Oh! I forgot!

I have an Eye Candy Friday:

An Avian Mystery

The week before before Memorial Day, I looked out my kitchen window and saw a robin's nest. She had picked the worst possible location for her nest--opposite my kitchen window (where every time I used the sink I frightened her) and in an overgrown Carolina Silverbell right next to the door we use.
We tried to remember not to use that door, to use the back slider instead, but often forgot. Every time we opened the door, she would fly off in a great rustle and flurry.She had three eggs. She had no baby daddy and frequently had to leave the nest to eat.Two days ago I realized I hadn't seen her in about 12 hours and went to check the nest. It was empty. No eggs, no babies, no cracked egg pieces on the ground around the nest.
I told my husband I was afraid another bird, or a critter, had stolen our robin's eggs and he hopefully suggested that maybe she had flown them off to a safer, calmer nest.

Is that possible?

Stuff I Haven't Finished

I've been on a real knitting and spinning kick lately, probably because my house is strewn with the carcasses of half-completed projects. There are five unfinished sweaters, one of which shall be frogged; two unfinished pairs of socks; and one unfinished shawl.

Right now I am focusing on the shawl, because 1) there are so many more shawls I want to knit and 2) every time I put it down I forget the (very easy) pattern. It's the Handsome Triangle from Victorian Lace Today, in teal silk:


I did finish one pair of socks, my first Noro knitting! It is unfair to say that knitting with Noro sock yarn is like knitting with steel wool, but the stuff sure isn't soft. The colors, however, are luscious:
On the spinning front, I have been a tad intimidated by the two one-pound bags of roving I have sitting in the living room. So instead, I bit off something I could chew and spun up a 4 oz bundle of Spunky Eclectic merino/silk in the Dinosaur color that I bought at Spa. I got about 400 yards of mostly sock weight yarn.
After I finish up the shawl, I am going to finish my Siena cardigan, which needs only its buttonbands and collar. Only its buttonbands and collar, people! I could have been wearing it MONTHS ago, if not for my own startitis.

I am counting on you all to keep me honest. Going to NH Sheep and Wool this past weekend (sorry, camnesia) made me all the more aware of the dire situation. I'm not saying I can't buy anything until I empty out my house. I am saying I can't pick up anything new until I complete the old. I must start to finish things. Maybe this could be a new, reverse sort of startitis?

Finished Object Semi-Roundup

I've actually done more than what you see here, but one's being frogged and another was frogged and is now in the finishing stages--only put on the back burner for last minute Christmas gifts THAT STILL AREN'T DONE.

First off, Bianca (Interweave Knits). Back when I got my spinning wheel, Toni from The Fold very kindly included a ton of some kind of springy, super-soft wool and silk slub blend. I spun it up but was concerned I wouldn't have enough for a sweater. Except I really, really wanted to use it for Bianca, so I did have to add a few colors. I call this my Neapolitan sweater because it reminds me of the ice cream quarts.

I love it. It's a very comfortable, Saturday sort of sweater, except it's more flattering than most of my Saturday sweaters. I ended up removing the buttons and fastening it with a pin instead. I have lots of pins so why not use them?

Next, two little bears. Back in October, my boss and his family went up to New Hampshire for the weekend. They stumbled across a sheep and wool festival, and they had heard me yammer about them for years so they stopped and walked around. Anyway, long story short, their daughter picked out a beautfiful bag of roving for me. The bag had three balls of blue/green merino and one snowy, fluffy ball of 100% brushed mohair. I thought it was so sweet of her to think of me that I wanted to make her and her little brother something from it. So I made bears. It's the Snowflake pattern from "The Knitted Teddy Bear" by Sandra Polley (great book, great way to use small balls of yarn). I made both bears (barely!!) from the one 3 oz ball of mohair. It was crappily spun but hopefully the kids haven't noticed.


left: boy bear; right: girl bear











I loved, loved, loved the Debbie Bliss Vogue Knitting book that came out this fall. I made the cabled vest shown on the cover and have the yarn on order for another sweater in it. I had to substitute yarn for the vest (Jo Sharp Ultra) and had to play a lot with the gauge. The Jo Sharp blows up like a puffer fish when you wash it. The first time I knit the vest it was huge (thank you puffer fish) and now on the second knitting it's a little small. But there will not be a third knitting. Lesson learned: wash your swatches.

I actually think this one looked better a little larger than a little too small, but if I knit it again (a possibility) it will be from Como, the specified yarn, and there will be no gauge fudging.

Lastly, the diagonally-cabled sweater from the fall Interweave Knits. I made some adjustments to this, because the sweater as shown on the model appeared to be ill-fitting. I shortened it, added waist shaping, made the shoulders slightly smaller and shortened the sleeves. I did not make the shoulders small enough. Otherwise I am pleased with it and wish I had not gotten foam insulation on the left breast the very first time I wore it.



FYI, apparently the only ways to remove foam insulation would be very damaging to the sweater. I'm hoping it will just sort of eventually wear off.

Did I mention I got a new camera? Perhaps you can tell that I am still learning how to use it.

Summer Recap

What I Did This Summer:

1) Made a lot of things I have either not completed or not blocked:

The Melon Scarf from Victorian Lace Today (unblocked, obvs);

Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits (also unblocked);

some yummy 50% Romney 50% Llama I picked up at Rhinebeck (couldn't tell you where) that is actually a gorgeous chocolate brown. I'm spinning it 2 ply, heavy worsted weight;

One Primavera sock. Note it is still on its needles. Because I decided that instead of making a second sock, I'd rather use the rest of the yarn to make another scarf from Victorian Lace Today. So this may be frogged in the future. At any rate, it'll have to wait for more yarn.

