Finished Object, and a Question for Knitters

The Violeta Cowl has been finished, and blocked!

On a side note, I don't know how I would manage without these foam squares.

I can't explain the color change. Or rather, I can, but don't want to.


I told myself a while back that I would not buy any more yarn (yes, we've all said that, right?) I would stash down as much as possible. But my stash, while large, is far too diverse to make any one large project out of. My inability to throw away scraps plus my early-knitting-years-impulse-buying has resulted in an accumulation of single skeins that I really can't do much with. I'd love to knit odds-and-ends for gifts, but I suspect those gifts mean more to me than to the recipient ... some of you likely understand this.

In any case, I find myself wanting to make large projects now. That A-Line Jacket I made a month or so ago was very satisfying, so I spent a pleasant few days going through my pattern library. This is what I want to do next:

It's from a Vogue Knitting 2009. I'm not using the extremely expensive and hard-to-find yarn they used, of course. I wrote down the gauge and then searched for a similar yarn. As I have mentioned a hundred times, I love Cascade yarn, but the gauge was wrong. Patons is a second favorite, and the gauge matched! But there is one problem with the pattern, and that is I am exactly between their M and L size. If not for my bust, I would be a solid M. Now I'm not sure how to handle this, so I'm going to ask my fellow knitters for advice. Should I just knit the L have it loose in the hips, or should I try to alter the gauge to knit the garment between a M and L? And if I do the latter, what am I aiming for? The required gauge is 20/26 per 4". To make a slightly larger size M, should I try to make the gauge 22? I am wretchedly bad at math, and gauge still confuses me. And alas, this pattern is not in Ravelry and the designer seems to have gone dormant.

Another project I purchased yarn for ... a tiny baby sleeveless lacy dress. I forgot to photo-copy the picture (I also forgot to photo-copy both pages for another pattern I liked in the library book these came from). The baby this is for is not due until March, so no hurry.

Well, I am off to make gauge swatches and try to figure out this whole sizing thing. I don't know why designers make patterns with a 4-inch-difference between sizes, but I'm not a designer ... it's probably very complicated!

I bought this at Big Lots thinking Molly would like it. I set it up and Petunia squeezed her bulk in, kneaded happily while purring extra-loud, and then fell into a sound sleep. Molly is currently supervising this blog posting.

Ta-ta!

Wow it's Cold

Days like this, I'm so glad I'm a knitter!

Also, really glad I have a house with a furnace that I can afford to run, and that I had new doors installed a few months back. Those suckers are vacuum-tight! I'm sitting right next to the back door and don't feel even the tiniest draft.

I know that 21F is only -6C, which is not that bad in Canada, Novia Scotia, Norway ... you get the picture. Baltimore normally has fairly mild winters; today was about 23 degrees thanks to an arctic blast, which was almost a record-breaking low. The wind chill made it feel like 12F. Brrr!

Thankfully, I have this ...

This is my Dresser o'Awesome hand-knits ... hats, gloves, wristlets, scarves. Doesn't include the hand-knit sweaters and shawls in the closets. Most of my sweaters were made 2x, and I'm a M/L now, but I still wear them.

Right now I want to pull it all out and lay down underneath it.

One of my favorite blogs is Cloudberry, in Norway. Winter is beautiful there. Lovely white snow and ice, no black slushy piles all over the place, and it doesn't keep people indoors all winter. City snow is just so unattractive. Bleh!

Well, there's nothing to do but count my blessings and face the oncoming winter. The Violeta Cowl is nearly done.

I have to confess I don't like the whole bottom-edge-rolled-up feature ... I prefer a nice ribbing or garter so it lays flat.

I want to start a baby project for a co-worker who is having a baby next year, but I haven't gotten the wool yet. That will be next.

So! What are you all working on? Is it cold where you are?

You'll have to find somewhere else to sit ... sofa's full. 

A Cowl, a Race Photo, and a Cat

The Violeta Cowl is coming right along!

The yarn is some alpaca that a friend brought back for me while she was visiting Machu Pichu. I tried to estimate how much there was ... I'm guessing about 1,500 yards? It's doubled fingering. Very fine work.

