Yarn Rambles

Hospitals and knitting

I was talking to a friend about my surgery and got to thinking about how knitting is such a constant part of my life. She wanted to know if I had brought knitting along with me to the doctor's appointment and the subsequent trip to the hospital. I chuckled and commented how the doctors could have saved themselves a lot of trouble running tests because I WAS NOT KNITTING. Anytime a knitter isn't knitting, given such an opportunity of sitting around, you can safely assume something is really wrong. I think Bob has learned that lesson because he was clearly happy to see me knitting more and more this last week as I began to feel better. More telling than taking my temperature.

On the other hand, knitting has served me well in cases of being the non-patient. A few years ago, Bob went through a time of surgery and recovery. First, open heart surgery and then a complicated gall bladder removal. Tense hours passed with the soothing, familiar rythmn of clicking needles. Elizabeth Zimmerman's quote "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises." is so frightening simple, inspirational and true.

Sometimes I forget how much of my life is knit into my projects. The everyday peace and the occasional crises. It feels good to be back to "everyday" knitting. Tonight I will be casting on the fourth of the seven kimono jackets. I've pretty much decided to i-cord around the edge leaving an opening for a button. I'll go down a couple of needle sizes from what I used on the body for a nice tight corded edge. I'll take photos tomorrow.

Took a detour on the way to Bend

Rather than heading off to Bend this last weekend, I ended up having an appendectomy Friday night. Surprise!! All is well and I am back in the office.

I will be following a rather quiet routine for the next few days. Translation - plenty of knitting. For today, I will be catching up on a few things around here. I may stay home tomorrow and make it a nice three-day weekend.

Kimono Progress

I am nearly finished with the second kimono and I'm finding it inspiring. The two kimonos next to each other with another color yarn sitting next to them is absolutely compelling. The whole "can't eat just one" syndrome. I've worked out a nice method with the second kimono. Instead of knitting each side front seperately, I am confident having two balls of yarn going at the same time so I can knit both front sides. That way I don't need to worry about matching the fronts because they are done together.

The only issue I am having is in regards to the closing ties. The Mason Dixon knitters use a ribbon but that doesn't seem right for a little boy. I knit up an I-cord but I think it is too big.   We just picked up a very interesting book on braids, twists, etc. called 200 Braids to Twist, Knot, Loop, or Weave by Jacqui Carey. I'm thinking of a 4-strand braid, the one on the far left, for a tie.

   

Please note that in the i-cord photo, I haven't seamed up the kimono yet. I'm not that comfortable with seaming so I've been stalling. Thanks to this blog, I finally sucked it up and got it done for the little group shot at the beginning of this entry.

We are still planning on a weekend in Bend. I'll take along all my kimono yarns just in case we get stranded there in a late spring snowstorm.

Photo Shoot Finished

On one hand, it is a lot of fun to work at a catalog photo shoot. On the other, it does require a high level of intensity and attention that is quite exhausting. I was very happy to be back in my office on Friday to sit quietly at my desk. Also, we had had to shoot in between rain showers (spring in the Pacific Northwest) and it was cold both days. I indulged in hot bubble baths each evening. That and falling into a coma style sleep by 9:00.

The baby kimono jackets are coming along nicely. The first one needs the ends woven in and then a wash. I'm working down the front of the second. We are going to be spending next weekend in Bend, Oregon with Matt and Jessica. Bob and Matt will be off skiing while Jessica and I stay nice and warm in the house. Plenty of knitting time including the three hour drive in each direction.

I received a wonderful gift from a knitting friend. A long, machine knit tube of sock knitting yarn in cream. It was a little challenge for me to guess what it was but I did some looking around on the internet and found the answer. A dyeing blank!! What a fantastic idea!! The idea is to dye the knit piece in large swatches of color. Then frog out the blank and knit the socks knowing the colors will follow the same pattern the way you dyed it.

I am so excited to play with my dye blank. A bit intimidated, truth be told, but excited. After I play with the sock, I want to try out coloring a blank to use as the highlight color in a Fair Isle style project. No need to change out colors of yarn. Just keep on knitting with a solid colored yarn and the dyed yarn changing colors in a planned method. I have trouble staying at work when my mind gets racing along these lines.

Craft Night

It's been several weeks since a group of us have been able to get back to our Tuesday night craft night here at the office. I took advantage of the time to make good progress on the baby kimono.

 

The quilters are working on a Row Robin quilt. Quite fascinating. Each quilter designs a row of their choice. They then collect fabric they want used for the rest of the quilt. The quilts travel from one quilter to the next with each quilter adding another row with their own design. No one gets to see their quilt until it comes back finished several months later with ten rows done by nine other quilters.

 

Addicted to vests

What have I been thinking all these years not knitting a large collection of vests? The Ambrosia vest dried nicely this weekend and I'm wearing it today. It feels so good to be warm but not all fussied up in a sweater. The weather may not be screaming Spring but my mind has certainly made the leap. I love being able to have my arms sans knitwear. I am definitely going to be making more vests. Simple ones like this one that don't take too long to knit and can go with just about every outfit.

I particularly like how the short rows in the back make the vest longer.

