Monday, January 29, 2007

finding dorrie

the finch died last week. it was about 6 years old, which isn't bad for a finch. but i have a feeling it was age, the fact that our house is way cold and drafty and just a smidge of changing its water every other day or so instead of every day.

my sweet friend took it real hard. it made her quite sad to not have her musical pet around. after a teary evening we sat and chatted about it. we decided not to get another finch right away. we may get fish!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

something simple

with the specter of surgery looming in the not to distant future and my concern that my knitting abilities after surgery may be stalled, the need to clean up some of the knitting bags is strong. so what do i do instead? i decide i would like a new shawl to wrap myself up in after surgery.

after various trials and tribulations about the yarn, the color, the pattern, i finally decided on jo sharp silkroad ultra for the yarn in a color called tamarind with a color called lake for accents. it is a chunkier yarn and i am knitting it on size 11 needles. i cast on three times with a different number of stitches each time before i got the number of stitches that sucked up the least amount of yarn yet gave me a size shawl i wanted. it will be a rectangle, hopefully about 60 x 20 with a small ruffle at each end.



and it is lovely. this picture does not do it justice. it drapes well, it makes a simple pattern look like a million bucks and it feels sooooo nice. as the LYS owner would say, it is a mindless knit. but it is so lovely. i can't wait until it is done.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

yes!

finally! the "fetching" fingerless gloves from knitty.com are done! whew!

this project, which was heralded as a quick weekend knit took me about three months to complete. granted there were the holidays and the knitting flurry that surrounds it. coupled with a case of DPN phobia, which prompted adapting the pattern for two circulars.

which, on the whole, was really no problem. i learned dividing the stitches evenly between the two circulars did not work as it does in socks. the stitches knit better if divided by pattern repeats. the pattern stitch was a 5 stitch repeat so i had 20 stitches on one needle and 25 on the other. which worked really smoothly.

my only hiccup was the thumb. i could not figure out how to pick up the stitches from the waste yarn and then pick up the additional stitches needed on the two circulars. so i went down to the LYS, borrowed a pair of DPN's in the size i needed, picked up and knitted all the stitches on DPN's for the pick up round only. then i switched the stitches to two circulars and zipped through the thumb to the end. et voila! ce finis!

the other interesting thing i learned was that i knit inside out when knitting in the round. i had observed this before but thought nothing of it until someone at the LYS noticed it and promptly turned my sock right side out, at least to her. i was totally lost. i found when the pattern said knit, in order to keep the stitch patten going, i had to purl, and vice versa. so, when i came to my first thumb, i suddenly realized the stitch pattern was not matching, even though it said to knit and i was knitting. so i un-knit down to the p/u row and purled, which matched the stitch. except for the p/u row, which i had p/u and knit when i should have p/u and purled. so around the base of my left thumb is a ring of purl stitches. a little something to remind me to pay attention. which i did on the right hand where i p/u and knitted the thumb stitches inside out, at least to me, and the thumb turned out perfect.




and the gloves are great. they are warm, comfortable, pretty and practical as i am wearing them as i type. and i am really glad something is finished! yay!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

a special treat


the owner of the knitting store took us gals out for pedi's as a special surprise treat! true heaven! except i haven't put socks on yet so my feet are truly cold now!

Monday, January 15, 2007

a bit of a concern

i took a spill the beginning of last july. i was at a friend's house celebrating his son's 3rd birthday when i slipped on a slick spot and landed in a sitting position with my hands at my sides. i knew my right shoulder was in bad shape, but it felt like it had been badly jammed and just needed a good stretch. so i was gentle with it but kept using it. for the next 5 months.

finally in december i decided my range of motion was not improving and i still could not put weight on it, especially in certain yoga poses. so i decided to go to a doctor. there is a group of orthopedic surgeons who are quite well know in the county and who have helped quite a number of athletic teams with their various injuries. this group also did my cute husband's back and neck surgeries successfully and i trusted them. so off i went.

a couple of appointments and an MRI later i find i have ripped all 4 layers of my right rotator cuff and the muscle(s) are pulling away from the bone. the doctor drolly pointed out it didn't seem to be healing on it's own, so it is surgery for me. and after surgery, six weeks of wearing a brace that will keep my arm/shoulder in a "healing" position.

had i been told i needed surgery and then been whisked off to surgery, it would have been no problem. but now i get to stew about it for the next six weeks so i can get really anxious. and hopefully, prepared. i went through my sewing patterns for elastic waist pants patterns and then went to get material for them. my thought process being since the brace will limit my range of motion, it may be easier to wear pants that have no buttons, buckles or zippers. i'm not sure about tops though. i am a basic jeans and t-shirt girl. but i may not be able to wear t-shirts since i won't be able to lift my arm. so will a button down shirt be more accommodating? all of these things to stew over.

my sweet friend soberly pointed out that i would not be able to knit during that time. i said i had every intention of being able to knit but perhaps not the first week. where upon she promptly replied, maybe not for the first two.

i may save the really easy stuff for after the surgery, like the felted hat, so i can have something simple to knit. or i may just make the and then make another as a gift. or make myself a really cool felted bag. i would like to finish up a couple of lace pieces i have started so they can be done. and of course the socks and gloves. but after that, i may just make myself a scoochie shawl to wrap myself up in after the surgery. the possibilities are endless.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

i didn't mean to! honest!

so i zipped into the LYS on saturday, just to say hey to jen and have a look see at what yarns were on sale during "secret saturday". since i was working at the LYS the next day, i wasn't going to stew about the yarns, i was just going in for a quick, light, look around.

little did i know i would be hoodwinked as soon as i walked in the door, because there it was, waving to me from it's cubby, the louisa harding sari ribbon...on sale! OMG! the yarn that had my heart and senses since it first arrived at the LYS available to me! i tried to be cool but failed miserably due to the very excited squeal of glee coming from the vicinity where i was standing.

i did respectfully made the rounds to see what other yarns were on sale but knew they paled in comparison to the sari ribbon. i also asked jen for suggestions on what to make with it, just so i didn't feel like i was making a frivolous purchase, heaven forbid! but in the end, it really didn't matter. i purchased two hanks, but have yet to buy the louisa harding book that has the great scarf pattern using two hanks of sari ribbon (some mental/financial blocking of having a book with the one pattern you need cost gobs more than the yarn that caused that need).

so until i figure out what to do with it, i will just admire it longingly and be thankful it is in my stash box. sigh.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

one down

finished one of the fingerless gloves! finally! doesn't look bad for an experiment. will supply pics when both are done. the second one is already on the needles. now i just need time!

Monday, January 01, 2007

a new year

the holidays have gone by in a swoosh. after one serving of the christmas dinner i had spent all day preparing, i was completely full. it never ceases to amaze me that so much time and effort is spent on something that goes by so quickly.

and now it is the new year. if all goes as planned, the big guy will graduate from high school and be off to college this year. my sweet friend will make it through her first year of high school and my cute husband and i will just keep working to keep it all rolling. but who knows what surprises the new year will bring. hopefully we will be able to roll with them.

but today is just the first day. so, for this moment, may the new year bring us all peace, good health and happiness. happy new year to all.