Captain Cranky is home and, for the moment, maintaining.  Doctors appointments and tests are still going full bore though - we’ll be heading back into the city on Thursday.  At least things are stable for now :)

He has ordered new furniture - a sofa (which he refers to as a divan) and a new recliner.  It’s long since time that he replaced the pieces in his living room which have no more than sentimental value now.  I stretched out on his sofa once last week and honestly, it felt like it was stuffed with rocks!  The new one will be a medium dark dusty blue and the new recliner is a medium antique gold. 

I decided that he needed a new afghan to go with his new furniture.  I mean, there are plenty of ancient afghans hanging around the house but really, they should all be taken out and buried!  I wanted him to have something new and nice and especially his.  However, his likes and mine differ.  Where I couldn’t wait to have a wool blanket all my own, he doesn’t want any part of one.  Acrylic or nothing.  Sigh…

Still, it’s inexpensive, easy to find, comes in every color under the sun and is sturdy as hell.  It could be worse :)

What free time I’ve had, I’ve devoted to working on swatches for this beast, hoping to come up with something new and brilliant.  Hah!  I finally realized that if I want to get this to him any time before Christmas, I had better crochet it.  And I would like him to have it as soon as possible - it was only about 60°F this morning when I got up.  While I found it pleasantly invigorating, dad would find it uncomfortable.  I don’t want to think of dad being uncomfortable in our unseasonably cool weather - and I don’t want him nestling under the ratty, god-knows-how-old afghans he’s got floating around the house :)

I’ve also been thinking out a stole - entrelac, of course :)  As it happened, I lucked into the yarn for it (or at least for the prototype) at the Classic Elite Mill Shop this morning.

It’s called Kid Mohair and is a product of Twinkle Handknits.  It’s only 35% mohair, the balance being mostly wool with a soupçon of acrylic.  It has a nice hand which will, I believe, be even nicer once it’s been washed.  The color is French Grey - a light sort of grey/beige.

This is definitely not in my normal range of colors - in fact I would ordinarily think of this as more of a condition than a color :)  However, it was the right price, comes 310 yds/ball (I got 4 balls) and will go with anything at all.

That’s not all I came away with either - and Opal? This is all your fault.  Flagrantly posting about spinning merino tencel like that - what did you expect a poor girl to do?

This is Classic Elite Miracle a 50/50 blend of alpaca and tencel.  I had the good fortune to work with a single hank of it several years ago and let me tell you, nothing feels like this.  That time, I ooohed and ahhhed over it so much that Myria suggested we get a room :)  I got all they had of this color - which, admittedly, I adore.  I have been trying hard to move out of the exclusively pink/purple range but the only other color available was a sort of sick-looking (to me) olive and I really didn’t like it.  On the other hand, its presence only encouraged me to grab the good color - so perhaps the olive isn’t all bad!  I’m thinking a scarf/hood type thingy for winter - which, given the temperature tendencies, seems to be around the corner!

These projects will wait, however, until dad’s blanket is completed.

Maybe :)

The last bit of news is that I have a new camera.  It’s small enough that I can easily tuck in my pocket or drop into my purse.  As these things go, it’s not terribly fancy and it wasn’t expensive but it’s about 10 times better than my old one and was 1/7th the price.  That picture above - the mohair close-up?  If I had tried that with my old baby, all you would have seen was a jumbled, grey blur.  Now that’s progress :)

Jade just adores the cool weather and becomes exceptionally affectionate in the fall and winter.  She does, however, feel that this entitles her to unlimited lap time and, well, sometimes it just isn’t convenient.  Sometimes I can knit around her, but if Myria and I are gaming on-line, having to lift an 8-lb weight to launch my Firebolt is a little much.  Fortunately for me, Jade is a pissy little thing so all I have to do is jiggle her a little and she goes off in a huff…

...sometimes a minute and a huff :)
(Thanks Groucho!)

Well, at least he called me this time.

Dad is back in the hospital.  He called me yesterday afternoon and asked me to come drive him in to the VA in Boston - which I did.  His blood pressure was so low I couldn’t believe he was still kicking.  But he’s tough and sounded better when I called this morning.

