She Knits By The Seashore

Ornament Knitting

I've started my first beaded ornament of the season. Here is the outside:

Here is the inside, where you can see the beads a little better:

Once it's stretched over the glass ball, you can see the lace pattern a lot better. Are you knitting any Christmas ornaments this year?

I've started the cabling of the Mr. Greenjeans sweater, but there's not enough progress to show. Mostly I've been writing, doing a little reading, and trying to keep up with the million chores I've been neglecting.

Fleece Navidad, the sixth knitting mystery by Maggie Sefton, is a good read for this time of year. The solution to the murder is very predictable, but watching Kelly and friends prepare for their Christmas holiday is cozy, fun, and a great escape from stress. The ladies churn out lots of hats, scarves, and mittens for the bazaar and the shop, and retired detective Burt is forever spinning more fleeces. The Christmas Eve party at the end of the story is full of the best smells and tastes of Christmas, and makes readers want to bake all kinds of delectables. The cinnamon roll recipe included at the back of the book is calling me mightily. I may have to give in.

If I'm not able to post again before then, I want to wish all U.S. readers a Happy and Peaceful Thanksgiving!

 
 

Autumn in New England

Chris and I spent the long weekend road-tripping, looking at these:

 photos by Chris

Because I have lived here all my life, even though the leaves are beautiful, I'm afraid I am a member of this club. I much prefer Monday's scenery, at the Jamestown (RI) road race: ocean and sailboats. The inland leaf tours were making me twitchy!

 

start/finish of race, with Newport Bridge in background
 

Chris came in 24th out of 66 riders, which for a late-season race and little training beforehand, was great! Now The Season Is Over and unless you "race 'cross" you stick your bike on the indoor trainer and bide your time 'til spring. Sarah and Jeff met us at Jamestown, and you can see her great photos on her cycling blog. My start/finish line videos and photos are on Chris' blog here.

Now for some knitting -- since I spent a lot of time in the car this weekend, I knitted what seems like yards of the lace edging for the Shine Jacket. Here is the jacket sewn up, sans edging. I need to do another foot or two of the lace and then I can sew it on.

I also started Mr. Greenjeans, which is knitting up fast. The pattern is clearly written, for which I am very grateful. Because it is in stockinette, it's curling up around the needle. Hopefully as I knit more, the weight of the yarn will straighten things out so I can get a better photo.

One of the best things that happened this weekend was a trip to Colorful Stitches, and a 50% off sale on the Rowan Tweed in Thistle that I have been wanting for about two years now! It's for Forever Tweed by Wendy Bernard, a pullover stockinette sweater with a cowlneck. Why is it, now that I have been out of work for nearly a year, that every yarn store is having sales on the yarn I have been coveting for the last two or three years, all at the same time? My tiny stash used to be contained in shoebox size plastic bins. But with yarn for two Louisa Harding sweaters, the pink Vogue skirt, and a few small projects, I have "graduated" to large totes on the floor. I guess it is a good problem to have, hoarding yarn before the long winter?!

 

I am having a purple moment, after knitting blue all spring and summer. Must get back to pink soon though!

 I've started reading The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, a funny novella about the Queen of England becoming an obsessive reader. It's a charming story and if you haven't already discovered it, I think you will enjoy it. And Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield is out!! If you love his YouTube videos, and are owned by a feline or two, these new cartoons will speak (purr?) loudly to you. Hilarious!

Shine Jacket Update, New Yarn, and Fall Fashion

The Shine Jacket is almost done!

In addition to the fronts and back, the sleeves are done, and I've seamed it all together. Next comes the lace trim, which is knitted and then sewn on separately. I'm glad this is knitting up fast, because it has not been an enjoyable knit for me. More about that in the FO post to come.

Last weekend, one of my LYS had a sale. I've been wanting to make the Vogue Knitting Summer '06 pink skirt since forever (or at least summer '06!), and the yarn was finally discounted. It was all made up in a bag with the pattern, which I didn't need, and since I took it home, I can't stop looking at it.

The yarn in this "kit" is a little lighter pink than the one in the photograph, which has more blue in it. I'm hoping it's not too baby pink, and the antique yellow will tone it down.

