Bron's Blog II

Man, Am I Tired

The main reason I don't teach full time is the exhaustion factor! I'm finished with my 4 days in middle school & have a little over 4 hours today in grade school, then I'm taking a 5 day weekend...at least! I've been having a good time, but I definitely need some "chill time."

Chill time = knitting time too. Here's my pitiful progress on Amelie:

I should finish the back today & cast on for a front. Tiredness + icky yarn = less progress than I'd hoped. My goal is to have the two fronts finished before I go back & knit on "Cabaret." It's very close to being done - Cabaret that is - just the raglan shaping on the sleeves, sew it together & finish the neckline. Maybe this weekend I'll have another FO. That would give me a much needed lift while going back to knitting on Amelie!

I have no words for what's happened in our southern Gulf states. I don't think anyone realized that Katrina would bring our worst natural disaster ever. All the dead, the homeless, the utter devastation - it's mind-boggling. A teacher from our school was called away with FEMA to Louisiana - I had to sub her class part of the day - she has no idea how long she'll be gone. It amazes me how far-reaching the effects will be.

I'll be holding good thoughts for those laid low by this tragedy while finding out how else I can help.

All Amelie, All The Time

Sorry, folks. Until this one is a lot closer to completion, you're going to be seeing lots of "Highlander Blue" mohair:

The pic is a bit fuzzy (no pun intended) but this shows the true color of the mohair. Just one more blessed inch & I'll cast off for the armholes. That'll SO happen tonight. The sooner I'm finished with this, the sooner I can get back to my other 10 zillion projects.

If you love Cotton Ease and greatly mourn it's passing, or if you're confused & scornful of all the hoopla surrounding this beloved yarn's demise, this link explains it all. Hilarious, but for those of us who are true CE freaks, oh-so-true!

Mohair, Knitter's & The Last Garage Sale Ever

Even though I was sorely tempted to go back to knitting on my Cotton Ease Raglan (that's soooo close to completion) I kept my eyes on the prize (a finished present) and knit on with mohair (ewwww):

Only 4 1/2" to go & I can cast off for the armholes. It is going fast - thank the gods. I don't know what I'd do if I were knitting mohair on size 2 needles. ::::shudder:::

Truly, this must be the last garage sale ever:

(Hubbie walking in background) I'm happy to say that most of what didn't sell (except for big ticket items like the freezer) went to Goodwill after. From now on, we need to make Goodwill our 1st stop! Heck - I had odds & ends of yarn for sale & no-one touched it. The only yarn that went were two, slightly used skeins of LB Boucle. Go figure. Too much work for too little return.

Speaking of too much work for too little return, the mailman delivered this yesterday:

I suppose if you like stripes & "color block" you'd like this issue. Well...even then, I don't know. Personally, I was bored stiff. Not one thing even remotely interested me:

This cardi is billed as "wide & generous as a poncho." Um...yep, it is. 'Nuff said.

See how small that picture is? (Although I've cropped & enlarged for your viewing pleasure.) That's the only full size view of the sweater that you get - about 2" x 4". The big pic is a close-up of the model's face, looking happy. There are at least 4 sweaters that are photographed like that & although the models are lovely to look at, I'd rather see a larger full-length view of the sweater. However, that's just in general. I really don't want to see more of this particular sweater - it looks very hot & uncomfortable (knit in "novelty mohair yarn!!!!) and it's also unflattering if you have any hips at all!

Guess what? There's a tutorial on "knitting filet crochet." I have lots of comments about this one, but I'll just share that I think some things should be left to their respective crafts - filet crochet is one.

I don't know what I find most unappealing about this...the colors? The half stripes/half triangles? The basic crewneck styling? I don't know - probably a combination of all three. It's just so....eh.

The cover sweater is meant to resemble a Hudson Bay Blanket. I think it's very 70's with the hood & the toggle closers. There's nothing particularly wrong with it - but I'd never knit it.

