Intrepid Fiber Wizard

Double your fun

Remember that old Doublemint gum slogan.. and the goofy ads that had the identical twins? heh heh. (I know, I'm dating myself here - but it still amuses me)  they always made me laugh.
Anyway, as I finished not one pair, but two pairs of socks this week, and that goofy slogan was all I could think of while finishing. go figure. (silly, but true)
Hot off the presses, we have:
Primavera Socks (a free pattern on line)
Yarn: Chameleon Colorworks Footsie
color: Lime and Violet
knit on size 1 needles
only changes I made was that I knit my standard heel.

love the pattern.
the yarn was a wild stretch beyond my normal 'tolerance' for yarn that pools, but my flowers and I agree that it is very fun. They fit like a dream - and I will definitely be knitting another pair of these in the near future..... could they possibly be the 'new monkeys?"

Next up, we have Waving Lace from the book Favorite Socks.
again knit up on size 1 dpns (my fav size)

a fabulous little lacey sock pattern - comfortable and soft, fits the foot well.
I knit these up with some panda wool yarn that I hand dyed a year ago. and would highly recommend this yarn.
It is soft beyond describing.
What I noticed the most was that when I was alternating between the two different sock yarns (while knitting both pairs the same week) was that the panda yarn was so soft that I wanted to just knit on it forever.
amazing.
The bamboo content in this yarn will make them incredibly durable and strong against the normal wear and tear of sock use.
Check out the following couple of links to potentially find some hand dyed panda wool yarn.
Woolen Rabbit

Simply Socks Yarn

A Piece of Vermont

Ball and Skein

They have all had this yarn at various times, and most likely will again. I am not going to be doing any yarn dyeing for a very long time (sad to say, yet true) so hop on over to one of these  and grab some wonderful hand dyed yarn. You won't regret buying this blend. It is soft yet sturdy.

So what did I do upon finishing these socks??? need you ask?

 

cast on for some new ones of course. (grins) The first pair I began was some Hedgerows - another free pattern, written by a friend of mine, Jane Cochran. Here's the link... it's  a lovely pattern, makes a nice   snug sock, very portable project. I had some yarn that I purchased a couple years ago at Stitches West from Ellen's Half Pint Farm - in this amazing neon color... well, here, you can see it: 

Jane's pattern is lovely. The yarn combined with it, not so much.

so here it is now:

yup. frog pond.

This pattern deserves a yarn that works better with it. And so I cast on yet again with another yarn, and knit along for a few inches... but wait, that's a post for this coming week.

will there be socks on the needles? will Hedgerow find the perfect yarn? stay tuned.

Gardening Curiosity

One of the delightful surprises in my new-to-me garden this year is this amazing bush.
It stands beside my driveway, and reaches almost 8 feet tall.
I suspect, that like all the rest of the yard, it has been ignored by the previous tenants for the past five years.

It gave me a few blooms last Sept after I moved in (perhaps grateful for the drinks of water - finally)
And now this spring, it has fully blossomed -
It is so lovely.
One friend called it a "tulip tree" - and perhaps she is correct - yet, I am sending out this query to my gardening pals. Do you know what specifically this is? Its leaves resemble a rhododendron, and open after it has bloomed.    

As you can see, the leaves are just beginning to appear now.
(And yes, for those of you who might ask.. that is my neighbor's yard in the background... the rhodies & azaleas are in full bloom here too!)  I look forward to all your thoughts about whether I should feed it, or trim it, or just let it continue to be the "wild child" that it is right now (which I must admit I am rather enjoying)

Vine Lace Vest - Success

And another item hot off the presses is the very easy Four Seasons Vine Lace Vest

It was finally sunny here yesterday, so I gave it another shot with the mirror portraits. I couldn't decide which one gave the best view of the vest detail, so here are a couple of shots.

