1870 pearl ~ My Life in Stitches

Friendship

The other day a hank of Knit Picks Shimmer showed up at my at my door!!

How utterly strange. I certainly don't remember ordering that much needed hank. 

Later that day I found out that a very sneaky friend placed an order to Knit Picks, when I shared my tale of woe with her.

When I asked Meg why she purchased the hank when she knows good and well that I could have bought it for myself if I was so inclined she said -  

"I'm sure I can put it to good use even though it's not my favorite colorway so take your six inches and send me the rest."

I laughed so hard I almost cried. How richly blessed I am.

 

Make it Work...

Now that I have sufficiently recovered from my son's first challenging solo flight, I decided to give the Rib Warmer a test fit before starting the second half.

I'm glad that I did. The fit was awful. The length was much longer than I anticipated and the dart fell just below the bust line and looked rather odd. Being petite and short waisted can be a hassel at times.

Harrumph! For a while I considered scrapping the project since I truly detest all the mental torment that goes along with manufacturing fitted garments.

Then Tim Gunn's famous phrase came to mind - "Make it Work". 

Lovely.

Some days I wish my Inner Knitter would leave me alone. But then again she knows me well - I really do want the vest.

I considered my options.

1. Preform surgery at the both end's and re-graft them after I removed several inches of work.

After I thought about it I realized that maneuver would leave me with several small balls of yarn and would be wasteful. 

2. Rip and Re-knit.

This great idea would salvage almost all of the yarn and I could make a few technical adjustments that I wish I had thought of before I started. 

Guess which option I chose?

 

Don't despair. I'm happy with my choice. Things are going well. The first half is almost done for the second time around and I'm pleased with my technical tweaks.

Trail by Fire

Every parent knows that eventually they must allow their offspring to leave the nest and let them test their wings every once and a while. 

Which, I might add, is much harder on the parents than it is on the offspring. Trust me.  

* * * * *

RB was invited by his Uncle to spend a few weeks with him in Indiana this summer. TBC and I agreed that he was old enough to fly without us so off he went Thursday afternoon, leaving from West Palm Beach.

And that's when his adventure began. 

His first flight was delayed thus causing him to miss his connecting flight in Atlanta. My 15 year old baby was stranded, without us there to assist him. Can you say panic? He was on his own.  

*RB went to the ticket counter and explained his dilemma. He was issued a new ticket for another flight, then he called us. I was impressed! Everything was fine. I was relieved.

Then a short while later the second flight was canceled. Reasons unknown.

Did you hear me scream in frustration yesterday?

Rinse, lather and repeat*. A third ticket was issued to RB and three hours later he finally boarded a plane that took him safely to his Uncle, Aunt and a whack of cousins, who where waiting for him at the airport. Praise God!

I'm am very proud of my son. He handled things very well, kept his composure and kept us updated as things changed throughout the day.

I wish I had been that calm. And thank God for cell phones!  

While all of this was going on I did not knit a single stitch. Instead I sat in the truck next to TBC, fiddling with my cell phone while he drove us back to Key West. 

Of course I was providing parental and prayer support for RB (He did'nt need it. I did.) and silently reminding myself that God is in control and that God is ultimately responsible for my baby, after all there was nothing we could do but trust Him anyway. Sometimes God does not give you options.

However, on Wednesday, as we drove up to West Palm Beach I did knit one half of the Rib Warmer. They are an amazingly fast knit even though it looks quite strange. I felt like I was knitting a race track.

 

I did plan on having the second half done on Thursday, but it seems that it was our destiny to be tested. 

I'd like to think, that we, the Parent's passed the test reasonably well. Though at the time it was rather questionable that my sanity was going to remain intact by the end of the day.

Let us hope that we don't have another one anytime soon!

Can someone please pass the chocolate?

I'm still in recovery.

* * * * *

P.S. You can thank Horchata, my knitting student, for this post.

If she had not pestered me relentlessly you would have nothing as I still be prostrate on the floor :-) !! 

Just Lucky

They say bad luck comes in threes. If that is true I'm almost there.

The day after my stellar rise to becoming the queen of the Bloomin' Knitiots, my Harmony needle popped out of its casing! How lovely.  

