All the News from Lake Plaasbegone

It's Friday night here in Lake Plaasbegone and it's been raining cats and dogs (thankfully not nieces and nephews) all day. My recently overseeded and fertilized lawn is growing greener and taller by the hour. Add rain to tall grass and you get a dachshund who doesn't want to go out to do what doggies do outside. There are no more stubborn canines on the planet than dachsies. I've seen them more stubborn than my sweetheart, Miss Emme, but she holds true to the breed's reputation just fine thank you very much.


Much has transpired since my last post. The highlight, without question, was a visit from my nephew's wife, Mary Catherine, and her daughter, Isabella. When Tyler and Mary Catherine eloped, I was a bit concerned that Tyler had rushed into marriage before he was ready. Well, I don't know much about that, but I do know that he's the luckiest sailor alive because his wife is a gem. With each opportunity I have to spend time with her, I am more and more impressed with what a wonderful woman she is. Little Isabella has the best mommy! MC and Isabella came to visit just after Easter. MC arrived bringing a delicious lunch with homemade chicken salad and lemon bars, all beautifully packed into a picnic basket. Wow! And everything tasted as good as it looked! My parents were simply delighted by the whole experience.

I. being the great-aunt with the camera, took lots of pictures of Isabella. Mom and I brought out two of the Beatrix Potter stuffed animals from the family collection for photo ops with Isabella. We took pictures with the same Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck when Tyler was a toddler. The 3 ft. tall Peter Rabbit is a treasured part of my Beatrix Potter collection, but the Jemima is destined to go to Isabella as she just belongs with Tyler's family. Beautiful Bella was quite taken with Jemima and her shawl and bonnet, so it's a perfect match.


On the knitting front, the Orkney Pi continues to grow. This photo shows the shawl with three sections completed. Section four is progressing at a slower pace given the fact that each round contains 1280 sts. and takes about an hour to knit. Depending on which option I choose, this section will have ~130-160 rounds in it...that's a lot of knitting time!!!! I've got the monster on a 60" circular needle and am plugging away on it. It's hard to get photos at this point, so there probably won't be any until the shawl is completed.

The Orkney is having share time with another shawl. Call it "and I have promises to keep". Sometime after Christmas I was feeling generous (or maybe foolish?) and volunteered to help lead a summer lace shawl KAL at my LYS, the Yarn Haven. The target audience is knitters with some lace knitting experience, or at least comfort in working basic lace stitches...not complete newbies. I thought about the shawls I've made and patterns that would be easily accessible to Sandy, the shop owner. I also took into consideration the flexibility of the pattern in accommodating various yarn sizes and differing options for the finished size of the shawl. The more versatile the design, the better I thought. And so I chose the Flower Basket Shawl (FBS) by Evelyn Clark.

I knit the FBS as my 2nd ever lace shawl...right after the red Kiri shawl. I don't remember it being a difficult pattern and it's very pretty. I pitched my idea to Sandy a couple of weeks ago and she thought it sounded wonderful. I dropped in to the store earlier this week and picked up some blue Misti Alpaca Lace yarn to knit a sample for the shop. Sandy just got the yarn in stock and I've been looking forward to trying out this very popular lace yarn. The yarn is fabulous. Enough said there. I pulled out my FBS pattern and cast-on Tuesday night. By Thursday morning I had a couple of repeats of the Lower Flower Basket chart completed...and was tinking back to fix mistakes. The pattern suggested US5 needles, so I grabbed a US4 Addi-Lace needle. I don't like how open my lace looks, and I found it rather challenging to read my knitting. In fact, the knitting seemed more challenging than I remembered too.

I started to freak out. Should I frog and start over with a size 3 needle? Uh, I'll have to knit forever if I do that, and I need to get this sample done fast! So I'm forcing myself to live with the very lacy FBS. I'm not keeping it, I rationalized, and everyone else will think it looks awesome. OK, fine. But what about the pattern???? What if everyone really is a newbie and they all get confused and frustrated the 1st week...and it all becomes more than I can handled myself. Yikes???? What have I done???? Needless to say I didn't sleep very well last night with all these crazy thoughts swirling around in my head. I'm a little less freaky tonight, but I still have doubts. Sandy does have beginning lace classes going on right now so I just need to chill out and trust that things will be OK. And I think I'll have Sandy get an alternate pattern in stock for those who want to play along, but really aren't ready for the FBS. Evelyn Clark's Leaf Lace Shawl will be the perfect alternative. Now I just need to stop freaking and knit. Why oh why do I have to be so detail oriented? Most folks wouldn't even have the idea that they needed to freak out over the "what if" possibilities. I can't stop thinking about every little detail that could go wrong.

And one last parting note.... My Tennessee Vols and Lady Vols basketball teams. The guys played their hearts out...and did quite well. But they showed the same weaknesses in the SEC and NCAA tournaments...and it cost them both times. Combine that with the toughest bracketing and it's hard to feel bad that they lost to a hugely talented (translation=NBA quality) Louisville team in the sweet 16. A better bracket would have had them playing in the elite 8 before losing, but brackets are what they are. The Lady Vols survived a terrifying night at the elite 8 when Candace Parker dislocated her left shoulder twice in the 1st half of the game and couldn't play for much of the game. Yeeeouchhh! The national semifinal game is Sunday night and Candace says she's ready to play. Great! The flip side? They're playing the same fierce LSU team that beat the Lady Vols in the SEC championship. It's gonna take a miracle for Candace and the LV to get to the championship game, let alone repeat as national champions. What a tough break!

Orkney Update

"And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." Matthew 28:5-6

Although the wind was icy cold, Easter arrived this morning bringing bright sunshine and cheery spring blossoms. While I didn't see my wild rabbits this morning, I was greeted by the singing of the cardinals and the carolina chickadees and the rat-a-tat-tat of the red-bellied and downy woodpeckers. The sweetest pair of white-throated sparrows danced among the orange pansies and King Alfred daffodils outside my window. A big fat robin dominated the lawn as if was his job to announce the arrival of Easter. It was a feast for the eyes and a delight to my heart.