I'm not going to start this until after the holidays, when I'll be wanting spring so badly that I'll dismiss the craziness of knitting an entire skirt out of sock yarn on size 3 needles -- and all of the finishing details which other knitters on Ravelry say took as long as the skirt itself. Wish me luck!!!

My friend MrsSDC gave me the loveliest Lilly Pulitzer-esque knitting bag. I don't know if she knows about my pink and green addiction, but this is really perfect! Thank you again!

She then lured me here, where I bought this:

 

It's for Mr. Greenjeans -- I wear a lot of cardigans and this one was designed for variegated yarn. All of my other sweaters are solid colors. Then I started wondering if variegated yarn means this sweater will be more of a craft project than a stylish clothing item? Some of the blogs I read have been discussing the differences, and variegated yarn is one of those things than tends to make a sweater fall into the former category. However, I remembered that a few posts ago I included an image from the Oct. Lucky magazine that features, you guessed it, a cardigan with purple variegated yarn.

I think the garter stitch and oversized shape makes this look like more of a craft project than the ribbed and fitted Mr. Greenjeans, but if someone can explain the subtleties of why this is considered fashion rather than craft, I would truly appreciate it! Perhaps it has more to do with the wearer than the sweater?
 

In another collision of the fashion and knitting worlds, the November Lucky included this in their Accessories Report:

Infinity Scarves? We know them as the Cowl or the Moebius. And I note that the one on the bottom right is made out of variegated yarn!

Last, but not least, Lucky also included this sweater, which reminds me of Wendy Bernard's Ingenue:

While the fashion vs. knitting debate goes on, I'll be considering what my next sweater project should be. I want to do the two Louisa Harding sweaters, Sophie and Terese, which I bought yarn for last month, but I also need the purple cardigan. Decisions, decisions!

 

Show and Tell 2.0

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement about my job situation. I'd just like to be done with it, and move on with my life. We have access to a career counseling firm, and I'm hoping they'll be able to help me discover what I really want to be when I grow up! I admire people who have always known what their field and purpose is in their work life.

This post is much later than I had hoped, so I'll be playing catch up with photos, and also visiting your blogs over Christmas week. I hope you are enjoying the winter season! The snowfall here in New England has been breathtaking.

Here is another ornament, the same swirl pattern as the one with the tassel, but different colored beads.  Also completed is my 1930s beret. The ribbing is probably too loose, but otherwise, it seems to fit OK. What do you think? The front view photos came out not-so-great, which make me think that the beret is not really my style. Or maybe I need to do a different pattern.

 

Last year, I found these glittered sea shell ornaments at a local shop, and just fell in love with them. They don't really go on our big Christmas tree, and they're too heavy for our small one. So for now, they'll dress up the Seashore office. But maybe someday, I'll do a little seashell tree and use them that way.

 

And speaking of ornaments, our shelter is having a little fundraiser, a memorial tree to honor beloved pets. Here is my sweetie:

I want to make a second annual plea to please remember your local shelters during this season of giving. Financial donations are of course wonderful for helping with the enormous vet bills, but if you can spare a bag of cat or dog food (or cans), or some cat litter, it is very much appreciated. Old towels, new inexpensive litter boxes, dog bones for the dogs, sponsoring a special needs pet in honor of that hard-to-shop-for loved one on your list...all are great ways to give homeless pets a little bit of Christmas until they find new families.

Calorimetry and Wisp

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and your holiday knitting is sailing along. After purchasing some beads and more yarn, I started another ornament for a gift, but had to frog it last night. Will start over again shortly.

After the ornament class the Saturday before last, I was itching to knit, but my current projects were stalled. So I took out the Takhi Shannon yarn, and within a couple of hours, finally made myself a Calorimetry. It's going to be ideal for covering my ears at spring bike races, and not mashing my hair flat against my head like a regular hat would. We won't mention the static electricity from said regular hats that makes my hair stand on end. Not a good look!

