Heading For Malta

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by an elderly lady who wanted to order a two shawls to take with her when she moved back to Malta this spring so she could give them to friends who remained there when she moved to the States. She came into the Senior Center a few days later & I helped her pick out yarn from our K4 stash (a shawl needs at least 8 ounces). She chose a taupe & a navy & I started knitting. I used worsted weight yarn & size 15 needles starting with a simple cast-on of 5 stitches for the back of the neck. The first row was K2, YO, K1, YO, K2 with the K1 forming the center of the back & continuing to increase four stitches on every other row. I added some simple lace to the outer sections with garter stitch rows to form a non-roll border at the outside edge.


The lace on the taupe shawl is a 12 stitch repeat of Feather & Fan that I first adapted for socks. The original F&F is an 18 stitch repeat.


The navy shawl's lace is a very simple eyelet that slants into the center stitch by using slip 1 to knit, slip 1 to purl, k2tog on the right side for a left leaning decrease & k2tog on the other side of the center stitch for a right leaning decrease.

Emma picked the shawls up this last Monday and told me that she loved them. Her friend who drove her to the Senior Center was threatening to make off with the taupe shawl so I may get another order in the future. I hope her friends back in Malta like them too.

K4, Shawls & Flowers

Our K4 meeting was today. Lots of fun, as usual..


I turned this shawl in at the meeting. It's the feather & fan pattern again but this time without the row that's knit on the wrong side to form a ridge.


In the close up, the left & right slanting decreases can be seen - if I'd used the K2tog six times that's used in the version with ridges (the baby afghan pattern over there under free patterns in the side bar), I don't think this stockinette stitch version would have turned out as nicely as it did.


While I was out on the deck, I took a couple photos of the cabbage roses. I should have done this a couple days ago when they first came out as they're starting to lose petals in the heat we've been having. These roses were on the farm when my parents & grandparents moved there in 1940. In 2002, when Mom & Dad were moving over here, I managed to dig out three little bits of root that have, despite being moved several times, spread.


They're even coming up through the cracks on the deck!


Here is this year's garden. Please ignore the weeds between the tomato plants as I haven't had time to get out there with the hoe. The weed-free aisles between rows are courtesy of our next door neighbor with his smaller rototiller. There are three clumps of basil in front with at least 5 plants in each clump - pesto on the hoof! The rest is taken up by 32 tomato plants - 12 Grape, 4 Early Girl, 4 Big Boy, 4 Super Beefsteak, 4 Goliath & 4 Celebrity. The grape tomatoes are already blooming and everything has had a growth spurt in the heat we've had the last few days following quite a bit of rain.

A Few More Shawls

Finally, some sunshine after almost a week of rain, drizzles & grey skies. I finally got the camera charged and took the latest shawls out on the deck.


This is the same *easy* lace pattern as I did a couple weeks ago - YOs combined with right & left decreases to slant the diagonal lines out from the center. The wood on the deck is rough and grabs onto the yarn, so the shawls aren't as perfectly straight as they might be.


This is a close up of the pattern - this side of the center line was YO, K2TOG.


The Old Shale or Feather & Fan pattern - I like the way that the edge scallops from the lace. I think I could almost do this one in my sleep after all the baby afghans I've made with the stitch. This version, however, only has one row of knit on the wrong side rather than the two rows per repeat used on the baby afghan pattern (it's over in the side bar under Free Patterns if anyone is interested).


And the requisite close-up. For the shawl I'm working on right now, I'm doing the Feather & Fan in all stockinette just to see how it turns out.

Addendum: If it appears in the photos above that the purple shawl is smaller than the dusty blue one, that's because it is. Inflation has hit. The new Red Heart & Bernat Super Saver type skeins of acrylic have been downsized from 8 ounces to 7 ounces - a 12½% decrease while the price has gone up slightly. The purple shawl is knit from a 7 ounce skein and I used all but maybe 8 yards of the skein.

Wednesday Wailing

Ok, I don't really have much to wail about - other than the temperatures being in the high 80s already & the price of gas jumping 18¢ a gallon overnight to $3.579 here in the south-east corner of the Mitten. But I was stuck for a title {g}..


I finished another rag-tag afghan last night. This one is another lap sized in black, grey, blues, greens and back to grey & black. I'm slowly whittling down the stock of yarn left over from earlier K4 projects.



I finished this shawl last night too (good night for TV with the NCIS finale & the Tom Selleck movie on CBS). The pattern is Fir Cone from the Folk Shawls book. I think this one would probably work better on a shawl that was being blocked rather than unblockable (unless you want to really KILL it) acrylic, but it is a pretty lace pattern and not too hard to follow (i.e., I didn't have to tink back too often). Looking at the photo, I may have added two more rows than needed in the repeat closest to the border, but it's finished and hopefully the recipient won't mind.



The shawl I finished earlier uses a stitch pattern from the Irish Diamond Shawl in the same book.

