Sigh

This is now officially the new shawl that never ends. It is beautiful, it takes concentration and skill and I am so glad to be doing it - but it would be even better when it is finished.
There have been some miscounts but I've been able to track them down and most of them occur within the first three stitches of the row so in essence, they don't really affect much but are being fixed anyway.

I've needed to have another break from the work because my mind was turning into gravy and unless Mr. Honey's mind was turning into mashed potatoes, there doesn't seem to be any need to make brain gravy. So during that second break, I managed to make these petal baby bibs (there's only one shown but there's another done and another one on the needles) and the beret was also done.

I can't tell you when this shawl will be done. I work on it daily and I count the rows and I see the count increase every time but when I put it down and look away it's like a row disappears and just comes back when I do the count. It is supposed to be 72 inches across and I've only got half way through. I started it on the 3rd and had to start it again on the 5th so it's not like I've been working on it for the last 5 days. But, come on, you all know me, five days is forever when I'm not working on an afghan. So this is slowly wearing on my psyche. Of course, it's one of those things, you know, the guy got half way to his destination and decided he couldn't make it so he turned around and came back. I think I'm halfway home so I might as well keep going. I am rethinking this as a thing I want for a bridesmaid. Could you see me having to do five of them? Maybe better suited for just the mothers.
I am pleased to say when i went downstairs to do some stash shopping that three of the boxes were practically empty. I am certain if I took the time to combine them the contents would fit nicely in just one of the boxes. So it seems I was further along than I thought I was. Perhaps when we get to the May date the stash will be almost history. At least the stash in the basement.

A girl can dream.

Twilight Zone

So, I decided I needed to take pics of the projects that are finished and will find their way into the online shop and I have that wonderful camera that has the fancy settings including the face recognition setting. I wasn't surprised when it focused in on the face because it looks like a face. However, I was a little surprised by what happened next.

I took the picture, then the screen flashed a message that caused some pause because the message said:

Blink detected.

Ponder the possibilities. It happened three times in a row. it could have been the cold weather. But I've been very nice to this head ever since. Just in case...you know...it she blinked.

Not only did I take photos of the hat, there's a neck warmer, a child's poncho and an afghan. There's a lot that can go into the shop so the fact that the shawl is taking longer and everything else is taking longer isn't driving me as crazy as it would if I didn't have them. Of course, that's not necessarily a wide margin.

I'm working on baby bibs. I have some cotton yarn and I want to use it up and baby things are something I need to work on. I also need to....purchase some DK weight yarn...to do baby booties. But before I break the resolution, I have some DK weight yarn from when I purchased a lot to dye. So, I will use that first. Hopefully by the time I get to it, it will be time to purchase yarn again. I will be going back to the shawl today. I had to take my eye away from it because it requires so much concentration.

I am also working on other things: a StitchCraft newsletter, a reworking of my website (don't quite know what I want it to be) and sticking with the resolutions. My brain is a little fried but it is part of fear facing.

My drool of the day is this scarf by badanartisan. It's funky and retrofresh. Check it out and give the girl some views to her shop!

I'm going off to the knitting needles and the shawl and baby bib. Hopefully, something will get done today!!

Crackers

When I was up in office sometime last week trying to sort through yarn - something akin to trying sort trees in Yosemite - I came across an afghan that had two completed strips and some granny squares waiting for their next step. I couldn't figure out why I abandoned the project - not that it would matter; sometimes there are no explanations that would make sense - call it knitter's (or crocheter's) prerogative. Or I can call on that explanation my mother used to give me when I asked why something happened the way it did:

"Cuz"
There you go.

In any case, I could not figure out what a throw that was 1/3 done should not be completed especially since I was looking for exactly such items to be sold in the shop and at the craft show. So, I pulled it out, went stash shopping and found there was still yarn to do with it (though I did have to go and get one skein more of a certain color) and completed the throw. I could have added one more row of seven squares and it would graduate from 'throw-dom' to 'afghan-hood' but I really didn't want to deal with it anymore. Which may be the reason it waited around so long to be completed.

The other bit of knitting goodness - I guess the throw would really be crochet goodness, wouldn't it? Anyhow, I said I would show the lacy shawl I had been working on that has been on the blocking board for the past week to ten days or something. I finally took it off the board and here it is. I am admitting to loving it. Not only is it soft as buh-ta but it's lush looking. I think this would make a great jacket - for someone else to do. It would also make a really lovely afghan or throw - which I can consider.

