worth a dekko

Hit the Destash Mountain button over on the sidebar. Finally! A way to unload share the beauty of that vintage pink mohair blend. Go on. Why not?

good things

......come in Swedish packages

which around here usually means something from Ikea , with a name like Ooglurp and inscrutable diagrams involving an allen wrench.
Not this time.
This time I was the high bidder on an item I've been vying for, losingly, for months. All the way from Sweden, and it arrived in a way befitting its name. So satisying.

Also, good things from KnitPicks: Shine Worsted arrived. I was expecting Terracotta to be less rosy. Seen here lounging on the rust colored pullover that's cleverly hiding any progress no matter how many rounds I add. I suspect its planning an April Fools joke on me, so that April 1 it'll suddenly be ready to split for the armholes. I'm playing along.

Once left to its own devices, the Terracotta next to Shine Worsted in Cream went back to the color scheme I'd thought I'd ordered and anyways, for the price this is amazing yarn. Not really shiny at all, very soft, no rough cotton burn, no squeak on the needles. I could see a summer Ribby Cardi out of this.

Here it is, the last hat of the chilly season, modeled by a head sized 'lope. Not that I'm calling my son a melonhead but it was a good stand in. This is the 13th adult sized hat I've made since October. I think I'm ready to move on.
I'd wear it inside out if it were mine.

seeing green (and pink)

With a piccolo playing nephew in the NYC St. Pat's parade, we had to be there.

It was worth the train ride for the company of the crowd.

And, also for the train knitting. The good part about Kidsilk Haze is it is so tiny when flattened.
The bad thing is its so tiny when flattened.
This little tube scarf in progress has gone missing and reappeared, so far, in the bottom of a camera bag, stuck between the sofa cushions and under books in a tote bag. Luckily it surfaced in time to get some inch-age enroute.

marching on

If February needed avenging, March needs...to get going. I'm impatient for spring, for finishing up work that's taking me too long and to see the Saddle Seam Pullover move along. I guess I haven't been knitting as much as I think because after a week, here's where I am. Although this yarn doesn't make the texture pop as much as it does on my glassblower friend, I'm still liking it. In person, it looks pretty decent. Or as Nona says, I'm having an MCS. The color fyi is Ferrous Red, which cracks me up, its just a foo-foo way of saying rust.

Here's a clue as to what's been going on. Its a Big Project. Even though I won't do the project (you scoff? go visit a 6th grade on the day they bring in the projects and you will see some serious parent takeover) I am on call. In my capacity as Design Consultant ("should I glue it here? or here? or here?or here?or here? wait..where did I put it first? Here? or here? or...."), IT Support ("Mommmm!! The printer won't print!") and Most Likely to Make a Last Minute Trip to the Store for Poster Board and White-Out. On the upside: I've fully refreshed my knowledge of the three orders of Greek columns, as well as where we stashed the best flowing Elmers glue bottle.

I made a little Knitpicks order because my older, non-project-ing son requested a new hat- and I can't resist another hat. So when a package notice appeared in my mailbox I expected the puffy envelope of yarn but found these from my mom A shoebox full of home baked Hamentaschen for Purim, a little festival we celebrated this week. They're fruit filled pastries that (depending on where in the world you eat 'em) are the villain of the story's hat (Hamentaschen, I know it means Haman's Pockets but we say its his hat) or his ears (Oznay Haman) but either way: yum. Guess what I had for lunch yesterday?

My plan for today: no sugar. No ear/hat/pocket snacking. No use of the words Ionic, Doric or Corinthian. And cling to the silly belief that it won't snow tomorrow if I think hard enough against it.

speaking of happy accidents....

...wouldja look at Bonne Marie's new sweater. Does she have some special yarn ju-ju or what?

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so there is such a thing as too imperfect

I’ve always considered not being a perfectionist an asset. Perfectionists torture themselves, worrying that when they finish, things will not be just right.

Not me, I can usually live with it. Get it done, accept the charm of the irregular, move on. Whatever it is. Openness to imperfection has been a good thing for a location photographer like me. I like the spontaneity, on-the-spot problem solving, the happy accident.

But..back to knitting. I have some standards. Really. I bumped into them this week.
I returned to a sweater begun last year, an Elsebeth Lavold Viking Knits. I’d uncharacteristically bought yarn I loved, her Silky Wool, before choosing a pattern. When it arrived, the Viking Knits book had been thrown in as a lagniappe. It was to be a sweater for Dave. He chose one with cables and viking knot motifs occurring in various places. Doesn't look too difficult, eh? The pattern plagued me, I kept messing up the motifs.

I finished the back, knowing there were a couple of things wrong and got about 8 “of the front done before I tucked it away. Dave hardly wears sweaters unless its very chilly out, so making him one May-October is a waste of knitting energy. There’d be no woohoo of finishing ad watching the sweateree slip it on and head off into the sunset. Or off to walk the dog or whatever.

Anyway, a few days ago I took it out to admire. I looked over my I-can-live-with-em motif errors. And then I realized. I could. Not. Live with it.

Rationalizing that I’d never planned to make that pattern anyway, and it had lost its fun factor , I spied Funky Glassblowing Guy in the most recent Interweave Knits, in the Saddle Seam Pullover, I somehow want to reward the magazine for using him as a model. Like, as if they’d know. On I cast. I love working on this. Its meant for a heavier yarn but I went to smaller needles and a very (and I mean verrry) sketchy gauge swatch seemed to show me on track.

Its 240 stitches in the round. Sometimes I get to the end of a round and discover I’m off by one. Guess what? I’ve been going back and making it come out - ugh, I can hardly admit it- perfect.

• • • • •

inside the envelope.....

Quick, go over to Knit & Plenty. She gets the award for Best Oscar Post for Knitters Suffering from Cabin Fever and Needing a Laugh.

inevitability

A year of blogging and I've been tagged. KT asked me to show her the door. In the nicest way, I mean.

The thing with a neighborhood built as a summer beach community a century ago is, we don't look so great this time of year.

I could use some spring. I tag anyone who has something green to see out their door: palm trees, cacti, martians .... Show me the verde!

• • • • • • •

Another thing. If you come home really late from a business meeting, and decide to do one quick midnight round on a sweater that's 240 stitches, and you get the feeling something's not right, don't keep going till the end of the round. Because you know, the next morning you'll be finding the mistake made in the 10th stitch.