Swooning is Good

If you are not addicted to yarn & knitting, read no further. The following message contains unabashed, nonsensical yarn adoration. It all started simply enough. I went to my LYS, Purl’s Yarn Emporium here in Asheville, for another ball of Berocco Comfort for one of the 2 baby blankets I’m working on. I kinda/sorta wanted to browse for yarn for my upcoming Beryl top. After much contemplating, I came home with this: Queensland Collection Pima Fresca, a 100% Pima cotton yarn, hand dyed in Chile. I LOVE this yarn. It’s SO pretty, if you’ve never noticed before; I am a huge fan of the color pink. They have it in lots of summery colors, there’s a bright coral, a gorgeous turquoise and several shades of blues that would look great with jeans. But then, there it was. I kind of noticed it out of the corner of my eye, way up there in the corner. The perfect shade of pink. That dusty, subtle pink, that girly pink that makes you hear “She’s a lady. Whoa Whoa Whoa. She’s a lady.” by Tom Jones. (Alright, I made up that last part, but you get the point.)

Now of course, if you loathe the color pink, then you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. Suffice it to say I came home and swatched immediately while watching Sopranos Season 6. Washed and dried the swatch and was surprised to find no change in gauge at all! Interesting. I’m knitting this up tighter than recommended, getting about 5 sts. per inch on US size 6’s, instead of the 4 sts. per inch using 8’s, this obviously will give you a more flowing fabric. For Beryl, I think I need a little tighter. The yarn is very textured, which produces a great fabric, interesting and very fun to knit with, the hand dyed nature gives it beautiful tonal variations. I’m in a pink shaded heaven!

Ummm…have I mentioned I have these baby blankets to work on??? So after the swatch, I did NOT cast on, I worked on the blanket for my friends whose baby shower is in 2 weeks. Yikes. That one caught me by surprise too; I thought I had until the little munchkin popped out. This one is coming out very pretty; I’m using several different lace panels, in an asymmetrical blocks design. They are decorating the baby girl’s room in non-traditional blue & yellow, that is my color palette for this one.

Baby blanket #2 is for William the 4th, my husbands’ co-workers child. His blanket will be in 5 different colored strips of cable patterns. The center panel is an argyle pattern in a taupe color; I am so slow at cables. I can see this one will take much longer than the lacy blanket.

As for the Ruffled Jacket, I think it’s on hold until I get further with blankie #1. I’ve gotten a couple of suggestions on my sleeve cap issue, I will prevail!

Knit on!!

Knit & Sick & Knit & Sick

I’ve pretty much spent the last week in a cloud. You know, the kind of sick where you feel like your head is floating above your body?? That’s the one I had. Bleh. The only good thing about it is I was able to get a good amount of knitting done, since I could barely move off the couch without getting dizzy.

I’m working on the Ruffled Jacked by James Coviello in Vogue Knitting Fall 2007. It’s coming along pretty quickly, even though I’m using a smaller gauge than suggested. I’m used a worsted weight merino/tencel blend, called Colrain, by Valley Yarns. This yarn is a lovely color, called Grape Jelly; a rich burgundy that I can’t seem to photograph for sh%!*&@!# This is the first project where I’ve actually re-worked the math to make my gauge work with the pattern. How liberating!

The other ‘issue’ with this sweater is that the armscye was clearly not well planned out. The armhole on the back measures 9” in my size, and the cap for the sleeve is only 5 ½” – too big of a difference not to fix. Thanks to the help of “Sweater Design in Plain English” (which should be called ‘Sweater Design for Dummies’!, which is me) by Maggie Righetti, I was able to figure out how to plan the decreases. At least I say that now, I am pretty bold considering I haven’t set the sleeves in yet. This one will hopefully be finished soon!

