2.5 repeats to go and my garden is looking fine!

This has been a very productive weekend. Only 2.5 repeats to go on the melon center panel (I should be able to finish it this evening) - but I planted all my perennials, annuals and trimmed my hedges. I'm taking a 4 day weekend next week - and plan to repaint my ceiling and restain my deck. I WILL get all that done and THEN - its just maintenance work in the yard (weed, fertilize, etc..) This is a hard time of the year for single knitters with large yards. But satisfying!

After a hiatus due to rerun fatigue - I have started watching Knitty Gritty again. Last week there were some great shows - one with Joan McGowan-Michael - designer of knitted lingerie. I LOVE the Amelie corset. Time to have a talk with me.. can a petite woman who had a double mastectomy without reconstruction REALLY wear one of these. Well - I am SURE going to try cuz I love it!

Also had one show about some neat belts - double knitted.

Also she had Lily Chin on one day who gave some great tips. I never thought of doing "cable purling cast-on" - with the working yarn if you run out of tail in long-tail cast-on. What a great idea!

So - I have lots of inspiration and so little time to try things. Things will get better.. And - I hit a milestone at work this week - so hopefully I will be able to knit again at noon. maybe.

Photos after I start doing the border on my shawl.
Ricki

The yard needs me!

I would post a new photo of my Melon shawl - but it doesn't look any different - just longer. I've done about 47 repeats out of 61.. so its moving slowly.

My excuse (misfortune) is my gigantic back yard. I think I have pulled at least 100 dandelions over the last 3 weeks but yesterday I went out and there must have been another 100 going to seed with all those cottony flyaway thingies flying everywhere. Its a losing battle. And today (Mother's Day) is the day most people plant annuals in Colorado. But its going up to 90 and frankly - I decided I'd rather be enjoying my new A/C and knitting for awhile. Maybe next week.

I mentionned the dog bite case. I was a victim of the criminal justice system in fact some were comparing my situation to the OJ trial. Last June - YES - LAST JUNE - I took my two manic border collies to a dog park to work off some of that energy. When we arrived - there were two ladies with two dogs. All four dogs barked at each other. I made mine sit to relax. One of the other lady held onto her dog near the gate. My oldest went up that dog - started sniffing. I turned to close the gate and ALAS - a dog fight broke out. I tried not to get bitten - but the other woman held onto her dog and my dog bit her hand. I didn't realize she was hurt - eventually got my dog under control and moved to the other side of the park. This woman didn't leave right away but apparently was VERY hurt. She left, I went home and an hour later Animal Control was at my house. Its a long story but I was charged with a misdemeanor for "unlawful Attack" against the other dog.

I ended up pleading "no contest" - I REALLY didn't have the time to go thru a trial - even tho everyone told me she should have let go. But the judge wanted to keep control over the situation (I had already informed my homeowner's insurance they would be getting her bills).. and rescheduled a restitution hearing. This was last Dec. The hearing was rescheduled twice since my insurance company was working with her lawyer to finalize the bills. So - last Wed (on my birthday) was another hearing. My lawyer FINALLY got the criminal side closed. YAY!

I still have the civil side to deal with - but the insurance co pays for my lawyer and my policy should (unless she asks for an arm and a leg) cover her bills. If I had been told to pay her bills from the criminal side - the insurance co said they wouldn't pay - but now that's is on the civil side - they will. HEAVY SIGH OF RELIEF!

So that is my tale of woe. I hope none of you ever go to court and have to hear "The State of XXXX and the county of XXX versus YOUR NAME". It hurts!

Have a good week!
Ricki

Yes I'm still alive!

If anyone was wondering.. I took a trip to visit my family on the East Coast (didn't really want to tell the world that my house would be relatively empty) and I'm just getting back to my normal routine! Came home to find so many chores to catch up on - especially with my backyard. Today - things are finally under control and I have had some time to get back to my blog!

In the meantime, I'm moving along happily on my Melon shawl - have done about 39 repeats (out of 61) before I go onto the border. So pretty - but it is a REAL monster when you make a mistake. Both my sister and I struggled when I dropped a stitch to figure out the pattern. I finally just ripped out about 5 rows and I never really repaired it. But you can't really tell - can you?



And I was inspired - my sister knits socks - not just any socks but amazing socks. She has made so many for herself and others in my family and they are just divine! So - I bought some of this:



And I am determined to overcome my distaste for dpns.. I can do this! I want to do this! I even bought the Lucy Neatby DVD on socks. So - its on my to-do list.

Then both my sister and I bought yarn to make this:



So pretty.. I bought Ella Rae Silkience yarn in coral. Very soft with a sheen. They have the nicest yarn shops in Lancaster, PA:



So - as usual - I have more yarn than time to knit. I'm back in the grind at work - have a court date this week (on my birthday) concerning a dog bite at a dog park last June. Sigh - don't want to go there right now. Jury duty on Thurs (where I'm not allowed to knit). But will work hard to get more done on my melon!

Glad to be back!
Ricki

She did it! she did it!

"She said that she would do and indeed she did!" (refrains from My Fair Lady) I finished my Dale St Moritz .. only need to block, weave in the ends - and insert a shock cord (if someone convinces me I need one)..

Just finished it a half hour ago. The collar took forever.. 4 3/8 inch of ribbing which you fold over and tack down.

