Monday, October 30, 2006

All's Fine with Da Capo






Finished without a moment to spare! That is the story of Da Capo, which I wore nearly nonstop while I was in New York. On some days the sweater was enough, on other days it was just what I needed under the raincoat. It is warn amd lightweight and elicited lots of compliments.

The New York trip was so much fun. I drove through the Hamptons; you can't get to the Montauk lighthouse any other way. Montauk was featured in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

While visiting Manhatten we saw the snakes and reptiles exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, went to the top of the Empire State Building, and visited the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. We also ate at Babbo which is just a few blocks from my daughter's apartment. (The daughter with the squirmy cats!)

On the yarn side I showed great restraint, buying only 2 skeins of Austermann Step sock yarn. I see that Wendy has also bought some Step. It was about 1/2 the price I've paid for it in Gainesville. I also bought a book that contains a shawl pattern for some Ritratto I already have.

As of now I'm working on a Step sock, a cardigan (using Whispers from the stash) and have a little purse ready to felt. All of these seem like mere trifles compared to Da Capo!

I need to come to Georgia for a little show and share!

Ellen

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Spanish Christening Shawl - finished!



This past weekend I finished the Spanishing Christening Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's book, Folk Shawls. I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn this time which is more of a worsted yarn. I used size 8 needles, cast on 135 stitches in contrast to the suggested 195 and if I had to do it again, I would cast on 115 to get more of the desired width that I wanted.
I used this particular yarn for its durability and softness. It took approximately four skeins of the white yarn.
The edging is what is termed a "godmother's" edging. It is a straight knit stitch with k 2tog and y/o to give the eyelet look. The edging is a binding off of 4 every set of rows. It was an easy one to memorize once you get the rhythm to it going.

Biggest challenge was finishing it since the baptism was held 2 1/2 weeks after the baby was born!

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Awesome

Ellen's trip to Charleston and all the fun and the knit shops we are waiting to hear reported. Yes, the southern version of the Civil War is interesting. We moved from Florida to Texas and when I enrolled at Texas Tech was informed I would have to take American history again as it was different after the Civil war. I was so confused I went home and asked Chuck on which side Texas fought. I un-enrolled at Texas Tech.

Cathy, LizardRidge is such gorgeous colors.

After not checking the blog for several days I signed in and was amazed at Cathy and Ellen's blogs and projects. I was planning to report that I have the needles and yarn out. Nothing elaborate but using the fancy yarns I bought on sale to knit some scarves for the church bazaar. One is complete and the second one is coming along nicely. I really like the second one, if it doesn't sell I will be happy to keep it. Getting ready to start the socks again and when the new needles arrive I will start a simple sweater for myself. Yes, I am one of those people who has to have several projects going at one time.

As to gardening, weeding is my only accomplishment there. Of course there is all the planning in my head and on paper for future plantings.

Happy knitting and gardening!
Naomi

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Lizard Ridge in action

At Ellen's urging, I am posting a work in progress. Lizard Ridge, using Noro Kureyon, is the most colorful project I have going at the moment. See that middle one??? It's a maverick. Somehow is ended up with more rows than the other. As you see they need blocking, but the middle one is making me consider not to do these in squares, but in long strips. Would be less work in the end, would it not? So says the author on the Knit Along at Lizard Ridge KAL .

Ellen, I am waiting now to hear about your yarn portion of your Charleston jaunt. Good food, good scenery, now let's hear how MANY yarn shops did you actually enter?

Well, church supper is soon to be. So must skeedaddle.
Cathy

Doin' the Charleston





Attention Knitters: Welcome to Knits of
Charleston. This is an incredible store in the old city center, situated in 3 long, narrow rooms and just full of yarn and books and patterns and kits! You wouldn't believe the kits, prepacked yarn and patterns of lots of those patterns you've coveted online. The pictures show a Crayon Box Jacket that is made up of miter squares knitted together. It includes directions for a wide size range, and could be a stash buster, but of course it is really a reason to buy single skeins of the most outrageous yarns. I bought the pattern and plan to make it with Sonata (Elann cabled cotton DK, bought last spring for another project ) as the base yarn, but I bought a bag full of other yarns to incorporate.

I arrived in Charleston on Saturday and waited until Wednesday to visit Knits. It was hard, but I didn't want to inflict my habit on Mom and DH. By Wednesday afternoon she was in Myrtle Beach visiting her brother and he was at work, so I could go with a clear conscience. On Thursday I made another visit and met the owner's 3 sweet dogs. They all look alike, and for a while I thought there was one very quick and stealthy dog! One of the dogs is asleep on the sofa in the picture.

On Friday Gary and I drove to Myrtle Beach to pick up Mom, and we stopped in Georgetown on the way and just by pure chance we parked in front of (gasp) a yarn shop! The name is something like Joyfull; I only had a brief visit and it looked like it had good stuff, but I didn't want to impose on cara sposo. We visited the Rice Museum instead!

