Caren Knits

Thank You Secret Pal 2!!

Sorry for my absence lately. Things have been nutsy here...

Why does happy mail always come in twos? :-)

Friday I received a wonderful package of goodies from my Secret Pal 2 -- all sorts of fun girlie stuff -- candles, lotion, nail polish, etc. Footsie spa-day for everyone!

The other mail on Friday was our official CIS (Citizenship & Immigration Service) adoption approval. YAY US!!! Now we wait for the referral....

That's all the catching up for now. We're off to Washington, DC this weekend, where I'm looking forward to checking out Wendy's favorite yarn shop, Knit Happens.

Presents

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post this picture yesterday as promised. My wonderful Secret Pal 3 sent me all these goodies, which arrived in a huge box on Saturday. Knitting stuff AND foodie stuff from Maine. What a treat!

Clockwise from top left:

A very sweet card with adorable kitties on the front, a mug with very cute sheepies (I drank my tea from it this morning!), blueberry ginger marmelade, chocolate cherry coffee mix, an adorable sheep that says "baaah" when you squeeze her, and the piece de resistance: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitters Almanac!!

How did you know I've been thinking of adding this book to my library but that I hadn't done so already?? It's terrific. I spent an hour or two perusing it over the weekend. The Pi Shawl is intriguing, to say the least. And there are a couple of other potential projects for me in there too. Of course it's the general knitting info/knowledge/advice that's the real treasure in this volume.

Thank you thank you!

And I've been knitting....

The back to Mike's seed stitch sweater is almost complete. This thing REALLY needs a name. Maybe I should have a contest? Yes I think that's a good idea. A sweater naming contest. I'll figure out a prize and annonuce the details soon.

I also made quite a bit of progress on blue sock #2. The foot is about 75% done and almost ready for short-row heel construction.

We saw the movie Hero last week. If you liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, then RUN (do not walk) to see this movie. The story was nothing special really, but the visual imagery was nothing short of STUNNING. The use of color, symmetry, etc. in each shot was really magnificent.

Thanks SP 3!!

No time for an extended post today. Just a quick note to my Secret Pal 3 to let her know her package arrived today. It is totally fabulous!! I love every piece. I'll post pics and details tomorrow -- promise!

Swatch Queen

I've been swatching all weekend, looking for the right combination of yarn and needles for Oat Couture's Celtic Cardigan.

I started out with some Cascade 220 in dark green. Not only did it feel like armor, but it was way too dark to appreciate the cables and stuff.

Bev (the owner) at Ewe'll Love It (my LYS) suggested I try a DK weight instead. Enter Silky Wool.

With the suggested needles, it was a bit too big (and floppy) pre-wash and block. I'll let you know in a day or two if blocking shrunk it appropriately.

I also tried Jaeger's Matchmaker Merino DK. I'm thinking about the color "Putty". My LYS didn't have any Putty in stock, so I bought a ball of white to swatch and practice with.

This one was exactly on gauge pre-washing/blocking. I mean exactly! I soaked it in warm water and Eucalan for about 10 minutes and layed it out to dry. It definitely stretched in the wetting. I mushed it back into a semblance of gauge (stitches per inch were OK, I can't mush the rows down enough, but I'm less worried about that).

Here it is before washing:

I'm going to try both the Silky Wool and the Matchmaker on the next smaller needles and see how that goes. One thing I notices is that my cables seem to be very elongated compared to the picture of the finished sweater. Any suggestions for how to keep my stitches loose enough to not be fighting for every twisted stitch, while still maintaining a compact row gauge?

I also did a swatch for the Fir Cone Shawl from the Folk Shawls Book. The Frog Tree Alpaca Sport yarn that I ordered last week did arrive. I selected color #31. It's a rather muted slate blue. Looks great with jeans. Here's my test swatch of the inner square pattern.

The way the increases and decreases work together causes a big "bulge" toward the wrong side, as you double-decrease the first time when coming onto the alternate "fir cones". But blocking flattened it out. The trick seems to be when you slip 1, then knit 2 tog, then pull the slipped stitch over, you have to be very careful to pull the slip stitch as gently as possible so as not to create extra bulk there.

I'm still working on Mike's seed stitch sweater too. It's perfect for car-knitting and tv-knitting. Knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, purl.........................

Secret Pals are Everywhere

In the last two days, I received e-cards from both my Secret Pal 2 AND my Secret Pal 3. Wow! Hi, secret pals!!

Progress on Mike's seed stitch sweater continues. I'm about halfway through the back. I revisited the sweater I'm using as a "pattern" and decided that the shoulders don't go exactly straight across. There is just the slightest bit of slope to them. I may just do a short row or two. I'll figure it out when I get there.

Today is Lunch & Knit at Ewe'll Love It. I'm hoping they will have received the Knitting Pattern a Day calendar I've been hearing so much about. I saw a sample of it at the shop last week, and the owner said she'd be getting a bunch of them in soon.

Last week I ordered a bunch of Frog Tree Alpaca to make the Fir Cone Shawl in the Folk Shawls book. I picked a sort of slate blue. Perhaps it will be in today.

I'm still on the lookout for the perfect emerald/forest green fingering/sport weight to make the Irish Diamond Shawl. Any suggestions?