Made for Her

This is my friend Judy King wearing the Autumn in Taos jacket I made several years ago. It has never looked this great on me, and usually lives in a drawer in my closet.  I brought it to the knitting group to show her since she has seen the pattern and thought she might want to make it. I mentioned that I had already knit one and she should try it on to see how it fit. She is 5'10" and wasn't sure if the sizing would work. I am 5'5" and found the sleeves and length longgggg on me but obviously perfect on her.
Friday will be opening day for the new Joann Fabrics in Chattanooga and you can be sure I will be there before the doors open. Not that it is such an exciting store but we don't have a fabric store of its ilk in the city. Can you imagine? I wish it were going to be a Super-Store with all the art supplies, but of course I DON'T NEED ANY, but I like to look anyway. It's a good sign that new stores are coming to town, like the economy is improving. New shops and restaurants have been opening regularly in Signal Mountain too, and I make it a point to bring my encouragement and my purse to visit.

Cooling Down

It's that time again, with cool nights and perfect days. Dave lit the gas logs
and switched directions for the ceiling fans, and I wore socks to bed. Kind of nice for a change to be toasty under the covers.

I might talk myself into working in the garden soon, transplanting and dividing perennials, as soon as the earth dries out a bit more.

The tomatoes are still producing and if I don't get them picked immediately they rot on the vine. Brandywines have such a thin skin and the racoons love just a little taste, daily, leaving the rest of the tomato alone. Grrrr. Lots of peppers are getting ripe too. Doesn't this seem late to you? Well, we have a funny climate up on the mountain.

It's knitting meeting today and I have several projects in the works. I really like this yarn, Trekking XXL and for this pair I used an afterthought heel, which is replaceable if it should get holey. What a great invention. Toes can work the same way. I'd rather unravel and reknit than darn.

We did not have cheesecake after all yesterday and are postponing til the weekend when we will go to my sister's house for the party. And I got my bloodwork report and must seriously pay attention to lowering my cholesterol. Nix on the cheesecake idea, and bring on the oatmeal. Hrumpf.
And we did not go back upstate to retrieve the motorcycle yesterday either. We found a Kawasaki dealer who was willing to pick up the bike from the towing company and will assess the damage and let us know. This saves us the daily fee for storage. It may be scrap or it may be fixable, but whatever, it will not be coming back home.

Dave has focused his attention on playing the guitar and the borrowed keyboard at full volume, so I am sure he will enjoy my absence and hovering today.

Home and Safe

Isn't he the cutest?
Thank you for all the loving and supportive comments. I wish I could answer each one of them + the private emails you sent. It made such a huge difference. Dave is feeling much better and is wearing some pretty creative outfits now that he is dressing himself again. And my fierce anger has dissipated. I am kissing him alot and so thankful he is in mostly one piece. Phew!


Our trip back home was filled with breathtaking views and we agreed that East Tennessee is underrated for its beautiful scenery. I took I-81 and then I-75 and we arrived home in four hours flat, even with more rain along the way. We really needed the rain.
Dave and Mike our hired man are going back up to Johnson City with our trailer to retrieve what is left of the motorcycle. If there is anything left of value, the parts will be sold on Ebay. That'll keep him busy for a while. Here is the bike 'before' photo, on his first long trip into the Smokies.

 I guess our birthday celebration will be a little later this week. I am thinking CHEESECAKE.

Love,

One Month and One Day

The first words that came to mind were "I told you so" but of course I did not say them. I am keeping a lot inside.
My husband insisted he was capable of handling a motorcycle, despite having advanced Parkinson's. We fought about it before and after the fact and needless to say I lost this battle. I stopped fighting about everything, since it didn't make a bit of difference, and peace is preferable. Not to say anything means stepping back and letting go of the reins. This, for a control freak like me, is...difficult.

He is in the hospital in Kingsport TN, on the border near North Carolina, with a broken collarbone. His shoulder is purple. I drove up in the pouring rain, the same pouring rain he left home in on Saturday. Anyone with half a brain would think that rain + motorcycling is not a good mix. I know better, but I didn't quarrel with him about going. And now there he is, in pain, and minus one expensive uninsured motorcycle.

Over the last two years he has had two car accidents in my car, totaling it, and two accidents in his car, with more expensive repairs. Now the motorcycle. This is not a subtle warning. I wonder what it will take to make him stop driving?