I took my camera out into the yard and snapped these photos on Friday. The pink flowers come courtesy of a wild black cherry tree that spontaneously popped up in my yard several years ago. Apparently there once was a mature cherry tree in my neighbor 's yard, but he had removed it because of an insect infestation. After listening to mother's graphic descriptions of the ugly mess, I figured I should cut mine down while it was still a sapling and easily removed. But I didn't. Instead I pruned the lower branches and tried to encourage an esthetically pleasing shape from the askew split trunk. The following year I found the first pink blossom on the tree and vowed to let the tree remain and grow. Any tree that makes pretty pink flowers in the spring can't be all that bad :-)

The white mass of flowers in the second photo are the Bradford Pear trees in the front yard. The pear trees are 6 or 7 years old now, and they are mothers most favorite plant in the entire yard. Looking up at the crystal blue sky through the branches filled with snowy white flowers is almost more fun than an grown-up should have playing in the yard ;-)


I started out strong working on my Orkney Pi at the beginning of the week, but things slowed down considerably as the week progressed. Sometimes you just need a break from working on a huge project. So I wasn't caught up when the next clue came out on Friday. I finished the 3rd clue today. I'm quite glad to be done with knitting swirling diamonds. I put in a couple of extra circular needles knitting the last purl round so I could stretch the shawl out some and take a few pictures. The shawl measured about 40" in diameter unstretched...but that's a very rough measurement. This baby is going to be huge!


In looking at the 4th clue, it looks like we're going back to the trees and cat's paw lace. Liz provided lots of options for sizing the shawl, giving 3 or 4 options for when to quit depending on what each knitter wants to do. Of course I had planned to knit the full version, but it's nice to know I can safely chicken out if things get too tedious. A smaller shawl is better than a UFO hanging out in a basket somewhere gathering dust.

I'm headed back to my needles to knit the doubling round-1280 stitches...yikes!!! The Lady Vols are just starting their 1st round NCAA tournament game, so it's a good time to knit. The men managed to escape with wins in their 1st 2 games...but it was way too close for comfort in the 1st game against American University and it got downright scary in the 2nd game against Butler. After leading the entire game, the Vols allowed Butler to tie it up and send the game into overtime before Bruce adn the guys pulled out the Victory. Whew!

And so it goes

It's Monday morning, St. Patrick's Day, so I suppose I should say "Top 'o the Morning to You!" But then that would be a terribly Irish thing for a little Dutch/Deutsch girl to do, now wouldn't it? My mother always wore *orange* on St. Patty's Day to make sure folks knew she was Dutch. I thought it was a bit strange then, but I think it's cool now. but enough of that....

The wild, weird weekend is over. Tennessee basketball fans are not happy. they did not get to see their team play in the SEC tourney because of the change of venue required by the tornado that hit downtown Atlanta. Then the team lost in the closing seconds of the semis to Arkansas, which was stunning. Even more stunning was the fact that the worst team in the conference this year, Georgia, won the SEC tournament by overcoming outrageous odds. You have to be happy for them, because it was such an amazing feat! The the NCAA announced the brackets for the "Big Dance" last night and we got a no. 2 seed (not happy, but not surprised) in the East bracket...which has the strongest teams including No. 1 North Carolina. That's like ranking TN 8th, or the lowest among the No. 2 seeds. That a really rotten deal. Placing the Vols in the East sends them first to Birmingham where they should win their 1st two games, then on to Charlotte. Upsets notwithstanding, the Vols will have to get past a tough Louisville team to arrive at the elite 8 with the golden opportunity to play North Carolina...in North Carolina. Good luck guys...you're gonna need it :-) It was pretty interesting watching Bruce Pearl & the guys maintain their composure at the post-announcement press interviews after getting such a raw deal. So much for having the highest RPI and playing the toughest non-conference schedule in the nation...and winning almost all of the games. It didn't pay off as much as it was supposed to.

So enough about the Vols, let's talk knitting :-) Being sick with a nasty virus and lots of basketball tournament games to watch make for productive knitting time. I just finished off the 1st 100g ball of yarn on my Orkney Pi yesterday. I'm up to row 154, which is the latter part of the 4th repeat of the swirling diamonds/640sts section. I should start the 5th and final repeat tonight, which places me a couple of days ahead of schedule and ready for the next clue which I think comes out on Friday. Designing Pi shawls by inserting various lace patterns into the distinct sections of the shawl is not as simple as one would think. Oh, the process of choosing your favorite laces and using them is simple, but getting the right combination to produce an cohesive and esthetically-pleasing look is challenging. i say this because I've seen some less than attractive (to my view) Pi shawls. But trust Liz Lovick to know just how to put classic Shetland Lace patterns together to get that just right look. It's a great shawl!

With the Orkney Pi being so time consuming, and sickness keeping me at home (no need for portable knitting), the Swallowtail Shawl has been neglected for more than a week. I'm using the white Jaggerspun Zephyr I had in the stash left from the Spring Things Shawl which I frogged because I ended up not liking the design. I knew I had an issue with the lace patterns chosen for Spring Things, but I also blamed the yarn for my unhappy experience. I just couldn't see what it was that makes so many knitters go "Zany for Zephyr." I used Zephyr for one of my earliest shawls, a Nancie Wiseman design, and it turned out OK, but not wonderful in my view. But the idea of knitting Lily of the Valley nupps in white lace yarn has been in my head for more than a year now, so the white Zephyr seemed perfect for Swallowtail. To cut to the end of the story, I get it. After knitting the upper body of the Swallowtail with the Zephyr, I now get why people adore this yarn. It is wonderful for lace work!

Success in lace knitting is in the details. Each little detail must be evaluated, then carefully combined to yield success. You have to choose the right fiber(s), the right yarn, the right needles, and the right patterns. When one or more of these is off, then knitting is frustrating and the result less than pleasing. Find the right combination and knitting lace becomes a joy to work and the project a treasure. You don't have to use the most expensive yarn or the most complex or fancy pattern to knit a stunning piece of lace. But when a project is thoughtfully planned then executed with reasonable precision (not perfection), the end result can't help but be something wonderful. My somethings wonderful are starting to accumulate now that I'm a confirmed lace knitting addict, and I'm amazed at the joy these little beauties bring into my everyday life. It's something wonderful indeed!

