Cutting Up

Two months into my Mary Tudor cardigan I thought I had the sleeves done, when I discovered a major oopsie while taking this photo:

Do you see it? (Sleeve cap on the left sleeve, to your right in the photo.)

The chart symbols for two of the colors are two different sizes of circles, not very obvious with the sun in your eyes. I was happily knitting on the front deck, paying attention to the decreases for the sleeve cap (and my exciting audiobook), and didn't notice my mistake, not even when I blocked the sleeves. Since I was already working on the collar when I discovered the mistake, I finished that before ripping out the top of the left sleeve. Here's how the collar looks,

The collar, cuffs bottom border and front bands are all garter stitch colorwork, something I've never done before. It was a bit of a challenge, because when you work back and forth, like the collar and front bands, it's easy enough to knit across the front, but then on the back side, you have to switch the yarns every time you change colors, bringing the old color to the front and the new color to the back. For knitting in the round, like the cuffs and bottom band, you have to purl every other round, exchanging the two yarns every time you work with the other color. I got used to doing this in the round and had some difficulty switching to knitting every row, back and forth. Moving the yarn to the front always seems to trigger the purl impulse. I finally got the hang of it. Here's what it looks like. The wrong side is shown on the right in the photo, and the right side, folded over, on the left. 

Now that I'm done with the collar, I'm reknitting the sleeve cap. Fortunately, I didn't have to take out much. I got ready to reknit the incorrect part of the sleeve cap by picking up the sts on the last correct round. (I'm using two circular needles.)

I have plenty of yarn, so I decided to cut off the incorrect part of the sleeve cap right above the picked-up sts.

I could have just frogged it (rip-it, rip-it, for nonknitters), but I had already blocked the sleeves, which caused the sts to cling to each other, making it slower going, and, as I said, saving this little bit of yarn wasn't important. The red squirrels (Chickarees) are building nests for their babies now, so I'll just let them have it. I've been knitting on the sleeve cap and only have about 2.5" to go to BO. If I need to shorten the sleeves, I'll do it pretty much the same way, except that I'll have to remove the yarn below the length I want. Instead of cutting it off, I'll just snip one strand of each color in the top round I want to remove after picking up the sts in the last correct round. (I'll post photos when I get to that.) You can't frog from where you started knitting up, only from where you stopped knitting down.

In quilting news, Vintage Stitchers met this week at Rebecca's. Rebecca has finished her appliqué table runner. 

Barbara is working on this great peacock appliqué:

She also just finished this great Christmas quilt top:

Carol has finished this great charm quilt:

The back is almost as interesting as the front:

(That stripe is three strips of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.)

Zachary and his family have been watching the World Cup games. I get to post lots of photos of Miss Daphne, but it's hard to get photos of Master Zachary because he's a man with moves. This was a good one, though. Maybe both kiddos will play soccer when they get a little older.

What's on my needles: Mary Tudor cardigan, collar done and reknitting the second sleeve cap.

What's on my Featherweight: Back to Delectable Pathways, still working on the hand appliqué for the last panel.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished James Patterson's 3rd Degree and now reading his 2nd Chance, out of order, but that's how they became available from the library through the Overdrive app. Looking forward to Dean Koontz's The City, which comes out tomorrow. Still reading Pursuit and Persuasion by Sally Wright from Book Bub on the Kindle app.

What's my app of the week: Reminders. I tell Siri to remind me to take the yarn out of the freezer after four days. She never sleeps!

What's in my wine glass: Green Fin 2012 California Red

What's my tip of the week:  If you don't have a phone that takes photos, take your camera with you everywhere. You never know when you're going to see something you want to remember! With digital photography, you don't have to worry about wasting film. I even take a photo of the shopping list before I got grocery shopping with DH. That way, we each have the same list. He pushes the cart (he likes to drive), and I go around with a hand basket. We can call each other if we get separated. If I want to have a record of a book, a pattern or a yarn, I can get a photo and look it up later. Also great for candid shots of the pups or local wildlife.

