We finally did make it up to Maine for lunch: Dad, Uncle Howie and I.  Yesterday was a beautiful day for driving - which was allocated to me as both the guys wanted to relax and enjoy the scenery :) I can’t blame them.  I certainly don’t mind driving and while I know both gentlemen are still more than adequate to the task, it’s rather nice to know that they feel comfortable with me at the wheel.

Uncle Howie’s on the left there and that’s dad on the right.

Their conversational styles are just about identical though they would deny this with their dying breaths :) Neither of them came handle a warm, companionable silence.  As far as they’re concerned, there are no warm, companionable silences.  If there is silence, something must be wrong; the silence must be filled and to that end they will both babble about any and everything that enters their skulls.  That can be rather entertaining, actually and I noticed my uncle came up with an appropriate song lyric (a quite elderly tune, usually) in response to a phrase or topic of conversation several times during the afternoon.  I do that too :)

We didn’t quite get down to the sea (I must get down to the sea again...) because both these straightforward, forthright fellows, having finished lunch, were ready to head home.  The restaurant, however, sits alongside a salt marsh and the view was quite lovely even if it wasn’t the ocean proper.

And, if you’re curious, this is what lobster’s going for in Maine currently:





They crack me up, they really do - they are incredibly competitive :) Yesterday, they were “discussing” the price of pound cake.  Uncle had found some for $1.00 that he thought was acceptable.  Well of course dad declared it foul and bought something he preferred and which cost an additional 69¢, stressing it’s “all butter” advertised construction because “You can tell the difference, you really can!” Would my uncle try it?  No - because that would nullify the point he got for getting the best buy.  And dad gets a point for having, arguably, the better tasting product.  So it was a tie.

The stole is coming along.  This is the center section which I have done using two similar but not identical hanks of shaded reds (Manos).

I used them on alternate tiers and to my eye, in person, there’s little, discernable difference.  I was fascinated to see that the camera did see differences between one tier and another.  I’m beginning to wonder if taking pictures of things in general might be a good idea because, clearly, the camera picks up on things that I don’t.

My initial plan isn’t going to give me the length I’d like for this stole, so I’ve come up with an alternative - well, an add-on really :) The reds are in the center and I will work back out reversing the colors I used going in and then bind off.  The stole will then measure about 36” - not nearly enough length for a respectable piece.  So I will then pick up the stitches and work out, starting with triangles and proceeding as though I were starting the entrelac all over again at that point - which I will be.  I’ll do this on both the cast on and the bound off end and that way I can dole out the yarn symmetrically and keep track of it easily.  When I’ve worked a couple of tiers on one end, I’ll remove the needles from the cables and replace them with caps - which will turn the arrangement into a big stitch holder.  Then I’ll attach the needles to another cable and work out a couple of tiers from the other end, swapping working ends every couple of tiers until the yarn is used up or I have gotten the length I’d like for my stole.

Interchangeable circular needles are the bomb!

I also started another pair of Endless Knot Socks because the weather’s getting to where I want socks (I tend to be a barefoot girl when it’s warm) and an extra pair didn’t seem like a bad idea :)

I don’t have enough of the contrast color to make this a yin/yang pair so both socks will be oatmeal with blue accents.  I might have enough to make blue heels and toes too - that would be cool!

And there was an indulgence which I can’t really justify (because I don’t have a project in mind for it!) except that I want to try it and it wasn’t very expensive to do so - 4 balls of Patons soy/wool stripes in Natural Russet.

I have no idea what I’ll use this for, and it will sit for a while because there are at least three other projects in line in front of it...no...four.  The colors are pretty though and I have been dying to try a striping yarn that wasn’t Noro so this goes into the stash to marinate for a while.  I guess it will be marinating in my brain as well :)

Finally, I started chemotherapy again this morning.  The old drug we were using suddenly and spectacularly stopped working.  I won’t get to wait until December or January, new therapy had to be undertaken right away with a new drug.  This course will be a bit different in terms of timing - a dose every week for three weeks and then a week off and then it starts again.  Hopefully we can get another couple of years out of this - and hey - this time, with this particular drug, I may not lose my hair!

Not that there’s much to lose - heheh…

Well, the proposed lunch today didn’t quite go off as planned.  I thought dad was picking me up this morning and apparently he thought I was picking him up.  Clearly our wires were crossed.  I’ll catch up with him and my uncle later.