  

I did consider repairing the needle myself, then I was reminded by TBC that I am not allowed to use Superglue ever again. Ummm, let's leave it at that, shall we?

Thus, I phoned those kind people at Knit Picks and a new set of tips is on it's way. 

On second thought maybe I should have a go with the Superglue.

It would definitely end my lucky streak.

Nah, that won't work since it is impossible to manipulate such accursed things.

Oh bother, I wonder what's next.

And will it be another knitting related thing? 

Should I put my needles down just to be safe or push my luck and get it over with?  

Reigning Supreme

Somehow or another, whilst knitting my latest shawl I dropped a stitch half way through the work and still managed to keep the pattern correct!

I did not notice this until after I had blocked it and wore it several times!

This event is a positively shocking, stunning, horrifying and amazing feat if I do say so myself!!

How it managed not to become a full blown nightmare is truly a mystery.

OMG, do you think this could become an Urban Legend?

 

And to make matters worse I can not repair it properly because I tossed out the minuscule scrap of yarn that was left over!! 

I did place an ISO in Ravelry for 6 inches of Knit Picks Shimmer color Sherry, so fingers crossed that someone will rescue me or perhaps you could. If not, I suppose I shall use some matching sewing thread to tack it down.

It's not the best option but it will do in a bind and it would certainly look better than the green plastic locking marker that is there now. 

* * * * *

There is no doubt in my mind that it is my destiny to become the Queen of the Bloomin' Knitiots for 2009/10. 

Would someone please place the crown on my head now and get it over with?

 

Lady of Burgundy

It takes a great amount of steely determination and tremendous fortitude to craft a shawl in a handful of days. 

Not an accurate color but I wanted you to see the details. My camera is showing it's age. If only I had a Nikon D90......

 

Quite often I find myself emotionally and physically drained shattered by the experience and barely touch my needles for the next few days.

 

However, when the shawl is removed from the needles, then the pins and wires, I realize that every moment spent laboring was worth it.

 

 

98 and counting...

and here comes pair 98, hot off the needles.

  

I don't really care for them. You just can't convince me that coal, avocado and raspberry is lovely color combination. 

Regardless, my client is happy and I've been paid for my labor.

What more could a knitter want?

Pattern: Broken Rib - Improvised over 64 stitches.

Yarn:  Baby Boom.

Research Project

I've always toyed with the idea of knitting an Adult Surprise Jacket. However, the thought of having a "Coat of Many Colors" has never appealed to my sense of style. It just is'nt me.

With the arrival of Ravelry I was able to do a fair bit of intensive research on the subject over the course of a week.  

I was able to view the 7,925 different baby jackets and 287 adult versions of the original design and found a style that suited my sensibilities perfectly.

The bold graphic stripes, the shorter length and subtle wait-shaping of Herskein's interpretation was exactly what I was looking for. (Thank you Herskein for sharing.)

It was at that point I was 100 % convinced that I should knit one for Me, Myself and I, even though sweater knitting causes me a great deal of mental anguish.

I located a miniature version to explore the technique in just a few hours and watch a tutorial on You Tube to view the magic as it unfolds. 

I made a mistake or two thus it looks a little wonky.

 

That was so fascinating that I had to make another one to further my understanding of color placement

 

in the mysterious rectangle.

 

With that understood, I went poking about to determine how much yardage I would need. 

That was difficult, though I did landed on a reference to a long since out of print magazine. It was said that the magazine contained everything one needs to know about yardage and sizing for the Jacket. 

I placed an ISO (In Search Of) Ad and low and behold a very kind Knitter, who lives in Florida, was willing to sell her copy for a small fee! I bought it.

 

I can hardly wait for it to arrive so I may complete my research.

Ravelry is astounding! 

How on earth did Knitters manage before Ravelry?

Oh that's right, we were living in the stone age.

Ouch!

Silk is beginning to bother me terribly. Every time I use it my poor little wrists, hands and elbows protest to no end!

After an hours worth of work I'm forced to stop for a while and use my corn filled heating pad to soothe the aches. 

