Frog pond visit

I do have a life other than knitting - and here's proof. DH Jim, wiht our brand new Lancer Evo MR. It replaces our beloved white Integra Type R, stolen a month ago from a public parking garage in Oakland. 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, once we get the turbo broken in. And our two kitties, on their window perches, Eleanor in front and Frosty (the white one) in back.

And on the left we have a picture of the Sherlock raglan knit from the top down and 2 button choices. So I picked the smaller diamond shaped black and gold (colors of the sweater are way off on my monitor - it's mostly dark purple and black). Got the band all picked up and knit and it doesn't pucker or pull, the fronts are even, the pick up is looking fine. Get the buttons sewn on. Try it on. Look in the mirror to figure out why it's so hard to button. The button holes are on the wrong side AND they are way too uneven. I was so pleased with the bands and the way they fit I finished off the ends and sewed on the buttons so well THEY WOULD NEVER COME OFF. I had to cut most of the band and then unravel back to the pick up row.

I hereby promise myself and the knitting Goddess that I will always stop when knitting bands to count and use the proper math formula to determine the distance between button holes. I will always try on the thing before I sew buttons or finish the ends so well they can't be found with a magnifying glass. I will pat attention to what I'm doing no matter how much I want the blasted sweater done NOW.

And next we have some sock toes that were worn through by the toes of the same DH seen above with the car. I cut the toes off and picked up stitches and reknit the toes, using stranded knitting which made them look a bit weird - the stranding pulls in about 1/2 inch from the non-stranded part - but the double yarn might help them wear a little longer. I'm going to use a size 0 needle for the next toes, and I will never knit him toe up socks! Frogging the right way is bad enough after the socks have been worn and worn and washed and washed, but to try to re-knit socks that were started at the toe? No thanks.

Knitting in Salinas

On UFO night (Monday) I was down here in Salinas, CA for work. But being a dutiful knitting I brought with me two, well, okay four, projects one of which definitely qualifies as a UFO in my definition. It's the second Vivial Hoxbro kimono. Love the yarn, love the pattern, want to wear it ...but I've done it already. I have definitely learned my lesson: do not plan or attempt to knit the same thing twice. I got about 10 rows done last night and realize that it will take me forever on size 2.5 US needles. I have one sleeve done and I'm working on the part wehre both front and back and shoulder are on the needles. There must be a gazillion stitches on this poor 24 inch roundneedle. But I will slog through it so I can wear it maybe next year to Stitches.

I spend most of Sunday trying to figure out what kind of buttonband and collar to put on the Sherlock. Toyed with lots of ideas, from a classic shawl collar (it has a v-neck) to a ruffle. Pulled out all the refrence books and lots of magazines and pattern books and swatched a coupld of things. Finally decided that I'm not the ruffle type. (Does this surprise me? Have I ever worn ruffles since the age of 2?) Shawl collar will limit it's use I think and I don't want to knit that much more on this yarn which splits. So I settled on a plain 2 in. seed stitch band. I added a couple of short rows at teh back of the neck to accomodate a lovely bit of excess there and hope that this will help the back hang straight. I might end up sewing the fronts together, with buttons on a fake button hole band - have to wait and see how it fits when the blocking is done.

The other things I brought with me: the Laurel. Jim wants his SF Giants orange pullover in the same stitch pattern. But mine is variegated cotton; his is plain orange Jo Sharp wool; mine is knit in pieces; his will be in the round, I have set in sleeves, his will have saddled shoulders. I hope this will be enough difference so I don't think of it as the same thing over again.

And lastly, 2 pairs of socks. One in leftover sock yarn for me (I've got little feet and like short socks) and some sposrt weight fingle for Jim.

When I get home maybe I'll add some pictures here.

We have to face buying a new car soon. Jim's white type R was stolen 3 weeks ago from a parking garage in Oakland CA; the insurance company is about to settle with us. The decision to be made is what to replace it with. Something fast and unruly or something sedate and boring but cheap. Decisions don't come easily to us on such things.