How much is too much?

I cast on the lace shawl.  After reading the pattern for Rue, I felt in over my head. I signed up for a lace knitting class by Laura Nelkin at craftsy.com, and am knitting Clarus.  At the moment, I feel very confident.  Since putting in a life line, I have not had to go back even once, isn't it ironic?  Just knowing that it would not be the end of the world if I made a mistake, has made it possible for me to focus on what I should do, just row for row.  The Sparrow Linen yarn is beautiful, even if it feels like rope.  They say washing will render it "handkerchief soft".

This is just a gauge swatch for the Abigail Cardi, that I want to knit for a friend, and for myself, if all works out well.
It is in Stroll Tonal, I love the colors.  As you will soon see, I will have to wait a while before I cast on, I do not have enough needles free...

This was a mistake.  Some yarn was left over after I finished the Basketball Jersey, and then I cast on a Henley Sweater, adapted to be a cardigan,  for Christian.  I did not knit a gauge swatch, so the sweater on the left will be Jean's, and I had to start again with the sweater on the right, for Christian.  And then I had to buy some more yarn, of course...

 In the mean time, Halloween is upon us, and while I sympathize completely with those who do not want to participate, we do.  'Cause I get to knit Chain Maille for three boys.  If all goes according to plan, I will also crochet helmets. Ha.  (What? I have two weeks, I can easily manage that.)

And then there is my bright honey cowl that is a nightmare to photograph.
How wide do I want it?  They say you should use two whole skeins, but then, they sell the skeins...

The Linden Caps. (The title is plural, which is a bit confusing.  It is only one hat.)  I have a feeling that I am going to run out of yarn.  And if I buy one more skein, then there will be left over, and it might be enough for a beanie, and then it might be just not enough, and I will have to buy one more - so maybe I should just save on shipping and buy three? I love the pattern and the yarn, it is a beautiful hat.

And of course, the Park Street Cardi.  I am done with the lower part of the body - it is knit from the bottom up - and the right front panel.  I had to sit down and make notes to stay on track, but even the short rows worked out fine.  This has to be perfect, I am taking my time, and so far I have not made one mistake. I think. Considering that you have to slip every first stitch purl-wise, that is more impressive than lace knitting!

Thank you for not asking about the reading.  Clearly, I am not reading at the moment. Now I will knit one sleeve while I look at all the different projects linked to Ginny's Yarn Along, where I am sure to find some with even more hay on their forks!

All downhill, so far

 I am so glad to say that the Park Street Cardi is a dream to knit.  The yarn is lovely, the instructions are clear and it will be flying off my needles - I have almost finished the pockets, not hard at all! (I will be on the lookout for closeout sales on bulky yarn, I'd like one for me, too.  We are saving for a deposit on a house, so I have to mend my spendthrift ways.)

 

 

To offset my spending on yarn, I am making my own project bags.  I saw bags far less fancy than this one for $12 at the local yarn store.  I bought the fabric at a discount for $1.20, and I could make two, so one really only costs me 60 cents, which means I now have $22.80 to spend on yarn. What a bargain.

  

 Melva's Pi Shawl / blanket is steadily growing.  (If there is no lace, it is a blanket.  A round blanket. Or a tablecloth, actually. Melva insists that the eyelets count for lace and that it is therefore a shawl.  But it is just a blanket. Really.  Unless she adds a lace edge, that might redeem it, of course.  Can you guess it drives her crazy when I call it a blanket?)

She took the shawl with her to a math competition in San Antonio this weekend, and enjoyed all the comments by security guards discovering the huge ball of yarn in her bag.  (I think it was the highlight of her trip, to be honest!)

I know I should be reading a bit faster to qualify as a reader, honestly, if I knit as slowly as I read I would have been stalking Ginny's yarn along, not joining in.  Yet, I am making progress in Herzog, wondering all the while if other people are really that complicated.  And since I know, from knowing the people that I know, that they are, I am a bit uneasy thinking about everything that must be going on under the calm surface of everyday life...

We also listened to Tom Sawyer, the audiobook version, and it was delightful.  I love hearing about boys living in a different time, they make my bunch seem very tame.  I have been told that I raise feral children, but by comparison I am overprotective.

