Sable Stasher

Calvin Klein's Baby Cables ~ FO

YEAH! All that is left is bath and blocking!          

                                        

Of course, this is what it was supposed to look like.

                     

 

And here is how it ended

After many weeks of struggle Lydia's lace weight bunny yarn,from her eBay store. I held it doubled, and size 2 needles - I finally got the baby cables done.  Wow, what a grind. I did a 'V' neck vs the 'T' neck as in the picture.  I still have to wash and block.  Thought I would save that until tomorrow.

 

I am not impressed with my ribbing and I am going to re do the ribbing on smaller needles with more decreases.

I tried to match the ribs up, and I didn't succeed very well. In my experience if a garment doesn't pat out right before blocking, you probably can't block flaws out.

IMHO, I can widen or lengthen a wool sweater, but that is about it. Can't cover up mistakes. 

This is not the right color.  The yarn is exactly the taupe color above. 

Now, the big question is ,"WHAT is next?"  I think this will be my next project

  DUXBURY POINT

                                                         

                                             

Here are my stashed yarn choices.  I was looking for a color card for a friend and I discovered ALL this Rowan 4 ply or Lavold I happened to have on hand.

The red/orange, the green, the Rowan 4ply tweed (Luster), with a strand of dk aqua silk for firmer fabric, or the RYC Cash Soft (Spring Green)?

I have to confess, I did buy the Luster from Jannette.  It was such a great deal and I had 3 or 4 balls of it.  However, it is too thin without that strand of silk. The other Lavold is old. Most of it is Dye Lot #1.   

  http://stores.ebay.com/Jannettes-Rare-Yarns                                                     The Cashsoft, is a brighter green...this pic is sort of faded out.   

Which yarn shall I choose?  I know I am late to the Duxbury knitting, but I am the world's slowest knitter.  At least, I hold 1/2 of that title.

Or....there is this one, sitting in stash, and waiting for me.

Strathglass has been in stash since Alice opened up VY. I can't remember how long ago that was but look how young Jade looks.                                         

ELK, SUNGLASSES, Loafers +Calvin's CABLES

OR, how to fight the knitting blahs!                                          

The first thing to hope for is a decent driving day to Eugene and seeing my favorite dentist.  Hoping the Elk herd was out grazing and close to the highway.  All those things came true.

Seeing the elk, grazing in the sun, is a piece of getting over the knitting blahs.

                                    

                                                   

This gang is only mildly wild nowadays. They stay close to the good grass and enjoy protected status. It is a huge crime to shoot any of these tame creatures. The herd numbers around 200 animals. When it gets larger, the Wardens relocate some to different areas of the county. The animals group together in pods according to sex, age and inclination.

It's hilarious that every year, game wardens put out pasteboard elk 'cut outs', & do a sting operation. Year after year, idiots shoot at the pasteboard decoys, get fined, loose hunting privileges for life and their guns. Some years, these 'sportsmen' kill a few of the beasts. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. They get Federal time + all of the above. What is it about seeing this herd of tame elk that men go nut-so and shoot them down? The culprits effectively ruin their lives. Elk meat, is good, but not that good.

The next thing in getting over the knitting blahs, is plan on spending some money. When the dentist is through, go find something to buy. I couldn't get to a yarn shop but I did buy new spectacles....and buy a pair of snazzy prescription sunglasses.  The first in over 25 years.                                                         

Propped upon a ball of Rowan Calmer!

  Ann Klein at her best! Who knew such shoes existed?  Since I am from a very small hick town, I didn't. 

Fortunately, the Internet has increased my clothing choices. Still casual, but classy.

Completely lined in the softest leather. I bought  them for a song. Marked down from $375.00 to $39.95 at an Internet store. I couldn't believe my good luck. I buy all my Softwalks there but I couldn't afford to let these go.

I had never seen a pair of loafers that expensive before. Probably never happen again.  This was the one time in my life I was thrilled to have short, narrow feet. These are 4 years old and never been worn. When I finish the Calvin sweater, I will put on the sweater, a pair of Hepburn slacks and these shoes. I don't know how to accessorize things.  Perhaps a silk scarf?

                                                                  

And to go along with Ann Klein, I have Calvin Klein's Baby Cables hanging around my neck like a heavy piece of chain link.

I am still knitting on the Calvin's. I shouldn't complain because I have 1 sleeve done and the other started. Here is the proof I actually have 1 sleeve done!

Yeah, I know it looks long because it is long.  I have very long arms for my height. A good blocking will shape this sweater up and the yarn should bloom.

 

All in all, I feel like finishing up the cables.  Then, who knows? 

