Unfinished Symphony

Good news! After starting and restarting my Las Cruses cardigan (Laura Nelkin design), and ripping out parts 3 times because of bad calculations on MY part, I came to the point where I ran out of yarn. That's the good news? No, good news to come:

Yes... the rookie mistake. And not just ANY yarn! A dye lot created for the Taos Wool Festival 2019 in beautiful bamboo. Limited supply... and where did they go? Well, a close friend bought some for a project, yet NO ONE BUT ME, entered it into Ravelry!

So, tracking down enough yarn to knit the collar, which is a thin band down the fronts and around the neck.

The tracking begins (even before I ran out, because I could see it coming):
1) I give a shout out to my friend but she hasn't finished her project and is hesitant to commit. Friendship only goes so far!

2) An email to the dyer, and to the shop where I bought it. Dyer replies I should try the shop.

3) Shop owner of Mooncat Fibers, in Taos, replies (the GOOD NEWS) that she thinks she has almost a full skein left at home!

4) This morning, she's sending it my way. Last night I dreamed I used that leftover to "begin" the finishing. A bit of a restless night...I never got past the first three stitches of the collar, redoing it over and over...

5) I got plenty of time!

6) A drawback to Nelkin's designs... They are difficult (or maybe I should say impossible) to try on for fit, and upon finishing, I discovered the sleeves were WAY, I mean 8" WAY too long.  And had I known that, I wouldn't have had to buy more yarn.  Bamboo, drapey, and nice but difficult to judge how long it will be...I ended up shortening the sleeves, and now, it's finished.

Love my cats...again

I usually  love my cats... until I sit down to knit, put my feet up, and one or more land in my lap.  They know I'm less likely to move, and it will be comfy for them for a length of time.  And they let me know how happy they are by extending their claws into my thighs, and making me jump, and swat at them, and leaving me little reminders of their love.  

This is one of them....

And my other "skinny jeans" all tell the same tale.  The elastic that makes them skinny catches on them, and, well, I curse those cats every time it happens.

Today, I thought I must be resourceful enough to make this less of a reminder every time I wear them.

I must say, it turned out to be easy, but not before I attempted to use a tiny needle, which led to using a needle threader, (after 10 minutes I managed to do the deed).  On my second "pull" I found I needed 4 hands to hold a needle threader, needle, crochet hook and push the "pull" through.   But WAIT!

With only the tiny (size 11) crochet hook, the process was sped up, and in no time I had fixed 4 pairs of jeans of numerous pulls.  Once I had fixed a few, more and more became evident... which I gladly fixed (by pulling to the wrong side) and I decided I can live with my cats....again.

I wish I had taken photos of my deep blue jeans.  They were quite the wreck and little white pulls in the deep blue made me quite ANGRY!  

All is well!  I'm so lucky to have JUST THE RIGHT TOOL!

Not the right tools

Unflattering thigh view but you get the idea

Tea time

Just a thought... Time for a tea cozy. Languishing in a cupboard for almost 4 years, I finished this in 3 days, and decided rather than making it for a teapot, it could be used for a mug.
How many times I've made a cup of tea, set it down to steep, picked up knitting, and half hour later... not hot. Maybe this will work!

Traveling stitches

Naming techniques of knit stitches was discussed last weekend...Bavarian, twisted and traveling stitches can all mean similar things yet here's the ultimate traveler! Traveled hundreds of miles today and thousands more coming up... what a riot of colors! Certainly not a subtle craft when I pull it out of the bag.

At the Riga airport, I lost my points....SAD FACE!  And I was very grumpy, too.  Security said no knitting needles under 5 mm.  THAT'S US 8!  Huge!  Because I was traveling with knitters, of course, I had needles.  My tiny (indeed dangerous) 1.25mm and 1.5mm dpns were taken away which were actually in a project...(pulling them out took a deep breath and sigh) and the points were cut off, leaving the cable in this sock.  I didn't point out that my traveling companion (in another security line) had the same.

This was taken AFTER my friend offered her extra 1.5mm.

Some thoughts:  Maybe it wouldn't look so lethal if they had been separated.  In fact, the dpns were all nested together.  The Circular needle wasn't noticed in the first scan, but I offered them up for inspection before the second scan.  

Water Here and Everywhere

A little info about rivers in the West and Southwest:

Even though this is dated in April, the same is true today.  Raging rivers... very soothing and noisy in Dolores, CO on our visit to the Dolores River Campground.  Big attraction:  Stay in a Conestoga Wagon.  Very cool, in fact, COLD in the night!  Used fan during the day (90ºs F) and heater at night.

Our Cowgirls in Mancos...

Slippers 2.0

My son-in-law has loved his slippers for 8 years, and they have been repaired more and more frequently...  Time for a new pair of "Felted Clogs".

Weaving with blues

After a distressing set up, finally loving this pattern.

Towels and two runners.