Rabbit Hooooooooooles.......!!!!

Wow - it's been a long time! There have been many things happening, few things happening, life happening and a lot of knitting happening.  I have been remarkably (for me) monogamous with some projects and have cast on many more.  And I wonder why I have (mumblety mumblety) projects on the needles? Hmmm cannot imagine;). Warning: this post is probably way too long.

Since last I posted about knitting, I've finished six projects, four of which were sweaters of a sort. They are:

Treelight by Jennifer Steingass.  This served me well in the cold months at the beginning of the year.  It works as a sweater for work on the coldest days.

Norah Gaughan's Calligraphy Cardigan  - which looked so much better on my beautiful daughter, D., that it became hers instantly. This was a "bang out" sweater as part of Mason Dixon Knitting's Field Guide No. 9. And my goodness, Norah Gaughan.  They had me at "Bang!"

Following the call of the Mason Dixon Knitting crew, I finally finished "banging  out a Carbeth," albeit a year or so late. The Carbeth, by Kate Davies (another designing great) is a really cool sweater. I do, however, think that it looks best on those with badass shoulders.  

Mine are more bad than ass, I think:

The up side: it's a VERY warm sweater, which should serve me well on the very cold days of winter. Or, there may be someone with badass shoulders for whom this sweater will do.  We shall see.  

I finished the Upwards Cowl by Lisa Hannes as part of a KAL our Columbia Sip'n Knit did for March.  A nice little two-week project in lovely mystery yarn I acquired at one of our yarn swaps last year. 

I also finished a pair of socks:

and last but not least a Tegna by  Caitlin Hunter:

I am right proud of this bad boy.  I knit on it without mercy and enjoyed every minute of sore hands, arthritic thumbs and swatch insecurity. I knit it in Berroco's Remix Light - fingering weight, but thicker than the yarn called for in the pattern.  My swatch told me to go down a couple of sizes.  Comments from other knitters who came before me told me to keep the sleeves up two sizes, so I made a larger armhole.  That advice stood me in good stead.  The fit was excellent -  if I do say so myself. Roundy shoulders be damned!:)!

You may notice a difference between my Tegna and the pattern.  I decided to add some vertical stripes to the main part of the body  in the form of p1, k1tbl, p1, k11.  They flow from the lace pattern and, as I said on my Instagram post, give my horizontals a little bit of vertical:).

ON THE NEEDLES

I may have mentioned a paragraph or so ago that I have (mumblety-mumblety) projects on the needles.  Yeah... a lot. But there are a few I am working on, one, in particular, I am trying to "bang out." It's getting to be a theme this year.

So, last weekend I started another Caitlin Hunter beauty - the Nordiska sweater.  It's a short-sleeved v-neck, top-down sweater in the round.  I am knitting it with some Rowan Pure Wool superwash DK I bought last year for a sweater I thought I could steek, but of course, the superwash part put the kibosh on that. I am knitting the largest size because my swatch told me to.  I hope it was telling the truth.  

I am about 15 rounds from FINALLY dividing for the sleeves. Right now I'm at over 425 stitches and each round is taking. for. ev. er.... Am hoping to get to the dividing round before the weekend is over.  We shall see.  I have a work project that will take a few hours to do first.

The other projects waiting in the wings (aside from the other 56 or so...) are:

The Iqualit Shawl by The Petite Knitter aka Wei Chien:

What the Fade by Andrea Mowry (this picture is a bit wonky - am in the middle of a round):

Here are all the colors I'm using.  The letters above each skein indicate the order of pairing.  A with D, B with E, C with F.  So far I am having a so-so time with it.  I may frog this project and either start it again or use the yarn for another one of the Mowry "fades." Not sure yet.But I love these skeins. 

I am also working on a scarf/hat project for the Columbia Sip 'n Knit.  One of our knitters, Judy M., has become a CASA (YAY!!) in the county where I work.  A CASA is a court-appointed special advocate, a volunteer who works with one child or family at a time that is involved in the foster care system.  Judy has started a KAL to knit scarves and hats for kids in care.  I saw this yarn and thought it would be make a nice scarf/hat combo.  I am using Hunter Hammersen's Causation pattern for the reversible scarf pattern and maybe fingerless gloves if I have enough yarn left; and her Correlation pattern for the hat.

