To Burbank with Love

A very good friend of mine started a long journey recently.  She went for a routine eye exam, to see if she might need reading glasses.  (We are in our early 40's, so it is only a matter of time.)  The optometrist discovered some pressure behind her eyes.  Fast forward through more doctor visits, tests, MRI's, and such, and my friend discovered she had some sort of growth in her brain.  Last month, she had brain surgery.  The growth was cancer-free (thank God!), but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her. 

When I first found out she was sick, I was racking my brain for ideas how I could help.  She has a wonderful husband, and a large and supportive family, and I wanted to help too, but I couldn't think of anything I could do from 1000 miles away.  When I saw her post-op pics, it hit me like a slap to the forehead:  headbands.  She has a large scar and half her hair shaved, the girl is going to need some cute headbands!  So I dug through the stash, did some shopping, and went to work.  The first two of them are ready for mailing.

I told her to choose one for herself, and give one away to someone like her.

I have more I want to make, but I need to finish those teachers mitts first.  80% finished for the past month, while I got distracted with headbands.  Now I am down to less than two weeks, which is totally doable, but not if I keep ignoring them. 

Today, it is all about the headband healing.   

More adjectives

 Now that I have turned the corner on Celtic Sage, worked through all (I hope!) the design issues, and started the main guts of the design, I have been zipping along at record lace speed. 

I have completed nearly six inches in the past week or two.  That is more than I think I completed in the past year.  I have rekindled my love for this shawl. 

I am enchanted, mesmerized, intrigued, inspired, motivated, enraptured, exhilarated,  fascinated,  and  enthralled.  Really, I am all that, and mostly obsessed. 

I am also starting to worry about if I have enough yarn, because that is what knitters do.  If things are going well with a project, then you start worrying about yarn, because I have to have something to worry about.  I started with a massive ball of yarn.  That is not an understatement.  I am talking about a ball of yarn some 8 inches in diameter.  The yarn is part mohair, so I was shocked as I kept rolling and rolling this ball, how monstrous it grew.  Ultra-light, and loosely balled, it was huge!  I am nearing the end of that ball.   I have two more bunches of yarn, waiting to be balled. 

By my calculations, the entire shawl should be six feet in length.  So if this ball makes it to two feet of shawl, I should be ok. 

If we trust my math. 

Math and I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to knitting.


Today, it is all about the mathematical optimism.      

Second Re-Working.

I have three out of four Christmas Teacher mitts finished right now.  Before Thanksgiving. I can't believe how far ahead I am for Christmas knitting!

As a bit of a celebration (or revolt, I try not to self-examine such things too closely) I worked on a lacey shawl for myself. Celtic Sage, which I haven't touched in quite a while. I was nearing the point that I had already designated as the starting point for the central motif. And quickly realized that I was on track to have a four foot shawl.



So I went back to the drawing board, or at least the pattern.  I counted.  I tweaked. I counted.  I added.   And I counted again.  I think I have the design figured out.

And I started the central motif.

Today, it is all about the reworking as you go.

What a Difference Three Hours Makes

I haven't had a chance to blog, but I have barely had time to knit either. A row here, a row there, nothing to blog about. I was able to finish Mandy's blanket, presented with pride a few days before the baby is born.

 

I was pleased with the crochet border, and even added an additional double crochet row, since I had a couple days before the planned gifting. 

In the weeks after, I found myself not knitting.  I was busy with life.  Work, kids, house, stress, etc.  These are the things that usually drive me to knitting, but I just wasn't sure what to knit.  I knew what I SHOULD be knitting: mitts for the teachers' Christmas present, my sweeties hunting mitts and a few other things that had been in progress for close to forever.  I knew what I was tempted to knit, new and exciting things for myself, but then I felt guilt for the older and only unexciting because of their age things.  So I just didn't pick up the needles.  I would pack them in my bag, and carry them around the house, but without actually knitting.  No knitting meant no need to blog about knitting.

