missouristar

I had an epiphany at 2:00 a.m. this morning.  I have been stressing out about getting my Christmas knitting done.  I'm making sweaters for the girls, as usual.  Ivy's is done (picture to follow), but I still have to finish Isobel's.  I finished the body last night and calculated that if I spent every spare minute between now and Christmas, I might get the sleeves done, the steeks cut, sleeves sewn in and front and neckbands knit up.  That would mean skipping our annual spinner's party today and literally knitting every spare moment I have.  As I was tossing and turning at 2:00, I realized therein lies madness.  This is SO not what the Christmas season is about.  I would hate and resent every stitch I put in and that's not the love I want knit into this sweater.  The sweaters will be appreciated just as much two weeks after Christmas – maybe even more when they don't have to compete with toys under the tree.  I'm happy to say that common sense has prevailed and I will be enjoying the last week before Christmas. 

As promised, here is a photo of Ivy's sweater:

And a detail of the shoulder buttons:

I'm pleased as punch how it turned out.  I do think, though, that next year's Christmas sweaters will be a little bit less ambitious!

Here's the body on Isobel's:

As it lay blocking I had a little bit of a panic attack looking at how sloppy it looks with the neckline steeks cut.  But I have to remind myself that's what Ivy's looked like and it turned out just fine.  Steeking is a little bit like blocking lace – an act of faith.  And not just any old act of faith, a HUGE act of faith.  I took Ivy's sweater with me to my monthly sewing getaway last week and I thought several ladies were going to faint when I took the scissors to it!

This weekend should prove to be a lot of fun.  Barring any unforeseen illnesses (one side effect of having a kindergardner is that she brings home every germ floating around out there!) the granddaughters will be coming to spend the weekend with us.  We will be taking them to cut a Christmas tree and then they will help us decorate it.  Should be fun having a 3 and 5-year old help out with that!  If all goes well, we will also fit in a trip to the local Christmas Village.  We were hoping that would give Ben and Abby a chance to get out and have some fun, but they are both battling colds and may enjoy the opportunity to just rest. 

I'm off to browse through some patterns – I think I may just cast on a sock today.  Believe it or not, I only have two projects on the needles – Isobel's sweater and a vest for me that has been languishing.  I suppose I should take a look at the vest.  I'm pretty close to being done with it, but I think I need the rush of casting on a new project!  Can anyone identify with that??

I leave you with a model shot of my son's sweater.  I think he was pleased – at 6'6", it's very difficult for him to find sweaters with sleeves that are long enough.  He looks quite handsome, doesn't he?

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It looks as if I'm finally coming to the end of the road on Ben's Cambridge Jacket.  

The pieces are sewn together, all edgings done, the zipper has been ordered.  This sweater has not been without its issues:

Issue #1 – My original intent was to spin the yarn for the sweater.  After months of spinning and plying, I came to the humbling realization that I am just not that good a spinner yet.  While the yarn I produced was quite lovely, it was too bulky for this pattern.  I ended up buying Cascade 220 for the project.

Issue #2 – My son is quite tall and slim, so I knew I was going to have to alter the pattern.  I made the next to the smallest size, but lengthened everything – including using the depth of armhole for the largest size, which led to:

Issue #3 – In addition to the problems associated with altering the armhole depth, I knew I would also have to alter the sleeve width.  In reading the Ravelry comments (whatever did we do before Ravelry??), I saw that the width of the sleeve was way too wide.   I narrowed the sleeve by about 3 inches, and with these two alterations, had to rework the sleeve cap calculations.  After about three tries of coming out with rather bizarre looking sleeve caps, I found a trial version of Sweater Wizard, downloaded it and met with success.  I think a full version of this will be in my future.

Issue #4 – Once the sweater was seamed, I realized I was not out of the woods yet.  The lower edge has several areas of stockinette stitch with no border or ribbing.  The pattern instructs you to do a single crochet edge to control the curl.  That didn't cut it.  I tried adding a second row, and it still curled.  I briefly considered doing an applied i-cord, but worried that after all that work, it would still curl.  In a brief flash of brilliance (if I may be so bold), I decided to pick up along the lower edge and knit a hem.  That did the trick and it lays perfectly flat:

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that this will be the end of my issues.  I've already tried it on Ben and it fits him beautifully.  Thanks Ben for your patience.  He only had to wait a year!