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.

End of Winter? Beginning of Summer?

Just a few days before the first day of summer, we got a huge snowstorm.

This is the snow coming off the roof. Where we live, it's common to get snow in June, but it doesn't usually accumulate.

The storm hit on Tuesday, catching us by surprise (rain was predicted) as we were inside the hospital getting DH's thumb fixed. The surgery went well, but we came out to cold rain, and we weren't dressed for it. It turned to snow as we drove up to our home, which is a higher elevation than the hospital. I had to drive DH to Salt Lake City that afternoon to pick up some things he needed for the voter registration booth at the Farmers' Market, as he wasn't allowed to drive for the rest of the day. It snowed all the way down to the city and most of the way back. The above photo was taken Wednesday morning. It had melted by Thursday, though. We're hoping that's the last snow until fall. I'm really glad I got out with the pups on Monday.

On Thursday Common Threads met at Margareth's. She showed us the table runner she was weaving on this loom, which she can take outside to the deck when the weather is nice.

Margareth is also making rag place mats on her big floor loom. She's using 1/2" strips cut with a rotary cutter and a sett of 8 warp threads per inch. For a floor rug, she says to cut the strips 3/4", but you can use the same sett. I'm dying to try this. I made chair mats with denim, but I have lots of quilting fabric, and I think this would be fun to do.

Margareth was also working on this sweater vest:

The pattern is Aran Accent Vest from Patons 500846 Cables.

Thursday evening, I went to Davidene's, our local quilt shop, for the organizational meeting of the Park City Quilt Guild. We decided to keep the group dues- and bylaws-free for now. For the July meeting, we will all bring our tips and tricks for various aspects of quilting, such as cutting and sewing accurately.

Several people brought some show-and-tell projects. One was this ducky quilt:

Another was this embroidered Winter Wonderland quilt:

We saw this leftovers quilt, the third quilt this quilter made from these fabrics, just to use up what she had left.

Then we had this bunny quilt:

Here's the back of the bunny quilt:

And then this 1600 quilt:

Finally, Davidene and her sister showed us this quilt to commemorate the 249th Engineer Battalion and all the places it's members served starting in 1943. 

It was great meeting in a quilt shop. There was plenty of space, Davidene allowed us to use it for free, and there was plenty of parking.

I've mostly been working on my Mary Tudor cardigan. The second sleeve is just past the decreases for the sleeve cap now, but I wanted to take he photo before it got too dark outside, so here it is as of Sunday afternoon.

The pups and I took another hike in Toll Canyon Sunday, but we couldn't make it all the way to the Fairy Tree. The snowstorm had brought down some trees.

We made it over or around this one and another, but when we came across three down in a row covering the trail and almost before our goal, I decided to turn around. It had been a long enough hike. It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing and the squirrels were out in force. It was amazing to see how well the wildflowers had come back after the snow.

In the meantime, Soren is having fun at daycare playing in the water with the other kiddos. He's lucky to have a great daycare right where Mom works.

What's on my needles: Mary Tudor cardigan, second sleeve just starting the cap.

What's on my Featherweight: Delectable Pathways, still working on the hand appliqué for the last panel, but I will be making a block for Habitat for Humanity, a house block of my choice.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished D. E. Stevenson's Listening Valley. Now listening to Marie Bostwick's A Thread of Truth. Still reading Pursuit and Persuasion by Sally Wright from Book Bub on the Kindle app.

What's my app of the week: Facebook. Sometimes it's the only way I know what some members of my family are doing. 

What's in my wine glass: Simply Naked Unoaked Merlot, 2011. Very nice!

What's my tip of the week:  If you find you have moths in your yarn stash or knitted items, you don't have to resort to poisonous mothballs if you have a freezer. Put the items in plastic bags, squeezing as much air out as possible and store in the freezer for four days or longer. Don't open the bags until you've treated all your woolens. Vacuuming in all the crevices of your home will help, too.