Before his disease showed itself, he was the epitome of caution, and never once did he get in an accident, unless you count someone backending him at a stop light. He was always fully insured and never took unnecessary risks. That part of him has disappeared, along with other things that used to be his identity. This is all part of this stinkin' disease. I don't write much about it, since neither of us want sympathy, but this was too close a call, and I am so angry.

Angry at him, angry at myself and angry at the disease which has stolen my husband. None of this is rational, but the feeling is intense. I must find a way to wrest the car keys from him and leave him with some shred of dignity. This is a tall order.

PS. Tomorrow is his 56th birthday.

Experience is the best teacher

Both front and back panels are finished and I have joined them at the shoulders, but I am not happy. I know this yarn (Noro Kureyon) will stretch and I hate to think of the wearer tripping over a too-long-poncho. Add to that a much too large neck opening and it comes down to doing some unknitting.  I have marked an appropriate row on the shoulder and ripped it back to 13 stitches for each side.
Then I used a three needle bind off to connect both shoulders. This is invisible on the front side and negligible on the back side.

This brings the center panels up about three inches, and simultaneously reduces the neck opening. Good in so many ways.
Now I can begin the side panels which should go very quickly, but....I had to order more yarn. I have more Noro, but it is not anywhere near the same colors, and rather than just go with it, I feel matching is better in this case. Luckily I found a great price on Ebay, for exactly what I needed.
Three needle bind-off video here: http://vimeo.com/6321623

Returning Paintings

After the gallery in Wisconsin closed, these paintings were returned. I am unpacking the quilts I sent too. It's like a reunion.

Straight No Chaser

It was a girls' night out last night with my sister Brooke and niece Glory and we got to see Straight No Chaser at the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Chattanooga. It was fabulous and we had a great time.
Chatt is such a nice small town, and so different than living in a huge city like Chicago. We parked free, walked to dinner and then walked to the theatre, all within three blocks. So easy. It makes me want to do this more often.
Today I am hoarse from screaming as we applauded their performance. Now that's a good time.

What yarn is that?

I know this will come as a disappointment to those of you who asked. It is not just one yarn that I used in this scarf or in the other items I made in this series ( http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2009/11/baktus-beret-yarn-made-me-do-it.html ). I started by dyeing up 400+ yards of sock yarn and then searched through my stash for colors to use along with it. I would say I gathered about 20 other yarns, mostly sock or baby fingering weight.  I used little bits of lots of them and then had lots leftover for the other items in the series.

It's very difficult to get bright colors in baby weight yarns, so mostly I grab them when I see them. For this scarf there were many many ends to weave in, so I would be glad not to have to do that again.
With this pattern, I alternated two rows of one yarn with two rows of a contrasting yarn, which is why you see the striping.

Poncho Progress

 I could not stop knitting, and kept at it until all the new tv shows were over. When one is knitting with Noro Kureyon, the colors keep changing and it is so amazing to see what is inside a skein. The first two diamonds and adjacent triangles are all from the same skein.  The two skeins here have some of the same colors as the first skein, but also changes into aqua and blue. Lots of black is mixed in too. I am trying to keep this poncho wearable by a person NOT in a circus, so no neon pink or dayglo orange in this one.
  The length before blocking is 36" and since the eventual wearer is 5'10", it is not too long, and will be longer after blocking, as well we know.
For the initial diamond, I cast on 71 stitches and the adjacent triangles are 36 stitches, if you are thinking of knitting along, and I used a size 10 needle. The width of the diamond is 13" from side to side and will no doubt grow to 15-16" after blocking. The shoulder triangles may actually roll over the shoulder (to the front) and be joined to the front top diamond, with a space left open for the neck opening. We'll see, since I am designing on the spot. The back is almost finished and then the front will be started at the bottom diamond, with colors related but of course unknown at this point. That's the intrigue that is so appealing.
I am deeply madly in love with Noro Kuryeon and Silk Garden, both of which will be used in this piece. 

Tonight is my first knitting class in which I am the teacher. I am all excited to be trying out this new challenge. The project is the Baby Surprise Jacket, which is also a fun and easy knit, so this should be a breeze...as long as my students know how to knit. You never know.

