Cottage46 Knitter

OK, one more wheel... and a dilemma

Eleanor came home on Monday.  She's totally dreamy!

Even Zoey approves and she doesn't like anything new. 

Geraldine is, of course, disappointed, but I've assured her that she will go to a loving home. 

Finally got a model shot taken of the Eyelet Cardigan.  I love this pattern. 

Pattern: Eyelet Cardigan from Chic Knits

Yarn: Tatamy Tweed DK

I added some pink gros grain ribbon along the inside edge to keep it from curling.  Works amazingly well.  It's the perfect sweater for this in-between weather.

Speaking of which, autumn in Indiana has been spectacular.  We've just had a bunch of rain so a lot of leaves have fallen.  DH took this picture at the farm where he hunts.  (No deer in the freezer yet.)

I took this one at the lake tonight while waiting for the dogs to do their business.  Would have been a good night to kayak but somebody wanted to spin instead.  

Finally to my dilemma.  I sewed up the Must Have Deux and knitted the button band/collar.  Somehow on the left side of the v-neck there's a line of knit stitches.  Unfortunately, there is no corresponding line of knit stitches on the right side. 

Although I'd like to think I'm not the type of knitter who would do her neck decreases one stitch in from the edge on one side and on the edge on the other side, I think we all know this isn't true.  This does not feel like something I can live with.  I was about to rip off the button band and pick up stitches differently on that side, but CarrieK suggested that I might be able to use a crochet chain on the other side to make it match.  I think I'll try that over the weekend.  Other than this little anomaly, the sweater turned out pretty well.  The length is perfect which was the problem with the original Must Have.  Feels like progress!

Poking my head up from indexing

Fall seems to be the busy season for indexing and I've been busy.  So my current knitting projects are really boring stockinette: basic socks for my dad and a vest for a Christmas gift.  Anything more complicated is on hold. 

I finished the bulk of the knitting for Must Have Deux long enough ago that I don't remember when it was.  Judging by my last post on it, knitting has been finished since March or April.  Finally today we are blocking.

I did finish my tweedy purple Eyelet Cardigan and have been loving wearing it.  I'll get a modeled shot one of these days. I also reknit button bands for the Cable and O's sweater and the pink Spring Forward.  The Spring Forward band was way too big and the new one makes the sweater much better.  On the Cable and O's, really just the neck band was too big, but I had to take off the button bands to reknit it.  Now that it's finished I realize that the new button band yarn is just a teeny bit different mint green.  *sigh* 

DH and I headed up to Marshall, MI, a couple weeks ago for a little fiber fest.  We saw lots of very cute critters.

There was shearing.

And more cute critters.  There was another angora bunny sitting on a platform without a cage for people to pet.  It was a cold day, but there was heat radiating off the bunnies.  I wanted to bury my face in the fluffiness, but I didn't want to scare bunny or bunny owner.  At one point I thought DH might tuck one under his arm and make a run for the truck. 

There was a very nice group of spinners who let me watch them spin and answered my questions.  I treadled a Schacht Matchless at the Fuzzy Wuzzy Fiber booth.  Showing great restraint, I walked away without putting one on layaway.  But within a few days I was calculating what I could raise from destashing, etc.  Then it hit me that I have an update of a freelance project that has been languishing that would almost pay for the wheel if I just finished it.  Bwaaa haaa haaaa!  So I sent a deposit and will pick up the wheel at the end of the month.  Heh.  Fiber-addictive personality?  Why do you ask? 

Two things I said I had no interest in...

Spinning and dyeing.

This weekend, I did both.  I dyed roving with KoolAid, spun it, and plied it.  I still can hardly believe it.  As lumpy and bumpy as that is, it's a vast improvement over my first attempt.

Let this be a lesson that podcasts can be dangerous.  I've been listening to the Knitmore Girls and Stitch It, both of which talk a bit about spinning.  (No, no, no!  Cannot spin! Time spent spinning is time spent not knitting.)  But in the end the pull was too powerful and I gave in.

This is Geraldine (after the Vicar of Dibley).  She's my new pal and just the right size for a small house. She was used, but had only had one bobbin of fiber spun on her.

But fear not, knitting has been happening too.  I'm almost done with my Eyelet cardigan.

It's a much darker purple than this picture shows. 

I was planning to participate in the Henry VIII KAL on Ravelry.  I have the yarn wound and everything, but I just can't seem to get going.  I think I may not be in big project mode at the moment.  I think I'll spend the fall clearing some WIPs and knitting some CookieA socks.  And spinning.  I'm hoping to take a class next month.  There's a local teacher who has a full class, but is considering adding a second class. 

We went to a Civil War reenactment yesterday.  It's the first time we've gone to one  They were reenacting the Battle of Corydon, the only Civil War battle in Indiana.

I thought the encampment was more interesting than the battle.

We're heading to a small fiber fest in Michigan next weekend.  (Activity two weekends in a row!)  Pictures next time!

Vacation!