Wisp has also been calling me. I tried to fight it, told myself I needed to concentrate on finding beads for the ornaments, and finishing Fantine and the beret first. But I couldn't stop thinking about it -- maybe it's because I have nothing else pink on the needles right now -- does that happen to you? So, I've cast on for that too. As a stole. With 100 stitches. Of fuzzy, non-froggable yarn-thread. Wish me luck.

Speaking of Fantine, count me in with the other knitters who sing the praises of Ravelry saving their lives, or at least, their projects. As I've been knitting along on this sweater, and looking at the finished ones on Ravelry, it started to become more obvious to me how cropped the sweater is in the pattern. Since I'm long-waisted, I will probably like the sweater more if it's longer in length. So, after calls to some local and national LYS for extra yarn turned up nothing, Ravelry came to the rescue in the person of COKnitter, who had 2 skeins in my dye lot and was willing to sell them to me. *Thank You* COKnitter!!!! Now Fantine can come out of time out.

Continuing on in my McReading fashion of late, the next mystery I've read was the first book in an established series by Emily Brightwell, called The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries: A Victorian Mystery. Now the curious thing about this book is that other than the subtitle and cover design, there is almost no evidence this books takes place in Victorian times. Normally, an author will include descriptions of clothing, homes, political events, everyday tasks, etc, that will support the story's setting during a particular time period. Other than mentioning a hansom cab, as opposed to a car, there is nothing of the kind. In fact, I don't recall any mention of England either, other than a village name or two. I'm wondering how an editor didn't catch or respond to this?

Despite that, the book is charming. Mrs. Jeffries, the housekeeper, and her staff clearly care for their less-than-competent Inspector Witherspoon. Investigating his murder cases right under his nose, they feed him clues to ward off the suspicions of Inspector Niven, his superior. Keeping Witherspoon employed is a mission of loyalty, a thank you for their employment when they would otherwise be out on the street. As tempting as it is for me to wax thesis-paper-style over employer-employee relationships, whether or not it's right for them to keep him in his job, and for him to take credit, not to mention the whole male-taking-credit-for-female-abilities in that day and age, I'll just say that it's a quick, cozy read and leave it at that. :)

A few posts ago, I showed photos of my newly painted office/creative room. One thing the room really needed was another lamp. It is so dark this time of year! I had my heart set on a style of lamp I kept seeing in Domino magazine, one with a glass ball base. Those who know my taste might wonder why I wanted it, since I normally like formal, girly vintage styles, and this is sort of an art deco modern style. But for some reason, that lamp kept calling to me (yes, I'm hearing a lot of voices lately!), and I finally found one in the local discount store starting with T. It proved to me again that style does not have to be expensive (the crystal glass versions of this lamp are). 

 

What inexpensive luxuries are calling to you lately? Here's hoping you make a little time for yourself this week to enjoy them.

Fantine

Fantine is finally on the needles. With bulky wool and size 17s, it's going fast. Almost time to separate the sleeves.

I seem to be in the mood lately to knit small, warm things. Once I'm finished with the beret, I want to make a Calorimetry. Here is some Tahki Shannon for that project. This is turning out to be the Black Yarn post, but what can I say? It's winter (or soon will be).

My friend L, semi-local knitting teacher and pattern designer, is coming to my LYS on Saturday to teach a class on knitting beaded ornaments. If you click on her website you can see a photo of the ornament on the upper right side. Here is the Gold Rush and size 4 needles for the class. It's my first formal knitting class ever, come to think of it, so it should be fun. And I've been wanting to learn how to do beaded knitting for a while now.

In addition to knitting small, warm things, I've been reading more mysteries. The Burry Man's Day, the second in Catriona MacPherson's Dandy Gilver Scottish mystery series, was a disappointment. It was one of few books I didn't finish -- I'll confess that after reading the first 100+ pages I actually skimmed to the end, hoping it would get more exciting. Unfortunately, I didn't really bond with any of the characters except Dandy, so I'm not planning to read any more in this series.

Needing a comfort read, I next went to Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series for A Mourning Wedding. A good old-fashioned country house murder with eccentric relatives, hidden secrets, and a twist at the end. I think this is the 13th book in the series, and I have two more to go before I'm caught up. The most recent book, The Bloody Tower, will be out in January in paperback.

