Bron's Blog II

Fountain Lace Cardi Fun

Since there isn't a rule about posting twice in one day, I decided I couldn't wait to share. :) Besides, it's back to work tomorrow - yikes! I took advantage of a little free time tonight and....here she is!:

"Hola, Senor!"

"Excuse me while I turn my back for a second."

"Look at my pretty buttons!"

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille..."

Here are the stats on this most glorious, first sweater of 2007 here at Casa De Bron:

Pattern - From the booklet "River", 2005, Classic Elite

Yarn - 6 skeins of the new Cotton Ease is "Almond."

Needles - Size 8 KP Optiions

Mods - I made the body 4" longer and the sleeves 6" shorter.

Satisfaction quotient - unlimited.

Ok - I'm getting my own horn and blowin' it, baby. I love this sweater. From top to bottom, from lace to fit, this is a winner. I had a moment of panic when I thought the fronts weren't going to be wide enough to meet across my chest (!!!) but all was well once the button bands were knit on. (I added a couple of rows to each button band for the heck of it - I'm sure that made a difference. ::wink:::)

I can't say enough about the new CE. Just like the old CE but in lovely, grown-up colors. It was a dream to knit - soft & forgiving.

There were (gasp!) NO errors in the pattern. I was using light worsted yarn instead of the DK called for in the pattern, so I knit the size 38 to get a 42 and it was spot on for size.

I think I need to rest on something...where DID I put those laurels??????

Movies, Sleeves and Weight Watchers

Yesterday we watched two films, Lady In The Water (from Netflix) and Firewall on HBO. Of the two, "Lady" is a much better film. Although I love Harrison Ford, this film is so generic it lost me a quarter of the way in. He displays emotion but it's mostly over-the-top anger - no subtlety here! I'll admit, however, that the fight scene at the end was one of the grittiest I've seen. Talk about slugging it out!

On the flip side, I'd recommend "Lady" if you're looking for something different. I was expecting to either love the film (ie. "The Sixth Sense") or hate it (don't get me started on "The Village!") but remarkably I landed somewhere in the middle. It wasn't what I was expecting - we'd deliberately not read reviews - and the adult fairy-tale aspect was intriguing. M. Night Shyamalan had originally written the story as a bedtime story for his children but, of course, his fairy-tales are twisted! I enjoyed all the different characters and how they fit into the grand scheme and it was fun watching Shyamalan in the middle of it all.

The kids were a little disappointed, though, since we'd seen the movie trailers in the theater and were expecting something scarier. And I think we were all expecting a little something more at the end.

I managed quite a bit on Fountain's sleeves yesterday:

I think I'm finally going to change something in the pattern, however. They show the sleeves being 12" long before beginning the sleeve cap and in the picture, the model has the sleeves pushed up to above her elbows:

I'd like the sleeves to come to the bend of my elbow naturally - no pushing required. That's probably on my mind because I wore Nantucket last week and really enjoyed the sleeve length - not too long, not too short. :) I think I'll hold a Fountain sleeve up to a Nantucket sleeve & go from there. If I'm stopping soon, I'll need to step up the increases accordingly!

Either way, you just might be seeing a finished cardi sometime Monday. :) I'm going to mosey out today & see if I can find some off-white buttons to match. ::grin:: I can't wait to have this one finished - I really think I'm going to love it!

Now - on to that Weight Watchers bit. I don't know what it is - whether after 2 years I lost a little of my "oomph", a little of my drive, or what, but these final pounds are proving difficult...especially since I gained 10 of them back over Christmas! I tried counting calories as I was doing before the holidays and for 2 weeks, nothing happened. I finally decided I'd had enough with dicking around (so to speak) and on impulse I pulled up Weight Watchers Online & signed up for 3 months. For $65, someone else is telling me how much to eat (although not what to eat - I'm doing the Flex plan, not Core) and so far I love it. I enter everything I eat and am planning to eat into the Tracker and everything is figured for me - no mess, no fuss, no strain.