I have one issue left in my Knitter's subscription and I think I'll let it run out. In fact, I think I'll let all my subscriptions run out & just buy the issues that interest me from now on. The magazines are too inconsistent - some "themes" aren't me & those issues I'll pass by.

I picked up another job for next Wed., so the 1st 3 days of the week will be busy. I turned down a 7 day job doing English at a middle school - if I wanted to work full time, I'd sign on as a full time teacher! As it is, I'm still trying to hold it to 2-3 days/wk.

After all - I have stuff to knit!

Mohair, Shmohair

This stuff is nasty:

The beginnings of my Bio-Mom's "Amelie" and the first & last time I'll ever knit with mohair. It's hard on my hands - scratchy & rough (kinda like Noro Kureyon, but I digress) and all those little fibers shed & fly everywhere - it's worse than dog hair! Especially when it gets into my eye.

I wonder if I could knit while wearing a Hasmat suit?

At least it was much easier to wind into a ball than I'd expected.

I've put "Tapestry" on hold for the time being since "Amelie" is supposed to be a B-day present that I need to have finished in ...oh....4 days. ha! No - actually she's gone on her B-day (the 31st) so I have a week's reprieve. But I still need to hustle.

For the contrasting stripe in "Amelie" we picked up Jo Sharp's Rare Comfort Kid Mohair - I'll be interested to see if I enjoy using it any more than the Louet Sales. At least the Jo Sharp has a shorter halo - fewer little bits to get stuck in my eye!

I got a big surprise in the mail yesterday - a lovely gift from Marie:

As she said in her note, just 'cause she didn't jump on the CE bandwagon for herself, there was no reason she couldn't for me. What a sweetie! 4 skeins of Sugarplum CE, plus a nifty hook/notions holder...that's already full of crochet hooks. :) Then there were these:

Marie makes lovely stitch markers & I have no idea how she knew the little hand ones were my favs. I can't wait to use them!  Even though she didn't intend it, I'm counting this package as an early B-day present. :)

Thanks so much, Marie! What a great package!!

Marie had major surgery on Wednesday. I haven't heard, but I'm assuming she came through just fine. The recovery time will be kind of long but at least she'll have plenty of knitting time. :) Go on over & wish her well. Any kind of surgery is no fun at all.

Not much knitting going on today - it's GARAGE SALE DAY! Woohoo!

Every year we say, "Never again" and every year was have another garage sale. But our neighbors across the street are having an estate sale today so hopefully our traffic will increase accordingly.

Sidenote: Did the pics from my picot entry disappear for anyone else? Or is it just me. I swear, once every month or so, Typepad loses my pictures & just substitutes the names. Guess I'll go delete them all & reload & see if that fixes it. Sigh.

Happy Weekend!

Lots Of Stuff - Including Pesky Picots

I had a great first day back. The kids were great, I only had 3 classes of them, I was done at 1:20 and I'll still get paid for a full day.

Subbing doesn't get much better. ;)

I was over at Jillz blog the other day when she was talking about Ene's Scarf from Scarf Style. It kinda/sorta stuck in my head 'cause I have an absolutely gorgeous skein of cotton lace weight from Blue Heron Yarns gifted to me by Nat. Hmmmmm....

I wonder if it would work? I wonder if I would go insane knitting all that lace? (However amusing that would be to my readers.....) I just don't know. It's going on the maybe-someday-maybe-sooner pile. (Which is now as high as my house. :::wink:::)

Oh yeah...there's this:

We all know what this is.

Now, we shall never speak of it again.

Ahem.

On to picots. Picots can be a pain in crochet. They slow you down & they're difficult to get to look exactly right. Most directions say something along the lines of: "Ch 3, sc in same stitch" or "Ch 3, sc in base of ch" or "ch 3, sl st in same sc" etc., etc.