I really only have a couple of things to tell you.  For the time being, I’m not going to be posting regularly as the situation with dad seems to be gradually worsening and it’s likely I will be going back and forth to Boston on a regular basis for the immediate future.

Second, I have converted all the patterns on Ravelry (Ravelry name: Robbyn) to .pdf format and all are now available as free downloads from Ravelry.  The service provider for my blog has made some changes that make accessing the blog somewhat problematic for some folks at some times and I felt this was the best way to insure that those patterns remained available to those people who wanted them.  Any future patterns will be handled likewise so that even if the blog is funky, the patterns are obtainable.

I hope the world is treating you all well!

I’ve been running dad around this week so not a lot of knitting has been done.  What knitting there has been has revolved around swatches like this…

And this…

These are Elsebeth Lavold type cables though I don’t use the increase method she does.  These cable have been running riot in my imagination for a while now and I’m determined to find out what they want with me - since they are apparently not going to leave me alone :)

I’ve also been working on afghan pieces…

...for an organization that collects pieces, makes afghans and sends them to wounded veterans.  If you’re interested, you can find out more about this at The Handmade Afghan Project.  These don’t take a lot of time and are a wonderful fill-in project for odd moments.

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

Chat is definitely on for Saturday evening.  Come one, come all - it’s a blast :)

Hope you all have a splendid weekend!

The scarf is finished and so I present the pattern for your pleasure and, hopefully warmth!  The lace is very simple and the work goes quickly and easily.  The little kitty face lace comes from the agile mind of Jennifer Fleury (of JenLa fame) who very kindly gave me permission to use it.  The catspaw lace is old.

As I am currently owned by two members of the feline persuasion and as I know knittendom has a great many cat lovers, the combining of the two lace patterns seemed just the thing.  As always, if you find any mistakes or if you have any difficulties with the pattern, please let me know - I will be more than happy to help.

When uploaded, the number of stitches to cast on was off - considerably off :)  Comes from having too many projects on my mind!  Anyway, it has been corrected.

9/19/2008 - It was brought to my attention this morning that the directions for the face-lace block meandered off into the seriously wonky.  This has been fixed and the pattern is as correct as I can make it now :)  Thanks for the heads-up, Carla!

Enjoy!

Here Kitty, Kitty…

Materials

DK yarn - about 400 yards.  Yarn used for model was Peer Gynt.
Size 7 US (4.5 mm) needles, circular.
Size 9 US (5.25 mm), circular.

Finished (blocked) length - about 68”
Finished (blocked) width - about 8”

All stitches are slipped purlwise unless otherwise noted.

With the larger needle, cast on 22 stitches.  Transfer to the smaller needle to commence work.

Beginning triangles

First triangle

P2, turn.
K2, turn.
P3, turn.
K3, turn.
P4, turn.
K4, turn…

Continue this way, adding a stitch on each purl row until you have done a P11 row.  Do not turn.  Repeat procedure for second triangle.

First tier

Right side triangle

1.  K2, turn.
2.  P2, turn.
3.  Kfb (in the front and back of the first stitch - an increase), SSK, turn.
4.  Sl 1, P2, turn.
5.  Kfb, K1, SSK, turn.
6.  Sl1, P3, turn.
7,  Kfb, K2, SSK, turn.
8.  Sl1, P4, turn…

Continue this way until you have completed a Kfb, K8, SSK.  Do not turn.

Cat Face Lace block

Pick up 11 stitches along the selvedge edge of next triangle (or unit)

1.  P11, (turn after each row except the last)
2.  K10, SSK (last stitch of block with first available stitch of next unit.)
3.  Sl1, P10.
4.  K10, SSK.
5.  Sl1, P10.
6.  K10, SSK.
7.  Sl1, P10.
8.  K3, yarn forward, sl5, yarn back (keep the float a little loose), K2, SSK.
9.  Sl1, P10.
10.  K3, yarn forward, sl5, yarn back, K2, SSK.
11.  Sl1, P10.
12.  K3, yarn forward, sl5, yarn back, K2, SSK.
13.  P4, M1, K3tog, M1, P4.
14.  K5, K1 inserting the needle beneath the floats created on rows 8, 10 and 12, knitting the stitch and drawing it back out from under the floats before letting the old stitch drop off the needle, K4, SSK.
15.  Sl1, P10.
16.  K3, K2tog, yo, K1, yo, SSK, K2, SSK.
17.  Sl1, P10.
18.  K10, SSK.
19.  Sl1, P10.
20.  K10, SSK.
21.  Sl1, P10.

