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Thank all of you for your kind wishes this week.  Please forgive me that I haven’t responded to all of you personally, but it has been a very difficult week for us.  Bill and I have both been a little overwhelmed by the depth of our grief for Hester.  We have lost dogs before, but we’ve never felt such a sense of loss.  Perhaps it was her age – she was only 3 years old.  But I think it is more.  Sue commented that in our lifetimes we can have that one dog that really touches our hearts.  I think Hester was that dog.  Who knows what will come in the future.  There will definitely be more Corgis and I hope that we find another very special dog.  But right now it’s hard to imagine any as special as Hester.  Kirby is not making it any easier!  He wanders around the house whining, looking for her.  He keeps checking her crate to see if we just forgot to let her out.  We were very concerned about him because he stopped eating.  He’s never been a very robust eater and is a little on the thin side.  But he finally relented yesterday and we’re hoping he’s on the mend. 

My weekend with my sister had been planned in advance, so hubby encouraged me to go.  I felt a little guilty about leaving him in the quiet house with only a grieving Lhasa Apso for company, but it was good to get away.  On Saturday afternoon we both volunteered in setting up for a huge charity wine auction.  I am SO not a wine person – it was a little mind numbing to me to think that someone would pay over $1000 for a bottle of wine, that they’re not even going to drink for cryin’ out loud.  My idea of a nice wine is a chilled glass of Riunite Lambrusco.  Lorette is probably having heart palpitations – she’s tried, really she has!  But I’m glad they were willing to spend that kind of money because about $600,000 was raised for various northwest arts organizations.

After setting up, my sister changed into stunning evening wear and worked the auction, while I retired to the hotel room at the Sheraton with a bag of snacks and my knitting.  It was very comforting to bury myself in my lace.  The repetition of counting and seeing the beautiful pattern develop helped me not to dwell on our loss.  I did some swatching for the Princess Shawl, but the results were a little inconclusive.  I’m still not sure what I’m going to use.  It’s a moot issue at this point because whatever I use, the yarn will cost about $100, and that’s just not in the budget right now.  I had hoped to start around the first of the year, but that might not happen.  In the meantime, I’ve joined a Princess group on Ravelry and I’ll be following every one else’s progress.

On Sunday my sister treated me to tea at the Fairmont:

Very ritzy!  Thanks sis!!

On the knitting front, the blue blob is just that – only blobbier.  There will probably be no pictures until it is done because you just can’t see anything.  And I’m not willing to try and spread it out and risk having it slide off the needles. I’m to the point where things are really starting to slow down.

For more instant gratification, I started on hubby’s Silky Wool sweater:

Not a great photo, I know, but I didn’t have the energy to fiddle around any more with it.  This is an Elsebeth Lavold design – I’ll get the specs for you next post.

                                     

                                         Brookhaven Rosewood Sunbeam "Hester"
                                          February 13, 2004 – November 8, 2007

We thought we had weeks with Hester, but it turned out to be only days.  Things came to a crisis and by this afternoon it became apparent that we could not in good conscience let her go even one more day.  She slipped away peacefully while Bill and I held her.  We are heartbroken.  She was not only the best dog we’ve ever had, but the best that we’ve ever known.  Everyone who met her remarked on her sweet and gentle spirit.  Even toward the end, when she was in pain, she never snapped or even growled.  Goodbye sweet Hester.  We will miss you.

For someone who only blogs once a week, I’m not even keeping up with that very well.  This past weekend was not only taken up with school stuff, it was a very discouraging one as well.  We had some difficulties with Hester and were convinced that this would be her last week with us.  We even discussed taking her in today.  But we increased her pain medication and she is doing so well that we decided to wait a little longer.  However, it did bring home to us that her time with us is growing short and will probably be measured in weeks rather than months.  Although not primarily a lap dog, she is getting plenty of snuggle time, which is a great comfort for us both.

On a happier note, this has been a great week for lace.  Although the rows are getting exponentially longer and progress has slowed, there has still been quite a lot accomplished on Garden Path:

Pictures will not get better from here on out – it will look more and more like a big blue blob.

I was so excited to hear that Sharon Miller’s Princess Shawl  has been re-released.  I first saw this right after the original run was sold out.  I was so dismayed to hear that it would not be released for another five years.  I waited patiently and as soon as it was released, I ordered.  I have received my pattern and I actually grew a little weak in the knees looking it over.  It is indeed a very complex knit, but I think I am up for it.  I’ll be swatching this weekend and will get the yarn on order for a planned start date of January 1st.

This weekend should be fun – I’m going to spend it with my sister in Seattle.  This is a gift from her to me – a four star hotel, shopping and high tea.  I’ll be taking my laptop with me and will try to blog if I can.  However, I’ve found that swanky hotels aren’t always the most likely to have free wi-fi.  I guess they figure if you can afford the room, you can afford to pay extra.