So with 35 days to go before the Guerin show, I don't have an afghan on the needles or hook. I do have a scarf that's in the last stages - Mr. Honey says I should do hats and scarves because they are quick for me to make and the date of the show comes at a time folks will start looking for those things for themselves and stocking stuffer gifts. (That actually made sense to me.) So, I would work on an afghan for part of the day and then start to hat/scarf thing. So, I am frogging an afghan gone bad into a scarf and hat before I start a new afghan.

An ugly afghan.

Melissa, April and Cheree convinced me I should at least give it a shot and I am thinking the pattern can be redeemed if I use just black and white instead of the dated color scheme. This is one of those times when someone will be wrong and someone will learn something.
Stay tuned.

Not What It Seems - Not Exactly

Note: I received some guest posts that I intended to run. Then I switched email systems and some emails went into the great unknown...I am in the process of pulling them all together again. So for those who sent guest posts - thank you and I will find them and post them - within a time frame that can be called soon.


I want you to know that this is not what it seems. I think we should first establish what you might think this is: this might look like it is a work in progress. I would have to say that it is indeed a work in progress. It is that. And it looks like a lovely piece of lace knitting and I would have to say it is that as well. And may I also add it took three attempts to get that sucker just right. I don't know what it was but the third time around when I cursed at it and told it I was going to rip it out and make something else it decided to cooperate.

I know I am not making my case but I want you all to know (especially the fabulous Melissa who has commented that I should no longer cheat on the NSA because she likes it) that this is not cheating on the NSA. Indeed, the Nanny Square Afghan had started to mock me.

I was making the last strip when I swore I heard it say it was almost done and then it wouldn't need me to schedule it into my life. Once complete it would be a total entity on to itself. I cannot explain the mockery especially when the last strip had not yet been attached but I felt the pain of it and started the shawl as a way to get it back in line.

Hah. Here is the completed Nanny Square Afghan and if you think it was easy trying to determine how many different yarns were used then you're nuts. It wasn't easy. I didn't have labels on everything and I am not always the best organized person when dealing with my own stuff. So I had to go square by square (the granny squares have seven rounds each - a new system must be devised.) I have determined there are 30 different yarns used. Odd thing is, the yarn stash doesn't seem that much smaller.

I don't know that I am in the mood to do another big square afghan. They are a lot of work. But I do love having done them. Bragging rights, you know. Having said that, I do have another granny square afghan in progress but the squares are smaller so they are moving at a faster pace. Good thing because there are 80 of them. Then, of course, I have the lace shawl to work on - since I used it to make the NSA jealous, it would only be the right thing to do to date it for a while.

Relationships. Geez.

Have a great weekend!

I Know You Are But What Am I?

It mocks me. The shawl that never ends. It mocks me. I took it with me Friday to the clinic when I drove Pastor Harriette to her appointment. I've worked on it yesterday and today. I measure it to see how close it's getting to the 32 - 36 inches. And it's still somewhere in the 20's.

And I swear I hear the fiber laugh every time I pull out the yard stick.

But it doesn't know me. Or it thinks it knows me all too well. I'm giving up. Everyone who saw it at the clinic thought it was a beautiful thing in progress and I will not be deterred from the finish line - I have no idea what else I would make with it.

I admit to not knitting a lot today but I am about to make up for that. I am going to whip that shawl into submission. I am about to kick some fiber tail. I will not rest this evening until it is somewhere in the 30s. But I am noticing there might not be enough stitches going across the top to stop at 32 which is why I am allowing that 4 inch range. Certainly 36 inches will provide enough width - I hope. I have a meeting at eleven tomorrow morning and I would like to get at least 4 hours of sleep.

Oh stop it - I'm going to check the gauge of the yarn, measure out what the gauge is on the needles and then count the stitches. I'm going to do what I should do so I don't bind off just to find i have a really long babushka instead of a shawl.

The shawl is going down.

What Passes For Normal

I think things are returning to the regular kind of crazy.

Mr. Honey is having a play date with some of his guy friends. I am rejoicing in this as it has taken me about 15 years to get him to go play without me. I remember asking his good friend Bruce to get him out of the house - not that I was tired of him - but because I wanted him to have his connections like he did before me. Bruce asked him to go some place or another and Mr. Honey's first response (according to Bruce) "Can I bring Bev with me?"

Sweet.

Today they are going to do some decidedly male thing that has to do with the Santa Fe speedway and cars. Bruce just purchased a 1930-something something and now he and the boys are gonna go scratch and grunt over other old cars.

I'm happy for them. In the meantime, I've done the bling shawl. I cannot tell you how soft this thing is except to say it's really soft and it's a nice size as well. When I finished it, I thought I should have put the sequins on the top edge and it would drape around the neck and down. That's certainly an option should I do this again, but I rather like it now that I see the photos. It can be pinned at different places for a wrap, shawl or poncho look. Of course it's on sale at designbcb.