I finally broke through my knitting ennui last Friday, but finding something more boring.  I had continuing education for three hours.  I needed some non-complicated knitting that would occupy my hands and keep me awake for three hours.  I  started with a few lines completed, and made it all the way to finishing thumb increases.  A re-joining after casting off the thumb and a dozen or so ribbed rows later, and I was casting off this morning.  And casting off the second.  I guess if I even wanted to know how long it took to knit one mitt, the answer is four to five hours.  I estimate that I have to finish one mitt every two weeks in October and November, and now I find myself well ahead of my deadline. 

Today, it is all about the break, but not a break up. 

3-2-1

Mandy starts her maternity leave on Friday. I thought that I had a few more weeks, but the powers that be have been running her ragged, so she is starting earlier than anticipated. 

That means the blanket needs to be finished within 60 hours. I have started purple, so this is not a completely unreasonable goal. But it does require focus, dedication and perseverance. 

Today, it is all about the end of the rainbow. 

While binge-watching

PBS had a Downton Abbey marathon this holiday weekend. Three days, all six seasons. I assume, at least. I didn't notice until Sunday afternoon, during Season 4.

It was a busy weekend, but by this afternoon, I could finally enjoy the marathon for season six. I knit during the show, and did my work reading during the lengthy PBS pleas for support. I brought home a stack of papers four inches high, and I got through 3/4 of the stack. Not bad.

And now, I am about 1/3 through blue. Mandy is starting to talk about stopping work earlier than planned. I may only have a week or two to finish those last two colors.

Today, it is all about a ticking calendar.

2 and 34

Just when I was starting to feel confident about my deadline, Mandy mentioned she was 34 weeks along. 34 weeks? That means I only have six more weeks, AT BEST. Two wedges in six weeks. Green took exactly two weeks, so in theory, I am good. But I am not certain anyone told the baby. I will have to be very monogamous if I am going to get this thing done in time. 

Considering I am still on row one of my latest symptom of startitis, it doesn't sound like too much of a hardship. 

Today, it is all about hoping a baby can read a calendar. 

Fourth time was the charm

Last week, while I was waiting on court, I cast on something new. (Yes, I probably do have a problem, which can be discussed in a later post.) Long-tail cast on, 166 stitches, shouldn't be too difficult, right? Famous last words. 

I ran out of tail at about 145 stitches. Yank out, pull out more tail. Take 2. 

I forget what the problem was with Take 2, except that I am pretty sure my tail was plenty long, and it was unrelated to the tail. 

Take 3. I ran out of tail at 120 stitches. Bloody hell! How did my tail get shorter? I started in exactly the same spot? Yank. By this time, my obvious distress and swearing at my knitting was leading to chuckles in the hallway. "You do this for relaxation, right?"

Take 4, I was finally about to successfully cast on 166 stitches. I recounted, and was able start Row 1. Only took a week. 

Today, it is all about the correlation between swearing and relaxation. 

Killing Me Swiftly

Last night, I needed to wind a new hank of yarn.  My swift is in storage, and I didn't want to bother with doing laps around a couple chairs. So I carefully laid out the hank, and started balling the yarn, convinced that if I was simply careful, I could get by. 

Famous last words.

This mess was a speedy result. As I wound more yarn, the mess grew. Hour after hour, I detangled and wound the yarn. Really, I could have walked to my mothers basement and back and spent less hours than detangling my yarn. 

I felt even more silly when I realized  that my swift was home after all. 

Today, it is all about the tangles. 

I am not leaving til I am done with yellow

Knittervention last night every other Monday, I harden my heart at pouty little boys, and leave a half hour before their bedtime to knit on a bar. ( Doodlebug has taken to crying because I am not there to tuck him into bed. What the hell? It isn't like he appreciates the other twenty eight days of the month that I do!)

Mandy was sick yesterday, so it was prime baby blanket time. She has seen me knitting it, but I don't know if she has figured out that it is for her.   She has entered her third trimester, so I was s woman on a mission. I was not going to leave until I finished yellow and was ready to start green. 

Success! 

Today, it is all about being green. 

Back to school

My baby boys started school this past week. Two adorably feisty boys headed off the first and third grade. They both dutifully remembered their first week job: they found out their teachers' favorite colors.  Purple and green. (Last year was green and purple, ironically enough.). 