Christmas knitting continues on and I'm starting to get just a tad panicky.  I have one sleeve left to do on Ivy's, but that should be the work of only a few hours of knitting.  I've started Isobel's and the worst part of knitting the little ladybugs is over.  I do so hate carrying three colors in a row!

But I am finding that the stranded knitting tires my hands out, so I hope I will hold up.  I am remembering one of the downsides of multi-colored knitting – ends!!

Who would think that a tiny little sleeve could have that many ends to weave in?  Thank goodness Isobel's sweater is a cardigan and so I can whack those ends off.

In digital scrapbooking news, I received some incredible encouragement.  I belong to a subscription through Scrapper's Guide.  Every month I receive at least one (and sometimes two) kits and at least four video tutorials.  Linda Sattgast and her crew are absolutely the best teachers for digital scrapbooking and I highly recommend her classes.  Every month she picks a "top pick" of a scrapbook page using that month's kit.  My page, Cookie Time, was chosen as the top pick for November.  There were so many amazing pages in the gallery that I was very flattered and encouraged to be chosen.

I had predicted that our snow would be gone by Thanksgiving, but by last Thursday we still had roads that were icy and many were unplowed.  We decided not to risk having the family drive, so postponed our personal Thanksgiving until Saturday.  But on Thursday hubby and I headed over to our community Thanksgiving.  This is the 9th year of a community celebration and it's grown to serve over 5,000 people!  We volunteered to deliver meals to those who  couldn't get out and ended up delivering 17 meals on icy, snowy, hilly roads.  Forest came through like a champ!  I do miss my MINI at times, but was very thankful for the new car this year!  Monday we're taking it back so they can install the heated leather seats.  I'll like it even more then!  This car doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but that was one thing we both insisted on.  We had them on the MINI and we were thoroughly spoiled.

Off to do more color knitting – hubby and I have gotten hooked on the TV series "Heroes".  With four seasons of at least 21 episodes each, that's a lot of knitting time!  I'll just be glad when Hiro learns English so I don't have to keep looking up to read subtitiles.

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I posted!  For some reason, since we returned from vacation, life has taken an incredibly busy turn.  It doesn't seem to be any one thing, just lots of assorted family, church and social events.  All good stuff, but keeps me running.

Like many of us who entertain multiple hobbies, it seems as if they take turns coming to the forefront and becoming an obsession for a time.  Recently I've been spending a lot of time on digital scrapbooking.  I've signed up for a new class and am trying to refine my skills and speed up the time it takes me to design a page.  Currently I can often spend a whole day on one page.  I have a new incentive to get busy, though.  Several weeks back I decided to give the granddaughters the scrapbooks I had been working on since their births.  I thought they were old enough to enjoy them and since the pages are digital, if one gets ruined or bent, it's no big deal.  They were absolutely enthralled with them.  They each looked through their own book and then traded and looked through the other.  When Isobel saw all the blank page protectors in the back of her book, she said, "Look, there's room so we can put in our adventures!"  Awwww!  So now Nana needs to make a concentrated effort to keep up.  This past week we had them for an overnight visit and made Christmas cookies:

Next in line is to catch up on their birthday pages.  And of course, trying to make some semblance of order of the 38 years of family photos that I would like to eventually scrapbook.

Knitting hasn't been entirely put on the back burner.  For one, I am still plugging along on Ben's sweater, although no exciting photos to show.  From the notes on Ravelry, it was apparent that the sleeves on the Cambridge Jacket were going to be way too wide.  I narrowed them, but now have to recalculate the sleeve cap.  My first attempt was a little odd looking, to say the least.  I am now working on the second attempt and am hoping for the best.  Considering that this was Ben's last year's Christmas present, I really would like to have it finished by this year!

I've also been working on the girls' Christmas sweaters.  It was stealth knitting, but when Abby came last time she wanted to see, so I can now post photos:

This is Mei-Mei's sweater.  Isobel's will be the same theme, but a little different.

I've also made the impossible goal of 10 shawls in 2010!  I finished #10 this week.  This one still needs to be blocked, but I did finish blocking the previous ones:

Rosevine by Dorothy Siemens (Fiddlesticks Knitting).  Yarn – Exquisite, also by Fiddlesticks, size 2 needles.