I'm working on the stained glass afghan and if I work diligently it will be done today, this weekend at the latest.

Here's almost everyone of the Cotton clan from my nephew's wedding. Missing is my sister's husband (he's on assignment in Liberia.) My sister's son (he's in Maryland) and her daughter (living in Israel); my eldest sister in AZ who couldn't get the time off and her kids and my eldest brother's three kids. But here are the rest of us - eclectic, eh?
Mr. Honey is to the far right - but you knew that, didn't you?

I'm gonna need prayers and good thoughts. The back pain hasn't completely left and it seems like it's cramps from you know, that time, except that time hasn't come for a couple of months. I'm gonna have to suck it up and go to the doctor cuz this is really uncomfortable!
And on that nice note, I'm gonna go drink some water and buy some sneakers!
031904

Even When You're Not Looking

It seems folks want to read about Jared and Alexander. Those are the names of the two sons in My Father's Son. I'll be taking input for a couple more days on which book to write. I don't have a problem writing this one first. The pre-write for this one is furthest along. But don't let that influence you.

The wedding afghan was on my mind and on my needles. That's the excuse I am using for slacking in other knitting areas. I haven't placed anything new in the shop since the 12th of August. That's almost the kiss of death for an online shop. Doing the afghan must be my excuse.

Of course, the last time (before the wedding afghan)that I showed off a completed object here was..this is what I'm saying. It might have been the yarn I dyed in August. Did I show you the yarn I dyed in August? Geez. If I didn't, the last item I showed you was the golden afghan.

However, there is something about knitting that sooner or later an ardent knitter will discover. Things get made when we're not looking. This is especially true if one is one of those knitters who have more than one project going at a time. So while the wedding afghan was indeed taking up space and time, there were other projects started right after it was completed. I failed to show and talk about one and the other has been the subject of a couple of recent posts...yes...the boring and the beautiful afghan is done along with a beaded pillow I made right after the wedding afghan was done. And would you believe it? I photographed them. Yes, I made my sore back get dressed and I took them to the backyard that doubles as the studio and I took their pictures.

The back of the pillow is a blue, brown and ivory variegated stockinette. I have to thank Vickie - a member of StitchCraft.
I was prepared to start this cover over because I thought I made it too big for the pillow form and with a 90 degree turn, Vickie showed me I didn't have to do it over. (I did have to redo the back, but thank goodness I didn't have to take out the beads. Thanks, Vickie!)



Do you see the bling in the fringe? Well, just in case you can't - I'll give you a real good look at it.

I wasn't going to do the fringe at all, but thought it added to the bohemian-ness of the throw. Then I thought I was going to leave out the sequins from the fringe, but the original pattern in the book calls for it and so I tied some in. Not too much, just enough so you know it's there, but not enough to overtake it.

It can double as a wrap or shawl (I know cuz I tried it.) As it turns out, I rather like it. But you can certainly see why it would be both boring and beautiful?

It takes some repetitive work to get over 600 sequins on any one object. (You should see the shawl pattern I cooked up that's using silver grey yarn with silver sequins. It is turning out to be quite beautiful and not quite as boring!)

I love how the sequins catch the light. Little stars. That's what they are. You can have your very own constellation wrapped around you.


And because a knitter's work is never really done (for which we are quite grateful) not only is the silver shawl on the needles, but a stained glass afghan is also in the making and maybe 1/3 of the way done. So there will be something new for you and for the job in the very near future!



031204

It's So Easy

NOT!

I know, it's been more than a week. And what a week it's been. I started the new writing gig and truth to tell, it was more of a rough start than I'm used to - mainly because Handmade News is big news and I didn't map out the internal resources I needed to in order to do it all justice. So, I spent several restless, sleepless nights causing myself stress before beginning to calm myself down and put it all back into perspective.

Add to that, my online knitting group StitchCraft on meetup.com is growing! The last time I really looked, we had about 40 or so members - we are now over 70! So somewhere between stressing out over the new job and making myself crazy are plans to get that group together for a fun night. It has to be at night and it has to be planned right so I'm thinking somewhere in September when folks are done with summer and will want to pick up the needles to do the holiday knitting that will be just around the corner. This is a good problem to have but sometimes it's hard to balance the bad stress with the good stress. At some point, it's just stress.

But wait...there's more.