We woke up to very unexpected weather. As of Friday morning the forecast was for sunny and 70 degrees on Saturday. About 2:00 am I woke up to the sound of running water. I have such faith in the weather person, I was convinced we had burst some sort of leak in our bathroom. I was halfway to the bathroom before I finally registered the sound as water coming down the gutter spout as well as sheets of rain hitting the deck outside our bedroom. What happened!!!

The rain stayed until late in the afternoon. I was so primed to be out playing golf I couldn't stand the idea of sitting around at home. We went out to breakfast and then got home in time to watch the Masters. I did work on the first Baby Kimono. It is such a fun project. I'm particularly happy with how Shine is handling the pattern. It is so soft and drapey and has the sheen that makes the kimono look dressy.

Thankfully, the sun peeked through on Sunday for a couple of hours. We played a few holes of golf and then headed home just ahead of the rain.

The vest is finished!!

Just a little teaser. It's drying so I don't have a photo but I will certainly wear it to work on Monday.

Last night I cast on for the first Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. I've been in love with this book since the moment it arrived in our office. I have made the Moderne Baby Blanket for my great-nephew. Kay and Ann recommend knitting seven kimonos because they are quick to knit. That way, the new baby will have a kimono for each day of the week. As soon as we had the news about a grandbaby on the way, I ordered Shine Worsted in seven gender-neutral colors. I couldn't wait to feel like I was getting something started. The colors are Bachelor Button (now even more appropriate given the fact its going to be a boy), Watermelon, Green Apple, Terra Cotta, Wave, Sunflower and Reef.

  I've only knit about 4 inches in garter stitch. Christy, our Catalog Manager had commented that the instructions are for a newborn. I'm adding stitches and inches to make it a bit larger. That way Jessica and Matt will get a few more weeks of use out of the set.

By the way, Christy had a baby girl - Hendrix Anne. As I told you earlier, Christy had marked both boy and girl projects for me to review after the baby was born. We had both loved a Fair Isle sweater set from Knits for Babies and Toddlers by Fiona McTague. That is what I have decided to knit. We have all the colors in Palette except for a heathery purple which will be arriving with our new yarn samples in a couple of weeks. I am going to change the pattern a bit so I can knit it in the round but I will stick with the colorwork designs. It won't be machine washable but I think that will be alright with Christy.

Now, that's what I call progress!

Since I decided to secure the steeks with crocheted edges using the lace yarn, I decided to crochet two rows of stitches on each side for extra protection. That took a little longer than usual. But, I am thrilled with the results.

Before                                                                                             After

Before & After

I tried an I-cord edging but was not at all happy with the look. I've fallen back on ribbing which looks much better.

I would love to get this vest finished tonight. Then I'll have to see if I have the discipline to wash and block it before I wear it out in public. I suppose my ego will get the best of me and require proper blocking before the debut. I'm sure we will have plenty of chilly spring weather the next few weeks for me to enjoy my new vest.

The distraction of Spring

I always have mixed feelings as spring arrives. I do love having the cold, rainy weather disappear but that means less fiber time. At least it seems like that to me. This weekend was a perfect example. I made good progress on my Ambrosia vest in the morning but then Bob left to practice golf and I couldn't resist the pull of spring cleaning fever. There were some kitchen drawers that had been getting on my nerves for weeks. I can tell you they are looking much better. The last couple of years I have been discipling myself to clean in "small" bits. In the past, for example, I would have tackled the entire kitchen including the refrigerator and the freezer! Pulling everything out of cupboards and shelves making huge piles all over the counter and floors. Then, once everything is out, discovering that the energy I had to get started is not enough to finish with the mess I have managaed to make for myself.

After cleaning out four kitchen drawers, I ended up wandering around the house taking care of a few piles of things that had accumulated in the corners. Piles of books long since read but just left on the floor. Knitting projects in progress but not really at the top of my interest. New knitting books that I moved over to the sofa to read later. After that, a long nap was in order.

Sunday, the sun was out so we headed off to play golf. I had forgotten how golf can take over your entire day. We left early for breakfast and then played 9-holes. I'm glad I kept us at only nine holes because I'm popping Advil this morning. Bob never seems to play as well as he wants so he has to "search for his swing" at least half an hour after we finish. I knit in the car waiting for him.

We didn't get home until about 3:00. See what I mean about losing the day to golf? That wasn't even after playing a full round of 18 holes. I did a few regular chores like laundry and finally settled down to knit around 5:00. I did get the shoulders cast off together on the vest. Tonight I will crochet the steeks and cut. Yippeee!! Only the ribbing on the arm holes and neck opening and then I will have my vest!

Funny enough, I would have preferred the pace of last weekend even with its icy cold rain. All knitting or fiber pursuits. Bob is heading off to Ohio tomorrow to visit our warehouse. I really want to take advantage of his absence to work on my drop spindle projects. I didn't touch them this weekend. Very frustrating. I grabbed a copy of Spin to Knit by Shannon Okey for inspiration. I love this book! It is an excellent balance between all-out spinning and only knitting. It shows knitters how much they can benefit from learning to spin and use even small amounts of handspun in very nice projects. My particular favorite is the sweater whose body and sleeves is knit in commercial yarn with a colorful yoke of handspun. What a great idea!! I like the promise Shannon's projects give me that I will find something to do with whatever I spin.