Lola! (Whatever you do, don't let that Copacabana song get in your head -- once it's there it Never Leaves.)



I probably should have changed my shirt so you could see better. I also didn't comb my hair or put on makeup, but I DID use my photo software to smooth out my smile lines. I guess that indicates my laziness-to-vanity ratio is holding at about even.

Got a few more squares done and a few rows of the Mananita. No other progress to report.

Here's a Prairie Vignette for you: Yesterday, my uncle was harvesting wheat and a spark (apparently) caught the dust and the combine (with 50 gallons of diesel fuel) whoomped into flames. The field where they were working was on the edge of town, Right Across from the Fire House, but there is railroad tracks between. At that Very Moment, a train was traveling by and the fire fighters and trucks couldn’t get to the field before the combine BURNED TO THE GROUND.

Because I get SUCH a charge out of that desperate, harried feeling that comes from having too many projects going at once, I went ahead and started Square Play



I think that represents about one-third of the front.

On the upside, I should have a completed pic of Lola when my husband is available to take one. (It looks better with someone in it.) Right now he is looking at boats. He thinks we need a boat. Whatever.

I’ve reached the full extent of the Mananita which means every row lasts FOREVER. I didn’t update my sidebar, but I think I am almost to 60% completion. Also, only four rows remain on the second half of Lola. Not looking forward to seaming it together. However, when my husband walked by and asked what it was, I showed him the picture on the Rowan cover and he really likes it. I’m not sure what to think about that.

My new Knitter’s finally arrived today. I had called them last Monday and told them I hadn’t gotten one yet. The very nice lady on the phone agreed that it was past due and put me on the “resend list.” The only thing in this issue I am going to make anytime soon is the one pattern I saw when I peeked inside at the bookstore: Square Play. In related news, my tentative class confirmation for Stitches Midwest came in the mail a good while back. Barring unforeseen circumstance, I am taking “Blooming Knits” on Saturday afternoon where I will learn to embroider on knitted objects. FUN.

Pictures!

Here’s the Mananita so far



I’m very pleased with how it is coming along. Like colorwork, lace knitting is very addictive. I find myself working clear through chores, shows I wanted to watch, bedtime, etc, because I want to do “just a little bit more” as the pattern evolves. It makes the Lacey Tee feel very stale indeed.

Did someone say Lacey Tee?



That began as the front and is just a few rows shy of being finished as the back plus 1.5 inches. The back I already did will be ripped back to the armhole shaping and finished as the front with 1.5 inches added. Soon, I swear.

And, in Lola news, here’s the first few rows of what I presume is the bottom (the pattern doesn’t specify. I thought when I started that I would be working side to side for some reason, but now I think I’m working bottom to top.)



I ripped and restarted THIS project WAY more than twice. First of all, I had never worked a Clones knot before, and I wasn’t sure I was interpreting the instructions correctly. That was a couple of false starts. Then I turned the house upside looking for the illustrated instruction for a Clones knot that I Knew I Had To Have Somewhere. THEN (it was in Crochet Harmony Guide Volume 7) I ripped and restarted a few more times, convinced that I was committing the ugliest Clones knots in the history of Irish crochet. Finally, now I have three rows day. And my Clones knots are still ugly. Speaking of ugly, I’m not sure why this is crocheted in two pieces and seamed down the sides. I would have thought working it in the round would be very easy. But I’m already wishing I’d done this in a different color, so maybe I’ll do a second one and change the pattern.

I have some beautiful Mananita progress I could illustrate here -- unfortunately, the rechargeable batteries I use for my digital camera are the same ones HE uses for the GPS and they are in the camper and I’m too lazy to go out and get them. So, pics later. You will note by the sidebar, however, that I estimate knitting completion at 25%.

Have had a little trouble with the Mananita. I ended up ripping out the first few rows and starting over. Those big holes are triple YOs with 18 stitches worked into them on the subsequent row. In the instructions from Shawls and Scarves, it directs you to work the 18 stitches by working into the front and back of each YO three times, which I diligently did, and ended up with three clumps of 6 stitches instead of the nice, smooth ring of stitches shown on the photo model. So I tried to rip back, but I ended up with a big snarly knot (because I didn’t wind the ripped thread right back onto the cone) and all kinds of dropped stitches (because I didn’t run a safety line even though I could tell on the first hole that I wasn’t liking my results.) It took me all last evening to sort out the knot and wind it all back and restart (because some girls gotta’ learn the hard way.)

When I got to the 18-stitch-placement row on the second draft, I checked Meg Swansen’s Knitting book, which also has this pattern in it. IT says to work the 18 stitches, K1, P1, into the YOs. That looked ONE THOUSAND TIMES BETTER. Which you’ll see when I finally get some pictures taken.

Meanwhile, because I don’t have enough to do, I’ve started Lola from Rowan 35



I have this fantasy that I’ll finish it right away.

I’m off work for a WHOLE WEEK! Hooray! Should get a LOT of knitting done -- I actually hope to finally finish that Lacey Tee and make good progress on a few other things I’m working on. Watch the sidebar for updates.

Meanwhile, today, we (sweetie-pie husband and I) traveled all the way to St. Charles, MO, to go to the Bass Pro Shop. Bought new hiking boots



and this



That object was designed for fishing supplies and sells for about $17. Great, huh? ALL my stuff fit in it -- all my circs on one side and dpns on the other and all my little doodads in the pockets. Handy for travel (camping) so I can take different things without worrying about forgetting something I need.

More Acquisition News: went to an auction sale on Saturday and got a nasty sunburn on my neck and shoulders and a Good Pile of yarn. (Photo was bad -- sorry.) Lots of stuff I don’t know what I’m going to do with and a few things I have some good ideas for. I bid on a box of vintage knitting patterns, but quit at $30. The Woman in Blue must not have as much of that stuff as I already have -- she was way more determined than me.

Tornadoes came and went and I am still here. Check this out, though:



That pole holds the power line that leads into my house. It is broken off at the ground level and is being held up by the lines themselves. Power came back on, though, last night. We were actually at the movie theater watching TROY (AWESOME) with Lana and her husband when the worst of the storms went through Sunday night. They shut the movies all down and all twelve theaters emptied into the halls when the tornado warning was on. That was different.

Before all that, however, I finished my latest felted bag on Saturday. This:



is Lion Brand Landscapes, a new product. You see the hot pink circle on the label that proclaims “Felts When Machine Washed and Dried?” Well, is does and it doesn’t. The yarn is two plies -- one of vari-colored acrylic that looks like cotton candy and one of vari-colored unspun wool. The wool felts, but, of course, the acrylic doesn’t. It is an interesting effect, but there is very little shrinking and the stitches don’t disappear. I’m glad I did a swatch. However, I found some great fabric for a lining while shopping Sunday:



I can’t decide which I like best -- the regular side or the reverse:



There was no pattern for that bag, BTW, I made it up as I went along.

Here’s something wild: Vogue actually wrote me back, only one month and ten days after I asked them about the maybe-error in the Socks Two pattern. They didn’t see any error. I wrote them back and explained where I was confused. We’ll see.

The Summer Knitter’s is for sale at the bookstore in the mall. Mine has not arrived in the mail. Tell me again why I subscribe to this stupid magazine?