Author: missouristar

Well, we survived the wedding! It was a wonderful, exciting, fun and exhausting day. Everything went off without a hitch, and the ride on the Eye was a piece of cake. It was so smooth and slow, with no sway at all, so you really didn’t feel the height. I even walked over and looked down! The ceremony was beautiful and we were all doing great until Abby started crying. That loosened up everyone’s tear ducts and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house (or in the gondola, as it were).

And here is a picture of me with the lovely ladies of the wedding party:

For more pictures of the wedding and our travels in England, look in the photo albums in the sidebar.

Yesterday we spent touring Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. Today we are relaxing and tomorrow we will spend the day in St. Alban’s. Then Saturday it’s home and a whole day to recover before going back to work. That’s probably rather poor planning on our part – we should have had an extra day in there to get over our jet lag. I guess the positive thing is that at least we won’t have any trouble getting up to go to work. We’ll just be ready for bed as soon as we get home!

I have accomplished some knitting while I’ve been here. I finished Blue’s sweater and started on my Making Waves socks. With all of the waiting time during our trip home I may even get the first one done. I haven’t found them to be a particularly quick knit, but I am using a cable needle and that slows me down. I tried doing the cables without, but the stitches are so tiny and my yarn is a little slippery and I kept dropping stitches. At least with the cable needle I’m not constantly picking up stitches.

After 5 days in England I think I am finally starting to get over jet lag. I still tend to fall asleep about 2:00 in the afternoon, but I’m not up at the crack of dawn. We’ve had a wonderful time visiting with our kids and doing touristy things. Yesterday we went to London and visited the London Eye and talked to the wedding planner. Afterwards we took a lunch cruise down the Thames. Tomorrow is the big day and I think everything is ready! A limo will pick us up here in Harpenden and drive us into London to the Eye. There we will be escorted onto our own private gondola where the ceremony will be performed 400 some-odd feet over London. On the way down we’ll celebrate with champagne. From there we walk to a French restaurant where we’ll have a celebratory dinner. The limo will then take the newlyweds to a hotel and drop us off back at home. It should be a fun day!

While sitting around visiting with the kids, I did finish this project:

Doesn’t he look elegant? I think Blue is quite pleased with himself. It was kind of fun knitting something so small – it went very quickly. Who knows, I may knit another one while I’m here, although I’m kind of keen on casting on for the Making Waves socks. Hmmm – I’m sounding like a Brit already. Hopefully sometime tonight my kids will help me set up a photo album where I will post all of our England and wedding pictures.

Introducing Agatha:

After a long 7-month wait we picked up our MINI Cooper today. I am in love! This is one fun car. Other than Kermit, our 1958 Isetta, my husband and I have never really named our cars before, but this is just too cute not to have a name. The best part is that although Bill will drive her occasionally, I am the primary driver. Aren’t I lucky?

Yesterday was my last day of work before vacation. Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep a wink last night because I kept obsessing about work related problems. I just couldn’t let go! But after a long, long day picking up the car (2 ½ hour drive each way that ended up about 3 ½ hours coming home because of traffic), I think I got work worries beat out of me. I’m starting to relax and focus on the upcoming trip. Tomorrow will be spent running last minute errands (oh goody – a chance to drive the car!), Saturday will be getting a manicure and pedicure (my first), lunch with friends and start packing. And then Sunday we’re off!

Midst all the excitement, I did manage to finish my cloverleaf socks. No picture, just look back a couple of days and imagine two instead of one. I’m not terribly happy with them. The pattern is ok, but they’re too big for me. I was so focused on just getting them done that I didn’t take time to test the fit. I may try washing them in some warm water to shrink them up a bit. I’ve got the yarn for the Making Wave socks and that will be my airplane knitting.

I’m taking my computer with me and should be able to get Internet access while we’re there, so hope to post pictures of the wedding. Until then . . .