Here is the final product - not the best photo but I will take a better one (with me in it) once it is blocked (someday in the distant future):



And here are some details from the front:



And more from the back:



Thanks to everyone who encouraged me through my moods to toss it aside. The only change I made to the pattern was to shorten the sleeves 1 inch. I'm petite and I knew I would drown in them if I didn't.

Now - as much as I enjoyed it I don't think I'm ready to dive into another Dale - my shortterm future is shown below as I did 5 repeats of my Melon Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I will do another Dale someday. In fact - I have a Kashmir kit in magenta/rose which I adore - as well as Torino and the Foxes. Someday when I'm back into heavy wool winter mode.



But for now - I'm in lust with Victorian Lace Today. So many shawls to do!

Ricki

Thank you Lucy Neatby!

I am a HUGE Lucy Neatby fan! I learned about her on the Yarn Harlot's blog and immediately bought her instructional DVD's. Ever since I have been using her 1 step bind off techniques where you don't need to pass one stitch over the other. But this AM - I used her provisional crochet cast-on method. Yowsa! So much easier than making a crocheted chain and hoping you are really working in the back bump.

Its hard to explain but here is a general photo. You wrap the yarn around the needle while you are making the chain and then - you just knit off the needle with your real yarn. This gal is so smart!



And here is the start of my Melon shawl from Victorian Lace Today - page 146. I'm using "melon" colorway of Sea Silk yarn. Yummy! Love the colors and the texture. This yarn is so soft. I was planning to use the "lily pond" colorway but last night half of one of the hanks got all tangled up on my swift when I was using my electric winder (and I thought the winder would SAVE me time). The rest of the yarn and the "melon" worked just fine. I was close to tossing out the rest of the hank but decided to wind the rest manually - took me 4 hrs today!. Anyway - by that time - I wasn't interested in working with it anymore.

So - I haven't done much yet but here is the start after one repeat - did I mention how much I love this yarn?


This will be a fun project. The pattern is symmetric so I don't have to keep going back to the chart every few stitches. I promise - Dalers - that I will finish St Moritz - when my light blue skein arrives! I promise. Of course- I'm not saying how soon that will be!

Have tomorrow off to get my car cleaned up enough to take it to the dealership to discuss a trade-in and financing. I already found a great loan from Roadloans but the dealer wants to try to do one better. I'm not that great at negotiations - but it feels good to have a loan in my pocket.

Snowing here in Denver.. not surprising - we had snow in June one year!
Ricki

Running out of yarn!

I think the probability of making a mistake when finishing a sweater is inversely proportional to the amount of yarn you have left.

I was making great progress today! Tacked my facings down, sewed the steeks (and YES - it was a lot easier than my previous crocheted steek adventure), cut the steeks, seamed the shoulders and then my luck ran out. I started to seam one of the sleeves and when I finished - one section just looked awful. I should have just let it be. But not me - no siree! I thought I was snipping the seam yarn but soon realized it was the sleeve facing. And all my efforts failed to patch it up. SO - I unseamed it all and unraveled the sleeve past the point that got messed up.

But guess what.. no more light blue yarn. I dont have a clue how I went through all the light blue yarn. I went thru my stash with no success - so I just ordered one skein on the Internet. In the meantime - I am taking a break on St Moritz. I think it needs one from me too! Some days its better not to knit!

Tomorrow is another day and a new pattern! Plan to do the melon shawl in Victorian Lace Today.. using Sea Silk in either melon or lily pond. Haven't decided yet!

Ricki

The Joys of Home Ownership!

I'm not going to bore you with another photo of sleeve 2. Guess what - it looks just like sleeve 1!! I'm on row 68 out of 75 and then I do a fold line and a bunch of purl rows.

I would have finished it by now but "nature calls". That doesn't have anything to do with my bathroom habits - but its my garden. I have a huge backyard which needs a lot of work every spring. This AM - I bought 6 big bags of mulch - and spent a couple of hours pulling out the weeds (aka grass) that I didnt' bother pulling last fall I applied half the mulch and will do my other flower beds next week. Then I have to fertilize everything. Sigh. My oldest sister is a big garden afficionado - I used to love it too but lately - with so little time to knit at work - I resent that it gets in the way of my first love.

So that's my excuse this week. That plus working thru 3 out of 5 lunch breaks last week. Its so hard to take a break when I'm not going to make a deadline. On the other hand - when the deadlines become unrealistic - why bother killing myself to make them.

Did anyone see "Elvis" last night on Showtime? Its the same guy who is playing Henry VII on the new Showtime "The Tudors" series that starts tonight - Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Wow - is he gorgeous and he was "Elvis" in the movie. I enjoyed it last night and plan to DVR "The Tudors" starting tonight.

And so it continues.. I will get the sleeve done this week - and then the question is - do I have to dedication to do all the finishing. You see - as The Yarn Harlot says in her latest book (which I notice has MY St Moritz sweater on the cover) - there are two kinds of knitters - process and product. I am definitely a process knitter - I love the movements - the feel of the yarn - and creating a finished product that I can wear is not a high priority. Its something that just gets in the way of my being able to knit again. And please don't tell me to do both at the same time. I don't have enough time to do one of them!

Have a great week!
Ricki