I made a little list

Today I made a list -- to prioritize my knitting. To my surprise, I didn't actually do it. I made the list, and the only thing that happened was I put a note beside the Sleeves in Your Pi -- finish it, damnit! So, that is going to be the next push. The second sleeve was finished tonight. I'll start the lace edging on the first sleeve tomorrow. I'd promised to start knitting the sleeves in January, and had almost finished the first sleeve, I think, when I was hit by the migraines. I think there is a part of me that still associates this knitting with pain. Right now I want to get this finished and out of the house.

This is a project that does NOT benefit by heavier yarn in a lace pattern. When blocked, it is going to be a smaller size than the sports weight yarn I used for Serena's version. It is a lush yarn, but still... Knitter's choice.

Dora's sweater is about 1/2 up to the sleeves. Serena's is toddling along. I have a challenge to come up with a footie pattern from a purchased socklet. Nancy's yarn needs to be wound into balls and started for her vest. Sharon's socks would be good mindless knitting... All things on the "to do" list. But first, I will finish this. It is time. Another project off my back and off the needles.

knitting group

Knitting group this morning was fun again. Since each person in the group is doing different things, different subjects came up during the morning.

Angie had taken a scarf to the fair for her 4-H project, and though she wasn't there, we heard that she had gotten a blue ribbon. The judge was quite pleased that her cast-on and bind off were really loose. She needed to know more about design decisions to have gotten a purple. We will work on that for next year! She was the only one to enter a project this year, so, we will work harder on getting the 4-H students to get their projects done in time.

Mary had started a scarf, and was trying to decide what to do with it. She had two colors of yarn, gray and cream. Over the course of the meeting, we discussed the Fibonacci sequence and how it is pleasing to the eye.

Marjorie was starting some two needle mittens, and Mabel and I suggested that she do both mittens at once, so they were the same size. This also prevents finishing one mitten, and having to start over again and do the same thing all over again. My mom taught me this technique for sleeves, left and right fronts, front and back -- whenever you have two pieces that you want to wind up the same size. Use two different balls of yarn, and do NOT knit across the two. I find it helps to pin together at the center, to remind me which way I WANT to go across. My own mnenomic is not to stop a row between the two pieces, but either at the complete end of a row (both pieces done) or somewhere in the middle of the row where the working yarn will tell me which way I'm going.

Janine brought the "Pursenalities" book, so we had a great time looking at it. She is working on one of the "Two Old Bags" felted bags, a shell from a Sweater Wizard generated pattern (she figured out how to pick up stitches today), and planned a couple of other projects going. Today she planned out two more projects -- mittens and a winter jacket!

Carrie came and worked on a paperback loom. She isn't interested in knitting, but loves to come and chat with us.

We've decided to do a yarn crawl in November. We're going to call ahead and make arrangements. Sounds like fun!

Friday thoughts

Well the hat is done. No shots of it, because it is extremely annoying to photograph. The nature of the beast, but still. I'll be sending it to Heather when she returns. Fun to knit, not tedious, very different, because you really don't "see" what the pattern is doing. From the inside, after a while. On the outside, if you hold it just right, or from across the room. As I was trying to take a picture, I'd see it in the camera, and it wouldn't turn out in the final shot. Even more fun than trying to photograph babies! grin Very different to think about, as each row on the chart takes 4 rows to knit.

So, after a couple of days away playing with the hat, I'm back to Serena's sweater. I'll take Dora's sweater with me to knitting group tomorrow, though, because it is easier to pick up and put down. Serena's will be in a cable row, and that will take a bit more concentration.

Have you seen the neat projects Lion Brand is doing to teach children to knit? Pocket Pals, and, while I don't think they are wonderful for the first project, as they involve fun fur, they'd be great for later projects!
Mouse, or Duck, or Bunny, and now, learn to change colors with a skunk! Wouldn't that be a great 4-H project, a year in animals! Wonder if a child could avoid playing with them for that long, though?