On the trip I made good progress on Da Capo. With discipline it will be finished for New York. I'm not taking any more pictures of it until it is ready to block, and then I'll do pre- and post-blocking shots.

In conclusion, I recommend a knitting road trip to Charleston, with breaks for meals and sightseeing.

Cathy, the Lizard is lovely. I like the 3 dimensional quality, but I guess that won't survive the blocking. Are you making a full-size bedcover? BTW, I would like some more house pics when you get a chance.

Tomorrow is the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden Open House at the Leon County Extension Office. I'll be there demonstrating plant propagation and giving away free plants. Gotta flit now to get organized.

Ellen

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Charleston on my Mind

Dear Knitty Friends,
I just realized that I refer to my cats as "Kitty Friends" although they certainly aren't friendly with each other. The both seemed glad to see me after my 9-day excursion to Charleston, and I was happy to get back to them, but Charleston was waaaay cool. Gary's apartment is within walking distance of everything, and there is so much to see and do (and eat!) Here are some random comments:

Fort Sumter - I think the Nat'l Park Service has lost its way on this, and is too "respectful" of local sentiment. The interpretation of history presented here makes it look like the American Civil War was a difference of opinion that got out of hand, and that both sides had equal claims as to the "rightness" of their positions. In particular, it implied that slavery was an institution about which reasonable people could disagree, since it really did work out well for the slave owners and supported the local economy. We discussed this with a colleague of Gary's who independently arrived at the same conclusion, so I don't think I'm overreacting.

Church Street - A residential area in the oldest part of the city with so many examples of the Charleston single house. Great for walking around with a guidebook, and plenty of gardening inspiration.

Charleston Churches - This is a city of churches, and several are open to visitors. The most distinctive feature is the churchyards which are just full of tombstones and vaults. I have never seen so many churches with graves right up to the church walls on 4 sides. Gary and I did get locked in a graveyard, but the caretaker let us out. (The gate was climbable, though.)

Charleston Fashion - Charlestonians pay attention to the way they are dressed. People in the restaurants and on the streets tended to be carefully dressed, including jewelry! Of course there were tourists dressed like tourists everywhere, but there was a noticeable difference between what I am used to seeing in Tallahassee and what I saw in Charleston. There are also some very nice stores to buy these fashionable duds!

Charleston Food - The downtown has few franchise restaurants, and the local places were great.
There is plenty of sweet tea and seafood, but the vegetables tended to be less seasoned (read salty). A lot of restaurants sell small plates of the entrees and these portions are more realistic for anyone except an NFL lineman.

Tomorrow I'll get back to you with pictures of a Charleston knitting shop, and maybe some progress on Da Capo.

I'd love to see project pictures!

Ellen

Monday, October 09, 2006

Lizard Ridge

Dear Pointy Friends,
I tried to escape the temptation. I really did. However, I kept navigating back to Knitty and thinking how beautiful this is and how I wanted it. As you well know, southern friends, how often do we need something made of wool - and Noro Kureyon is scratchy wool, but it's beauty has me mesmerized and so I took the plunge and got some of the Noro Kureyon from Taos Sunflower, as they had an excellent price on the yarn.
I started this post yesterday and am finishing it this evening before school begins. I have completed two squares of this pattern, but I believe it needs to be out in sunlight to get the truest colors and beauty. IN addition the squares resemble the cardboard in those boxes that hold apples - the cushioners of the apple. They DEFINITELY need to be blocked. It's such an interesting pattern and they way the colors are defined is by the unique way of using the yarn within the skein. ONe begins knitting with the outside end of the skein and after 6 rows knitted, you begin using the inside end of the skein. Hence the variation in the color. First 2 blocks completed are Noro Kureyon 165 and 154. Also there is a knitalong blog at Lizard Ridge Knitalong - you will see where I had an interesting dilemma question posted there. Got it solved!
By now Ellen should be through with her travels. Naomi, in between gardening and your other obligations, get a knit and a purl in with the pointy sticks!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Knit and purl

This sometime knitter has been off the blog for a while and off knitting. The thumb has recovered and I am ready to start again. Will keep a couple of projects going with different sized needles and see if that helps.The church bazaar is less than 2 months away so I will tackle some projects for that. Time to visit the stash which has to share a closet with lots of other things.

Ellen, the kimono sweater is beautiful-it is prettier than the one in Mason-Dixon. The Da Capo jacket just leaves me speechless. Anxious to see the finished product modeled. Ellen's awesome armoir brings a little green tinge of envy.

Cathy and Sharon, what are you two knitting?

As to gardening, the cooler mornngs bring out the gardening spirit. Stores are selling pansies very cheap but know it is too early to plant them here. Will have to wait for the ground to cool down. Weeds are still ahead of me but I am slowly gaining ground, I think.
Cheers all. Naomi