As yesterday was a day without appointments to attend or errands to run, I finally got a start on my new cool-weather stole.  It was color that finally made up my mind for me.  Big shock there :)

The squash/pumpkin color is Paton’s Merino worsted weight that I dyed a couple of weeks ago.  The copper is Peer Gynt DK which started life as a salmon pink and was also dyed.  The variegated yarns are Manos del Uruguay bulky.  I hesitated about trying to put together all these different weights of yarn, but the colors were so appealing to me, that I decided to go for it anyway.





I split the difference on needle size and went with a size 8 US (5.00 mm) and so far things seem to be working out reasonably well.  It’s going to look like Indian corn when it’s done, but that just ties it more firmly to autumn and winter.

Besides, I had to find something (besides dithering!) to do while I’m waiting for my lace weight and needles :)

Chatters is on for Saturday evening!

Hope to see you there!

I finally finished this last Wednesday - in fact I put in 12 hours on it Wednesday to get it completed and over to dad on Thursday.  Of course I forgot to bring my camera too :) Anyway, it’s done - thank goodness.  Eventually (but not right this second - I’m not up to another afghan just at the moment!) - this ancient article…





...will also be replaced :) I made that more than 25 years ago.  No, I don’t know what I was thinking either but it is a testament to the durability of Red Heart acrylic which is all I could afford at the time.

Now I’m trying to plan another project and, until yesterday, had been kind of flailing around.  I haven’t really been sparked much by the various attempts at lace entrelac so my mind turned to another shawl idea that had been simmering for almost a year.  It’s related to classical music and to one composer in particular.  Since the Faun’s Eyes pattern wasn’t working in entrelac for me, I wondered how it would work circularly.

Now here’s the problem.  Well, the problem is with me because I had myself convinced that I couldn’t do a circular cast-on.  I’ve tried them all, but never got anywhere.  But yesterday I spent about 8 hours working it out and then working on a...well, I suppose you’d call it a “prep” piece.  Not really a swatch because I’d be using different yarn (which I don’t even have yet) and different needles for the real deal.  But just a sort of preliminary to see if the idea was feasible.  In the process of that, I quite accidentally found the solution to the problem with the musical shawl that had been stumping me for quite a while :)

Hey Ev - it worked!  Because this lace is worked on both sides of the fabric, I fretted about “translating” the wrong-side rows to knit stitches.  I pretty much fret about everything - think of it as a form of exercise :) - but it turned out to be easy-peasy and made the lace incredibly simple to work.

Now I know the center looks like the dog’s breakfast, but I also know what went wrong and how to avoid the issue next time.  And yes, there are two colors here but it’s what I had at the time that I was willing to sacrifice for the sake of experimentation.  This is basically the Pi shawl formula (explained in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac).

I have never made a circular shawl so it seemed like a good idea to try one.  I do have one last reservation about it.  When I fold it in half to wear, won’t the lacework be obscured?  Is there a way to minimize or avoid that?  Regardless, I intend to go forward - in fact I ordered two different types of yarn this morning so I’ll have a choice.  Of course that could be a mistake :)

Looking at this, I recognize the possibility of beading too.  Of course it’s only a possibility :) At this point, everything about it is only a possibility - but I’m champing at the bit to get started and will be checking my mailbox, oh...2 or 3 times a day, until my yarn and needles (wooden ones!) get here.

We finally got to see the sun - for about 10 minutes this afternoon - before things clouded over again.  We’ve had tons of rain this last week and things aren’t due to really clear up until Thursday.

This is what the sky looked like at about 2:00 PM EST and at the very bottom of the photo, you can see the trees starting to get some color.

Dad and I went out to lunch today…

...and will be doing so again on Thursday.  My Uncle Howie is coming up from Florida for a short stay and dad and I are taking him up to Lord’s Harborside in Maine for a late lunch.  I’m looking forward to my Uncle’s visit; I always enjoy him.  I particularly enjoy observing his interaction with my father - they both turn into 13-year-olds.  And watching this pair of octogenarians instantly revert to mid-pubescent teenagers in each other’s presence can be a lot of fun. 

I worked up a swatch yesterday with smaller motifs - only one repeat of the Faun’s Eyes pattern with a couple of stitches padding or only one little evergreen per entrelac block.  The initial effort with the mohair was turning out blocks that seemed massive to my eye.  Granted when I started fooling around with this idea, I thought I wanted bigger blocks…

Eh, maybe not…

The problem with the smaller motifs wasn’t really their fault, but mine.  I worked them in worsted weight yarn on size 8 (5.00 mm) needles and, as you could easily predict, they look muddled and rumpled rather than lacey.

It doesn’t help that in addition to the yarn vs needle ratio, I went through three different small balls of yarn - same yarn, different dye jobs - which further muddles the appearance.  No one to blame but myself and I’m going to have to try it again with the mohair and the size 6s (4.25 mm).