I've lost 4 pounds in 2 days. It's also good to get immediate feedback from the scale! (No - it's not "just water" either. ::wink::)

You'll never catch me at a meeting, but the online plan might just be the ticket for me. If all goes well and I don't hit a plateau, 3 months is probably all I need to get darn close to my final goal. It would be great to have all the weight gone by summer. :)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear an exercise bike calling my name.....

The Lace Bits Are Complete

The sleeves will go fast with just stockinette & seed stitch to contend with. :) I'm hoping to have them done by Monday - we'll see!

I have my car back after having the water pump, the power steering pump and the clutch assembly on the A/C compressor replaced to the tune of $785.00. Sigh. Although you have to look on the bright side. If we'd needed the A/C compressor replaced, it would've run a cool thousand bucks just for the compressor part!!! Yeah - I know it's not summer yet, but when he replaced the water & power steering pumps and started the car, the A/C clutch assembly started to smoke! Thus the need for immediate replacement. ::wink::

At least it runs smooth as silk now!

I forgot to tell you that I wore Nantucket to school the other day. No comments at all, although I saw "the" teacher three times. However, I loved wearing it and that's what counts, even if no-one else notices!

Weekend weather report: Looks like the storm stayed north of us so all we're getting now is rain. Yesterday was a huge melt day for us - we're finally starting to see the ground again!

That's it for now although I need to apologize in advance: I'm going to be going back & putting the posts relating to Fountain Lace Cardi in the new category I've made so those of you with Bloglines or other news readers may see this post pop up over & over again as Typepad republishes.

See ya Monday!

She Lives To Type Another Day

Although just barely. Last night, for the first time in months, I had one of those "fall asleep for 3 hours, then wake-up with insomnia for 3 or 4 hours, then crash for another two before the alarm goes off" nights. I hate that. It's not something you can take a pill for since you can't predict when it will happen and when it DOES happen, there usually isn't enough time until morning to TAKE a sleeping pill & sleep it off.

Blech. Send me some stay-awake vibes today, ok? I have a full day subbing & then the meeting with out financial adviser at 4 and I'm already yawning!

I had an emergency sub call yesterday for 1st period (I'd been scheduled to go in at 11:15 for 3rd & 4th) so Doug zipped down to Wally-World & picked up a new keyboard for us. (One that had the words "Spill Resistant" prominently placed on the box. hehehe)

Dylan actually wrote me a note telling what had happened & left it for me to find when I woke up. :) He's a good kid & accidents happen. (He was taking a drink and it went down the wrong way. He coughed & the rest is history!) It's not like keyboards are $50 any more either. ;) However, we ARE limiting beverages in proximity to the computer!

Even though I was thrown back into subbing rather abruptly yesterday, I'm in a pretty good mood about it. ::grin::After all, this Mama needs that extra cash to buy things like this:

It's a lovely, dark purple corduroy barn coat from L.L. Bean. I love it! It has thinsulate inside and it's rated to 20 degrees - normally all I'd ever need in Albuquerque's winters. (Plus it was on SALE!) The purple exactly matches LB's Kool Wool (the colors are true in the above photo - the coat & yarn are in no way brownish/purple!):

So I think this new coat needs a new scarf and hat to go with, don't you? I'll be designing some sort of cabled scarf & hat set - details to follow!

I was going to share my crocheted version of Calorimetry, but I'm too tired to go there right now. Instead, I'll save that for tomorrow and show you the completed left front of Fountain Cardi:

I might need to rip & redo the neckline shaping since I started about an inch or so later than the pattern stated. I'm not sure if it will be too high or not after the band is knit. I've got about 4" complete on the right front & will take that to school today in case I get my two hour lunch/prep period. I'm subbing for Dylan's gifted class so at least I know what to expect!

What I really should do is take my pillow & blankie for a nap! LOL Happy Hump Day everyone. :)

 

Sometimes Life Comes At You In A Rush

And you HAVE to go with the flow or you'll be crushed & left by the wayside.

