It's hot!

It's going to be another scorcher today. For the past week or so, the temperatures have been hovering in the mid 30's centigrade. That's mid 90's fahrenheit. Thankfully, we do have a small air conditioner and we've been running it a lot, so the apartment has been comfortable. Still, it's been too hot for knitting. 

What knitting I have been doing, has been on this little project. The pattern is Suzie by Annita Wollschut and is available for free on her website. I'm using some old Regia sock yarn that I had in my stash. It's taken me all week to get this far. I now have one arm left to do, then the ears. It's very cute!  A little fiddly, but cute. 

These little toys could become addictive. They're quick to knit up (when the weather's not working against you), they're cute, and everybody loves them. I've already got a small collection of patterns I'd like to make.

But I'll never stop knitting lace! 

Stuffed!

I made sure the little bear got stuffed yesterday. John really didn't want to drive to Michael's but, since I insisted, we turned it into a drive, with the possibility of a jump in the lake. The swim didn't happen, but I did get the polyester filling. 

And here's how the little bear turned out...

Total cuteness, don't you think? I think I'll call him Sammy, as the little girl who'll be receiving him is named Sam (short for Samantha). I'm going to use Sammy as a "bow" for the baby dress that will be going to my bosses, Phil & Kim, for their soon-to-be-arriving daughter #2. Sammy will have a bow and a tag around his neck, making it clear that he's for Sam.

And I'll just have to make another one for myself!

Sit 'n Stitch Knitting

Yesterday was our Sit 'n Stitch day and I had a dilemma. I had no idea what to take along in the way of knitting. The scarf from Victorian Lace Today requires too much concentration. The little boy's sweater is too fiddly, what with cable needles and all. There are a couple other projects, but they're no longer portable knitting.

So, I went on the hunt for a simple, little project. While going through "friend activity" in Ravelry, I came across a really cute little guy named Carolus that became my take along project for the afternoon. By last night, I had all of the knitting finished. Now, Carolus just needs to get stuffed... literally.

This little bear stands about 6" and is made with sock yarn on 2.0 mm needles. Unfortunately, I have no polyester stuffing in the house, so a quick trip to Michael's will be on today's itinerary. Once I have him stuffed and he has eyes, nose and mouth, I'll take a proper picture of him.

Incidentally, on the website, which is in Dutch, there are two other patterns available (all three patterns are available in English, and are on her sidebar). One is a mouse, Lodewyk (apparently, a character in a Dutch children's story book), and a puppy named Victoria. All three are really cute and knit in one piece (sort of). That is to say, there are no separate pieces to sew together. With Carolus, the arms and ears are started by picking up purled stitches and knit directly on to the body. The pattern is very well written and easy to follow.

This is a fun knit, instant gratification, and cute as can be! I'm not usually into making toys, but this could get me knitting a few. I think this little bear will be making its way into the hands of a 4-year old who's expecting a baby sister any day now. 

When there's nothing else to do.... learn something!

That's what I've been doing today. Earlier this week, I came across an interesting website. I'm not sure where I read about furoshiki, but I'm fascinated! I've been searching online about furoshiki and came across this website.

So, I've been playing around with it a bit. I have quite a few silk scarves, some of my own and some that belonged to John's mother. Below, you see an example of a bottle wrap. Can you imagine bringing someone a bottle of wine wrapped like this? How unique is that?

Another example is the Hand Carry Bag. Below, you see the 'bag' filled up, but not even nearly all the way. 

Here's what I had in the 'bag'... a small pouch, plastic bag with a knitting project in it, the Estonian Garden wrap, a hat, a pair of gloves and a pair of mittens.  I could have put quite a bit more into the bag. 

What a great way of having a carryall with you at all times! I mean, how easy is it to tuck a silk scarf into your purse or pocket? Or wear one? Plus, no plastic! According to one website I read, any fabric will do, but silk is naturally strong and durable. Who doesn't love silk scarves? Finally, a use for all those silk scarves I have! Does it get any better??

