Weekending.

Looking back on my photos from the weekend, Friday night seems like ages ago (maybe because I've had two solid nights of sleep since then?!)

Yes, I got to spend the evening with my two favorite little guys ... who are full-speed non-stop ... until they fall asleep. I then had almost two hours to myself at their kitchen counter. a pleasant change of pace from my own. as was the pizza salad Katie ordered me for dinner ... and the espresso that I had after the glass of wine. The TV show is The Brief on Amazon Prime. sadly only eight episodes (and I still have one to go).

The rest of the weekend was almost all about the knitting.

The top row was Saturday - with friends, on my own, watching a new Triple Crown winner. And then about 4:30 yesterday ... bound off ... and a little later, Holly-approved.

This morning I wove in the ends, then washed and dried (in the machine!) Super pleased with the results, but you'll have to wait a few more days to see.

Despite what these photos say, I really did not spend the entire weekend inside. The weather was nice. We had blue skies and clouds, a run and a walk (and two rounds of golf). The butterfly bush in our front yard is full of blooms and bees ... and I can only hope the butterflies get the memo that we're ready for them.

Happy Monday!

Three on Thursday | Shopping Plans.

I'll be in New York next Thursday and while Sara works, I have plans to meet up with Diane for lunch and shopping at Purl Soho. Purl is one of my favorite yarn shops, but they sell fabric too. I've never spent much time in that part of the shop, but this trip, I will!

Thinking that Sara's blanket is going to leave a nice big opening in my suitcase, I'm planning to buy yarn and fabric. These are the three projects I have in mind:

1. Uniform Tunic, View A, in watercolor linen.

2. Lotta Jansdotter's Kiomi Dress (from Everyday Style) in a Liberty print.

3. Terrace Wrap in Cattail Silk.

Truth be told, I have a couple of other projects floating around in my head (maybe a long-sleeved tunic like View B, or two more skeins of Cattail Silk to knit Sayer) but it's Thursday, so I'm limiting myself to three. We'll see what happens next week!

Head on over to Carole's to see more three-fer's!

Unraveled Wednesday | The Blanket's Tale (part four).

Joining in with Kat and friends to share what I hope is the final in-progress update on Sara's blanket. I leave for New York next Wednesday and my plan is to have the finished blanket wrapped and packed on Tuesday!

As long as I don't lose focus, I should be fine. That row marker (7 repeats into the fifth and final color) tells me I have 23 repeats to go. I was averaging five repeats a day until this past week (when I slowed down a little) ... and if I can get back to that pace I'll finish with a couple days to spare. A few of you asked how big it would be. I'm guessing about 43" wide and 55" long, but the yarn is super wash and it could be bigger (which wouldn't be a problem). I have one more skien of the main color ... the end is definitely near!

The slower pace of knitting was partly because there was less TV (and we still haven't seen the latest Patrick Melrose), but also because there was other cool stuff to do.

Like a pedicure.

same color as last time - a coat of OPI's Frenchie Likes to Kiss topped with a coat of Bubble Bath - new summer favorite!

Two visits with my friend Deena

Deena's knitting Sunset on the Plateau ... it's gorgeous and has us both very excited for Kirsten's upcoming MKAL

and her dog Roxie.

yes, it felt very weird to have another dog on my knitting ... but I know Sara would love Roxie!

and two meetings of the author selection committee for this November's book festival.

I couldn't knit during the meetings because we moved quickly - reviewing over 60 books in the two two-hour meetings! - and I was taking fast and furious notes. But Deena is the co-chair of the committee and had to be there early. No problem, I said!

At the end of last night's meeting, each of us got to vote for our top 22 books. The first 15 or so were easy choices for me ... but the last few were tough. The committee leaders meet tonight to review all the votes; the final slate, taking into consideration the authors' schedules will be available in August. Some of the books I loved are already out and I plan to start reading as soon as I can track them down (these are books I will likely buy because I will - hopefully! - have a chance to meet the authors). More to come (since of course all of this is still confidential!)

I'm pretty sure Sara would enjoy a few of the books, too ...  maybe curled up on her sofa with the blanket!

I hope you're having a good week ... and sharing at least a few good experiences with your knitting!

Looking Back | May.

Today I'm looking back at May ... one last time ... through the lens of my daily photos.

I expected the blanket to dominate, so I was surprised to see a lot more than knitting! ...and a lot more blues skies than I remember (but surely my photos don't lie). I also realize I completely forgot to share an FO with y'all - Sunday the 6th, I debuted Bateaux Mouches.

