Pat's Hug and the rest that are on my needles

Well I finished a few things lately, put one aside and am nearly finished with another.

Finished:

Feather and Fan Scarf



Pat's Hug

My Socks

Set aside for a day or two...

John's Socks

Finishing (this pic is old I'm about 2/3rds done)

Gram's Shrug

The thing about finishing things that pleases me is that it is the opportunity to start something new. I've got John's socks to finish first, but they have a pattern so I need something non-counting or easy to count that will travel and I have a beaded lace scarf to start, but first the pink shrug!

Work in Progress a/k/a Whatever catches my eye

Okay, so over the weekend I worked on Pat's Hug and John's Earl Grey Socks, but Monday I got a bit sidetracked by Nirvana. No, not the metal group, but the yarn from ArtFibers in San Francisco. I love their shop and spent a happy hour there while John was teaching at Golden Gate University . They carry their own yarn and Kira manages the store with great customer service and I never feel as if I'm intruding. Hard to imagine you could feel like you are intruding when you go to a yarn shop, but there you have it.

I am going to finish Pat's Hug and post completed pictures before the weekend (note to self-actually do this!) and try to get Grandma's Shrug done before the 17th. I'd like to mail it to Michigan before she heads to Texas, so my mom and dad can see it.

What I'm working on

There is this:



Starting the second sock for John.

And this:



For grandma to wear to church to keep the chill off.

And finally this:



She needs one.

Yarn Shops

I love to shop for yarn and l love touching it before I buy it. So I've held off purchasing much yarn off the internet; only 3 skeins to date. When the local shops grouped together and did a Pennisula to Pier LYS Shop Hop a friend and I joined it. We went to 5 of the 19 shops participating and were very excited by the selection offered and the customer service provided.

I'm not sure what the object of the shop was specifically, but for Julie and I it was about seeing other shops, not just the ones in our town. I was amazed by the selection and the customer service. The local shops in our town just couldn't measure up. I was disappointed, but not too surprised, since there is nothing in our shops to draw me in, not selection, and especially not customer service.

Here is what I purchased (trust me it all feels good!)

BellaOnline Knitting

I am the editor of a knitting site. Now I don't presume to know everything about knitting, but with my nearly 18 years of knitting, and my newly minted MLIS I can generally figure out how to answer people's questions or concerns. The site is www.bellaonline.com/site/knitting and is one of the largest sites for women, but it is all run by volunteers.

What it is doing for me is helping me develop a writing habit, I try to schedule time to write at least two days a week and do research for a topic. It is mostly a habit and a discipline. I'm enjoying it and have had some good luck answering people's questions in the forum. http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=73&page=1

I like the give and take of the forum, but this one isn't very active, I have to build up my following.

There are a lot of great knitting help sites, and there is the whole Ravelry community. I'm just glad knitting is undergoing a resurgence, or renaissance. Time to sign off and actually knit.

Today we went to the fair

The Santa Cruz County Fair ranks among one of my favorite fall things to do. It is locally run and organized and this year in the Crochetti Building the local knitting guild had a demonstration table. Some kids joined us to learn to knit, some adults took flyers and hope to come to our meetings, and some adults told us their knitting stories. The stories were about when they learned to knit, what they are knitting now, who taught them to knit, or how they hoped to knit more in the future.

There were weavers there, spinners, and displays of garments, quilts, decorative items to be wondered at and enjoyed. The fair is just fun, simple as that. Have you ever seen vegetable sculpture? See, where else do you get to see veggie whales, or eggplant motor boats...the fair! There were the tackle box collections, the maj jongg collections, lego sculptures and yes a porcupine pumpkin.

I haven't even gotten to the flowers. The flowers were beautiful, dahlias that were stunning, roses that were fragrant, orchids so beautiful and elegant. Speaking of elegant the Fair Queen was in gown and tiara, smiling and letting little girls and boys take their picture with her, "the Princess". There is nothing that brings joy to my heart than the site of a teenager being nice to a small child and the small child looking like the teenager had bestowed much more than a smile and hug. To those who say there is no decency and kindness left, I say there is, there really, really is.

