Noise Around the House

Guess what this is?

Yep. It's a new roof. We've needed one for quite some time. As you might guess, this cold has not yet released me from it's misery, and my boredom quotient has long ago been reached.

I love these guys, even though the cat is freaked out and the dog barks at every incursion onto the lawn by the roofers. It will be lovely not to worry about leaks.

Ooohhh...You came here for knitting content? Bramble is off of the needles and has mostly been sewn up. Today will see the rest of the finishing aside from the zipper, which will not get purchased any time soon.

Cold + Home = Bramble Progress

Peter and I are sick. We have a cold. Or the flu. It started to develop on Friday as a sore throat, and by the next morning, it was a full-on thing. There's been some joking about swine flu here, but it's really not funny at all. Sniffles have been followed by sneezes with enough power behind them to launch satellites into orbit. Despite all of the time spent with tissues and asleep, Bramble is coming along. The back, sides and a sleeve are done. Impatience won out and the first sleeve has been set in. Fortunately for Bramble, and those at the office, I have not gone in yet this week. Maybe not tomorrow either.

Dear Designer

Dear Designer,

Your cleverness and wonderful sense of style is evident with each pattern you release and place on Ravelry for all to admire. However, they demand immediate knitterly attention, which has been having a serious impact on my relationships, housework, sleep and wallet. There’s only so much knitting time in a single day. If you continue to feed my habit, I will be forced to stop sleeping, and maybe even have to quit my job. So, please Dear Designer, please! For the sake of those around me, stop designing for the next 9 – 12 months. If you do not slow down your Designer Momentum, how can I possibly maintain a loving relationship with my husband? He seriously resents your successful efforts to ensnare my attentions. And my friends? While they appreciate those pretty socks made for them from your collection, they tell me that it’s no fun talking to the socks, and they would prefer to meet up instead of receive knitwear.

Here’s what you should do Dear Designer. Release one pattern at a time. Slowly. After the length of time deemed appropriate for your fans to slot your delightful design into their knitting itineraries and whip it out, release your next delight. Which I, and many others, will most certainly covet. Just so you know, I am not just thinking of myself with respect to this issue. This would also give you time to work on all of those things in your queue. Or at least it will give you the opportunity catch up on things you clearly neglect in order to design the knits that have captured my soul.

With love and affection always,
Gale

More of the Same Lament

One Nutkin is out for fitting with my friend Patricia. We have met at the bus stop almost every morning on the way to work for the past 3 years. It’s a nice 15-minute-a-day friendship. She’s a lovely, quiet woman who sometimes suffers from cold feet. So what if its spring now? She can put them away until next fall. The second of the Nutkin’s is at the heel flap. Since notes weren’t taken, the fitting sock needs to return home in order to figure where to start the heel turn.

Since progress is temporarily halted on the Nutkin’s, the Kitri’s are being alternated with Bramble. Yep, Bramble still has me. The Kitri’s do too. It’s good this 4-row bramble stitch pattern is amusing me. As you can tell, it really doesn’t take much for that. The knitting has progressed just a bit beyond the pre-frog mark, and the 3’rd ball of yarn is almost finished. Wooohoo. Speed knitting it isn’t. Last night an hour was managed before putting it all away for the evening.

Peter was blissfully out with a friend last night, resulting in a lovely (quiet) cuddle-up with the dog while watching the 4th episode of Little Dorrit and flipping through the latest Vogue Knitting mag. It was great to watch it uninterrupted by deep sighs of boredom from Peter, King of the Evening Pseudo-News Shows, or Chatty Cathy Peter cutting in at just the wrong moment in the plot.

Now, about that Vogue Knitting magazine. I. Love. It. That multi-shaped cardigan has me by the throat. It’s all I can do to keep from ordering yarn for it. A deep chocolate brown yarn would be good. Yeah. That’s the ticket. Just what I need. More yarn sitting in stash ‘til whenever. Well, you know that’s what’s going to happen right. It’ll just be something else to feign guilt over on the List of Shame, Shame, Shame.

Twitter-like Wednesday, 6:15 – 7:15 AM

6:15 Cuddly morning dog wants a bit of attention. Sweet girlie. Love those dog cuddles.

6:30 Peter sings verses from ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ to me, while interfering with the whole getting ready for work routine. It's a game we play. While he’s singing the sappy song, it’s my job to make appropriate commentary, otherwise known as smart remarks. For example, “Kiss me and smile for me” got something like “Are you kidding? I’m going to work now.” It’s silly and fun, and easily generates a few laughs.

6:50 This morning’s bus ride to work offeres up a young woman with a bandaged eye. Her old cat had attacked her last night, biting through her eyelid. Surprisingly amusing conversation arises from that particular situation, despite the punctured eyelid and scratched face.

7:05 The ladies serving at the coffee shop were in fine form this morning, throwing laughing insults at each other, and their customers, clearly enjoying themselves. Nice to see.

7:10 Office.