I'm going to have to find some corn-free baking powder. We were able to track down the migraine of the last 4 days to that. Howard had made biscuits, and we were eating them instead of bread. The migraines didn't stop, even with the migraine medications. So, no more baking powder for me. We'll try baking soda with cream of tartar, and I guess I'll have to do some more web sleuthing.

Well, rats

I think that sums up several things for yesterday and today.

I frogged (ripped out) about 40 rows on the hat. I wrote down the verbal instructions, so didn't check the written ones when they came through. They didn't match. 40 rows later, it was quite obvious I had a problem. The pattern was not showing up. My fault, as I would have seen it by reading the written instructions. rats I am enjoying knitting the shadow or illusion knitting, thank goodness. I'd wondered if I would.

I checked out a glorious fleece. It would have spun up into a beautiful laceweight. Problem was, it was so infested with vegetable matter, I don't think I would have ever gotten it clean, no matter what I did. It looked clean. When I shook it, nothing fell out. Pulling it a bit nothing came out. But lifting it to the light, suddenly it looked as if there was an entire sub-culture caught in the fleece, which didn't want out. Which meant that in processing it, I would evenly distribute it throughout the wool, and it wouldn't escape. rats

Baa, Baa 4-H Sheep

Howard came home yesterday, and asked me rather hesitantly if I'd looked outside. I'd BEEN outside, briefly, so I thought it a funny question. He started looking out various windows, trying to show me something, and finally realized that what he had seen on his way home from church wasn't visible from the windows of the house. He finally had me go outside and look. This is what I saw.

Scott had been by, and had left EIGHT trash bags of fleece! From what I could tell, looking quickly (I was barefoot, and the heat index was already brutal) at least some of the bags seem to have more than one fleece. As in, there was a white area, and next to it was a grey area. To me, that seems to say two. In touching, the grey was not dirt. grin I moved the bags into the garage, out of the weather.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be cool. I hope to take each bag out individually, so I can gloat, er, discover what I have. Then I'll skirt each fleece aggressively, and put it in its own bag. I know they have rambouillets, suffolks, and I don't remember the other breeds. Last year's mix had everything from somewhat coarse to laceweight.

Then it was in to the cool of the house, and in to my nest in the couch. I tend to knit in the corner of the couch, and when doing a complicated pattern, listen to a book on tape. Right now I'm listening to "Wizard on Holiday" by Diane Duane. I managed to get 1/5 of the body of the sweater finished, which is a nice milestone. There are 5 repeats of one pattern, finished the first one yesterday. So, it is moving along.

And started a shadow knitting project yesterday, just for fun. Never done it before. I'll let you know when I'm finished what I think. It hasn't appealed to me in the past, but I'm test knitting a pattern for a friend, so there you go. The crown of the hat is done. It is all one color, so nothing to see.

Siren Call

Suddenly, in the midst of absolutely sweltering heat, I've been hit by the siren call of wool Dora's sweater, AND Serena's Aran. BOTH. When it is almost painful to have skin touching skin, I want to knit wool? I'd like to know where my mind has gone. Rude comments are cheerfully entertained.

Here is a brief reminder, as it has been so very long, of Serena's sweater. This is the remake of her high school graduation sweater that the two of us designed. Then it was made of 2 strands of worsted weight acrylic yarn. Now it is being made of 2 strands of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Fingering in Touche Teal. I think. Almost exactly the same color, though. A few minor modifications, though, to acknowledge the change in styles, but she wants the it much the same as before. And then, please, Mom, I'd like my graduation afghan redone in wool too. (The sweater matched the afghan.) The sweater has been languishing here, as she no longer wears it. She loves wool now, and other natural fibers. That way, I can use it for measurements, and to make sure I stay true to the original. And honestly, last winter, when I got cold, I pulled it on!

And here is the new one. We will probably eventually have to give it a new name, as graduation sweater isn't really fair to it. After all, that isn't true any more. But, it is Serena's. THAT is still true.