Finally, I had one of those moments, you know the moments of pure grace. I was sitting in the horse arena stands, having a smackerel of fair food (don't ask) it was sunny and 70. I was watching the young girls working with their horses, no judges watching, and a feeling of total contentment filled me, all was good in my world at that moment. A moment of grace.

Vacations and knitting

Well, one would think that vacations are for knitting, and although I found a lovely shop in Caro, Michigan called Back Alley Fibers and bought some yarn.  I did not knit as much as I expected to.  I started a baby blanket, I worked on a scarf and sock, but really probably only did about 10 inches worth of knitting in 3 weeks.

Now, 10 inches of knitting may seem like a lot, but I really didn't do much. I didn't swim much, read much, walk much, visit much or knit much.  The joy of a blog though is that in reading what I wrote I realize that my vacation was very balanced, something I love.  So instead of saying I didn't ___ much, I will instead say, "I knit a little, walked a little, read a little, visited a little.....

Trying to finish the Earl Grey Sock

I shall probably finish the one sock, but it is extremely unlikely I'll be able to finish a second one before the end of the Tour.  I still have hope that I will finish the other before the end of summer though.

The tour has turned out to be a great excuse to just sit and knit.  Watching the riders has made me want to tune up my old bike, so I think I shall and it will be waiting when I return from vacation.  I shall ride in the mornings before traffic is bad and get a relaxing ride...hope springs eternal, hey it could happen, I finished the vest after 12 years!

There is rejoicing in the land

Done, but for the blocking :)

In the home stretch

Well, I am down to the last sleeve facing and then on to blocking. I have a friend with a wooly board, but I'm going to try to block it on a board.  We shall see. As for the KAL, after this vest is on the blocking board, I will try to sprint to the finish with completing the Earl Grey socks.  I have one at the heel and the other still not started, but that is what the KAL is about, challenging myself.  Thank goodness it is Saturday and I've allotted today to knitting.

Knitting Along

I have no pictures but a note to say I've finished the outside of the armhole bands and can start working on the "facing" to encase all of the ends that are there from the steek.  May I say, or even gush, that this KAL has been a lovely way to finish a project that I loved once and have come to love again.  I am so confident that I am close (tempting the knitting gods I know) to finishing that I'm borrowing a wooly board to block this vest this weekend.  Once it is on the board, it will be time to finish one and start and finish my other project, the Earl Grey sock for my DH, who recently got a DBA and the socks were for his graduation, better late than never.

I may get sidetracked by an unforeseen (whoops, I guess since it is only Wednesday and the trip isn't until this weekend it might not be unforeseen since I now foresee it) trip out of town to help out with my father-in-law, but the thing about blocking is once it is on the board I don't really have to stand there and watch it dry as exciting as that may be.  If we do go up to visit my father-in-law we will bring bikes since he lives in an area with great bike paths (the temp is in the 100's, but maybe in the early morning...)

Intermediate Sprint

Well here is the beginning of my Intermediate sprint project, I'm working on it when the vest just becomes too much.  It is a small project, and started out to be wrist warmers, but will probably end up being fingerless gloves.  I will use fingerless gloves, but probably not wrist warmers.

Has anyone else noticed that while TDFing they are not actually getting any exercise, that said I'm off the couch now and moving toward my bike!

Front Band Done

I never thought I'd get done, it was more than a billion-trillion kitchener stitches, but I finished it. 



The one thing about encasing an edge on a Fair Isle vest or sweater, is that there a billion-trillion ends that don't have to be woven in, and you get really really really good at kitchener stitch.

For the TDFKAL, I feel like I am more than a third done with finishing the vest. What makes it a challenge for the Polka Dot Jersey is that I added on finishing a pair of socks, I'm a little behind, but still hopeful. One thing about finishing projects is the feeling of that hey, look at what I can do. Not a bad feeling at all.