Elk Herd,Vader,and a Cabled Sleeve

OR, how to fight the knitting blahs!

Another dental trip to Eugene will fix that. Knitting 2 more Chemo Caps will fix that...and of course, Vader, my best friend, will certainly fix the blahs of any kind.  Of course I saw an elk herd. They are beautiful in the early morning fog.  My little camera does a heck of a job for this sort of picture.

Here Vader is, suspiciously looking at his green frog, wearing a chemo cap (before washing) and wondering what I am trying to do.  This was made from Chinchilla scraps.  Martie loved the blue one I made. She sleeps in it. I had some left and thought she would like another sleeping hat.  I have some pink ordered.  But this will do in the meantime. This is the Janet Szabo Torque pattern.

                                        

This gold colored hat is some off brand Nordica.  It is heavier.  I adapted Janet's pattern.

10.5 mm needle 2 balls of yarn.

CO 8 stitches and knit 20" or size to fit. Join and PU 88 stitches evenly around the band.  Purl 2 3/4 inches and then start decreases.

Rnd 1: Purl 14, sl 2 stitches as if to knit, Purl 1, (Pass 2sl st over and repeat 3 more times.

Purl all even rounds. 

Rnd, 3: Purl 12, repeat as Rnd 1

Rnd, 5: Purl 10, repeat as Rnd 1

Continue decreases as set until you reach Purl 1, Double Center Decrease and then thread the remaining stitches on an darning needle and tighten. Follow Szabo (Big Sky Knitting) except use bigger needles, yarn and fewer stitches.

 

      

                                   Vader gets his 'kid' back and is giving it a bath!

Just to prove I have done some work on the sleeve of the crappy cable affair.  About 4 more inches and then a cuff and then...sleeve #2. 

Calvin Klein Baby Cables Update #3

Or Shoulders Accomplished!

I found myself in a dilemma.  I tried to join the shoulders with 3 needle bind off, blanket stitch and finally, a knitted saddle.  All methods looked like the dickens.  Finally, I got out the old Kitchener stitch which I hate to do and I am not very good at. These are before and after shots.

This is a picture of the saddle cable that I stitched between the front shoulder & back.  This picture is a bit light.  It really looked awful.  That was hours of work on both shoulders ~ and into the Frog Pond those cabled saddles went.

    

This shows the grafted side and the saddle side. It looks much better.  I had to reknit some of the body cables so they would match up on each shoulder.  The imbalance was caused by knitting without directions and mis judging the 'look' of seamlessness when joining the front and back together.

                                       

This is were I am currently.  I am in the process of PU stitches around the armholes for the sleeves, that I intend to knit top-down. own.                                               

       

                                       

I took a week to knit several hats for a friend that is undergoing Chemotherapy for breast cancer.  I just finished another hat.  Here is a picture of that.  It is pretty cute.  I took the other caps to her on Thursday.

Perched on my laptop. The 5th Chemo Cap.  I encourage all to take a few minutes and knit 1 cap with soft, leftover yarn and donate them to the nearest chemotherapy treatment center. This one is done with 2 strands of washable Rowan 4 ply soft with a dash of some unknown lavender eyelash yarn to soften the face.  It looks like a stove pipe here but on the head, it stretches to fit.                

                                           

The Treasure of Beaverslide!

Or, Finding Treasures While Shopping Your Stash!

Beaverslide Dry Goods, 1st generation Mule Spun worsted weight wool. It is the first of the heather-ed yarns produced.  This one was/is called Lazuli Heather.  There are 7 full hanks of 241 yards each and 1 partial ball. (I can't remember what I did with the 8th hank).

It is a gorgeous shade of dark turquoise/blue with purple, red pink and blue flecks in it.  Soft hand knitting because of the Rambouillet Merino and still has that wonderful aroma of cedar and lavender, just like it had when I bought it some 8 or 9 years ago. Beaverslide is famous of the lovely smell of their yarn. It has 90% wool and 10% mohair. It is worsted weight.  Look at those lovely flecks of yarn.  It is even more lovely in than any picture can show.

All these pictures were taken without a flash, inside my house.  I have a large picture window and fortunately, it is not raining today.                                      

I was busy planning the Inverness project and jetted over to

Sheeweknits to check out the yarn cost, (which for this yarn kit, is very, very reasonable).

I had planned on ordering the color shown in the Simply Shetland book. My promise to myself is always shop stash in 2008.

I thought I should give the stash a precursory glance in case I had some worsted weight.