The finished piece is just what I hoped it would be - a light, airy cloud. The girls in my knitting group are divided about what a great knit this is ... I love the endless rows of garter stitch and that it's one ball of yarn. It's perfect for traveling and for all those times your brain needs to work on something besides knitting, but your hands need something to do, too. I know I'll be knitting another one!

Happy Tuesday!

Unraveled Wednesday | The Blanket's Tale (part two).

Joining in with Kat and friends to share another update on Sara's blanket.

When I'm knitting something for someone else, I pay closer attention than usual to what sorts of experiences I "expose" the piece. And for an epic knit like this one, it can tell quite a tale! Here's a brief glimpse of the best parts since I shared last week's update.

Sara and Holly have a special bond and much of this blanket's at-home knitting time has been just like this.

Friday evening

A most happy occasion.

Saturday morning

Time with friends.

Monday afternoon

Time with a very special TV show.

Tuesday afternoon 

...because it has personal significance for Sara, too!

Porch time.

today

Not bad for a week, right?! Now I'm curious what tale the next installment will tell.

I'm not quite to the halfway point, but I have knitted through the two balls in last week's photo. The color change from gradient 2 to gradient 3 is a bit more subtle - hence the locking marker so I can count the repeats.

...and finally, I'm reminded that pausing every so often is good. Look what I found when I took the photo above.

Yep, there's going to be a bit of unraveling! (but just a bit - it will be tedious, but I can fix that slipped stitch boo-boo by dropping down the stitch marked in orange to the stitch marked in green.)

On the while-I'm-alone listening front, most of this week has been spent with Simon Vance (one of my all-time favorite narrators) reading A Tale of Two Cities. I have about five hours left to listen and this book would satisfy several of my Bingo squares, but I'm not sure I can wait til Saturday to find out how it ends!

Has your knitting seen or heard anything especially good this week?

FO Friday | Edie.

Happy Friday, y'all! It feels like it's been the longest week, and I still have things left to-do on my list, but one thing I do get to cross off is five days of blog posts ... and finished Edie photos!

I'm really pleased with the length now (and so happy I spent the eight-ish hours to fix it).

Ravelry details here 

Isabell Kraemer is one of my favorite designers - great shapes, fun details and well-written patterns - and Edie delivers all of these. Isabell wrote the pattern to use a 100% linen yarn (the lovely Quince & Co. Sparrow). She says she added the slip-stitch stripe detail - barely visible in this photo - to combat linen's tendency to bias. I used a 90% merino/10% linen blend (Madelinetosh Dandelion); and while my swatch biased like crazy, the finished piece looks ... fine! Go figure.

The only modifications I made to Isabell's instructions were to work Sunday Short Rows (this is my go-to short row method and while Carol says she doesn't recommend them when the short rows are worked just one stitch apart, I did it anyway and it worked fine) and to bind off with a size up needle. If I'd paid closer attention to my row gauge, which was a lot bigger than the pattern suggested, I would've known to knit a lot fewer rounds the first time around. (you'd think I'd know better!)

When I chose this spot for the photos, I had hoped you'd be able to see the beautiful irises blooming behind me. Sorry about that! Here's a photo I took yesterday afternoon and there are even more blooms today.

I'm so glad it's #blueskybloom season again!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend ... that's not nearly as stormy as the weather folks are predicting 😀.

Unraveled Wednesday.

First, thank you for all your kind and supportive comments last week about Edie. I am happy to report that the ripping and re-knitting was worth it ... and I hope to have finished shots to share soon.

Joining in with Kat and crew today to share another - much less traumatic - knitting report.

This is the Purl Soho Tonal Blanket that I'm knitting for Sara. and planning to take (finished!) when I visit her in NYC next month (!!!yes! I have a plane ticket!)

As written, the pattern calls for a sport weight yarn and, reading the comments, appears to result in LOTS of leftovers. I'm making two modifications:

1. using DK weight yarn (Plucky Sweater, a super wash wool/nylon blend) so it goes a little faster (32 fewer stitches per row adds up quickly!); and

2. making each section about 11-1/4" (the finished blanket will be a little longer than the pattern suggests) to make the absolute most of the yarn I have - seven skeins of the Main Color (that's the beige, a great neutral called Twill). I weighed all seven skeins and counted rows/weighed the yarn as I knit through the first section. Now I just have to count repeats for the next four sections (with fingers crossed my calculations are sound 😨).