I also completed a hat for a friend out of the herringbone stitch used in the infamous ‘so-called scarf’ pattern. This is the only stitch pattern I have used at least 5-6 times now, in various objects, I love the way it looks. The yarn is ‘Miski’ from The Mirasol Project, 100% baby llama, extremely soft and yes, very warm. I told my friend Lili she would be ready for the blizzard when she wore this one. I believe that llama fibers and alpaca fibers are along the same line (well, they are cousins after all!), about 5x warmer than wool.

This was a funny incident. My friend called me from a LYS downtown in Asheville (Purl's Yarn Emporium). Friend, "Hi, Elizabeth?? I'm at that yarn store you told me about downtown. My friend is off getting a massage, so I came here. I found some yarn I like, actually, my husband found it, it's "baby" llama and he liked it because it's called "BABY". (Mind you, she's pregnant, obviously their FIRST!!) Ummm, and it's pretty thick, umm, I'm not sure what I should get. Me: "Is Lindsey there?" Friend: Asks......"No, Lindsey is not here." Me: "Well, talk to whoever is there, tell there you want to use this as a double-thickness yarn for a hat". Friend: "O.K." So she comes back to me with this super-duper warm thickness of beautiful, baby colored yarn in a lovely mauve and a burgundy. I love it but I'm afraid.....we've hardly had a winter here in N.C., not enough to warrant a blizzard-like hat for freezing temps......Well a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. This is my friend and she wants a pretty hat....so I made it. I just hope she get to wear it =;)

On the horizon/semi-in progress is two baby blankets out of Berroco Comfort. I happen to have a friend, and my husband has a friend, who almost live directly across from each other (and yet they don’t know each other, I think an introduction is in order!) in a more rural part on N.C. who are both expecting children, one boy and one girl. Lucky me! Two babies to knit for!!

I hope all are well and knitting like crazy!!!! I’m listening to Norah Jones and drinking some red wine and hope you are doing the same or equivalent!! Peace & Blessings to you.

Presenting...The Russian Coat!

Pattern: In Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2007, Designer Norah Gaughan

Yarns used: Plymouth Boku, colorway #6, Berroco Peruvia, color Granito, #7106

Needles used: US size 7 for most of the body, size 6 on skirt hem and size 5 for collar

Well, it’s done. Am I happy?? Mostly. There are a couple minor issues, which are MY fault. It’s a great pattern, one of the most fun things I’ve knit so far. Even if it didn’t fit at all, I’d still be happy I made it.

I learned really well how to do a p2tog tbl! It’s a little tricky at first, but not hard once you’ve done it a few (thousand) times. I learned how important it is to check your gauge while making your project. (That’s important? Go figure!) Here’s a breakdown on how it went.

The top: this was tremendous fun making all those hexagons and triangles and such and taking a leap of faith that this will indeed be a wearable item. With the Boku, I found it has a tendency to break about easily when pulled, for seaming up the hexagons, I had to put more twist in the yarn, and then it was fine. I liked that you picked up sts. to keep working, therefore eliminating a lot more sewing there.

I heard some folks were having issues with the sleeves being too long, so I blocked my pieces when I had all but the last sleeve extension finished. It was too short, I decided to go ahead and make the last piece, only I did it in garter, so it would be reversible. This worked out great and I do turn it back to make a cuff, I love the look of this last piece and I’m really glad I made it. (Well, it would have been too short for me otherwise.)

The skirt: a LOT of sts. to cast on here, but you have the happy thought of knowing it will only get smaller from there! I realized I started off with my size 7’s, when I needed 6’s, so I switched over after the first row. I used quite a few of my Denise cables to accommodate all the sts. The knitting was fine, my problems came after blocking. My overall height of the skirt was off by 1 ½”, and silly me, I didn’t realize what an impact that would have. (Apparently I did too many decreases.) The sides of the skirt need to overlap the top by 3” on each side, which seems like it would have been a tight fit already. Well, I tried to sew the top & bottom together many times and it just didn’t work, there was too much bunching at the top. (We won’t even mention the happy two hours I sewed it thinking, ‘wow, this is going so much easier now!’, then to discover at 11:30 at night that I had sewed it upside down!! No, we won’t mention that.)