Our friends, Kate and Graham, are visiting the U.S. from Australia.  We're enjoying spending time with them and showing them the sights of our corner of the Midwest.  It's our first visit to some of the places even though we drive by them all the time.  We went to the Auburn Cord Deusenberg Festival in Auburn, Indiana, and the World War II Victory Museum.  The Victory museum has lots of vehicles and equipment from all sides of WWII.  They also have an automotive museum where we saw this (I call it Batmobile on a stick).

And this which Kate and I contemplated making off with because we both love purple.

Then we went over to the Kruse Auction which is the largest collector car auction in the world (so they say) held in conjunction with the ACD Festival.  For old car lovers, it's nirvana.  Everywhere you look are the coolest cars you've ever seen!  I personally love the Packards from the 1930s and 1940s. 

How can you not love a car with this hood ornament:

We also went to a buffalo preserve.  This is Bosco.

He spent a lot of time resting away from the rest of the herd.  It's mating season and he's just about worn out.  They said he's lost 300-400 pounds in the last month or two of busy breeding. 

On the knitting front, I finished my Firestarters in Smooshy Gothic Rose.

And I scored 3 hanks of Wollmeise from the Loopy Ewe last week which I haven't photographed yet.  Not surprisingly, most of it is purple.  I think the Ballerina colorway is going to be a pair of Digitessas.  This weekend I'm looking forward to winding my Henry VIII yarn and doing a swatch.  The trees here are starting to turn so it must be time for some serious wool projects! 

How I love twisted and traveling stitches

My sock mojo is back!  I'm so pleased.  I missed it.  (This may have something to do with my profound jealousy of all the lucky knitters at the Sock Summit.)  I'm nearly done with my first Yarnissima Firestarter.  How have I not noticed her patterns before?  They're amazing.

These are knit from the toe up.  I used Judy's Magic Cast On which is great.  With the Figure 8 cast on I always had to go back and tighten it up and it usually ended up being uneven.   The magic cast on is tight and tidy.

Joan Schrouder (Rav link) taught at my local knitting retreat a couple of years ago.  (They don't call her St. Joan for nuthin'.)  She showed us a wonderful vest made up of traveling stitches from Maria Erlbacher's Uberlieferte Strickmuster (Typepad evidently doesn't like umlauts), a set of 3 books on Bavarian twisted stitches written in German.  Sadly my experience with German begins and ends with learning Silent Night in German 30 years ago.  That did not stop me from tracking the 3 books down on the German ebay.  "It's charts!  It doesn't matter if I don't read German."  Ha.  The charts were like none I had ever seen so I really wasn't able to figure them out. 

Luckily, in addition to all EZ gave us, she also gave us Meg Swansen.  She had the books translated and republished them in one volume.  More info about how that came about here. (Rav link)  I just about passed out with joy when I read that.  I nearly passed out again when the book arrived long before I was really expecting it.  (Notice yellow table is now purple.  As are several other pieces of yard furniture.)

The explanation of the charts is excellent and includes a few examples.  I totally get them now!  I have some Zenith Di-Ve in stash for a vest similar to Joan's.  I might do some more traveling stitch socks to perfect my technique before I tackle the vest.  Not to mention I have 2 color work KALs this winter which I'm really looking forward to.  It's been hot here for a grand total of about a week and I'm completely ready for fall. 

I'll leave you with a picture of inter-species harmony.

I. Have. Made. Vegetables.

Or grew them, at least.  I'm still in the throws of beating back the grass (resilient stuff that), but we have produced veggies.  My butterhead lettuce (which is under the green beans in the photo) is bitter.  Any suggestions?  The summer has been remarkably cool which is wonderful if you hate sweating and mosquitoes like I do.  But it is slowing down the tomato ripening. 

My sock mojo seems to be coming back to life.  I got Wendy Johnson's toe up book and am waiting for Cookie A's Sock Innovation to arrive.  I'm working on a plain toe up sock with a heel flap because I couldn't picture how that was possible.  In all the excitement I forgot to do the slipped stitches.

But I did learn Judy's magic cast on which is wonderful and my new go-to toe up cast on.

I've also been working on Chic Knits CeCe which seems to grow at a seemingly imperceptible rate.  Seriously.  I was going to try to squeeze Cassidy in before fall, but I'm not sure I'll be able to.  Maybe that will be my backup cable project during the Henry VIII KAL.

The summer has been bone dry as far as indexing, so I've been happy to get 2 projects in the last week.  Yay for yarn money!  I'm thinking of some Frangipani for Fulmar.

I'm keeping up with my reading challenges.  I've been listening to Haven Kimmel's memoirs on audio.  OMG is she funny.  And she is soooooooo from a small town in Indiana.  I've been chugging around the track at 5 a.m. listening and laughing like a loon. 

2nd time's the charm

Spring Forward Deux is done and it fits!

And it was chilly enough last night that I even got to wear it. 

Pattern: Spring Forward from Twist and Turns
Yarn: Cotton Ease in Blossom
Needles: US7
Comments: My first attempt at this sweater was too big, but I knew I'd knit it again.  I wanted the neck opening to be smaller so I lengthened the saddles and moved some of the neck stitches to the saddles.  I also took out some of the moss stitch on the sides and added a diamond cable to the front instead of a larger moss stitch panel.  I'm quite pleased with the results.

