Yarn Along - June 29

With a long weekend coming up, I could easily get an attack of startitis. I intend to spend some of my time working on stash organization and purging, both in yarn and patterns. The problem is, I only get so far before I start browsing and then get the urge to sit down and cast on, especially if I suddenly find the perfect pattern for some particular yarn that’s been calling to me.

Actually though, I’ve been picking up older projects and trying to get them sorted out and finished up. This is one of them – a little baby cardigan from a vintage Workbasket magazine. I started it because I wanted to add the pattern and photos to Ravelry’s database and also to have a gift sweater on hand. The magazine had one tiny black and white photo. I lost some of my enthusiasm when I realized that instead of a stripe pattern on the body as I had assumed, it’s actually going to be an elongated stitch instead. I’ll give it a try, but if it looks weird, I’m going to do something else and just get the sweater finished, and not worry about adding it to Ravelry. The yarn is just some vintage acrylic but it’s nice and soft and I’m glad to be using it up.

As far as summer reading goes, I’m tackling AlexanderHamilton, in all his forms, starting with the Chernow biography. I have the Broadway book and CD on request from the library as well. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to add more politics to an already highly political year, but maybe it’s best to get them all done at once.

Joining in with Ginny!

Yarn Along - June 8

Joining Ginny this week with a newer project! This is meant to be a summer scarf. You know how it is - you love to knit, but what can you wear in the summertime to show off your knitting skills? I have splurged a little on some new clothes, and actually put together some outfits instead of just buying odds and ends and hoping they work out. This scarf is meant to be an accent to one of the new outfits, although if it turns out as pretty as I think it will, I'll probably wear it often.

The yarn is Malabrigo Lace, a gift from my friend Donna. The pattern is Leaf Lace Scarf by Cayli Malone. I did fewer stitch repeats because I wanted a narrower scarf, and I know it will end up even bigger after blocking. Not really too concerned with the length - will most likely just knit until I run out. I'm using the yarn doubled, because it looked too open and sloppy with just one strand.

My book right now is Dawn O'Hara, which is Edna Ferber's first novel, from 1911. In case you aren't aware, Edna wrote many novels, some of which were later made into famous plays and films, including Show Boat, So Big, and Cimmaron. Although born in Michigan, and later a member of the Algonquin Round Table, she grew up and got her start in Wisconsin, so I've always been interested in her writing as a "local" author. One of her more well known quotes that comes from this novel: "Being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation after you cease to struggle." I'm enjoying this book so - so far it's a good summer read.

Yarn Along, March 4, 2015

Another Yarn Along day, and I feel like nothing exciting happened during the past week. This is when cabin fever starts to set in. I went to work, came home, did some knitting, watched some tv, cooked, played with the cats. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The calendar turned to March, so the countdown to retirement is now two years and eight months! I need to keep that goal in mind, so I don’t get carried away with my spending. February seemed to have a lot of costly expenses in it. Most were necessary, but I could always try to do better. It’s easy to get carried away buying something that’s needed. I shop at the Co-op and buy some things in bulk to save on money and packaging, and then fall down at the cheese island and buy fancy stuff. It’s even worse if I don’t get to eat it all before it goes bad. And I do like to try new things, and fancy foods, but I need to limit that to one or two at a time, not one or two from every department!

Knitting this week was much more of a thrifty endeavor. I worked on items for my Etsy shop, including this pair of baby booties. A friend had given me some leftover fingering weight yarn, and there was just enough of this dotted white Regia to make a pair of booties. Fun!

While knitting, I listened to “The Blood of an Englishman” by M.C. Beaton, the latest in the Agatha Raisin mystery series. I find that I listen best while knitting. Sometimes I can do dishes and or walk on the treadmill, but if I try to do desk work, or organizing, or computer work, I find I miss too much of the narrative. So I had a nice knitting, relaxing weekend!

Joining with Ginny and the rest of the Yarn Along Gang.

Yarn Along February 25, 2015

I had written a New Year’s blog post all about getting back in the habit of writing more often. Yes, well, that didn’t work did it? So I’ll start 2015 with a Yarn Along post, and join Ginny, and hopefully that will get the ball rolling.

I started this cardigan in 2011! It’s taking me forever to work on because I keep stopping to work on other projects, mostly those that will bring in some money. I try to spend less on my fiber habit than I make with it, and last year I failed miserably, spending almost twice as much! This year I’m off to a little better start, but it’s early…

When I pick this sweater up and get rolling on it, I really like it. I designed the stitch pattern, although it’s similar to some in books. And I used Wendy Bernard’s book “Custom Knits” to come up with the formula and numbers for the cast on, v-neck, etc. The yarn is Lion Cottonease. I was hoping for a light summer cardigan, but I think it might be too bulky for that, although, when I put it on, it doesn’t feel overly heavy.