I think I told you our bazaar was successful. We had over $400 in sales. That's the good part. The not really bad but has to be dealt with part is that our supply of prayer shawls and afghans were seriously depleted. Baby blankets we have, but afghans and prayer shawls are practically sold out. Which means the group (of which I am a leader) has to have one or the other on their needles for the foreseeable future. And I do have one on my needles, but it's going into the shop. There's an afghan that's an expired listing that's going to the group.

There's good news...

My office is 95% organized. I can step into it and not have to step over a clutter bomb. The only boxes left are my stash boxes (now down to two!!) and the boxes of craft goodies I inherited from my mother in law. Not much left to do but vacuum the carpet, put the new speaker wires into the speakers and let Joe clean the carpet. Alas, it looks like an office instead of a craft room - but I smile every time I walk into it. Yes, when it's all done, I'll take a photo.

I will also take a photo of the beautiful afghan on my needles. It should be done sometime this weekend - I'm hoping for tomorrow. I would take a pic now, but it's 2 in the morning and the light isn't good. Besides, if I finish it tomorrow, I can take the shop photos and blog photo during the same session.

Forgive me for being away so long - I have missed you - but sometimes you have to ride the breakdown so you know when to get off.

Don't Save It All for Christmas Day

By all means, please drop snow at the end of March. It's in like a lion and out like a lamb. It tell you, this is one angry piece of mutton.

I have today off as far as work goes so no working on newsletters or trying to find an agent to represent my book, and no writing on the other book, no taking or retaking photos. None of that today.

And no walk, either. So I will have to content myself with an indoor workout and then have a relatively easy day. I do have on my list to clean the living room today and you all know how much of an adventure that's going to be. It could really count as my workout.

I am working on another shawl of beautifully variegated browns and golds. Almost done with it and of course I will show it to you. I may actually be in a shawl phase where I will make several of them. After all, prom is coming soon and the young ladies will need something light yet fashionable to place across their shoulders. This might be the time to whip some up for them to purchase.

It's the least I can do for the next generation.

On The Coast of Some Place Beautiful

There is just no denying we love our craft. We all have family members who shake their heads because just about every time they see us, we have needles in our hands. And on those rare occasions when we don't have needles, we have catalogs in our hands that have needles in them. We love our craft.

But, boy, we can get sick of a project.

Every project starts out with hope and gleeful anticipation. We see something in a picture, we grab those sticks and that string and we are going to make that picture come to full dimension reality. We start and race toward that finish line.

And sometimes it just gets boring.

We love it when we get to master a new pattern and it comes out looking just as it ought - and sometimes even better - we love it.

Except when we do it over and over

and over.

But we keep going because we know it's the destination and not just the journey. Because we know that if it's just boredom we should keep going because it's a phase we knitters get to when we're about done. It's an interesting phenomenon that happens. We just want it over.

But the only way it's truly over is when it gets done.
And when it's done we end up:


On the coast of some place beautiful.
Worth the trip.

Funkalicious Wrap

While you were all dancing in the new year, the stroke of midnight found me casting on for this drop stitch wrap.
I am officially in love with my steamer. The yarn was soft to begin with and I made it to the size specified, but I wanted to give it more width and so I pinned it to the press board and my steamer went to town on it. Not only did I get the size I wanted, but the thing makes the yarn so much softer and it smells so nice! I even believe it makes the colors pop ever so much.
It is six feet long and about 3 feet wide so it has plenty of wrapablilty. (Spellchecker will have a field day with that one!)
There is a story that goes with this wrap called 'How A Stash Gets Borned.' I shall save that story for another day - like tomorrow. But for now, I am enjoying this latest little creation. I snuggled with it for a little bit and it is now safely enshrined in it's bag ready for someone to claim it - for a price.

Two Down and More to Go

These pics don't do the projects justice. There are three colors in the afghan: orange, red and fire red and the shawl is a lilac color. I am considering retaking the pics with the items outside. I may do that sometime in the morning.
One of the things that happens when you have a bunch of wips on the needle and you alternate working them day by day - they tend to be completed in little sets or groups. These were done within a day of each other. I don't remember how the rest will shake out, but my guess is they will all be done within a week of each other. It's just how to goes. Yep, I will retake the pics. This is what I get from 3 in the morning.


I have no idea which one I will be working on next. I do know I got within a few cast off stitches before deciding there was a blanket I didn't like so it will be frogged and redone. Maybe I will start on that.

Well, it's late...and early. I need to get some sleep before getting up and doing some work. I'll get the new and improved pics up asap.

By the way - this is my 100th post!! I am going to use it to announce a yarn giveaway. I have to finish up the details and then I will do a formal announcement, but it's a chance to give away some yarn. (In case you don't have a problem receiving inexpensive yarn!)

