One of the reasons it takes me so long to get things finished is that I get sidetracked :) It might be something connected to what I’m working on or it might be something else entirely.  This results in a profusion of swatches that may or may not wind up being useful.

Bella sleeve experiments

These were things I was playing with when I was trying to decide what to do with Bella’s sleeves.  I liked the cable/bobble thing.  But while the contrast bobble seemed like a terrific notion in my head, I wasn’t thrilled by the way it actually worked out.  And I didn’t like the ruffle at all!  The other piece I did kind of like - a bit lacey, but not sufficiently so that it would look weird in worsted weight yarn, but I had pretty much decided by then that I didn’t want to go with lace.  I might try this at some point though, because I really like the pattern. 

Edging

I was trying to find out if shrimp stitching (backwards single crochet) the perimeter of a knitted fabric would help control its tendency to curl.  It does - a little.  The next experiment will be to try crocheting in the stitch below the edge (rather than in the edge stitch itself) to see if that would further enhance the effect :)

Stranded

This is another pattern experiment.  As you can see in the highlighted circle, I haven’t exactly got things down quite yet.  I have also realized that to do some of the things I want to do with this technique, I’m going to have to get more comfortable with DPNs… I may try this on two circulars though - just so I can work something wee.  Even a 16” circular necessitates more stitches than I’d like and while I know there are smaller circulars available, my ham hands would never be able to manage them.

Triangle

I’ve also been fooling around with some crochet recently.  I used to do this stuff compulsively, from teeny thread doilies on up to afghans.  I dropped it when I started knitting, but have begun to get interested in it again.  This is a simple stitch that builds diagonally and would be perfect for a shawl, but might also make an interesting sweater of diagonal panels.  Many years ago, I made an afghan out of this stitch for my folks new couch.  My dad still has the afghan on the recliner in the living room.

Adapted doily

I’d had the thought that an old-fashioned doily pattern (a large one) might make a pretty nice Pi-type shawl done in the right yarn.  So I’ve been playing with that Idea.  This is one of the swatches and I think the idea will work out well though I believe I should have used a larger hook with this (mohair) yarn.

Misty Morning

This is the stitch pattern Bron gives for her Misty Morning Stole (and if you’re into crochet at all, check out her new crochet blog - pretty cool!).  I like it - neat, easy and attractive.  There will definitely be something in the future using this stitch.

So it’s not as if I’m not doing anything see, it’s that I’m scatterbrained and keep getting drawn to all these neat ideas floating around in my head.  I know, focus is a good thing.  But so is distraction, properly channeled!

BTW, sorry about the pictures this morning, I couldn’t seem to keep the flash out of the way.  Oh well…

Friday evening, we noticed that our bird feeders were gone.  The landlord had his workers take them down.  Saturday morning, as I was leaving to visit my father, the landlord stopped me to tell me that the birds were too messy and too noisy and that I was not to put the feeders back up again.

It’s the old battle, of course, the one everything eventually comes down to.  The world is one way and you want it to be some other way.  The landlord is certainly within his rights to not want the feeders up any more, though I would have appreciated it if he had let me know it was a problem instead of just taking them down.  And while I despise the fact that a virtual stranger has that kind of say in my life, the situation is what it is and can’t be helped at the moment.

So I’m sitting here, missing the birds.  I’ll get over it and, really, in the overall scope of “life, the universe and everything” it doesn’t mean all that much.

But the view outside my kitchen window now consists only of cars and neighboring buildings.  And it’s awfully quiet…

Honest to God, I have no idea what’s happening here!  Yesterday I was reading about doing stranded knitting in the round (Hmmm - no purl rows?) and the next thing I knew, there was this:

Circular practice

I feel like I’m channeling Alice Starmore!  Stop me before I strand again!  LOL! 

Really - I was playing with this last night.

Me:  This can’t be me doing this! 

Myria:  (Looking over, observing that it was my hands on the needles and yarn and my drawing that the pattern was being worked from) It’s you.

I can’t tell you how strange and awesome this seems to me.  This wasn’t something I thought I had any interest in doing.  Even if I had been interested I would have told you I severely lacked the necessary dexterity to pull it off.  And yet, watching that pattern come off my needles last night was incredibly exciting.  It’s almost as though the back of my brain had been putting things together without the front of my brain being aware of it.

Pattern close-up

Starting the piece was interesting.  I got 80 stitches cast on and joined on the circular and knitted three rounds plain.  Then I added the pattern color - and promptly forgot how to count.  I must have ripped that first row 6 times before I got it right - but after that things just...I don’t know...sort of flowed.  I felt as though I had finally reached the enlightenment of Zen knitting! 

Oh, and look at this!

Back of the piece

You can actually see the pattern on the back in the strands!  How cool is that?

I have no idea what this piece will become - if anything.  I can see a change I’d like to make in the pattern (the small motifs are too thick on the sides) so I’ll probably just bind it off and work out something else.  I just hope that whoever’s using my hands to knit this stuff doesn’t go away just yet - I’m having too much fun!