I've made a couple errors, but like always, once the pattern becomes clear, I don't have to rely so heavily on the directions and I can more or less wing it. (famous last words)




By the way, this A-Line Jacket I made with Noro? Fabulous. I love it. I made a belt to go with it, and it is so warm and cozy I can wear it when it's 35 degrees outside (over a long-sleeved shirt, of course). If you want a quick, easy cardigan-style knit, this is the one! Although it's from Vogue Knitting, so you'd have to purchase the pattern, so it's not quick, easy, and free.

Here I am in last Sunday's Across-the-Bay-10K. I'm the one in the orange shirt.

I was so exhausted at this point. I burned myself out on the uphill, and the downhill was just bleh. 

Molly Cat likes to alternate between blocking the microwave and interfering with the coffee pot....

Uh-huh. Whatever, Miss Innocent Kitty.

We're snuggling ... go 'way! 

Can't Commit

Sometimes, I want to knit, but I just don't want to think about it. So I started this mindless project:

As a mindless project goes, it was perfect. Alas, it was not the yarn I wanted to be knitting with. So I cast on this Violeta Cowl:

Not mindless, unfortunately. I have to read a pattern. But every even row is knit, so there's that!

The bizarre-looking beverage next to my knitting is a sports recovery drink. Elderberry extract (Sambucus), grapeseed extract, and sour cherry concentrate in seltzer. What am I recovering from?

Running across this:

The first annual Across the Bay 10k, and that 4-mile-long monstrosity is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The event occurred on the 9th. 20,000 signed up, nearly 15,000 ran. I used up every bit of energy I had getting to the top! 2 miles uphill. 2 miles running straight uphill. I was watching the top of the bridge as I ran, and it got closer ... but I never felt that switchover from uphill to downhill. I was so tired when I got to the top, it was hard to run downhill. 

Towards the bottom of the bridge. About 0930 Sunday morning.

In the coffee line after the run. I'm holding up the medal.

This is all I ever want after a race. A hot cup of strong coffee and a medal.

If you want to see a funny video of me prancing across the finish line, check out 

http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/videoResults?rid=13201&email=1&race=2787

and look for me at the 6-second mark. I don't normally run in such a silly way, but my stride was off because I was carrying my core-warmer vest, which I did not need, and my water bottle, which I did need. Lesson learned: never run in a core-warmer vest if it isn't 35 degrees. It was SO hot! And carrying that vest was terribly awkward. I couldn't swing my arms! 

The other day I looked out the window and saw this ... 

Awwwww.

Spot and Georgie Girl enjoying a sunny morning.

We have had a lovely stretch of weather. I brought in the houseplants that I put out every summer, but it hasn't frosted hard enough to kill anything yet.







What's on your needles?

Finally Back to Normal!

I got my problems mostly cleaned up, finally, and now I can blog normally again!

You know this is a First-World problem, right?

I had a LOT of bad stuff infecting my electronics. I now have a new program which is blocking bad files left and right. But I'm still having an issue with a lot of popups and some other irritations, such as something inserting links into this blog at certain spots, so I'm not sure exactly what is going on.

Tell us more about this 'problem.' Sounds fascinating.

This might one day be an Infinity Scarf. 

It's already been pulled back once. Who knows what will happen next? 

I'm trying to use this huge load of Knit Picks sample yarn I bought a few years back!

I also made this fabulous Meghan's Braids hat, which is technically for children, but ... I wanted one.

Paton's Yarn. Which I also love.

 Bye!!!

Winter Knits

I don't have a picture ... but envision a dark purple and navy blue infinity scarf on the needles. Finger-weight yarn from Knit Picks, a large sample pack that I want to use up. I'm thinking I might use up four of them, but I am a bit restless in my knitting since finishing the A-Line Jacket, so I don't know if I'll stick with it or not.

My laptop needs some TLC (it's 5 years old and likely infested) and I can't figure out how to upload pictures on the ipad (First World Problems, I know), so I can't show you what I'm working on. Once I get an adapter for the camera-ipad transfer, I can do that. Or maybe not - I don't know if Picasa and ipads are compatible.

Isn't technology funny? I don't need it to knit, but I need it to share my knitting. I'm not a technologically gifted person, and I get frustrated easily. I'm quite happy just noodling around on the ipad, but I have to figure out the whole Picasa web album thing first. I'm like that Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer from Saturday Night Live, trying to figure out how the spirits in the fax machine make it work.

Well I will go look at everyone else's lovely blogs, and pretend I'm one of you  :-)

Let's see if I can get a Picasa picture to load ... nope. Okay, so long for now!

Beth