Another Project Finished

Today I finished The Radiant Shawl, pattern by Lucy Neatby. The main yarn is Karabella Breeze, 40% cashmere and 60% silk. A soft, fun yarn to work with which has nice drape when finished. The pattern is written to start at one tip, work to middle back, place on holders and make the second side, joining with 3-needle bind off at center back. This is nice if uncertain how much yarn you will be using because if you have extra, you can knit another panel, or not enough, take out a panel. The first side is all knit with short rows making the wedges and yarn overs making the increases. To keep the sides symetrical and perfectly matching the second side is purl! Well, no way was I going to do all that purling, plus I wasn't crazy about a seam down the middle back (could use Kitchener st) so I rewrote the second half to just continue on with knitting and decreasing while still working the edge yarn overs. The pattern just continues to flow in the same direction so looked just fine to me.

It is very unusual for me to finish so many projects at one time. About a month ago, I was overwhelmed with all the unfinished projects I had, so I took an inventory-13 projects on needles. The list showed me some of the projects were very close to being done so were easily finished and eliminated. Of course I did add 6 new projects-3 which were models for classes I will be teaching at the yarn shop. One project I decided I didn't want to finish so that one was frogged but I started another project with that yarn. I did finish 9 so did decrease my inventory to 9 unfinished projects. A couple more don't need much so should be finished soon-then I'll probably start that baby sweater. It never ends!

Knit, Purl and Save a Newborn

An article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this morning wrote about this opportunity for charity knitting (one of my interests). Two million newborns die each year in the first 24 hours of life in the developing world. A knit cap can keep an underweight baby warm. So Save the Children is asking volunteers to knit or crochet a cap for a newborn by January. The goal is 75,000 caps to be sent to Malawi and Bangladesh. The number is in honor of Save the Children's 75th anniversary next year. To download patterns and learn more visit www.savethechildren.com

Grandaughter Knitting

Tonight we baby sat three of our grandchildren. When they arrived our 8 year old grand daughter asked me to teach her how to knit. She caught on right away and after about 1/2 hour had one inch of very neat, even stitches. Is it in her genes that she learned so fast or is it left over from the times she sat on my lap at about a year old and held the needles along with me?

Saturday Sky July 29

July 29, 2006. Hot and humid with heat adviseries and pollution adviseries. Hope the threatening clouds bring some much needed rain.

Saturday Sky July 22

July 22, 2006 Evening. Couldn't resist taking this beautiful sunset!

Saturday Sky July 22

July 22, 2006 Morning.

Saturday Sky

July 15, 2006.
I love this concept. Three weeks' worth of pictures will be posted today as I started taking the pictures before I started blogging.

Hibiscus

Since today is so hot and humid I thought a picture of one of the hibiscus blossoms on my plant would be appropriate.

A couple days ago I bought the most lucious, soft yarn and so far have resisted starting anything with it. It is called Oh My! by Plymouth Yarn and is 100 % nylon so is machine washable and dryable. The pattern support so far is for baby items which seems real appropriate. Even though there are no babies in our family and hopefully will not be any in the near future, I just had to have the yarn. Anybody know the feeling? It will probably go to one of my charity causes. Am planning to knit an Ann Norling cardigan from the bottom up with no seams-I hate to finish and usually do projects with as little as possible.

Free and Easy Pie-Wedge Shawl
Finished this today after redoing the binding off. I thought I'd bound off loosely enough by just using the Suspended Bind Off, but that wasn't enough, so I increased my needle size by 2. The pattern is free (well, sort of) on the yarn label. The yarn is Lorna's Laces, Helen's Lace, hand dyed 50% silk and 50% wool which was wonderful to work with. It was very easy to do-6 pie shaped wedges done with short rows, with yarn overs and bind offs on the edge to create the points. The edge stitch had to be done loosely and that bind off too, had to be done loosely.

Blocking
1) I put luke warm water in my washing maching. Put the shawl in the water, pat it down, and let it sit for about 20 minutes to thoroughly absorb the water. DON'T AGITATE.
2) Spin the washer to remove excess water.
3) Lay out the shawl on a flat surface that you can push pins into. I put a flannel sheet on my living room carpet. Gently pat the shawl out to stretch about 1/3 larger. Pin into place or use blocking wires. Use a yard stick to be sure it is the same size on each side. Today I could not find my blocking wires, only remembering that when I put them away last time I hoped I'd remember where they were-well, I didn't! I spend a lot of time shaping the shawl and this one started to get dry so I used a spray bottle and wet it more. When my body can't stand moving around on the floor any more, I decide that is enough. As you can see from the picture it is not perfect, but when you wear it, it won't show unless there are major differences.
4) Allow to dry thoroughly at least 24 hours.
5) Un-pin and enjoy. The real beauty of lace does not show up until it is blocked.

Instead of knitting, I'm starting this new venture. Since my computer/internet experience is pretty much trial and error, it takes me a while! This is the Drawstring Bucket Bag I finished yesterday. The pattern is Indygo Junction and also includes sewing instructions, so is also available at quilting stores. The yarn is white and black Cascade Pastaza which felted beautifully, in spite of being white. The pattern directions were a little vague in places.