Call me crazy, but I have joined another knitalong! I have started the Six Sox Knitalong. I blame Eileen ! For non-knitters or those knitters who’ve been on another planet and haven’t heard, the Six Sox Knitalong is a group that is knitting six pairs of socks over the course of a year. For the math challenged among you, that works out to one sock a month. If you do all six pairs you are eligible for prizes at the end of it all. However, the first pair is due next Saturday and I just joined last Wednesday. Can I do a pair of socks in a little over a week? Why yes, I can!! And here’s proof: Sock #1.

I cast on Wednesday and finished it up last night. Clever me! It helps that it has been miserably hot here and socks are about all I can tolerate. Anything else draped over my lap is just too much. At this rate finishing #2 should be a piece of cake. I picked up the yarn for Making Waves yesterday and that will be my airplane knitting. Assuming the nice screeners don’t take my needles away. Screeners in the U.S. seem to tolerate knitting needles ok, but we are flying out of Canada and they can be a little stricter. But I was able to get my #1 wooden double points on last time so don’t think I will have any trouble.

And speaking of socks, here is another FO:

I actually finished these several weeks ago, but just hadn’t gotten around to posting any pictures. They are knit with Mountain Colors Bearfoot. The yarn is an absolute dream, soft and cozy and easy on the hands. I can’t wait until it’s cool enough to wear them.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to cast on for the second Cloverleaf sock.

P.S. Update on the MINI – we should take delivery Thursday! Woohoo!!!

What a quack! I went to the doctor this week with what I suspected was an infection in my toe (ok, the right big toe if you just HAVE to know). I really was hoping he would say, “Oh, my dear! You cannot possibly go back to work with that toe! You must go home, gather your dog and knitting, prop up your toe and sit, knit and watch Law & Order reruns for the rest of the day.” Well, no such luck. There is a minor infection, but he wants to watch it for a week to see if it will go away without resorting to antibiotics – which it has. Rats! Oh well, I was able to salvage something out of the day. Since it was slow at work, I called in to let them know I was taking a few personal hours and hied myself off to the local yarn shop for a little shopping. I exchanged some Encore worsted that I didn’t need and added enough for a baby afghan, pattern to be determined later. I really like knitting baby afghans. They make great car knitting, even somewhat complicated patterns are repeated often enough to be memorized, they don’t take forever, and when finished you have a useful product. I always have a nice baby shower present on hand and when my stash of them gets enough I will donate the excess to the local Crisis Pregnancy Center.

And speaking of baby afghans – here is my latest FO:

This is the two-row baby afghan, super, super simple and great for a beginner. It is a little small, but the perfect size for tucking into a stroller. This took just a skosh more than 3 balls of Encore. I like the Encore – it has enough acrylic that you can feel comfortable giving it away and enough wool to satisfy the yarn snob in me. I have been assured that the pattern is not copyrighted so here it is:

CO 217 stitches, mark the center stitch.
Row 1: Knit to center stitch, purl center stitch, knit to end of row.
Row 2: Knit to one stitch before center stitch. Slip two stitches together as if to knit, knit the next stitch, pass two slipped stitches over. Knit to end of row. Keep going until only one stitch remains, bind off.
That’s it! You can put in stripes as I did, or leave plain. For planning purposes, there are 109 garter stitch ribs. If you want the blanket to be larger, just cast on more stitches. You can also slip the first stitch of each row for a nice edging. I left mine plain and did a crochet edge, which in retrospect was totally unnecessary. Garter stitch leaves a nice flat edge and my crochet edge makes it ruffle a little. But I ain’t taking it out!

And in conclusion this – not sure how accurate it is, but it sounds good!

You are “turbo” charged.
Fast moving and classy, you get things done with
power and grace. Your expensive tastes can be
deceiving, since what you really value is
quality and efficiency. As you’re careening
around those corners in life, finishing a dozen
knitted objects each month, stop and smell the
roses. Don’t miss the beauty of process!