I finally realized I had to compensate for the missing 1 ½” and only left a 1 ½” overlap on each side of the top. It was still pretty tricky. Many more boo-boos later, I had done it! Steam blocked that seam.

I tried it on. Oh no! I’m wearing a tan colored bikini top on my sweater! Why, oh why, had I not realized that the lighter colored Peruvia I had chosen would mean I was making triangles right over my ta-tas?? (Perhaps because the model in the photo doesn’t have any??) Great. I was almost defeated at this point, but I wouldn’t give up. I went ahead and did my smaller collar with no trouble. I went and found some great clasps at Waechter’s Silk Shop, here in Asheville.

THEN, I decided to do some embroidery on those dreaded little bikini triangles. It worked. (At least I think it did, if I’m deluding myself, let me know!) Of course, once you get going on something, it’s hard to stop. I added more embroidery to the sides, still wasn’t enough. Decided to do some on the back.

It’s DONE. Finished. Finito. Fertigstellen. I love it. It’s pretty, it’s unique, it fits great, it was a lot of fun, I learned a lot! Hooray for me!!

ETA: Also finished: The Jane Crossover Sweater! This sweater was a real pain in the #*&!@#!*#%!!!! I wish I could recommend it, but I’d have a hard time. The main issue with this pattern was the fronts, which are left ‘up to you’ but in the M/L size, you may have a hard time. (I used all but about a foot of this yarn!) I found that I needed to sew the fronts together to get them to quit moving around and looking all wonky. I added 3 ‘faux’ buttons on the top seam, I also put a 5 seed st border on the panels, I have this strong aversion to rolling stockinette!! (Just ask Allison!)
The Fleece Artist Hand Maiden Ottawa yarn was nice enough, honestly, it was what kept me going on this pattern, with all the miles of stockinette. I would definitely buy more fleece artist yarn, just not for this pattern. I plan on wearing this to work tomorrow. Hooray for FO's!!

Progress....and a little Quick Fix

Yes, I’ve been making progress! Here is a shot of the Russian Coat’s skirt; the top section is finished, except for the collar I will add after sewing the skirt on. Now with the top I was a bit nervous, after hearing about the length of the sleeves being WAY too long. I blocked it after I had finished all but the last sleeve piece. It was way too short, so I felt confident adding that piece on. I decided to do it in garter stitch. Besides looking really cool, it’s great because I can fold back that pointy part and then it fits perfectly on my arm.

I still kind of wish I’d used the Berocco Jasper that the pattern called for, it’s just an obviously nicer yarn. Having said that, I’m still happy with the Plymouth Boku, I think it will wear well, and I really like the tweed effect. It also blends wonderfully with the Peruvia (the lighter sections). I debated for a while about using the lighter color, but I think it works.

I’ve been so good at just working on the coat; I kind of needed a quick fix. A couple of the girls at work have been wearing these cute little caps with brims, and I found this pattern: Urban Cap and found some yummy stash handspun from Yarn Ahoy, and went for it! I watched Terminator 3 and Bourne Identity while making it.

Have a great week!!!

Whew! It's all over....

Until next year. I always find myself a little relieved and a little sad after the holiday madness. It wasn’t too crazy for me this year. We had a budget, and we stuck with it! Nice!
I’ve started a new project! (Go figure.) It’s called “Iceland” from the Rowan magazine #42. I like it. I’m using RYC Soft Tweed, which they currently have on clearance over at Webs. This is some NICE stuff, people. Hey, we all need a little chunky knit sometime! Lucky for me, my brother (wonderful man that he is!) gave me a G.C. to Webs, so I had to go back and spend more $. I got Valley yarns Colrain to make the Ruffled Jacket from Vogue Knittings Anniversary issue (#44). (A gorgeous pic of it in that link!!)