And on a much, much happier note – I leave you with a first smile:

 

Aahhh . . . the magic of blocking lace.  Before:

And after:

As tedious as this project was toward the end, I am very, very happy with it.  It’s a stunning pattern.

Specs:
Forest Path Stole by Faina Letoutchaia
Jaegger-Spun Silk Wool
Size 3 needles
Started February 2007, finished October 2007.

Now that this project is finished, I decided I could look at starting a new project.  Our knitting group is doing a group project this year and chose the Modern Quilt Wrap, a free pattern from Interweave Knits.  Of course, none of us can afford to make it out of the Kid Silk Haze it calls for.  It requires 9 different colors.  So, I chose a dk weight yarn and went through the color cards and found my color palette.  I bought the 5 colors my LYS had and special ordered the other 4.  Yesterday I went down to the shop to see if they had come in.  Indeed they had.  However, the shop lady had neglected to put my name on them and they had been sold!  Well, drat!!  To tell the truth, my enthusiasm for the project has now waned.  So, what’s a girl to do?  Why, console herself with lace yarn, that’s what!

I had been eyeing this lovely color for a while and decided the time was right.  So it jumped in my bag and came home with me.  This will be transformed into The Garden Shawl by Dorothy Siemens.  l started this last night and I had forgotten how difficult it can be to start laceweight shawls from the center out.  Trying to knit on dpn’s with two stitches on each needle with lace yarn is an exercise in frustration.  It took me about 10 tries to get started, but I finally succeeded and now have enough to go with a 16" circular.  Photo will have to wait until I can spread it out on a 24".

Yesterday I was sitting in my living room studying and I heard a bird call that was very unusual.  I had never heard it before, although it sounded eerily familiar.  I decided to go investigate later, but my husband came and got me to see this wonderful sight in our front yard:

I wonder if they were house hunting!

Who are these young people?

And how did they get here?

Lots of love, hard work, and a healthy dose of commitment!  Happy 35th Anniversary hubby.  I love you more each day.

When not out celebrating, I was working hard on Forest Path and it paid off:

All the tiers are done and the border has commenced:

I thought the border was going to be a little fiddly, but once you get going, it’s pretty mindless and is going much faster than anticipated.  After only two evenings I am over halfway on the right border.  School work is really interfering with this project (to say nothing of working), but with any luck next week will bring FO status.  Hooray, hooray!

And just to show you that shopping at our local base commissary can be an enlightening experience:

Priceless!

The class with Elsebeth Lavold was outstanding, as expected!  Elsebeth is a lovely person and a very patient teacher:

Can you see that stunning afghan in the background?  Accompanying her was her gracious husband Anders Rydell (who, by the way, does all of her photography and the narratives in her books):

We were all agog over his stunning sweater.  He said that he read in a newspaper article that Elsebeth was one of the "rocks stars of knitting."  He was quite impressed that he was married to a rock star!

The first part of the class dealt with lifted increases and the basics of Viking cables.  I had done the increases before, but wasn’t sure I was doing them quite right and she really clarified the mechanics of it.  She also taught us a technique for cabling without a needle.  I’ve tried it before, but always struggled so much that it wasn’t worth the effort.  She showed us a nifty trick and now I’m anxious to do a cabled project to try it out some more.

The second half of the class we learned to miter a corner with cables:

Pretty cool, eh?  We did learn how to make the cables at the corner with spaces that more accurately match the rest of the piece, but I was anxious to turn the corner and didn’t want to do the two extra rows required. 

After class we were invited to accompany Elsebeth and Anders to dinner:

What a wonderful opportunity.  We had a lovely time talking about yarn, knitting, music, politics and myriad other subjects.  One thing that I found strange – she said that her books don’t really have a market in Sweden.  She said that she is really not appreciated over there.  We all made sure that she knew she was appreciated here and can come back any time!  I’m really anxious now to start one of her designs with the Silky Wool that I have, but I’m trying to be very disciplined and finish a project or two first. 

Right now I’m concentrating on Forest Path.  I’m up to tier 22!!  Woo hoo!!!  Two more tiers to go and then what I’m sure will be the boring part of knitting up the edges.  I’ll post some progress pictures next time.  Also up – pictures of our road construction.  Not at all going as we would have wished!

Home safe and sound!  As much as it was hard leaving the Florida family, there was Washington family eagerly awaiting my return.  And as hubby reminded me, this is where I belong.  Just wish the two branches of the family tree were closer.  The trip home was uneventful, but reminded me again how much I hate flying.

