by Kat | Aug 16, 2017 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
I spent some time swatching over the past couple of weeks and while one swatch was not successful for what I intended it for, it did match perfectly the gauge of the Angelina Pullover. I know. It was a sign from the Knitty gods that I needed to knit that sweater! So, I am! And, really quite happily. Top down sweaters might be my favorite to knit, but really Interweave Knits – your directions are sorely lacking. Apparently, they think everyone knows what an Old Norwegian Cast on is (I did not know, but when I Googled it all suggestions came up for the German Twisted Cast on, so that is what I did.) Also, the charts… perhaps you could make them just a tiny bit smaller so that they are even less readable, especially for that segment of the population that is over 50…even with bi-focals I cannot see the charts! I am thankful for the library where I checked this magazine out on my iPad so I can “zoom in” to read them. The only other issue I have is that “key” to the stitches is there for the cables, but not for anything else and you must go to a website to see the key. If I paid for this magazine, I would be less than happy. Other than all that it is an easily memorize-able cable chart. Thank goodness for that small favor… also, sizing starts at 47 (I am not quite sure if that is with the 14 inches of ease or not…but again, top down is easy to modify!)
However, still wanting to knit Nekia I was back at the drawing board on a yarn. I pulled out some yarns and remembered that I had swatched most of them for an Amy Herzog class I took and would you believe that I had a swatch that was almost the exact gauge!! The Knitty gods are really loving me this week! So, I will cast on Nekia on Friday and hopefully will have it done on Monday. I am knitting with Brown Sheep Top of the Lamb Sports weight yarn that is EONS old in my stash. But, I think the color will be better and – almost spot on gauge is just crazy! I have tried a bunch of times to knit this yarn into something, but it just never quite right, so it was nice to have it finally work for something!
On Friday, I started Laura Aylor’s Sand Ripples and finished clue #1. So far, so good… I have a curious little square and I am anxiously awaiting clue #2 this week!
AND… because I don’t have enough to knit right now, I also started Close to You for a charity auction in October, easy peasy pattern and I should have this done quickly.
Now, how about a book update! No cover all yet… I did finish a book this week (but it is not for a Bingo square) I had been on a LONG waiting list at the library for Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings. I gave it 4-stars and I really enjoyed it tremendously.
I am a little more than halfway through Still Waters and I still don’t know who “did it” and I am still enjoying it tremendously!
I am back to listening to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and have about 18 hours to go (yes, it is LONG, but I am thoroughly enjoying it!) and then I will finish my card out with A Room with a View. It has indeed been an amazing summer of reading.
There you have it… no unraveling, lots of knitting, and even some good reading! But, what about you?
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by Kat | Aug 14, 2017 | General, In This Moment
If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. John F. Kennedy
I would like to say I had a great weekend, however, the events that took place in Charlottesville loom like the dark grey skies that greeted my Monday morning. But, Friday’s Happy Hour was much improved by the calzones I made that were inspired by Bonny!
Saturday, we stopped to see our friend at the Farmer’s Market and he had more peaches which I will be turning into peach jam this morning. We picked volumes of tomatoes and raspberries from the garden that will soon become jams as well!
My list will keep me in the kitchen for most of the morning, which is not a bad way to spend a Monday in which you are trying to make sense out of senselessness.
And, I will leave you with this bit of goodness that Steve sent me this morning.
by Kat | Aug 11, 2017 | General
After a night of tossing and turning, I woke this morning to this gargantuan web just outside my back door. And, I mean gargantuan – it is over 3′ in diameter, this was one busy spider overnight! Perhaps, I can borrow some of her mojo and I can join her on my upcoming sleepless nights.** Because I don’t have enough projects in process, today is clue 1 of Laura Aylor’s Sand Ripples MKAL. And, yes, I will be casting on. The first clues are always so deceiving with the amount of time it takes to complete them, amirite? I was asked to knit an item for a charity auction and this might work… I am not sure, I will have to see how the clues progress! But, to be safe, I will be tossing the fingering weight stash today to see if I have something that will work for this (and I am more than certain that I do!)
I did manage to finish something else this month, I completed Knit/Wit’s Kerameia Cowl. It was a bit of gift knitting and has been received by the recipient. I am working on a second cowl from the same yarn that will go in the gift basket. It is a great pattern and if you want to try your hand at color-work, this would be the perfect thing to start with as it is knit with a DK weight yarn. I knit it with Fibernymph Dye Works Bona Fide and I like the yarn despite it being superwash. It is super soft and not at all scratchy, so this should be the perfect thing to have around your neck!
In the caught-up category…I am happy to let you all know that the new washer (and dryer) is so outstanding, I have all the laundry caught up from being washer-less for over a week. I am sure that “new toy” feeling quickly wear off and laundry will go back to its normal status of “ugh, laundry”! Oh, and someone asked what is this amazing silent washer… we got an LG Top-Loading washer and it did not cost an arm and a leg. I know some of you are devotees of a brand I had never heard of. Well, maybe I heard of them, but do not recall ever seeing them in any appliance stores. I grew up in a “Maytag” household – and that washer lasted more than 30 years (no really, it did.) Nothing anymore does, however, but I am hopeful that this washer will last longer than its predecessor!**
Now, enough about my laundry joy and how about some links?
