A new start

Yesterday I started again on the Malabrigo yarn - after frogging the front that was done entirely in twisted rib I am now doing it in stockinette, with a single twisted rib that will be like princess seams down the front and the back. I'm going to try some waist shaping - or rather, a-line shaping on either side of the twisted rib so it will look like waist shaping. This is the first sweater I'm going to knit from Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top Down and doing all the calculations myself. Math, ugh. This is the upper part of the back with short-rowed shoulders - the very best short rows I've ever done and the pickups are just about invisible. Neatly done, if I do say so myself! I hope to keep this a log on the sweater so if it fits I could use the pattern again.

So here goes: I'm using a circular H&S size 4.5 mm needle and getting 4.75 sts nad 6.5 rows to the inch. I provisionally cast on 76 sts, worked 3 rows and started short rowing. I'll work down to the top of where the armhole shaping starts but I haven't figure that out yet - that will probably have to wait until next week.

Here is where you can't see the short rows:

Anna's Home! and I visit the frog lake

Anna's Home! Back from Baltimore - Excited and scared about going to France; being on her own (more or less- she'll have a family there) for five months with visits from me and Jim, and Ken the boyfriend and other friends. She'll be here only 9 days, but bettern' nothin'.

She released me from the dreaded beaded sweater. Beading in knitting takes more patience than I have, especially when there are six other things waiting for attention all of which I enjoy working on. On Thursday last, I took Ora, an old friend (both in time and years) to Nine Rubies in San Mateo http://www.ninerubies.com/ . She didn't need yarn (who does) but wanted something new. She loved the shop - open, well-lit, spacious, sales people who knew when to help and when to step back. She ended up getting some Amelie by GGH- 100% nylon "eyelash" yarn (see it here: (look under yarn manufacturers - GGH, then by name, Amelie)
http://www.jimmybeanswool.com
It's strange stuff - solid core, with lots of fuzzies that don't fall off or shed. Soft as angora. So I showed the sample to Anna and she loved its look and feel and so now a bunch of it is on its way to me. I checked the LYS to see if they had the color she wanted (teal) and they didn't so I ordered it from Jimmy Beans Wool, which is in Truckee and a lovely store. My first all nylon sweater.

So still on the needles:
the Hoxbro shawl for Carolina Homespun - about 65% done
Jim's orange and black diamond pullover - one sleeve done, body cast on
my Diamond Patch - in the third row of diamonds
my Hoxbro kimono - about 90% of the first half done
Jim's Mermaid vest - it would be finished if he needed a 5 inch side seam length!

So that's two things off the needles - both frogged - the Malabrigo, which is going to become a top down pullover with some kind of openwork& cable down the front; and Anna's beaded Cotton Fleece. Deciding something is going to be frogged and not finished is very freeing, almost as good as being finished with it! Now the question is what to do with all that cotton fleece! Maybe a baby blanket, to be had at the ready.

The Diamond Patch goes quickly but I'm not at all sure it will look good when finished. My gauge is right on to what I figured but each new patch pulls the last one sideways so that it is now too wide and probably not long enough. I'm onto the third row of diamonds and have gone down 2 needle sizes. After this row, the rest will be on US size 8. It's cotton ribbon so I'm not sure how it will hold blocking, but it might stretch the right way when hung. My first modular garment - I enjoy the process and hope the best for the project.

Projects, finished and in progress and AK list withdrawal

First up: the finished Laurel. I name sweaters by the kind of yarn, or the pattern or possibly by the recipient. But when I'm knitting for me I use just the name of the yarn. So this sweater is knit in Laurel, mercerized, multi-color cotton from Shaeffer Yarns. Not great to knit; it's got little give and is hard on the hands but it is a joy to wear. Pattern was done using Sweater Wizard and is A-line, knit in pieces from the bottom up, v-neck, with set in sleeves. The stitch pattern is from Basically Brilliant Knits.

Of course there are the exceptions: This is the Diamond Patch, pattern by Jill Vosberg at Just One More Row.









And this orange and black is Jim's SF Giants sweater - DK wool from Jo Sharp, same stitch pattern as in my Laurel above.



And next up is Anna's diamond beaded sweater, pattern from Rowan's Classic Knits for Real Women. One sleeve and one front is done; I re-wrote the pattern for Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and reshaped it a bit. The beads make the front very heavy. I washed the swatch in the machine and it shrunk up a bit in length only; the pattern as I did it allows for the shrinkage. What looks like yo lace is actually clear crystal beads.

I've been spending more time on the internet dealing with Shelda Eggers' retirement of the Ample Knitters list than knitting. She is taking a well deserved rest from running this list. There are two lists trying to fill her shoes, neither is doing a perfect job but since we can't have the original they'll have to do. I knew I would miss the list and Shelda and all the regulars but I had no idea how much. It's like a friendship ended too soon for one of the friends. But I will continue knitting through this crisis as Elizabeth Zimmermann said we should. If I could toast I would toast SE and EZ who together taught me that I could do it if I really tried.

Front entrance changes

We had some new plantings on the front entrance to the house. Looks much neater, no overgrown and leggy plants, trees that are planted in the dirt instead of inside their intact plastic posts, and new colors.