Left side triangle

Pick up 11 stitches along the selvedge edge of next triangle (or unit)

1.  P2tog, P9, turn.
2.  K10, turn.
3.  P2 tog, P8, turn.
4.  K9, turn.
5.  P2tog, P7, turn.
6.  K8, turn…

Continue this way until you have 2 stitches left, P2tog.  Transfer last stitch back on to left-hand needle.

Turn work.

Second Tier, Catspaw Lace Blocks

Having one stitch on left-hand needle, pick up 10 stitches along selvedge edge of next unit.

1.  K11, turn (turn after each row except the last).
2.  P10, P2tog.
3.  Sl1, K10.
4.  P10, P2tog.
5.  Sl1, K2, SSK, yo, K6.
6.  P10, P2tog.
7.  Sl1, SSK, yo, K3, yo, K2tog, K3.
8.  P10, P2tog.
9.  Sl1, K1, SSK, yo, K1, yo, K2tog, K4.
10. P10, P2tog.
11. Sl1, K10.
12. P10, P2tog.
13. Sl1, K5, SSK, yo, K3.
14. P10, P2tog.
15. Sl1, K2, SSK, yo, K3, yo, K2tog, K1.
16. P10, P2tog.
17. Sl1, K3, SSK, yo, K1, K2tog, K2.
18. P10, P2tog.
19. Sl1, K10.
20. Sl1, P10.
21. Sl1, K10.
22. P10, P2tog.

Pick up 11 stitches along selvedge edge of next unit.

Repeat procedure for second block.

Turn work.

Alternate Tiers 1 and 2 for length of scarf, ending with Tier 1 and having worked Teir 1 fourteen times.

Ending Triangles

Pick up 11 stitches along selvedge edge of next unit.

1.  K11, turn (turn every row but the last).
2.  P2tog, P8, P2tog.
3.  Sl1, K9.
4.  P2tog, P7, P2tog.
5.  Sl1, K8.
6.  P2tog, P6, P2tog.
7.  Sl1, K7.
8.  P2tog, P5, P2tog.
9.  Sl1, K6.
10. P2tog, P4, P2tog.
11. Sl1, K5.
12. P2tog, P3, P2tog.
13. Sl1, K4.
14. P2tog, P2, P2tog.
15. Sl1, K3.
16. P2tog, P1, P2tog.
17. Sl1, K2.
18. P2tog twice.
19. Sl1, K1.
20. P1, P2tog.
21. K2.
22. P3tog.

Repeat procedure for second ending triangle.  End off and cut yarn, leaving a tail long enough to weave in securely.  Weave in ends and block as desired.

Oh yeah - the charts!

Notes:  The dimensions can be varied by using different weights of yarn and different needle sizes.  Sport weight on size 5 US (3.75 mm) needles would yeild something a bit more delicate while bulky yarn on size 11s US (8 mm) would give a heftier result.

I used Peer Gynt DK wool for this scarf because it’s what I had on hand.  However, this is a sturdy, rough-ish wool really intended for outer garments and is somewhat scratchy.  Something softer would be a better idea if this is going to go next to your skin - Knitpicks Merino Style is a nice soft yarn :)

I finally was able to finish the baby blanket this week as the temps have been quite nice - low 70s and even in the 60s overnight.  There wasn’t much to finish up really, the end row of triangles (which constitutes the bind-off in entrelac) and the edging.  I had thought I wanted a border on this, but I’m not going to have time.  The birthday of the child this was made for is this weekend.