 This vest is cut like a bolero jacket, and is a bit shorter than one's natural waist. (although it would be simple to modify it and knit it longer if you'd like)

For the lace enthusiasts among all of you, it might be important to note that it is a continuous knit piece, and thus the lace on the back is upside down from the lace on the front.  This could be remedied if it bothered anyone, simply by adding shoulder seams. And knitting it in sections.

 

This is a free pattern from Classic Elite's web newsletter. here's the link.

I knit it up on size 6 & 9 needles

two skeins of Dicentra Designs Alpaca Merino hand dyed in colorway Boysenberry (it only used about 1 1/2 skeins for the size medium vest) You can find her yarns on the internet, or come out west to one of our fiber shows, and see her at BSG or OFFF.

I made a few pattern modifications, based on the great input from others on Ravelry who have also knit this. Changes I made were:

I decreased the neck bind off by two stitches, which kept the pattern down both fronts as complete sections - the pattern is a 9 stitch repeat plus 4, so I made each side of the front 33 stitches. It worked well.

I added a garter stitch at the bottom front of the neck band panel, which prevents the curling of the 4 stitch rib. And I also decreased the width of the neck/front band and made it only 3 1/4 inches (instead of 4+ that the pattern called for)

This was a fast easy knit. It only took ten days start to finish. I would make it again in a heartbeat (and most likely will soon, as this one is going off to Lisa  (the fiber dyer) to be used as a booth display.)

There's nothing quite as fun as the perfect combo of yarn + a great pattern.

One last photo - I was playing around with my Photoshop Elements program... I think it looks kinda "artsy", don't you (giggles).. Don't mind me, the simple things amuse me (grin)

 

 

Photo time

Numerous rainy days in the Pac NW.(pardon the photo shop enhanced pics)

I finally opted to just do a self portrait with my completed sweater............ and Morning Glories shawl will be modeled by a neighbor's fence (grin)

Classic Elite Pattern #803

Braid Cable Pullover with Side Slits (I bought this pattern at my local yarn shop - I'm sure yours will be able to find it for you)

Needle sizes 5 & 7
8 skeins Cascade 220 Heather color #4007
size medium

I knit this sweater exactly as the pattern was designed - no changes at all. edited to note: with the small exception that I did an i-cord edge around the bottom and cuffs instead of picot trim.
I love it and wear it often. This is the perfect weekend sweater.

Morning Glories Wrap
by Knitspot - Anne Hanson
2 skeins Alpaca-Merino hand dyed by Dicentra Desgins
  colorway Teal
needle size US 9

Modifications:  I only knit 2 repeats of the trellis section, and then knit 5 repeats of the flower section.

Finished blocked size : 24 x 85

This is yet another project that I am totally thrilled with.
I have worn it dozens of times.
Anne's patterns are fabulous.

thoughts on blogs and life, with a bit of knitting thrown in

I have really been pondering this question over the past few days.... "what encourages us to blog?"

For me, it's not just a catalog of projects, nor only a place to question options when there is a knitting dilemma . There are other websites, like Ravelry, to do that. What I have become aware of is that I appreciate the worldwide connection with knitters - the carrying on of a "conversation" with others about my various projects, my future dream projects, and my life. It is things like this:

32175.53  United States

348.00 Canada

245.65 Unknown-

133.06 United Kingdom

71.65 France

51.18 Sweden

51.18 Korea, Republic Of

30.71 Denmark

20.47 New Zealand

20.47 Germany

20.47 Switzerland

10.24 Ireland

10.24 Czech Republic

10.24 Argentina

10.24 Estonia

10.24 Kazakhstan

10.24 Norway

10.24 Poland

I share these "stats" from my recent check on how my blog is doing out there in the world, and honestly am astonished...it boggles the mind to even consider things like this.... And while I have not "spoken" with all of you who stop by my blog, we are somehow still connected, and the world has become a smaller place because of blogs. I am in support of that.