Here’s a sweet stuffed fox I knitted up for Sydney. Yes, he looks so cute showing off my Iceland in progress, doesn’t he? You can hardly even notice the fact that I’m covering him because…he has no legs! Sorry, I tried on Christmas eve but couldn’t finish him. If those fingers weren’t so darn fiddly, I’d be done. Lucky for me, Sydney’s too busy with her 50,000 OTHER toys she got for Christmas. I’ll finish his legs up soon! (And yes, I did finish my Biking Cardigan by Deborah Newton, what a fun pattern!)

I'll leave you with a little after holiday poem I wrote this morning, whilst drinking the java that sustains me. Hope you have an excellent weekend, filled with everything you like!!

Its two days after Christmas, and the presents are done.
There are lots of new games to play, there’s still a lot of fun.

The ‘heart attack in a dish’ is all gone now.
I kind of feel like a big bloated cow!

The house is a mess, I can barely get dressed….
Boy was I a bitch on that night I was stressed!

The kiddo is playing with her new kitty cat.
Could care less about new her mittens & hat.

Hey, I waited almost a week before I spent my G.C.,
To Webs, of course, hooray for me!

Still have some knitting to do for a friend….
I’ll knit some for me, then her, it will get done in the end!

I want to drive to Barnes & Noble, need to return that book,
Oh, but the mall is crowded, I think I’ll stay home and cook…..

Maybe some yarn might find its way into my lap,
I might even take a short little nap.

Bring on the cold! Bring on the snow!
Bring that biting winter wind that makes our cheeks glow!

I’ll stay nice and toasty in my cute little home.
Alone, ‘cept my bunny, my kiddo, my little hanging gnome.

I hope you are all grateful for this coming New Year.
I hope it brings you joy, inner peace, and much good cheer!

Kid's Candy Hat & Mittens Set

A free pattern for you! I hope you like it.

Kid’s Candy Hat & Mittens Set

This hat and mitten set started on a whim after my daughter was a ‘Candy Fairy’ for Halloween and obsessed with all things candy (well, what kid isn’t!). I had this pretty candy colored yarn is my stash, and I whipped up this little set for her. It fits her little 3 ½ year old self perfectly! In this case, the ‘candy’ is actually a cute little stitch pattern with bobbles. Knits up quickly with worsted weight yarn.

To fit ages 3-4 yrs., hat is sized for an 18” head and is 7” high. Mittens are 6” in total length, with a 1 ½” thumb and cuff.

Requirements:
- Worsted weight yarn 200 yds. – (I used a custom dyed Peruvian wool yarn from Phoenix Fiberworks Etsy shop.)
- Sport weight yarn, 50 yds. or less – (I used Knit Picks Andean Treasure, if you use a worsted weight yarn, be sure to go down a needle size for mitten cuffs.)
Size 6 needles – can be straights or circs

The stitches I used are not my own design, the Acorn Rib is from my Vogue Dictionary of Knitting Stitches, and the ‘Candy’ pattern is adapted from the ‘Bouquet’ stitch in the new Vogue Stitchionary Volume 1.

Bobble: K into front and back of next st. twice, sl 4 sts. back to LH needle, k2tog twice, sl 2nd st on RH needle over first st.