Carole has a new grand baby coming and I have been keeping my eye out for cute baby boy things and this week there were some AWESOME sweaters! Sloane Square and Little Roland… oh my gosh, I love them both… so much!! Although, Mary… you might need to knit these too!
Woman Must Make Her Own Arrows… I am absolutely enthralled by a pattern that says this:
“This is a recipe-in-progress, and you’ll receive instructions for general steps, shaping, several possible stitch patterns, and edging. This is not a line-by-line pattern. You should have a sense of adventure and some strong basic skills, such as knitting top-down triangles, working various increases and decreases, and mostly the ability to make choices based on loosely described steps. It helps to have a knitting friend who may be able to answer questions, and to use free online videos for techniques you want to incorporate.”
Veronika Cardigan (that doesn’t really look like a cardigan but is really beautiful!)
Bibbe… is it a poncho? Or a sweater?
Are you a Twin Peaks fan?
Interweave Knits Fall 2017 has an interesting collection of knits but I especially like the Angelina Pullover
Stroma is written for ANY GAUGE! Wait, wut?
And, finally… if you, like me, have at all been following Julia Farwell Clay’s journey (you can scroll through her IG feed and her progress) with this sweater then you will absolutely love the Eddy Wrap pattern! (I know exactly what yarn I am going to use to knit it, but you can get a kit here!)
That is all I have for this week! Have an amazing Friday everyone and I will see you back here on Monday!! I will leave you with the picture I managed to get with the spider in her web and she is impressive!
**When reality is so insane that literally the only thing I can do is laundry and knit.
by Kat | Aug 10, 2017 | General, Words
This week, there is no official Think Write Thursday topic however, thinking and writing continue. So today, I am just giving you a random round-up of some of the “thinks” that have become things this week.
I finally had enough cherry tomatoes to make Tomato Jam… well, perhaps it is better to put it this way, I finally had enough cherry tomatoes to eat and make Tomato Jam. The house smelled aMAZing yesterday. Although, the washing machine install guy asked me if I was making apple pie. I kid you not! I said no its tomato jam, and he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language or had two heads. It was a moment, let me tell you. And, yes… I wanted to shout, “NO JAM FOR YOU”!! Suffice it to say that our Friday Happy Hour will be extra good this week!
And, yes… let me go on a bit about the new washing machine! It is completely silent… no really, it is! The only sound is that of the water running when the tub fills. I called Steve at work and put him on speaker and said listen to the washer…. He said, I don’t hear anything. I said exactly! I guess you had to be there, but it was a moment of sheer bliss. Trust me!
I took a page from Kym this week and did some deadheading… literally and figuratively. It was an excellent thing to do – my flowers look better and my mind is unburdened in a most pleasant way.
I was tempted by this little sweater and there is a rumor of a “weekend KAL” coming up! Well, swatching has begun. I know… what the heck is wrong with me!?! I am blaming this “cast-on-it is” that I am experiencing on the current state of affairs right now. As in, I must knit all the things before something really upsetting happens!!
Now, I am off to finish that gauge swatch! See you all back here tomorrow!
If you want to participate in Think Write Thursday’s with me and Carole, you can sign up here!
by Kat | Aug 9, 2017 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Oh my! The reading has been so very good! So very, very, very good! Really, this might be the second-best summer of reading ever! (What was first? Well, nothing can quite compete with the summer I discovered The Little House books…)
This week I finished 3 books:
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. LOVED! Through and through! I listened to this (excellent narration, btw) and I am so glad I did. The book contains so much detail that I would have skimmed over if reading, but listening – oh my. What an amazing picture Ondaatje paints in this post-WWII story. It is a 5-star book, all the way, filled with the incredible story of Caravaggio, Kip, The English Patient, and Hana – they are all damaged by the war – in visible and invisible ways. If you love WWII history, you will also love this book!
- Nutshell: A Novel by Ian McEwan. Fascinating concept and very well written. I gave this book 4-stars.
- Dawn by Elie Wiesel. While the writing is excellent, this book was incredibly sad. I was left with one overwhelming thought: Man’s inhumanity to man seems to be a vicious circle. Are we doomed to keep making the same mistakes over and over? I gave this book 4-stars.
I am 3 squares away from a cover all – and it is only August 9!! This makes me insanely happy!!
My current reads are as follows:
- I am about halfway through reading Viveca Sten’s Still Waters. So far, so good. And, no…I don’t have a clue who “did it” yet.
- In my ears, I began listening to Michael Chabon’s The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay. I am about 2 hours into the 26 hour listen.
- Also, a library hold came through so I am also listening to Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings.
Really… so much good reading this summer!
Now, how about a knitting update?
- I started Bateau and much to my chagrin the yarn was pooling most impressively. Sooo…. I ripped back to my cast on (thankfully I had only knit about an inch and a half…) and now I am cruising along helical striping. Is the yarn still pooling? Yes, but not so impressively. And, being a bit “blendy” with these skeins is necessary as they are quite different!
- I am also working on fingerless mitt #2 – I did manage to get quite a bit done at knitting last night (but the darkness of the mornings now makes early photos a challenge!
What are you reading and making?
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