That was when I realized that I had to start on Christmas Teacher Mitts. Is it that time of year already? The past twelve months I have been busy making baby baby blankets and last year's teacher's mitts. Now that I am 75% finished with ANOTHER baby blanket, it is time to start the teachers mitts again. Thank God I only have two children, or Christmas could get ugly. 

As it is, I still feel a little bit like I am knitting for others more than myself. When can I knit on my pretty lace shawls?  Mommmmm! It's not faaaaiiirrr! I want to knit for myself!

Hopefully, no one else I know will get pregnant. At least for a while. Christmas comes rather predictably, and my children will be in school for quite a while., so no hope for reprieve there. 

Today, it is all about the knitting selfishness. And that is only if you ignore the fact that my Sweetie's hoodie is six years in progress. 

The Perpetual Overestimator

I kill myself. I always overestimate the amount of knitting that I can complete during a finite amount of time. Only Sunday, I was grabbing yellow AND green, honestly convinced that in the two hours of Knittervention, I would finish orange, and make a decent dent in yellow. I didn't really believe that I would need green, but that I might need it within a few days to a week, and should grab green while I was there. 

The reality was that even though I knit consistently during those two hours, 

Still orange. Almost done with orange, less than ten rows to go, but still orange. 

Today, it is all about the endless orange.

Remind me to bring home yellow

My sweetie and our brood are hoping to move in the next several months. We have the new place picked out. Three acres, with a full basement and four car detached garage, in addition to the two car attached garage. Plenty of room for my sweeties tools, guns and toys.

So I have been packing boxes, preparing for the day that our house will be put on the market. Our rental house has to sell first, but I am getting a head start on the house we actually live in.

 I have already packed most of my yarn.  I considered about packing my shampoo first, but I feared being mocked by non-knitting people. The stash is in specially marked Totes. Yarn associated with current projects is in a wicker hamper that my mother kindly consented to keep handy in her living room. 

But that means, when I need a new skein on a current project, I have to visit my mother. Today, when we were dropping off more boxes to stash in her basement,  I had  to pick up yellow yarn for the rainbow baby blanket.

Knittervention is tomorrow, so I grabbed green, just in case. 

Today, it is all about the advance planning. 

I can't explain it

Something happened on Thursday that I still can't explain. There was a special trunk show at my LYS. Luxury hand dyed yarn. I blocked off that time on my court calendar weeks in advance. 

I cleared it with my sweetie that I would be buying yarn. He said that if I found a good deal, sure I could buy some. I told him if I saw something there, it would not be a good deal; it would be expensive, but something I would likely never see again. 

Thursday at lunch, I walked the half mile to the store. Open trunks overflowing with lovely luxury yarns. Merino with silk, with linen, with cashmere. CASHMERE. I had planned to buy one skein, to support the dyer and the store. 

I realized quickly that I would have to buy two, to have enough to make anything. I started narrowing down the colors. Then, it happened. 

I don't know if was the fumes from the wool. Or the excitement of the moment, or what. I walked out with four skeins of yarn. $150!  I have never spent $150 on yarn in my life. 

I wrote a check from my business account. Does that mean I can count it as a business expense? I knit between court hearing all the time. 

Please don't tell my husband. 

Today, it is all about the lack of explanation. 

I love your wedges

I was hanging around the courthouse waiting for the judge to be ready for my hearing, and I heard a nice compliment. " I love your wedges."  I thought she meant these wedges:

Turns out she meant my shoes. Ok, they are cute shoes, and VERY comfortable. But the rainbow circle baby blanket is enchanting!  What is wrong with muggles?

Deadline check: halfway (very nearly) done, three months to due date. 

Today, it is all about the different types of wedges. 

Sticks before. . . . .Husbands

Mandy didn't make it to Knittervention last night.  Apparently, her husband had a rare evening off, and she preferred to spend the evening with him.  I get it, but I still had to tease her a little about here skewed priorities.  She obviously hasn't been married long enough. 

Still, we had a reasonable turnout, and it made for lively conversation and delightful knitting.  We had two people who were casting on something new.  One who was well into a baby blanket. 