The Shearing Phone Call

Well, Howard got the phone call today. The 4-H Sheep kids are shearing Sunday, to be ready for the Fair. That means that I need to get the fleeces from last year washed up and spun. I have 3 fleeces washed up and on the back porch. There were 3 fleeces in the garage, waiting for me to get a move on and wash them. So, today I pulled them out and started them to soak. These aren't spinners fleeces, but from sheep being raised for 4-H competition. The fleeces were heavily skirted, and Dianne and I tossed the poor fleeces (there really weren't many bad ones.) This year I'm hoping to get some Suffolk fleeces too.

So, I put water in big containers outside, added a fleece, and let it soak. I tried, in the big garbage "can" to leave the fleece in a mesh container, but that didn't work out so well. So, I went back to leaving the fleece loose in the bin. Drain the bin, and fill again. Over and over. The water slowly gets cleaner, and then I'll move it inside and wash it that way. Wool absorbs so much water, that it takes a LONG time to drain. One of the fleeces is going to turn a bright white when it is finally clean. One has more yellow leanings at this time. The other? I don't know.

As you can see from the picture, I tend to do things wholeheartedly, my skirt got thoroughly soaked as well. sigh. Isn't it nice that today is laundry day too?

By the way, here is the picture of all three scarves together, just to prove that I DID get all 3 out of one skein. Or at least, I completed 3 scarves without frogging any!

Scarf #3 is Done!

We are going to consider the skein of yarn to be finished. There is just a small ball of yarn left. Not enough to make anything else. Yes, I probably could have continued knitting on the scarf, but I didn't. Enough if enough. As it is, I think that one skein of yarn did yeoman's service, to provide 3 scarves! At the moment, scarf 3 is drying in Serena's room, also known as the Northern Lights room. (Because she painted the Northern Lights on the north and south ceilings in glow in white paint and then highlighted it in glow in the dark paint. Some of the stars in the "sky" also glow in the dark. Right now, in such hot weather, it is really a cool feeling room! Looking at the picture, I need to pat a couple of places more into shape. Funny how you can see it in a picture better than you can in real life!

Scarves 2 and 1 are arrayed on the bed in Nathan and Kim's room. It doesn't have an alternate name. I figured that I'd put all three scarves together on the bed when dry to prove that I achieved 3 completed scarves from the yarn. That I didn't take a picture and frog one of them before going on to knit another scarf from the same yarn. Anyway, I noticed that this picture looks as if the 2 scarves have formed a person who is dancing. Or maybe the heat is getting to me. That could be too! Of course, it isn't the heat, it is the humidity, right?

There was this terrible sinking realization today that I've not kept up on my knitting tally. The list of all I've knit this year. Better do that soon, before I forget any more! It is the only way I have to remember! I've been keeping track since I crushed my wrist in 95. Doctor said I wouldn't be able to knit again. I said "watch me!"

And the Yarn Goes On!

Last night I almost finished the Short Rows Scarf. I tried to bind off twice, but wasn't happy with the results. It just was too tight. I finally gave up, and decided to do it in the morning when I was fresher. Right.

Those who know me will realize the measure of desperation in that I actually crocheted the bind-off. I don't DO crochet. Howard learned to crochet when he was in grad school after (as he tells the story) I threw the third "teach yourself to crochet" magazine against the wall in disgust. I just didn't get it. So, while I commuted back and forth to work an hour each day, he learned to crochet. It has been a very amicable relationship. He has made blankets for both kids, taught crocheting, whatever he wanted to do with it. Whenever any crocheting has needed to be done, I've handed it off to him. Unfortunately, he can't do it right now. And I wanted to finish the scarf. I can't tell you what I did to finish it, because I don't know the terms. It is done. I did the stitch on the needle with the one on the hook, and then did an extra stitch for looseness before taking the next one off the needle.

