I love to knit...

You all know that I love to knit.  I'm more comfortable doing something creative with my fingers than sitting, waiting, or sleeping...:-)
Seriously, it's a sickness:  Waiting to play something on piano or organ is torture.  If I can be at the keyboard playing, I'm much more calm than pacing, or thinking.  Knitting has the same soothing effect, calming, and I pride myself that patterns are my forte.  Charts, patterns, k2tog, yo, no problem.

Tonight I realized that I'm not going to be able to memorize the lace pattern I'm doing for a baby (one year size) Jasmine Lace Edge Cardigan.  The "lace edge" is a 12 row repeat of 13-16 stitches. It's beautiful BUT I have to follow the instructions for each of the 12 rows, every time.  This is a first for me.  I expected that after the first three or four times I'd be able to eyeball it and make it work.  Surprisingly, I have no idea where I should "yo" to make the pattern... I've done the repeat 17 times, which will fit the bottom edge of the cardi itself, and next is more of the same for the edging of each sleeve.  Not only do I not have a clue what comes next in the pattern but the number of times I've miscounted is embarrassing.  THAT I do know: It's wrong, and I have to tink, and often frog rows.  "yo"s are the worst when you have to frog, eh?
I noticed in Ravelry that when you look up a pattern, the pattern has been linked to blogs!  I wonder how that happens?  Do I have to link it to Ravelry?  We'll see.
Don't forget to give up an hour of sleep!

Famous People

I can't help it!  I do everything to avoid watching the Oscar's then something falls in my lap like a great parody.  Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is another one of my obsessions and they were there, and commenting so quickly!  See the Stars here!
Please take the Daily News Quiz today or any day!
Knitting News:

I learned something new!!  Liidia's Braid cast-on.  WOW! A real braid!  Thanks to Nancy Bush!

Never Finished

How can anyone be "finished" with knitting?  I have so much yarn stashed, and so many ideas, I hope I'll never be finished in my lifetime.  And if I should happen to use up all of my yarn, there's always the closet full of fabric leftover from my quilting days, and if that happens to disappear, I suppose I could set up the loom and...  That's what closets are for!
I vowed I wouldn't buy yarn for a long while... I should have set a date, or at least parameters for my "yarn diet", but alas, I didn't, and an outing to the local yarn shop brought with it the usual temptations.  I had a list which was one project that I wanted to make and I knew it wouldn't work with my stash yarn. And (here I'll blame it on the others I rode with) if the others hadn't been dawdling I would have marched out of there feeling pretty good.


But the longer I spent there, the more I thought about the Cookie A sock book, and how my current stash just doesn't make it with all of its fancy striping and variegated colors. (btw: there are 9 pages of errata for that book) So I found the perfect Shibui Sock yarn for one of her projects in subtle periwinkle.

Meanwhile, I finished my little liza jane dress... Can I wait until June for a birthday? No... What if it fits NOW?

Made in Bee Sweet Bamboo, somebody is going to be so cute!

And look at the yummy buttons I found for it!  Can you see that they are sheep?

One more purchase, which didn't add to my stash was the Interweave Magazine Knitting Traditions, Spring 2010.  Gorgeous inspirations and stories.

And here's some entertainment from NPR: Buttkiss

Welcome to the teens! 2010

Yes, I am now 70% accurate when I write the year.  The other 30% I still write a zero and put a one in front of it.  Do you?
The most important welcome is the change in scenery here at this blog.  You missed it if you are tuning in for the first time.  My old layout was a quick excuse to put something up there, but now I have a real theme and variations going on!  Red IS my favorite color; I don't like to admit it, but when I look at my closet and surroundings, I've chosen a lot of red in my life.

