I like traditional wood pencils. I like to carry them around with me in my totes along with fancy-covered spiral-bound blank journals in which to write things. (You see how Kill Bill Vol. 2 finally offered me something amusing in Elle Driver and her notes on the Black Mamba.) Call me quaint (which Lana’s husband has, in fact, done during our Palm Pilot conversation) or call me backward, that is what I like.

Except that today, I was looking over the progress on my buttermilk-yellow Baby Ull baby blanket and I saw THREE STITCHES with SPOTS that could only be, yup, GRAPHITE.

Holy *&^%, said I.

I tried using a pencil eraser Very Gently to rub them off -- that sometimes works -- but it didn’t. I thought about covering them with duplicate stitches but that would be ugly on the wrong side. I’ve been very carefully joining new yarn on the edge so this blanket won’t be ugly on the wrong side. I thought, “Maybe it will wash out with stain remover?” And then I realized I was going to have to just try it, because, if it wasn’t going to wash out, there was nothing to be done but ripping back and cutting out that yarn.

I’ve never washing knitting on the needles before. I tried to keep the washing isolated to the spots and I used teeny squirts of Clorox Oxy Magic and dabs of my regular laundry soap, All Free & Clear, from the tip of my finger and cold water and IT WORKED. There is one spot that I will probably squirt a bit again when I wash the blanket and block it, but I am So Relieved.

I think I need a pencil box, though.

Check out my new tote bag:



I’ve posted a pic of the bag here before, but I finished it today, installed the grommets and made the straps. I made them out of saddle strings that I got at Rural King and I hope whatever they varnished them with doesn’t come off on my clothes.

Fall issue of Knitters came today! Okay issue. A few things I like. One is a rather simple raglan designed by Robin Melanson. Taking note of her name I was reminded of something I just gave away, another of her designs, the Corset Pullover from Interweave Knits a while back



which you all have never seen because I finished it before I had pictures here. It doesn’t fit me anymore -- you can see how it is already too big when this pic is taken. I wore it once, last winter. Now Lana has it. I’ll get it back someday, but I don’t know what I’ll do with it then -- frame it?

I had the Monday After Stitches off as another vacation day and I had planned to a lot of knitting with my new loot. Instead, I made this



When I got home with said loot, I realized my house already looked like a yarn explosion had taken place here. I had bought these cube sets a while back for just this purpose and then never gotten around to putting them together. Now that you’ve seen Before, do you want to see After?



And there is still this



There’s more, but I’m getting embarrassed.

Lest you think there is no knitting going on here -- there is! I’ve started the Geek Vest (which is properly called the North Island Vest, I think,) done good work on the Lacey Tee and the Secret Baby Blanket. (The blanket is a secret. Everyone knows the baby is coming.) Watch This Space for progress photos.

Returned home last night from a Stitches Midwest Knit Weekend Extravaganza. I got to meet Carolyn IN PERSON (how cool is that?) and I shopped and was educated.

My class was Bloomin’ Knits, taught by Kathleen Power Johnson who was very nice and a good teacher. Our topic was embroidering on knitted fabric, which I am very interested in. Remember the Chinese Fish of Prosperity Bag?



See how I’ve never gotten around to doing the trim? And check out my French Market Bag



I made it out of remnants and I think it needs some fancy work in the worst way. Of course, all this is just paving stones leading me to Embroidery Glory



That’s right. The Indian Floral Vest which I want with all my heart and have all the materials for and am rather scared of.

So I took this class and discovered that I knew more than I thought I did. I did learn some good info on backing the fabric, and transferring the design onto the material and different kinds of embroidery threads. Wanna’ see my swatch?



That is some basic stitches on the felted swatch from our materials packet. Not too bad. I guess I am just going to have to practice, practice, practice. I still have the homework swatches I made for the class because we didn’t really get a chance to use them and a bunch of threads that she gave us. But I have a lot of knitting to do first. Did you see my sidebar? That doesn’t even include the pile of Baby Ull that arrived in the mail before I left for a baby blanket for a baby who is due in October.

My only Yarn Fair regret: I took my digital camera but got so caught up I didn’t even think to take any pics of me and Carolyn or me and Lana or the market or my class or anything. When I went two years ago I took my old-fashioned camera and snapped 24 pics of me and Lana and Stitches and got home to realize there was no film in the camera. I can be such a goof.