Over the weekend, I started working on one of the sleeves, and my concern now is that I’ll get in enough decreases before I get down to the wrist. The ribbed pattern is deceptive, and I added more stitches under the arm than usual. I think it will work out all right; I just need to do a little math again to see what I need to end up with.

My book this week is “The Cat Who Tailed a Thief” by Lilian Jackson Braun. I am slowly working my way through this series, and try to read three ‘cat whos’ per year. They are light and fluffy mysteries, and I find them endearing. Last year I fell down miserably in my reading. I only read a handful of books, switching mostly to magazines. I also got stuck on a couple books, and stubbornly refused to give up and start a new one until I finished at least one of them. That finally happened last week, and I’m much happier now!

Yarn Along - June 11, 2014

I really hope this is the last time I show these socks as a work in progress! 

I looked back at my notes - I started this pair on July 11, 2013, and I can't believe it's taking a whole year to finish them. I just kept setting this project aside to work on other more important knitting, I guess. I'll tell you what, when I get them done, the next pair is going to be bright and colorful! I really like this yarn, Cascade Heritage Handpaints, but I've done my fair share of knitting dark brown and black lately, so I'm ready for some fun.

My book is the latest cozy mystery from Hazel Holt, who writes the Mrs. Malory series. I love these books more for their depiction of British life than for the story sometimes. I was really worried that the series had come to an end, because there hadn't been a new book in quite a while, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this one when I checked Amazon recently. I'm trying not to gulp it down, it's a quick read, but I want it to last!

Joining with Ginny...what are you reading?

Yarn Along - March 12, 2014

Finally – back on the Yarn Along bandwagon! Joining with Ginny this week, and hoping to catch up with regular blogging after a very long, but very enjoyable winter.

And look – I’m still knitting the SAME SOCK I was knitting back in July! It’s not even the second sock – it’s still the first one! Part of the reason is that I have had numerous commissions to work on, so the personal knitting gets put on the back burner, and when you have as many projects going as I do, some really get neglected.

Another reason is that this pattern, although simple in concept, is just not laid out in a manner where I can pick it up and find my place and catch up. I know what I’m supposed to be doing, but just trying to double check the stitch count, etc. was a confusing chore, and I’d have to start reading from the beginning. Also, I’m not used to following a pattern to make socks, so I’d print out a copy, and then misplace it, and have to print another one. I’m sure I’ve filed many copies of it in with bills, recipes, and trashed it with the junk mail.

Last night I printed yet another copy, STAPLED it together, found my notes in my notebook, went to bed early, and finished the gusset shaping and started the foot. Now that I’m smooth sailing once again, I’m hoping it won’t take a whole year to get these socks finished and off the needles.

The book I started this week is These Rich Years – A Journal of Retirement by Jean and Robert Hersey. I will be eligible to retire in less than four years, and I’m hoping to have all my ducks in a row so I can do it, and start another chapter in my life. This book, written in 1969, is nothing like any of the contemporary information I’ve read about retirement. No how-to’s, or statistics or charts, or new age thinking. Just observations, good advice, simple pleasures, and even a few basic recipes. Here’s a quote from the opening pages, to give you some idea of why I like this book:

“There is no feeling in life thus far quite like those first days and weeks when we wakened to realize that Bob didn’t have to be anywhere at nine o’clock. It was October, and we reveled especially in things that happened on weekday mornings. Walking on the beach and around the marshes at low tide, contemplating snowy egrets and eider ducks, gathering armfuls of the last goldenrod, watching gulls soar over the whitecaps and blue, blue water offshore. Undeniably all this could have been equally fine on any Saturday or Sunday, but it has a very particular charm when it occurs on Monday morning at ten and when you are just retired.”

I’ve read several of Jean Hersey’s other books, and her quiet, conversational style is so gentle and unassuming. I’m looking forward to this one, another step on the path to a new adventure.

Yarn Along October 4 2013

Ok, so I'm a little behind this week joining Ginny, but hey, I completely missed the Yarn Alongs for August and September, so this is an improvement!

I've been working on this pair of Comfy Sole socks for quite a while. I got them started in July, and by the end of the month I had to set them aside for other projects. And then, the heel flap. Well.