Maile donated a pattern to several lists yesterday. There was still yarn left over after two scarves. This yarn would be such a terrible thing to waste! So, I started another narrow scarf with the leftovers. After all, only 14 stitches, continued until I run out of yarn. Um, I think I'm in avoidance of other knitting! While I waited as chauffeur for Howard, I got this much done! After all, how many times do you get 3 scarves out of $24 worth of silk/rayon yarn?

Knitting Along

Some days, I think you start with an idea, and it takes off on you. I didn't document as it was happening, but I hope to show you in mid-progress and as it finishes up.

I still had enough silk/rayon left over from
Heritage Yarns to make another scarf. This ball hadn't been touched yet. It wasn't part of the Clapotis frogging or anything else. It was begging to be used up before I went on to another project. I was also thinking about Sally Melville's Shape-It Scarf, but didn't want to pull the book off the shelf and read the directions. Um, never the best way to start a project. Especially in the heat. But, there I was. So, fingering weight yarn in hand, size 5 circulars, and no plan. Cast on 300 stitches. Actually thought I cast on 400, but there you go. Life happens sometimes. Even when you place markers after every 25 stitches. With a really slippery yarn, when you use too small of a circular, it is hard to see when the row starts and ends, I guess. Whatever, when I knit the first row, the awful truth smacked me in the face. I had 300 stitches instead of 400. Of course, I hadn't done a gauge swatch, so I didn't know if it was going to work or not. On I went, deciding I wasn't going to stop at that point.

Started short row shaping a la Sally, only at the start of the scarf instead of the end, until 1/3 of the stitches were consumed. Looking at it, I thought it could have gone a lot further, or I could stop it there and do something else. I decided to try something else.

12 rows of garter stitch followed, which will give it a good "border". This was good for reading while knitting, which prevented the boredom which would have presented much sooner otherwise.

I then broke into another short row theme, a 10 stitch row, which shows off the yarn, and lightens the scarf a lot. Again, because it is so repetitive, I can read while I'm doing it. Every once in a while I get lost and have to check, but with such short rows, it is easy to fix any errors.

Then I'll go back to 12 rows of garter, and be done!

We had RAIN last night! .7 of an inch, which is wonderful, after too long without it! We lay in bed and listened to the thunder and the rain. I suspect everyone around did the same. The forecasters have been talking drought recently, so this was welcome!

Happy 32nd Anniversary Howard!

Howard and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary yesterday! Wow! Still doesn't seem nearly that long! We agreed that we would do it over again, but it would be nice if we could skip some of the "interesting bits" that we'd found over the years. We'll keep the kids, though! LOL We tried to take a picture with the camera of the two of us, but it is kind of hard to do that when you can't see the view finder while you do it. There's a good picture of my eye though!

Mom and Dad celebrated 62 in June, we celebrated 32, and Annette and Steve celebrate 22 in December. Nathan and Kim "jumped ship" and celebrated 3 in May. sigh. We TRIED to get them to wait a year, so they'd be in synch with the rest of us, but they refused. LOL

Howard's arm is mobile (?) enough now that 4 weeks on he can type on the computer. He has to be careful of WHERE the computer is placed, but if he keeps the upper arm at his side, he can do it! Here he is typing away! You will notice the sling is off. That is not for long periods of time, but it is allowed under controlled conditions.

On a different front, Howard and I are still working on shedding weight, kind of easy in this heat! Who wants to eat! I really thought I'd stalled out, not paid close attention since his surgery, but not being hungry and not snacking works too!

Ta-Dah!

The scarf was finished Wednesday while Howard was in a meeting in Calumet. It didn't get photographed until today, because I had to wash it. Blocking was easily done by laying it out on a towel. No pins needed, the terrycloth held the fabric in position to dry. I used Short Row Rib Pattern and Margaret's 20% silk 80% rayon yarn
Heritage Yarns . I have a beige linen jacket and skirt that I think this will compliment beautifully!

On another front, Dora's jacket has been completely frogged. sigh. It dawned on me that I'd rather start again and do the shaping by hand, instead of trying to force it by sewing machine. So, here I go again. Onwards!