Wild Fire Update

It's good news! By tonight, it seems all those who were under evacuation orders will be allowed to return to their homes.

Fire crews are hoping to have the Glenrosa and Rose Valley fires 100% contained by tonight. Everyone around here is breathing a sigh of relief, as well as literally breathing easier. There's not nearly the amount of smoke there was earlier this week.

On the knitting front, I'm getting a fair bit of knitting done this week as I'm sort of a forced vacation; it's been very slow at work, with little or nothing for me to do. I'm hoping it picks up pretty soon; we need the money. And it's getting a little boring around here. 

Knitting and Such

It looks like I have the day off today. I called in this morning to see how busy it is and whether or not it would be worthwhile to come in to work. It seems it isn't busy at all, so I'm on call in case something important does come in, but other than that, I have the day to myself.

In the knitting, the No. 20 scarf (that's what I'm calling it) from Victorian Lace Today has been restarted. I was using the variegated Angel Hair, had about three repeats finished when I somehow ended a row with 4 stitches short. In all honesty, I wasn't feeling the love with the yarn/pattern combination and I figured this was they yarn's way of agreeing with me.

This time, I'm using Fleece Artist Suri Blue (50% suri alpaca, 50% blue face leicester) in Buttercream. Oh my, this is nice yarn! I'm much preferring the way this knits up to the way the Angel Hair was knitting up.

For those of you interested in such things, the pattern calls for about 600 yards of yarn; the Suri Blue came in a 100 gram skein, with 600 metres, which is about 656 yards, so I should have enough. I'm working the scarf on 3.75 mm needles, rather than the 4.0 mm needles called for in the pattern. We'll see how it goes.

As for the fires, they're still burning. Above is the view from my little deck. You can see the low-hanging smoke off in the distance, hugging the hills.  That's the Rose Valley fire. That fire is about 150 hectares in size and is uncontained.

The Glenrosa fire, which is to the left of this picture, and not visible from where we are, now sits at about 350 hectares and is 40% contained. A third fire, the Terrace Mtn. fire has expanded to about 850 hectares. That one isn't threatening any homes, so they haven't been fighting it as aggressively as they have the Glenrosa fire. From everything I've been hearing, today they may be pulling some of the crews fighting the Glenrosa fire and moving them over to the Rose Valley fire. That one is situated in a fairly steep valley and will be a difficult fire to contain. 

The smokiness isn't too bad here in town today. Having seen satellite pictures, the smoke is drifting south in an almost straight line down into Washington state. Last night, there was a huge cloud of smoke hanging above the city; it was from the Terrace Mtn. fire and it was nasty-looking, and was quite high up in the atmosphere; we weren't smelling any smoke, thankfully. 

The forecast for our area for the week is more hot, dry weather. Temperatures are forecasted to go up to 32C (almost 90F) today and remaining in the mid to low 30's for the rest of the week. Hopefully, the winds will remain calm, as they are right now.

On a lighter note, here's a link to a really cute knitting video. I know I'm a knitting fanatic, but...  :)

Kalamalka Lake - jewel of the Okanagan

As I wrote yesterday, John and I took a little road trip yesterday. We decided we wanted to go for a swim, but we wanted to make it fun, too. To that end, we drove up to Kalamalka Lake, a lake I've talked about a few times.

This time, though, we got pictures. The lake was gorgeous! The turquoise-green colour was very evident this time. Now, you can see what I mean when I say that Kalamalka Lake is a jewel of a lake. It truly is!

Below is Rattlesnake Point. Behind the point is Cousins Bay, where we've gone swimming a few times.

Overlooking Coldstream and the mountains in the distance. 

And just a shot of one of the buildings in the city of Vernon. I love detailing like this on some of the original buildings.

Update on the fire

I've been checking news coverage this morning and, at this point, there are two fires burning in the West Kelowna area, the Glenrosa fire that we saw yesterday and another one in the Rose Valley area.