When a tornado hits Atlanta, or Vols win?????

Let's see, yesterday was March 14th, or 3-14 aka Pi Day for lovers of all things mathematical, or fans of Elizabeth Zimmerman's approach to knitting circular shawls based on the concepts of the Pi formula. One could also say that on 3-14, what goes around, comes around...and around it did indeed come last night in Atlanta! Still in my somewhat zoned out funk from the nasty little virus that I picked up, I was watching yet another of the SEC Men's basketball tournament games from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Vols already escaped with a win over South Carolina earlier in the afternoon, but I was interested in seeing who our potential competition would be in the semi-final and hopefully final rounds. The 1st game in the evening session was a close one between Alabama and Mississippi State. A last second shot tied up the game at the end of regulation and they were playing the 1st OT period when suddenly the hardware suspend from the roof of the Dome started to sway wildly and stuff was falling from the ceiling. By golly, it was a tornado!!!!

The nightcap game of the tournament was postponed until this afternoon. The news footage this morning revealed the massive amounts of damage that were done to the heart of downtown Atlanta, including all the facilities key to the SEC tournament. So the games were moved to the arena at Georgia Tech University, the schedule changed, and the fans sent away as there was no way to fairly accomodate all who had purchased tickets. I think it may just be a sign of good things to come for the Vols. The Vols haven't won the SEC tourney in who knows how long...decades. It's kind of like the Vols will win when hell freezes over...or a tornado hits downtown Atlanta in the middle of a game! Yup...now I *know* Bruce's Boys can pull it off :-) They just need to beat Arkansas in tonight's game to prove me right :-)

Stay tuned for the next installment of As the Vols play Ball, which will include an update of all things knitted during tournament viewing and other "sickie" activities :-)

Wheeeeee!

are Number ONE!!!! Yessiree it was quite the game. It truly lived up to all the hype as 2 very evenly matched basketball teams hit the hardwood in Memphis last Saturday night. But the Vols beat the Memphis Tigers in a close game to earn their way to the top ranking in both the AP and the USA Today/ESPN polls. I screamed so loud at the end of the game I hurt my voice and I was so stoked I couldn't sleep for hours afterwards. And on Sunday I was totally crashed out with a fibroflare. What a surprise! (not)

So I spent Sunday and frankly, most of Monday recovering...and knitting of course! I'm more than halfway through with the 2nd side of the Vision of Delight scarf. I want to get it done before the weekend when the Orkney Pi Shawl KAL begins. I don't know how much progress I'll make tonight as it's basketball time once again. It's another big game for Bruce's Boys as the Vols have to go to Nashville and play my other alma mater Vanderbilt. Vandy is always tough to beat at home and they have a couple of very strong players that will have to be contained if Chris Lofton and Co. are to escape with another win on the road. If they can beat Vandy tonight then the Vols really deserve to be #1 in the nation. Tip-off is in an hour so i guess it's another night for me and ESPN. GO VOLS!!!!

It's a Big Orange Night

It's only a little more than an hour away....the Big Event I've been anticipating for months now. It's almost tip-off time for the University of Tennessee Men's basketball team to play cross-state rival Memphis. Last year the game was in Knoxville and Memphis suffered a stunning 18 point loss to the up-and-coming Vols under still-new coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl is now a well-established icon at Tennessee. This year the game is in Memphis. The rest of the college basketball world cares because Memphis is ranked #1 in the nation, the Vols are #2---a ranking they've never experienced in Men's B-Ball before. The scalpers are asking 4-figure sums for tickets on Beale St. this afternoon and the pre-game festivities look more like a Saturday afternoon in October...not February. How cool is that???? I'm so stoked !!!


I'm so excited about the game that I knew concentrating on other tasks might be difficult tonight. So I'm getting things done. I've knit 20 rows on my Vision of Delight Scarf already...no guilty feelings for not making progress there today :-) But before I tell you about the scarf, I have to acknowledge that cute little blue box of sunshine. More than a week ago I was offered this big burst of sunshine from my friend Kat. I was having a crummy day. I'm terribly late with this, but gee THANKS!!! I will do as is intended and pass it forward, but give me a day or two to think about it first. I'm a bit distracted at the moment. The ESPN guys just said a pair of game tix sold on ebay for $10,000! That's insane! Of course Memphis is unbeaten thus far this season, so the hype is over the top. I hope Chris Lofton & the guys can change that statistic just a wee bit :-)


So here's the weekly knitting update. I've spent too much time surfing Ravelry and the net and not enough time with the needles clacking so progress on my Vision of Delight Scarf is slower than it should be. I finished the 1st half on Thursday and am almost done with the 1st chart on the 2nd side as I write. I was disappointed to discover that my scarf wasn't working out to be a wide as the designer's measurements. There isn't anything I can do to change that, but I was concerned about the scarf being too short, too. I could do something there. The easy answer was to add one repeat the length of the little curlicue motif along the side border. Nice, but that would add 36 rows of stockinette to the middle...BORING!

I studied Birgit's design and decided the perfect answer was to replicate the tulip motif she had repeated twice at each end border. I added a 3rd one in the center with an extended stem anchoring it to the border. It was the perfect solution to my problem and frankly, I think it takes an already good design and makes it better. When I had the 1st side completed I discovered one more thing I would change if I were to knit this scarf again. On the end, the "tulip"motifs or curly things had a diamond centered at the end...something not found on the center motif. I would add that little diamond to both ends of the center as well.

