Okay…. Aside from the good hair days that the winter weather here in surf city provides… and surely the fun of knitting with wool and not having it felt right away in your hands… I’m pretty much ready for springtime…. Yup – bring on the flip flops, pink pedicures… and my favorite cotton and linen clothing! One would never guess this girl grew up braving the east coast snow storms… the grey, slushy, leafless tree-cold-months-of-winter! Brrrrrrrrrr!! It’s uncomfortable just thinking about it. I’m afraid my blood has thinned…. and days when the temperature dips below 72 degrees… well, let’s just say I’m really not a big fan of socks! ... by th' way - how do you like Harry's new "spot"... he joins me in the a.m. when I'm getting myself together for the day.... seems the porcelain sink is a perfect fit... though the fluff-wonder has been gaining about a pound every 4-6 weeks.... currently weighing in at 11.7 lbs! so i expect he may eventually grow out of his oval cubby! such a chubby-fluffy-bunny he is growing up to be!Anyway... back to the weather-and-how-it-effects-my-knitting-chat.... Perhaps my fondness for warmer temperatures is the reason behind my having such a difficult time completing the Debbi Bliss cashmerino sweater that has been on the needles for – well, MORE than several months… The front is done… the back is on the needles… but I keep pushing the pretty pink sweater with the big center horseshoe-cable aside to focus on other projects that don’t require such heavy yarn lifting! Color me silly, but I more prefer working on size 2, 3, 4.... okay - I'll go to a size 8 needle, but then my comfort-zone starts to sway. I tend to make more mistakes when using the larger needles.... As for the DB sweater, if I ever DO finish it, I think I will love it (even if it no longer fits me! Winter season = HCC ... heavy chocolate consumption!)… Oh, What’s the matter with me? I’m a KNITTER… and an obsessed knitter at that! I’m supposed to relish in the season's chilly temperatures and abundance of thick wool yarn!! What can I say? Once a rebel -- always a rebel (I guess)...
Meanwhile… the little ol’ knitting bag carries in it a lovely skein of Sublime kid mohair in a pretty navy blue (yes, navy blue can be pretty!)… and the Sublime pattern for the Oooo la la French beret that I nearly completed last week, had it not been for my muff-up on the “yfwd” ~ thus resulting in throwing my stitch count off and leaving my rows to not end in the same way as the pattern instructs. DRAG! First off, I couldn’t even figure out how to DO a “yfwd”… and searched through the pages of my extensive knitting library…. only to discover that none of them wanted to disclose this information.... and all I could find was the acronym and brief explanation of it: “yfwd: yarn forward”. Helpful? Not very... So, I dialed up the Internet and started surfing the web… and with a keystroke of good luck, came upon a site called the keyboard biologist. Thank goodness for this very generous soul who not only knits, but took the time to photograph and post pix of her doing the “yfwd” to clearly illustrate the stitch. Bless the Keyboard Biologist!! So, gaining that helpful (and imperative) bit of instruction… and allowing my perfectionist-side to take over… the next step was to Rip... Rip… RRRRrrrrrrrip... the 30 rows of kid mohair stitches from my needles (oh-so-delicately as not to break the fine fibers) and start again from the beginning.
Of course, at the same time I was doing this, I got side-tracked and decided to finish sewing up the sides and felt the body of a handbag I’m making - a Rowan pattern is the influence. I cut flower shapes from the felted swatch, and have begun mattress-stitching them on to both sides of the bag, stuffing their little petals so that the are a bit 3-D, rather than just sitting flat on the surface of the bag. The swatch felted down a bit smaller than expected – not large enough to cut all of the pieces needed…. So I’m knitting up another full skein (stocking stitch – so boring!) in order to make the remaining embellishments. It is a fun project… and I wish I had more time to really work on it… but i'm not out to win a contest in finishing first here... and will undoubtedly spend even more time adding some beading and crewel work to the design, too... so, it'll be done when it's done… and in the meantime, i can enjoy looking forward to starting out a day by breaking in a new handbag - which I always enjoy!So, as you can see... I've got KOTB (Knitting-on-the-Brain)... and, when I do finally put the needles down, I'm getting ready to crack the cover of my new read "The Friday Night Knitting Club"... I've heard that celebrity-knitter Julia Roberts is signed to star in the flick! Wow, how great would that be to have a job where you get to knit while you work.... and be paid tens of millions of dollars to do so! Oh, the life of a movie star, right!!!
Alrighty - time for me to say TTFN... as I'm feeling a bit tuckered out - kinda like ol' Harry here... I call this pose of his "HarrySPLAT!"... Oh.... by th' way.... B-4 I go.... i'm just a tad excited, as I finally traded in my 2000 Civic EX (with 98,600 miles and a very tired transmission!!).... and replaced it with the Kiwi-mobile (also known as a box-on-wheels... the Honda Element)! Sorta got me feeling like a middle-aged throw-back! But hey - there's plenty of room for my beach gear for over-filled knitting bags! A definite plus! Hey man, what can I say? Peace On! :)
Until next time.... and as always.... Happy Thoughts... and Happy Knitting!
Love.Leigh.Knitz
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