As of this morning, the Glenrosa fire has expanded to 300 hectares (just over a square mile) with 4500 homes, about 10,000 pepole evacuated. The Rose Valley fire is reported to be about 20 hectares. Approximately 1500 homes are currently on evacuation alert. There is a third fire, in the Fintry area that is nowhere near homes. There hasn't been much news concerning that fire, but we did hear that the Glenrosa and Rose Valley fires are the ones that are being concentrated on, simply because they're affecting homes.

The skies all around us are hazy with smoke this morning and there's a definite sm

oky tang to the air. Thankfully, the wind has died down today. 

Edited to add: I've posted a picture in the footer of the blog (scroll down, wayyyyyy down). It's a panorama shot of the fire, as of about 6:30 last night. It will give you an idea of just how far the smoke was blowing down the lake.

West Kelowna's on Fire!

We went out for a drive this afternoon, out to Kalamalka Lake. I'll post pictures tomorrow, but for tonight, I have something more important.

On our way back into Kelowna, we noticed a plume of smoke coming from what looked like the other side of the lake. As we got closer, listening to the news, we heard that, indeed, there is a fire on the opposite side of the lake, West Kelowna, in the Glenrosa area. According to the news (at about 7:00), there were already 3 homes destroyed and numerous subdivisions were being evacuated, with fears that the fire may well spread into the downtown Westbank area. We pray that won't happen. As it is, memories of the 2003 fire are still very strong here. Hundreds of homes were destroyed then; many homes have just recently been rebuilt.

The conditions here in the Okanagan, as in many other areas, are perfect for a fire, unfortunately. It's extremely dry and this afternoon has been extremely windy as well. I decided to take this little video clip just so you can see what I mean. The sound you hear drowning me out is the wind. 

The last news that we heard is that four fire bombers are on their way to Kelowna from Abbotsford (a 4 hour drive) to help fight the fire. I'm sure they'll be working round the clock.

I have photos as well, but for now, I'll just upload the video clip. Please keep Kelowna in your thoughts. Oh, before you ask, John and I live nowhere near the fire, and unless something really drastic happens, we're safe. Those living on the west side of the lake, however, are not so fortunate.

What do YOU think?

The Estonian Garden wrap has been blocked. The ends have been woven in. I'm in love! 

The final details:

• Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss, celery, 2 skeins (440 yds per skein)
• Needles: 4.0 mm
• Started in May 09, finished July 09
  

This is where your opinion comes in. Because the Estonian Garden wrap is finished, I'm looking for another "something" to start (can't have empty needles, can I?). I've started this scarf/wrap, from "Victorian Lace Today" by Jane Sowerby.

Below is my swatch. The yarn is Handmaiden Yarns Angel Hair and is a mohair/nylon blend. I bought it a number of years ago and I just haven't found the perfect pattern for this yarn (I bought two skeins of it and each skein is 100 grams, 800 metres). I love the individual colours in the yarn, but I'm not sure I like it knit up. 

What do YOU think? Should I just keep going and hope it grows on me? Or is it just too stripey for this scarf? 

I think I'll keep going for the moment, perhaps do another couple of repeats, and see how it looks then. I'd love to know what you think, though, and please, don't just say what you might think I want to hear. I really want your honest opinion. If you think it looks like something the cat barfed up, tell me! :)

Edited to add: Susan, I have 2 grams of yarn remaining, and if I've calculated correctly, that's about 17.6 yards.

A Quickie

The Estonian Garden Wrap is off the needles! I finished it before dinner last night. Blocking will likely happen on the weekend. 

Even as is, the size is fine for wrapping around my shoulders, so once it's blocked, I anticipate that it will be the perfect wrap size. I can't wait to see it blocked!

Nope, Not the Weekend Yet

I don't usually post mid-week, but work has been slow and I woke up feeling a little "off", so I've taken the day for me. Not to worry, I'll be fine; I didn't sleep well last night, had a difficult time waking up and have had an upset tummy all morning; today will be a rest up day and I'll be back at work tomorrow. Hopefully, there will be plenty for me to do. In the meantime, I'll just knit (and maybe go for a walk later).