Dewdrops by Dorothy Siemens (Fiddlesticks), yarn Exquisite, size 2 needles.

 
 Swallowtail by Evelyn Clarke, yarn Misti Alpaca Lace, size 2 needle.

Although this has been a fun challenge, it is not one that I will repeat in the future.  After the Christmas projects are done, I will probably start contemplating a large shawl project.  Both the Wedding Ring and Queen Susan Shawl are calling out to me and perhaps after the new year I will be ready to wrap my mind around a complex project.

We do have a new member of the family to report.  Well, not exactly family, but we did say a fond farewell to my little green Mini Cooper.  Agatha was a hoot to drive and so much fun, but we had to admit she had become impractical for our lives now.  We needed four doors and room for car seats.  In her place now is Forest:

Forest is a 2011 Subaru Forester.  One of his most endearing qualities is that he has all wheel drive.  This came in very handy this morning:

A very rare early snowstorm in Western Washington.  This was taken about 6 hours ago and it's been coming down heavy ever since.  Cars were slipping and sliding all around me, but I was nice and steady on the road and sure footed coming up the hill to my house.  However, I was not about to tempt fate and parked Forest in the garage where he will stay until the roads improve!  All of this snow will probably be gone by Thanksgiving.  Or at least we hope so!

Right before we left on vacation one of the ladies in my spinning group suggested that I enter something in the Island County Fair.  I told her I didn't have time to do that, so she volunteered to take some items for me.  She literally took Damson off my body and took a skein of handspun from my bag!  Imagine my surprise when she returned the items to me along with a huge honkin' ribbon:

I got Best Handspun Item!  To say I was gobsmacked is putting it mildly.  My humble little skein got a second place ribbon.  Definitely an encouraging turn of events.  Since I got back I've put in a little time at the wheel, but I've had some projects with deadlines that have taken priority.

This is not to say that knitting has not been accomplished.  I finished the Landscape Shawl. 

This is #9 of the 10 in 2010 shawl challenge on Ravelry.  Although I do have Christmas knitting to do, I think #10 will be fairly easy to accomplish.  The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, size 4 needle.  I really do love this pattern.  It's not completely mindless because you need to pay attention to stitch count and there was some ripping, tinking and cussing involved.  But I think this is one that I will probably do again.

I also bit the bullet and started blocking my big pile of shawls.  I decided to do the most challenging first and it didn't seem to be as bad as I had anticipated.  I give you Aeolian:

Although this will probably be a one only pattern, it is by far one of my favorite finished shawls.  Yarn is Zen Garden Serenity, size 2 needle. 

Stash enhancement has also taken place.  I got a package today from Knit Picks:

From left to right – Stroll Tonal in Foliage and Deep Waters.  They were both a little more vibrant than I expected, but will make nice socks, patterns to be determined.  In the middle, Shimmer in the Hush colorway.  Man, I love everything about this yarn.  This is destined to be shawl #10, a Free and Easy Pie Wedge Shawl.  The thought of a shawl done entirely in garter stitch is a little daunting, but Li has done several and raves about them, so I'm going to give it a try.  I am so dying to cast this one on right this very minute, but I have some birthday socks that need to be done by Friday, so I will practice self control. 

The white is Lace Weight Bare.  This will probably be the Snowflakes in Cedarwoods shawl by Anne Hanson.  I've had this lovely pattern in my file for quite a while and think it's time to give it a whirl.  So, with all of this yarn, the projects I already have started, including my son's sweater and Christmas sweaters for the girls, my knitting dance card should be filled for the next 6 months or so.  Of course, that doesn't include any yarn that I might spin!  Retirement is certainly not boring!

Bill's mom's memorial service is this weekend, and the entire family will be in town – I think we counted about 42, so this will be a busy time.  I know it will be bittersweet as we say goodbye, but will also be a wonderful time of remembering and looking ahead to great family times in the future.

 

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted.  I have been quite the busy little bee, though.  Lots of knitting has been accomplished.

First off – I've finished the back and fronts for Ben's sweater:

I'm happy to report that they blocked out to the exact correct measurements!  I'm currently working on the first sleeve and holding my breath.  I had to redraft the pattern.  In looking at the Ravelry posts, it appears the sleeves are just too wide.  I looked at common measurements for the size I'm making, and sure enough, the sleeves as written are 3 inches wider than that!  What was the designer thinking?  Since my son is on the slim side, I knew I'd need to adjust.  So, I got out my Sweaters 101 book and made up a new pattern.  Here's hoping it works.