Slowly, but surely, I'm trying to work myself up to tackling another full lace shawl from the book. In the meantime, practicing the patterns on these K4 shawls is giving me a bit more confidence after the limited amount I had was shattered when I started the Adamas shawl with lace weight yarn. I have another shawl started in a smoky blue - no idea yet of what pattern I'll use when I get down to the lace section, but I'll find something. I'm seriously considering ordering the Barbara Walker Treasury of Knitting Patterns for more stitch ideas. I keep finding neat patterns on line, but very few of them define the stitch repeat.

Garage Sale Fever

Whew! I am totally worn out after going to two subdivision garage sales which really means about 25-30 individual sales, but it was worth it. At one of the last ones, about the time I was ready to wait in the car while DH browsed, I ran across 22 - that's right, twenty-two - Piecework magazines for FREE!! Here are most of them spread out on the desk along with a short stack of others that wouldn't fit. The stack of books at the back are new ones to send to the grandkids as soon as I find a suitable box.



I also found some other goodies - like a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans in my size for $1 that look like new {g}..

Yesterday was our K4 meeting and I turned in a small rag-tag afghan in shades of blue and a willow green shawl with lace.






Once again, the willow green yarn doesn't show up well in the photo - it's really a very pretty shade of green. The lace design was borrowed from The Lacy Prairie Shawl in the Folk Shawls book. I'm now working on a turquoise shawl and another rag-tag.

I need to update my sidebar, both the projects and the reading list section. Right now I'm reading The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen. She has other books out and I'm going to check for them the next library run. I also found The Golden Compass - the book behind the Daemon quiz from last week - in the young adult section. It's surprising how many good books - like Eragon & the Redwall series - are in Young Adult, so if I can't find anything to my tastes in the adult stacks, I wander across the lobby and see what the teens are trying to keep all to themselves {g}.

R.I.P. - Booking Through Thursday

This week's question:
No, not THAT kind of R.I.P.
Reading. In. Public.
Do you do it? Why or why not?

Sure, though I'm not out in public all that often any more, but when I was working I always had a book in my bag for lunch & breaks. I read in the car while DH is driving. I even K.I.P. - Knit In Public - often at the same time I'm R.I.P.ing.. So many books, so few hours in the day {g}..

On the knitting & crocheting front, with three hours of good t.v. last night (I love sweeps periods), I finished off the latest rag-tag & the latest shawl.


This one is in shades of turquoise with mostly white shades in the center.


It's impossible to get the entire shawl spread out on the desk. This area is about 3x3.5 feet and by folding the shawl, I can get it to barely fit the space.


The lace pattern is called "Falling Leaves" and is super simple - an 8 row repeat with the 4 wrong side rows simply purling across. The four remaining pattern rows are basically two rows that shift slightly over. It was easy to tell exactly where I was in the pattern at all times once the first row was completed. I could get to like this type of lace.


Here's a close up of the pattern. I worked a total of 12 rows because I needed the yarn that was left for the garter stitch border. Another time, I think I would start the pattern earlier. If the Adamas shawl was this easy to keep track of, it might be done by now..


Unfortunately, it's right where it was about a year ago....


Part of the problem might be the size of the needles and the lace weight yarn. Things go much faster with worsted weight & size 15 needles.

Guess Who Is No Longer Camera-shy???

Someone is becoming very comfortable around the camera.


To the point where trying to get a clear photo of my latest K4 project is becoming difficult unless I close the door to this room with Boomer on the other side. Under that mass of black & white fur is a smaller rag-tag than usual - this one is more suitable for someone in a wheelchair as it isn't large enough to get caught in the wheels while still being big enough to cover the lap & legs.


Ok, I confess - I didn't have the heart to banish him.. But I did try to move him to one side so the lace pattern on this shawl would show up. It's a simple K2tog, YO on one side of the center line and YO, SL1 to knit, slip 1 to purl, transfer back to the left needle & knit together. That lets the decreases slant out from the center.


I had to take the photo in a hurry because my new camera hog decided to get right back in the middle {g}

Back at Booking Through Thursday, I'm slightly late this week. The questions are:

Does what you read vary by the season? For instance, Do you read different kinds of books in the summer than the winter?
If so, do you break it down by genre, length of book, holiday, or...?

No, while my knitting and quilting activities change with the seasons, my reading matter doesn't. Mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, historicals (not hystericals - those overwrought romances set in the past), adventures & political novels are my usual fare and what I read when usually depends on what is on the new book shelves that suits my tastes or if I find a new-to-me author with half a shelf in the stacks to devour. Right now, I'm reading Melanie Rawn's Spellbinder, a modern day fanasty. Before that it was Stuart Woods' Fresh Disasters, a mystery, & Jack McDevitt's Odyssey, a science fiction work. I see that I need to bring my reading list on the sidebar up to date.

I Got Bored

I got bored making the same old garter stitch shawl for our K4 project, so I started this one from the neck down.