Designing in my Sleep

Now that poncho #1 is finished and mailed off, I am thinking about poncho #2 for Eliz. I want to make something new and fun to knit, and have been browsing Ravelry looking for something challenging but not so much so that I must keep count or pay really close attention. After all, the new TV season has begun, and I do have my priorities.
Nothing in their vast archives has fit the bill, so when I went to sleep last night I set my mind on trying to come up with my own idea. I got no where and fell asleep. This morning as I drifted awake, I was dreaming that I was slogging through a salt lake, having just shown a couple the house I rehabbed in Elmwood Park, IL, (never happened in real life ) and then I came to consciousness.
I have my design!
How does that work?
I don't know and it doesn't matter, as long as it works. You know how I love modular knitting (miters) and my more recent fave the Baktus scarf, of which I have made many (why hasn't anyone requested a Baktus lately?) and so I combined the two components and came up with this poncho idea. A central panel of miters, knit first and then joined on either side with decreasing triangles of Baktus like garter stitch. GENIUS! Even if I do say so myself.
This could work with almost any yarn and for any size. And if a regular sleeve is preferred the sides could be made as a straight panel and sleeves knit out from the shoulder later.
So all I need now is to find out Eliz's preference for color, and then we will decide which of my stash yarns to use up.
Yes!
In the meantime, I am happily knitting away on another Elizabeth's socks. Trekking XXL, needles size 1.5, cast on 60 sts.

PS. the yarn I photographed is now available online at Three Black Sheep. See this.
http://www.threeblacksheepyarn.com/shop.html

Red Poncho for Rose

This was such a great project to knit and used up almost seven of the eight skeins of Cascade Pastaza (50% Llama, 50% wool) 132 yards each, size 9 (5.5mm) needle. The Pattern is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Ponchos-Wraps-Knitters-Dozen/dp/1933064013



What a big difference blocking makes. I just sprayed the garment with plain water and pressed it into the wool with my hands. Then I patted and tugged it into submission and left it to dry overnight. Voila. So much more drapey and nice.

 The original pattern had a more open V neck which is fine for a cool evening, but Rose lives in Chicago and those windy EL platforms require a little something on the back of the neck, so I added a  higher mock turtleneck to the design, with multiple short rows in the back of the neck to increase the length of the back and for a better fit. If you have ever seen yourself from the side you will note that a garment like this may be pulled more to the front and be shorter in the back. With this modification in the pattern, the length is evened out.

My fave miters made this project such fun to knit, but the size of the yarn and needles were so unfamiliar. Since I have been knitting here, most things are finer weight, and hence take a bit longer to finish. This went zoom-zoom.

And now for a little sock knitting for Elizabeth.

While the Cat's Away

Dave will return today from a four day motorcycle trip into GA and NC and he has been diligent in calling me to abate my worries. He is having a super-wonderful time and that makes us both happy. So far he has had no accidents or been arrested. Thank God for small favors.
But of course while he is away, I must clean house and rearrange furniture. It's my solemn duty and kind of a tradition. I always like to have some sort of surprise ready for him after a trip like this. I can remember one year it was quitting birth control pills, so it isn't always a thrilling surprise.

I am hoping this arrangement will halt the tendency to collect junk on tables, by reducing the amount of available tables, or having one little one that holds remotes and not much else. I moved my coffee station table out of my room and put it behind the sofa to hold things like the headphones out of sight. My supreme task is to hide the copious amount of wires connecting tv, dvd player, speakers, mp3 player, amplifier, router, headphones etc. What is it with audio equipment and all those wires? If they can send a man to the moon...
The living room looks like a movie theatre but I just put our Netflix on hold as Dave has immediately fallen asleep the last four times we tried to watch a film. I am facing reality and saving the $25 a month (we had unlimited rentals) and don't think we will miss anything. The new fall season looks good enough to watch.
Dave spends his evenings out in the potting shed, AKA Motorcycle Salon, where he putzes and tinkers and rubs and washes his bike. What. Ever. He has tiled the floor and it looks like a showroom. I don't mind, since I am knitting and watching my shows anyway. We are both happy.

Speaking of happy, we have had a little rain of late and the garden has perked up. The warm weather continues, but the nights are cool and getting longer. Leaves have begun to fall, but mostly because they got dried out in the recent mini-drought.

I love my nasturtiums and their red/green contrast. So dependable and already I have noticed that seeds have formed and are planting themselves nicely for next year's garden. Methinks I will be buying lots of narcissus bulbs, since voles don't like them. Spring will be gloriously full of daffodils and jonquils. My basil is calling to me: Quick! make pesto before we all go to seed.
Good idea.

PS. Whenever I post pics of my chairs and ottomans, I get questions about where I got them etc. They aren't available anymore but I found these that are close.