Yesterday Doug went over to the rental house to clean out some ice from the roof (flat roofs + 12" of snow + melt off = disaster) and the husband told us they'd found another house to buy & they'd be out by the end of the month! (Soooo nice of them to give us 30 days notice, eh?)

We'd really been hoping the renters would somehow swing buying that house. However, the man said his credit score was under 600 (ouch!) so there was no way he'd qualify for a loan. They managed to find a house a couple of blocks from here with owner financing and "only" $1,200/mo. (They are late every month with their rent of $925. How they'll manage the $1,200 on time is beyond me!)

But - that's not our problem any more. (Except the final month's rent, which is late once again, and which he swears he'll have by NEXT Friday at the latest. Sigh.) We'll be putting a FSBO out next week and as soon as the last child is cleared out, we need to get in there with new appliances, kitchen cabinets, counter tops, toilets, vanities, carpet & paint. (Let's just say they didn't take the best care of things. ::cough, cough:::)

So - instead of being able to take our time and start looking for a house for us first, we'll be spending the month of February renovating. ::big sigh:: It's really thrown us for a loop and made everything more immediate. As in, we need to get crackin' right NOW on all this house selling, house renting, house buying crap!

::sarcasm font on:: And no - of course we have nothing else to worry about right now! ::sarcasm font off::

Just had to vent - on to fibery stuff.

If you'd ask me yesterday, before I pulled all the yarn from my shelves, what color predominated, I would've said purple:

or maybe blue or green. Interestingly enough, when all was pulled & sorted, pinks & reds came out the winner:

With blues and neutrals a close second. Honestly, I had no idea I had so much pink/red. That one really snuck up on me. Must be some sort of subconscious yearning, you think? I've never been a girlie girl so my inner child must be wanting to play! LOL

I left all the yarn sorted by color when putting it back on my shelves. Sorting by size wouldn't really do me much good because 80% of that is dk or worsted weight. Sorting by type is equally fruitless - 95% of that is cotton or a cotton blend! I think I'll enjoy having the colors grouped, however:

If I want to make a purple sweater, I can look for the yarn in one small area (comparing the different shades & weights), rather than hunting through 4 shelves of yarn!

I also went through my odds & ends & pulled out these skeins:

Most of these are the result of various swaps (remember that box of yarn that went traveling with people taking out & putting back in?) and Secret Pal endeavors - too nice to give away. I'm going to make January "little scarf" month here at Casa De Bron and knit each of those up into some sort of lacey something. The mohair will be something for Bio-Mom - those are exactly her colors. The rest I'll either keep (that hot pink at the top is extremely cool!) or put in my "to-gift" box. It'll also give me a chance to try out some different lace patterns. "Yay!" for me for using stash!

Today I'll tackle this:

And yes - I'll just bet you I'll have some magazines and/or books to de-stash next week. (Karen - I'll be looking for that magazine for you too!)

In order to feel like I have control over more areas of my life than just my stash, I managed to clean out & pack up our linen closet and two shelves here in my craft room:

The more we pack during the next two months, the better. That way, when the day DOES come to move, we won't be so overwhelmed. (Trust me - I moved 10 times in the first 12 years I lived here - I KNOW overwhelmed!)

Here's a pic of the finished back of Fountain Lace - I'm lovin' it:

To anyone who can find the pattern booklet, I highly recommend it!

I think I'll take tomorrow off. :) Monday school starts again, although I'm not sure if I'll have a job or not. In fact, right now I just have one job next week - Tuesday from 11:15 to 3:05. I might be at home more often than not since 1. This is the first week of the 3rd nine weeks and 2. the teachers are getting a late start after having 3 snow days. It would really have to be a sickness type emergency for a teacher to be gone right now. So - we'll see!