To Make Hat:
Cast-on 87 sts, using long tail cast-on method.
Link: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/cast-on
Work Acorn Rib as follows:
Row 1 & 3: *P2, k1, rep from * to last 2 sts, p2.
Row 2 & 4: K2, *p1, k2; rep from * to end of row.
Row 5: *P1, (p1, k1) into next st, (k1, k1tbl) into next st; rep from * to last two sts, p2.
Rows 6, 7 & 8: K the k sts and p the p sts.
Row 9: *P2, sl.1, k2tog, psso; rep from * to last 2 sts, p2.
Row 10: K the k sts and p the p sts. (See note below.)
Note: In row 10, you want to increase two sts spaced apart from each other, to get a total of 89 sts.
Now you will start the “Candy” pattern:
Row 1 & 3 (RS): K1, *wyif sl 5, k7; rep from * , end last rep k1.
Row 2 and all WS rows: Purl.
Row 5: K3, *insert RH needle from below under 2 loose strands on RS of work and k next st (hook 2 strands), k11; rep from *, end last rep k3.
Row 7: K3, *MB, k11; rep from *, end last rep k3.
Row 9: K2, *[MB, k1] twice, k8, rep from *, end last rep k1.
Row 11: Repeat row 7.
Row 13 & 15: *K7, wyif, sl 5; rep from *, end k7.
Row 17: K9, *insert RH needle from below under 2 loose strands on RS of work and k next st. (hook 2 strands), k11; rep from *, end last rep k9.
Row 19: K9, *MB, k11, rep from *, end last rep k9.
Row 21: K8 *[MB, k1] twice, k8, rep from *, end last rep k8.
Row 23: Rep row 19.
Rows 25-36 – Rep rows 1-11.
Rows 37-40: Work in stockinette, ending with WSR.

Finishing
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail to sew up top and side seam of hat, using mattress stitch. Make 2 tassels for each corner of the hat in contrasting color, sew on to hat.
Tassel links: http://serendipity.gpvm.com/tassel.html - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3213109


To Make Mittens:
Cast on 26 sts, using long-tail cast on method.
Start Acorn Rib as follows:
Row 1 & 3: *P2, k1, rep from * to last 2 sts, p2.
Row 2 & 4: K2, *p1, k2; rep from * to end of row.
Row 5: *P1, (p1, k1) into next st, (k1, k1tbl) into next st; rep from * to last two sts, p2.
Rows 6, 7 & 8: K the k sts and p the p sts.
Row 9: *P2, sl.1, k2tog, psso; rep from * to last 2 sts, p2.
Rows 10-12: K the k sts and p the p sts.
Switch to main yarn and work two rows stockinette.

Start thumb gusset and Candy pattern
For Left Mitten
Row 1: K12, place marker, m1, k1, m1, place marker, k to end (13 sts.).
Row 2 and all even rows: Purl.
Row 3: K 12, sl m, m1, k3, m1, sl m, k4, wyif sl 5, k to end.
Row 5: Rep row 3, inc. 2 sts between markers – you now have 7 sts between markers.
Row 7: K to marker, sl m, m1, k7, m1, sl m, k6, insert RH needle from below under 2 loose strands on RS of work and k next st, k6.
Row 9: K27, MB, k to end.
Row 11 (work thumb): K12, remove marker, k8, kfb of next st, turn, p across 9 sts, pfb of next st, turn, work 6 rows in stockinette on these 11 sts.
Dec Row 1: [K1, k2 tog] 3 times, k2.
Dec. Row 2: P2 tog, k1, p2 tog, k1, p2 tog. Cut yarn and pull through remaining 5 sts, leaving enough to sew up thumb seam.
With right side facing you, pick up and knit 2 sts at the base of the thumb and continuing with Row 11: k5, MB, k1, MB, k5.
Row 13: K17, wyif sl 5 sts, k4.
Row 15: Rep row 13.
Row 17: K19, insert RH needle from below under 2 loose strands on RS of work and k next st, k to end.
Row 19: K19, MB, k to end.
Row 21: K17, MB, k1, MB, k to end.
Top Shaping
Row 23 – Decrease Row 1: K5, k2tog (twice), k6, MB, k2, k2tog, k2. You now have 23 sts.
Row 24 – Decrease Row 2: K4, k2tog (twice), k5, k2tog, k5. You now have 20 sts.
Row 25 – Decrease Row 3: K3, k2tog (twice), k4, k2tog, k5.
Row 26 – Decrease Row 4: P10, p2tog, p6.
Row 27 – Decrease Row 5: K2, k2 tog, k6, k2tog, k5.

Finishing
Draw yarn through remaining 14 sts and pull tight. Leave enough to sew up side seam of mitten. Weave in ends and give to child!