In the pic below, the top picot is the "sc, ch3, sl st in sc" - awkward to execute, this one ends up twisting your yarn around in the front of the stitch & it looks terrible. The little holey picot on the far right is the "sc in next sc, ch 3, sc in same sc." As you can see, that makes a loop rather than a picot.

In the second pic, the picot on the left is made as "ch 3, sl st in base ch" - this make a pointy picot with one stitch kind of sticking out above all the rest. (At least mine do - they're almost squared off!) The picot on the right is how I finally decided to make mine:

It makes a well-rounded, smooth picot and...most importantly....it's fast! Here's how. Ch 3:

Then, put your hook in the front two loops of the base stitch, NOT the top two loops of the base or any other two loops for that matter, like this:

These two loops are always easier to access than the ch loops or the top loops of the stitch so it makes this faster to execute.

Pull through & you're ready to go on with your pattern. Try it 'cause it's hard to capture what I'm saying in pics. Your yarn won't get bunched up anymore, your chain will make a nice picot instead of sticking out all over the place & every picot will be uniform - I guarantee it. :) If you're making a picot on top of a double or triple crochet, just always use the front two loops at the top of your stitch.

This method has taken my "hatred" of picots down several notches - now they're just mildly annoying. :::Grin::::

Wish I could fix my bobble antipathy just as easily!

Cabaret Singer

No great meaning to today's title - I've just gotten tired of typing "Cabaret Raglan." :::grin:::

The front & sleeve beginnings:

Close-up of the design:

I've always liked Norah Gaughan's designs - I really don't know why this is the first I've made. Kinda like Elsebeth Lavold, I guess. Love her, just never knitted her. ;)

The sleeves I'm changing to elbow-length because I really liked that length on Cafe' Cardi. I just skipped all the increasing & cast on the final # of stitches - 12 more per sleeve. I'll stockinette for about 7" before the raglan shaping instead of 12". Easy-peasy.

Speaking of easy-peasy, I read Vera's latest post with complete sympathy. Oh - those things we "hate" about either crocheting or knitting. Like Vera, I'm a speed demon & resent those little do-hickeys that get in the way of a quickly completed project. (Can you say, "bobble hell?" I knew ya could!) Also like Vera, I disliked picots for years. I could never get the little buggers to lie flat & look decent following the instructions given in the pattern directions & "learn to crochet" books. However, I finally figured out a way to make a picot & have it look good - at least in my opinion. :::grin:::

Since I'm going to be working the next couple of days & knit time will be short, I've already taken pics of my picot (say that 3 times fast) and will post the method tomorrow. I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with it, but heck - I'll share anyway. Hopefully it'll help a person or two. :)

So tune in tomorrow for "Oh, Those Pesky Picots!" hehehe

I Don't Join Knit-Alongs

So this must be the exception that proves the rule.:::grin::: Amy is hosting a Kepler Knit Along and I like the pattern so much I up & joined. I'll be adding the button to my sidebar shortly and can't wait to get started.

Guess what yarn I'll be using? Yep - it's (shhhhhhhh!) cotton ease. For several reasons, actually:

• I'm committed to knitting from my stash. It's huge - it's almost huge enough to be embarrassing. Must-knit-down-stash!
• I don't like to wear any wool against my skin - too hot & most of the time too itchy. I'm a cotton girl, through & through.
• I have Strawberry Cream CE that would look great in the pattern. Pink as a wearable color for me has really taken root in my brain. :::Grin:::
• Cotton Ease really shows cabling well and I love knitting with it.

But first I need to finish "Cabaret Raglan" - another CE wonder:

I'm not the best at mirrored decreases, but I'm soldiering on. The middle bit looks odd, but that's just how the stitches are sticking on the cord.

I should have the front finished today & a get a start on the sleeves. I'm so close I might as well work on this until it's done, then go back to "Tapestry" - I have 4" to go on it before the back is complete. Then I'll cast on for "Amelie" and "Kepler."