It's Like Popcorn, I tell Ya!

this ribbed scarf is like popcorn! It is suitably brainless, so I can work away on it in the heat, and listen to a tape or CD. There is enough going on that my brain is nominally engaged, and I see some progress. And I want to keep going! Remember the pathetic nostepinne of yarn -- the yarn that was wrapped around the flourescent green highlighter? That has been all reknit, and I'm now on the smaller of the 2 balls of yarn. I'm past 36 inches of scarf knit too!

Tomorrow I drive Howard to an all day meeting, so I'm planning to take the scarf, book on tape, and maybe something else to knit. This is going to be some good knitting time!

Happy Birthday Annette!

Happy Birthday to Annette -- my sister -- my best friend as I grew up!
Annette loves cats and gives them a great home life. Her cats live a LONG time. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them. Right now she and Steve are owned by Jezebel and Cheshire.

She has a MS in geology, and made geology fascinating for both my children. When Serena was in college, she took a geology class, and was quite disappointed because the prof made it so boring!

Serena and Nathan called her Ant Net -- before they could read she would sign her notes to them with a pen and ink drawing of an ant carrying a net.

I owe an immense debt to Annette, as she does the day to day support for our parents. They take care of themselves, but there are still many other things that need doing that Annette does, cheerfully.

LOVE YOU ANNETTE!

and for a change of pace, here is Annette and Steve, outside of their house after a bad snowstorm! It is so HOT here, and there too, I thought the picture of snow might be a refreshing change. Annette's car had actually been buried entirely by the storm, something she didn't find amusing at the time. The car was just a mound of snow in the midst of all the rest of the snow.

Progress!

I'm making progress on my ribbed scarf. Finally realized (duh!) that the pattern is in groups of 3, which makes it possible to put down the pattern and just knit. When there are 3 consecutive knit rows on the side you are working on, you switch to purl. And vice versa. So each rib consists of 3 rows. Easy to look and see how many you have currently on the needle. Yet it looks impressive. Need to pay some attention because you are turning the work constantly, but hey, it is good for listening to a book on tape. Here is my progress as of this afternoon when I took a picture of it. Had one of the knitting group over to start a scarf for fair, as she won't be finishing her sweater in time. She brought 3 skeins of Lion Brand Boucle and size 13 needles. In less than 4 hours she had close to 20 inches knit! While I was photographing her scarf for her Fair Book, I snapped a shot of my scarf too, so it wouldn't feel unloved.

Mutterings

Nathan and Kim had Lasik surgery Friday. It is something that seems beyond my understanding. I'm thrilled for them. They went in yesterday morning, and both of them are 20/20 without their glasses. They drove home, reading street signs, reading whatever they wanted, without correction. I'm jealous. It seems like science fiction to me. No contact lenses or glasses. Just their own eyeballs. And sunglasses. Asimov postulated it for many centuries in the future, and here they just did it! I would guess that eventually they'll have to wear reading glasses, but heck, still no daily contact lenses or glasses to read is fantastic! I bet they have to get their drivers licenses changed right away to reflect the fact that you no longer need corrective lenses!

By the way, I did call the doctor about the asthma. I'm using the nebulizer three times a day right now. sigh Part of the problem is that our doctors are based in Ames and travel to Webster City. I'm seeing the neurologist tomorrow, so the pulmonologist couldn't get my chart to see what has happened in the past. I have an appointment in 2 weeks. If things don't start getting better, I'll call back AFTER my chart is back in Ames. I'd forgotten that they wouldn't be able to get my chart when I called.

The scarf is growing, a lot of fun, because the short rows make it feel as if there isn't that much knitting to do before another section is behind you. I like to listen to books on tape/cd while doing it.

New Project

This is the new project for the silk/rayon Day's End from Margaret Pittman at Heritage Yarns. It was the Clapotis, but after the stitches fell off the needle, I frogged it back and became something else. sigh I'm now using the Short Row Rib Pattern. Sometimes it is nice to do something that ISN'T my own pattern. Looking good, don't you think? Especially if you consider this is the work of only a few hours.

