, anyway? Me-Me? Mem?). I have my answers ready to go, but I don't want to post an insanely long post today. I have to decide who else to tag as well, and I haven't yet. This is one of the few memes that I have decided to participate in, as the questions are more interesting and reflective. I'll try to post it tomorrow.

One last thing. For anyone interested, yesterday John took a bunch of pictures at the college, where he's one of the gardeners. This morning, I showed him how to upload the pictures and make photo albums on Picture Trail. If you'd like to see some of his handiwork, and where he works, feel free to peruse the pictures here (or there) ----> click here.

Now, it's time for some food and then back to knitting!

Just Call Me Crazy

With two shawls just recently off the needles, I had to get something started. Right? It's not like I have nothing else to work on, but, for some reason I just have to have some lace going. I did say that I'd be starting Icarus again... and I did.

Even though I woke up with a blinding headache on Saturday, I cast on and got Icarus off to a great start. For those of you who may not remember, I knitted Icarus once before, about two years ago now, I think. Once it was off the needles, I discovered two small holes in the center of the shawl. I was able to repair one of the holes, but the second one was beyond me, so I frogged the entire shawl. Fortunately, when I had purchased the yarn (Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk blend), I'd bought two balls. That means I have more than enough to remake the shawl.

As of last night, here's how it's looking...

This part of the shawl is pretty close to being mindless, which makes it perfect for Stanley Cup playoff watching (great first game, wasn't it??). I'm loving the rhythm of this shawl, at this point. I know once I get to the edging, it will demand more concentration, but by that time the playoffs will be over and I'll be able to give it the time it needs. And, having knitted this shawl before, I know what to expect. Piece of cake.

Then, again, because I finished TWO shawls in the last two weeks, I cast on for another one. See? Crazy!

I read about this one in Ravelry and found a knitalong for it as well, so I decided it would be the perfect shawl for my mom (if any of my sisters, or family, are reading this DON'T TELL MOM!!). She knows I was planning on knitting a shawl for her; she promised she'd wear it while watching tv in the evenings, when she gets chilly. That's good enough for me. (I'm actually knitting two shawls for her... this one and a very plain, cushy one out of a boucle yarn from Michael's... no, I won't post pictures of that one.. it's very plain, trust me.)

Anyway, it's Evelyn A. Clark's Heartland Lace Shawl, a free download on Evelyn's website. I'm using the leftover Jarbogarn Gastrike 1 ply lace weight yarn, leftover from the Evolution Pi Shawl. So far, I've completed one repeat and I really like it (it will be difficult to part with it, I'm thinking). This one does demand concentration, but it will be worth it; it certainly isn't a difficult pattern to follow and Evelyn writes her patterns well. It has both charts and written instructions, including directions for making the shawl larger.

Here's the Heartland Lace shawl after one completed repeat...

Told you I'm crazy, but I do love laceknitting. It gives so much satisfaction.... and there's no sewing anything together!

Back to my knitting. I was going to go to work today, but, while waiting for the bus, my neck went ping and gave me an instant migraine. I'm on muscle relaxants right now (so, if there are typos, blame them on the meds) so, hopefully, I'll be okay to work tomorrow. For today, I'm just taking it very easy... knitting.

One More FO

Finally, the Pi Are Squared shawl is off the needles! It's been a long go of it, especially the border. Here it is, on a queen sized bed, with my glasses on it for the sake of comparison. It's not a small shawl!

Interestingly, when I had it off the needles, John said he might just claim this one as his own. He loves the colours, loves the texture, loves the drape... just plain old loves it! I must say that the garter stitch does give this shawl a nice cushy feel. It's very cozy. It sits well on the shoulders and comes down far enough on the back to feel very comfy and warm.

The yarn is Sirdar's Country Style DK (75% acrylic, 25% wool), worked on a 4.5 mm needle (US 7?). I started it in February and finished it this week. I haven't blocked it since it is mostly acrylic (talk about stash busting!), but I may need to block it slightly as I don't like the ruffled effect of the last increase section. That's easily done with a damp towel and some steam.