Last night was another meeting of the Knit One, Drink Too knit club. You can find us on Ravelry. We socialize and patronize go gah-gah over everyone's work, and nibble and sip. The main topic last night was the size of Girl Scout cookies. Do you have a comment?
The projects last night are in mid to final stages:  Denise is working on a baby blanket that is done is small portable pieces, Bonnie is going like a house a-fire on a baby cardigan, in gorgeous colors, hostess Eileen kept warm (Turn off that fan!) under her shawl (or is that an afghan?), Jenny is excitedly determined to finish her entrelac shawl, having finished the entrelac part and now engaged in the edging which is 9 feet long, Kay is working on her new drop-dead gorgeous cardigan however knitted socks last night so she wouldn't have to go home and rip back on the cardigan (knit night is not conducive to chart reading or concentration), and I am nearing the top of a baby dress in a one year size.

Knit night is more than a knitting support group. There's a lot of mojo and bashing and life support going on.  We have a great time and enjoy each other's company. Waaah! I love you guys!!  It's at my place in 2 weeks. Everyone is welcome:  Bring needles and yarn!

Knitters Unite!

Just want to bring to your attention that Stephanie caught a knitter at the Olympics, on TV.  DO have a look at her finish line gold, and picture!  Too cool for me!

A fly on the wall

Have you ever...?  


I knit for myself, my daughter, and my granddaughter.  Knitting has to be appreciated:  Take heed, all you non-knitters!  I know, I appreciate my work, and since my daughter also knits, she does too.  Grandbaby Juju has no choice in wardrobe, yet.  When I knit for others, I'm filled with low-esteem, as difficult as it is to be "filled low", you know what I mean. Will they like it, toss it, think the color is crazy, dull, will it fit, will they know how to take care of it, will I see at the charity shop? I'm so filled that yesterday I took two items to two friends who work together, and not being able to bear the moment of truth (or the look on their faces when they open the package), I left it, mumbling something about that there were two items and it would be OBVIOUS who they were for.  Do you see my second or third mistake?

A few hours later when we could get together again, it became OBVIOUS that it wasn't obvious! Now, with a 50/50 chance of being correct, and the obvious choice factor, it seems like a no-brainer (to the creator of this scenario) that they should be able to see what I see.  Alas, upon return, they had it wrong... but here's the kicker:  I would have liked to see them BOTH trying on the newborn infant bonnet!
Ha! (Picture above is the bonnet, half finished, compared to the skein. The top of the bonnet is in the middle of the picture, and the needles are working down to the neck opening.)
You say, well, where was the newborn infant in all of this?  I guess that was the problem, because the infant is in Colorado, and is the newborn granddaughter of one them!  See!  I can't be the ONLY one who thinks this way.  The other item was a lacy vest in dark green that would only fit one of them!  I laughed, and laughed harder when I heard about the try-ons... I can't believe that they didn't tear that little bonnet apart! Really, it was 0-3 months size, albeit with ribbing!

 That settled, I'm ready to alert them to the perils of garment care! Quick!!!

Relief!

It's over and on to a new challenge! Do you feel a let-down after the Olympics?  I feel... relief!  I'm no longer challenged to sit and root for anyone.  My favorites were the Norwegians, followed by the Canadians, and generally other under-dogs.  I don't appreciate the American hype for "our young athletes" who are so heavily sponsored.  And I should just let it go, except it will appear again in 2 years.  


I happened to catch one of the Colbert Report Vancourerage's where Stephen asked Bob Costas about who he roots for.  Obviously Bob doesn't care who wins as long as he has a job and a story, and in that order.  I don't blame him.  I'm ashamed that I watched so many hours.


So the world still turns, and earthquakes are still happening, and I finished my Olympic socks 2 days early.  To be followed quickly by the completion of a shawl that has been sitting in a basket for years!  And I wore it today!  Lovely, cotton, shawlette pattern that fits beautifully.

The socks are crazy: Maybe if I was more careful about fiber and color, they wouldn't be so "crazy" looking.  I love them, as I do most of my knitted projects. My feet are especially happy to have pure Norwegian wool wrapped around them...