I made the mistake of checking my peak flow today (for the asthma) and realized that there is a reason I've been feeling as if there isn't enough air recently. I'm not GETTING enough air. No WONDER I've been running tired. "All" I have to do now is get myself to admit it enough to use the nebulizer. There is a stubborn streak of denial in me. I keep figuring I'll get over it on my own. I'm sure that you readers have the same problem, right? I can't be the only one!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy 83rd Birthday Mom! You know, when you are little, your mother is old. Really, really old! Now, as I age, what can I say? She is still old, but aging pretty gracefully! She was going to walk around Evergreen Lake this morning while my Dad (who is "only" 91) was in a meeting -- a walk of just over a mile. At about 7,000 feet in elevation. Of course, they live there, so they are acclimated to the altitude. But still, pretty darned good! There was a time that Mom really got upset about her age. At 50, she went in and had a new will made, and a new life insurance policy. She refused to speak about her age. It was terrible. That lasted for a good bit of time. Suddenly, about 72, she made an abrubt change of pace, and celebrated the fact that she had made it that far! After all, a lot of people she had known hadn't! Look what she had gone through to get that far!

Mom was born in Albuquerque New Mexico. Her father was a civil engineer on the Santa Fe railroad, investigating train wrecks. They eventually moved to Chicago, where she grew up, the youngest of 3 girls. They were expected to go to college, and to work at least a year before they married, so they knew they could support themselves whatever life handed them. Mom had a hard time finding her niche. She went to William Woods girls College, where she didn't fit in, the then University of Dubuque, Iowa (where she met my dad.) Those were the days where you sent the dirty laundry home on the train, instead of washing them at school! She didn't graduate, but went to work for her year, before she and dad got married.

Dad was a minister. It was really hard for her to try to live up to the expectations of the various church members through the years as to what a minister's wife actually was/should have been. At that time, she didn't feel there was room for her own individuality where she was, and so she conformed to the perceived role, with 3 children - a boy Bill and 2 girls. When I was in elementary school, we moved to Utah, and Mom started working outside the home. By high school, she was in management, and finished up her college degree at night. Annette (my sister) and I had it a lot easier in some high school classes because we sat in on some of her college classes, to help her get through them. She graduated the year before I finished high school.

Mom is a feminist, a person who strongly believes in the rights of ALL peoples, a cat lover (who is firmly controlled by Isabelle -- a long haired torty who rules the house!), a woman of faith, an appreciator of the arts, and a lot of fun. She used to love to start needlework projects, and then pass them on to me to finish. Oddly enough, we always matched gauge.

Progress

The body of Dora's sweater is done, to the cut and slash point. Now to knit the sleeves! When done, I will cut them all apart, sew them together, and then add the edging. I'm pretending I'm a machine on this one, because of the migraine problems. It is good migraine knitting. You know, when you can't knit anything else because of the migraine, knit round and around without looking. That way, I get progress, without guilt!

The second pi sleeve is progressing nicely. Hopefully pictures tomorrow.

Howard's shoulder is not amused by the heat. We will be having several road trips in the next bit, with his job, so we will see what knitting I take with me to work on while he is in meetings. Such a shame, I have to take my knitting with me! Of course, I have to drive, so there goes that perfectly good knitting time! LOL

Kim and Nathan's Visit! LOTS of Pictures

Well, since a lot of people haven't visited, and there were a lot of laughs while Kim and Nathan (our youngest child and his wife) were here Friday evening and this morning, I decided to post pictures, and not do a lot of cropping. This way, you get a better idea of the surroundings.