Last night, I cast off the first edge of the Estonian Garden Wrap... twice. The first time, I used a knitted cast on; you know it, right? You knit 2 together, put the stitch back on the left needle, knit 2 together, etc? Well, that cast off was wayyyyy too tight. I would never have been able to block it to the width of the wrap, so I undid it, picked up the stitches and worked a crochet cast off instead. Now, it's much stretchier and will be able to take the stretching needed for blocking. I don't know why I didn't think of it right away. 

The second edge has been picked up and I'm about halfway into the first Lily of the Valley repeat. This wrap could easily be finished this week. That said, I have no intention of spending all day on it. There are some other things I want/need to work on while I have the opportunity... like the podcast sweater. Acrylic.. ugh!

Thanks to Roslyn and Amy, I have a couple more pictures of our afternoon at the alpaca farm. Amy took the first picture (thanks, Amy!) of the alpaca that liked my toes. I was wearing red nail polish and she, apparently, has something of a foot fetish! That's Roslyn in the background, probably taking the second picture below.

Thanks to Roslyn for this second picture. Again, it's the same alpaca. She was very friendly, giving nuzzles and kisses to a number of us. Thank you, ladies, for allowing me to "steal" your pictures. I appreciate it more than you know. Darned camera batteries!

Just as an aside, I don't usually have problems with the camera batteries. I used Panasonic batteries and, so far, a single set of 4 batteries lasts me close to two years. I wasn't too surprised that the set that was in the camera died; they'd been in use for a while already. The second set had only been charged once, about a week previously. After a second charge, they're working just fine and shouldn't give me any problems now. 

I've decided what I'm going to make with the baby alpaca I purchased at the farm. Thanks to John's suggestion that I make myself a pair of gloves, I remembered the Vanalinn gloves from "A Gathering of Lace", a Nancy Bush design. As you can see, I've already started. Well, I did start, but then frogged this. This was my sort-of swatch. The stitches are back on the needles, but I haven't gotten this far yet. I did find the pattern easy to read and remember, although the colour of the yarn makes it a little difficult to see in low light (which this apartment definitely has). What I did discover, and will change, is that the cuff part of the glove is quite short. I prefer longer cuffs on gloves and mittens, so I'll definitely be making the gloves longer. This picture doesn't show it, but on the inside of the hand, there is a k1, p1 cuff, which will definitely help to keep the gloves snugged up and the palm side is all stocking stitch.

The picture is deceptive. The gloves are knit on 2.0 mm needles (US 1); that's what I'm using. The picture, however, looks like much larger needles were used. Mind you, I assume that the gloves were blocked and they are on hands, which would stretch out the stitches. At any rate, the baby alpaca will become these gloves.

Considering that the gloves I made for myself last winter fit John, I can definitely use another pair of gloves. I'll probably concentrate on the gloves once the Armstrong Fair knitting is done.

Now, I'm off to relax, knit, and enjoy my day.

Oyama Lake Alpaca Farm

Saturday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous, sunny and hot day. Six of us turned up at the Oyama Lake Alpaca Farm for the tour. The farm is set on a hill overlooking two lakes, Wood Lake and Kalamalka Lake. I've mentioned Kal Lake before; the mineral content in the water gives it a beautiful turquoise blue/green colour, especially when the sun is shining, as it was yesterday. I was going to take a picture of the view, but I was having technological issues* again.

Jim and Darlene have approximately 30 alpacas in total, with most of the males away at "summer camp" or in pasture down nearer the lake. The herd below is the female contingent of their herd. We were allowed in the pasture with the herd, which made me just a little nervous at first.

The alpacas, however, had no such concerns. They were docile, friendly and utterly cute!