 

The heat dissolves the pain but it makes me terribly hot since the heat index days is about 94!

So far I've muddle through the first ball (440 yards), and have started the second.

When this piece is over I'm going to dodge silk for as long as I can. It is just not worth the pain and discomfort. Boo!

Destiny

October 2008

Vicki called me up and asked "Have you made any friends in Key West yet?"

Abigail: Um....No, I have not.

V: Here's what you are going to do. You are going to drive down town and go to Knit Wits. I'm going to pray and ask God that He will send your new friends to the shop.

A: But parking is such a pain and I don't parallel park very well.

V: I don't care. Quit your whining and do it.

A: Whine, whine, whine. Alright, I'll go, but I'm going under protest.

V: Good. I'm going to pray for you right now. Bye.

And with that she hung up the phone and trusted that I would do as she said.

I went moaning and groaning under my breath all the way. Parking was a bear which only made me crankier.

Finally I found a parking space, fed the meter a ridiculous amount of quarters and walked to the shop.

And there she was, sitting at the table. She greeted me with a cheery hello and continued working with customer. 

I perused the store, touched some yarn and asked if I might sit and knit for a while. 

She said I was more than welcome to. I pulled out my mitten and began to work. We began to converse after the customer left and found we had a lot in common. Before I left she asked for my number and said she would give me a call. 

The very next day she did. I was surprised.  

Since then -

She showed me where to park for free. 

She helped me find a church home. 

She got me a job at the Knit Wits. 

She introduced me to her friends who have now become mine as well. 

She introduced me to Annekes. 

She loves me even when I'm cranky.

She sets me straight when I need it.

She makes me laugh.

She gives me a whole new fresh perspective on difficult matters.

She gave me comfort when life became more challenging than I expected. 

She has rescued me when I'm beyond stupid.

Tonight Meg is beginning her long trek to her husband's new duty station in Navato California. I am deeply sad. I will miss her almost daily visits and all the fun things we got to do together when she was here. 

It is a good thing for Ravelry and cell phones or my life would grow very dim indeed. 

* * * * *

Because of two kind people my whole life has changed here in Key West. I am thankful beyond measure.

Traction

So far my Master set of needles has never let me down until I started knitting with seriously slick lace weight silk.

Whilst knitting Cleopatra I had a terrible time with the lack of friction on my beloved harmony needles. The stitches slid about on the needles like an novice Ice Skater. It about made me crazy. I muddled through since I felt there was simply no point in purchasing a single Bamboo needle for one project.

Besides I really don't care for Bamboo. The points are far too dull and stubby for my tastes.

Well here I am with again with the very same problem. The Simmer Lace weight is exhibiting the same annoying symptom. Oy!

And then a new problem cropped up. The dark color blends so well with the Harmony tips that I can barely see the stitches on the needles. I even had to resort to placing stitch markers on the needles to keep sane. Ugh!

After two pattern repeats I gave up and went begging to my knitting student for a circular needle, since she is the only person I know who has bamboo needles. All of my friends have Knit Picks Needles.

(They were a gift from Meg. When Meg upgraded to a Harmony set, she passed on her old set.)

I confess that I am rather embarrassed to borrow from a student but desperate times call for desperate measures.

So far so good - 25 grams knit, 75 grams to go. 

 

Shimmer

Everything about Shimmer lace weight makes my heart sing with joy.

The rich burgundy colors appeal to my eyes, coordinates nicely with my wardrobe and the silky alpaca is a dream to work with.

 

And the price can not be beat. For a small investment of $12.98, I will soon be wrapped up in a lovely version of the Upstairs shawl. I can hardly wait.

* * * * *

Please forgive my absence from blog land last week. Meg's family was packed out of Coast Guard housing and I was busy helping her with the move and providing moral support.  

There are only a handful of days left before her family begins the long drive to CA on Friday evening.

I shall say no more.

If I do I shall cry a river all over the key board...........

Motivation

    "Some people, they like having the finished thing. They don't like the other parts as much, for them the fun body of the work also has worry and indecision. Their knitting is about making something, and the majority of their happiness and fulfillment happens when they have made it." Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

The Harlot has clearly summed up the essence of who I am as a knitter in three incredibly accurate sentences. Either she knows her people well or she peeks into the dark recesses of my mind to see what makes me tick.

