Intrepid Fiber Wizard

Anhinga complete

August seemed to fly by in a flurry of work. I hardly recall any particular day, yet I was able to squeeze in some knitting time with the peeps once or twice, and finished seaming all the pieces of Anhinga. This evening, as our little knitting group sat outside knitting by the water, my friend Michele offered to take some photos. (thanks M !)

I love this sweater.
I love the feel of the yarn.   
I love the flow of the design.
It was fun to knit (and easier than it appears)
I might knit another.
Is there more that needs to be said???

Okay.. perhaps a recap of the details:
Anhinga from Nora Gaughan's newest booklet Fly Away
knit size: she gives 6 sizes to choose from, and the measurements/fit are accurate as shown in the photo of the completed garment. I knit one of the medium sizes.

        needle size 7  (I ended up going down  to this size so that I could obtain the correct gauge)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto, 14 skeins. The yarn is the only part of this that I was disappointed with. While I love the hand on this yarn, the quality control at the factory seems quite off to me (every single skein had multiple knots in it). Yet, if you can tolerate sewing in lots of ends, this is a fabulous soft yarn that adds just the right amount of drape for this sweater.

In news on the personal life side of things, plans for our chorus, Olympia Choral Society (OCS),  performing at Carnegie Hall are full steam ahead! We'll be performing on saturday May 30, 2010, directed by our fearless leader, Terry Shaw (grins). I am still working on fund raising (as is most of the chorus) and we have now set up a site where people may donate with credit cards. All donations are tax deductible, since OCS is a full non-profit organization.
Our chorus got together last Saturday  for the annual picnic.

It was wonderful to see everyone, and catch up on their lives - and to pick up our music for the fall concert season. This truly is a fun group of people. The laughter was hearty, the food yummy and the weather was a bit dismal, yet that never stops Washingtonians. It's kinda funny, but out here, you never schedule "Rain dates" for anything. Picnics/garage sales/parties etc. go on, rain or shine. In fact, there is often so much drizzle that the locals call it 'liquid sunshine". I really do love rainy days, so no complaints from me. We begin singing on a weekly basis again in a couple of weeks - and I heard echos all around me of "I can't wait!"

Also, upcoming on friday evening, October 2nd of this year (5pm-10pm), is Olympia Artswalk - and this year, my daughter Erin will be displaying her art! I'll share more details as the time gets closer - so mark your calendars and come celebrate with us!

Cooler days

The heat wave in the Pac NW seems to have abated. Last Wednesday was the worst - at 4pm it was 107 degrees. And I know it went a bit higher in the next hour, yet I was not around to record it. I escaped into a movie theater. ;-D (and was amazed that it wasn't jam-packed-full).
Fortunately today is predicted to be only about 80, and we're all delighted around here.

And thus, the knitting has resumed. 
Anhinga body is complete.

This is a sweater from her newest collection called Fly Away)
The reverse seaming  to attach the center biased panel to the left front was a bit easier than I imagined.
I began at the center point of the sweater, and picked up a stitch from the purl side of the left panel, then used the mattress stitch to pick up from the center panel. (alternating that way down the entire front). I ended up re-doing it a couple of times, since the panel and the center piece had differing amounts of 'ease' due to the stitches being knit in different directions - yet finally it worked and the ends met.

Sorry about the blurry photo. Navy is an interesting color to photograph... and seems to only show its true color when no flash is used.

The sleeves commence this morning, then I'm thinking of a short nap before work this afternoon.... it's a 12-13 hour day at the store... and about 36 hours more this week as well.. which isn't really too bad, unless of course one remembers that I also have a "day job". (heh heh.) So I'll catch up with you all as I am able.
Have a fabulous week!