When I heard the name of the gray alpaca below, I had to get a picture of her. This little beauty is named Oceana, which just happens to be the name of my other granddaughter (her name is spelled slightly differently... Oceanna). We were also given a little sample of alpaca fiber with the name of the animal on the baggie. I chose Oceana's fiber, for obvious reasons.

And, of course, I couldn't come home empty-handed. I knew I wanted some laceweight alpaca. I'd seen it on their website and immediately knew it would be coming home with me. It only comes in the natural white that you see below, but it feels like it's going to be a lovely yarn to knit with. I'm not sure of the yardage, but that's a 200 gram skein. Their web site says that the laceweight yarn comes in at 3800 yards per pound. Hmm... if I'm doing my calculations correctly, I figure it's about 1675 yards. That should be more than enough to make a decent shawl.

I also came home with this lovely cake of baby alpaca. The colour is one of the 13 natural colours of alpacas the farm has. It's a 100 gram cake, 407 yards. I'm not sure yet what I want to make with it, but John suggested a pair of gloves. That's why the book is open to that page. I'll have to swatch first because there is no suggested needle size on this yarn. I did measure the wraps per inch, and it comes in at 22 wpi. 

Once I've decided what I'm going to do with this yarn, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'll just keep fondling it. Seeing as it's baby alpaca, it's very soft and cushy. Absolutely yummy!

After we left the farm, we met at Gatzke's Orchard Cafe for some lunch, some knitting and lots of chatting. We sat under a grape arbour, which gave us plenty of shade. If you're ever in the Okanagan, driving between Vernon and Kelowna, do stop in at Gatzke's. It's a fruit/veg stand and cafe. It's easy to get on and off the highway there and the food is pretty good.  Apparently, they also have orchard tours, something I didn't know. 

*Me and technology... it seems we're not getting along too well at the moment. I made sure everything had fresh batteries, with extra batteries for both the camera and the voice recorder. After 9 pictures, the camera batteries died, so I replaced them with the brand new batteries that had been charged only once; as soon as I turned the camera on, the camera turned itself off. The batteries didn't work. Argh!! They have since been recharged and work just fine now. Oh well, at least I was recording everything during our time in the pasture with the alpacas. Or, I thought I was...

When I got home and downloaded the file, it seems I hadn't recorded anything! I was stumped for a moment. Then I remembered that not only does the recorder have an on/off button, so does the microphone and I had forgotten to turn it on. To say I feel stupid really doesn't cover it, especially since I had discovered the on/off switch the night before, when I was testing the equipment. I was going to play parts of the recording on next week's podcast; well, that was the plan, at any rate. Now, it will be just me... again. *Big sigh* 

There Has Been Knitting!

Yup, I've actually been knitting this week! Most of my knitting has been concentrated on the little boy's sweater for the Armstrong Fair. It's coming along quite nicely! 

I really can't say enough about this yarn, the Lanett Superwash. It's soft, being a baby wool, but it has nice body as well. I recommend it heartily. As you can see, the body of the sweater is almost done, with just the right front to be completed and one of the sleeves is almost finished. That leaves one more sleeve, the right front and then the collar/buttonband to do before the end of August. I should be able to manage that.

The podcast sweater is coming along as well. The sleeves are now attached and the yoke is in progress. If you've been following along with the podcast, you'll know that between the decrease rounds (there are 3 of them) is the perfect opportunity to add some colourwork. I've chosen to keep this sweater plain. Ideally, I should be a little farther along than I am, but it will get there. 

The last project that's seen some progress this week is the Estonian Garden wrap. I have now completed (finally) two of the three repeats of the lily of the valley section. As lovely as this section is, it is certainly not difficult! The pattern is easy to read and flows logically. The nupps (I've said it before) are NOT difficult at all, as long as you keep the stitches loose.

There's one more repeat of the lily of the valley section, then the final edging. Then, I'll have to pick up the stitches at the opposite end and repeat the lily of the valley and edging sections. I'm hoping to have this wrap finished in time for the Armstrong Fair as well. It should be doable, as long as my knitting mojo holds up.

