Working Outdoors

Today has been a wierd day, weatherwise. We were supposed to have clear skies, with a high in the lower 70's. That did not happen. It's been cloudy, and still looks like it could rain any minute. Happily, it was warm, and Dave and I got to eat our lunch on the back porch (looks like it's time to clean out there). Normally, my routine after lunch, it to go visit Max, come home, and go for my walk. Today, I omitted the walk. I didn't want to chance being a mile alway from home, with the possibility of rainfall. Instead, I opted to work in my back yard. I pruned back my roses, cleaned out my pots, and pulled up annuals left over from last year. I'm happy to report that I'm already seeing leaf buds on many of my plants. I guess they're probably confused by the warm temperatures, but it was still nice to see. I know we haven't seen the last of our cold weather, but I'm going to enjoy this warm spell as long as it lasts.

Noro Scarf (Second Try)

This is my second attempt at knitting a Noro Striped Scarf. The first one didn't have enough contrast to really show off the colors of each skein. This time, I chose a bright and a muted, hoping to correct that problem. The stripes are showing up nicely so far, but it's looking a little girly. I wish I knew the secret to picking out color combinations for this pattern. I haven't seen any way to determine the color progression of the stripes while the skeins are wound, and shop owners would rather you didn't unwind the skeins on the shelf.

I guess, since I'm a bit of a girly girl, I see no reason to frog this scarf at the moment, so I'm going to keep on knitting. In looking at the finished projects on Ravelry, I've learned that each color change usually works together beautifully in the end. Only time will tell if this is true in my case.

A Little Bragging

I just wanted to say how very proud I am of my husband and of my town. He did a great job at the Sweetheart Soiree Saturday night. As MC, he introduced the video presentation and the live band. He also gave a short description of each item to be aucioned to raise money for The Children's Advocacy Center. They raised $50 thousand, the most they've ever raised, and that is after expenses. I know they appreciate all who came out to support this great cause.

A Finished Project

After knitting into the wee hours for a full week, and seeing that I wasn't going to finish it anyway, I decided to put my Cherie Amour to the side. At least for the weekend. That gave me the perfect opportunity to finish my Turn A Square Hat. This pattern enabled me to learn how to do jogless stripes. For those of you, who are interested in this technique, I found this video to be a lifesaver. I had hoped for more pronounced color changes in the Noro yarn, but I'm not disappointed. I think it turned out well, for my first try.

Isn't Gonna Happen :(

Well, it was a valliant effort, but it looks like finishing my sweater before tomorrow night is out. I had finally finished my ribbing, and was in the process of knitting the top section. I got all the way to the armholes, when the pattern stopped making sense to me. It could have been sleep deprivation, but it was like I completely forgot how to read a pattern. I finally had to put it away and go to sleep. Since the wee hours is the only time I can work on it without interuption, and since I still have two sleeves to make after finishing the body, I'm going to have to admit defeat. Oh well. It's not like I don't have ANYthing to wear. Still, I'm not disappointed with the effort. My new goal is to have it ready to wear by our church's monthly singing service, which, if I'm not mistaken, I believe is next Saturday.

Trouble already?

Yes, I can't believe it, but I've already hit my first snag in my Sweater goal. I had finished the lower body, and over half the ribbing when I discovered it. It just was looking so big. I know the sweater is designed to be worn with positive ease, but, wow, that's a lot of ease. I looked at the schematic, then again at the pattern measurements, and there was my mistake. I had cast on for the wrong size. Can you believe it? I need this sweater by Saturday night, and I'm knitting it in in the WRONG SIZE! (grr!) I transferred the work onto waste yarn, so I could try on the garment. I noticed the number of rows required for my size is the same as for this size, so the length is fine. In fact, I think I'm going to like the flouncier look better (and I always appreciate a little more booty room). The ribbing, on the other hand, had to be redone. I ripped back to the last row of the lower body part, and decreased twelve stitches evenly across my first ribbing row. Now I have the correct amount of stitches for my size. Hopefully, the rest of the garment will go without a hitch. I believe I'm going to enjoy wearing this sweater. The chances of having it completed by Saturday just got slimmer, but I'm still going to try.

Wish Me Luck

Dave has been asked to MC the Sweetheart Soiree on Saturday Night. This particular event isn't formal, but I do need something dressy. I've been mentally going through my closet since last week, and nothing seems to fit the description of party attire. Last night, I was thinking how great it would be if I had a new sweater to go with one of my dressier skirts, but I'm not about to get out in this frozen weather to go shopping. Then I remembered a pattern I have in my Ravelry queue. For those of you who are unfamiliar with ravelry, our queue is a list of patterns we plan to knit someday. This pattern is called Cherie Amour. It is designed by Ashley Adams Moncrief, and can be found here, at knitty.com. As you can see, it's a meshy fabric, knit with bulky yarn on large needles, making it possible to knit it up fast. The yarn I'm using is called Fusion, and is a product of Madil Yarns. This yarn is a blend of wool and PC-dralon (whatever that is), with a little mohair for fluff. It is listed as aran weight, which is normally what U.S. residents call worsted weight, but I'm not sure the information is correct. I've already knit up one ball, and while I don't think it's quite as thick as bulky, I know it's thicker than any worsted I've ever seen. I actually have mixed feelings about this yarn. It has a slightly fuzzy texture, which causes it to split. That can be a bit of a challange to work with. On the other hand, it's creating a light, crazy soft fabric that I know will be a pleasure to wear...If I can finish in time.

So you can see, I've got my work cut out for me. I've put all my other projects on hold so I can consentrate on this one goal. I hope I finish it, or I'll be running around at the last minute, trying to find something to wear to this shin-dig. Please, wish me luck. I'm going to need it.