For Right Mitten: Reverse shaping, you will have 13 sts on your right side instead of the left when you place markers. You will start the candy pattern after k4.

Please let me know if you have any issues with the pattern or find any errors. Enjoy!!

Knitting, Eating & Boobies

Alright Norah, you got me. I resisted the Tilted Duster, lovely as it is. I resisted the Cabled Coat from Vogue’s 25th Anniversary mag. Then, thanks yet again to Ravelry, I found the Russian Coat from the Vogue Holiday issue. Must...make....this....coat. I can’t really justify buying more yarn for a new project right now……but…..well isn’t it nice that I make the Christmas shopping easier on my hubby??

I’m using Plymouth Boku in the colorway #6; the colors are tan, black, gray, rust, and deep purple. Lovely. This yarn does behave nicely after washing, and softens up, and you can see in the hexagon on the left. This is a really fun knit. It’s kind of like potato chips; you just want to keep eating (knitting)! My only concern with this yarn is that it’s not spun very tightly; in fact it comes apart quite easily when you pull on it. I have to take extreme care when sewing the seams. I just hope it holds up well in the long haul.

On a funnier note, after I finished the second hexagon this morning, Sydney asked me if I was making boobies. I had to crack up laughing! Maybe it's because I kept refering to the gathering in the middle of the hexagon as a 'nipple'. Too cute. (Yes, Sydney, Mommy is making a long coat with LOTS of boobies on it.) Ahh, to be 3.
For the main body, I’m going to use the Peruvia recommended in the pattern. Lindsey at Purl’s is ordering just the right brown for me. Also in progress is the Fun Cardi, almost done with the first side, also Farmer Fox is slowly coming along. Christmas knitting is coming soon!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at my in-laws, turkey with all the trimmings and I made a pumpkin roll for dessert. I’m avoiding all the stores right now; I have absolutely no interest in the whole Black Friday thing!! I prefer to either make gifts or support other individuals who make things as well. Etsy is one of my favorite places to shop online, though I have a number of indie artist links. Copacetique, Cut + Paste, Orange Button, Indie N.C., and Trunkt are just a few! Happy Holidays to those in the U.S. and I hope you all have a great week!!

Gobble Gobble

And here we go again….with another spinning wheel! This one is (yikes!!) from eBay, I know, I know, it’s such a gamble getting a wheel there, but I couldn’t resist this handcrafted one. It was made by a very nice man name Joel Pellani, and he even made an extra bobbin for me! After some ‘getting to know you’ pains, I’m making some nice, even yarn (well, as even as a newbie can!).

Here are also some pics of a couple of scarves I’ve sold recently from my website. Pretty, pretty! The one with the brown yarn was my first attempt last year at a drop stitch pattern. It’s a great way to stretch those special skeins of yarn!
I’m making a hat & mitten set for Sydney, since the weather has finally turned chilly here. It’s called the “Candy Hat & Mittens Set” since she’s still stuck on Halloween. The yarn looked kind of ‘candy colored’ to me anyway, so I modified a bobble stitch pattern to kind of look like little candies on the hat. The hat is done, mittens hopefully this week. Pattern to follow!
What else, let’s see. I’m working on Farmer Fox for Sydney for Christmas. Other Christmas gifts will be a hat for the bro to match the scarf I gave him last year, and a second Droplet Hat from Knitting Nature. I’m also plugging away on my ‘Biking Cardi’ (Deborah Newton design), and I know I will love this one.

Then, just when I thought I had enough sweaters in progress, I fell in LOVE with this: Russian Coat. MUST MAKE THIS COAT. Now, so far I’ve resisted the Tilted Duster and that gorgeous cabled coat in Vogue’s 25th Anniversary mag, but Norah Gaughan has snagged me with this one. After mulling around my LYS yesterday, I’ve decided to do it in Plymouth Boku, rather than the Berocco Jasper, mainly for cost reasons. I need to find a solid color to compliment the Boku, and the YS owner wasn’t there to help me.