And I was working on lace.  This was not the smartest move on my part.  The logical thing would have been to use that two hours to work on Mandy's baby blanket, in her absence.  Or something else that was not so time an attention consuming.  The second pint of cider was definitely a mistake. 

And yet, I was knitting lace.  Attention demanding, time consuming, under the influence of cider, and amid distractions of other knitters, I was working on lace.  A fresh page to the pattern, and without a lifeline, I was working on lace.  Sometimes, you have to knit where your whims take you. 

I haven't checked the half row that I completed last night to see if I was knitting crap or not. 

Today, it is all about the whims. 

One third in the second trimester

I am nearly finished with the fourth wedge, out of twelve. The intended mother-to-be recipient is in her second trimester. She is due in October, so I have four months to finish the remaining eight wedges.   That doesn't sound like enough time. Especially considering what else is going on these days. 

They say that selling a house/buying a house/moving is one of the most stressful things in life. I am selling a house right now. Soon I will be buying another house at the same time as selling a second house. After all the buying and selling is done, then I get to move. Preferably all before school starts in August. 

So I have a bit going on besides a baby blanket deadline. I just need to keep reminding myself that the blanket is stress relief, not adding to it. 

Today it is all about the reminders. 

At a glacial pace

I love knitting lace, but it moves along at an annoying slow pace. Slower than molasses in January. Slower than a comatose turtle. Slower than your average glacier.

This weekend, I worked on my pretty lace shawl, and watched pretty lace DVD's.  Six episodes of Downton Abbey ( Season 6) and one Edith Wharton movie later, I finished five rows. 

A half inch of lace at best. 

Today it is all the exquisite slowness. 

The Servers' Buddy

A couple weeks ago, one of our regular servers at Knittervention commented on how carrying a couple hot plates balanced on one arm can really burn the skin on the arm. I remember that well from my server days, a hundred years ago or so. I used to have a potholder that I would carry with me, but I am a knitter now, and I could do better. 

Behold! The Servers' Buddy!  Really a variation of my usual Teachers' Mitts. I will be posting the pattern to both mitts, when I have a chance. But for right now, I had a very happy server. 

Today it is all about protecting the delicate skin. 

Brownie Points

My sweetie earned major brownie points today. He let me spend 11 hours binge-watching season five of Game of Thrones before the season premier of season six. 

Eleven hours of him keeping kids occupied, grilling dinner, and shutting up when I said the code word "zip".  I spent eleven hours cringing from the violence, bring shocked when people died, and knitting. 

I am going to have to rub his feet every night for a year now. 

Today, it is all about the payback. 

What Passes for Normal

What passes for normal is relative to your personal perspective and experiences.  Knitting in public is perceived by the muggle population as an aberration reserved for white-haired grannies.  I have my husband well-trained.  He doesn't bat an eye while I knit in bars, at sporting events like football and Nascar, waiting in offices, and anywhere else I fancy.  After nine years of marriage, my sweetie is convinced this behavior is normal.  (Well, for me, it is!) 

The Courthouse has been a much slower acclimation.  I don't have the luxury on working on them 24/7.  But after all these years, I think that people have become accustomed, and even express interest, to my knitting in hallways and courtrooms. 

Yesterday, the sight of two attorneys knitting in the hallway at the same time was enough to prove to me that there is still work to be done.  People were still talking about it today.  Apparently, attorneys who knit don't appear intimidating enough.  Possibly, but I can't do kickboxing while I am waiting 15 minutes for court to start.  The sharp, pointy metal spikes aren't intimidating enough? 

Today, it is all about the intimidation factor. 

The Little Book to the Rescue

I keep a little book with notes on my knitting, and it came in handy.

The directions for my Short Row Swirl Baby blanket changed on Ravelry.  Mysteriously, the pattern changed form hand knit to machine knit.  But I had some notes in my little book, and just had to fill in a few blanks, like how many stitches to cast on. 

I have since realized that I had linked the wrong pattern to my Ravelry page, and found the original hand knit version.  It was nice to get started without waiting to find the right directions. 

Today, it is all about filling in the blanks. 

Second Verse, Brighter Than the First

Another pregnant friend, so another baby blanket. I really liked the Rainbow Swirl blankie I made last year, but this friend doesn't like pastels. 