Now, I'm off to knit some more. I've just re-started Icarus (the first one was frogged after I discovered small holes that I couldn't repair... remember?) in the same yarn, a copper coloured Jaggerspun Zephyr. It's moving along quite nicely already. And, I'm going to watch the hockey game, the first in the final series of the run for the Stanley Cup, between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Should be a good series!

An FO, finally!

It feels like a long time since I've finished anything. Well, today I have a finished object to share with you. Evelyn A. Clark's Swallowtail Shawl is off the needles.

And for the sake of comparison, here is the shawl before blocking...

I tried, intentionally, to take these sets of pictures in the same position and the same detail just to show what a difference blocking makes. I know that those of you who knit lace know that blocking is what brings your lace to life; it's just such a dramatic difference!

The project details: I started this shawl on May 4 (thanks to notes on Ravelry!) and finished it on May 17... that's just shy of two weeks from start to finish. In other words, it wasn't a difficult pattern. I used Fleece Artist Merino, 100% wool, 26 st/4" on 4.0 mm (US 6) Knitpicks Options circular needle. The shawl blocked out to 49" x 25", not a large shawl, but the perfect size for a shoulder shawl/scarf.

The one thing I can't tell you about this yarn is the colourway number. It didn't have one. It is hand-dyed, that's all I know.

I will definitely knit this pattern again, with a few changes. First, I won't be doing the nupps on the next one. I'd like to knit it in a lily of the valley green (already ordered), using pearly beads in the lily of the valley border, mimicking the look of the actual flower. I think that would look really pretty. I would also make it bigger, working more repeats of the main "bud" section. As long as you begin the border section with a multiple of 10 in the actual shawl section (excluding the first and last 2 edge stitches), the pattern will work. Speaking of the first and last edge stitches, I started the shawl with 3 edge stitches rather than 2, the only change I made to this shawl.

Now, it's time to enjoy the remainder of this long weekend... a much needed and appreciated break!

P.S. I almost forgot! For the time being, my free patterns are unavailable. MediaMax has decided to do a name change and a move and, because I have the free membership, deleted all my files. I do have them all here, on a disk, but I will need some time to upload them all and get the posts back up again. I think I'll use the webspace provided by my cable company to set up a web page of my own rather than using Blogger for the free patterns, once I have time to get it all up and running. I will happen, but not today. In the meantime, if there are any patterns you'd like, please feel free to email me and ask.

Spring Rains and Swallowtails

Last week, we had gorgeous weather. Today, it's gray and yucky. A perfect knitting day, for sure!

I've been doing a few rows here and there on the Swallowtail shawl; I've now completed the main body of the shawl and have also gotten through the first Lily of the Valley chart. That leaves one repeat of the second Lily of the Valley chart (12 rows) and the edging chart.

I was surprised to find out that I really hadn't read the pattern very carefully before starting; it contains nupps. I don't like nupps. At least, I didn't like nupps in laceweight yarn.

The arrows are pointing at some of the nupps. In this yarn, I don't mind them at all. As long as I make the increased stitches rather loosely, I don't have too much difficulty in purling the 5 stitches together on the wrong side. Using Knitpicks Options needles helps, too. Have I mentioned how much I love my Options needles? So far, they are THE best for lace knitting, even better than the Addi Lace needles, which make my fingers smell like copper, not to mention the price. I really, really want to get more of the KP needles!

While grazing through some Ravelry discussions this morning, I came across one that was discussing preferred colours for lace knitting. If you had asked me that question two weeks ago, I would have said that I preferred lighter colours for lace, colours that reflect nature. One of my favourite shawls is in autumn shades, copper, green, gold; another fave is a natural white. The Swallowtail shawl, in it's gorgeous jewel tones, is really wowing me. The colours are vibrant, strong. And I love how it's working up into this shawl.