Most of my family lives far away, my parents are in Florida (and summer in Upstate New York), I have a brother and niece on Martha's Vineyard, a brother and sister-in-law in Detroit, and a brother and sister-in-law in Tampa. I have a daughter in Seattle, and one in Georgia. My best friend (for the past 30+ years) lives in South Dakota. Sometimes, they all feel very far away, sometimes the miles disappear.

And while I have a great number of friends who live close by, there are days when I can get a bit wistful for "neighborhoods of families" - you know, those days our parents enjoyed, of walking over to see their parents for dinner - or gathering the multitudes of family members for a summer picnic. I know some of you still have this kind of event going on, but I think that it is the exception, rather than the rule. Our "families" have been spread across the world.

So this is a bit of gratitude to all of you who read (and even more so to those who comment). I love the conversation. I love that the world is growing "smaller" due to the connection of knitters. It gives me hope for a future of peace, based on the unification of the world through such joyous pursuits as knitting. All you need to do is go to any Fund Raiser that a knitter is holding (be it Stephanie's "Knitters without Borders", or Claudia's wearing the number ONE  in her Boston cycle ride this year as the top fund Raiser  for Multiple Sclerosis Society last year, or Allison's "House that Yarn Built".. and there are many more). The power of this amazing collection of people-who-knit through blogging is astounding.

We are knitting the world together one stitch at a time.
It's a good thing we're doing.
Perhaps  a sustained peace is possible worldwide because of people like knitters.
And at the risk of losing a portion of my blog readers, I offer a small political aside (which I rarely will do, on account of my gut level "allergic response to politics") I am curious how many of you have heard the song by Pink called " Dear Mr. President" - it's worth listening to. It's a good one, in my humble opinion. I heard this song randomly while I was listening to Pandora the other day. I have no idea when it was written, as I only just heard it. I am grateful for it. What a beautiful piece written about how so many of us feel. Thank you to "Pink".

So here's a little knitting content (for those who come to look at the pictures - *grins* - I do that on some blogs, don't you? *grins*)

The Vine Lace Vest has been very fun to knit. 
Clever construction means hardly any seaming.
You begin at the bottom back ribbing, and knit the back of the vest, then place one side's shoulder stitches on a holder while knitting the other one. very nice. only two seams. (yah!)

I'm off now, to go wash and block it, because I am now  finished ! (hah!) that was a tease, so that you come back to see. I am delighted with how it turned out. I'll fill you in on my small modifications when I post completion photos.

Thank you to all my blogs friends, for all the conversation over the past few years - let's keep on talking and making the world a smaller place.

I is for...

Ingenuity.

Inventive skill or imagination, cleverness. The state of being ingeniously contrived.
(American Heritage Dictionary).

Almost two years ago, our cultural folk hero, Stephanie (yes that one) wrote an amazing tutorial post that I read every single word of, and then I chuckled and read it again.. It was ingenious - brilliant - remarkable - stunning. AND, I said to myself in the back of my head - "hmmmmmm, girl, you'd best remember that particular one, you might need it one day."
Well, "someday" arrived.
Remember my most recent cabled sweater (yes, yes,  I know that I haven't gotten around to posting completed photos of it yet  (*grins*). chalk it up to many work days and few sunny days and coordination required with my photographer friends.. it's coming, I promise. it's lovely. I wear it.)
When I got to the very final stage, the blocking, I noticed a potentially "fatal" flaw....
gasp...
back about 100 rows, I had missed a cable cross-over.

big sighs all around.
Here's the evidence close up.

nasty, isn't it.

Yes, I can hear all you knitters heaving a huge sigh out there.

99% of the sweater was completed with no issues, and then when entering the final stage (blocking) what appears... sigh.. that splotch.

ick.

I seriously contemplated ripping the whole thing back to that spot - yet it was more than 100 rows back, and I so longed to WEAR this during the same calendar year that I made it.

Suddenly, the bell went off in my head, and I recalled Stephanie's Post "All is not Lost" (bless her). I then measured my sweater, and realized that this "flaw" would be situated under my arm....... aha! Who looks under the arm of a sweater, and how often does it show? I pondered this for all of about 30 minutes, and decided to execute Stephanie's technique.

