Love! and patterns

Okay. I've done nothing recently. EXCEPT:

-Pick cabinets, counter and flooring for a new kitchen in My Good Man's home which desperately needed renovation to be resold, but which we have decided to inhabit when ready.

-Shepherd two teens through the process of accelerating in school (they WANT to go to summer school to be more open for electives in the fall <>) One is skipping a grade.

-Go to awards banquets where they have won leadership and go-getter awards (which I must say makes this single mom feel pretty dang good about herself, even if they do have messy rooms)

-Take a toe up sock class with a wonderfully fun teacher (thanks Tan!)

-I have completed the Bubble Wrap fingerless mitts. I can share the pattern if anyone is interested.

Today, be sure to spread the joy you have in you with everyone you meet. Not just those you love. You never know the power positive energy may have on the balance of another's life.

Blue skies!

I signed up for this

My Good Man just sent me an email:

I just heard on the radio that a woman was seen on the highway by police to be knitting while driving; that wasn’t you was it? The policeman jumped in his car and chased after her. He finally got along side of her and rolled down his window and shouted to her “PULL OVER” she shouted back; “NO SOCKS!”

At least he knows what I do in a day, what floats my boat, what to buy me for gifts....

And if I could, I'd sign up with him all over again!

Blue skies!

Bags of Color

Do you ever just get the urge to mess with color? I get such a creative rush out of looking at color everywhere. Even these brushes from my studio excite when empty. So many possibilities.



Speaking of color, I just had to share my joy in this new screaming orange-pumpkin-terracotta-red rock sandstone-audacious barbeque sauce leather bag. Probably the most fun purchase I have made for myself in a long time. Technically, it is a satchel, but it is my new knitting satchel. Consider this the before picture. There will be an after picture when all modifications have been made. Shhhh... it must remain a secret.



The felted tote that wants to be a dachshund bag and evolves even as we speak is shown here. I cast on 54 stitches with doubled Brown Sheep wool on size 10.5 29" circular needles. Then I knit 18 rows. Picked up stitches at the short end, all along the cast on edge, and finished by picking up stitches at the other short side and am now knitting in the round. It seemed bland to just do stripes, so I am doing a checkerboard using fair isle colorwork. This thing is 3 sts to the inch, so it works up quickly. I plan to line it after felting so that there are no loose yarn carrys to catch.
The bottom was done in garter stitch.



Next up, something in intarsia, methinks.

Blue skies!

Knitting and Life

Sorry to have been silent for so long. Today, I delivered a Bubble Wrap Cap in a deep chocolate brown alpaca to my good friend from work, Jaimee. He was so excited to receive it! It has been very cold here and he has a shaved head. Of course, as I finished it Friday evening, My Good Man said, "Hey, when do I get one of those?" So, guess what I am casting on tonight.

I have fussed and fought with ideas for a felted tote recently, as I have a great quantity of Brown Sheep wool that has decided it will never be a sweater. I think I cast on no less than 15 times, each time sure that the envisaged size, shape, final form and handles were exactly what the mind dictated. My Good Man watched as I kept casting on and ripping out, knitting 10 rows with a vengeance, then sighing and pulling it off the needles. Finally, as we watched the SuperBowl, I began to make progress. Now, we shall see. I have picked up all the stitches round the base of the bag and am knitting up from there. It's going to be a tote. But my youngest suggested I make a dachshund bag, you know, long and squat. So we will just see where it goes. I think Elizabeth Zimmerman called this knitting empirically.

Can't argue with the Sensei of the Needles, now, can I?

Blue skies!