Also on the knitting front, I've been hunting and gathering in anticipation of future projects. I picked up a couple of balls of Cebelia 20 in white to knit a larger doily/table mat out of. I knocked out most of yesterday afternoon searching and researching doily patterns online. I was surprised at what I learned and just how much really is available. To top it all off, my postwoman dropped off a box from KnitPicks late this afternoon. My yarn is here for the Orkney Pi KAL that Liz Lovick is leading on EZasPi starting next Friday. I'm stoked!!! I really wanted to order a cone of Shetland Supreme Lace yarn from Jamieson & Smith for this shawl as many others are doing, but frugality is more important right now so KnitPicks Bare it is. For the same amount of money essentially, I got all the yarn I need plus 3 circular needles and 4 sets of dpns...all in small sizes so I can really be ready to knit more socks and lace. It was a wise choice for me and my Orkney shawl will still be amazing despite being knit out of Peruvian wool. Life is tough.

Well, that's about it for this week. the pre-game shows are on. I have enough time to add a few more rows to my scarf before tip-off. I'm thinking I may be able to wind one or two hanks of Bare into balls while I watch the game as it requires much less concentration to wind than it does to knit. GO VOLS!!!

Visions of Delight

OK, so I don't post a word for almost 2 weeks and then I jump in and post twice in a day? What's up? Well, I just had too much to say for only one post. In other words, I was too chicken to trust that the computer would hiccup and loose it all if I put it into one long post. I'm no fool...I know what computers are capable of doing to meassages that push the limits :-)

So here are a couple of pictures of my newest project, the Vision of Delight Scarf. This scarf is another in a series of amazing lace designs by a German knitter, designer, and yarn shop owner named Birgit Freyer. Birgit markets her designs under the label Knitting-Delight through her online shop Die-wollust.com. Last fall she decided to organize a Yahoo Group aimed primarily at the German-speaking/European market to teach lace knitting techniques. I found the group in January just as they were about to start on a KAL to knit this large scarf/small lace stole. My timing was perfect!

When I finish a really big project like Mystic Waters, I do like to knit a smaller project. I need the boost that comes from increasing my FO list :-) Vision of Delight was just the right size and provided me the opportunity to try out a popular lace yarn that I had not used yet. I headed over the The Yarn Haven and picked out a beautiful deep turquoise blue shade of Malabrigo Lace yarn. Malabrigo yarns are a single-ply loosely spun, very soft yarn from Uruguay. There is a very large, very vocal fan base for this yarn. Knitters get gushy about how soft and yummy this yarn is and I knew I needed to try it out. It's not an inexpensive yarn at ~$11 for a 50g (470yd) skein, so knitting a large project isn't the most feasible thing for me (although I would save up for one if sufficiently motivated). I bought 2 skeins and brought them home to test out on my still-new swift. I was very glad I had a swift as this yarn tends to stick to itself and it would have been a royal PiTA to wind otherwise.

The VoD pattern calls for laceweight yarn and US 6 or 7 needles to knit a scarf measuring ~17" x 71" I decided to swatch using US 5 needles, knowing that a 6 would be too loose. I was afraid I would need to drop down to a 4, but the 5 looked fine so I proceeded with that. The scarf starts at the center with a provisional cast-on and each of 3 charts is knit out from the center to the each end. It's one of my favorite ways to knit a scarf or stole--and much better than knitting 2 halves from the end to the center, then grafting the 2 sides together. The charts are in large-print and very easy to follow and the techniques required are simple as well. Once I reached the 100 row mark this morning I stopped to take a few pictures. I also learned a few things:

First, what I thought was US 5 (3.75mm needle) ended up being a US 6 (4.0mm) needle after all. that's what I get for storing both needles in the same basket without their packages. The good news is, I like how the fabric looks, so I'm OK. The next discovery was not unexpected--my scarf is much smaller than the published dimensions. At 100 rows completed, mine measures 13" x 13" when gently stretched and pinned (as shown in the photos). I suspected the designer's original and others I've seen knit by other KAL members were knit using fingering wt. yarn rather than a true lacewt. yarn, so I was not surprised to find my scarf was smaller. It doesn't matter so much in the width, but I do like my scarves to be nice and long. I have sketched out a minor modification to the design to add extra length while still keeping true to teh designer's intention. Sp stay tuned to see what emerges...it should be pretty cool!

Saturday Summary

It's been more than a week since I managed to gather my wits and post an update about the goings on here at beadntat. There have been distractions...things like illness, visiting relatives, Ravelry, and yes, even knitting! But the week-long migraine and related temperamental tummy have chilled out, the visitors have gone home, and I'm starting to return to life. Give me a couple more weeks, a little more daylight and warm, sunny spring days, and I should emerge from my winter cave happier than a groundhog :-)


When last I posted, I had gleefully announced the completion of my Mystic Waters Shawl (MWS). Of course no lace shawl is truly completed until it has been properly blocked. That big event happened last Wednesday night. The operative word here is BIG as my MWS ended up being very big. Note in the first picture that the top edge of the shawl was wider than the length of the full-sized sheet I used as my blocking surface. The final measurements were 106" across the top and 51" from top to tip. This was my first experience with cash/cotton yarn and I found it left a fine purple lint on the white sheet. I assume this is due to the cotton content. That same cotton also makes this shawl especially cuddly next to the skin. This was well-tested as I wore the shawl over my PJs around the house the week I was sick. I predict this one will see much use!

I wore the MWS over my sweatshirt to the Friday Night Knitting Club at The Yarn Haven last night. It was a big hit!!! Sandy even took pictures :-) I confess it's pretty cool to see folks who know knitting really appreciate the beauty and complexity of my lacework. It's my kind of endorphin rush :-)

So, with a huge project finished I've spent a ridiculous amount of time debating what my next move should be. The problem is there are too many great projects to choose from and I want to knit them all. But recent heated discussions about Herbert Niebling and his unique designs published mostly in Germany in the late 20th century really stimulated my interest in knitting doilies and other table laces. I've been collecting patterns, but didn't feel quite ready to break into my stash of tatting threads and give it a go. But, with a migraine coming and going last week I figured I'd try out a sweet little doily designed by one of the gals on Ravelry & Lace Knitters. Called Little Flowers, this doily was just the right size for a first doily project and it was charted and the instructions were in English. Call it 3 stars! I cast-on late one night and had it finished the next night. Sweet!