Now I'm experimenting with Death of a Gossip, which I think is the first in the Hamish MacBeth series by M.C. Beaton. Having watched all of the DVD episodes first, I'm trying to adjust to the book version of Hamish, and am missing TV John and Isobel terribly. If you've read the books in this series, do you know if these characters will eventually appear, or are they only in the DVD episodes?

I'm feeling slightly guilty these days for not reading Literature-with-a-capital-L, but hopefully once the day job is over, I'll be up to more challenging books. Feeling worn out is a frustrating feeling, when there are so many things I want to do.

Rosie and Timmy clearly disregard the "no sitting on the table" rule.

 

Rainy thinks the knitting is much more interesting.

 

"This will make a very soft cat bed, once it's a little bigger. And with a string toy attached too!"

Hoping your week is a good one.

1930s Beret

Do you go through style moods? One of mine is vintage. I love girly clothes from the early decades of the twentieth century, especially the ones in old movies with Cary Grant, and the BBC mysteries. Sam Stewart had a lily-of-the-valley-esque green cardigan in the last episode of Foyle's War that was to die for. Sadly, I can't find a photo of it to share with you.

Anyway, I'm always interested in those designs that are vintage, yet updated enough so that you can wear them today without feeling like you're wearing a costume. One of the things I came across on Ravely was this 1930s beret pattern, from petulant feminine. Her posting the pattern with a black and white photo of an actress wearing such a beret just called out "make me! wear me!" and I cannot refuse. Even though I've never knit a hat for myself before! Here is the yarn that I chose for my beret. It's teal green Mountain Mohair, from Green Mountain Spinnery.

If you like vintage knits too, you might check out Popknits. Their first issue is up, with a gorgeous cardigan by Blue Garter, and a fair isle beret that I might attempt, if I can do the one color one first. Please share your favorite vintage knits or styles with me!

Two new knittings books arrived from Amazon last night, and they are the perfect compliment to each other: Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard, and Inspired to Knit by Michelle Rose Orne. Wendy's is the left brained "here's how to analyze a schematic and mathematically alter a pattern to fit" book. Michelle's is the "here's how to take the color, pattern, and texture inspirations from nature and design a pattern to fit" book. They really raise the bar as far as looking at yarns and patterns, and making them your own, rather than knitting them exactly as directed (which I do). Perhaps this is one of the dividing lines between "art" and "craft" that so many knitters discuss in forums and around the knitting tables? 

Public Service Announcement: The Animal Rescue Site and Petfinder are having a $100,000 Shelter Challenge. They are giving money away as follows:

Grand Prize:  One $25,000 grant
Runner Up:  One $10,000 grant
State Winners:  Fifty-four $1,000 state grants
Weekly Winners:  Eleven $1,000 weekly grants

All you have to do is go here and vote every day (or as often as you remember) between now and Dec. 14th for your local shelter. Tell your friends and relatives too! All of the smaller shelters are desperately in need of funds: so many pets have been abandoned due to foreclosures, moves, hurricanes, and so often are unmentioned victims of the difficult economy. If you don't have a favorite local shelter, please click for Rosie and Rainy's former rescuers: Forgotten Felines or Meriden Humane Society, both in CT. Let's get some funds to those who really need them.

P.S. This post was drafted early last week, but before I could finish it, we received some difficult personal news. The company I work for has been purchased by another company, and most of us will lose our jobs in 60 days. As you can imagine, it is overwhelming at times, trying to maintain some sense of normalcy when things are definitely not normal. But I do intend to follow those infamous words of Elizabeth Zimmermann: "Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises." Good thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated.

Gossamer Wrap

The Gossamer Wrap is finished. It's not quite what I expected. But I'm not sure what I expected.

Pattern: Gossamer Wrap, Australia's Creative Knitting, Issue #14

Yarn: Dive Teseo, 7 balls, #25565 (pattern calls for Colinette Mohair, which would give the Gossamer effect that's lost here)

Size: Approx. 30" x 75"

Needle: Size 17 circulars

The photo above gives the best view of this wrap on the diagonal. Originally I was going to add fringe, which is what the pattern calls for, but I don't think it will look right. This is what happens when I buy yarn first, and then try to find a pattern to "make it work." I wanted a triangle shawl, but couldn't find something lacy enough that would help to break up the striping effect of the yarn. Then I found this pattern, not realizing that it wasn't quite a rectangle. Since I only wanted to make something to wear around the house for warmth, it's fine. I just hope it doesn't look too dorky, even around the house!