Jean's Shawl-UMW Bazaar

Information for the Sit & Knit is here.
Jean is a member of StitchCraft through meetup.com.
She came to the sale today with a table and a bunch of these crocheted shawls to sell. She did sell one (not this one, this one she gave to me!)

They are crocheted pieces of beauty. I cannot crochet like this. I haven't ever crocheted like this. Knitting I can do, crocheting I can manage...but this kind of work is a gift. Jean is a gift and I am so glad to have met her.

If you would like to come to StitchCraft meetings, we meet every second Friday of the month from noon to three at First United Methodist Church of Oak Park. We would love to have you whether you knit, crochet, draw or do any other craft.

A Shawl from Vogue

Information and registration for the Sit & Knit can be found here.

Knitting on the Go is a great little book from Vogue for making shawls - that's all it has (it even has a crocheted shawl)

This shawl, (sun splattered in the photo) is one of the shawls in the book. It's made with size 8 needles, worsted weight yarn (Caron by the Pound, of course) and it took a few days to make.

It will get softer and somewhat bigger when i block it and it will probably be donated to a church member who is house bound or in the hospital. This is a very easy pattern for beginners because it's stockinette stitch with two yarn overs on the right side row. Not a decrease in sight.

The Prayer Shawl

This is the standard prayer shawl we use to in the Prayer Shawls 4 Fallen Soldiers project and those we sell at our United Methodist Women Bazaar. They are soft, easy to make and care for and they are very popular.

My sister was reading the blog and wanted to see a photo of the prayer shawl because I talked about it in an earlier post. But here's the thing: I've never made one. We have a knit goddess who makes the bulk of our shawls and she lives in California. She sends them to us a dozen or more a pop so we haven't had much need to make them in Chicago. However, after I finished my last project the next project up was from The Prayer Shawl Ministry (eerie how that works) and so I got out 3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun yarn, my size 13 circular needles and started making my first prayer shawl. And here is it.
It didn't take all three skeins, more like 2.5 but an easier pattern you will not find.

If you are interested in making prayer shawls for soldiers' families, please follow the link to get more information. We need as much assistance as we can get. There are over 3000 names and we have only gone over the 300 mark. We have a long way to go and many more shawls to send.

Drop Stitch wrap - Blocked

Here's the Drop Stitch Wrap I wrote about on 12/30. This same wrap is twice as long as it was when I knit it. It's hanging in the bathroom because I did a wet block.

Blocking is shaping a garment. Sometimes it's essential; sometimes it's optional. I wanted to block this wrap because it's a stockinette rectangle which means it has that roll around the edges that happens with stockinette. (The person who creates the yarn that won't have that roll is going to be wealthier than Oprah - well, maybe not that rich.)

I put the wrap in the sink with tepid water and a drop of soap, agitated it around, rinsed it, blotted out the excess water and then hung it. the weight of the wet wrap will keep the length even as it dries - which should be sometime before midnight.

I block some pieces this way, even though the conventional school would say to dampen as oppose to soak. But I like this method especially when using 100% acrylic yarn because it can take it and because it's almost like a mini wash of the item. If it doesn't look like I want it after it dries, I'll pull out the ironing board and work a little steam magic.

For a quickie run down of blocking, check out what About.com has to say.

Drop Stitch Wrap

Fresh off the needles is the drop stitch wrap. It hasn't even been blocked. Which can be the next post - showing the difference between something that hasn't been blocked and the same thing after it has been.

Anyway, this wrap is five feet long before blocking and was made on size 10.5 needles with Bernat Chunky yarn which is discontinued and I happened to get a boat load of it at Joann's for about $3.00 a skein. It is one of those skeins with about 600+ yards so it was quite a deal. I got two in turquoise and two in black. This wrap took about half the skein.

Cast on 48 stitches
Stockinette stitch keeping the first and last four stitches in garter stitch.

Work until the wrap is as long as you like it and then bind off in the following manner.

I used a tighter bind off because of the drop stitches. You can bind off the regular way or use the tight bind off which is done by k1, knit the next stitch but keep the new stitch on the right needle and the old stitch on the left and pass the last stitch over then drop off both stitches.

Bind off 8 stitches, drop the next stitch and make a ladder all the way down. Repeat.
Add fringe if you like. I added fringe to the ends of the ladders.

I will use a wet block and it should stretch another couple of inches and have a cleaner, more matte look. I think I just might have to do a post on blocking. I wasn't a fan of blocking until recently and now I think it will have to become a regular thing.

This wrap will be tagged and priced for the next craft sale we have in May. It is a very easy knit. I think I did it in no more than two days.