The pattern... it isn't a difficult pattern. The nupps are the most difficult part of the entire pattern (so far, and I don't anticipate anything more daunting than the nupps), so I would heartily recommend the pattern for anyone wanting a fun, not too challenging shawl pattern.

May, and Finally Spring

Yup, spring has finally arrived in the Okanagan. The weather's gorgeous again today, sunny, with a promise of warm. It's the perfect day to start a lace-knitting class. And, that is exactly what I'm doing today. No, I'm not taking the class, I'll be teaching it. As always, when I start a class, I'm terrified. I know it will be fine once I get there, but I'm always nervous and anxious before the class starts. I just keep telling myself that, really, all I'm doing is sharing something I love, and that is never a difficult thing to do.

Because I'll be leading this class, I've been doing some casting on.

This little bit of knitting will eventually be the "Fundamentals of Lace Scarf", graciously shared with me by Colette Simon. Colette designed this scarf to introduce knitters to some of the fundamentals of lace knitting, such as provisional cast-on, directional decreases, yarn overs before and after purl stitches and knitted on edgings. All in all, a good intro to lace. To be honest, I'm not sure I'll be using the pattern in the class; it will depend on the skill levels of the students, 5 of them, if I'm not mistaken.

I did, however, decide to take this bit of knitting with me in order to show them the method of provisional cast-on that I prefer... the crochet cast-on. If they decide they'd like to try this scarf, great; if not, we'll find another project.

The past couple of weeks, and this week in particular, have found me a little restless in my knitting. I've been doing a lot of casting on and frogging. Remember the Ene Scarf? Frogged. Another lace project was started and frogged. Yesterday, though, I cast on for a project that I don't think will end up in the frog pond.

Any of you who are signed up with IK's Knitting Daily will recognize the ubiquitous Swallowtail Shawl, by Evelyn A. Clark. I tend to resist patterns that everyone else is knitting, but for some reason the pattern and the yarn just seemed to be attracted to each other. I had started the shawl in a different yarn, but it just wasn't working. So far, this is a perfect match. The knitting is flowing well, the pattern is easy to remember and I'm loving it.

I made one small change to the pattern as written: the pattern begins with two stitches that are cast on to a crochet chain, then, when 6 rows have been knit, 3 stitches and the provisional stitches are picked up. I had a bear of a time trying to pick up from 2 stitches, so I cast on 3. Once I get to the edging, I'll have to knit 2 together at each edge in order to have the correct number of stitches, but I don't think that will be a big deal. It just made the beginning a little easier for me.

This piece of knitting will also come with me to the class today, to demonstrate how the shawl begins, at the neck edge. I'll also be taking my Evolution Shawl (Emily Ocker's circular cast-on) and the Pi Are Square shawl, to demonstrate the knitted on edging.

It's a lovely day here and it's time for me to enjoy it, now that I seem to be over the worst of this head cold.

With My Apologies

I generally try to post at least once per week. Last week, I didn't. I made the decision to head to Abbotsford for my ex mother-in-law's funeral. On Saturday morning, I boarded the bus and returned on Tuesday evening. By Wednesday morning, I realized I'd caught a cold (thanks to one of the girls at work, I think) and today, I'm home with a sinus headache. That's it for the whining!

I'm glad I chose to attend the funeral. It was an opportunity to say my own goodbyes and to see a lot of family (on the in-law side) that I hadn't seen in ten years (it will be ten years ago this August that I left my husband). I also got a chance to get together with children and grandchildren, as well as a great visit with my Dad. The day Mom took me there, he was very lucid, recognized me and, once his hearing aids had fresh batteries, we even had a conversation. (He liked my alpaca shawl.)

I thought I would share one picture with you; my daughter and I were going through some pictures and we came across one that I really liked, so I took a picture of it.