I’m still reeling a little from jet lag and although I was really looking forward to the cool weather and I still absolutely love it, I can’t seem to get warm today.  I think my blood thinned out!  After catching up with mail and unpacking the bags, I took a look at my projects.  Three weeks of plain stockinette stitch left me wanting something a little more challenging.  So, I picked up the Forest Path Stole and have been working on that.  I just finished tier 18 and flirted with the idea of stopping soon.  But I’ve come this far and I need to not bail at this point!  No sense posting a picture, because it looks just the same as last time, only a tad longer.  If you want a look, go on over to Ravelry – my user name is MissouriStar.  I had started out with a different user name and then had a "duh" moment wondering why I didn’t use my blog name.  Bless Casey’s heart – I emailed Ravelry and he changed it!  And I’m trying so, so hard to refrain from casting on something new although there seem to be several different projects calling to me.  I don’t think it’s the projects themselves, but just the lure of something new.

Back to work on Monday and then off on Tuesday (pretty tacky, huh?) for the Elsebeth Lavold class.  I’ll be sure to give you a complete report.

And, since once again there are no knitting progress reports – more granddaughters.  Did you every wonder what wardrobe accessories go with red wool socks?  Wonder no longer:

Pajamas and a yellow tutu!  And here’s a picture of Ivy wearing the sweater set that I knitted for her Daddy 32 years ago:

I guess that was technically my first lace project!

Ok, I was SO not kidding:

We’ve driven by several times and he’s been hanging about.  Abby dropped me off and drove around the block (busy street) and I clambered down the bank for this shot.  The gator, apparently in a fit of rage at being stalked by the paparazzi, dove into the water and headed straight toward me.  I dashed back up on the bank with visions of being chased down the sidewalk by an irate alligator, but apparently he was more interested in cooling off in the water than coming after me.  Good thing because there was absolutely nothing but a little patch of grass between me and the pond.  In fact, here is a view of the pond and the neighboring house:

This was taken from the sidewalk, and as you can see, there are no fences or barriers anywhere.  It would certainly freak me out living that close to a gator!

Just a few days left, so I’m soaking up all the loving I can:

We sat like this for two hours!  Izzy, of course, doesn’t sit still for two minutes, but today we went to story time at the library and had a great time.  Then we picked up Abby and Ivy and went to Cracker Barrel for lunch.  Yum, yum!  Wish they had those in Washington State.

And in the interests of equal opportunity blogging:

Who needs toys when you’ve got an empty diaper box?  This will probably be my last post from sunny Florida.  I’ll catch up when I return to wonderful fall weather in Washington!

Precious little knitting has been accomplished this week, so you’ll just have to make do with pictures of granddaughterly cuteness.  I know it’s a tough assignment, but I feel you’re up to it.  Actually, there has been a little knitting.  Izzy was so fascinated by the socks that I made her a pair of her own:

Red wool is probably not the most practical for the hot Florida climate, but she seems to enjoy playing with them.  By the way, this was the only way we could capture her to hold still for a moment for a photo.  However, she does hold still briefly for a little cuddling with baby sister:

She looks so big next to Ivy.  Ivy is growing and looking more like a baby than a newborn:

And, in a bit of good fortune, hubby’s sister from Michigan and her family just happen to be in Orlando this week visiting Disney.   Isobel and Nana drove over to the Polynesian resort to meet them for lunch:

Just four more days and I head home.  I’ll be sorry to leave the munchkins, but I am definitely leaving them in very capable hands.  And I miss hubby terribly.  He’s been gone a week and I know he is a little lonely too.  He also reports that fall is moving into the Pacific Northwest.  Can’t wait to experience some sweater weather!

All is quiet here (at least for a few moments), so I’ll try to get a quick post in.  Life is settling into a bit of a routine with two little girls.  I am amazed at how good they both are.  For a two-year old, Isobel has very few meltdowns and only uses "no" occasionally.  She is well behaved and loving.  And did I mention she LOVES her little sister?

The only problem is keeping her from loving a little too vigorously!  She loves music and is constantly singing.  She likes to lean over the crib and sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" in Mandarin to Ivy.

Those of you who suggested keeping the knitting simple were right on the mark.  I opted for simple stockinette socks and my only variety has been color.  Here are the socks I’ve accomplished so far, reclining on the porch swing:

From left to right – Trekking, Essentials Shale Multi and Essentials Tuscany Multi.  Immediately after this photo session they begged to be taken inside because it is just too dang hot for wool socks to be lounging around in the sun.  I ordered the new Knitpicks Harmony dpn’s and had them shipped here.  The verdict?  An overwhelming thumbs up!  They have sharp tips, smooth surfaces and don’t seem as bendy as bamboos.   And the pretty colors exactly match the Essentials Tuscany yarn.

Sometimes in Orlando we feel as if we’ve stepped into a foreign country.  On the day Ivy was born we were driving to the hospital.  As we left the housing development where Ben and Abby live, we passed a small pond.  I kid you not, there was a six foot alligator sunning himself on the bank.  This was within 20 feet of someone’s backyard, across the street from a daycare center and within 500 feet of a school!  Unfortunately I didn’t have the presence of mind to photograph it.  I’ll stick with the bunnies and deer that grace our yard, thank you very much!