My Knitting Life

Silk Caps

   

Silk Hats in Manos Silk Blend, Size 5 and 7 Needles.  These are luxurious hats. The silk is soft and warm.  These would be good first colorwork projects - I would categorize them as easy knits.

 

So what's up with me?  This is my first time back at my blog in almost a year.  I have been knitting, working, driving kids everywhere, going to the gym, just living life with some new challenges that are facing us.  Of course knitting is always with me, always a part of every day, but with my time divided the way it is, my projects have to be portable, easy to pick up and go, and I secretly pick luxurious yarns in rich colors to make the little time I have knitting a retreat in my day.

Three Baby Hats

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in various colors

Size 3 Needle, 92 Stitches in the round

The main color for one hat becomes the contrast for the next hat, and on and on...There are so many beautiful colors to play around with.  There are 3 women at work having babies around the same time and there is going to be a joint shower in May.  I can't believe I finished these with time to spare!

Zigzag Lace Scarf

Pattern by Lisa Lloyd

Yarn:  3 skeins Classic Elite "Posh" in Raspberry

(70% Cashmere, 30% Silk)

Size 8 needles

3 skeins made a substantial scarf - 9"x70", plenty to do the double up, wrap around and pass through method - my favorite way to wear a scarf.  It is really soft and lightweight and warm - just the right scarf to cheer me up during these chilly grey days in March.

I'm all about lace scarves in cashmere these days.  I haven't shown a WIP in months, maybe even years, but this one is worth sharing. 

Handspun works up very differently, a much more rustic, alive feel to the yarn.  With all its lumps and bumps, keeps things very interesting.

More MorehouseIgloo Hat and Super MittsKits from Morehouse Merino, Size 11 NeedlesI'm enjoying getting back into knitting with some simple knits in Morehouse Merino Bulky yarn.  The folks at Morehouse put something new on sale each Monday, so I stocked up a couple weeks ago.  I'm into this season of American Idol, so I can watch and knit these simple projects without looking.

Absolutely, Positively Reversable Scarf, Wide Version3 Skeins Mongolian Cashmere"Blueberries and Plums"Size 8 needlesI knit something...yeh me!  Last year, I made the narrow version of this scarf in the same yarn, but in green.  I wear it all the time, so I thought maybe a new one was in order.  Plus, I had a feeling it might get me over my knitting hiaitus.  Has it actually been several months off from knitting and blogging for me?  Like any habit, it seemed strange at first.  Work and family life have been all consuming, so I didn't really notice the absence of those two things that used to take up so much of my time.

It feels nice to come back to a simple project in special yarn.  If you are reading this, thanks so much for stopping by after all the months of quiet around here.... 

Longest blog break ever!  And it was a knitting break, too.  All I produced this whole summer were these two socks for Lisa Lloyd's patterns, Corduroy Sock in cranberry and Fence Row in blues, both samples which are now photographed on the patterns.  The patterns are a joy to work up, especially in Barb Parry's gorgeous new line of sock yarn at Foxfire Fibers.  After I sent these off, I started a new pair of Corduroy socks in some Trekking I had laying around.

This summer was chock full of activity.  I ran our a local team of 65 swimmers.  We went to Aruba with my sister's family.  We have been hosting German visitors for 2 weeks.  I was away a couple times with my daughter at her swim meets.  And I negotiated and accepted a new full time job which starts in a couple weeks.

I have been trying to set up support systems for myself to ensure that I can handle the job without losing my mind!  Cleaning services, help with driving kids around from a high school senior we know, and grocery delivery should help.  I am also going with a friend to one of these meal preparation places where you assemble meals, bring home and freeze for later use.

Hopefully, there will be time for knitting.  I've come to accept the fact that the next few years may be lean knitting years with my kids at the stages they are in and me working.  I'm going to just keep plugging away with this quiet little blog, though.  It calms me down to know it's still here.

 

"Jake" from Rowan JuniorYarn:  Rowan All Seasons Cotton

Ok, so I didn't do the knitting.  Just the finishing.  Occasionally, someone will come in to the shop and ask to have a sweater finished.  In this case, the client dropped the sweater off during one of my classes.  After she left, I heard one of the students whisper "cheater".   