Busy, busy, eh? Especially since my substitute days are starting this week. Dylan's gifted teacher has requested me for Thurs., Fri., and then Mon. & Tues. of next week. I'm going in this morning to get acquainted with a few of her students & find out what we'll be doing. She told me yesterday that the 3 gifted teachers have decided to use me exclusively this year, to provide continuity for their students even when they aren't there.

Very cool. ::::Grin:::

Knit with cotton - be not ashamed! (hehehehe) Crochet with it too. 

I Promised A Modeling Shot

So here are three:

The original was a little dark - here's one lightened up for you:

And the back:

Project: "Floral Sense" from Family Circle Easy Crochet - Winter, 2005
Yarn: 6 balls Katia Pisco in (obviously) black.
Hook: J
Time: A good weekend project - this took about 6 hours.
For: My Bio-Mom, although I'm thinking I'll make one for myself 'cause even though I don't really like capelets, this one kinda grew on me. It certainly fits with the Gypsy/Victorian feeling you see in the fashion mags this fall. I particularly like the back. :)

That big monstrosity behind me? Our "Shrank-rhymes-with-"honk." :::grin:::

See yesterday's entry for my thoughts on Easy Crochet & Interweave Crochet.

Have a great Monday!!!

Crochet Nirvana

Guess what I found yesterday?

The Interweave Crochet was at my LYS (where I went to finally get the right contrast color for my Bio-Mom's "Amelie") and the Easy Crochet was at Barnes & Noble - the store that's consistently getting in mags & books about 1 to 3 weeks before everyone else.

I liked "Easy Crochet." I showed it to my Bio-Mom & she liked it too. In fact, she liked this one so much:

That she wanted me to make one for her upcoming trip to Florida. To have something to throw over her shoulders for cool nights on the beach. I started it yesterday from some black Katia Pisco...:

....and I should be finished sometime this morning. (Ignore the occasional wonky edge - I didn't get it spread out correctly & a couple things will be corrected when I put on the edging.) The yarn I'm using is thinner than the Bernat Softee Chunky called for in the pattern, but I think I'll get a better drape with a thinner yarn. So far I'm liking it. Whether I'll make one for myself remains to be seen. I doubt I'd ever wear it. I don't walk on the beach much. :::wink:::

Here are some other tidbits from the mag:

I think this is really cute, but the rippled zipper bothers me. See how it looks like a washboard going up the front? I'm wondering if that's inherent in the pattern or if it's her posture or if someone just put it in incorrectly. Hmmmmm.... Of course, the pics a little dark too so it's hard to see detail.

This is done in Paton's "Mosaic" which I've never seen, but I'm thinking another bulky-type yarn would do fine:

What can I say? I like the scalloped bottom edge. :)

There are lots of hats & scarves included, as well as a section on the "new" granny - a few of the patterns look really nice. For me, this magazine was worth it. :)

Interweave Crochet is interesting. Whether or not I make any of the patterns, Annie Modesitt's essay "It Most Certainly is my Grandmother's Crochet" was worth the price of admission. Pure gold and precisely my thoughts on the whole "old" vs "new" crochet and the relative merits of each. (Just remember - everything "new" isn't necessarily "good." Ms. Modesitt says what I've been dying too!)

I do like this, although not striped:

It uses LB "Colorwaves" and I think that yarn in a single colorway would give enough subtle variation to make it an interesting sweater. Something to throw on & go when it's nippy outside. (Remember nippy weather? I'm starting too!)

There are tea cozies in both magazines, which I'm taking as a sign that I need to get off my duff & make one. IC has a couple of very tailored jackets which, while still looking a bit heavy 'cause they're crocheted, have really nice detailing. Lily Chin's jacket has interior waist & bust darts - that's something you don't see in Annie's Attic's latest pamphlet. :::wink:::

Of course there's also the horrible shells hat - I won't even bother posting a pic!

All in all, I like 'em both & I'm glad I bought them. Definitely worth a look/see when you're in the neighborhood.