This afternoon, we're having a special Sit 'n Stitch; we'll be meeting early (noon) at the Oyama Lake  Alpaca Farm for a tour of the farm. Afterwards, we'll find a place to sit and stitch. I'll have my camera and voice recorder with me, as I'm hoping to get an interview or two for next week's podcast, and pictures for the blog. This time, I'm ready. Apart from one battery I need to pick up before I leave (for the microphone), all the batteries are fresh. No more dead batteries. I'm prepared this time! 

It's going to be a hot day here in the Okanagan, with a forecast high of about 32C (around 90F). I'd better get a few things done before the heat sets in. Enjoy your weekend!

Just Cuz I Can

It's not at all busy at work right now, so I've taken the afternoon off. There are things here at home I can do, and my boss was amenable, so here I am.

Last week, I came across this little clip in a local "magazine", Event; I cut it out and thought I'd share it with you. See the little black finger, pointing downward? That's me.

Even though I was technologically challenged that day (dead batteries), there was a roving reporter for Event Magazine who had no such challenges.

A Relatively Short Post... more to come

We got back from our mini vacation (5 days) on Wednesday night, Canada Day. Not a lot of knitting got done during that time, but I did get a little bit done on the podcast sweater... with some help.

That's Trinity, working on one of the sleeves of the podcast sweater! She picked right back up where we left off 4 or so months ago. She let me know right from the start that she really wanted to knit and asked me if I'd brought some knitting for her. Well, seeing as I hadn't, the podcast sweater was the only thing she could work on.

There's one other thing I wanted to show you. Wool on the hoof! This was just outside of Kamloops, on a winding country road. Originally, this little flock was under a big maple tree at the side of the road, but when we stopped, they made their way into the adjoining field... under the barbed wire.

John commented on the bits of wool hanging from the barbed wire... free wool for the picking! ;)

Because you asked...

Sunfire asked what brand of pasta machine I bought. It's an Imperia brand; I picked it up at the Italian deli (Valoroso Foods) just up the street from us. It comes with the fettucine and tagliatelle cutters and the shop also carries the other cutters for it. I'm considering investing in one or two of them sometime down the road.

I saw the pasta maker that was on sale in London Drugs last month; I picked it up and felt how light it was and knew that it couldn't have been of reasonable quality. I was right. This one is heavy for it's size, comparatively. It certainly isn't the top of the pasta machine lines, but all the research I've done says it's a good brand, reasonably priced (I paid $60.00 cdn) and a good value. I'm really happy with it.

Roslyn, I've bookmarked the recipe you recommended and will be trying it soon. It sounds (looks) yummy. Thank you!

And Gail? Just for you...

And, for those of you who don't know me in person, those curls are natural. Don't hate me, k?

I have a new toy!

In addition to getting my hair cut yesterday (I love my hairdresser; I'm really happy with the cut), I picked up something I've had on my wish list for quite some time now.

Yes, a pasta machine! I love it! I've made noodles in the past and I've made crackers that would have been much easier to make with one of these. John and I have talked about getting one of these for a while now, but yesterday was the day and I'm thrilled!

The first thing I made was the Seedy Crisps, an Alton Brown recipe. I've made these before and wished I had the pasta machine. This time, they were done in no time! What a difference! These are a seedy cracker (hence the name, huh?), made with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. I didn't have sesame seeds, but I did have wheat germ, so I substituted. They're good with cheese or a spread of some kind. No, they're not like store bought crackers, but I know exactly what's in them and there's much to be said for that.

The next picture is a bit blurry, but I think you can see that it's a tray of fresh pasta. I've been wanting to do this for a seriously long time! Even though it was only 10:30ish (a.m.), I couldn't resist cooking up a bit of the pasta and tossing it with 2 cloves of garlic sauteed lightly in butter, with a couple slices of filatti salamme (sliced and sauteed, too) and a bit of freshly ground pepper. It was a quick, tasty snack/brunch; John loved it! I must admit, it did taste pretty good.

