Remember Peggy?

Check this out:

Is that not lovely? Three cheers for Polly and her generous sharing of Liberty Loot. I now have 20 balls of gorgeous dark salmon Jaeger Aqua -- enough for Peggy and probably a tank besides. Joy!

The Fall mags are rolling in. I have FCEK, Vogue and Interweave Knits. I expect Knitter’s sometime around Thanksgiving. Here are my absolute fave designs from all three:

And I won’t be making any of them. Both the green cuff-to-cuff and the red Asian-style sweaters are classic examples of me liking the design more than the garment. I did give serious thought to the red sweater, particularly since I have that yarn in my stash, but I realized it was a bad shape for me. I’m narrow on top and I don’t like boxy sweaters. I also stared at the beautiful flower-burst pullover for a long time, then asked myself, “Do I really want to knit a project that is 80% full-on, unrelieved stockinette at a gauge of 7.5 stitches per inch?” And the answer was, “No. I really don’t.”

I am making Serious Progress on my Lacey Tee. I may have it done before my second #3 needle arrives and then I won’t need it anymore. (I messed around and didn’t order it till Friday.) I did, however, order the new needle in 29” length and the one I have now is 24”. That seemed more sensible than having two the exact same size. I’m thinking about working both the fronts, and then both the sleeves, of the Ribby Cardy at the same time, so, in that case, the longer needle will come in handy. I get so weary of constantly checking my shaping on Piece #1 when I’m working Piece #2. I’ve worked both sleeves a project at once another time, and I got bugged by having two balls of yarn dangling from needles at once. That needs to change, though, because I wish to expand my colorwork skills in the future. Everyone knows colorwork means lots o’ dangly yarn.

Speaking of which, I watched a very un-thrilling thriller the other night -- Secret Window. The only thing interesting in the movie can be seen HERE. No, I don’t mean Johnny, I mean THAT SWEATER. Ultra-Cool Vintage Argyle Stuff, no? I’ve glance around in my Scarily Large Vintage Pattern Collection to see if I could find something like it, and No Dice Yet. (I guess my Collection isn’t Scarily Large enough. Must work on that.)

Does ripping count as progress? I’m inclined to think it is, because it clears the way, physically and mentally. Last week I ripped Square Play. This project was yet another example me falling for a pattern because it was interesting rather than because I wanted to own the finished object. I worked most of the front, and that was enough. Now I have FOUR balls of that Magic Stripe yarn in the same colorway: don’t know what I’m going to do with it all.

Today, I’ve been casting a Grim Eye on this:



That is the rudimentary beginning of a cute mini-tote from the Fall Family Circle Easy Knitting. You may recall I mentioned buying the Provence for it a little over a week ago. Once I had the yarn in hand, I had the brilliant idea of making the tote reversible, since it was designed in double-knit stitch. (Props to Cast-On for their recent article on double-knitting with two colors.) I still love the idea and the little tote, but the combination of the unyielding cotton and the double-knit stitch (and my current work project) is playing hell on my wrists and elbows. I haven’t ripped it, yet, though. I decided to stash it for a while and work on other things then see if I want to come back to it.

I may not get back to it until next year, however. That Hot Summer color scheme is not entrancing me now like it did a week ago. For the last several days I’ve felt less and less Pink and Orange and Red and more and more Navy and Green and Grey.

And so, I present



Dale Aberdeen and samples of the Sisk to make it up with. I bought that last year, I think, and my mind has been dwelling on it of late. That will Definitely be the next thing I start after I finish the Rowan Linen Drape Ribby Twinset. To get myself moving again on the Twinset, I’m going to order a second #3 bamboo needle tomorrow so I can work on both the Tee and the Cardigan at once. In case you think I’m nuts, I recognize that working on both at once is not going to result in less physical time expended. It is a psychological effect I’m reaching for: keeping me motivated and moving forward.

Mananita is complete! I was going to wait till it dried and take a pic of it on me, but, I know there are those of you who enjoy such things, so I offer now a Detail of Mananita Blocking:
 

 
I took a Full Extent pic but it wasn’t good enough to headline.
 
Shall I confess my sin? I was supposed to have 400 stitches on the needles when I began the applied edging. I didn’t count them. (You’ve guessed the end of this story already now, haven’t you?) At the end of the edge (and two evenings and most of today) I was two stitches short. Of course I WANTED to cry. Instead, I spent many, many, many, many minutes (hours?) trying to figure out what had gone wrong while simultaneously trying to figure out if I could finish it the way it was without it looking DREADFUL.
 
I found one of the lost in the last row of lace patterning: YO failure. Never did find the other, but I honestly don’t think I dropped it. My guess is I misplaced it on the first row of the applied edge where I had to cast on 5 stitches provisionally, then work the first row of the edge pattern.
So, for your further viewing pleasure, here is my Dirty Secret (Who Needs Four Stitches, Anyway?) Edge End
 

 
I’ve convinced myself that grafting job doesn’t look any worse as it is than it would have anyway. You can also see in that pic where my YO Failure occurred. Never say you don’t get Full Disclosure here. I do it all for Science.

Reviewed my last post: boy, I made us sound like a pair of can’t-stay-up-past-2am-lightweights didn’t I? So, I have to say, it was not the lateness of that particular hour that about did us in -- it was the cumulative effect of all the preceding hours: three to drive to St. Louis, one walking around Union Station, one standing at Gate 6, four watching the game in the 90+ heat, and four to drive home.
 