I knit Little Flowers using some very nice Opera 10 from my stash and 2.5mm dpns. I didn't have a 16" or 24" circular, so I ended up using 8 needles. It was logical for the 8 point motif, but that's a lot of needles to worry about falling out. In the end, I felt the doily looked a little dense to my eye. In the future I will use a 2.75-3.0mm needle for size 10 crochet cotton, or better yet--go down to a finer thread. I don't care for size 10 thread in tatting...I think I will ultimately feel the same way for knitted lace as well.


Energized by the success of the Little Flower doily, I had to jump right in a knit a second doily. I decided to thumb through my vintage pattern booklets and see what I could find. I hit a tattered gold mine in a book called Sparkling White Doilies, a book containing patterns for crocheted, hairpin lace, tatted, and knit doilies. while most were crocheted, there were 2 knitted doilies in the book. There was a small problem though--I had complete patterns but no pictures because the back cover was missing. This extra challenge added to the intrigue so I decided to knit a "Surprise" doily. I did use a finer thread this time, Cebelia 20, and the same 2.5mm needles--a perfect combination! I found a 32" circular needle and "magic looped" this doily after I had the first several rows knit on dpns. This combination worked perfectly and I ended up with a very pleasant surprise. I'm totally hooked on knitting doilies..there will be more in the future :-)

WooHoo! Super Success!

Eli Manning ROCKS!!! Yes, the little Manning that could chugged his way to victory in today's Super Bowl. It was a major defensive match and an even bigger upset victory. I'm a huge fan of the Manning family so I couldn't be more pleased that both Peyton and Eli now have Super Bowl rings and MVP trophys. Awesome!

And as if that wasn't enough, I had my own super accomplishment of the day by casting off the last stitch on the Mystic Waters Shawl. It's one honking big shawl! It also beautiful. I didn't have the courage to get in the floor to block it tonight so final pictures and measurements will have to wait. It did weigh in at 172g making this the heaviest shawl I've ever knit.

I suppose I should include one little errata while I'm at it. Never trust the media when it comes to silly details about holidays. I managed to hear two different verdicts attributed to yesterday's Groundhog predictions. Apparently the poor critter did not see his shadow after all and Spring is supposedly right around the corner. I hope that prediction is correct, but then here in Tennessee winter isn't that big a deal anyway. I was reminded of that this weekend watching all the TV footage of Pres. Hinckley's funeral in Salt Lake City. There was plenty of new snow covering everything and it was clearly cold at the graveside service at City Cemetery. I do not miss those Utah winters one bit. We had a mild weekend here and my spring bulbs are shooting up slowly. Watch out groundhog....the daffodils are coming!

Groundhog Day

It's a rather strange holiday if you ask me... Groundhog Day? The sole purpose is for an excessively pampered pet Groundhog to emerge in the early morning hours in Punxatawny, PA and the pompous men in top hats then declare whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow...or not. A shadow is not good news, as it means 6 more weeks of winter weather. And so the celebratory folks gathered in the cold morning hours this morning, declared a shadow was not seen, and theoretically spring is just around the corner. Yeah, right. It all sounds quite silly, but as a kid it was something fun to cheer up an otherwise dreary winter day. That turns silly stuff into a good thing in my eyes since I am plagued by seasonal depression.

I'm continuing to work on the edging on the Mystic Waters Shawl, but I did grant myself permission to take a couple of days off as the work on the shawl was beginning to get to me. But the top is fairly mindless knitting at this point, so it was good company as I watched President Hinckley's funeral on BYU-TV today. The services were lovely and I maintained my composure surprisingly well for a woman with a mushy heart. I didn't start crying until the end of the graveside service when a lone bagpiper emerged from behind an enormous 100+ yr old pine tree in the Salt Lake City Cemetery playing first Danny Boy, then Amazing Grace. Pres. Hinckley so loved Danny Boy! There's something about the plaintive, rather mournful sound of bagpipes that just can't be duplicated. It was a fitting tribute to the man who's ancestors hailed from the UK, a place he loved so much.

I finished the 1st Volunteer Spirit Sock very late Thursday night and have cast on for the 2nd sock. While their are still some aspects of the design that are a little rough in my eyes, overall I'm quite pleased with how they are turning out. I have a new appreciation for the challenges of creating a lace pattern from scratch. I looked for an existed pattern that would communicate the Volunteer V, but found none suitable for a top=down sock. That left a sketch book and pencil and swatching.

I wanted the eyelets to be the important feature of the V lace pattern, rather than the lines formed by a series of decreases. This idea has it's strengths, but I'm not certain it lends itself to self-striping yarn as well as it does to a solid color. The half-pattern offset gives a diamond appearance to the fabric from a distance. I like this look, but it adds significantly to the difficulty of the knitting by placing YOs at the beginning and end of each needle. I may write an alternate version of the pattern which eliminates the offset and goes with just the simple V lace pattern--a better choice for beginning sock knitters or those not experience in lace knitting techniques.

I would have preferred to knit the cuff with a larger needle, but the yarn demanded that it be knit on sz 2.25mm dpns. I'm not all that impressed with the J Knits Superwash Me sock yarn. The yarn is skinny, a light fingering weight similar to Schaefer Anne, but without the body and cohesiveness of Anne. I found it to be surprisingly splitty and easily snagged, even when using nickel-plated needles. At $25/100g skein I expected a better performing yarn. Even still, the true test of durability will come with wear and washing so I'll reserve final judgment until I see how well they hold up. I may look for another mostly orange yarn for a second test-knit of the pattern. I saw one on The Loopy Ewe that looks promising.

In memoriam: Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon Bitner Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away Sunday evening, January 27, 2008 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of 97. He is now reunited with his beloved wife, Marjorie, who preceeded him in death a few years ago. While I know he is grateful to be released from the heavy burden of responsibility in leading The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and happy to be reunited to his wife, my heart is heavy with sadness at seeing him go. I will miss him intensely.