I've put the rest of the noodles into baggies and have them in the fridge. I'm thinking they'll make a real quick lunch: toss the noodles into boiling, salted water for about 4 minutes, saute some onions, garlic, fresh tomato, some basil... whatever else I might like and toss it all together for a quick lunch dish. When it's time for lunch, I'll throw it into the microwave until it's hot and I'll have a quick, fresh, homemade lunch. Sounds yummy and quick, yes?

If you have any suggestions or favourite fresh pasta recipes, pass them on. I love new to me recipes and I'm definitely open to suggestions.

All in all, a good investment! We'll be having some fun, John and I!

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.

An Update on Ethan

Since yesterday, my daughter and Ethan are back at home, tired but okay. Ethan is scheduled for a brain ultrasound on Monday and they're waiting for an appointment at BC Children's Hospital for an EEG. The doctors have said that the "seizures" are not true seizures, more along the lines of tremors.

One pediatrician has taken Ethan's case and another (who has been a pediatrician in Abbotsford for a lot of years) has noted a link between these kinds of tremors and breast feeding (I wonder what THAT says!), intimating that once Ethan is no longer breast fed, the tremors may well disappear. We shall keep our fingers crossed.

All in all, I think he'll be fine and I thank you so much for your kind comments, concern and prayers. So does Kristen. If there are any developments, I will definitely let you know.

You are all so appreciated; you have no idea how much your support is felt... thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Knitting and News... not good news

I'm not sure where to start today. Maybe the knitting... it's not foremost on my mind at the moment, but it's a place to start. 

I HAVE worked on the Ropes & Picots cardi a little bit, but, while going through my stash looking for the already wound ball of Knitpicks Gloss laceweight yarn for the Estonian Garden Wrap, I came across a bag of Lerici Fein in a lovely orange sherbet shade of orange. There's enough for a garment for me. And, I had the perfect pattern in mind for it. It didn't go back into the stash closet. It will become this...

Yes, I know, I really should finish something before I start something else. But where's the fun in that? The yarn, incidentally, is a 55% cotton, 45% acrylic blend and is so soft and comfy and it will go beautifully with the fabric I picked up at the thrift store, with which I'll be making myself a summer shirt (yes, I sew, too... just not often). I never did find that ball of laceweight yarn.

Below is a progress shot of the Podcast sweater. By next week, I'll have it ready for the next step. If you're following along with the podcast, next week we'll be talking about the sleeves and getting ready for joining the whole thing together.

There's one more small project on the go, but I won't tell you anything about it just yet. It will be one of the clips in next week's podcast and I'll tell you more about it, with pictures, then. I will tell you that it is something that I intend to enter into the Armstrong Fair (Interior Provincial Exhibition) later this summer. At the moment, there isn't much to photograph, but it already has a story. You'll just have to tune in next week. :)

On to other things. Last night, and today, my grandson Ethan (4 months old) is very much in our thoughts. Yesterday, he was admitted to hospital with (as my daughter described it) "seizure-like episodes". Ethan and my daughter spent a stressful night in the hospital where he's had blood drawn, urinalysis and other tests done. Today, he's scheduled for an ultrasound on his brain, which they can do because the fontanelles haven't closed yet. If necessary, he may be sent to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver for a CT scan. 

So far, apparently, he's had a total of 4 of these episodes, each farther apart than the previous one (which I would think is a good thing). According to my daughter, the "seizures" are fairly mild, involving his head only... like tremors, shaking. They are, of course, worrying. 

I'll be calling my daughter again this afternoon and, hopefully, the news will be good. Whatever happens, I'll keep you informed. Do, please, keep Ethan, Kristen and Trinity in your thoughts, your prayers. I know they're in mine constantly.

I was going to write about something else as well, but it really isn't important and I think this is a good place to stop for now. Perhaps I'll put up another post tomorrow, hopefully a more upbeat post.