So I am making a brighter rainbow this time. There was a great deal of debate between my sweetie and my oldest child about what order the colors should be. I tried explaining that the colors would be in true rainbow order, but no one was listening to me. 

She is at the end of her first trimester, so I better get knitting. 

Today, it is all about the anti-pastel. 

Slow Going

This shawl is progressing at an excruciatingly slow rate compared to expectations. I thought a half silk garter stitch shawl would skate along.

The yarn is delightfully soft and squishy, but is a bitch to work with. It is a bit splitty. Plus, the pattern has two to four increases per row. Weird, fiddly increases. Increase that I have to look at my cheat sheet each and every row. 

At least the easy garter areas increase with each row. I am looking forward to toasting through those garter sections. Near the end, I may very well be cursing the monotony of those same sections. 

Today, it is all about the dichotomy of garter stitch. 

Take 2

I restarted the shawl from the other night.

A few rows farther than before, and the larger needle seems to be working. ("Seems to". I have to qualify my opinion, lest I upset the Gods of Knitting for my arrogance, and tempt them into cursing me with uneven guage, splitting yarn or a shortage of yarn only inches from the end.)

For the next week or two, I think my wifely duties may intrude. My sweetie has SHINGLES.  The rash started this morning, and his bitching had increased exponentially every hour since then. Still, I did promise in sickness and in health, I think this qualifies. 

It is going to be a long couple weeks. 

Today, it is all about the spousal obligations. 

A Truly Pathetic Showing

After two hours at Knittervention, this is all I have to show for it. 

Cast on 5 stitches, work a few rows with some unusual increases, swear, order a second beer, rip out and start over.   Repeat. 

When I look in the clear, bright (sober) light of day, I think I should go up one needle size. I didn't swatch, because the yarn is unforgiving and I am concerned about yardage. 

So I may be starting over. But a bad night knitting is still a good night. 

Today it is all about the starts and restarts. 

Post-Downton Letdown

I swear, I didn't know what to do with myself last night.  No more Downton Abbey.  I know that it isn't like I didn't have a nine-month hiatus between seasons every year anyway, but this year, knowing I had watched the last made it more poignant and depressing.   

Downton was so knit-friendly.  Lots of dialogue in crisp British accents, with little action to miss while I glanced down at my hands.  Lots of eye candy of costumes and scenery, but nothing that prevented knitting.  And the era somehow made me want to knit yards of lace so I could look as sophisticated as the Countess of Grantham.  Downton will be missed, but it nice to know that I can still visit on DVD. 

Today, it is all about the melancholy.   

Here Endeth the Lesson

Last night, Mandy was introduced to the stockinette stitch. She got to knit and purl at the same time. Her conversion is complete. She is a knitter. Last night we talked about her first project.

Meanwhile, I saw something at Knittervention that I have NEVER seen before. I have seen organized knitters with all necessary tools in a handy dandy bag. Measuring tape, scissors, crochet hook, needle, and such.

But I have never seen anyone who carries around twenty or more needles in their bag. 

Congratulations, you just made the blog. 

Today, it is all about the needle overkill. 

Second Guessing

I am having second thoughts about my mitten guage. It seems like I should have used a smaller needle, to make a tighter, denser mitten. A warmer mitten. But I am quarter through the second mitten. 

That isn't too late to switch, is it?

Today, it is all about the timeliness. 

Purls of Wisdom

 Lesson 2: learning how to purl. Mandy had a decent amount of garter knit rows from the past two weeks. So I moved onto how to purl. She had finally gotten comfortable with knitting, and started to purl, immediately reduced her back to newborn deer trying to walk again.

One beer and two hours later, she was starting to get the hang of it. 

But it would appear that her purls are looser than her knits. Next time, we will work on tension. 

Today, it is all about the tutorials. 

I am Remembering to Measure this Time

It was not so very long ago that I knit a 10 foot wrap. That wasn't my intention. I was trying to make a wrap that would adequately fit my 5'1" frame. But somehow "10 skeins of Noro is plenty for a wrap" imperceptibly transformed into "don't stop knitting until you run out of yarn."  All was not lost, since it was simple (and a wee bit painful) to rip out a few feet of knitting. 

