She Knits By The Seashore

The Last Thing

or, it isn't over, 2006, until it's over...

(click to enlarge; cables may look wonky in photo, but are OK in real life. I hope. I did check it a million times...).

In what seems to have become a 2nd annual tradition of finishing New Year's resolutions & projects under the wire (last year I finished the final assignment of my interior decorating course on the same day), I spent last night seaming up the Central Park Hoodie. I am so happy to be done with this!!!

Central Park Hoodie

Pattern: Knitscene Fall 2006. Started early Sept. 2006. Finished Dec. 30, 2006. Mods: none

Needles: Mom's aluminum 6 & 8 straight needles, and an Addi Natura bamboo circular for ribbing. This was the only 32" size 6 circular I could find, but it turned out to be the perfect needle, as it is lightweight and snag-free. Very easy on wrists for heavier projects like this.

Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Plymouth Tweed 100% lambswool color #5321. 12 skeins needed, but I have 2 1/2 left over. I chose this primarily because I love the color. The yarn knit up fine, but it broke (ripped?) numerous times while seaming, and it's not as soft as I would like. The "attracts-cat-hair" quotient is off the charts. So if you're considering this yarn for a project, proceed with caution.

Additional helps: The knitklips I mentioned yesterday worked out so well! And Nancie Wiseman's "Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques" helped me seam this better than any sweater I've ever made.

Closures: originally I wanted to use buttons, but I didn't find any I liked for this yarn. So, in the end, I left the ribbing plain.

Final thoughts: This sweater still needs to be blocked, but everyone in the KAL who said that you should make one size up is absolutely right. While the arms fit, I can't wear another layer underneath them...not good since I can no longer wear wool against bare skin. I'm hoping this will block out to a larger size and take care of that problem.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! Now that the sweater is finished, I want to catch up on posts and comments and see what you've been working on over the holiday vacation. In the meantime, my best wishes to you and your families for a very happy and healthy 2007!!!

CPH Hood in Progress

Here is a progress photo of the CPH hood, which is about 5-6" long, or halfway done (click to enlarge; I'm sorry the navy blue is so hard to photograph):

Question for those who've made one: After I finish the hood, and when I begin the ribbing that goes up the right and left fronts and hood, I'm assuming this is where I switch to the circular needle from the straight ones? Is this done in two parts (a left and right ribbing), because both sides do not fit on the needle at once? I could envision starting at the bottom of the left front and going up and around the hood and down to the right front. That would be an extremely long row, however! I don't think I want to knit another sweater with a hood. It's OK on this project, but they're not a favorite design feature.

The secret Christmas project is coming along, though I will have to rip out and begin again, one final time. That's because I carried a darker yarn behind a lighter yarn, and the darker yarn is showing through a little bit. I think I should have used bobbins instead. Please share any words of wisdom on intarsia that you may have. :)

On Friday afternoon, I attended a holiday party in a beautiful setting. It was below freezing outside, but I just had to try to photograph the views to share them. I kept thinking of the poem by Emily Dickinson (my friend H's favorite poet) that starts: "There's a certain slant of light, on winter afternoons..."

The poem doesn't apply after those lines, where Emily despairs of the light's oppressive feeling. The sunshine here was so gentle and peaceful that it made me want to go home and curl up with a cup of tea and a kitty. I appreciate that quietness in spirit at such a busy time of year, and I hope you are finding some of those moments for yourself too.

CPH Sleeves

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Hard to believe it's Sunday night already! I also hope you did a lot of knitting. My CPH Sleeves are finally finished!

The shoulder seams are sewn and now I'm trying to pick up stitches around the neckline for the hood. I feel like there's a trick to this that I'm missing, and it has to look right because it's in the front of the sweater. How do you pick up those neckline stitches so evenly?

I worked a little on the Mrs. Belli's lace edging over Thanksgiving, and am still experimenting with the secret project yarn too. This is one of those times I wish I had a stockinette project to work on, as I've been fighting a headache most of the weekend, and want to knit, but need something that doesn't require a lot of concentration. Do you keep a project like that handy, just in case?

The Thanksgiving spirit of gratitude and peace settled on Timmy and Charlie, for a little while:

They took a nap together on the same couch for an afternoon, without fighting. Maybe it's because they know the Kitty Santa is watching?

Day One, and CPH Sleeves

Charlie went to the vet clinic this morning (photo from clinic website) for his treatment, and I'm happy to say that he was so well-behaved. It was a long ride in the car, but he tolerated it pretty well. He didn't complain once in the waiting area, though we were the last ones to be called for check-in, and another upset kitty was making him a little nervous. The vet tech called home at 2pm to say that he had his shot and was doing very well. We'll receive another phone report tomorrow and Thursday, and C will pick him up Friday afternoon. For now, Tim seems to be settling in well to only-cathood and doesn't seem to be concerned that his brother is missing!