I also need to stay focused. To finish, I'll knit through all the yarn in that photo above plus five more skeins of Twill (about 2,400 yards on a size 6 needle). I fly to NYC on June 13. Good thing a lot of my early summer reading plans are audiobooks ... and it's kind of addictive to see how the beautiful Plucky colors come through.

I just joined the 2nd contrast color - a slightly darker shade - so pretty!

Unraveled Wednesday.

Warning, y'all - this post contains graphic evidence of actual unraveling!

Much to my dismay, I was not delighted with the finished Edie when I finally tried it on Monday afternoon. It was long. as in needs leggings long. Even my slim-legged white jeans and sandals didn't make it work. I wore it to knitting anyway, hoping the girls would change my mind. They didn't. I held out one last hope that Diane might ... but when we FaceTimed yesterday afternoon, she agreed. I could either wear the sweater with leggings or make it shorter. The sweater is meant for warm weather; wearing it with leggings seems silly. So after dinner last night, I took the plunge ... and unraveled.

That photo to the left is the one I snagged during my FaceTime with Diane - where we agreed on what the length should be. The photos to the right show my progression over several hours ... figuring out how far to rip back so my finished sweater would fall about where I wanted it (gah! this part made me mad because it took way too long ... sometimes something as easy as converting the schematic measurements to actual rows based on my blocked row gauge ... just escape me), finding the end (after I appreciated how neat the wrong side did look), actual unraveling, and the finished result - all the stitches back on the needle with locking markers ready for working the short row hem shaping this morning.

It was nearly 10pm by this point. I poured a glass of wine and went back to my happy place from the weekend.

I tackled the re-knitting this morning. The finished sweater is now drying and I'm hopeful.

That 17" matches the schematic ... we'll see what happens as it dries.

Thanks to all that, I now have just over two hours to finish Ready Player One. I am enjoying it immensely (it's not amazing, but it's very good) and look forward to finding out how it all comes together.

I hope your week hasn't included any actual unraveling - but if it has, I hope you had a good book to keep you company!

Joining in with Kat and crew.  Happy Wednesday!

Unraveled Wednesday | Yes, No and Maybe.

Happy Wednesday! I'm joining in with Kat and friends today to talk about knitting - specifically, an update on last week's next-up post.

I'll start with the Yes!

This is Edie, almost halfway through the body. The colors are most definitely outside my comfort zone, but it is fun to see how they play together in the knitting. Apparently, I'm also getting lazy a lot more relaxed about swatching. When I blocked the swatch (knit on 4's), it shrunk. So I cast on with 6's...fingers crossed!

The No! is True Colors. 

I love the pattern. I love the yarn. I do not like them together. The reality of the design in anything more than two colors is ends. and it's not just weaving them in. It's also making sure the tension at the beginning and end of each color is right. I've decided the pattern needs a sticky yarn and I'm playing around with my little stash of Kidsilk Haze to find a color combo I like. I've decided the yarn needs a multi-colored pattern that lets you carry the colors. Maybe Color Affection? stay tuned!

The Maybe! is Calyx. 

With Lydia's help, I did find a "goes with dark blue and white jeans" color of Berroco Remix in Beaufort (the actual color is little lighter than the almost-dry swatch on the right). This morning I swatched. First with 7's (right) and then with 6's (left).  One questionable gauge project is apparently as much excitement as I can handle! The pattern suggests 6-10" of positive ease, so I'm not too worried about stitch gauge. But Elizabeth has a whole paragraph about Row Gauge Considerations in the notes. I don't want to calculate a bunch of adjustments, so I'm hoping one of those swatches nails it. We'll see!

Balise is still in its project bag. Yes I'm going to knit it. No I haven't started yet. and Maybe it will be ready for Memorial Day 😉.

What's a Yes! in your world right now?

Home.

...for about 25 hours now. We had a wonderful weekend and I had all the best intentions of telling y'all about it today. Instead I finished the green cardigan.

All the seams, ends and buttons took way longer than I imagined (honestly, if I'd imagined how long ... I probably would've put it off for another day 😉) and now all I want to do is pour a glass of wine and read about what all of you have been up to!

Unraveled Wednesday | Next-up.

The pieces of the green cardigan are dry and ready to seam and I'm on the last 20 grams of Bateaux Mouches, but all my knitting thoughts have turned toward what to knit next.

clockwise from lower left: Balise, Edie, True Colors and Calyx.

I've been talking about Balise for months and I think I'm almost ready to start. The swatch is done and the the yarn and needles are in a project bag. soon....

Yesterday, I wound yarn for Edie (stash from one of my last visits to Sara's Madison LYS) and swatched.