7:15 Receives another whining email from the Worst Client on the Planet. It’s been almost 10 years of whining phone calls and emails from this client. Still smiling - grateful it wasn't a phone call.

It's a pretty good start to a Wednesday morning. Now, wait a minute 'til that phone gets put on DND (do not disturb). I want to maintain this good feeling for as long as possible.

A bit of Frogging Required

The Bramble Stitch Jacket has certainly captured just about any of the attention there is to give around here. Unfortunately, tightness in my hands precludes working on it for very long. It’s probably just because most of the larger projects in the recent past have been mostly stockinette, not requiring much motion in the needles. In the mean time, there’s nothing like a little sock or spinning magic to fill in the spaces when Bramble cannot be handled, though pining for it while doing something else equally enchanting is what’s really happening.

There’s been a bit of backtracking on Bramble. In admiring the bubbly surface last night, a hole was noticed about 12 rows back. Yeah. A missed bramble. Peter and I had been having a leisurely and lovely afternoon of tippling on Sunday afternoon whilst lounging in the back yard. The rule is to work on a plain stockinette project after three glasses of wine, so that’s a you-asked-for-it-dummy-move leading to a well deserved frogging right there. But it was oh so fun to sit outside chatting and laughing with my love on a warm April afternoon. Very much like going on a date.

A Wide Variety of Knits

First of all, thank you Marina for filling me in on the situation with Virtual Yarn kits and general availability of the yarn. You’d think that for the price that is charged for a VY kit, enough yarn would make it into the box to complete the garment. Lismore will get its turn next month. Two weeks at the end of May are mine-all-mine, and long stretches of time can be devoted to Lismore then. It’s been dug out of storage and needles have been put back into the ribbing.

In the mean time, buttons have finally been purchased for Ella and Victoria. While not crazy about the selection for Victoria, they will do the trick. Nothing close to Victoria’s colour was available in a button, nor could a ribbon or fabric be found suitable for covered buttons. A zipper was also purchased for Ella, for which professional help is required since no sewing skills exist here – some sort of invisible stitch needs to be used.

The next shipment of the knit-purl sock club has been mailed. Since two kits remain unused, and renewing this club when the time comes around is an approved purchase, one of the yarns was reassigned to a different sock pattern – slightly modified Nutkins. One sock has been finished, and the other is two repeats into the cuff.

Lastly, several years ago, yarn was purchased for the Bramble Stitch Jacket. Then Manon came along, and a huge thing developed for that wickedly clever garment. Believing this would be a relatively quick (5.5 mm needles/US 8 or 9?) and maximally fun knit, Manon was started on Saturday evening without much success. The tension on the right edge of the starting triangle was different than on the left. That’s usual for me, so it really wasn’t cause to worry. Until the right side was picked up for the next triangle. It was sloppy looking. Very, very sloppy. The starting triangle was frogged and knitted again, paying closer attention to the right hand selvedge tension, but again it just did not look good in the pick up. More effort could have been spent in finding a suitable technique for knitting up that edge, and perhaps in picking up the stitches but a six hour effort over two sittings was enough. Perhaps a grabbier yarn would work better for Manon. So, Bramble Stitch Jacket it is. It is slow going compared to stockinette and Manon, but those bumps are fantastic.

Shame, Shame, Shame

I’ve not been particularly honest about the List of Shame. There are more than 35 things on that list. Yes, that’s correct. More than 35. And the list is still being edited (added to based on actual stash) . Some projects on the list are small and others are significant. It’s over a year’s worth of steady, dedicated knitting. A few of the projects were begun three or four years ago, while others are just a few weeks old and never seen a needle. Each time the list grows, I feel a certain degree of guilt. Particularly if a boatload of money had been thrown at the out-of-favour lust-du-jour (cashmere raglan anyone?). I know, I am not supposed to feel that way – knitting is fun and so on. But really, more than 35 neglected projects, each with the yarn on hand? That’s more than a bit much. You can just call me Greedy Guts from now on.

Clearly the guilt is not really that much of a burden since yarn keeps coming into the house and the list keeps growing. However, it’s time to get real. Resolving some of the yarn issues is necessary. It will be fun to whittle away at the list and it will certainly help out the wardrobe. It would also be challenging to not add any new sweater or shawl items to this list beyond what can be dug out of the stash in its current state until next year.

The Kitri’s are back in play with the arrival of the replacement yarn, and the last 2 knit-purl sock kits have had new patterns assigned since the original ones weren’t for me. I’d like to remove 15 items from the list by the end of the year by making some of the large and small projects. It’s an ambitious goal. Place your bets now.

Just a Little Freaked

Because this happened just a few doors down from us earlier this afternoon.

Need a better look...

We have no idea what happened, just that it did. Scary huh?

Four Day Weekend

It's been socks and spinning this weekend instead of the end of Victoria. The pattern seems to be buried deep within the office, and so far has refused to give itself up. Shame that, because I was so ready to get the basics done and don't want to work on a trial and error basis with the avoid-frogging mohair.