What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

What a busy, busy week. Over the 4th of July weekend we helped my sister move. She moved from a second floor apartment to a third floor apartment. I’ve never seen so many stairs in my life (and no elevators)! Thanks goodness she had some brawny students to move the furniture and boxes of books, but I lost count of how many boxes I carted down and then up stairs. I discovered muscles I didn’t know I had. We have advised her not to do this again for a long, long time. However she did feed us well and on the 4th we had a lovely view of the fireworks show from her balcony.

On the downside, however, I walked off and left my laptop at her apartment, so I’ve been without it all week. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb!! I probably could have posted on my husband’s computer, but I’ve been limiting my computer time as penance for pulling such a bonehead act. I figured doing without for a week would teach me a lesson. I had to drive three hours yesterday to get it back. Serves me right, I guess.

Ok, so enough beating myself about the head and shoulders – at least I didn’t lose it. And not being on the computer left me lots of time for knitting. I make quite a bit of progress on Ingeborg and cast on a new project – a small baby blanket. It’s quite a simple pattern, only two rows. It’s worsted weight and goes quickly. I will check that it’s not a copyrighted pattern, and if not will post it with a picture in a week or so.

One positive about the drive back to my sister’s yesterday was the discovery of a wonderful little yarn shop right around the corner from her apartment. They have a good selection of yarns and one of the best selections of patterns I’ve seen, especially of Baby Dale books. I got this:

I can’t wait to make this:

They had a sample of the bonnet in the shop and it is just too cute. I got a good deal on some closeout of Baby Ull last year and have a good stash of it on hand. But I will be a good girl and get some more done on Ingeborg and Kongsberg before embarking on another Dale.

And in non-knitting news – my Mini Cooper should be arriving in California tomorrow! I’m not sure how long it will take to be processed and shipped up to Washington, but I’m hoping no more than two weeks. We’ve figured with our luck it will come in the day before we leave for England. Well, off to do a few more rows on the baby afghan. Have a great week.

Well, poop! That’s not exactly what I’m thinking, but being the lady I am and all . . . . This weekend was not exactly stellar knitting-wise. First of all, I discovered I had made a mistake on the border of the Mediterranean Shawl, about 10 rows back. That’s a month’s worth of knitting. It involved about 8 stitches but I was able to drop just those 8 back and do a rudimentary fix, but because I had eliminated some yo’s did not have enough yarn to do a perfect job. I had decided to just live with it because I was NOT ripping out a month’s knitting. For me that was a major decision – I am somewhat obsessive over my knitting. I had just about come to grips with letting it be when I happened to glance down and realized that I AM RUNNING OUT OF YARN!!! Yes, I am shouting, screaming, stamping my dainty little foot. How could this happen? I bought enough yarn according to the pattern. Of course, I realize now that I am probably off on the gauge, but wasn’t worried about that since it is a shawl and doesn’t have to “fit”. You would think that in 40+ years of knitting I would have learned that gauge affects more than just fit.

At this point, my options are to 1) In a fit of pique, frog the entire thing. No, I don’t think so. 2) Frog just the border and find another border pattern that doesn’t take as much yarn. Possible, but the border was what drew me to the shawl in the first place, and I think it really makes it. But it is certainly something to consider. 3) Try to find yarn to match. Hmmm – preferable, but iffy. I bought this yarn about 4 years ago in Oregon. It was during my disorganized period and I can’t even find the labels. So my decision is to cram it into a sack and put it in a corner for now. Obviously it won’t be done for the wedding, but I had sorta resigned myself to that anyway.

On the plus side (who says I’m not the eternal optimist?) this frees me up for other projects and I picked up Ingeborg, who was feeling quite abandoned. I loved knitting on her and have made quite a bit of progress, hence a picture:

I really love the feel of the Baby Ull. It is absolutely one of my all time favorite yarns. It is a pleasure to work with and it wears and washes well. Maybe I can actually get this done in time for the cold weather. And I can’t wait for the cold weather to return. It’s been in the upper 70’s and low 80’s here – too hot for me! My parents, who live in southern Missouri, land of 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity have no sympathy at all. Can you imagine? They think we are heat wimps and they are absolutely right!!