Oh my, what a frighting thought! 

Whatever the case maybe, I am a completly fulfilled and satisfied knitter!

Cleo will look positively stunning against my black winter coat and is the perfect barrier between me and the fridged cold air conditioning in Florida during the summer. 

 

Almost three balls of Classic Elite Silky Alpaca were used. There was one tiny gram left from the third ball so 1,371 yards were added to the Knit Meter and Cleo measures a grand 27 x 88 inches!

 

Should you knit one for yourself you will need a tremendous amount of endurance to see it to the end. The last 714 stitches or six rows just about did me in.

* * * * *

Project notes or Heaven forbid that I follow the directions as written. 

1. To avoid a graft line near the edge I knit two very long panels then grafted them at the center back. This worked well though it took a very long time to carefully graft 119 stitches neatly. Why so long? There is nothing worse than un-picking a graft in lace weight yarn. Ask me how I know this.

Here's a tip. Before you begin grafting install Life Lines on both panels. This saved my sanity when I dropped a stitch, or two or three. Trust me on this.  

2. All S1, K2TG, PSSO were changed to center double decreases (S2TG - KNIT WISE, K1, PSSO) for a sharp vertical lines. Pure fussiness on my part.

3. Selvages were changed to two garter stitches with a Slip the first stitch and Purl the last on every row. Knitters Choice.

4. I reversed the decreases on the bottom half of the diamonds. Again, pure fussiness.

5. The Russian Join method was used to connect one ball to the other. 

6. I went up two sizes than the recommended needle. I wanted a large shawl both in width and length. It worked as you can see.

Pinned

It is a unwritten rule that whenever Meg and I head north we must take the opportunity to explore high quality fibers at Anneke's Needlework's, the only 5 star yarn store in Miami and of course visit with the owner.

Meg worked there when she lived there a few years ago.

After a lengthy tour through the store my eyes landed on an enamel shawl pin that was sitting next to the register as if it was waiting just for me. 

My heart went pitter pat. 

Want to see my new treasure? 

The heart has pretty layers of colors in pink, ivory and black. 

 

And it's totally reversible.

 

It can be worn four different ways.

 

I like that.

 

I'm looking forward to attaching it to Cleopatra when she is done.

Hopefully that will be on Monday after she is baptized and christened, if and only if my brain does not completely freezes from hundreds of mind-numbing rows of stockinette stitch. 

I'm sorry that I can't convince my camera of the true colors but you can be sure that it looks lovely in person. The third picture appears to be the most accurate of the lot.

Good Times

Regardless of how she managed to arrive here, she came in with a sock in her hand and ready to meet her adoring fans. 

 

From the moment she began to speak she had us laughing and reminded us that Knitters are not crazy wool obsessed people that the world perceives us to be.

It is a documented fact that Knitting is good for us and a great many people continually benefit in one way or another from our never ending appreciation with sticks and string.

And did you know that the simple act of knitting causes our brains to continue to grow and stay healthy? Fascinating.  

It seems to me that we are long overdue for little respect from the doubting Muggle community.

Of course through it all Stephanie posed for countless pictures and snapped a few of her own. Yes, that's us in the front row with her sock!

  

Meg with Stephanie's sock.

Stephanie with my Koigu sock. Swoon.

And I with Meg's.

When the book-signing was over we whisked her away for a bit of lunch before bringing her to the airport.

Even though she is wildly famous, she is a low key, humble person who was genuinely surprised when Vicki paid for her lunch.

When lunch was over we sat for a bit with knitting needles in hand chatting the time away.

It was pretty nifty to have the privilege to knit across from her. I have to admit that I spent most of the time discreetly watching her fingers dance with wool, but I do that quite often when I'm with a wack of knitters. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

By the time she left I was sad to see her go. It is not often that you meet someone who is very well known and completely delightful to be around.

You can be sure that if she comes this way again I will do my best to see her again.

 

And before she left she did report that the pattern for the pretty cowl is being test knit and should be released for public consumption soon! Squee! 