I am trying to learn from my mistakes. Four feet of scarf, and continuing. 

Today, it is all about the measuring. 

The First Taste is Free

I completed only a small amount of knitting last night at Knittervention, but that was by design.  I had another mission: to create a new knitter.  "I have needles and yarn, all you need to bring is yourself," and to my delight, she came.  I started off easy: cast on a few stitches for her, then taught the knit stitch.  At first, she said she felt like a newborn deer trying to walk, very awkward.  A few rows later, she was getting the hang of it.  I was on hand to correct any minor problems.  As she gained confidence and lost awkwardness, her tension improved. 

After two hours, I sent her off with the homework assignment to practice a little, and next time, we would learn the purl stitch. 

Today, it is all about the teaching. 

I Needn't Have Worried

There is a risk to buying discontinued yarn at a great clearance price:  Will I have enough yarn?  What happens if I run out of yarn. (Admittedly, this is also a fear with regularly priced foreign purchased yarn.  Cough, Fuchsia Wave, cough. )

So when I found the perfect yarn for my brother's Smittens, I bought all that they had. Four pink, three gray, two black, and a couple variegated pink and blue skeins, just because they were pretty. 

I worried for nothing. One mitten finished, and I only used half a skein of yarn. So, even though the male half of the Smittens will be larger, I will still have plenty of yarn. 

Today, it is all about the yarn relief. 

The Coolest Knitting Group

We had a muggle guest at Knittervention. Someone brought her tween/teenage daughter, and she won first place, second place, and an honorable mention for the most mind boggling comments of the night. 

Regarding her lack of sociability with the group. "I just don't fit in with the cool knitting crowd."  I mentally examined her tone for sarcasm, but I really don't think she was being sarcastic. I think she really did want to be home playing video games. 

"Can we go home now? I'm hungry."  

"We are in an eating establishment. Order some food."

As for me, I just sat quietly and plugged away at my Elegant Ensemble scarf. Actually, I finished the skein, so I had to switch to a mitten. And I had to remember where I had stashed my stash.  (successfully located in my mothers basement last night) so the scarf goes on. 

Today, it is all about the cool comments. 

A Bad Day Turns Good

Yesterday wasn't REALLY a bad day. Not for me, at least. (Can't speak for my client.). I had a full-day Termination of Parental Rights trial. It was a long day. And a high stress day. But it ended with new yarn, and that is s good way to end any day. 

New, luscious, super soft and silky yarn. In fact, one of them was half silk. My fingers are just itching to pull out the needles and start knitting. Except that I already have soooo many things I am working on. If I get above 20 works in progress again, it will really get embarrassing. 

Maybe. I mean, is someone going to report me to the knitting police? Is there some sort of project maximum law of which I am not aware? Aren't I just doing my part to help the economy?

Someone stop me. Soon. Before I start another shawl. 

Today, is it is all about the new. 

Well, ok, I will buy yarn if I have to

Almost a year ago, my sweetie bought me a yarn winder and swift from KnitPicks, and it came with a $30 gift certificate for yarn. I didn't immediately use it, because I had so much other great yarn waiting on me in the stash. 

Fast forward to the present. He kindly reminded me that it might have an expiration date. Sure enough, one year expiration. Well, even though I do still have great yarn waiting for me in the stash, I bought yarn today. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. 

It was quite the hardship.  I'm sure I will be filled with regret when the box of fiber goodness arrives.  

Today, it if all about the forced shopping.

The Scarf Falsity

Scarves are deceptive. The first project of so many beginning knitters, scarves have a reputation for being easy. But I came to the realization last night, that reputation is deceptive. Scarves are not a small bit of knitting. They are larger than they appear.  Like a size 0 supermodel that hasn't eaten a solid meal in a year, the skinniness masks the total mass generated by long  length. 

I have been diligently working on the scarf portion of the Elegant Ensemble, and am nowhere near finished. I am halfway through the second skein, and have not even reached the halfway mark. I have used almost as much yarn as two mitts and the ear warmer, altogether. 

Today, it is all about the deceptions.