blogdogblog

Leafblower Secret

Pssst! All those who have despaired over the pattern for "Backyard Leaves" in Pam Allen's Scarf Style: Annie Modesitt's design really is as clever and easy as it is beautiful!

For those who are having trouble, as I was, here is the fix:

1) Place marker at the point in your stitch count that corresponds to the green line in the chart.

2) Work the odd rows of the chart (1, 3, 5 . . . ) by reading the chart right to left. Work the even rows of the chart (2, 4, 6 . . .) by reading the chart left to right.

You'll be making a gorgeous scarf in no time at all! Thanks again to Cassie for helping me through this pattern. You can see a photo of her scarf in progress here, and it's a beauty!

Cheers! It's Friday!

You've Got Mail

Thanks to a splendid e-mail from Cassie regarding "Backyard Leaves" plus my newest favorite trick, we are raking in those lace repeats as if we were being paid for it. Cassies helpful advice was to place a marker at the center (as the pattern directs, too!) and to mind the stitch count, since it changes at nearly every row. Thanks, Cassie!

My favorite new trick is to get big yarn (in this case, Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride) and bigger needles and work a few repeats until my fingers "see" what to do next. Because the pattern is suddenly super-sized, it's easier for me to see the skeleton, as it were, of the lace structure. Success! (But no photo today. Sorry.)

Dear Terri

Will you and the Big Fella come and get me and the pups now? I promise not to be a craptastic citizen and to adhere to your high standards of cleanliness.

much love,
Lisa, Mike, Jack, and Della

P.S. Could you get me a Big Fella in a Canadian National Park of my own?

Pups

No charge in the camera battery to prove it, but the Pups Are All Right. Today we'll have one of my favorite photos of Mikey, in which he looks for a phone number for the Knit Fiend.

Be of stout heart, everybody.

Pumpkinhead

We feel like pumpkinheads this morning because we stayed up too late and got up too early. How are you doing? Hang in there!

I cast on for Annie Modesitt's design "Backyard Leaves" in Scarf Style last night, since Sister's "Ruffles" was finished. I'm using some Silky Wool in that curry color, and while I love the crunchy feel of the yarn, I'm not sure it's quite right for this project. Has anyone knit this beauty? I'm having a bit of trouble with the stitch count. I'm sure it's me and not the pattern--I confess to feeling a bit distracted last night, confusing electoral vote counts with stitch counts. While Interweave Knits has posted an errata sheet, this particular scarf is ostensibly error-free. I hope I can figure it out, as I think it will be a lovely lovely lovely scarf. Send advice if you've knit it already, please.

Pups

Della is sniffing around for Friday already.

We wish! And, we wish you a happy knitting day. See you tomorrow!

US Election 2004

Be Citizen Knitter today! Find your polling place and try to get there early. The League of Women Voters has "Five Things You Need to Know" here.

Scamper off, now!

Fall Back

The time change is so unsettling to me; I wonder why I don't get used to it after all these years? Instead I feel disoriented and confused for days. Perhaps it was the time change that had me dithering over whether to finish the "Morning Glory Vest" by A. Starmore that has been languishing since I don't know when, or casting on the Poetry in Stitches sweater that needs something like 368 stitches in white knitted for an interminable measurement, or winding wool for the recharged version of Meg Swansen's "Knitted Stitch Pullover." Because I couldn't decide, I wound up simply knitting a few more feet of Laura's "Ruffles" scarf from Scarf Style.

It puts me more in mind of fusilli than ruffles. I expect to finish this scarf today, and so Sister will have a regular scarf festival going on.

Pups

It is getting more and more difficult to get candid dachshund photos. My little fursons are so eager to please sometimes that when they see the camera, they all line up and smile. In this photo, Della saw Mike and Jack getting ready to say "Cheese" and came running from across the yard to get in the frame. Silly pups.

Dazed and confused, we begin a new week. We wish you a happy Monday. Cheers!