I also wound yarn for True Colors. This project - one of the MDK Final Four and eligible for the March Mayhem KAL - has intrigued me for weeks. It's not at all what I usually knit (colors? stripes? ends??!!), but once I found gypsythedog's version (three colors, and not at all too bright), I couldn't get it out of my head. I had an idea to knit it out of linen and I ordered Sparrow last weekend. It arrived ... and I'm smitten.

The wildcard is Calyx. This is the latest design from Elizabeth Doherty and I was all set to pass (because I still have Archer in my queue) ... until multiple WIPs and FOs showed up in my Instagram feed this past weekend. The pattern calls for two Shibui yarns held together (I don't want to spend the money), but the result is DK. And it just so happens that the LYS in Beaufort carries Berroco Remix Light (which I love - I knit a cardigan with it last summer). Of course we're going to visit that LYS this weekend. and if I can find three skeins in a color that will go with white and dark denim, I'm in. and quickly - Elizabeth is hosting an "any sweater KAL" in her Ravelry group and it ends May 6. yep... 😀.

Here's what all those plans look like right this second.

left to right - Edie, True Colors, Balise

I hope to have a much different version to share with y'all next week!

Check out Kat's post to see what others are unraveling about. Happy Wednesday!

Sometimes Mondays.

...bring a much-welcome win!

I rearranged a few things today to make time to seam the shoulders and knit the neckband. When I weighed the yarn I had left and compared it to the sleeve I still needed to finish, I actually thought I was going to win by a lot. That little ball weighs just over 3 grams. But adding in the few other scraps, there's plenty to seam the sleeves and underarms and sew on 7 buttons. whew!

Hope your week is off to a winning start, too!

FO Friday | Quick Sand.

Sunday afternoon - in addition to coloring (and showing off my spring pedicure) - we took finished photos of Quick Sand.

I'm not sure holding a toddler really shows off the sweater details, but this is the fourth time I've knit the pattern. Y'all know what it looks like, right?

My gauge was a little tighter than what the pattern called for, so I knit the next up size. It worked perfectly. I followed Heidi's excellent instructions as written except for the hems. On the body, I worked two rows of garter before binding off; and on the sleeves, I went down a needle size to work those two rows of garter and bind off. I'm really happy with how it turned out! (project on Ravelry here)

...and yay for Friday - have a wonderful weekend!

Unraveled Wednesday.

Hello and Happy Almost Thursday!

I am making slow but steady progress on my second Quintessential Cardigan. But - I'm worried I won't have enough yarn. I have no idea why I just assumed I would, but ... I did! After I knit that first sleeve, and was a little into the back - maybe when I joined the 2nd or 3rd ball? - I noticed that I didn't have a lot of balls left. I weighed the sleeve, weighed all the yarn I had left, looked at my notes from last time and realized I was going to be close. Worst case, I can knit short sleeves - which will mean unraveling the one I already knit - and best case, I'll be ok.

This morning, I finished the first front and got the scale out again.

On the left are the first sleeve and first front. On the right is the yarn I have left. That yarn needs to knit a second sleeve, a second front and a neckband. I'm cautiously optimistic.

I've started the second front and I'll do the neckband next. Stay tuned!

On the reading front, I just started listening to The Signature of All Things ... and when I grabbed that link I saw that a few of y'all didn't care for it. I'm just two hours in (with 20+ more to go), but so far, I'm enjoying it. We'll see! (cautiously optimistic again.)

Check out Kat's to see what everyone else is knitting and reading - hopefully all good stuff!

FO Friday | Comfort Fade Cardi.

When I cast on (way back on March 4), I thought this might be just the project to convince Spring to come ... and stay. Turns out she wasn't that easily tempted. I bound off the stitches while we were in North Carolina and finished it up late last week. I've already had two chances to wear it - and thankfully, Sara was around for one of them take photos.

Raveled here 

I'm a newbie to the whole "fade" thing, and it was only when Tanis (from my favorite indie dyer TanisFiberArts) released kits that I succumbed. The pattern itself is a very (very) basic topdown seamless raglan - easy to knit ... and easy to fit. The fade works because the body of the piece is reverse stockinette - the purl bumps really blend the colors.

The cuffs and collar are knit in garter stitch ... time-consuming, but effective. The bulk of the tight row gauge helps the edges lay flat - way more than reverse stockinette would.

I think the dark to light fade on the collar is my favorite design detail.

Not that Holly appreciates it!

and in keeping with tradition - a favorite outtake - it was really windy!

Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend - and a Happy Easter or Passover if you're celebrating.