OTHER CRAFTY RABBIT HOLES.......!!!!

Many years ago, I was a cross-stitching maniac.  I've done some form of knitting, and needlework since I was ten years old, with a few breaks for having babies, going to law school and the insanity which was my life. The cross-stitching fell a bit by the wayside once I got to law school in the late 80s.  Then there were the years of working insane hours to really learn the profession, and then, of course, the ATF (arms too short) or TMB (too many birthdays) syndrome hit my vision and close work with linen was out of the question.  But a new set of glasses and the kids growing up have caused me to take it up again.  I finished a project I started 32 years ago this past spring.  I may have posted about it here - or maybe on instagram:

LOL - Busted! The frame glass has found me out:)

So... I have another project from those days that is still in progress, but moving along. Like the Maryland piece above, it is a real treasure by Cadle Creek.  I fear they may have gone out of business.  They did a number of beautiful cross stitch designs of a number of historic places.  This is of the Chesapeake Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD, where we all lived for about a year and a half.  My youngest was a newborn when I started this project (even before the Maryland one above). My youngest turned 33 this year.  The colors are still very vibrant.  Looking forward to finally finishing this little lovely.

I have a few new projects waiting in the wings, but the first one I will do once the one above is finished is "Suffrage Act" by Diane Williams for Little House Needleworks. Our foremothers fought bravely for our right to vote, some at risk to life and limb, suffering torture and disparagement from society at large. They deserve to be remembered.  

That's one old-new rabbit hole I've fallen into. Let me tell you about the new one:

Yep.  I am taking a class for newbies at Cloverhill Yarn Shop in the next town over (Catonsville, Merlin).  There are four of us in the class.  One is super-experienced - she's woven with floor looms.  Another has done this before and is taking a refresher.  The remaining two of us (including yours truly) are total beginners.  It's a 20-hour class that takes place over weekend mornings.  Today, tomorrow (Sunday), next Saturday and the Saturday after.  I'm glad we are doing two classes back to back on the first weekend. Once we finish completely warping the looms, we can take our work home to weave.  Apparently, that's the easy part. 

What got me interested in learning how to weave on a rigid heddle loom was seeing a couple of my knitting friends warp a loom and weave an entire scarf in the course of an afternoon. Knitting something that size would take me at least a week of intensive knitting (for me intensive means every night after work_). It's a great use of stash and a great opportunity to experiment with color and texture.  I'll be happy to adequately plain weave at this point! I actually bought the loom I'm learning on, so I anticipate it will be the one I use for quite some time.  I was gifted a beautiful 32-inch wide Kromsky by my daughter B., a few years back, thinking it would be easy enough to learn on my own.  Unfortunately, I got hung up on the warping. I will certainly now be able to use the training I get on this Ashford to see where I was going wrong.  And now I have a good local resource for materials should I need some - and I know I will need a few things.  This loom has the ability to let you use two heddles, so that's a future purchase - and I will also need a few more thingies for the weft (forgot the term, LOL!). 

So yeah, when you visit me at the Funny Farm, you'll know I'll have plenty to do...

:)

Life, in general, is moving along.  It is summertime - and one of the hottest we've had on record, but of course there's no climate change.  And don't get me started on politics! Trust me, you don't want to. 

As to music, St. J's hired a new musician and we are all very hopeful for next year.  I'm staying away for a bit. Have been to the WNC* with Nancy and Rennie and other friends and that's been great spiritual food.  I am so conflicted about St. J's but I will do my best starting in September when the rehearsals start back up.  

Work is work.  I can't talk about it here, except to say I have wonderful clients and interesting colleagues and that we've had two retirements in the firm since last I posted.  I don't plan on quitting until I absolutely have to or until they tell me I have to (which I sure hope never happens!)

Well, that's all I have for now.  Until next time, God be with you 'til we meet again+

*Washington National Cathedral