Bella sleeve

I’m not neglecting Bella either.  Bella is TV work because there really isn’t anything terribly complicated about it.  The stranding stuff I work on when there isn’t anything around that’s going to haul my attention off of it.  The first sleeve is about halfway done.  But you know, when I picked it up last night, after working on the stranding piece, it didn’t feel like plain old stockinette.  Some of the excitement and awe had rubbed off.  I kept thinking (as I was knitting and purling back and forth): This is the basis for it all.  This is where it starts and, apparently, you can go anywhere from here!

And this morning I keep wondering why it isn’t always like this.  I guess you can’t learn something new every single day, where the light bulb goes off in your head, you feel this incredible rush of comprehension and your whole consciousness yells “I’ve got it!!!”

But wouldn’t it be nice?

Have a great weekend!

I wanted to pass on these links which I stumbled upon yesterday.  They’re French, but even if your French is of the “plume de ma tante est dans l’oeil de mon oncle” variety, you should be able to muddle through.  You can get from one to the other, but I’m posting both because the link may not be clear.

La Tricotheque

and

Mis a jour

There’s tons of stuff here, including patterns, techniques and charts.  You could wander around there for hours :)

A bientt!

Monday, Dad and I headed up to Maine to our favorite seafood restaurant - Lord’s Harborside in Wells.  It closes for the winter on the third Thursday of October and re-opens on the third Thursday of April.  As we drove up to what appeared to be an empty building, we spotted a sign that announced they would be opening for the season this Thursday - the 29th.  Oh well…

We drove back down to Kittery and had a very late lunch at Warren’s Lobsterhouse.  They have a huge, fresh and quite varied salad bar which is worth the trip all by itself.  But I had maybe the best shrimp I’ve ever had there.  Not the big, relatively tasteless gulf shrimp, but the little, local, cold water babies - sweet, tender and incredibly flavorful.  Ahhhhh....

We’ll hit Lord’s for our birthday dinner next month.  Dad’s birthday is on the 17th and mine is on the 18th.  We always go out to celebrate and Lord’s will be a splendid place to do it :)

On to knitting content…

Sleeve under way

I finally decided how to handle the sleeves - I know, you’ve been holding your collective breath, right?  Heheh…

Bron was right.  I hadn’t thought about it really, but I did want something a little lacey for the sleeves.  Unfortunately, the several small lace patterns that I swatched didn’t please me much.  I even did a big feather and fan swatch.  That would have worked, but I couldn’t manage to feel anything but lukewarm about it.  So…

Jewels on Dusty Plum

I think this will work just fine.  I love the way these two yarns set each other off.  The plum, by itself, can look more grey than I prefer and the variegated looks a bit dull on its own.  But together, the plum looks like plum and the variegated just glows.  I think I’m going to forgo the ruffles entirely, both on the sleeve and at the neck.  I’ll probably leave the sleeves alone and I’m thinking about a simple collar for the neckline.  I’ll do that with the variegated yarn - maybe in seed stitch or, maybe that’s where the lace should go?  I’m a ways from that just yet so I’ve got plenty of time to think about it.

A question.  I was chasing around the web yesterday, trying to figure out what a peerie pattern is.  I know it’s a tiny, fair isle-type of pattern and I was able to find out that “peerie” means small.  But I couldn’t find out if there was anything specific about them.  Are they just little patterns which are repeated?  Do they have to conform to certain conditions as to size and or color?  Does anyone know or can you point me to a resource?  I really should have had that curiosity gland removed a loooong time ago :)

Anyway, while I was chasing around, something in the back of my head clicked.  I can’t express it any better than that.  I have never had the slightest interest in fair isle work having always thought of it as the knitting equivalent of brain surgery.  And, in general, while the colors can be fabulous, the all-over patterning is too busy for my taste and - let’s be honest - for my shape.  In a fair isle sweater, I’d look like a camel wrapped in a Turkish carpet!

So imagine my stupefaction when this happened:

WTF?

It felt as though either I or my needles had been possessed and the next thing I knew, there was this little swatch.  And while it certainly felt odd at first (and a bit awkward) I can’t say it was terribly difficult.  And it got easier as I went on.  But it really is very strange.  I keep looking at this thing, wondering where it came from.  It’s all a little scary…

And it occurs to me that this technique needn’t be restricted to all-over patterning.  A bit here or a bit there, a border perhaps - just a little something to add a soupon of interest.

The Boys

Fluffy and Goldie seem to be waiting for us to clear out today.  I suspect planned mischief!

Happy mid-week, everyone :)

I’ll start with the bad.  I woke up very early Friday morning from a nightmare about floods, collapsing buildings and people missing and dead.  I don’t usually remember my dreams once I’ve woken up, but this one wouldn’t leave me alone.  I eventually had to get up and turn the light on before I could begin to relax and even now I can still feel the department store falling out from under me.  Urk....

That seemed to set the tone for the weekend.  I’ve been kinda tense for no particular reason.  I am pleased to say that I’ve managed not to yell or be unreasonable - which is very easy for me to do when I’m feeling edgy.