I didn't think I had any worsted weight except some Noro and a half knit Donegal Tweed cardigan that I started 20 years ago. Dark, dark brown.  I didn't want to frog and recycle besides, I doubted I had 1600 yards.  I couldn't find it anywhere. However, I found an entire plastic tub of Beaverslide leftovers and 7 hanks of Lazuli Heather.  I was truly surprised and tickled pink.  IMHO the yarn was perfect for this wrap. Exactly the right weight and amount and a great color for me. I have 1687 yards + about 1/2 a ball.

 

The yarn appears more blue in these shots than it actually is. It is slightly more turquoise in real life.

Here is the pattern.  The book can be purchased at Anne's Sheeweknits.com

 

This is a lovely wrap.  Anne says that the back needs some lengthening and short rows. Short rows are my short suit.

This is the best representation of the actual color.

Stay tuned...

Baby Cables go astray

Or, gee whiz, this is a mess!

Here is what I have done so far, after weeks and weeks of knitting.  Didn't someone say I had to be nuts to do these cables in fine yarn, with tiny needles?  Guess what, they were right!

No, this isn't pale spaghetti! It is the double strand of yarn that got tangled up.  I spent 2 hours trying to wind it back up and I still have a pile of it that whoooo knows, I may just toss in the fireplace.  What a terrible mess.

               

And here I am,  on the arm decreases on the back section,  wishing I was starting my Oregon project or just anything but this.  Yikes!

 

A Trip to Eugene, Snow, Elk & Calvin Klein Baby Cables Update 2/3

It was an eventful week in North Bend/Coos Bay, weather-wise. The trip to Eugene on Wednesday was only eventful in that there was snow all the way up to Eugene on the roadsides and in the hills. Some ice early but none when I reached Eugene.  Snow is quite unusual for the Pacific coast. The hills were lovely because the snow hid some of the strip logging that has taken place.  Hail and rain were horrendous.

This is what it looked like when I left in the early AM.  By mid morning, it was rain, some sleet and very cold. The trip to Eugene was slow.

After spending an hour or so with my favorite maxillofacialary DDS/MD, I went Home Depot to get some bochures on kitchen cabinets. It was suggested that I look on line.  Not much stock in that store anymore. I bought a nice sized plastic tub for $2.99, (should have gotten 3 of them for my stash yarn).

I was so ticked off by the 'do it yourself' checkout that didn't work, the snotty clerk and the 1/2 hour it took to get 1 tub checked out, I left. The trouble was the $2.99 sale wasn't put into the computer and it read $5.99. It took awhile to get it squared away.

What is it with no clerks in stores and these 'do it yourself' check outs?  Sure is new for me and quite unpleasant. Of course if the 1 person on duty in the gigantic Home Depot was polite or personable & perhaps competent, it would have helped. You have to pay with a cards.  No checks allowed. God forbid you offer cash.  That takes a real person to actually 'wait' on you.  A machine doesn't offer much in the way of customer service.  Anyway, it sucks but you don't have to pay health insurance for a machine.  The place used to be full of clerks.  Now, you don't see a soul but this black widow type woman, sitting stone faced in a chair with a portable scanner in hand.

And Home Depot wonders why their business is way down.  It might help if there were real live people to help a person.

Vader was in the back of the SUV and I knew he was tired and needed to get out, before we headed home so I  made a beeline to the park closest to Country Club Road.  I can back up to a little hillock there, and Vader can step in and out of the truck without injuring his hips further.

I didn't have any problem with the weather. On the way home, a little past Elkton, a young bull elk was grazing next to the road. I stopped and took a few pictures.  I hollered, whistled and coaxed to no avail. The best he would do is look up once, and away from me! It was pouring down rain so I didn't hang around.  I took the pictures through the window of the car. 

We have a large herd of protected elk scattered over about 60 acres right next to the Highway. This young bachelor was unwelcome by the older bulls.He was too young to have any status in the herd. All the other elk were grazing up the road. It was a little odd because the bachelors usually group together.

 

 

While I waited for the dentist, I managed to get some knitting done. The Calvin Klein baby cable pullover is pretty but boring.  I want to start my Oregon cardigan. Two more inches and I split the 2 halves and knit them individually. This is going to be larger than I planned.  It said 'oversized' and I didn't pay attention. Dahhh... I should have knitted the smaller size.

I neglected to mention that the angora yarn came from Lydias eBay store. Depending on what you buy, it is from 50 to 70% angora, lambswool and a bit of nylon.  No cashmere as I originally thought.