I have a photo of my friend Ollie to share:

We met in the infirmary at the shelter, where he was being given antibiotics due to recent dental work. But he's back in his room with his friends now, and always comes up to say hello to me. Though I hope he'll be adopted soon, I will miss him! One of the very cool things about the shelter where I work is that the cats do get adopted regularly. It's happened several times already; a kitty is rescued, stays in the infirmary while being treated for something like a cold, or recovering from spay/neuter surgery, and then by the next time I'm there, they've found a new home.

I like to share photos of the cats I meet with you. We all take zillions of photos of our own pets, and I wonder sometimes if these cats have ever had their pictures taken, or if they've been fussed over like they should be. So from time to time I hope to share their photos, and fuss a little over them too!

Recently I found out about this very awesome animal transport project. Animals needing rescue/transport out of kill shelters to either no-kill shelters or new homes are driven by people who sign up for various segments of the trip. Most of the animals are dogs, but they serve cats too, and possibly other animals. It's almost like an underground railroad. So, for example, if you have a dog in South Carolina, and he's being adopted by a family in Massachusetts, a rescue group will break down the journey into drives of an hour or so between the two states, over a weekend. All the stops are pre-arranged, the drivers are given supplies and the veterinary papers, and then the dog is slowly transported from one place to the other until he gets to his new home. Is that not the coolest thing?!

I signed up for the daily digest on Yahoo, so if there are any cats coming through my state on a day I'm free, I can help. (Our vehicles aren't really suited for dogs, and I'm not experienced with them). If you'd like more information by state, you can click here. If I do participate in one of these, I will let you know how it goes. After hearing about so many bad things going on in the world, it makes me no end of happy to see how kind and creative people can be too.

Tired

It has been a very long couple of weeks.

Chris and I have had strange work schedules and late hours. I think I'm Seasonally Affected and Disordered this time of year, try as I might to fight it. (Please Mr. Sun with your Light and Warmth, come back!). My sinuses are rebelling. Are you feeling this way too?

Weekend naps, lots of tea, and knitting are a wonderful treatment.  I'm more than half way done with the Noni bag.

I started ball 4 of 8 on the Gossamer Wrap. It is going to be a large paralellogram -- isn't the Clapotis knit this way too, on the diagonal? I hope that the thickness of the yarn doesn't make this look funky, but since I'm knitting it to wear as a wrap around the house, I'll try not to worry about it too much.

The Caroline sweater is coming along, but I'll wait until I'm finished with the back before I share that.

Chris at Stumbling Over Chaos read about my search for new music for my iPod, and sent me a wonderful selection of CDs. She has an amazing collection of music!! Thank you so much!!

It's still too cold to ride our bikes outdoors, but we've been watching the Tour Down Under in South Australia on Cycling.TV. The next big cycling race will be Tour of California, February 17-24. If you have the Versus channel in the US, you can see it on cable TV, and experience some sun and warmth vicariously too.

With that in mind, Meg and I are already in the planning stages for the 2008 Tour de France KAL. Even if you're not a cycling fan, or don't know how to ride, I hope you'll consider joining us. We'll share information about the cities hosting the route, French culture, some recipes, and of course, lots of knitting. In addition to the blog, there is a Tour de France KAL group on Ravelry, and we would love your feedback on last year's KAL or suggestions for what you'd like to see this year. A certain co-hostess is egging me on to do the Breton Girl pullover from Knitscene as my Tour project. Do I dare?

Bound (or not!) to Happen

From time to time I've read posts where a knitter is so close to finishing a project, and then the unthinkable happens: he or she runs out of yarn. They suspect it's coming, they knit faster and faster, and sometimes they just make it to the bind off row. Sometimes not. This weekend it was my turn. I had hoped to post a finished pair of mohair mittens, but it was not meant to be.

