Guess who's 6 years old

Swirl shawl is about 40% finished. It's turning into an equilateral triangle. That will make it too long in back. It also means that I will not be knitting as many motifs. How many less is still to be determined.

Swirl scarf is 40% finished. It only has 37 motifs. 18 are finished.

The baby sweater got sewn together. Photos were taken. I submitted a proposal to Bernat Yarns to publish the pattern. We'll see what happens.

Sock knitting goes slowly. The shawl has a deadline. The yarn is striping nicely though. Priorities!

Here's snaggle tooth.

Just when I think I'm making progress on stash reduction I get a box or two in the mail from a yarn company. Yesterday I got a large box from Spinrite, who sell Patons and Bernat yarns. I got 12 balls of new yarn or new colors. There are a lot of natural materials in the box; Alpaca, wool, bamboo. This appears to be where the yarn world is going.

Knit, Knit, Knit - Rinse and Repeat

The baby sweater is knit. I almost ran out of yarn. Why this is, I don't know. I've knit it 3 times. The first time I had enough to make a hat. The second time, I had a good amount left over. This time I don't have enough to seam the sleeves with. I know that skein yardage is not accurate, but really! Luckily I do have enough of a solid yarn for seaming.

The stealth shawl is moving along. The deadline got moved up last week. The Yarn Co. owner wants it for a show that starts March 26. It needs a bath and blocking before delivery. I was on pace to finish knitting March 28 for a show April 4. I have upped my pace. I'm feeling the pressure and I don't like it. My real problem is to write the pattern. I need hexagon pictures. I may have to draw them on paper and scan them into the pattern. So far I have knit 56 of 153 motifs needed.

I finished the socks for DGD and mailed them off. Pictures were taken. The pattern was poorly written, but I liked the look, so stuck with it. Grumbles are documented on Ravelry, so others can benefit.

Another pair of socks is started, intended for my sister. I'm doing entrelac, which I enjoy. The entrelac really shows off this yarn.

I've joined facebook at the urging of quilter daughter. It looks like fun, but I don't know how much time I will sink into it. It looks like it could be dangerous.

Yesterday was family day. We started by haveing breakfast with DD#4 and her family. We were invited to their house and had waffles and sausage. It's a real chance to spend time with them. Later that day we had a mass gathering/farewell meal to send off one of the older grandsons to National Guard Boot Camp. I hope he finds himself there. He's been floating for almost 2 years since high school. He tried college, but dropped out. He's had a few jobs, but needs some skills. We wish him luck!

Yes, it's been a while

It's been a long time. I didn't realize how long. I've almost finished another pair of socks. I'm actually past the heel on the second sock, but no pictures. I'll have to fix that soon.

I've been working on a couple of stealth projects. One is a shawl from Aussi
Sock.

The other is a baby sweater. I've knit this twice before, but I'm working on getting the bugs out of the pattern. This sweater will either go in my future gifts pile, or be sent off with the pattern when I sell it.

I'm also making a Jojoland Swiirl Scarf. Again, this has progressed farther than the photo. I have one strip done out of three. The grandkids sweaters have been swatched and the working pattern is on paper. Knitting has not started yet, after the baby sweater.

Winter is back here in NE Ohio, but there was enough warm weather to melt the snow. Dog walking has started again. We're both happy with that. I don't mind snow, but ice and depth of snow don't work.

Valentine's Day was quiet. I work on Saturdays. We went to a Cleveland Orchestra concert in the evening. t was a great program: Samuel Barber's Overture to The School for Scandal, Brahms Violin Concerto, and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4. The violin concerto was palyed by a young man I hadn't heard of before, Nikolaj Znaider from Denmark. He was awesome. I was also impressed by his suit. It was colarless and lined in bright red. The red reflected on his sleeve cuffs and could be seen at the hem and pocket flaps. Usually lining ends a little farther from the hem edge.

Today I spent time cooking, as I often do on my day off. I made a big pot of bean soup from an old Woman's Day cookbook. That will be eaten later in the week and some of it frozen. Dinner was a beef and corn shepherd pie that is a family favorite. It's nice to eat casseroles, but they take long enough to cook, that they're not a good choice on a work night. Reheating works well, and the flavors have blended with time.

Finishing problems

Today it warmed up a little, about 30 degrees. It'll go back to normal tomorrow.