An open letter to Uma Thurman:

Dear Ms. Thurman,
I just finally got around to renting Kill Bill Vol. 1 last night and here’s my advice for you: in future you may want to stay away from movies boring enough the viewers are so disengaged they have lots of mental capacity to think about and then discuss how homely your feet are.
Signed, Me.

Last year at Christmastime, I considered buying my mother a Vera Bradley or Bradleyesque quilted bag for her gift. I never found one I liked, so I didn’t. Today, about the same time it occurred to me that I could just sew one myself, I got my Autumn 2004 Keepsake Quilting catalog. I get this catalog all the time. I’ve never ordered from them, but I’ve thought about it because they have all kinds of cool printed fabric that would make great linings for knitted bags. They also have hundreds of “Medleys” -- bundles of five or six or so already coordinated, themed fabrics for quilts or QUILTED BAGS. There are so many I think my mom might like I can’t pick. I may have to make one for myself in the Café Latte Medley.

As for the knitting -- it’s all swatches around here as I prepare for Stitches Midwest. Friday is THE DAY.

I think I have documented here my preference for shaping at the edges of a piece by working the increase or decrease one stitch in from the edge. I do it because I like to have a nice, even edge to seam with and pick up stitches in. Trying to work into a k2tog or between a m1 gets on my nerves.

Now that I’ve set it up, you wanna see something Awful?



That is the Lacey Tee where I had to pick up stitches for the neckline. My nice, even column of stitches is pulling away from my decreases and making Big Ugly HOLES. See how it does on the reverse:



I don’t really know why this is happening, but I wonder if it is a characteristic of the Linen Drape yarn. It is very smooth and rather “slick” and has no elasticity at all. My main concern, though, is what to do about it. Here at the neckline, I think I can fudge it by pulling the stitches on the wrong side through and either crocheting over them or slipstitch crocheting along beside them to hold them in place. However, I did ALL my shaping the same way: the armscyes, the sleeves and the waist -- ALL OF IT. I THINK the crochet seaming techniques will carry me all the way home but I am not sure, by any means. I do know I am not ripping this out and starting over from the very beginning. No way.

Is there any Beauteousness to match this?



That is a Completely Awesome Jamieson Color Card. THANK YOU CAROLYN! Jamieson is, of course, the yarn used for the Vogue Checked Wrap Coat (see last entry) and it is destined to be the yarn I use for my Original Version of Johnny’s Secret Window Retro Cardy when I get it designed. (If this design turns out to be written in any kind of coherent fashion, I will share it here for the benefit of any of you all who happen to be the same size as me.)

Meanwhile, we went camping this past weekend and this is what I learned: DO NOT MOVE TURTLES. Seriously -- turtles MUST remain in their home area to survive. If they are moved they have no way of finding food, water, shelter or their hibernation hole, because they can’t find the landmarks they recognize that mark their spots and will search for them UNTIL THEY DIE. My husband, being The Man Of The Woods, already knew this, but I was not aware until we went to the Turtle Talk at the Nature Center of Shakamak State Park.

Also we found three Geocaches -- one of which I spotted before he did! Yippee! (Although, whenever I brag about this, he gets such a Smug, Indulgent, look on his face, I’m afraid he actually saw the cache before I did and didn’t say anything and now he’s Humoring me.)

So what WOULD I make from my New Fall Knitting Magazines? I’m glad you asked:



That is Vogue represented on the right, and Interweave Knits on the left. The cute little Geek Vest I am CERTAINLY going to make, and the long cardy is Maybe This Winter If I Have Time. Otherwise, sometime in the future. (The checks are created with slip-stitch color patterning -- interesting technique AND pretty sweater.)

My final confirmation for my class at Stitches Midwest arrived yesterday. Although the brochure didn’t say so, I now find I have a materials fee to pay AND homework to do before class -- swatches, two required and one more optional. I’m thinking of making several, because I can think of some different scenarios where I will put the technique I am to learn (embroidering on knit fabric) into practice. I’ll mess around and see what I can come up with in three weeks.

The needles and yarn I ordered on Friday hasn’t arrived yet. I know it’s only Tuesday. So what.

I’m going to Knit Night at River Wools on Thursday and I’m going to pick out Tiur for the abovementioned Geek Vest, then I’m not buying ONE MORE THING until Stitches. Probably.