Look/see what came in the mail yesterday (my cup runneth over):

Hmmmmm...Classic Elite's Flash! 10 skeins of "Crocus" and one to two skeins of various brights. This stuff is about $4.25/skein - I got the lot for $13.25 on eBay. For that price I had to buy it! I'll put it with the Flash I already have - about 8 skeins of "Cactus Flower" I salvaged from a sweater I knit about 3 years ago - and then let it all marinate in my stash. After all, summer 2006 is only 9 months away! hehehe

I'm off to finish that capelet - I promise a modeling pic for next time. :)

Alllllrighty Then!

"Something completely different" was, perhaps, a little too different. I even lost a subscriber! Soooo...back to this & that & a little bit of everything - now up to 97% about crafting. :) Thanks to those who left comments about their collections, though - I think the things we choose to live with say a lot about who we are.

Perhaps you've heard that some in the knitting blog community have banded together to help Emma, a great knitter, lovely blogger & all around dear woman who has a wonderful son, Oliver. Oliver happens to need quite a bit of specialized (read: expensive) equipment to help him lead a full & active life. If you click on over to her blog, there's a PayPal button to use if you feel inclined to donate a bit to help the cause. :)

Speaking of clicking, run with your mouse, don't walk, over to this blog and check out Emily's "Kepler" pattern. I'm enamored, so say the least. It's gone on my to-do list, near the top! Thanks to Wendy (no - another Wendy) for pointing it out to me. :) And major kudos to Emily for designing such an awesome sweater!! Cables + body-consciousness = a must knit. :::Grin:::

I asked a good friend of mine if her daughter would like a sweater like "Cyndy" for Christmas (I was actually thinking of sending mine) but she replied that her daughter never wears sweaters - it's long & short-sleeved T-shirts only fo her. So, I guess she'll get earrings instead:

Not sure if she'll get this exact pair, but something similar. I'm obviously wishing for Fall - everything I make jewelry-wise is golden, reddish or copper!

Meet scary:

"Scary" 'cause no matter how many time I cavalierly change a pattern, I always wonder if I'm doing the right thing....if it will work out ok....if I'm totally crazy in the head. (Ok - don't answer that last one.)
But....I'm thinking "so far, so good." I figure I'll make 8" armholes, casting off for the back of the neck with about 2" to go to the top - I want the scoop neckline to really scoop & not stick up in back. I've measured the leave design too & a third repeat should end right at the shoulder line - almost like it was supposed to be that way. ;) Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh - by the way. Let me officially go on record as saying that I dislike bobbles intensely. ('Cause, you know - my Mama always told me "hate" was too strong a word.) I know I've seen a bobble-choking tutorial somewhere - I need to find it for next time. I'm too far in to start bobbling a different way on this sweater, but I want to be ready for my next excruciatingly painful bobble experience. Yessirree Bobble! (Ok - I couldn't resist - ya'll can shoot me now. ::::wink:::)

As it is, I'm going to have to go back & tie a few down. Ok - I'm going to tie them all down on the wrong side and then beat them into submission. As they are now they look like odd, malignant growths of some sort. Altogether now: Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

Random thought for the day: I've realized yet another reason why I enjoy blogging so much. With a blog, you can reread, rethink & rewrite to your heart's content. If you're not really sure about posting something, you can save it for awhile, have 2nd, 3rd...even 12th thoughts, and then either hit "post" or "delete." With lists & such, you don't have that luxury. Many more "knee-jerk" posts/comments get sent than probably shouldn't, eh?

I was rearranging our shrank (a German cabinet/hutch - pronounced with an "a" sound like "honk"...that's as near as I can get it so early in the morning. hehe) yesterday, unpacked a box & came across this:

This 4 cup little darling came from Doug's maternal grandfather and this makes it official. I have 2 teapots, therefore I'm a collector!

Knit scarily, Crochet whimsically, Collect whole-heartedly.