As the weather turns colder, I’m thinking of socks again.  Fortunately I have plenty of yarn suitable for socks, some of it very light-hearted and some of it rather sober :) It’s simply a matter of deciding what I want - or rather, what I want to start with!

We had rather a super hero weekend here.  We watched Ironman, The Incredible Hulk (the new one) and The Dark Knight.  They were all surprising to me. 

The Dark Knight has had the most publicity and certainly the longest run, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out why.  It seemed chaotic and pointless to me and the best I can come up with is that this Batman is for generations beyond me.  This is not my Batman.  To the extent that every generation incorporates what is important to it in its myths and legends, perhaps it is fitting that I didn’t quite grasp the message of this film.  As I had expected to like this movie, I was disappointed.





The Incredible Hulk was almost equally as confusing though it was more coherent.  The treatment of how Banner became the Hulk as background to the opening credits (before the movie even actually starts) was interesting, but ultimately a failure.  This sequence of events is how we get to know Banner in the first place and relegating it to a rushed series of images doesn’t convey anything about the man - why should we care about what happens to him?  However, since the movie’s story reveals little about him either, I suppose at least it’s consistent.  Norton wasn’t bad but remains, in my mind, a puzzling choice.  If character development had been better, well… And does Liv Tyler ever do anything in the movies but drip tears?





Ironman was the real boot in the butt.  And it really was a boot in the butt.  The story was excellent, the look perfect.  Robert Downey Jr. was just amazing and Jeff Bridges was gratifyingly slimy.  The tone was right, the feel was spot on and the transitions - usually the nemesis of good story telling - were smooth and agile with none of the annoying “See Ma, this is how it happed!” nonsense that often crops up.  Certainly it had none of the bloat many superhero movies suffer from.  Of the three, it’s the only one I can recommend.

And I’ll just add that the new seasons of Supernatural and Heroes got off to sensational starts :)

Me = happy camper :)

Tha lace knitting is coming along - slowly but surely.  I should have more to talk about next week so I’ll just tell you that I’m enjoying this and the part that I thought was going to be difficult?  Isn’t :)

See the “Knitting Chatter” button on the side bar for more information.

Chatters is on for tomorrow evening.  Bring your knitting or other hand work - but mostly bring yourselves; company and conversation provided at no expense :) See you then!

There are plants in the kitchen.  In fact, sometimes I think they’re taking over the kitchen.  Well, that’s a lie - I like the look of the somewhat unruly foliage (I prefer to think of it as enthusiastic!) in the window and on the…

...well, there’s a jungle on my fridge.  This is no thanks at all to me; it’s Myria who takes care of them, keeps them fed and watered and generally in good shape.  The plants in the above photo were sent to me years ago and Myria has kept them in good and sturdy shape all this time.  But she does all the work - I just enjoy them :)





I sometimes think of this as the Hanging Gardens.  Nothing like as lush as the original, I’m sure, but entertaining and pleasant all the same.  It’s really nice to have green growing things around :)

I went ahead with the dyeing of the wool/angora yarn and I am frankly puzzled about the results.  I soaked the yarn for four hours before it was completely wet and then it was the heaviest yarn I ever tried to lift out of the sink!  Before it went into the water, the skein ran to about 210 grams.  When it came out it weighed at least a ton :) I knew then that there might be problems with the crock pot not having enough room but I so desperately wanted to avoid separate dye lots that I tried it anyway.

What I got was a predominantly pinkish/tan yarn with a few brighter spots.  I used about 30% more dye than I would normally have for that weight of yarn and yet it doesn’t seem like it was nearly enough.  The mottled results are my own fault entirely - the yarn filled the crock and had no room to spread out.  I have dyed as much as 300 grams at one time in the past and I never had this problem before.  Is it possible, do you think, that this yarn (being fairly old) is denser, more solid than a comparable item might be today?

The good thing is that the yarn is in fine shape - clean and completely unfelted.  So it’s a good candidate for another dyeing attempt.  This one will be on the stove so I can use a bigger vessel to hold it.  And, of course, a lot more dye :)

While dad’s couch cover is coming along, Sunday I reached a block.  I have nothing against crochet - love it, in fact.  But I missed my knitting!  So, for that one day, I declared a moratorium on the dratted blanket and picked up my (hopefully) lacework for a change.

Oh it was so nice to have needles in my hands again.  And I even made a little progress :) I’m not working on this for great gobs of time each day, but I am making sure that I do at least a couple of pattern repeats.  I can apply more time to it in a week or so when I get the circus tent blanket done.

Hasten the day…