Knitting Through the Snow Storm

Though I'm determined to get out, further, that is, than the driveway to shovel out my car, I've not been able to drive--yet--to Massachusetts, which had been my weekend's destination. So, between reading student papers, eating Irish oatmeal, and laughing at the way the snow drowns/covers/entraps Khikho, I've switched between reading Charlotte Bronte's Villette and knitting a pillow that says "Pillow," not that there'd be any mistaking what it is. It started as a double-strand sweater, which I'd abandoned in January as being too thick even for someone in January, and, with winter whimsy, became a "Pillow...Back Of." I used, as I have several other times, the lettering font from unionpurl's Peruvian Chulla, closed the two ends, one with Kitchener stitch, one with three-needle bind-off, and I've got me a birthday present for a wonderful ole friend, whose chuckles I hear already across the snowy divide of Ithaca to Connecticut.

Also did this "Montreal Tuque," out of stashed Blue Sky Alpaca.


And am now going to while away the afternoon doing "Fiddlehead Mittens."

And, if the plows are my friends, I'll go tomorrow to Massachusetts.

Alexander, this one's for YOU

Just want to share (pictures of) this satisfying sweater, made with Cascade Ecological wool, undyed (except for the red bits), rough and tumble. On size 6 needles, at 5 stitches to the inch, I got a heady dense texture. Big as the fabric is, to fit my fine tall son (50 inches circumference), the knitting flew along. I picked and chose motifs as I went and my fancy found them. I did some hidden red in the turned hem (you'll never find it in these pictures), and had to restrain myself during the two weeks of knitting from putting in too much red: I wanted to keep it in valuable abeyance, with a Latvian braid here and a tiny stripe there, ending with the inside of the turned collar. I found the medieval cats on a medieval pouch (ravelry), took a dragon graph out of Meg Swansen's Sweaters From Camp, and generally had a nice time.

"Ah, la belle chose que de savoir quelque chose !" Knowing how to knit sweaters without patterns.

I'll give this to Alexander next weekend.

Home again, home again.

I came home yesterday from Christmas visits in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and first uploaded pictures, mostly of my four-year-old granddaughters' besotted pleasures. In the above two-shots, the girls are on their way to bed on Christmas Eve. Even though they look beyond excited, they fell asleep in three minutes, and stayed asleep for eleven hours--if only the knowledge that Santa comes to those who sleep worked every night of the year, heh.
The day after Christmas, and more subdued, Ainsley gets ready to go tromping in the snow, in the Eco Wool sweater I made up last Spring. It's such a winner, I stopped at WEBS (end-of-year blowout sale), on my way from Massachusetts to Connecticut, to get more and still more of these yarns to make more, larger and smaller, same and different. I do like the turned in and hemmed and wide neck, so will repeat that, when I get to making more of these.


And I wish this picture of my mother, graciously, laughingly enjoying her Xmas mittens, was a better or truer picture of her,...But it's not. The mittens on the other hand are perfect. Baby Ull and the Twist Collective "Postwar Mittens" pattern. Mom and I (and the mittens) went off to see "Young Victoria" (I think that's the title) and have dinner at a boutique Spanish restaurant.

And now I'm home, the new snow started, and almost stopping, and I am getting to work organizing my life--not too modest an ambition. With only the afterthought heel to go on my own Christmas stocking (couldn't quite get it done by the 24th, heh), I'm also getting ready for new knitting projects.

Christmas Stockings and mitten

The stockings are modifications or take-offs of "Judy's Colors" stockings, all knit while leading a class in these handsome stockings, at Knitting Etc. I got a bit excited, wasn't able to exit the stocking mode. These are for my DIL, Schuyler, my son, Alexander (with the requisite purple dinosaur, Mary), my daughter, Elizabeth, and her housemate, Kevin, both Seattle doctors on duty over Xmas, so needing stockings to stave off self-pity.

The mitten (whose partner is in the works), is for my mother, who power walks every morning come rain or come freeze, and who, then, will appreciate the warmth of the Dale Baby Ull stranded knitting. The pattern, Postwar Mittens by Mary Ann Stephens, is available at Twist Collective, and designs a mighty elegant gant.

*Why is all the above underlined? Go figure.*

Maggie Goes Samantha

Maggie, who's had this sweater for a year, has grown into it. Her mom just sent this picture. Are they a dear combination!!

May the force be with you, Gooser

After consulting with Alexander, who has an excellent memory of the possible self-consciousness of an eleven-year-old, I decided not to knit Gooser a Star Wars hat for his birthday, which is today, since he might feel a little un-brave wearing it to middle school, but, rather, to give him a pillow, which he can enjoy in the privacy of his own bedroom. Stormtroopers and R2D2s, yes. Cant wait to give it to him, along with some beef jerky, late this evening, when I get home from teaching the Samantha (dress/jacket/tunic/sweater) class, session one. I know he'll love the beef jerky, and he can pretend to love the pillow, whether or not. (I had Huron County buffalo jerky for him, very special, but Yogi found and devoured it, just before he died; and that's the truth.)
And here's the match to Eliza's Norwegian Star hat, for Ainsley. Mailed last week, these hats might be on their heads when I see the girls this weekend. I'll get to attend their make-up dance class on Saturday morning, after an overnight with Mom, at Dawn's School of Dance, where I got to go every Monday while living in Northampton last winter/spring. It's a hoot and a half. (Not that they'll be wearing their hats in class, but maybe when we go trick-or-treating later on Saturday.)

Hats

Aside from afghan squares, of which I've now completed about thirty-five (of sixty-three), I seem mainly to be knitting hats, hats, hats. All containable projects, easy to pick up and put down (and take dog-park walks with). This blog has subsided; and I don't know when I'll resume thinking about knitting enough to write more, so for now, here are the various hats on and off needles. And a little vest, the fem' variant of Hickory's "Ryland's Vest, " pattern soon available at knittingetc. newsletter, my ruffles an option. To identify the hats here, you could go to my "projects" page, my sort of knitting history, at ravelry.com/people/lyndabogel (at least I think you can go there).

Doing Scales. . .all summer

I'm off of real music, and on to scales, doing every scale I can find, both in Barbara Walker's Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book, and, quickly, beyond--beyond to her anthologies of stitches, treasuries. I'll be using her book to teach afghan - making this fall, so am getting a jump on the blanket. It's an excellent book, helpfully graduated in technical challenges--one starts with a striped garter stitch square, moves through various textures, cables, laces, slip stitches, keep on movin', until one has--if one pays no attention to the passing of years--sixty-three eight-inch squares. (And then you just have to put them together.) No problem.

So, I'm blocking the first dozen, and will take pattern libraries to Michigan, when I go in about a week, as well as balls of this Cascade 220 superwash.




The only other thing I've done this month, I think, is this little sweater for baby Isaac, across the street (also in Cascade 220 superwash).


I'll be teaching four knitting classes this fall. In addition to the afghan, I'm teaching two sweater classes, the Cayuga Cardigan, and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. Later in the fall I'll offer a Christmas Stocking class.

Saia's off to the Funny Farm

Saia's off to the Funny Farm as soon as they cross-wrap her arms/sleeves around on the back.

Heh, here's a six-weeks baby in a six-to-nine months "Samantha."