Clever beyond words is all that I have to say.

I am pleased as punch, tickled as toast, happy as a pig in.. (well you get my drift) I decided that at least for the time being, I would stitch on top of the old stitches, as she suggests, and then  perhaps consider ripping it out someday in the forever future (hah!)

It was a successful event - and I have worn the sweater a few times. I hope to show you photos in the very near future.

Trust me - that Stephanie is just plain amazing. I turn toward the East, an send her a hail and hearty thank you - and a big grin for success. Mission accomplished.

  P>S> a few of you have asked me where exactly the error is - so here I have drawn a circle around it. I suspect that it's a bit like to Escher drawings, where once you can "see" it, then it becomes obvious.

Deadline knitting

Don't you just love it when a perfect pattern just sorta falls into your lap? mmmmmm I do.
This happened to me a couple of days ago as I was reading Lime and Violet's Daily Chum. There was a link to patterns on line over at Classic Elite's Newsletter. There are many wonderful patterns on this site, and the newsletter is free. (always a pleasant bonus)

So thanks to the links from blog friends, I have begun the final project for my friend Lisa (Dicentra Designs). She will be using these items as samples in her booth for summer fiber fairs (beginning in early June... thus the deadline). I don't normally take on knitting that has a deadline to it, but afterall, Lisa is a friend, and her booth deserves some samples (smiles here) - truly !

Lisa sent me two skeins of this rich boysenberry color, which is just about exactly the right amount for my project. The fact that I get to play with this soft, rich yarn is another bonus.

  I have begun this Vine Lace Vest in Lisa's Alpaca Merino hand dyed yarn. The color is difficult to photograph in our rainy weather here in the Pac NW. More accurate photos will be forthcoming as it is complete. (the color on the skein pre-knitting is a close representation)
  The pattern is very clever in its design. (more about that in future posts - stay tuned). Here is what it will look like when I am finished:

And while some of my other friends on the east coast have been enjoying 90 degree weather & sitting on their deck and spinning,  last saturday it snowed here - I mean really snowed! (2 inches!) The "flakes" were the size of golf balls, and it was ever so beautiful.  It's all gone now, and the tulips survived (hurrah!)

Hurrah for new sock books

Charlene Schurch has done it again! A glorious new "book", co authored with Beth Parrott, called The Little Box of Socks.
Mine just arrived in the mail, and I ripped into it like a child on Christmas morning.
Is there anything more fun than new sock patterns? Well, perhaps a few things (like eating chocolate, and having good health..), yet this is wonderful indeed. There are 20 patterns contained within this small box - and each is on their own little portable card. Sweet.

I had the good fortune to take a class with Charlene several years ago when she taught at Madrona Fiber Arts in Tacoma. It was completely fun and hooked me on socks forever.

So shortly afterwards, when I was in the midst of creating Sock Hop Yarn, I sent off a couple skeins to her to test knit - you know, the old "whadda ya think?" kind of thing..... well, she loved it (huge grin)... and she designed a project using my old yarn for this little book! Woo hoo!

This is a sock knit with one of my old colors called "The Beat Goes On". And while it is a tad bittersweet, since I am no longer creating this yarn, I am still delighted with this great honor!

Thank you Charlene, for your encouragement back when this concept was just hiding out in the back of my brain. It is because of people like you, and your rah-rahs that so many fun new things happen in our knitting world.

May all you creative folks out there have someone like Charlene cheering for you :-)

On the non-knitting front, thank you once again for all the supportive, loving thoughts and prayers for my dear Kate. She is doing well - AND, she made it to prom last saturday!  Doesn't she look fabulous! You'd never know that she'd spent a few days in the hospital less than a week ago, hovering at that dangerous place of unwell.