We are savoring the autumn days.  I cannot believe that we are actually fossil hunting - the banks of Shoal Creek consists of Cretaceous Era mud, and we found several prehistoric seashells, some perfectly preserved in the prehistoric mud. (If you look closely, you can see their knit pockets, very handy for collecting fossils.)

 Christian slid down that bank and ended in the shallow creek, very dirty and sore.  The late afternoon sun was a perfect towel and blanket.

 A bit later we discovered this hill.  Glorious late afternoons in central Austin, with sweet friends to celebrate with us. Nothing in particular, and everything, in general.

Thank you, Mr Mailman!

All the packages came at once:
The yarn for my sister and nieces' wishlists.  (I sent them to Quince & Co. to pick what they wanted.)  Park Street Cardi for my sister, the Linden Caps for my older niece, and the Rue Shawl for my youngest niece.  I cannot wait to knit with the Sparrow, I think it will be the one I find hardest to part with.  Another package with a pound of Cascade Ecological Wool, destined for more boy sweaters and a Pi Shawl.  (Melva is reading EZ's Knitters' Almanac...)
And to put the cherry on top: a rescued stray book, with a tiny hole in the back, just right for a thin little nail should I ever need to knit with yarn on a spool.  Lori is as kind as she is generous, talented and inspiring. But you all know that.  It is actually a history book, written by one of my favorite authors, perfect for our homeschooling shelf.
I think I will be knitting at least 8 hours a day from now until Christmas, to get everything done.   I have given up reading and am now listening to Hertzog by Saul Bellow.  Nothing happens, but it is very entertaining, in an unsettling kind of way.
Just in time to join in with Ginny's yarn along.  To think I never really knit before she hooked me with that newborn hat with a touch of lace...

Luminous Days

We sold our house in May 2010. 

Everyone knew how attached we were to "our house"  We bought the land, about two acres, when Melva was 2, with our best friends in the world that we met about a week before (no kidding).  We built our house first, and moved in on 14 December 2004.  They built and moved in about 6 months later.    Jean had his first birthday there, as did the twins.

On 2 December 2008 we moved.

They moved away too, this weekend.

We shared so many meals there, we planted more than 300 trees.  The trees will grow, the houses will stand for a while longer.  But now we have moved on.

Leuchtende Tage. Nicht weinen, dass sie vorüber. Lächeln, dass sie gewesen. That is the way my friend said it, but it is a quote from Confucius, I guess he said it in Mandarin? It means something like: Luminous days. Do not cry that they passed. Smile that they were.

I try.  I know, nobody forced us to move, right?

When dreams are lost, what do we do?  We build new dreams.

This house stands on 2 acres, it is 10 minutes away, and it is on the market.  We might be able to afford it, yet our lease only expires in 8 months. Decisions decisions....

Just look at those beautiful cedar elms. (I like the way they describe the heat tolerance as "very high high".  Very high wouldn't do. But I might have said very, very high.)

With it comes the right to build a second house on the same lot.  Just sayin.

Now let me go get some tissues.

Now, for something fun!

I am still reading Hertzog, but thankfully, this nightmare is over:

The last time I posted about this sweater, I was wary of the pattern because I knew it had mistakes.  None other than the designer himself commented, and directed me to a forum post on ravelry.  I also noted the errata.

I did everything by the book: I swatched, and blocked before I seamed.  Yet I found, like everyone else who complained, that the saddle was too long.  The fact that the designer insisted that the dimensions were correct interfered with my instincts.  I wrote to him. (three times...)  He was kind, but really, not helpful.

I will not go into details here, it is too complicated, but trust me: the errata for this pattern is wrong. If you ever knit this, ignore the schematic (the saddle should be about 2 inches shorter), and when you shape the saddle, decrease every row.  Or else you will
 *seam, message the designer, rip seam, frog, reknit, repeat 3 times from *  before you are done.

 I like the way it turned out.  The recipient is at work, and I only finished the neckband this morning (it still has to be blocked), so I am wearing it.  (It is 90 degrees outside.)

Melva finished the second sock among other things, but I am very happy to report that she finished a pair.

