Intrepid Fiber Wizard

Autumn Leaves Cardigan

Who's a happy gal? yup.... me.
Autumn Leaves is truly complete. And while there are imperfections (as there are with any hand knit) I am quite pleased overall.
One of the girls at knitting group snapped these photos tonight (thanks again Nancy!)  And yes, this is RIGHT outside where we knit, in the dining area above our city grocery store.... pretty isn't it?!
 

 

(sometimes I think I should walk around all the time with my hand up shielding my eyes from the sun - that way you can see the cool side seam details!! - sorry 'bout the funny faces, it was really bright out there at 7pm tonight - and hot too ... )

 

I have a few things that I would change if I ever made this again: I would decrease one of the leaf motifs at the sides when I reach the shoulders. Despite my having well build shoulders, it is really a bit too big across the top.. And I would knit the entire sleeve on double pointed needles (the top part is looser since I knit it on 16" circular) - it's not "bad" per say, just not as dense as the rest of the sweater.

Other changes? I would make my floats over 4 stitches, not 5. There are places where they are a bit too loose, but again, tolerable.

All in all, for my second fair isle project, I'm mighty pleased.

Will I wear it????? now, that is the million dollar question ! hah! I need to move the clasps out a bit first (so that the edges of the front actually meet).

This one might be gifted to someone who is more of a "Cardigan Girl" than I am - but then again, I might just keep it for awhile and see....... :-)

Recipe for a free afternoon

Picture this: I just finished weaving in all those ends on Autumn Leaves... it's soaking in the sink in its bath, and I am wondering to myself "what to do, what to do?"

I actually had a day off on sunday (whoa - communal sigh of amazement!) - and so I came up with the perfect recipe for a free afternoon:

*Begin with one skein Shibui Baby Alpaca Dk 255 yards (which I won at Madrona 2 years ago) Marinate well in stash until proper seasoning has occurred. (see the above 2 years ago comment)

*Remove from stash and skein off into a ball, fondle lovingly while perusing favorite recipe books (aka patterns) - ultimately abandon all books in stash, since they all require too much yardage.

* continue squeezing yarn as you turn to your favorite quick fix site, (Ravelry of course) and seach "lace Shawls"....143 pages of recipes will appear.  breath deeply whilst clicking to your heart's content

*locate perfect 'recipe': Blue Jeans Leaf Lace Shawl

sigh deeply, all the while enjoying your yarn as it downloads, giving you immediate pleasure

*gather all other ingredients: 2 size 10 needles(took a guess at the size here), 2 stitch markers, your magnetic pattern holder . Combine all ingredients, stir well, while sitting in your favorite big comfy chair (feel free to nap a bit between rows as you like - it's an easy pattern to follow!)

Cuddle with kitties and enjoy.

Notes: This is a recipe for a fast "cooker" - no telling what the finished quantity of leaves will be, as yet, but I predict that this pattern will soon be an easy favorite in blogland, if it isn't already!! I love it!

great yarn + fun, fast pattern = happy afternoon off

Saturday night's alright with me

Just got home from work - and thought I'd squeeze in this "teaser" post - Guess what's off the needles??? Yup, Autumn Leaves Cardigan.
woo hoo!!! Yes, there was enough of the orange to get the matchy-matchy effect on both sleeves. (lucky me!)
If I can keep my eyes open long enough tonight, there will be the ceremonial weaving in of all the ends.
 See all those teensy little balls of different colors in the photo? errr, yes, that is a few of the times I had to break the yarn to "move ahead" to the color I needed...... multiply by 2 for each location, plus all the times I changed colors totally, and you get what??? yes - a bazillion threads to weave in.
So what has this intrepid fiberwizard done?? poured herself a fabulous dry, dirty, excellent vodka martini with blue cheese stuffed olives (you should try it Carole, they are amazing).
I figure that we all need a bit of fortification with such a daunting task ahead (giggles to self)
Following the grand weaving in of the ends, there will be a rousing chorus of securing the front facings, followed by the ever so quiet soak and block party (geesh, I think I am totally tired and punchy and being silly....feel free to roll your eyes and laugh at me)

Sorry 'bout the slightly blurry photo, I haven't yet figured out the focus point on my iphone, and that was all I had with me at work to take photos in decent light...

Small update

Thank you for all the healing and loving thoughts and prayers for Kate

I know, without a doubt, that they help.
I just wanted to pop in and let you know that Kate did well in surgery, and is beginning her recovery process.
I appreciate you all more than I can express.

Oh-blahh-deee

Yup... life has been "goin' on" here.
It's been three weeks worth of 70 hour work weeks, zero knitting and zero spinning (gasp.. yes, it's true). And I finally finished unpacking my suitcase just this morning. This month is racing by.

As promised, a few photos from Kate's graduation weekend - We are all so very proud of her! She'll be off to Georgia Tech in August, to begin her college journey. I just know she'll love it.
Erin and I had a fabulous (albeit very brief) visit with Kate which included delicious meals, manicures, tour of Georgia Tech, a hike up Kennesaw Mountain, and there might have even been a hilarious romp through the local Barnes and Noble (book addiction is something all three of us share).












There were over 700 kids graduating in her class - it took about 1 1/2 hours just for them to read all the names!

 

It was raining by the time the ceremony was completed, but none of us  cared at all - there were huge smiles, lots of giggling and many hugs.

Here I am with my two gorgeous girls - and yes, they really are that much taller than me! (I'm 5'3", Kate is 5'8", and Erin is 5'9")

and one being silly with Kate shouting hurray!

I was able to grab a silly photo of the girls and their Dad - they lined up for me and I said, "okay you three... give me 'the look' - (the funny thing was that they all knew exactly   what I meant, and did it ! - you see, they can all raise one eye-brow, and will often do "that look" at each other for grins. they all think its very funny that I can't do it too) 

Everyone took lots of photos of Erin and Kate together - and here are two of my favorites:

 

 

Please hold my dear Kate in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow - she is having another surgery for her Crohn's disease, and this one is a resection of the colon. (her 4th surgery in 3 years). She is quite calm about it all, says she 'knows the drill' - and me? I am so proud of her, missing her.. and wishing that this country was not quite as big as it is....... Sometimes it stinks to have to be 'grown-up' and realistic..... It is difficult to not be there right now, yet she knows all the 'why's' and knows that she is loved beyond words.