12 of her girlfriends and she rode in a limo, and made a grand night of it. She's the one in the lovely black and white evening gown. I could not be happier for her.  Her indomitable spirit will prevail, even through all the difficulties she faces with her health. May her strong spirit guide her well through her whole life.

Perfectly wonderful socks

Thanks to Tracy, I have been enjoying some perfect sock knitting. And, thanks to Tracy's hints about this pattern, it has been a breeze to knit.
The pattern is Primavera (a free one on the web -  the yarn is Chameleon Colorworks Footsie)

Sock knitting is the best.
Sock knitting an easy pattern is even better.
Sock knitting an easy pattern that has one row of interest every 6th row is even better.

The perfect companion for a stressful week (and thus a bunch of it is done - soft smile)

Now I do not normally go for color blobs in sock yarn, but this one kind of "works", don't you think? My oldest daughter Erin said it reminds her of Easter eggs - and at first I thought it looked more like my iris.... but now, I'm thinkin' caterpillar.

I had hesitated when I first saw the color blobs appear, but then I saw something lovely over on WendyKnits site, and decided to carry on. She knit her socks out of yarn from the same hand dyers, and they turned out wonderful... so good inspiration has helped.

I have been completely grateful for such a portable, easy pattern this week - as it has been a bit of a stressful time. There's no need to go into all the details, but maybe I can paint a broad snapshot of my week: My youngest daughter, Kate (age 17) had another surgery for her Crohn's disease on April 4th. The surgery went incredibly well (or at least as well as abdominal surgery can possibly go) and she was home healing nicely.. when sunday night late, she began to have some problems with pain and swelling in her joints. By Monday morning, she was very swollen in her hands, feet and legs and went to see her MD. By afternoon, they had admitted her to the hospital via the ER, and had determined that she was having a tissue level allergic reaction to one of the medicines she had received during surgery 10 days prior.

Not a good situation.

It took them two days to get her stable, and to begin to decrease the amazing pain and swelling, and to have the painful skin rash begin to subside. All was improving, and she was released, only to have another flare up yesterday. What she had/has is a relatively rare thing called "serum sickness" - an extreme allergic reaction at the tissue level of the body. It will just have to run its course until all that medicine is out of her system.

She is stable now again,(on a fairly massive dose of steroids) and hopeful to get to go to prom tomorrow night. There was enjoyable, (and "normal" girl-talk with her today about how her dress will hide the rash on her back and legs (sorry Kate if I am embarrassing you)... I am grateful that she is able to go, and is improving. It is interesting to me that in the end, being able to talk with her about the "normal" stuff of life is what reduced me to tears.

So the very unusual situation about all of this, is that my 17 year old "baby girl", Kate, lives about 3500 miles away - with her Dad and StepMom, in Georgia. Some of you know this - some don't. It was a difficult decision, so many years ago, to allow her to move - yet the opportunities they have been able to provide her with have been worth it for Kate's future. Albeit difficult, it was the right choice for Kate.

As one who personally knows all about severe allergic reactions, and how fast anaphylactic shock can happen, I was already checking and booking potential flights when I first heard about what was happening... Fortunately, she was stabilized, and emergency flights were averted. Yet this stretched the very limits of my tolerance for "what is", to remain here in Washington. Logic speaks that I could have done nothing while there - yet the heart does not care.

I am grateful for the support of my dear friends through this - and thank you for the prayers sent out to my Kate. She is healing. She is growing (and so am I) and there will be prom tomorrow night.

 

H is for...

Heart.

   Aside from the physical organ in the body, the American Heritage Dictionary also says of the heart:   "....The heart, thought of as the vital center of one's being, emotions, and sensibilities; the seat or repository of emotions."

My oldest daughter looked out into my back yard on Christmas day, and smiled with glee and said :Look Mom, a heart !

Isn't it lovely?

I have collected naturally heart shaped stones all my life. What a treat to discover this marking left over from a long ago lost branch, on a tree in my own back yard.
It  never ceases to make me smile.