I knew his days with us here on earth were numbered. Just 2 days ago I saw a press release which showed a picture of Pres. Hinckley offering the dedicatory prayer at the rededication ceremonies at the Utah State Capitol 2 weeks ago. In the photograph he looked small and very frail, even more so than he had looked in December at the Christmas Devotional or at General Conference last October. He never looked small or frail to me before then. Yet knowing in my heart that he wouldn't live much longer and coming to grips with the his death are quite different. I still feel a bit shocked at this point.

I felt a special closeness to the Hinckley family for some reason. I was living in Salt Lake City at the time he was called, ordained, and sustained as Prophet and President of the Church. I lived in the same neighborhood as his daughter Virginia. We were in the same stake (a group of LDS church congregations) and I felt as if the Hinckleys were a part of our close knit family in the Parley's Stake. I attended many events in which Pres. and Sis. Hinckley were present and I felt nurtured by their love, just as millions of members of the church across the world did. Pres, Hinckley was kind, gentle, articulate, witty, and very forward-thinking. A wonderful compilation of many of his accomplishments can be found here.

As for me, I think I'll take away from Pres. Hinckley's life his great love and compassion for all people everywhere. I'll renew my efforts to follow his counsel by doing a little better at standing a little taller, by trying a little harder to do a little better each day. I'll try to honor him by being more loving, more understanding of others, more tolerant and less critical of myself and those around me. It's not hard to "scatter sunshine" everywhere you go once you start. Being good and kind is the best kind of habit to get into. When coupled with honesty, hope, and faith, an ordinary Daughter of God like me can do much to bless the lives of others...just as I have been blessed by the life of Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley. Pres. Hinckley, may God be with you till we meet again.

Row 367 - Check!

Yup-- I checked off the last row on the last chart of the Mystic Waters Shawl. Getting through that last chart proved to be a hellish experience. Long rows can be perilous! Why? Because you don't realize you did something wrong until 100, 200, or more stitches have passed. Tink, tink, tink!!! If I was a drinking and swearing woman, which I am not, I could have been tempted to outdo any sailor. Good thing I don't engage in such behaviors ;-D


It was terribly frustrating because I don't typically have such issues when knitting lace. Perhaps it was the very dark purple yarn which made things hard to see, despite my very excellent halogen gooseneck lamps (Ott lights give me migraines). Perhaps it was the very long rows and the relatively heavy, bulky pile of yarn-now-shawl in my lap. Perhaps it was fatigue, although I typically do my best work late at night. I don't know. While the stitches were simple, the shawl's design was complex. You really couldn't relax or take comfort in repetition either, because there was very little of that. Of course the same features are what made Mystic Waters such a fascinating shawl to knit! It's different! It wasn't just another triangle shawl knit from the top down ala Evelyn Clark-style with a handful of lace patterns from the Walker Treasuries. Don't get me wrong, I like those shawls too, but there are times when a gal just needs to knit something different. Mystic Waters is very different.

So the last row has been knit. All that remains is the sideways knit-on edging along the top. It's kinda cool because this finish resembles the yo/garter st edging of the sides, something i haven't encountered before. I wasn't sure about knitting this strange finish and was considering doing something more typical. But I hit the photo files on Ravelry in search of a picture of a finished shawl. I needed to *see* this edging as I couldn't visualize it in my mind. Once I saw it I knew it was the perfect finish. It's one of those "takes forever" knit-on edgings so it may be days before I get through it. You'll all know about it 'cuz the earth will shake when I cast-off the last stitch. Kidding, just kidding :-D

So, with Mystic Waters almost done it's time to move on to new things. And what could be a better than to start off a new year of knitting with a brand new swift? I'm deliriously happy about getting a swift. I've wanted one for more than a year, but swifts are expensive...and I am poor so I didn't think it was possible. Then a fellow member of the Lace Knitters list mentioned getting one from JoAnn's.com using a 50% off coupon. I got a coupon in the mail a few days later which made the price just right and I ordered one right away. I chose the big birch wood model because I've had problems winding very fine lace yarns or very large hanks using the smaller metal & plastic swifts. I've wound 2 balls thus far and my new swift passed the test with flying colors. Happy, happy, joy, joy!


As for the new year/new projects I cast on some new socks last week while sitting in the hospital with my father. I took my JKnits Go UT! sock yarn (which has been sitting on my desk for months), several pairs of dpns, and my sketchbook with me to the hospital. I had already decided to create an original sock design that reflected that Tennessee Vols spirit. So I sat in a dark corner of Daddy's room at UT Hospital with my orange and white yarn, sketch book and pencil in hand, and the UT/Vanderbilt Men's basketball game on TV, and started to sketch out the lace motif. After a few few tweaks to the design I cast on for my Volunteer Spirit Socks. I knit a good portion of a cuff before the ballgame ended (we won---big!) and continued with it the next day while doing my daughterly duty as the "night shift nurse." Once I had the cuff almost completed I decided something didn't look quite right. I wasn't sure I liked the placement and slant of my decreases relative to the yarnovers. So, I grabbed some leftover yarn and did a little swatching, trying out several variations until I found the one I think looks best. The fabric of the knitting on my 1st version was too loose and didn't look good either so I frogged the whole thing. But I did think to snap a picture before the frog croaked. Ribbit, ribbit. I have cast-on once again and reknit the ribbing. Stay tuned for another progress report :-)

It's Chemically the Same

That's what my Mom always said after she had concocted something edible that didn't end up looking like it was supposed to. so the dish looks terrible, it's chemically the same---so eat it! This represents the opposite of what she normally says every night before the blessing is said over the amazing dinner she whipped up out of nothing that looked a smelled amazing: "it's not much folks, but it'll just have to do." Decades later she still says the same thing, although the amazement factor is less frequent an event now. Most nights I just want to reach across the table and choke her because I'm so sick and tired of hearing her whine about it all. But I don't and I, the dutiful daughter, gush appropriately over her efforts.