I started with 5 stitches and then used YOs 1 stitch in from either edge and 1 one either side of the center stitch for 4 increases each row. It's worked in stockinette stitch with the even rows purled, so it was still pretty mindless knitting.

Then I decided to get fancy & add a lace border. I was going to use an edging knit on sideways, but trying to do lace while chatting with my DH isn't the best idea. I flubbed up the first repeat so tinked back & put it aside until after he went to bed. Then I realized that I was making this pattern up as I go and I had no idea if the remaining yarn would be enough to work the sideways edging all the way around the shawl and decided to just add a few rows of a simple lace pattern that I could cut short if it looked like I was going to run out.



This is the lace pattern from the inner boarder of the Highland Triangle from Folk Shawls. It's a simple 6 stitch, two row repeat, but I still *MESSED* it up the first row and didn't discover it until half way through the next pattern row where I suddenly had three YOs where I should only have had two. So I tinked back and got it right on the second try, by which time it was about 2 a.m. Once the pattern is set, it's easy to stay on track (thank goodness!!!) I did 4 repeats working the increases into the pattern as I had enough stitches. The photo above is the point on one side - notice how the lace makes it curve more than the body of the shawl. It did the same thing when I made the Highland Triangle but I like the look.



Here's the center point that came out a nice mirror image on each side. I finished off with 8 rows of garter stitch to keep the bottom from curling. All in all, I'm quite happy with the results.

An Engrossing Book

This week's Booking Through Thursday question concerns getting so involved in a book that you miss something else:

Have you ever missed an important appointment because you have become so engrossed in a book you forgot the time or were up so late reading that you didn't wake up in time? Been late to work because you couldn't resist the temptation and left the house too late?

If I didn't have the help of my sweet DH, I would often be late in getting over to Mom's for morning coffee because I didn't get to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning. Sometimes it's because I'm web wandering, but usually it's because I want to finish the book I'm reading. It happens more often now that I'm retired because Mom is more understanding than a boss. I still remember the first time I stayed up *all* night reading a book. It was back when DED & DYD were both little and I had a copy of Heinlein's latest book, Time Enough For Love, published in 1972 - I started it about the time the girls went to bed and I was just finishing when they got up the next morning. Fortunately, they took a number of naps that day because I was a zombie {g}.

On the knitting front, I finished the willow green shawl - I'll be glad when the rain lets up and the sun comes out so I can take a few photos outside because the flash is washing out the colors.



I have most of a blue rag-tag afghan finished and I'm working on a lime green shawl that's knit from the neck down using four YOs every other row for the increases. I'm almost to the point where I want to add a lace edging worked sideways like the one on the Highland Triangle shawl.

Continually Late

Here it is Friday and I just remembered that I was supposed to check the Booking on Thursday site for this week's questions. They're rather heavy ones this week:

1) Just out of curiosity, as we enter into Passover and Easter season . . . have you ever read the Bible? Just the odd chapter or Psalm? The whole thing? (Or, almost the whole thing? It's some heavy reading, of course, and those "begats" get kind of tedious.)

I'm into genealogy, so I don't find the "begats" all that boring, but, no, I haven't read a lot of the Bible. We had to memorize verses back in Bible School & Sunday School, I think at one time or another I've read through Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. But I draw the line at reading Paul's anti-female nonsense.

2) If so, was it from religious motivation or from a literary perspective? Stuck with nothing else to read in a hotel room the Gideon's have visited? Any combination?

Trying to understand where some of the sermons I was hearing in church were based.

3) If not, why not? Against your religious principles? Too boring? Just not interested? Something you're planning on taking care of when you get marooned on a desert island?

I see the Bible as a book written by men who were trying to understand the world around them - more history than holy. Don't get me wrong, I believe in a higher power and find a lot of good lessons in the four main gospels. I try to live a life that helps others - you might say that every stitch I put into the hats, scarves, shawls & afghans is a mini-prayer that the person who receives it will benefit and be watched over.

4) And while we're on the subject . . . what about the other great religious works out there? Are they more to your liking?

I've read the Tao Te Ching - which is sort of like Christianity without the personalities - everything comes from the Tao, everything returns to the Tao, the Tao that can be encompassed in words is not the Eternal Tao. Maybe it's the same with Christianity - Jesus' love lives in our hearts and actions, not in some sermon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On the knitting front, I finished the green rag-tag & the purple shawl and turned everything (3 rag-tags & 3 shawls) in yesterday.



The green rag-tag is more square - wider & shorter - than I usually make, but it should still keep someone warm. I was actually running shy on the creams & off whites for the center section and unable to get into the craft room at the Sr. Center on Monday to pick up more as there was an "Ask A Lawyer" session going on in there.



The color on the shawl came out all wrong - it's royal purple, not magenta.

I have a blue rag-tag and a pale willow green shawl on the hook & the needles right now.