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.

Fiber Obsessed

The Mary Tudor is coming along.

The first sleeve is finished. I think the sleeve might be too long, but I can't tell until I block it and sew it in. Even though I started at the cuff, it's easy to lengthen or shorten a sleeve. I'll take out one round about where I want to start the cuff by cutting the yarn in on place and pulling it out as I put the sts on needles. Then just work the cuff from that point down. I have a few inches of the second sleeve done.

BS2's baby quilt horse appliqué has an embroidered eye. The quilt has gone off to the quilter. I'll post photos when it comes back.

I showed it off at Vintage Stitchers on Thursday. Some of the fabrics came from some distributer samples Barbara handed out. I used one fabric line as a focus for choosing the other fabrics. All the other fabrics except the background came from my stash. The background (and backing) came from Davidene's Quilt Shop, our wonderful little local quilt shop. The blocks were from "Twin Stars" from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.

We met at Barbara's in Salt Lake City. It's great visiting Barbara any time, but in the summer her yard is especially lovely.

Carol was putting the binding on this neat quilt she recently finished:

Barbara had given her the main fabric for the backing. Now she's sorry she parted with it.

Barbara showed us this great quilt top with curved piecing, Kaffe Fassett fabrics and a great light-grey textured fabric background.

Marilyn had this neat finger light:

We all wanted at least one, so we put together an order.

Joanie and I went out to lunch after the meeting, before heading back to Park City.

Friday, DH, the pups and I took advantage of the lovely, cool weather to hike with the pups on the trails above our neighborhood.

Saturday was World Wide Knit in Public Day, so, of course, I planned to knit in public. It was cold and windy, though, so I had to knit in front of the pups instead.

Our community had it's annual Dumpster Days over the weekend, and we were scheduled to work on Sunday, another perfect opportunity to knit in public, which I did.

On a sad note, we lost another family member this week. Soren's great-uncle (our DDIL2's uncle) passed away from complications following surgery. It was sad and unexpected. He was young, by my standards. It's a reminder to cherish each day given us. 

What's on my needles: Mary Tudor cardigan, second sleeve started.

What's on my Featherweight: Back to Delectable Pathways, still working on the hand appliqué for the last panel.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Rose Harbor in Bloom by Debbie Macomber on the Overdrive app. Now I'm listening to Georgette Heyer's The Masqueraders from Audible (a hilarious story reminiscent of Shakespeare's "12th Night,") and reading Pursuit and Persuasion, a mystery by Sally Wright from Book Bub on the Kindle app.

What's my app of the week: I have to give a shoutout to Siri. (She's an app, right?) I can ask her to call friends, find places and remind me of things, such as sending Carol my Pumpkin Polenta recipe.

What's in my wine glass: Fisheye Shiraz 2013, another big bottle.

What's my tip of the week:  If you change the gauge on a sweater pattern to make the sweater larger or smaller, remember that the rows/rounds per inch will also change. 

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.

Hitting the Road

Soren's I-spy quilt arrived, and he is clearly enjoying it!

The top for the quilt for his baby brother (due in August) is almost done. Only the embroidered eye on the horse to do, and then off to the quilter.

The pattern is based on "Twin Stars" from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.

One of the little tricks I've learned for making flying geese blocks is to match up the corners of the square I've sewn onto the rectangle. Then I press it in place.

I can then cut the extra fabric off the back, and my flying geese block will be an exact rectangle.

There has been progress on the first sleeve for the Mary Tudor. I'm now working on the cap of the sleeve. I elected to make it with a steek, rather than knit back and forth.

Common Threads met at Kay's on Thursday. Karan was working on this shawlette:

Janet finished this lovely quilt, with Minky on the back. Here's Kay playing Vanna White with Janet's quilt.

We hiked on Saturday to wear the pups out, so they wouldn't mind staying at home on Sunday, while we marched in the Pride Parade in Salt Lake City. 