This was Oma. She loved to have the kids over and babysat them every Friday for a lot of years while my husband and I were janitors of our church. Even after we left that position, she loved having them over at least once a week; she felt that if she did that, they would remember her after she was gone. They'll never forget her.

That picture was taken over 20 years ago; my son will be turning 32 on May 6. She would have been in her mid to late 70's at the time.

Because I was taking the bus, I needed something to do. The projects I've got on the go right now are either too big or needing too much concentration (read that as lace) to take on a bus trip; I needed something relatively mindless. To that end, I took along a ball of sock yarn and a set of 2.25 mm (US 1) dpns and cast on for a pair of socks shortly after leaving Kelowna. By the time I got to Abbotsford, I had about 4" of cuff on my needles (incidentally, the bus was an hour late getting in to Abbotsford).

That's what it looked like. That, however, is not the sock I was working on. I started the above sock on the return trip because this is what the sock looked like by the time I got on the bus for the return trip...

So, now I just have to finish the second sock, and because it's already this far I don't think second sock syndrome will become a factor. It feels good to have another pair of socks almost off the needles. I have one pair that's becoming a little thin at the toes, so I figured I needed another pair. Besides, even though the weather's warming up, I still like to wear my wool socks with my Birkenstocks... at least, until the weather's warm enough for bare toes.

Now, I'm off to pamper myself.

April 23, 2008

Today is my granddaughter’s 4th birthday. Today, my ex-mother-in-law died.

Aaltje Stolte, formerly Den Uyl, nee Westerhuis, born on April 11, 1911, in the Netherlands, was 97 years old and lived on her own until about two weeks ago.

She was a strong woman, a woman who made her own way through life. Her way was the only way, the right way, and no one could tell her otherwise. She was, at times, my nemesis and my inspiration. She was a part of my daily life for about 25 years.

To her, a clean home was the most important part of being a wife and mother. There were times I hated her and, at the same time I wished I could have been more like her. She was married twice, first to the father of her only child, my ex-husband. He died when my ex was just a small child. She married again when he was about 16 years old, emigrating to Canada to marry her second husband. She never expected to see grandchildren of her own and was grateful to have three of them. She loved them dearly and babysat them every week for a lot of years. At her death, she even had six great grandchildren.

There are stories I could tell about her, but none of it is important now. She was courageous; she was strong; she was stubborn; she was hardworking; she loved on her own terms. She was my mother-in-law.

April 23, 2008, Trinity Eliana Renee’s 4th Birthday and Aaltje Stolte’s last day on this earth. She is at rest in the arms of her God; I’m thankful she died a peaceful death. And I’m thankful I knew her.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like ... Christmas?????

This is what we woke up to today... April 19!!! Snow!!! Apparently an arctic cold front swept down and dropped this on us. And to think that earlier this week, I walked home from work in short sleeves!

Knitting this week has been minimal again, but with the snow may come the urge to work on something cozy again.

Yesterday was a strange day; at least, it was for John. On his bike ride to work, he fell. It seems he cracked a rib, hit his knee pretty hard and skinned the knuckles on one hand. He'll be alright, but is in more pain than he usually is. I'm thankful he wasn't more seriously hurt.

After he got home, he went across the street to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. He came home with the fixings for our feast (potato, broccoli and steak) for under $5.

Why am I telling you about our dinner? Well, someone made a mistake... check this out.



That's how much steak was in the package. Two lovely top sirloin steaks. John said that other packages with a similar amount of steak were up to $16.

$3.00! This was, apparently, the only package priced wrong and, of course, they have to give it to you for the labelled price. And, in all honesty, there's enough steak there for two meals for us. I like steak, but I didn't even eat half of mine! All for $3.00!!

Melons, Melons, Who's Got Melons?

That title is a little misleading, perhaps. The melons I'm referring to are these...