On to the funny…

Last night I decided an English muffin, all toasty and buttery would make a good before-bed snack.  So I got one out of its bag and plunked it into the toaster whereupon an edge, about half an inch wide and about two inches long broke off and plummeted to the bottom of the slot.  No biggie.  I unplugged the toaster and began fishing around to get the piece out.

It wouldn’t come out.  So I removed the muffin halves and turned the toaster over to shake it out.  A veritable snow of breadcrumbs hit the counter as I shook the toaster - but no MF (no, not that - muffin fragment!).

Hmmmm…

I looked into the slot and the MF was just lying there.  Turned the thing over again and shook some more.  Another cup of bread crumbs - no MF.  So I got a knife and broke the piece up, hoping that would help.  And it did...a bit.  The next turn and shake got another cup of breadcrumbs and a couple of MF pieces.

But there was still a piece stuck in the bottom of that slot and nothing I could do would dislodge it.  It, apparently, felt it had found a new home and intended to squat there permanently.  All right, fine.  Go ahead and cremate!  So I put the muffin back in, plugged the toaster in again and pushed the lever down.

Then I looked at the counter - which had virtually disappeared under an avalanche of fossilized breadcrumbs.  I mean there was enough there to feed the birds for a week!  What would have happened if I had kept turning and shaking?  It was like the toaster had an inexhaustible supply of this stuff.  I might never have to buy bird seed again!  Did some part of it reach into that black hole dimension that socks disappear into?  Was it an exchange sort of thing?  Get a cup of bread crumbs for every sock?

“Honey?  How long have we had this toaster?  Did we have it before we moved?” We moved into this apartment about a year ago.

“Yes, and I’ve cleaned it several times since.  You can never get everything out.”

I’d figured that much out thanks to the MF, now merrily turning black in the bottom of the slot and scenting the kitchen with essence of burned bread.

I did eventually get the drifts of crumbs cleaned up off the counter and the floor and retired with my snack to ponder the mysteries of the universe.  What would you have to offer the black hole, for example, to get, say, yarn back?  And how would it manifest?  Would it just show up in your closet, as part of your stash or would you have to watch for it to drop out of the light fixture in the bathroom?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Okay - now for the mediocre…

I worked on the shawl most of the weekend.  It looks just like it did in the last picture except a bit larger so I won’t bore you with another photo right now.

But I kinda got stuck on Bella.  I started the first sleeve and got a few repeats of the lace done before I realized that I didn’t like it.  In worsted weight yarn, it just looked - I don’t know - kinda clunky?  So I ripped it all out and now I’m not quite sure how to proceed.

I could do a plain stockinette sleeve with a seed stitch border - like the body of the sweater.
Or I could do a cable embellishment.
Or I could try another lacy type pattern - feather and fan maybe?

What do you all think?  Or do you have any other suggestions that might do the trick?  I know this isn’t rocket science but it sure is making me feel stupid :)

Remember yesterday, when I said I’d be casting on for Bella’s sleeves?  I lied.  Well, not intentionally, but I didn’t get that far.  In trying to finish off the right front last night, I ran into a count problem and wound up frogging.  Then I ran into a twisted stitches problem and wound up frogging again.  I finally got to bind the thing off and that was all the knitting I wanted to do on that.  Patience with my own idiocy is no more one of my strong points than coordination is :) The sleeves, or at least the first sleeve, will go on this afternoon.

Completed Fronts :)

The Meadow Flowers proceeds apace.  It will probably become my regular Monday night project - assuming I can keep track of my yo’s.  I like the way it’s coming out though and the fabric is very soft and nice feeling.  Of course I’m getting bored with the simple lace pattern, but attempting to vary it now would be courting disaster, I fear.  And, even though it’s unexciting to work, it is pretty.  Besides, how reasonable is it to get bored with something that gives me so much frogging practice? :)

Meadow Flowers

I’m having a rather unmotivated day - you know, the kind where you just want to go back to bed?  I’m supposed to go out to dinner with a friend tonight and I really don’t feel like it.  Oh I’ll go and chances are we’ll have a great time - we always do.  But right now?  Feh…

I suppose it’s spring fever and I’ve seen the same kind of thing popping up all over Blogdom.  Creative, talented, intelligent people feeling...blah, unmotivated and unsure about themselves, their projects and their blogs.  I know this will pass.but I want it to pass NOW (see above statement about patience)!

Greediguts

There have been a lot fewer squirrels visiting now that the weather has warmed up.  In the winter we had, it seemed, and endless string of them coming and going all the time.  Now we only see one or two a day.

Now we have pigeons :) Two distinct flocks visit to eat the corn.  One is pretty sizeable - 20-30 birds at any given time.  The other is quite a bit smaller with only 6 - 10 showing up, usually in the late afternoon.  They sit on the roof of the building next door and watch.  And wait.  Myria thinks that once the chestnut outside the kitchen window has leafed out, the pigeon influx will diminish.  I kinda hope she’s right because they tend to scare away the smaller birds.