blogdogblog

Foxy Friday

We now have foxes on Dale 10706! Observe and be amazed!

Pretty darn cute. And I realized from yesterday's blog entry that this sweater matches my dachshunds! Mike, Jack, and Della's coloration is called Black and Tan, but really, it's more black and gold. You be the judge.

Speaking of the pups, they are absolutely loving having a nephew. And so am I!

My mom is coming up here today and we are going on a Quilt-Shop-Crawl. We have eight quilt shops on our itinerary. I don't quilt, but I do admire quilters' precise and colorful work. I suppose quilting is the knitting equivalent of working a Fair Isle sweater...instead of painting with wool, however, quilters paint with fabric bits. Quilt away, you quilters. I'm stuffing my green sock on two needles in my purse to finish while she browses.

Wishing you a wonderfully relaxing weekend. Take it easy; we'll see you Monday!

Blush!

My goodness what a lot of sweet comments you all left yesterday! Thank you! Very kind of you; and very enjoyable for me. Good thing I'm not knitting a hat, because I'd have to rip it out and make it bigger to fit my swelled head! Really! The GLMCardigan was my first "big" stranded project, so your comments were much appreciated.

So, onward with the knitting (while I try not to blush any more). Yesterday was busy, but I still managed to fit in some Dale 10706 knitting...wonder why they didn't call it Foxes or Critters or something else besides 10706? The fox-faces are starting to emerge, and so it's hard to put down at this point. Dales are fun! Too bad they have to have sleeves, right?

The pups and I are hoping that you have an excellent Thursday, one in which you receive as many compliments as we did yesterday! Again, thanks for writing! Your comments definitely added to the celebratory feelings attached to finishing the cardigan.

Della says: You Rock!

Splendor on the Concrete

Here, on my concrete patio, the very finished and very splendid Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan (from WoolGathering #67). I think it's lovely!

Sister has graciously agreed to help photograph it later this week for the Finished Objects Gallery. Except for the last bit of the last sleeve, I had a great time knitting this cardigan. I learned about mirrored images and how if the image mirrors, you can knit any size stranded garment. I also learned about Picking Up In Pattern, which creates the Mysterious and Beautiful Uninterrupted Motif across the body and down the sleeves. And, I learned about decreasing down the top of a sleeve for a lovelier anatomical slope; and finally, how surprisingly serendipitous it can be to have help in choosing your project colors. Big thanks and smooches to Meg, Eleanor, and Michelle at Schoolhouse Press! I think Meg Swansen designs the most educational and beautiful sweaters in this galaxy.

Little details for inquiring minds: Knit with 5 oz of J&S Jumperweight color FC8, and with 7 oz each of J&S colors 203 and 125 on size 4 Addi Turbos (mostly). Additionally, I think this cardigan can be knit fairly quickly if you don't move 2000 miles at the last sleeve. Changes I made to the original design are minimal: my neckline is slightly deeper, and I picked up the bottom border patterns on the bottom of the sleeves. And for Pubah and anyone else who was wondering, it turned out after blocking that the extra material at the top of the final sleeve (caused by knitting with the wrong-sized needle and general inattention) minimized itself to a barely noticeable tiny bit of fabric. So I didn't (and probably won't) seam it out on the sewing machine.

What's next? I'm still narrowing down choices, but it will be a vest, no sleeves and stranded. While I decide, I'm working on finishing up the aptly-named 10706 by Dale of Norway that's been languishing in the knitting basket. My first Dale, and Flor and Wendy helped enormously in getting it started.

Cleverly, I neglected to make notes on what size I was making, or what changes I made in the colors, or the shaping. Or if I did make notes, they are now residing in the Mysterious Knitting Triangle that disappears things that move from NJ to TX.

Austin Knitters!

Last night I went to the monthly Austin Stitch-and-Bitch, held in the cafe at The Book People store. It was a wonderful treat to meet a very hip group of prodigiously talented local knitters, and I had trouble focusing on my sock-in-progress because I was just so blissed-out to be sitting in a big bookstore with cool knitters! Knitters rock, don't they! I was hungry for knitter-company, and this was a wonderfully satisfying treat. I'm looking forward to next month's meeting already!

Pups

It's been cloudy and a tiny bit cooler here; the pups are loving it. Jack and Della pose here to express their Happy Wednesday Wishes to you:

Have a great one! Woof!

All Over But the Shouting

Whew! I finished up the knitting portion of the Giant Lativian Mitten Cardigan on Labor Day! And it was fairly labor-intensive working on that 2-stitch I-cord all the way around, too, but SO worth it. What a tidy finish! Blessed Elizabeth Zimmermann, with her applied I-cord unvention. I have some finishing work to do today that includes washing the thing (it's a bit grubby after its voyage from NJ to TX), sewing on some lovely clasps, and weaving in a few yarn ends. But not on the steeks, because I crocheted them!

It's looking a bit of a mess in its almost-finished state. I assure you it will be 10 times lovelier after a Euclan rinse and with clasps sewn on.

We were so pleased here that we braided the tails on some mice and then called it a day.

Happy Tuesday!

100

This entry is a mini-blogging-milestone...there are 100 entries as of this minute. I've enjoyed blogging, and the 425 comments that have accompanied the entries. I think working a nearly-daily blog is great exercise for my busy mind. I also like staying alert through the days for blog-photo-opportunities with the pups, or within my surroundings. Somehow this blog is different than a journal for me; I like being able to document my knitting within our community. Thank you for reading!

Knitting News

The Giant Latvian Mitten Cardigan sleeve is within 15 rounds/rows of being finished! Huzzah! Today my goal is to complete it, then crochet the front steek, work a final all-around round of EZ's applied I-cord, then declare it a finished object! Look for a fabulous photo tomorrow, 'cuz it's raining (more huzzahs!) here today.

I stopped on South Congress in my exploring on Friday and visited my new Local Yarn Store: Hill Country Weavers. It's a very nice place, packed with goodies and friendly faces. I found some new-to-me sock yarn that was irrestistable: Strapaz. Check it out:

I couldn't resist casting on to see what this yarn produced. It's slightly heavier than fingering weight, so it's working up on US size 3 Addis very quickly. Cool, eh? I am finding that with all the sunshine here, I'm shedding my NE desire to knit or wear dark things. So bring on the oranges, limes, and lemons.

Pups

Pups are doing well; they love chasing their dog-neighbors up and down the fence-line, barking madly. I don't think the big dogs next door have figured out that the dachshunds are really dogs; they seem to consider them fluffy toys. That's okay; I do too, most of the time.

Here's Mikey wishing you a wonderful Monday:

Enjoy yourself!