The Zigzag anklets are finished, and the Marie Antoinette's are as well. The replacement yarn for the Kitri's has been wound, and it was a bit of a disappointing operation. Many, many slubs, and broken plies in each of the three skeins. Regardless, those socks are going to get started, maybe even today. Since giving them a go a couple of weeks ago, I've been pining for them.

Zigzag anklets from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn
Koigu KPPM
2.25 mm needles

Marie Antoinette,
Woolen Rabbit Harmony Sock in Tupelo Honey
2.25 mm needles
Now the spinning. This is the most consistently spun yarn yet and it is soft enough to make something wearable. The Corriedale is a bit rough though, so felted slippers might be the thing.
Hello Yarn Corriedale in Thrive2 ply, fingering to DK, 200 g.
Lost count of the yardage

And finally, thin and thick singles, 100g superwash merino, 70 yards. Soft, soft, soft.


It's been a very quiet weekend so far, enlivend by a few good laughs with Peter, loads of snuggling with the dog, and beautiful weather. More of the same is expected today, and some of the frazzle of the past few months has been relieved. Maybe a foray into the real world to look for buttons for Ella and Victoria will be made. It seems unlikely. It would most likely take an act of God to pry me out of the yard.

Felting and Other Stuff

Ella was felted on Monday evening, and the transformation from clownish adult-sized sweater coat to the confection hanging in the closet was magical. The colour changes have softly blended together, and there’s absolutely no way that anyone would think this is a knitted garment. The ruffles look like the edges of cooked lasagna noodles, and the striping matches up brilliantly. All that remains are peas and buttons. And to find a suitable box for the trip to Lilou’s house.

The second Marie Antoinette sock was begun on Monday evening after the felting experiment. That, pea knitting, and some spinning will occupy the rest of the week until Friday, when Victoria will be dug out from under the clutter in the office. She has been sitting in her not-far-from-finished state for quite some time now. With most of the ends woven in since some time last February, it’s certainly time for finishing up. Buttons have still not been chosen. However, the button bands can be knitted on and the rest of the ends sewn in, bringing the completion date that much closer. Despite the luscious softness of the yarn, Victoria will irritate my skin. A trip to Toronto is in order to purchase some wide ribbon from Mokuba to help with the neck at least.

Hopefully, after a four day weekend spent with the WIP’s, there will be something for show-and-tell next week.

Closing in on the End of Ella

Guess what these are?


Yep. Peas, the leftovers and a pile of trimmed ends from Ella. She’s coming along very nicely, thank you very much. About a third of the peas have been made up, but Lorraine, there’s a lot of waffling going on about whether they will get used or not. Perhaps they can be tacked on such that mom can remove them if baby finds them offensive.

The finishing of this project has come at just the right moment. Boredom with it was beginning to get a good foothold, and putting it down would have meant a long hibernation period. The body was carried back and forth to work so the ends could be woven in for about a week. That turned out to be a good strategy for achieving the task. The sewing up could have been finished yesterday, but weaving in of all of those ends on the sleeves really was a chore, and stopping at setting in the first sleeve was enough for the day.

So it’s on to finishing the pea-knitting and sleeve-sewing. Ella shall be washer ready very soon. Returning to Babette, some spinning, and finishing up a few other WIP’s feels like a good thing right now.

Ella Suffering from Gale

It’s hard to picture Ella morphing into the child-sized coat it is destined to become. If the bodice is cut off, the skirt could be worn as a fanciful cape. Wanna play Super Hero anyone? While close to finishing the first sleeve on Sunday, I got to doubting the pattern, and wrote to Noni to ask a question. Can you imagine that the designer took time out of her Sunday to respond? Well, she did. Fabulous pattern support.

As you can tell, the goal to finish Ella’s knitting over the weekend was not met. This is in part due to starting the striping of the first sleeve in absolutely the wrong spot, leading to frogging all the way back to the ruffle. Oh well. It’s a quick knit. Part of the blame also goes to not believing in the instructions for the sleeve cap. Fool that I am. The rest of the blame lies in the kitchen, where a good deal of time was spent in chopping, mashing, cooking and cleaning. Those healthy lunches and snacks for the week are mostly sorted out.

Ella’s first sleeve managed to get finished on Tuesday. Just to check if it fit into it’s destination correctly, it was basted into place. Which happened to be a good move. The sleeve cap is too small. Now, it’s not the designer’s fault at all. The armhole decreases on the bodice were started too soon. As a result they are 4 rows too deep. Since fixing that problem would mean ripping out the collar and button bands, and then frogging the fronts and the back, the sleeve cap is going to get a little do-over and I will hope for the best. It’s OK. You can just call me lazy.

As for the peas, well, perhaps they aren’t a good idea. While extremely cute, they might be uncomfortable to sit or lean on. Putting them only on the front seems silly. What do you think?