I try to be good, really I do! About 8 months ago I embarked on an exercise program – 30 minutes a day on my stationary bike. Beginning this week I added a strength training regimen. This morning as I was lying on the floor doing ab crunches, Kirby decided that any activity that didn’t include him as a major player was simply not acceptable. When a few well placed kisses on the ear elicited only a “Go away stupid dog!”, he decided to sit on my chest. In case you were wondering, ab crunches with 14 pounds of dog on your chest are no fun! I guess you could make the point that that only adds more resistance, but I’m not up to that level of fitness yet! He said he was sorry, but I don’t think he looks sorry.

On the knitting front I’ve decided to take a look at some projects that are nearing completion and focus on one in addition to the shawl. I need to feel that I’m making progress on something! Last week it was the Multidirectional Scarf; this week it will be the Master Knitters Program, Level I. My goal this weekend is to finish the four remaining swatches. I’m not sure if I’ll get the rest done before leaving for England, but wouldn’t that be loverly? Oh no, I’m thinking with a British accent already!

I did start Tilt , but no pictures yet because the piece I have doesn’t really make sense until you have the mirror image piece to go with it. Maybe by next week. No evening meetings this week, so I should get in some good quality knitting time. Next weekend I get four days off, but will be helping my sister move, so there will probably be little knitting accomplished. Have a good week all.

Isn’t this just the cutest thing? I’m talking about the one on the right, although the one on the left is kinda cute too. This is my eldest son with his little Chinese Crested, Blue. This is the dog badly in need of a handknitted sweater. Well, maybe not right away, but at least by fall for those cold, damp English winters. I have a pattern picked out and hopefully can begin and finish it while I’m there. I think they pretty much have the wedding plans well in hand, so there shouldn’t be too much for us to do. Except shop for a hat!

And here it is – an honest to goodness FO!! That’s Finished Object for you non-knitters out there. This is a multidirectional scarf from Karen Baumer’s free pattern. I can’t seem to make any of the links to her pattern work, but if you Google it, you can find a PDF to download. The funny thing about this is that I kind of introduced everyone around here to the pattern and everyone’s finished one except me. This is done in Noro Silk Garden and was a joy to knit. I’ve decided that I have to knit on something else except the Mediterranean Shawl or I will truly begin to hate it. It may mean that the shawl won’t be done in time for the wedding, but so be it. I want to like it when I’m done and there will be plenty of special occasions to wear it.

You will notice on the sidebar that I was successful in signing up for some webrings. I think I’m getting the hang of this! I don’t think the Knitting Bloggers is activated yet, though. I joined the Master Knitters ring in the hopes that it will get me motivated to start working on it again. I pulled out my notebook and I really am quite far along on Level I – I only have four swatches to go and the writing. After all the papers I’ve written for school lately, it should be a piece of cake!

No new knitting news today because it’s the same old boring thing – border, border, border. I keep plugging away on the border of the Mediterranean shawl. Interesting to do, but not to talk about. I did make one new minor yarn purchase – one ball of washable acrylic to make a dog sweater for my son’s dog. He has a little Chinese Crested (the ones with no hair) that desparately needs a sweater to keep him warm. I think that will be my travel knitting when we go to London.

I was successful in finding a dress for the wedding. It turned out to be fairly painless. The best thing is that the dress is very, very comfortable, will be suitable for cool weather or hot and is quite adaptable for post-wedding wear. And it was on sale! I guess the fashion in England is to wear hats for weddings. I’m not a hat person, so I’ve told my son’s fiancee that the jury is out on that one. I think I’ll go looking with her when we get there and I may cave if I can find one that doesn’t make me look utterly ridiculous.

The newest update on the wedding is that it is going to be on the London Eye. I have to admit to some reservations initially because I am terrified of heights, but after reading some of the information Ben and Abby sent me, I think I will be just fine.

No pictures today because I’m away from home and don’t have my camera. I do have some time off this week, so with any luck I might be able to figure out the logistics in joining a webring. Slowly but surely I’m learning about blogging, but it can get complicated! Have a great week all.