They decided to bring down a captains bed so they could be comfortable when they stayed. Actually, I believe their reasoning was so they could have more room in their spare bedroom/office, and WE could have the bed in OUR house. The captains bed had been in their bedroom, there was a passing comment made about how much more room they now have in there with it gone. The spare bedroom is now an office without a bed, when they have company, an air mattress will suffice, which has been our methodology for several years (one of those heavy duty ones that is a foot high so quite comfortable.) The first picture is Kim in the back of her Dad's pickup truck, trying to retrieve the stuff that had slid all the way to the front after the 5 hour drive. She has gotten it all out, and is now trying to get out. Couldn't let a photo op go to waste, could I? After that, I handed the camera to Howard, and helped carry stuff in.

The big pieces were carried by Kim and Nathan, they wouldn't let me help. By the way, I'm carrying the bedrail at right. I wish you could have looked in on the two of them trying to get the queen size box spring up the stairs. When the house was remodeled in the 60s, the designer forgot to think about moving anything big. So, there is an area with a short ceiling, followed by an area with a tall ceiling. Four steps up, right turn, six steps up, right turn, eights steps up, left turn. So, it was an "interesting" time, with a lot of laughter, as the box spring slowly went up the stairs to go into the room. In contrast, the mattress, which bends, zipped up the stairs.

The two of them celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary May 25th, and couldn't decide when they were coming to visit, so we held off mailing their present. I had it packaged to mail, but just in case... It was protected by lots and lots of styrofoam peanuts. I'm not sure what provoked it, even though I was there, but suddenly, the peanuts were flying at each other. sigh I guess our kids never grow up, do they! LOL When they were done with the styrofoam peanut fight, they did pick them all up.

I got a photo of Nathan, Kim, and Howard. Nathan, who hates having his picture taken, didn't cooperate. So, for Annette, who complains about bad her pictures, I'm providing Nathan's bad picture. Even if he DID do it deliberately.

Friday!

Howard's shoulder is getting more mobile. The steri-strips are starting to get grubby. We are now 2 weeks after surgery! It HURTS! Neither of us expected the pain level to continue, but we have been assured by many people that it is normal, and it ain't gonna stop for a while. sigh Somehow, in the heat of the summer, that doesn't bring warm fuzzies into our hearts. LOL or is that sigh? Despite that, I was able to grab a picture of him smiling, since he does that a lot. Sometimes, it is a real smile too! LOL.
Well, looking at this one a bit better, I guess it is safe to say that there are other times that I can say that some times they AREN'T. One of these days you WILL get a real smile from the man!


I spent close to an hour this morning picking up the stitches on the second sleeve of Caroline's Sleeves in YourPi. I'm not sure why it took me so long, except that the yarn holding the stitches in place was incredibly tenacious, wanting to hold on with all its might, refusing to release its grip on the stitches around it. Eventually I prevailed, and it is ready to go again. Actually, at this moment, the sleeves feel as if they will be the EASY part of this operation! I have the pattern memorized. I think Caroline did the border in stockinette lace instead of garter lace, so I'll do both sleeve borders, one right after the other.


Just for clarification, here is a picture of Dora's sweater, WITH a tape measure. Because the t-pins are upstairs, and I didn't think to go up for them, I didn't pin the sweater in place to measure it. So, you have an idea of how her sweater is growing. It isn't stretched, but it is showing that it is in process! I wonder when she/they heads/head back for Brazil?



So much knitting reduced to so little! That lovely yarn all went back into such a tiny package, it seems such a shame. Amazing, doesn't it! I wonder what it will be the next time! I used a highlighter as a nostepinne, but realized I don't dare take it off, as it is going to tangle badly if I do. I'm going to knit it into something for me still, because I really love the colors and the yarn. It is 20% silk and the 80% rayon. It is slippery and the knitter needs to think ahead -- making sure that it doesn't tangle about itself. Such a good buy for the money! http://www.heritageyarns.com/THEHANDDYEDYARNS.htm

Nathan and Kim are coming by this evening, I hope to get Howard to take some pictures of the three of us (Howard doesn't get to try to help) trying to move a queen sized bed up the stairs and into their room. Just think! Guests will now be able to sleep on a bed now instead of an air mattress! What a thought! Should be fun weekend with the two of them here!