I'm facing a bit of a project crisis. I finished a pair of socks and almost finished a baby sweater. What should I knit next??? I have a pair of socks in the pipeline, the baby sweater will be replaced by a stealth project, but I'll finish up my Noro cardigan on Thursday. What goes in that slot? I'm thinking that I'll do sweaters for my smaller grand kids. If I do them now, I'll be ready for Christmas. I was originally thinking birthdays, but we're celebrating 2 of them this week. The 3rd birthday is in July. Knit for Christmas sounds good, and a larger needle project is a good thing. I have yarn, I have ideas, I have patterns, it's hard to make choices.The shawl project pattern is written. Photos were taken. Where do you take shawl photos with 12-14" of snow on the ground and piled up everywhere that has been dug out. Ann Hanson of Knitspot showed a shawl on a dress form. I have a number of those. I hung up some black fabric for a backdrop and good pictures were taken. Today we went to Cleveland's city greenhouse for live photos. I should have brought a stylist to make sure that the shawl wasn't folded funny. I couldn't see behind myself. DH took the photos.

I finished some birthday socks. The pattern is from KnitNet, Onion Domes. The yarn is Bernat Hot Socks. It was cheap, but I wouldn't buy it again.

I'm knitting a baby sweater for a great grand child. I have the pattern first draft written finally. I first knit this pattern almost 2 years ago. I need to work on the schematic and add sizes to the pattern. I'd like to sell the pattern, so the picture from last post will have to do. I still have 1/2 sleeve to knit. I might finish tonight. I'm going to knit it one more time in case I need a garment to go with the pattern. It's good to have baby things on the shelf when needed.

Yes, we have snow

We've had over a foot of new snow this week. It's pretty, but I'd rather have it in smaller doses. My car doesn't have skis. I think this planter in my front yard has reached its limit too!

I've been thinking more about the emotional ups and downs of designing. It's sort of like a puzzle. When the pieces go together nicely, you're happy. When they don't you're frustrated. More frustration leads to depression and the feeling that you're never going to get it together.

I've been working on my Noro cardigan. I knit one square a day. I'll finish on Feb 5th. This is the second sleeve and I have one more button to make. I'm using the contrast color yarn for those.

A baby sweater is in the works. The body is finished and ready to cast off. My own pattern.

Socks are nearly finished. The contrast color doesn't always show up well. The pattern is Onion Domes from KnitNet.

Next week will have finished projects and a chance to start again. Next up, more socks and a shawl design. I also have to write the pattern for the baby sweater. This is the second time I've knit the design. Time to get it out into the world.

Digging out

I've fallen in love with fagotting. The shawl border is almost finished. I started for the final time on Thursday night at the Susan Yarns sit and knit. The diamonds continue the body pattern, even when doubling up the attaching points, everything fits together really well. I've steam blocked the border, but think when I block the whole shawl the border will stretch more.

I'm finding the snow depth gives interesting images. I really miss walking the dog. It's interesting, sometimes I don't want to do it, but she loves the snooping, and the walk is contemplation time for me. My legs miss the exercise, but most of the walks aren't cleaned and I refuse to take her in the street.

Today the sun shone and it got above freezing. There is some interesting scenery out there. There's the icicle jailhouse look from our upstairs porch.

The depth really shows on the bench and birdbath. Bronte really had fun running around the yard today. It's hard to get a good picture of a fast dog.

I have started another sock, and am plugging along on my Noro mitered square cardigan. I still have 1/2 sleeve to go on that. The sock is Onion Domes from KnitNet July 2002. The pattern has a short leg, with the heel starting right below the color pattern. I prefer a longer leg. The pink yarn is Bernat Hot Socks in Hot Tamale color. I don't know what the contrast yarn is.

Knit, knit, reknit

Designing and redesigning can be hard work. I'm reworking a shawl designed by someone else. The design and pattern are yarn support for the company, and they had a parting of the ways with the original designer. I need to put a new border on the shawl and rewrite the pattern.

I had what I thought was a good border pattern. It took about 4 tries to get it to work. Depression, depression, joy! But no joy! It didn't work with the rest of the shawl. Try again! I think it was the 3rd try with the second pattern that I was happy with! Make sure you start at the correct corner, so the pattern works easily. This is a triangle, so I need to double up on the attaching points. It's looking really good now, and the border picks up the body pattern. Pictures later.

I haven't started the pattern rewrite. The border will be fairly easy, but translating the body of the shawl will take some time. The previous designer does not write clear, easy to follow patterns.

Updates
The scrap yarn scarf is no longer finished. The second end was wider than the first and it was a little short. I'll keep working on it. There's no deadline.

The Widdershins socks are finished and wrapped in birthday paper. They'll go out in the mail tomorrow. Eighteen yr. old grandsons don't get much mail and our schedules don't often match up.

I am knitting my Noro sweater at the rate of one mitered square a day. I should finish the second sleeve by the end of the month.

I've started another pair of socks for another birthday. They're Onion Domes socks from KnitNet in2002.

Weather in NE Ohio is white and deep (about 12"), but temps are now up into the 20's. Of course, that means it's warm enough to snow some more. We don't get snow when it's around o degrees.