I also decided I needed to heed the call and knit some hats for Shanti's project.  If you're not familiar with her blog, you really need to head on over.  Shanti is a knitter, but is also getting ready to take command of a Navy ship.  How cool is that??  For Christmas, she would like to give all the sailors under her command (all 278 of them) a care package that includes a hand knitted hat, since the ship is rather cold.  I had put off doing some because I didn't have any 100% washable wool in my stash.  They can't have any acrylic because of the fire hazard.  But another plea went out because the hats just weren't coming in, so I toodled on down to my LYS and picked up three skeins and have almost finished all three Squib Hill hats. 

The yarn I'm using is Plymouth Worsted Merino Superwash.  What a wonderful yarn!  It's a little pricey, but it is incredibly soft and luscious. 

Another pair of socks becomes an FO:

These are Cookie A's BFF socks out of Knit Picks Stroll Tweed.  This is really a nice, basic sock pattern – not as complicated as many of her patterns are.  The pattern is for sale on Ravelry, but if you scroll down on the page, you'll see that you can get it free, which is what I did. (Edited to add – the link I had is not working, but Marguerite sent this: http://www.knitanon.com/blog/bff.html). Thanks Marguerite!

The Landscape Shawl is also approaching the end. 

I really do love this pattern, but it has not been without a stumble or two.  The patterns are no-brainers, but you have to be very careful of your stitch count.  It's terribly easy to get off and I've had to drop down and tink a few times because I forgot a decrease or added one where it wasn't needed.

When the granddaughters were here last I decided to give them their scrapbooks.  I figured they were old enough to appreciate them, but was really surprised by what a big hit they were.  They had so much fun looking at all the pages.  When Isobel got to the end of hers, she noticed all the blank page protectors.  She looked at me and said, "These are for all our adventures!"  From the mouths of babes – it really warmed my heart.  So, that does put pressure on me to keep up with our adventures:

Kits used – Harvest by Joanne Brisebois and Thankfully by Krystal Hartley.

It's off to Snohomish today.  I'm sewing dresses for the girls to wear to my mother-in-law's memorial service and I need to try them on before I get too far.  Then off to the Apple store for what I fear is going to be a very expensive battery replacement for my iPod Touch.

Last week hubby had to go downtown for something and he said he was a little surprised to find people going about their business as if nothing had happened.  It was an interesting phenomenon and a little surreal.  For us, life will never be the same without his Mom.  That's not to say that life will not be wonderful and joyous.  But when you lose a parent, life changes. 

One of the things that I really wanted to do this week was get back to my scrapbooking.  I finally got a system of organization going so that I can actually find things.  The first pages I did were a scrapbooking challenge from Scrapper's Guide.  I should add that if you are interested in getting into digital scrapbooking, they are the ones to go to for tutorials.

The template is by Jenny Binder, the kit used is In His World by Veronica Spriggs.

I also did a page using a quick page, Blumen by Theresa Lindamood (who I was so pleased to meet up with on our trip):

On the knitting front, I started the Landscape Shawl by Evelyn Clark and have found myself a little obsessed with it.  I think it's because it's rather mindless knitting, although you do have to pay attention to stitch count and what row you're on.  If you forget a picot or add one where it's not due yet, there is no hope but to rip back.  You can't pick those puppies up (not enough yarn), or let them down (too much yarn).  I'm on the last stitch pattern, but since the rows are rather long and it's getting a little bulky to handle, I've slowed up considerably.  I have a feeling this will not be my last Landscape Shawl.

The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy.  This is a perfect pattern for a lightly variegated sock yarn.

I've also been busy stitiching a multitude of heavenly hosts for our upcoming church bazaar:

Things have kind of come to a screeching halt, however, as I have run out of water soluble stabilizer.  Our Walmart here used to carry a wonderful, cheap stabilizer, but I was dismayed to find out they no longer carry it.  I sent them a stern letter as now I'll have to make a trip over to the mainland to try and find it there.  If the Walmart there doesn't carry it, I'll have to find a new stabilizer.  I really hate it when something works, works well and then you have to find a whole new system!