Here are the sleeves for my CPH. They're about half way through.

Some commenters asked for a photo of me wearing the purple shrug that is my entry into the Knitting Hall of Shame. C has obliged:

My waist is totally lost (though with my hands on my hips, the sweater loses the boxy look it otherwise has), and the arms are too bulky...

...and then we have what I shall refer to as the Mohair Effect. Be very, very afraid.

CPH Fronts Finished At Last!

Here are the fronts, Tienne. Mad props to C for figuring out the new card reader tonight, to eek the geriatric Fuji camera along until we finish researching a good replacement. Thank you for your input on the new models out there! Now I'm on to Sleeve Island, where I hope the temps are always 80F and the sun is always shining...

It was interesting to see the knitting supplies on your wish lists, in the previous post comments. I'm so glad that most of you are indulged in your yarn dreams by your loved ones.  I forgot to list knitting books myself, but I am going to put in a request for Knit Fix and also the Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar. I think these will be easy for the nonknitters in my life to find (that's pretty much everyone). I will wait on the dream yarns, as my little cabinet is pretty full right now.

For Chappy's Mom:

My November calendar page, courtesy of Ann Taintor. I love her take on the 1950s advertisements. One of my favorites is of a blond woman in a tiara, with the caption "Domestically Disabled."  A chef I am not!

CPH Front Progress

I am a few rows away from the armhole decreases now. Yay! I'm knitting both front pieces at the same time -- the right front is marked by the blue stitch marker. The pieces look too slender, and I have been afraid they would be too small, especially after seeing many comments from other bloggers who were knitting one size up. But when I held them up to one of my store-bought cardigans, they did match up (minus the button bands), so I'm hoping that's a sign of good things!!

Charlie says mrow for all your kind good wishes for his health, and purrs to your four-legged companions too! So far, he's doing well on the new medication (no side effects that I can see), and today he seemed a little more active than he has been the past few days. We're waiting to hear back about the Radiocat clinic with the iodine treatment. I will keep you posted!

Here are my answers to this week's Booking Through Thursday:

1. Do you read in bed? For how long? Do you fall asleep reading? Will a good book keep you up all night?  I always read in bed before I go to sleep, five minutes to two hours depending on the book. If I'm super-tired, I'll fall asleep while reading, but a good mystery can keep me awake until the early morning hours. I also read on my bed on the weekend afternoons, because it's more comfortable than our couches.
2. Where do you keep your nighttime reading? Do you have a special table next to the bed? Are there many books there? Do you keep books there that you aren't reading (finished or unread)? Yes, I have a table next to my side of the bed, and C has one on his side. Both are usually buried in moutains of books. I tend to read more than one book at a time, depending on what mood I'm in (fiction or non, and colorful knitting or decorating books to flip through, and magazines too...). If I haven't read something in a while and it's on the bottom of the stack, then I'll put it away when I clean. Once something is finished, though, it goes right away into the bookcase to make room for other books.

And with that, I'm off to pick up my knitting mystery...things are really getting interesting! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Back Pedaling

The back of the CPH, finished last night. On to the front pieces, which I'll knit together at the same time.

C and his friend R pedaling along the course to warm up for the Cycle for Life race on Saturday. The race and additional activities (Locks for Love, blood and bone marrow donations, etc) support children with cancer and their families. C came in second!

After the race, we joined S&J to "pre-ride" a route in Jamestown for the Columbus Day race next weekend that C will do. The views were so pretty! Here are a few shots that C and S took:

  A gentle field

A windmill

A glorious bridge lit up by the afternoon sun

And speaking of pedals...

Only his doctor's on them for now, but Floyd, post-surgery, will be back again in no time. (AP photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Edited to add: If anyone is interested, Floyd Landis' blog has just posted information on how to assist the Amish families who lost children in the terrible Nickle Mines tragedy in PA.  My thoughts and prayers are with the families as well.

CPH Back 2.0 & other musings

Much better. I'm back to the bindoff for the armholes. (Come on, Beth, I'll race you!). This is one of those WIPs that is taking a lot longer than it should, but I will have lots of car knitting time this weekend.

If you love animals, you may be interested in this heartwarming story from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, in Utah, near the Grand Canyon. They do amazing work there, taking in not only unwanted cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, horses, and other pets that are old, chronically or terminally ill with expensive treatments, but they also rehabilitate wildlife, and are the flagship state for the No More Homeless Pets movement. They were a major force in animal rescue during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Their latest efforts are yet another example of their belief that helping the animals brings out the best in people, and makes the world a better place. After frantic calls for help from animal shelters in the Middle East who were out of food and supplies, members of Best Friends rescued 295 dogs and cats and flew them out of harm's way to the sanctuary in Utah for care and recovery, and hopefully adoption into a new life. They also assisted volunteers & remaining animals at other shelters. I cannot imagine what must be involved legally and operationally into flying all of those animals such a long distance, but I'm so glad they worked it out!