I decided to test some of the thrift store yarn I picked up last week and, after some careful consideration, chose to try the Melon Scarf pattern from Victorian Lace Today. As I've already written, I have no idea what this yarn is other than the fact that it's wool. And how do I know that? Well, I did the burn test.

What's that, you ask? Well, you take a little piece of the yarn and burn it. If it melts and doesn't flame, it's acrylic. If it burns (in this case, quickly!) and smells like burnt hair, it's wool. This burned very quickly (had to drop it into the sink because it would have burned my fingers) and smelled like burnt hair, so it's wool.

I'm using 3.5 mm needles (no idea what that is in US sizing). This wool isn't the softest, but I'm hoping it will soften up during the washing/blocking process. Originally, I just wanted to see how this yarn worked up, but I really like the stitch pattern with the yarn and the colour, so I'll keep going with it. I'm in no rush to finish it, so if I don't feel like working on it for weeks at a time, that's okay. No pressure.

Cookies

This is what I did yesterday. From left to right, Apricot Oatmeal Drops, Lemonade Drops, and Ginger Cookies.

Because Kristen (my daughter) said they sounded good, here are all three recipes for your enjoyment. (And John loved coming home to fresh baked cookies)

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Apricot Oatmeal Drops

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Heat oven to 325F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. In large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add water, vanilla, and egg; blend well. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Fold in apricots and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 325F for 10-15 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

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Lemonade Drops

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed, reserving 3 tbsp.
Sugar

In large bowl, combine sugar, butter, shortening and eggs; beat well. In small bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Alternately add dry ingredients and lemonade concentrate to sugar mixture, mixing well after each addition. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove cookies from cookie sheets; place on wire racks. Brush with reserved lemonade concentrate and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Cool. Makes about 5 dozen.

(These cookies are somewhat "cakey" in texture.)

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Ginger Cookies

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Sugar

In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, molasses and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until set. (Cookies will puff up and flatten during baking.) Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Makes about 10 dozen.

Enjoy!

And Here in the Okanagan...

...it's a gorgeous day! The sun is shining; the girls are out in their mini dresses; it could be summer. At least, that's how it is today; it's supposed to get chilly again this coming week. That's ok, I'm enjoying it while it's here.

So what am I doing? Baking cookies. Some way to enjoy a nice sunny day, isn't it? I don't mind, though. I haven't baked in a long time and when the urge hits, you go with it. John will be happy. (Me, I don't eat much in the way of sweets.. I'd rather sit down with a bag of potato chips or Cheetos.)

Knitting has been minimal this past week. I guess with me recuperating from the cold I had last weekend is to blame. One night, I even fell asleep on the sofa by 8:00 p.m. Yikes! I did work on Ene's scarf a little bit. I'm on Chart 3 now and just realized this morning that I'll be working that chart a total of five times. And here I thought I was about half way! Silly me!

I still haven't got that part of the pattern memorized, even though it isn't difficult. I'm very happy with how it's turning out; the alpaca is so lovely to work with.

This week, though little knitting was accomplished, my stash grew somewhat. Robbyn (her blog can be found here) dyed some KnitPicks Alpaca laceweight in a colour called Pigeon's Blood. Sounds appetizing, doesn't it? The colour, though, is incredible! Well, she decided that the yarn had my name written all over it and gifted me with it. I'm thrilled and grateful; it truly is a gorgeous colour and the picture doesn't do it justice.

I didn't do too badly in photographing the yarn, but the colour is a little deeper, darker and the blue in it really sets it off. Now, I need to find a pattern that screams for this yarn. I want the yarn and the pattern to be perfect for each other. In the meantime, I'll just keep fondling the yarn.

As well, I dropped in at the thrift store that's in the same complex as the print shop I work in. It's rare that I find any yarn that I like, but this time was different. Someone had dropped off a bunch of lace weight odds and ends, probably left over from machine knitting. Here's some of what I bought...