Tomorrow hubby and I celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary.  We can't do much tomorrow because of some obligations around here, but will celebrate Friday by a trip off island to find stabilizer and then dinner out.   We really know how to live, don't we??

Ruth Waite

December 19, 1925 – October 6, 2010

We said goodbye to our dear mother and mother-in-law yesterday.  She is now in the arms of the Savior she loved and served all of her life.  We rejoice for her, but grieve that her loving presence is no longer with us.  She was truly a selfless servant of the Lord, always thinking of others before herself.  Despite an often challenging life, she never showed signs of bitterness or self-pity.  We will miss her.

Thirty days, sixteen states, 7,890 miles, 14 hotel rooms, 11 cousins, a new great-niece and great-nephew, 2 brothers, 2 parents, 3 national parks, numerous museums, gardens and national waterways.  Countless restaurant meals, 3 audio books and hundreds of tunes – bluegrass, classical, rock and gospel.  Three and a half shawls and one half of a sock completed.  And it was all good!  What a wonderful experience this was.  When we first started planning this trip we had certain attractions that we wanted to visit.  What we hadn't counted on were the unplanned attractions – places that the locals recommended or places that we just stumbled across.  It was wonderful to see different parts of the country – the scenery, the food, the people.  But when all was said and done – there really is no place like home.  Being away from home really reinforces how much we love where we live and how very comfortable our house is.  And sleeping in our own bed that first night was heaven on earth!

This was the most wired trip we have ever made: GPS, iPad, 3 iPods (his, mine and ours), a laptop and two cell phones.  We were a little reluctant at first, but we made use of all of them (except my iPod, which is having battery issues).  We couldn't have done without the GPS – we were never lost, although "Jane" seemed to have a sense of humor, including leading us through the slums of Indianapolis to our hotel, which was in actuality right off the interstate!  The iPad was wonderful – not only could we keep in touch with friends over Facebook while on the road, it was also a great photo album, allowing us to share old family photos with all of the cousins.  Since I also had my laptop with the same photos, we were able to download them to flash drives to whomever wanted them.  We had one iPod dedicated to audio books, which helped some of the long boring stretches go much faster.

We arrived at Ben and Abby's house on Wednesday afternoon and the girls and Maggie were so happy to see us:

We were worried that Maggie may have forgotten us and decided she preferred her new home, but she greeted us so enthusiastically.  Of course, she doesn't have a tail, but she was wagging her little butt so much I was afraid it was going to fall off!  The first two nights at home she seemed a little disoriented, but she fell back into our routines fairly quickly.

It was fun to get back in my sewing room and to my machine again.  I finished Mei-Mei's quilt top:

All of the blocks for Isobel's are done; they just have to be put together.  Then comes the real challenge – quilting them.  Realistically I will need to machine quilt, but that is definitely not my strength.

I also came home with a boatload of lace to block:

The pile includes two scarves which have been finished forever, but never blocked.  On the trip I finished Aeolian – those last border rows took forever!  And I finished three more small shawls from start to finish.

You might think I was burned out on shawls, but when I got home I cast on #9 of 10 in 2010 – the Landscape Shawl by Evelyn Clark.  I'm using the Dream in Color Smooshy that I bought at Paradise Fibers.  This is a pretty mindless knit, which is good right now as I settle back into routine.

And routine it is this week – Bible Study group, yoga lessons, knitting group, spinning group.  But that's all good too.

Today I visited Paradise – Paradise Fibers in Spokane, WA.  Words fail me.  It is truly a yarn and fiber lovers' paradise:

I was able to view the world's largest set of Addi Turbo's:

Of course, some goodies jumped into my bag, a couple of skeins of Dream in Color Smooshy for a shawl, some merino/silk top for a vest (I hope) and some really cute puppy snips:

Last night we visited with hubby's brother in Cheny, WA:

We met our new great-niece Shiloh for the first time:

We also snuggled with some really cute puppies:

We could have had one for the taking, but they are mastiffs and will grow to about 150 pounds, so we passed.  I don't think Maggie would be amused.

Tonight we're spending the night with hubby's other brother in Pullman, WA:

And my fellow knitting buddy, my sister-in-law Debbie:

Tomorrow we will be home and sleeping in our own bed.  Now that's paradise!!