Melva is knitting Ginny's Sunday sweater (we will adapt it to fit her), and I am looking forward to knitting something smaller next, a sweater for Christian.

Joining Ginny over at her yarn along.

Update: 52 projects, and The Weather

I am still making things.  I have lost count, I think I may finish 52 objects this year, and I am failing at taking a picture every week and posting about it, but at least I am still making things.

The nesting baskets were inspired by this post over at "Rhythm of the Home".

Upside down

They are very pretty, made out of left over pieces of fabric that I cut into 1 inch wide strips with a rotary cutter.

I also needed a place to store the millions of cheap-ish double pointed needles that I have bought on Amazon.  They do the job well enough, and I do not feel so desperate when I lose one of them.  But I do not plan to lose any more, hence the neat case to store them in:

I made this pattern up, it was really easy once I sat down and fiddled with the actual needles and fabric.  That is fortunate, since I will need a couple more cases before all the needles are organized...

And since I am writing, I might add that the weather in Central Texas has definitely turned.  This summer wasn't that bad, but when I went outside yesterday and suddenly felt as if I could breathe the air, I remembered how much I actually dislike this climate.  I guess it is a good sign if you start to notice something only in its absence?

When it was over 95 (35) degrees, I did what I had to and really felt as if it was not that bad.  But the moment it dropped below 88 (31) degrees, I felt at home.  It is going to be a good three months.

Knits men want (yawn)...

Part I

I felt excited when I saw this book on amazon, and clicked before doing any research.  I gave the book to Jacques and asked him which sweater he wanted - he chose the Baseball Jersey and could not be convinced otherwise.  I like the pictures of the sweater too, but I know about seaming and huge panels, I have never done a "saddle shoulder", and the first projects I looked at on ravelry all complained about mistakes in the pattern and the designer not being very helpful. However, I have been very careful, I have made notes and I am counting and measuring every step of the way, so there is hope!  Two sleeves and half a front/back panel down, and I feel optimistic about the end product.  I am sure I will have to tweak around the neckline to make everything fit, but that's okay.  It is never that cold in Texas anyway, I have time.
About the book:  I recommend it, the patterns all involve miles and miles of stockinette in a shade of brown or gray, but that is very realistic. Jacques would wear every one of them.

The sleeves and half a panel, spread out, could cover at least 3 babies!

 I cast on a honey cowl for me, too.  I am modifying it a bit (see Ravelry notes).  I discovered linen stitch and all the other types of slip stitches very recently, which made me wonder, again: will knitting ever get boring? 
On a different note, I need input:  I want to give this cowl a crocheted edging - considering that I plan to wear this mostly with a white t-shirt and a denim (i.e. my uniform), what solid color would work best?

See the notes?

 About the literature:  Jacques recommended Herzog, by Saul Bellow.  It is very entertaining.  Some of my favorite quotes so far: "If I am out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog."

The book is about a troubled man, in New York, who writes letters.  Incessantly, and to everyone that he happens to think about.  I am not yet sure if he mails any of them, or if it is just his internal dialogue.   Introspective is a good one word description.

I love books written a while ago - it serves to remind us that the problems we face today, the debates raging today, have been raging for ages.  All is not lost, if you feel as if all is lost, yet you cannot be sure that anything is won, either.  For instance, he writes:
" Dear Mr President, Internal Revenue regulations will turn us into a nation of bookkeepers.  The life of every citizen is becoming a business.  This, it seems to me, is one of the worst interpretations of the meaning of life history has ever seen.  Man's life is not a business."

The book was published in 1964.  It does not elaborate, this is just a snippet, almost an intrusive thought, while his (Herzog's) real life is continuing.  I fear you might now think the book is very political; it is not.  Most of the book is about interpersonal relationships, from the perspective of a man that has, to a degree, lost his mind. Fascinating.

Part II

 Melva's latest project.  It started with a science experiment, where we used red cabbage to make a pH indicator. It evolved into dying yarn using the indicator and baking soda, and knitting Baby Fan Mitts.  She adapted the pattern to ensure that it fits perfectly.  She made some knitting needles too.

 More about all of that in a different post.

Once again, linking up with Ginny's yarn along at Small Things, and looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to!