Instead, I tidied things up with a half-double crochet all around the blanket.  It neatens the edges a bit but isn’t at all fussy.  And, with only a single row worked, it doesn’t separate itself out as something added on afterwards - I rather like that.  It looks integral :)

The pattern is very simple - basically worked in the same way as the swatch in All Aboard the entrelac Express.  The blocks are 11 stitches wide and the tiers alternate between stockinette (Row 1: Knit, Row 2: Purl) and mistake rib (Row 1: *K1, P1*; end K1, Row 2: Purl).

I cast 99 stitches onto size 8 US (5.00 mm) needles and just worked until the length was just a bit more than the width and the yarn used was Caron Simply Soft (worsted weight) - about 4 skeins.  The final measurements are approximately 40” x 49” - perhaps a little grand for a toddler, but he’ll grow into it :)

If anyone is interested in specific instructions for the blanket, let me know and I’ll get something written up.

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

Drop in if you have time, bring your knitting and join the fun!

Have a wonderful weekend :)

The only problem I have with taking on a big and varied project, is that each discovery made, each nugget of information acquired and each new thing learned all open up tons of possibilities in addition to the ones you’re already considering.  Where do you draw the line - thus far and no farther!

I’m working on it :)

Remember the tree chart in this post?

Another possibility occurred to me…

I will have to play with them both to see if one or the other works better in situ.  Right now I’m thinking a combination of both might be appealing!

The scarf - she grows :)

I’m finishing up the third ball of yarn and I think another 100 yards after that should just about do the trick.

I realized the other day that Pop, the remaining gerbil of our original three is three years old.  At least that’s my estimate of her age based on her size and apparent age when we brought her home.  That’s ancient for a gerbil and, while she has slowed down a bit, she’s still doing quite well, climbing into my hand every night with eagerness and alacrity for her pumpkin seed :)

Cocoa also gets a bit excited about her evening treat - in fact a couple of nights ago she was so excited she dropped the seed which promptly vanished in the bedding and cardboard confetti on the bottom of her tank.  Then she panicked.  So I got her another seed, of course.  I’m well trained, I am :)

Finally, the next incarnation popped into my noggin a couple of days ago.

This is certainly not the yarn for this project, but it was available last night when I wanted to see how things might look.  I’m not sure this is the cable either, frankly :)  But definitely cabled blocks would provide a ton of possibilities and design ideas.  And, of course, there are a dozen things circling around in my head, clamoring for attention…

Jade got us up earlier this morning than we would have preferred by insisting she was starving and then, when that didn’t work…

...tuning into kitty TV, channel 2 and trying to engage in the audience participation part of the program.

Hope you’re all having a good week!

I worked on the second sock all Tuesday and Tuesday evening so that the pair would be done and ready to bring to my father on Wednesday morning.  I even asked Myria not to let me get out of the house without taking a picture of them.

They came out reasonably well and I believe dad will like them.  I asked him to let me know if there were any problems - you know, the standard stuff: a little too snug, perhaps a hair too long, heel too deep or not deep enough.  I can adjust for any small issues in the next pair.  He’ll never tell me though, he’d think it was being ungrateful.

Oh and, of course, I walked out Wednesday morning and left them on the coffee table :)  So he got them yesterday instead :)

I have also been working on a scarf!

The salmon color in the photograph isn’t quite accurate - there isn’t as much orange in the real thing.  Though there might be eventually - I’m not entirely thrilled with this pink and have been wondering if adding some yellow or orange (or both) with a smidge of green (to keep the color from screaming!) would give me a coppery color.  The yarn is otherwise quite nice - Peer Gynt DK - a little scratchier than I’d prefer but that may change after washing.

The lace patterns are via Jennifer Fleury’s Cat’s Face Lace Socks.  She tells me that the paw lace pattern is quite old.  However, the face lace is entirely her creation and she has graciously given me permission to use it for a free pattern (already in the works).  Very clever knitter, that girl, not to mention nice!

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

Chatters is on for Saturday evening.  Bring your knitting (crocheting, what-have-you, etc.) and join the fun.

And have a wonderful weekend!