My LYS has a different shade of light pink Classic Elite La Gran mohair than this one, which I won in a contest. I could probably track down another skein, but I'm not sure for the amount I need that it's worth it for me to do that. Sarah gave me some good suggestions: to unknit a little of both and turn them into wrist warmers, or to use another color and make them two-tone. I can't make up my mind; I was so close to finishing that I'd already moved on to thinking about a new project. So these are likely going to be frogged and re-knit sometime in the future when I can be excited about them again.

I did finish a small Christmas knit, which I can't post, so I will leave you with my answers to another 7 random things about me meme. Robin tagged me last week, and I thought I would put a new spin on it by doing a Christmas theme. If you would like to do the same (so much holiday knitting, and no photos we can post yet), please consider yourself tagged.

1. Best Christmas memory: in the late 1990s, Chris and I were at my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve during an ice storm. The power went out for a little while, and our family opened presents by candle and firelight. It was really beautiful, even if we had to wait until the lights came on to see what we opened.

2. Worst Christmas memory: when I was about 8 or 10, my sister and I both got the flu. We were so sick Christmas Day, and dizzy, we couldn't even sit up straight, much less enjoy opening our presents. There was one Christmas as an adult I was just getting over the flu, and another when my dad was really sick, that tie for second-worst.

3. Favorite ornament: my grandmother gave me a glass ornament that she had when my mother was small. it's pink and yellow and a very unusual shape, a roundish disk with a pointed drop underneath that ends in a little ball. It's packed away this year because of the new cats (I took it out just for the photo). I wasn't sure how they'd handle the tree, so we put only the unbreakable ornaments on it this year. My favorite ornament on my parents' tree is this tiny, raggedy snowman in a pink hat and coat that my sister and I fight over hanging every year. Since she wasn't home when we did the tree this year, I got to hang it!!!!!!!!!

4. Favorite Christmas present as a child: I loved art supplies, crayons, coloring books, and kits. I also loved my Suzy Homemaker doll and her cardboard dollhouse. I still have the doll, along with my Raggedy Anns. [Note: I can just imagine your groans at the name "Suzy Homemaker." This was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. And for better or worse, Suzy didn't have much influence on me, at least so far as the cooking part goes. It was the interior decorating of her dollhouse that I loved.]

5. Favorite Christmas present as an adult: an antique bracelet from Chris. See #7.

6. Favorite Christmas cookies: tie between the spritz cookies with food coloring that come out of the cookie press, and my gram's Italian cookies that have anise flavoring in them. Also love pignoli cookies (pronounced pin-yol-ee. English trans: pine nut).*

7. Favorite Christmas tradition: when Chris and I married, I was introduced by his family to the game of making your victim recipient work for a special present. His mom or dad would hide something ahead of time somewhere in the house, and put a note in the tree with a clue. Which would lead to another clue. So much fun as everyone follows the giftee around the house in the search! One year (looking back on it, this was probably not the smartest thing to do, since Chris had just gotten out of the hospital from surgery -- sorry honey!), I bought him an It's a Wonderful Life train set, and his mom and I hid the little buildings all over his parents' house and made him play "hot and cold'. He got me back the following year by hiding a bracelet in our house, and giving me something like 13 paper clues that sent me from the basement to the attic and back again [and if memory serves, the garage!] before I found it hidden in the victrola. My caffeine level was low, and I was begging for mercy. Last year I got him by hiding a set of rollers (you use them to ride a bicycle indoors) in the basement, and the 5 or 6 clues were all bicycle-themed. He had to read the clue and guess the double-meaning to know where the next clue was hid. I'm taking this year off, but watching my back just the same.

On Saturday, Chris and I spent the day with Sarah and Jeff enjoying some Christmas sights. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos, so please click on over to her blog if you'd like to see her pretty shots. And on Sunday, we had another winter storm. 3" or so of snow, but mostly ice and slushy mess. Our neighbors to the north got the worst of it.

I hope you are having a good week!

*I've never used these recipes, so I can't comment on them. Just wanted to give you a link to what I was trying to describe.