Off With Her Head!

Like many of the victims of Henry VIII, I seem to have misplaced my head. I'm having so much fun with the Mary Tudor cardigan, I can't put it down.

Mary Tudor was the sister of Henry VIII and did not lose her head but led an adventurous life and apparently died of natural causes.

The pattern is by Alice Starmore, considered by some to be the Queen of Fair Isle knitting. It's one of a number of beautiful knitting patterns found in her book Tudor Roses, which has been recently published in a new edition with all new photos and versions of the patterns. The Mary Tudor is a favorite. That checkerboard pattern that goes down the front is the steek, where I will cut it open when I get done knitting the body. First, I'll sew two rows of machine stitching down the center of the steek. I'll cut between the rows of stitching. It sounds pretty scary, but it works, and it allows you to knit with the right side facing you all the time.

We arrived back from our camping trip late Thursday, and Friday was spent doing laundry and putting stuff away. On Saturday it started to rain and snow, so no hiking over the weekend. This is what we woke up to Sunday morning.

It's still a winter wonderland here. I'm wistfully remembering the warm desert. It was nice to get away from the cold for a while.

I haven't posted any cuteness lately, so here's a photo of Miss Daphne in the car on the way to Texas for her paternal great-grandmother's 100th birthday party. 

DD says the iPad was a godsend on the trip. It kept her occupied and content during the long hours of travel. I'm so happy that my old Original iPad is having a new life of usefulness.

What's on my needles: Mary Tudor Cardigan, two pattern repeats done, 83 rounds done, 32 to go before the armhole.

What's on my Featherweight: Still waiting for Delectable Pathways to be ready to put together, although I’m itching to start one of the new quilts I have planned. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to Georgette Heyer's Sprig Muslin, a very funny and adventurous story, which put me in mind of Shakespeare's comedies. Now listening to A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick and reading Vivienne Fagan's Hilda Hopkins, Murder, She Knit on the Kindle app from Book Bub. Still watching "Stranded Colorwork, Basics and Beyond" from Craftsy.

What's my app of the week: FirePlace. I may have mentioned this app before, but it continues to be useful in helping me feel warm when DH is too lazy to light a fire and I'm in the middle of something. It's very realistic, and creates a nice ambience, even if it doesn't give off much warmth.

What's in my wine glass: Nathanson Creek Merlot, the big bottle. We also took this on our trip and found it to be very nice. The jumping frog on the label is a nice touch for knitters, too.

What's my tip of the week: When cutting vegetables that roll, like carrots, radishes zucchinis and cucumbers, if you slice them once lengthwise, they will lie flat for you while you slice crosswise. Of course, this gives you little semicircles, but in my opinion, those are just as pretty as circles, and it's much easier to control the slicing.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.