The rest is at work. I didn't want John to be overwhelmed by my yarn purchase. All told, I spent about $10 and probably have another basket full of odds and ends. It was all in separate bags, each marked at $1 to $1.75. In all, I think there are about eight different colours. I'm thinking of re-doing the Icelandic Shawl with a variety of colours. It could be quite effective, don't you think? (Incidentally, see the basket? I made it; it's the only basket I've ever made and I love it!)

The clock is telling me that the dough for the ginger cookies is ready to be rolled into balls and baked now, so I'm off again. Enjoy your weekend! I hope it's as nice where you are as it is here.

Never Nothing On My Needles

So, the Drops shawl is finished and is being enjoyed by both John and myself. Because the needle was empty, I had to cast on for another lacy project. There's one project that has been a challenge to me from the first time I saw it.

Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style.

I've cast on for it a few times. 375 stitches. I've frogged it as many times. For some reason, I could NOT get the beginning to work. I put the book away.

This week, I've been home sick for two days with a cold (and a reaction to the meds I was taking.. ugh! I am getting better, don't you worry!) and I decided to cast on (again) for Ene's Scarf. I'm using Drops Alpaca, a lovely soft yarn, in a natural brown shade. I got the stitch count correct. I did Row 1... correctly. Row 2 went just fine. Then, on Row 3, something didn't work. I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I frogged it and started again.

After casting on and frogging twice, I decided to take the chart and knit it up in another yarn, exactly as charted, with no repeats of the pattern, just to see if I could figure out how it all fit together.

I got the entire chart 1 finished and I knew what I'd been doing wrong. See the arrows? Those are double decreases. On the chart, each repeat starts with a double decrease. In my drug induced haze, I didn't realize that each double decrease takes a stitch from either side of a center stitch. The center stitch was the first stitch of the repeat, not the first of the three stitches used in a center decrease. Make sense??

Incidentally, the mini shawl will be completed as just that, a mini shawl. I may as well make something for the LPP (Little Plastic Person... see a couple of posts back), right?

Once I got that figured out, the rest was simple!

This is after Row 2, with markers marking each center stitch of the double decreases. After a while, they were so recognizable that I no longer needed them and they were removed. This morning, I finished Chart 1. Here's how it looks so far...

This yarn, like the alpaca I used for the Drops shawl is a joy to work with. It's so soft and warm, positively cuddly! I'm using 4.0 mm (US 6?) Knitpicks circs. The pattern calls for a knitted cast on using a double strand of yarn, but I used a crochet cast on with a single strand. I just like how it looks, more like a cast off edge, with enough stretch for blocking the points.

I'm having fun with this shawl; everything else I should be finishing has been pushed aside. As I said earlier, this is one pattern I've wanted to do for a long time; now is the right time apparently.

Drops Shaw with leaf pattern in Alpaca

"-A late afternoon by the ocean. Lay a pretty lace knitted shawl in soft warm Alpaca around your shoulders"

So begins the pattern, Drops number 98-21.

It was released from my office floor this morning, where it had lain, pinned to the floor all night. Here's how it ended...

... and it's life as a shawl begins.

The details: the pattern is Drops #98-21, a free pattern available at garnstudio.com. I used 100% fingering weight local alpaca, a gift from a very generous friend, on 4.5 mm (US 6?) needles. The shawl took about three weeks to finish, so, all in all, a quick, easy, and very pretty knit (at least, I think so). The pattern, because it's translated into English, isn't always the clearest, but really isn't a difficult one at all. The pattern calls for a crochet edge all around, but I chose not to add it. I don't think it needs it and if, in the future I feel it becomes necessary, I still have yarn to do it.

Thank you, Margie! I will treasure this shawl for a long time to come, I'm sure (if I can pry it off of John's shoulders... he is appreciating the warmth of alpaca on his very achy shoulders right now... some kind of man, huh? Do you think shawls for men will ever come into vogue? I have a feeling John would be one of the first in line to wear one!).