We're having a leisurely 4-day weekend at Cottage 46.  We've gotten back into the walking habit and are doing 5 miles most mornings.  My feet are not adjusted yet and keep blistering.  Very annoying.  I'm working on a baby sweater for a library silent auction while I contemplate what to knit next.  Maybe Cassidy from Chic Knits, or I might do something from a Fine Fleece.  Henry VIII is impatiently waiting for the KAL in Sept. 

I just finished reading The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.  I devoured it in 2 days.  The main character is a grad student who is preparing to write her dissertation.  She discovers the existence of a 17th-century book of magic that was owned by one of the women executed in the Salem witch trials.  It made me miss academia.  If we ever win the lottery, I'm going back to school and staying there forever. 

The garden is growing well, but we're still spending a lot of time trying to beat back the grass that had been growing there.  We've had 2 tomatoes off the largest plant (which were fabulous) and the other 48 (!) plants have tiny tomatoes on them and are ready to be staked.  Now that we've spent $45 on tomato stakes we'd better have lots of tomatoes!  I guess we'll be investing in Ball canning jars too. 

Project monogamy

Spring Forward is moving along fairly quickly for 2 reasons: project monogamy and a complete lack of indexing projects.  Seriously, I've done like 2 so far this year.  My biggest client seems to be sending work to India.  I've got to do some serious marketing, but knitting is so much more soothing.

One more inch of cables and then on to ribbing and button bands.  Must pull out the button collection and see if I have anything that will work.  We're having breakfast with my mom and grandma next weekend in Shipshewana.  I may have to hit the Yoder Dept. Store and raid the button section.  They're having a quilt show so it will be crowded.

The garden is doing surprisingly well given the 6 inches of rain we've had this month.  Standing water in the garden = not cool.  I'm still battling the grass that thinks it still gets to grow where it used to.  I need to put down some more newspaper and straw.   We had our first tomato tonight.  Soooooo sweeeeeeeet!

I looked up from weeding last weekend and saw this guy.

Two words: Prehistoric.  Enormous. 

Spring Forward 2009

I'm hanging out this morning at a branch library while VK does some yard chores for his aunt.  I was going to do some work (editing 2000 bibliographic entries that migrated weird), but I forgot to bring my little USB plug-in number pad.  I'm not typing in 14-digit barcodes without a number key pad.  So I've been dinking around on the Internet for 2 hours and really wish I'd have brought my knitting.

I've been working on another version of the Spring Forward cardigan in Cotton Ease.  It's moving along pretty well.  Project monogamy.  (Pardon the multicolor table.  It was blue, then it was yellow, now it's both.)  I'm adding a diamond cable to the front instead of having about 20 stitches of moss stitch by the button bands.  I love this pattern and I'm mildly confident that this one will fit!  I'm going to an all-day fitting class next weekend at knitting camp.  Looking forward to it.

We spent the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend getting everything planted in the garden and putting up a wire fence around it.  No bunny salad bars here.  After 6 hours out in the sun, I had a migraine for the rest of the weekend. 

We added 3 rhododendrons to the yard this spring.  They are blooming like crazy!

Kevin has been putting out hummingbird feeders for the last couple of years.  We have one right on our deck that he literally has to refill every day.  I've been nose to nose with a couple of hummingbirds already this spring. 

We also have a robin's next on the same deck.  I think the little guy on the left looks like he's growing weary of the paparazzi. 

FO and Why doesn't Sonya read anymore?

Sorry for the long time, no post.  We migrated to a new software system at the library and we've been putting in a new garden at home.  A HUGE new garden.  We were thinking 15' x 20' and ended up with 25' x 45'.  Oy.  Both things have left me a little frazzled.  You know you're tired when a colonoscopy presents itself as an opportunity to curl up under heated blankets and take a drug-induced nap.

Anyway, the garden:

And the really sad thing is we don't have a dang thing planted in it yet.  We've had a really wet spring so it didn't get tilled until late.  Hopefully we'll get everything planted this week. 

We also went overboard at the flower place:

 

   

Despite the general hecticness, I did finish my Cable and Os cardigan.

The button bands really are the same length in real life.  Really.

Pattern: Cable and Os cardigan from No Sheep for You
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (I frogged my Fir Cone cardigan for 7 skeins and bought 2 more from Ravelry)
Needles: US #5
Comments: A very enjoyable project.  I added a buttonhole band and did the sleeves from the top down with short rows for the sleeve cap.  Stretching seems to be minimal; it's knit pretty tightly and has lots of twisted stitches.

In other news, I joined not one, but two (!) book challenges for 2009.  I was a voracious reader my entire life until knitting came along.  And frankly the Internet has nibbled my attention span down to a nub.  So I'm going to cut waaaay back on news blogs (not knitting blogs.  Please.) and try to read actual whole books.  I'm a librarian for Pete's sake.  So I added a Book Challenge page to keep myself honest.  (Upper right column somewhere, if you're interested.) 

Coming soon: pictures of my second attempt at Spring Forward.