2) Bought a cruiser bike and rode it to work pretty much at least one or two days each week since I got it (I did skip this week).

3) Took sailing lessons and am beginning--6 lessons under my belt--to feel like maybe it's not so scary.

4) Played tennis once or twice a week. Badly, but I think the important thing is that you get out there, not that you play like Steffi Graf.

5). Got to hang with my homies at Fiber Revival, which was awesome despite the rain. I'm glad I finally made it this year!

6) Went kayak fishing--only once--in the bay. It was wicked fun, even though we didn't catch anything, and I can't wait to do it again.

I don't have much in the way of knitting or spinning to show for this summer, but I tried to pack a lot of outdoor activities in. Now that fall is *almost* here, maybe I'll finally get all those scarves blocked...

My New Ride

I followed in Claudia's footsteps and got a cruiser bike. It's a Trek 7.2 FX. It's a really fun bike to ride--very bouncy and easy, not like my other bike, which is stiff but fleet.

And see the pack on the side? It fits a bag of groceries. Or, as it did this morning on my ride to the CVS, the post office and work:
--lunch + a freezer pack
--a change of clothes
--a towel and shower stuff
--a pair of sandals
--mail and other sundries.
The bag weighed a surprising amount (lunch was heavy)and I thought I would be lopsided bicycling, but I didn't notice the weight at all once I was on the bike.

And the pharmacist at the CVS thought it was "so cool!" that I rode my bike there. It's no longer dorky, folks. Now it's cool. (At least amongst 40-something women.)

I've been trying to figure out a way to have my car at work when I need it. For instance, I'm going to leave my bike at work overnight tonight ('cause the hubby and I have Red Sox tickets and he'll be driving), then drive in tomorrow. I will need my car at work tomorrow, but I'll bike home and leave my car at work tomorrow night. The only possible hitch in this plan is that I may need to be at work at some ungodly hour of the morning on Wednesday--like, so ungodly it may not even be light enough to bike (5 am-ish). In which case I'm counting on my husband to be willing to get up and give me a ride.

I may need to rethink this plan.

You Might Need to Sit Down

I know! I’m in shock too! I have missed you guys. It’s been so long since I’ve blogged, I’m not even going to try to describe all the projects I’ve worked on since my last entry. Besides, I think I’ve completed, like, two of them (a sewn knapsack and a still-unblocked Swallowtail Shawl). But here’s the list of unfinished projects:

three sweaters—-Arisaig (Knitty 05), Bianca (Interweave Knits 06) and Gathered Pullover (IK 07)
one knitted knapsack (from some knitted bag book, prob. IK)
one scarf (see below)
one sock (Hedera from Knitty 06), intended as a Christmas ‘07 gift, now repurposed as a Christmas '08 gift.

While a goal for the rest of the year is to finish the projects in front of me (and to go back to a single-focus regime of one-project-at-a-time), I have sort of gotten into a scarf kick.

I’m really digging the idea of scarves as accessories (thank you, Maryse). Little skinny lacy scarves that knit up quickly and are light enough to be worn indoors and out. I’m finishing the Melon Shawl—shrunk to scarf size—from Victorian Lace Today right now, and when it’s done I intend to make a couple more scarves. Like socks, they’re small and light enough to be knit in the summer, when you can’t stand the thought of having a sweater in your lap. They’re fun to knit and boy, do they knit up quickly.

Then when the cool weather comes, I’ll focus on finishing up the sweaters that are littering my house. Then onto new projects!

Happy 4th, everyone! I am going to try to get back to a regular blogging schedule after the 4th. We’ll have some breathing time at work and it’ll be easier for me to blog.

Sweaters in the Wild!

"Now Jim, what do we have here?"

"Marlon, that's a Jean Frost jacket. It appears to be a juvenile, about 4 years old, judging by its vivid purple coloration. Their coats can fade as they age. Those sweaters can have quite lengthy life spans, depending on their environment."

"Jim, that sweater's coat appears to have an unusual texture. Can you tell us something about it?"

"It's Icelandic wool, Lopi to be exact. I'm not sure that sweater's been treated well; the yarn appears to be re-used from a previous attempt and may have sat in balls in a closet for a few years before becoming this sweater. Lopi is not the usual yarn specified for this sort of sweater, but it is inexpensive,toasty warm and, between Lopi and Lopi Lite, fits a variety of gauges."

"Jim, would you recommend such a sweater for daily use?"

"Probably not, Marlon. Sweaters made from Lopi are an excellent choice for bitter days when you will struggle to stay warm, but are perhaps too warm for the average situation. However, this sweater is a nice alternative for winter; a bit more stylish and sophisticated than your average Icelandic sweater but just as warm."

"Oh dear, Jim, it appears our conversation has frightened it off."

"Not to worry, Marlon. They tend to gather around the local watering hole this time of day. I'm sure that's where it's off to."

(What you can't tell from the photo: it's a standard blazer shape in reverse stockinette with lapels and set in sleeves. The book calls for it to be worn with a belt, but I'm not really the belt sort, so I put a clasp on instead. I did have to tack the lapels down to keep them from curling. I don't wear it very often, but it is handy for cold days when you want to wear something a little classier than a shapeless ski sweater, and I'm glad I have it.)