Now, now, be nice.  The woman had a two year old and an infant in tow.

Here are some things I consider before saying "sure!  I'll finish it for you!":

• Take out the pieces and see how they measure up, in this case, very nicely.  You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
• Make sure there is adequate yarn for seaming, any needles for additional knitting, the pattern and yarn labels.  Nothing worse than having to go hunting in your own stuff for materials.
• It's nice if there is something in it for you besides the fee.  I got to check out the pattern book and see how Rowan ASC knits up.  I really liked the feel of the finished product - lightweight and squishy.
• Above all, under-commit!  Tack on at least a week to when you really think it will be done.  I told her two weeks, but then dropped it off in a couple days.

In the past month, I have increased my days working to full time.  Not the best timing with all the end of the year activities going on!  On the home front, it reminds me of the days when we were both working full time when Maddy was a baby.  Both spouses working equally forces a more democratic division of labor at home.  There aren't "my jobs", just things that need to get done, and we need to work as a team to figure out who is going to do what.  It's been good practice for the Fall, when, after having a nice summer off, I am hoping to go back to a new full time position... 

What is going on here?

Look a little closer...

We are all having fun knitting the Moebius scarves from Cat Bohrdi's book, Magical Knitting.  You need a long circular needle, 47" or longer.  Imagine that needle coiled up once, as it is in the package, sort of.  You do her magical cast-on and start knitting in the round.  The result is a tube with a twist, knitted from the center out, around and around.  It is too hard to explain, even harder to see what you are doing when you are actually doing it.

This one is put over the head, twisted and over the head again. So nice and cozy around the neck. Or at least it will be next winter.

For some laughs, you can pull it up over your head, too.

The Noro Silk Garden version used 2 skeins and was done on a 10.5 needle, only because it was the only size I had in a 47" length.  It came out nice a drapey.  Details to follow on version two pictured above...

These are great carry around projects, once you cast on.  The magic is that you really don't see the finished result until it is off the needle, which is part of the fun.  They are relatively quick and don't use a ton of yarn, so it's worth the gamble in time and materials to play around and see what you get!

A tornado touched down in my neighborhood last Wednesday.  This was what remains of our neighbor's shed.  It is wooded where we live, with very large trees.  Branches broke off and impaled themselves into the ground.

It all happened so quickly.  I was in the car with my daughter when it got very dark and the car was rocked by the wind.  We were frantically trying to get home to meet the boys off the bus, but every road we turned down was blocked by fallen trees and wires.  Luckily, they got into the house safely and we arrived home a few minutes later.

This gives you an idea of the scale of the trees that came down.  That's Maddy in the corner.

Power outages closed schools for two days.  On Thursday, with nothing to do inside, the kids ran around outside all day playing adventurous games and checking out the damage.  Wednesday night, all the neighbors came to our house for Chinese food in candlelight.  Last night, we went to their house and grilled burgers and dogs by the campfire.  When the lights flickered on at 4 a.m., I hopped up and turned everything off and went back to sleep, full of relief that I won't have to endure another day with no power (and no plumbing as we have well water).  What a fun adventure it's been!

Added later...I let the kids take the camera around to shoot some photos and these were taken by them.  It's fun to see their perspective, plus it was nice and quiet at home while they were out talking to our neighbors to get their first hand accounts of the story... 

Penobscot Silk Scarf, by Cyrene Slegona1 skein Art Yarns Silk Rhapsody Glitter, Color 149SSize 7 NeedleCompleted April 23, 2007

I substituted the Artyarns SR for the Fiesta Yarns La Luz called for in the pattern.  Using a larger needle, I got a slightly larger scarf.  Artyarns SR is a silk/mohair combinatation with a glitter silvery thread running through. The pattern is available free through Interweave Knits, Summer 2006, also online for free. 

There are 8 panels of arrowhead lace, separated by bands of stockinette.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't capture the halo of the yarn, the soft variagated grey and mauve bands of color, and the pretty silver glitter of the yarn in my photos!  This scarf was started and almost completed on my vacation - it was a perfect take along project.

Highly recommend this lovely pattern!