So why do I mention this tidbit of trivia from my kitchen? Cookies. Chocolate chip cookies, to be precise. And not just any chocolate chip cookies, but The Original Toll House Cookies, complete with Nestle's morsels. I've been craving CCC for about a week now, but haven't manged to make them until today. Now I'm a smart girl and a very good baker (it's genetic--got it from my grandpa who was an amazing professional baker). I've also watched the "Good Eats" episode on making CCC many, many times. Despite this knowledge I followed the recipe and used unsalted butter.

As a kid we always used Blue Bonnet margarine, but margarine today bears very little resemblance to the margarine of 25 years ago and frankly, the stuff creeps me out. I'm not an it's gotta be organic, uber healthy food fanatic--not by a long shot. But I find it very hard to believe that all those chemicals and fake stuff in margarine is better for you than straight from the cow butter. I trust the cow. But butter makes for CCC that are thin, crispy, and that spread like the dickens from those nice little mounds of dough you started out with. I did not end up with nice perfectly round cookies that stack up into tins with all the ease and elegance of Martha Stewart. And yes Martha, I did use my 1 Tbsp ice cream scoop so they would be perfect--like yours :-)

I did not, however, use Silpats to prevent sticking. I don't own any since they are a bit pricey and Mom has said no to them every time I've asked about getting some. For what I've spent on parchment paper I could own at least 2 or 3 Silpats by now, but that's another story. It's not MY kitchen. I am not in charge. I followed the recipe which called for ungreased cookie sheets. My very spread out, thin, crispy, gooey chocolate chip cookies did not want to come up nicely off the cookie sheets. I should have sprayed them with PAM. But I did eventually free most of them from their pans and set them out to cool on a tea towel. The most pathetic looking batch of CCC I think I've ever produced. BUT... they're chemically the same.... and they tasted fabulous!

Next time I listen to Alton Brown and substitute shortening for 1/2 the butter and do as Martha does and use SilPats. Good Eats are a Good Thing ;-)

R is for...

I recently joined a year-long knitting/fiber-related KAL hosted on Flickr called ABC 2008. Participants are to post pictures which reflect a specific letter of the alphabet during each ~2 week period. I haven't posted my photos yet since i just got accepted, but my 1st one is ready and waiting: A is for Angel scarf knit out of Alpaca yarn with Amazing beaded tassels. How cool is that?

So, now I have letters on my brain...which brings me to my next New Years goal, which is to finally finish or frog all my ufos. And so the letter is R. R is for finally coming to the Realization that I Really don't like either option for finishing the blue MS3 stole that I started last summer during the KAL. And so Really, Really late last night I had a private Ribbit party to say farewell to the half-done stole and Reclaim the really beautiful cashmerino yarn for yet another lace shawl. The Release I felt while Rewinding the yarn was Really amazing. I am a free woman.

And so I am rethinking my relationship with online KALs, especially the "mystery" KALs where you have no idea what you are going to get. Well Forrest Gump, Life may be like a box of chocolates, but when I open that box from See's or Russell Stover's I have a fairly good idea of what's under that robe of chocolaty goodness. I know if it's a caramel or a cream or a nut cluster. That's more than you know with a mystery KAL. I really enjoyed knitting the MS2 the summer of 2006 and the Scheherazade Stole is among my most favorite projects knit to date. I'm also loving the Mystic Waters Shawl I'm currently knitting, but I know what the end looks like since I wasn't able to keep up with the speedy knitters in the group. But the fiasco of the MS3 KAL left me, and many others, more wary and less confident that the mystery will turn out to have a happy ending for us. For example, I didn't cast-on the SOTs stole last fall because I was 1) too busy with other projects, and 2)I didn't like the double pointed starting edge. Tincture of time let me know that the rest of the design wasn't my style either and I was glad I didn't jump in and blindly follow along. But... at the same time I didn't start Secret of Chrysopolis either, even though I liked the 1st clue. It's an awesome design that I hope to find time to knit one of these days.

Now the spring KALS are starting up and instead of 1 or 2 lace shawl KALs there are 5! I'm feeling the pressure to decide which one or two to knit, but if I knit the KALs I won't have time to knit other lace shawls on my wanna knit list. Now the not-knowing is stressful--it's no longer fun and adventurous for me. And after a little dialogue with some knitty friends (thanks Kat!) and with myself (yeah, I talk to myself--it's healthy!) I have granted myself permission to not cast-on any of the KALs when they start. if I'm ready for a new project and I like what I see in the KAL design, then I'll have the files saved and I'll cast-on and happily knit on. Whew!

Now, having said all that, the 1st two clue for Spring Shawl Surprise are out and I've checked the photo files...it's looking really great thus far! The shawl calls for skinny lace yarn and little needles which is right up my alley so I may knit it next. There's a bunch of knitted lace in the SSS, something I need more exposure to doing, so that adds to the appeal for me.

The Trouble with KALs...

...is there are so many of them! I've joined most of the lace/shawl KALS, esp. the "mystery" ones. I knit the MS 3/Swan Lake last summer, which was "the" mystery KAL that really put the concept "on the map" so to speak. By fall there were 3 lace KALS: Chrysopolis, SOTS, and Mystic Waters. I could only cast-on for one and I chose Mystic Waters because the start was different and looked interesting to me. I didn't start the SOTS because the start was a bit too different and I was skeptical. In the end, my 1st impressions of those KALS held true to the end. I wish that I had been able to knit Chrysopolis as it turned out to be an exceptional design. Someday I will knit it :-)


I'm now at row 260 on Mystic Waters and I have to decide whether to go short or long. So, I knit the shawl onto a 47" lace needle which allowed me to stretch her out a get a good look at the shawl. With only a mild stretch she measured ~55" across the top and 35" from top to tip--a nice size but not big enough for my kind of shawl. So this means I'll be knitting another 100 very long rows to finish MW.


