We had a great time in San Diego, where we had gone for a party for everyone turning 70 in DH's high-school class. (Point Loma, '59.) Everyone looked pretty good for their ages, especially DH! A band that has been together since high school performed.
DH won one of their CDs for having the birthday closest to the party.
On the way home from San Diego, we stopped for a quick visit with DGD1, and to give her the quilt I made for her new college apartment.
The quilt was a big hit! DH really knows how to display a quilt. (A big thank-you to my friend Julie of Mountaintop Quilting for the beautiful quilting job!)
After I finished the socks, I got back to the Bees' Knees cardigan. I finished the knitting on the sleeves and steeked them, then blocked the body and sleeves. (Steeking is cutting the knitting according to plan, not accidentally!)
The design involves working the two sleeves in the round together, and then cutting them apart. This way you're always on the front of your work, which is more fun and easier. Besides, the sleeves have stripes, which will make a jog if you knit them in the round individually. Doing them this way allows you to match the stripes when you sew up the underarm sleeves. (Unfortunately, you have to do some sewing with this method.) While the pieces were drying, I pulled out an old UFO (UnFinished Object), my Yei Figures Bag.
The bag was designed by Nicky Epstein. The yarn is Jamieson's DK. You probably can't tell, but the background is "Dark Navy." There are two reasons this project has been languishing since 2008.
The first problem is doing duplicate stitch on very dark yarn. (Duplicate stitch is where you embroider over the stitches with a different color, forming new stitches on top of the old ones, so it looks more or less knitted-in.) I keep making mistakes because of the difficulty seeing the stitches and being able to count them. I have solved this problem somewhat by working in the bright sunlight with clip-on magnifiers on top of my bifocals. I can also use an Ott Lite if the direct sunlight isn't available as long as I also have some light from outdoors.
The second problem is I didn't get enough yarn. I've had to go back repeatedly for more yarn and finally had to substitute a similar needlepoint yarn for some of the duplicate stitch. If I had this to do over, I would have knitted in the pattern (intarsia). It would have been so much easier! I will finish it, though. (Stay tuned.) The bag will be felted when it's done.
Saturday DH and I took the pups to Toll Canyon for a hike. The leaves are turning, and it was beautiful!
We made it to the "Fairy Tree" which is our usual turnaround point.
People leave things at this shrine to the fairies. It's always fun to see what's new! Why are the pups so attentive? One word: carrots!
Check with me next week to see how much I have finished on The Bees Knees cardigan.
What's on my needles: Bees's Knees, coming down the home stretch, and the Yei Figures Bag.
What's on my wheel: My wheel is currently empty. I need to card some Shetland wool with some nylon for socks for Christmas presents first.
What's on my iPad: Listening to D. E. Stevenson's Miss Buncle Married from Audible. (I love this author. She wrote novels about characters living in England during the '30s and '40s. You feel as if you were living there/then, too!) Also listening to Beethoven's "Fidelio," and looking forward to seeing the opera performed in person soon at The Capitol Theater in SLC.
What's my app of the week: Geo Walk, a geography/history/science app from the makers of Star Walk.
What's in my wine glass: Dr. Jebediah Drinkwell's Meritage 2010.
Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.
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