Mananita applied edging has commenced!
 

 
I estimate 20 years 4 months and 19 days to completion. That may be an exaggeration. Actually, this scant progress has taken longer than I would have like because of the simple phrase, “slip 1.” I really think pattern writers should always specify WHICH way to slip, and, if the situation calls for it, whether the yarn should be in front or back. I know purlwise is the Default Slip Position, but for this edge, where the slips are next to the body of the work, I had a hard time deciding what was going to look best and yarn position was a factor. I’m getting WAY prettier results with a purlwise slip with the yarn in front than I got with a purlwise slip with yarn in back, or a knitwise slip with yarn either way. (You see I spent a lot of time on this: VH1 “I love the 90s” 1992-1994 to be painfully exact.) Now that I am actually moving forward instead of dithering around, I am sure I’ll make better time.
 
Is this any way to treat a nice book?
 

I SWEAR I saw Paris And Nicole at Busch Stadium last night.

Kerry Wood was there



(That wee spot on the mound is he, I promise.)

Sweetie-pie husband and I were also there



And the Cubs won! (Although they tried to blow it in the ninth, but we expect that as Cubs fans.)

We didn’t get home till after 2 this morning. I knew that was going to happen, so I had arranged for the day off. Didn’t sleep as late as I would have liked because the cat kept staring at me. (If I roll over, she just jumps over me and stares at me from the other side.) Husband had to go to work, though, and he was scheduled for 12 hours today. I told him to be sure and eat real food to keep his strength up, but ten bucks says he went ahead and had Fudge Rounds and coffee for breakfast, anyway.

Knitting!

Started a new project that would be going a lot faster if I hadn’t changed the pattern all around. (I’m as predictable in my folly as the Cubs, really.) I got the Provence for it at River Wools last week when I went to Thursday Knit Night. I wasn’t sure I’d like Provence -- I’m not really a cotton enthusiast -- but I love it. It is so soft and shiny.

I’ll post pics of this new object when I’m done. I’m so glad I have the day off. I wish I had TOMORROW off.

Last day off! Did lots of housework (bleech) and took time to change these



into these



That is a great pile of scratchy, tweedy stuff that was among my auction haul of a couple weeks ago. (’Member that?) The nice old lady who owned it before me (her name was Bertie Simons and she lived on Willow Street) must have used a knitty-knotty to create those strange, conical loafs. I can’t think how else it would have been done. I could have easily used it the way it was but I used my swift to draw it into hanks because I wanted to wash it. I was hoping the bath would soften it up a bit and it STUNK like it had been in the basement for twenty years. Washing definitely improved the odor, but it is still pretty scratchy. When I bought this I thought it was wool, but I did a burn test on it and it seems to have a lot of acrylic. Odd.

This is also odd: putting the fringe on Lola seemed to aggravate my Carpal Tunnel (left) wrist. I think it must have been the way I was holding my hand while I cut the strands. It seems to be getting worse and I decided yesterday it must be due to Square Play. On that project, too, I end up with my hands bent awkwardly while I work the ectralac-ish squares. I really wanted to get back to the Lacey Tee, but since it is heavy I decided to return to the Mananita instead. Which means,

Today I was knitting along with Knitdad.

Trekked to River Wools, the newly opened yarn store in Terre Haute, Indiana, Thursday night. I think it is going to be very nice, although I didn’t find anything on my Must Have Soon list there. Bought some sock yarn, though



because, honestly, when do you ever have enough sock yarn? [That Lorna’s Laces is called "Grays Corner" and the Steinback Wolle (new brand for me) Strapaz Multi is called "126."]

Reviewed my recent posts and I have a few additions and clarifications that you may or may not be interested in.

The completed Lola poncho-thing, which was designed for Rowan Handknit DK cotton, was knit by me with Bernat Handicrafter Cotton. I had a huge, gigantico (I made that word up,) 14 oz skein that was being marketed for Extreme Dishcloth Knitting. I used about half. A side note on Lola: I hate making fringe with all my heart.

I have said I am using Cotton Fine for the Mananita, but I don’t think I ever said that the color is called "Chamois." I bought two cones of it off eBay (last year, I think): I think it was discontinued. I liked the color because it reminded me of jean stitching -- I wanted to make a shawl for jeans. Now, about the pattern: at some time long after I got confused about working into the Great Big Eyelets and sorted myself out with the Swansen Handknitting book, I actually read the text of the pattern. (Prior to that, I had skimmed the text and read the chart.) I discover that the same instructions as the Handknitting book are written in the Shawls and Scarves pattern (k1, p1 for 18 stitches,) even though that is not what the chart notes say. Perhaps that will teach me to read more thoroughly. (Or not.)

The colorway of Lion Brand Magic Stripes I am using for Square Play is called Denim Stripe. I had a ball of this in my sock yarn stash already, but I went ahead and bought three new balls of matching dye lot for the tank. I don’t know if different dye lots would have mattered in terms of stripe width for this project, but in terms of color shading it would. Three balls was the amount specified by the pattern for all sizes but I’m not going to use much of the third it looks like. I am more than half way done with the front of my size small now (19 of 29 squares,) and I’ve only used about 55gms of the first 100 gm ball.

Ready to spend my holiday weekend playing in yarn. Celebrate Independence wherever you are.