I like to add a reinforcing yarn to the heel and toe. I have oodles of very fine gauge cone yarn to choose from for this task. This time however, I picked the wrong one, a wool boucle that was just a little too thick, so what I had was a lovely supple sock leg and then WHAM! a cast iron heel flap.

Now, that might seem like a good thing, so I spent a few weeks trying to convince myself that is was ok. I picked up and knit a few rounds of the gusset, and then I just couldn't go on. That heel would have to come out.

So that was a big deal - ripping out a dark sock. I had to wait for some calm time and bright daylight. I think I did it over Labor Day weekend. Then I found a better reinforcing yarn, and got started. The second time around was much better, but I still needed another bright day to pick up stitches and get the gusset started. That day was yesterday. It was overcast and rainy, but I could sit in the rocking chair by the window and see fairly well.

The yarn for this sock is Cascade Heritage sock yarn, a gift from a friend and it is a joy to work with. Probably the best part of having to reknit the heel flap was that it meant extended knitting time with this fantastic yarn. It just feels wonderful.

I am almost finished with David Sedaris' "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls". There were many times that I was laughing out loud. What fun!

Yarn Along

Well, look at this. Two weeks in a row, joining in with Ginny and the Yarn Along! I hope it keeps me motivated to keep posting regularly.

This week I’m working on this pair of plain socks, for me, knit from Lang Aktion yarn. It’s taking me forever to finish these, because I’m always switching to something else that’s more important. I hope that I can get them done over the holiday weekend and get a different pair of socks started.

Just because they are plain socks, don’t think I didn’t learn anything. I learned that I really need to buy ONLY ONE ball of yarn if it’s one that I haven’t tried before, and then see how it goes. I have three balls of this yarn in my stash, this being one of them. While I really like the random patterning, the yarn is just a little too fine for my loose knitting style. Even on size zero needles, the socks feel thin. They might full up a bit with the first wash, but still, not my preference. I’m considering added along a strand of very fine coned yarn with the next pair I knit with this yarn, even though that’s going to affect the patterning.

The book I’m reading right now is Food Matters by Mark Bittman. A Guide to Conscious Eating. More facts about the effects of factory farms,  over processed food, and other nutritional nightmares. I’m actually waiting for the DVD of this book to arrive at the library, along with the DVD “Hungry for Change”. But I thought I’d read through the book first, as there are recipes included.

I am making an effort to eat healthier, but also just to eat more simply. And carefully. For a long time, I knew that ingredient labels were getting longer and longer and often listing more chemicals than food. But I think the tipping point was when I read about Hershey and other chocolate manufacturers pushing for a loosening of the requirement of how much cocoa and cocoa butter needs to be in a product and still be called “real chocolate” and not “chocolate flavored”. When they start messing with my chocolate, that’s serious! Not to mention all the labor issues Hershey has.

So little by little I'm making changes. I joined a CSA this year, and will write about that soon. Until I have the time and energy to have my own vegetable garden again, it seemed like a great alternative. And I really do like the community aspect of it. Plus I love surprises - this week's new food: pea shoots!

Yarn Along

This is my first time joining in with Ginny and the Yarn Along, although I’ve been following the links for a long time, and getting a few good ideas for both knitting and reading. I’m a few days late, but I jumping in just the same.

This week, I finished listening to “The Town That Food Saved” by Ben Hewitt. It’s the kind of book that if I had to READ it, I’d lose my focus and probably not enjoy it. I’m sure it has to do with all the statistics. Facts and numbers just don’t read well. But LISTENING to the audio version is another thing all together. I could work on a project, and tune in to the narrator and stay much more focused on the book.

Although I’m not sure the author completely proved his premise – that local agriculture can sustain an entire community on many levels, the basic concept is one that needs to be brought more to the forefront if we are going to survive. The book is worth a listen just for the shocking facts and figures about mass-produced agriculture. Food is really not something we should be messing with, and there are so many things done in the name of progress and profit that fly in the face of reason and are just not good common sense.

Aside from doing laundry, I spent most of my time listening to this book while I was spinning. I recently dusted off my spinning wheel after a long period of non-use, pulled out a bag of fiber, and gave it a whirl.

The fiber I tried was not the nicest for spinning. I’m not sure why I bought it – except that I’d purchased finished yarn from this vendor eons ago, and made my first pair of hand knit socks eons ago, and they were very soft and comfy. But this fiber was awful for spinning. Lots of neps, and lots of vegetable matter. I made one 50 gram skein, and then switched to some lovely hand painted Blue Faced Leicester roving, and had a much better go of it. I have one bobbin full, which is half the roving. Can’t wait to get going on the other half!