Other than that, I’m just working hard, looking forward to having two Thanksgiving celebrations this week (one being at work). Should be a great week! Hope you all have a good one, I'll leave you with a link to a cute little turkey.

Presenting....The Stranded Shedir Hat!!!

Woo Hoo! It's done. Hubby loves his new hat. I'm VERY glad the thing is off the needles, 'twas a wee bit tense there at the end.

Saving Jane......

Well, let’s see. Life in general has been really great the last couple of weeks. Hubby and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary on Oct. 20th; we went for a weekend away to Hot Springs, NC. I can’t say I was too impressed with the little (tiny) town of Hot Springs, but our cabin was nice and private and had its own hot tub, which we enjoyed immensely! It was so weird getting there after running around so much that week, then we where like “OK, now what?” It was just nice to reconnect with that man I married.

Then, my parents came down from Philadelphia for a week long visit. Sydney and I got to spend a lot of time with them doing all sorts of different things, including a gorgeous fall ride up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I dragged my mom to SAFF on Friday, and it was wonderful! I am definitely getting a wheel as soon as I can. OH yeah, that was my other news, I MADE YARN! It was awesome. The instructor, BJ, at my Earth Guild class was great. At SAFF, I got to try out some different wheels, including a beautiful antique one I decided to pass on. It took me the longest time to buy any yarn; I was just sort of overwhelmed by all the beautiful fibers/yarns/wheels/stuff to buy there. I eventually decided on a few skeins, two handspun and two commercially spun from a merino farm in TX called Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Co., really lovely stuff.

The bummer for me about SAFF was that I was REALLY looking forward to seeing the animals, and I can only guess that most people don’t bring them on Friday, since there were only a few alpacas there. If my parents weren’t in town, I would have gone back on Sat. or Sunday. BUT, it was fun and I highly recommend going if you can get here.

It was kind of good that they left on Halloween, since I had to work, then run home and take the kiddo out that night. It kept me from being too depressed that they left! Sydney was a Candy Fairy for Halloween, the only costume she liked in the costume store, and she’s been wearing it every day since then.

On to the Jane saga…..knitting has seemed to suck lately, here’s why. I worked hard to finish up the Jane Crossover sweater by Fleece Artist to have it in time for SAFF. (Was too warm for a sweater anyway!! I saw someone wearing the Lotus tank from IK!) It’s good to have goals anyway. I finished it, and I’m not happy with it. The neck is too high and tight, and it will be a pain in the butt to rip out the seams for it. The other issue is gaping at the armpit area, which you really need to see the pattern to understand this one; it’s quite an unusual construction. The other thing that irks me is the rolling stockinette!! Why, oh why, do designers insist on these designs where half of your knitting is rolled under. That’s one of those things I’ll never understand. Bleh, bleh bleh. I can sew up those underarm areas easy enough. I CAN undo the seams, I’m sure. I just think I’m not that happy overall with the design, for me. I think the yarn could be something more beautiful. Ugh, not a trip to the frog pond!! All that work! I’ll give it a couple weeks and see what I think then.

On top of that, the two-toned Shedir has been having its own issues. The top came out way pointy, like to fit a giant-headed gnome, maybe. Rip, rip rip, I re-worked the top last night and made up my own (shorter) ending. Then onto the cast-on edge, which is too loose. I couldn’t figure out how to take this out other than cutting it off to where I needed it. Now I have a million little pieces and I’m trying to find the loops that aren’t cut to get back OTN. Argh! It’s the week of the lousy knitter. Live and learn, right? At least I got him to try it on last night and he really loves it, says it feels great on his head.

I’m going to make a huge batch of cabbage soup today, for the Cabbage Soup Diet, and oldie but goodie that was revamped in Good Housekeeping magazine recently. This one seems a little easier to follow, since you can have regular (small) meals in between. Wish me luck! I’m hoping to drop a few before Thanksgiving.