Best Friends is also involved in animal protection here at home; currently they are working on behalf of Tammy Grimes, of Dogs Deserve Better, who was arrested for "theft" after rescuing Doogie, a dying dog chained to a doghouse, and taking him in for veterinary care. (If you knit in PA, and have a few minutes to send an email to your legislators (scroll down the page) on Tammy's behalf, that would be a great help!). It encourages me to see people who were otherwise strangers selflessly working together to support the animals -- they give us so much in return, don't they?

Where do you find your inspiration? Posy Gets Cozy wrote about autumn, and how it is the time of true new beginnings, with those new pencils and notebooks and classroomfulls of possibilities. At the time she posted this, it was still summery hot & humid here, and I thought perhaps that when it cooled off, I would be ready to believe this. I thought our house would sell, and I'd have my new creative room (plus a new house to decorate, a new town to cycle, a new LYS). Despite 14 showings in nearly 2 months, we've had no offers. I look at coffee table books and decorating magazines, colors of wool in yarn shops, hoping to find that "spark" that will send me to my sketchbook or my journal to discover something new, in spite of the same old surroundings & routines. Pumpkins and chrysanthemums abound, and yet they don't speak to me the way this does, a late summer rose in my garden:

The color is cheery, the petals shimmery in the afternoon sun. It reminds me to slow down in my busy day for just a few moments and appreciate its beauty, because it will be gone too soon. It reminds me that even though the calendar says September, and the stores are full of Halloween and harvest decorations (and -- gasp -- Christmas!), that it is still warm enough for an after-work bicycle ride by the ocean (always inspirational), though daylight ends much sooner now. I wish I had time to get out my sketchbook this afternoon, and try in some feeble way to capture the way the rose is backlit from the sun. The light and colors of nature are always going to be my first and foremost inspiration, and it's harder now, knowing I won't have them much longer, and we may not be able to move any time soon. I'm trying to find other areas in which to look, other techniques to try that will jumpstart my imagination.

I'd love to hear what you find inspirational, in your knitting or otherwise, what lifts you up from the ordinary routines of your life into the creative possibilities. Music? Photography? What helps you to slow down, and appreciate the moment and season you're in? I received a Christmas candle catalog in the mail yesterday. I threw it in the trash. I'm not ready for bayberry. I'm still working on bay breeze.

Booking Through Thursday: This week's questions ask if you have bookends, and if so, what kind? I don't have any bookends, and tend to use decorative objects to prop up my books: framed photos, candleholders, seashells. So, I'll answer last week's question, which is: what other things do you read besides books? Everything: the phone book, the dictionary (I look up one word and keep going; dictionary.com is much safer in that way)...cereal boxes, the printouts on prescriptions, store advertisements...I'll read a car repair manual in the waiting room of the service center, if they don't leave me anything else and I've forgotten my knitting. Without the printed word close at hand, I just get all fidgety and irritable. Then I'll look for a pen and a scrap of paper in my purse, and start making lists...

Central Park Hoodie Regress

Yes, this is the back of the sweater, which was much longer in the post before last. A funny thing happened on the trip to the bookstore...

The knitting book section had a copy of Knit Fix, which I wanted to skim through. In the cable section, there were photos of the right and wrong way to turn the cables, and how to fix them, should you have chosen the wrong way. It was one of those moments where the more you think about something, the more unsure you are. Suddenly, my cables didn't seem right. When I got home and checked the sweater, I did in fact turn the cables correctly, but the center two columns were turning the opposite directions from the pattern. Instead of looking like Vs reaching upwards, they looked like Ms pointing downwards. I don't think anyone would have noticed, but it just bothered me that It Was Not Right. So last night, I frogged away, down to the ribbing again. I feel much better now! (And I'm relieved to know that there are a few other knitters just starting on the CPH, so I won't be the last to finish mine (Sunday's "last" finish, after everyone else completed the ride, was enough for one week)). Though I didn't buy Knit Fix that night, it is definitely on my wanted list -- the photos instructing you on how to fix your mistakes are wonderful.

In book news, I've started the third and newest Maggie Sefton knitting mystery, A Deadly Yarn, about a young woman named Alison who is a fiber artist on her way to making it big in NYC. I've also joined a women's book club at my church, and the book for October will be Abba's Child. These, along with A Woman's Guide to Cycling and a pile of magazines, will keep me plenty busy for the next few weeks!

Central Park Hoodie Progress

I'm sorry the photo is so blurry -- hopefully you can see about 10 inches of the back of the Central Park Hoodie sweater. I've never knit with tweed before, and am enjoying the little flecks of color that appear here and there as I go along. The only thing I don't like about this yarn, and it is very minor, is that every so often a little piece of debris, like a bit of dried grass (!), will appear. It is easily pulled out, but I'm wondering what it is. Does anyone know?