   

This is a tired and disgusted Vader!                                         

The Best of Interweave Knits, 1st 10 Years

Or, a wonderful little book with a lot of classic designs

This little book was purchased through Knit Picks at for $14.00.  It was $3.95 for shipping.  I know most of us have these designs in our different IK magazines but this book has a lot of technique details in it, all beautifully put together and at your fingertips.

In case you haven't seen inside the book, here are are few of the designs. I will begin with Icarus by Miriam Felton.  Icarus appears as the cover design and it is truly beautiful.  A rather dark picture of the back of Icarus.  Miriam is one of our KBTH talented designers.

                                                          

   

                                                                     

The 3 Penny Pullover by Veronik Avery. This is one of my favorite designs.  It is a marvel of texture and style.  Here is a nice side view.  

This is Barbara Venishnick's Burma Rings.  Along with the design, are an excellent mini course on short rows.  Short rows are a Nemesis for me, but very useful if one can master the technique.          

Cabaret Raglan Pullover by Norah Gaughan

And then there was the wonderful textured by pullover by Kathy Zimmerman called Marseilles.  How could anyone resist the wonderful texture of this one!  Here is a swatch.

                                                             

I love this design and have decided I have to put it in my queue.  I just happen to have some Zara that might be perfect for this one.

Stripes All Around & Union Square by Kate Gilbert

                                                                  

       

Millennium Argyle Back and front.

   

                                                    

Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd

                                              

Water Garden Fair Isle ~ Ron Schweitzer

Basketweave Pullover, Melissa Leapman

            

                 

     Lotus Blossom                                             

And of course, Faina Letoutchaia's 

Famous Forest Path Stole. Faina is another of the talented KBTH Group.

The Confection of Perfection that I don't have the skill to knit. I love lace but my fingers refuse to cooperate except on the simplest of patterns.  Forest Path is my ideal of a fantastically original pattern that I would love to be able to knit.

                                          

Of course, there are many other designs in this little book ~ the technique pages are terrific.  The little book is so worth the expense.  This has been a little pictorial eye candy for your consideration.

The 5 Minute Blanket & Calvin Baby Cable Update #1

Or, I must be daffy!

To knit this design on 1 and 2 mm needles with doubled lace yarn, at the very least, one has to have a lot of patience or be daffy.

I have baby cables! I won't tell how long it took to knit these cables over 500 stitches, but at this rate, this simple sweater will take me a couple of months of steady knitting.

This is pretty, but very slow going. I really will be daffy when I am all done with this one.   

Yesterday, I went to the Mall to find a Hallmark card. I took a sharp left into Joanne's fabric store on the way.  I wove my way past the Irish doodads for St Patrick's Day, and toward the Yarn Dept. I wanted to see if they had the tape used for knitting ruffles. They didn't have any.  I did take a seriously look at an electric machine that made I-Cord. Very interesting. I decided that since 90% of the I cord I do is applied I-Cord, I didn't need it.

Finding nothing I wanted to buy, I was nearly out the door when I saw an entire section of bright colors that said 50% off.   

I found about 200, odd looking rolls of fleece with assorted wild life, cars, trains, in various bilious designs and colors. The bundled rolls were "NO SEW" blankets. I don't sew so I was interested. I picked out the most subdued roll of fleece. The label said the bundle contained 2 pieces of 72 x 60 inch fleece, 1 with a design, the other piece was plain. $14.00 on sale. 

The bitter cold we have been having in the little Bay Area has been chilling my bones. The price of blankets is high and I don't quilt, so I decided to give this a try. Here are the pictures  and the lowdown of how it's done. I suppose I am the only person that doesn't know about these huge, fleecy wonders.                        

You lay the 2 pieces of fleece together. The pattern shows here, the inside is plain color. I think this is very Victorian looking. 

Next step is to cut 7" (more or less) squares from each corner and then 1" wide strips on all the way around the rectangle. Last step is to tie knots in the strips. The entire process took about 5 minutes, (actual time, 1 1/2 hours).

This looks like an old fashioned curtain pattern.

Inside, it is a solid rose.  What fun I had doing cutting and tying this together. It is raining here today, and not as cold as it has been.  That is wonderful but, should the weather change back to chilled Margarita time, I will be ready.  Besides, this was a lot of fun.

The Graduate

Bragging Rights!

My Granddaughter is graduating from High School this June.  Here are 3 of her senior pictures. I would hate to choose a favorite. Thanks Terri, it appears that our beautiful baby girl has grown into a smart, talented and lovely young woman.  I am so proud of all my girls, including my oldest girl, YOU. 

Terri sent me a family picture of all 3 girls and so I will add this.  Pictured, Rochelle, Bethany and Chloe. Thanks Dear. What beautiful grandchildren I have.