What you don't hear in this picture is the "thwacking" of the tails against the boxes and the walls and the low rumbling "erroouuwww" because Satchel is laying in Smokey's usual spot, but Satchel was there first so Smokey had to climb over him and try to knock him off the cushion, but he wasn't going to budge even though he doesn't like to lay up there and... High Drama! Always with the drama these two!
I've been knitting squares for a Ravelry group that's making blankets for the families of the victims of the horrible shooting at Northern Illinois University on Valentines Day. The group is called "Healing Blankets for NIU Families". If you have any spare black, red or white washable yarn you're welcome to join in.
So, I'm knitting away on the Everlasting Bagstopper and I finish the body and get to the top border. At this point I'm supposed to switch back to the size 5 needles and garter for 10 rows. Ok. No biggie. Then I happen to reread the pattern and realized I was supposed to knit the body of the bag (YO, K2TOG, rinse, repeat) on size 10.5 needles not size 15. No wonder the knitting was so loose!! Riiiiipp. The Pollyanna spin on this situation is that I enjoy knitting and therefore ripping back 10" and trying to pick up 166 little loose live stitches and reknitting the whole bloody thing is just more opportunity for me to knit....which I enjoy...really...
Although it could be a tad warmer, there's not a cloud in a gorgeous sky.
If you look real close at the center of the picture, there's a jet streaming eastward, bound, no doubt, for Florida or the South Carolina coast. (Realistically, it's headed for Detroit or Pittsburgh)
And below is my lastest WIP. It looks like I'm knitting a fishing net, but it's actually an Everlasting Bagstopper. It's a strange knit - very loose and stringy. And I'm terrified that I'm going to drop a stitch or have some other reason to rip back. Can you imagine trying to pick up a dropped stitch in this pile of string?
Yarn - Hempathy by Elsebeth Lavold
I've had the yarn for eons and finally got around to casting on for my Einstein Coat. The pattern calls for the crochet cast-on which was tricky for me to say the least. Once I got in the rhythm it went pretty smoothly, but I don't think I would have liked to cast on more than the 40-some stitches for my coat.
The color of Wool-Ease I'm using is called "Nantucket" and it's bluer than the picture shows. I'm going to knit the male version of the coat because I want the shorter, more butt-length style than the women's length which is mid-thigh. So, say a prayer for me as I embark on a journey of miles and miles of garter stitch!
Last week I went to My Sister's Knits and treated myself.
First I got to pet her 2 big golden retriever puppehs, Cody and Goldie, for no charge! And then I bought 2 hanks of Malabrigo in Snow Bird and 3 balls of Hempathy in a celery green color. I was inspired to get the Malabrigo by the Forest Canopy shawl pattern I saw on Ravelry. And the Hempathy will become an Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com. Speaking of enviro-friendly; Carol at MSK has very cute reusable shopping bags for sale. They cost only $5.00 and every time you use them in the store you get 10% off your purchase.
For a long time now, I've shared my Wednesday evenings with a fantastic group of women just laughing, knitting, laughing, eating and laughing at Panera Bread. One of those extraordinary women is Jennifer who has been fighting breast cancer for a year now and will be walking in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk May 31st-June 1st. Another of the Wednesday knitting gang, Lynette, is setting up some fun fibery prizes you can win if you donate to Jennifer's walk. Just click the icon below and forward your confirmation email to me or Lynette and you'll be entered for a prize! Thanks in advance, you guys are the best!!
Hi All! I'm taking a break from Ravelry to pose a query...have you ever used Rowan Denim? It's a nice enough yarn except that it splits like crazy and after knitting with it my fingers turn blue. It's supposed to fade and shrink like blue jeans, but I wonder how much it will bleed after the first washing. I'm using it on one of my 'secret squirrel' projects and it would be awful, yes quite awful, if months down the road the finished piece bled blue all over the recipient. Let me know if you've ever encountered this.
On an unrelated note...you know how, every so often, you hear about people seeing visions in strange places? A man sees the face of Jesus in a water stain on the wall or a woman sees the Virgin Mary in a slice of toast? Well take a look at the mysterious stain that appeared on my garage floor. I don't think the Vatican will be interested in THIS!
I have a confession to make. I know this may jeopardize my Knitters Union Card, but I feel the need to come clean. I don't like to knit socks. (universal gasp!) Yes, it's true. I've tried, honest I have! Maybe it's the thin yarn or the little needles or maybe it's because I can knit and knit and knit for hours and still not knit enough to cover my ginormous feet. And I know I'm a slow knitter. I can't just whip out a pair of socks in a weekend like some Speed Queens I know; not mentioning any names.* Below is my most recent attempt at a sock. I started this about 4-6 months ago and I'm about 4 full rows into the foot. Not very impressive.
Maybe I should start a Ravelry group for Non-Sock Knitters...