Some of us skipped church to participate in the Parade. (Next time, I'm going to try to stand next to a shorter person!)

We had a great time. It was amazing how many people showed up to watch the parade.

In other news, our reward for putting up with months of snow is an abundance of beautiful wildflowers in our yard and along the hiking trails. This choke cherry has the most delicious aroma!

What's on my needles: Mary Tudor cardigan, almost done with first sleeve.

What's on my Featherweight: Back to Delectable Pathways, still waiting to finish hand appliqué.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Kiss before Dying. Now I'm listening to Rose Harbor in Bloom by Debbie Macomber on the Overdrive app and reading Pursuit and Persuasion by Sally Wright from Book Bub on the Kindle app.

What's my app of the week: Vtok for Google Voice. I call from my Google Voice number if I know I'm going to be on the phone for a long time. It's free, you just need an internet connection for it to work.

What's in my wine glass: A Greek wine, Agiorgitiko Nemea 2010. Great with Greek food, which we love, but good with other cuisines, too.

What's my tip of the week:  Brush your dog's teeth, the outside edges. It saves them exposure to anesthesia, not to mention saving you the expense. 

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.

Spring at Last

Last week found me quilting again.

All the cutting is done and I've finished 11 of the 24 pieced blocks for BS2's baby quilt. It will have one appliqué block depicting a little horse, to represent the baby' shorthand year, "Year of the Horse." The blocks are from the quilt "Twin Stars" from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I'm not using a jelly roll, though. All the fabrics except the background came from my rather sizable stash. The background fabric came from Davidene's Quilt Shop in Park City, Utah.

The first sleeve of the Mary Tudor cardigan is moving along. All the Increases are finished and just one more pattern repeat to go before the cap shaping. (I'm using Palette fingering weight yarn.)

We had a fifth Thursday, so there was no Vintage Stitchers or Common Threads. Joanie decided to host a special "Fifth Thursday" group for a few knitting friends. Here Kay is showing us the scarves she has been working on.

We had an interesting week other than my fiber fun. Monday we had a visit from of young (maybe two years old) bull moose.

He pruned our wild roses for us. No charge! (Note: Moose are large, dangerous animals. They can kick and stomp, causing injury or death. Do not approach a moose unless there is a barrier between you and the moose, as was the case in this photo.)

We also hiked Toll Canyon, which is close to our home. It has nice hiking trails and a year-round stream that provides water for the pups.

We hiked to the "Living Room" on Friday. This trail provides a great view of Salt Lake City. It got its name because flat rocks have been arranged like couches and chairs overlooking the view. Someone even made a "remote" out of another flat rock, only small, with the buttons marked with felt marker. Sunset is a good time to come here. It's a serious uphill climb, although there's no rock scrambling involved.

There were some beautiful wild flowers along the trail, like this penstemon:

and this wild rose:

What's on my needles: Mary Tudor cardigan, working on the sleeves.

What's on my Featherweight: BS2's baby quilt, 11 blocks done. Also Delectable Pathways, still waiting to finish hand appliqué.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotsen from Audible. I'm so glad I discovered this author. Now I'm listening to A Kiss before Dying (not dyeing, which sounds like more fun) the first novel written by Ira Levin, who wrote Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives (also the play "Death Trap," which we saw recently at Pioneer Theater). I got this audiobook from Audible as one of its Daily Deal offerings, which has introduced me to some new authors. I've finished reading Debbie Macomber's Friends and Then Some in iBooks from Book Bub and am deciding on a new book to read.

What's my app of the week: iRadio. This feature (similar to Pandora) is great when I'm working on a project that requires more concentration, making an audiobook impractical.

What's in my wine glass: Fisheye Shiraz 2013. The big bottle, as always, nice value.

What's my tip of the week:  I learned this from someone on the Knitting Community and plan to use it on my next colorwork project. If you turn your project inside-out, you can knit on the right side and keep the stranding on the outside. This keeps the floats from pulling in and making the knitting puckered.

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.