Next time: I'm hoping to have a crocheted Calorimetry to show you of some sort, more progress on Fountain Lace and....more than likely....other stuff too! ::Grin:::

Have a great weekend!

And.....They're Off!

Yes, 2007 is beginning with not one but two WIP's...more to follow shortly. ::wink::

However, both are cardis. Yes - I realize I vowed to branch out in 2007, but cardis to me are like crack and I must wean myself slowly. Going cold turkey could kill!

Here is the back of Fountain Lace Cardi, done in Almond Cotton Ease:

It's from the Classic Elite pattern book "River" that I purchased last June while on a shopping expedition with Robbyn in MA. (::waving at Robbyn::)

The gauge called for, as I mentioned before, is totally different than what I'm doing but that's ok. You've heard this part before: The pattern called for size 5 needles and I'm using size 8. I saw that for a size 38 1/2" (there's the "1/2" thing again - silliest thing I ever saw!) they cast on 87 stitches. Bingo! I knew from experience that around 85 stitches on size 8 needles with CE will give me a 42" sweater. I cast on and away I went! The back is 21" across and it looks like all will work out just fine. :)

One more thing I'll be changing is the length. The pattern has you knit only 10" before starting the armhole shaping. Oh, puleeeez! Where do they get these incredibly short-waisted models on which a sweater like that looks normal? I'm increasing the length to 16" before I start the armscyes. I have plenty of yarn & want a cardi that fits, thank you very much. ::wink::

I managed about 9" while watching the Twilight Zone marathon and  The Notebook yesterday. Well - I knit through the first part of "The Notebook." I was crying my eyes out during the last half hour of the film so I didn't dare try to knit!

Yes, I could see the ending coming a mile away but that didn't stop me from being suckered into the romance of it all. The critics hated it but I don't care. LOL Besides, James Garner is one of my favorite actors. I'd watch him read the phone book.

In order to start the year as I mean to go on, I have a crochet project in the works too. But I'm thinking I'll need to modify this pattern a bit too:

In case you can't tell, it's the back to this:

You work the main body first, then come back and do the bottom edging after it's all sewn together, working from the top down. Interesting construction and I really had to think a bit before I figured out what they were doing. Anyway, I wanted this to be loose & flowing as the picture shows, but I don't want it to be sloppy either. The back needs to be broad but unfortunately that leaves the armholes dropping down my arm! (Or, at least, I'm anticipating that they will. That's experience talking! hehe) Soooo...I'm thinking I'll rip back to before I start the armscye decreases and make them drastically deeper. By about 4". Since the style is meant to be open, with only one tie in front, the extra fabric under the arms won't be as much of an issue as it would be if it was meant to be close-fitting & buttoned up. At least that's what I'm telling myself. ::wink::

There looks like there's a sleeve cap in the photo, but in reality there isn't much of one. It's straight decreasing at the top with no real shaping so I should be able to alter as needed without too much trouble.

Ahem. Yes - I've said that before. With less that stellar results. Thanks for reminding me.::wink:: I'm just trying to uphold that whole "without a net" thing on my banner. hehe

Now, believe it or not, I've been panicking a bit. I've got these two projects on the hook & needles, I have the tree skirt waiting for yarn and my mysterious lace project floating in the ether. But that's it! I'm used to have a stack of things I want to get to but I decided to start the new year clean.

This was NOT a good decision for my crafting peace of mind! After all, that lace cardi will be finished awfully quickly - I need something else in the queue! Luckily, Amy saved me. Check out her pattern in the new issue of Magknits. "Holey Cable!" looks terrific. :) Interesting construction, advanced designation...and a designer that's just one panic email away. What more could you ask?

So - here's the question of the hour. What's the must-make project of 2007? What have you seen out in blogland that makes you want to grab your needles or hooks and start? What pattern would you love to have an "along" for, if only you knew enough people? What have you seen that's cute, chic, and most of all, clever?

I'll be searching the blogs too & reporting back. I want 2007 to be, above all, interesting and (dang it) different!