* * * * *

Considering all the aggravation that Stephanie muddled through this week we were glad that we gave her a hank of emergency yarn.

She has never encountered this type before so she was quite thrilled with the gift! I just hope she does not need a reason to use it in her travels.

  

 

Squee!

We are going to see the Harlot!

We are going to see the Harlot!

Meg and I are going to see the Harlot!

We are going to Represent!

* * * * *

We have been plotting and planing for weeks.

We have carefully selected a gift to present to her.

That took a month. You will have to wait and see.

We have agonized for hours and finally decided what knitting to bring with us. 

Pure Hell. Cleo and a sock in Red Koigu. I have no idea what Meg is bringing.

We have decided what we should wear to this most auspicious occasion.

That was harder than choosing a Wedding dress. I settled on a Liz Claiborne dress with Juno Regina .

We are leaving at 9:00 a.m. this morning. 

It will take eight long hours to drive to Vero Beach.

We shall see her tomorrow!

I'm so excited that I think I might pee my pants.

Bye!

P.S. A full report on Wednesday.

Embarrassment

I cast on for the second half of Cleopatra and began the first lace row.

I mucked it up.

Tink.

I began again.

I mucked it up again.

Tink.

Sigh. Attempt three. 

Can you see a trend?

Yep, I mucked it up again.

It's a special gift to be this stupid. It's amazing.

Rip, with great disgust!

And once again with great annoyance. 

Two hours later and things were looking pretty good. After 24 rows I put it down and went to bed feeling quite pleased with myself for conquering the pattern.

Cleo came to work with me the next day. I paused to admire my work and to pat myself on the back for getting past the first few rows. 

In an instant I was beyond furious. The knitting went sailing across the shop.

(There were no customers in at that time!)

A glaring error was discovered! 

I checked three times before I ripped!

Later I shared my pathetic tale of stupidity with Meg. 

Then she, bless her soul, offered to knit the first 5 rows to get me going again! 

I gratefully accepted her offer though I'm totally embarrassed and not to mention that I'm completely humiliated by my own stupidity. 

My ego is badly bruised, Cleo is beginning to slowly grow and TBC tells me that I will survive this. 

 

P.S. I had the same trouble with the first half but I muddled through after the second try.

I swear on all things woolly, it's not the pattern fault, it was all me, me, me, and my  brain, which is the size of a grain of sand.

Tried and Failed

I warned my friend that using a hank of Tilli Tomas Rock Star for the Twisted Vine Neckwarmer was a bad idea.

The beads would not be be comfortable when worn around the neck and there simply was not enough yardage in the hank. It was short by 5 yards.  

She batted her blue eyes at me and said "Abigail, if anyone can squeeze a miracle from a small hank of yarn it's you."

To which I sweetly replied, with a charming smile "Honey, I'm good, but not that good. It's not going to happen. Trust Me."

"But you can try, can't you?"

 

There was no miracle to be had as I was lacking a minisucle .04 of an ounce!    

Her insistance and my inability to say to no cost me dearly:

Two valuable hours of knitting on Cleopatra.

150 yards that could have been added to the Knit Meter.

And painful wrists from working with pure unyeilding silk!  

Clearly, I need constant supervision.

Would anyone like to apply for the job?  

Cleopatra

Whilst dear Meg was on a Yarn Crawl she came across Silky Alpaca Lace in a deep shade of Garnet. 

She immediately thought of me, since Red is my signature color and purchased two hanks for me to enjoy.

And let me tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying transforming the heavenly blend into the stunning Cleopatra Shawl designed by Miriam L. Felton.

As soon as she is finished and properly dressed then I will introduce her to you. 

Until then you must be content with gazing at Miriam's.

Addicitive

One could seriously become addicted to knitting Mittens if one did not live in the Southernmost Point in Florida.

They go so incredibly fast that before you know what hit you, a finished pair is sitting in your lap.

 

And then you find yourself wondering if your husband would move you to Canada so you could have a valid reason to knit dozens of pretty mittens just for fun. 

Yeah, I don't think that's ever going to happen but I can dream can't I? 

* * * * *

These are a Christmas gift. Project details on Ravelry.