With MW still OTN with at least 3 weeks of knitting left to go, what am I to do about the new KALs? The 1st clues for Spring Shawl Surprice are out and they look awesome. SSS is a big project with 12 clues and it's calls for skinny lace yarn. My cone of pale yellow cashcotton from ColourMart arrived in the mail yesterday and would be perfect for SSS. Then there's the VLT KAL which I need to do because I still haven't knit a project from that luscious book. I guess I won't any time in the next few weeks either. And last, but not least is SOTSii which starts next week. I have a gut feeling this design will be more to my liking, so my wanna knit list is getting longer. Thankfully Moni and her German-based KALS Fischer and Bad Nauheim won't get going until later this spring, with Fischer starting in Feb. Thank you Moni! What's a lace knitter to do with so many choices???


And I think I'd finish off today's ramblings with a picture of the finished ends of my Angel Pearls Scarf. Sivia suggested applying beaded tassels to the points at each end of the scarf. Now I can't stand yarn tassels or fringe as they look ratty after a few wearings and horrible if washed. Yuck! However, the idea of a beaded tassel intrigued me and I do think pointy ends deserve embellishment. So I grabbed a spool of gold C-Lon and some Thread Heaven from my beading stash and came up with my variation on Sivia's beaded tassel. I had to modify the design just a bit because I didn't have enough beads to do the slightly bigger and longer tassel. Nevertheless, the tassels seem to add a bit of panache without being too heavy or too garish so I'm pleased. While staring at the finished, tasseled ends I was horrified to find yet another dropped yo in a place where there are decreases on both sides of the knitting--the true lace areas. Man oh man have I learned how tricky this stuff can be! Of course i fixed it just as I did the previous spot, and no one will ever find it---even though you know the repair was made 'cuz I told you so. Maybe I should shut up and not confess these things, but I believe it good for others to know that we all make boo-boos, novice and experts alike :-) My tongue-in-cheek motto: If I were perfect I wouldn't be here! (Just think about that for a second...)

Knitting on!

The Angel is Done!

I'm pleased to announce the completion of the Angel Pearls Beaded lace Scarf, my 1st FO of 2008. I really thought I would be done in no more than a week, but a few interruptions for things like Christmas and another unplanned hospital admission for my Father sort of delayed things a bit. Well, that and the fact that I was so afraid my scarf would be too short that I kept adding extra repeats of the main chart. The pattern called for 10-11 repeats and I finally stopped after 15. You know how the story goes: you finish knitting a repeat and you try the thing on to see if it's long enough OR you grab a tape measure and run the numbers. You hmmm a bit and decide it's too short and knit another repeat...and another...and another...and well, you get the idea :-)

At 14 repeats I figured I was OK, but I decided to knit one more just to be sure. Well, after a nice warm bubble bath to get the machine oils and grime out of the yarn, the finished scarf headed to the stripped down "blocking bed" (formerly known as the guest bed). I gave the scarf a nice block, but not as severe as I typically stretch my lace. I was concerned about the fine, cobweb wt fibers breaking, so I was gentle. From previous experience I have learned that alpaca does not hold a crisp, sever block anyway and I'm thinking a gentle block has a better chance of keeping it's structure. We shall see. Anyway, I was so surprised to find my finished scarf measured 77" long and 6.5" wide. That's at least 10" more than I anticipated and I'm so pleased! By the time I add the beaded tassels to the points it'll be 80+ inches! Cool!


The finished shawl used only about 40g of yarn. After some fancy calculating I used roughly about 236 yds. of the triple stranded yarn. That's pretty much spot on with what Sivia used in her original scarf out of Kid Silk Haze, so that's also good. Oh, I forgot to mention how I solved them problem of the HOLE. Some careful scrutiny revealed that I had dropped a yo stitch from a k2tog. After playing with it a bit I realized I could do a repair job that would be essentially invisible, thus avoiding having to tink/frog back the better part of a repeat. So after casting off, I went back with a single strand of the cobweb fiber and caught the yo loop up to the next row where it belonged, weaving the yarn tail before and after the catch-stitch. You can't even see it and I'm happy. Those of you who know me well know that I could never just leave a boo-boo like that. If I couldn't have made the invisible repair I would have frogged back for sure :-)

New Year's Eve

It's just another New Year's Eve, just another Auld Lang Syne -- sounds like a familiar Barry Manilow song, doesn't it? ;-) I'm another year older, maybe I'm a little bit wiser or at least I finally have the PhD to prove it, and life goes on. It's been a very good year on the whole, and my knitting has progressed significantly. It's hard to believe that it's only been 2 years since I knit my 1st lace scarf, now I'm addicted to lace knitting. My latest project, the Angel Pearls Beaded Lace Scarf has reached the half-way point and it's really quite lovely. Or at least that's what I thought until this afternoon when I spread it out to shoot a couple of photos. There it was!!!
Here's a closer view...can you see it? A HOLE. A big ugly hole!!! I was aghast. It's about 1.5 repeats from the top, or the equivalent of what I knit late last night before falling asleep. I'm not exactly sure what happened, if I dropped a stitch or simply missed gathering one up in a cluster, or if it's simply a tension disaster. It could be any or all of the above. The alpaca is very slippery and it's not the easiest thing to knit with 3 strands I'm trying not to separate. So it's been hanging out for the evening while I decide whether to frog back (PitA) or forge ahead and do a sneaky repair later. My go ahead side is reminding me that it's at the back of the neck place in the scarf--the place where no-one will ever see it. Of course the perfectionist me wants to frog/tink it, but I know that the risk of losing even more stitches is super high with this yarn. Perhaps my 1st New Years Resolution needs to be getting over my need to have everything done to perfection. Honestly, this gap in the lace really isn't a big deal, isn't it????
I kind of want to finish the Angel scarf before I cast-on and resume working on Thistle's Epistle. It's a great stole, but I know finishing it will test my tenacity to the max cuz it's reached the sigh, ho hum, BORING! point where I want to do something else. Another resolution: finish the UFOs. I did really well this fall finishing stuff, so my WIP/hibernating list is fairly short, but I still have serious get-it-done work ahead of me.

Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve with Ryan Secrest is on, it's 11:00PM here and I'm signing off to go and knit in the New Year. I'll let you know what happens to the BIG HOLE on the flip side. Until then, I wish you PEACE, HOPE, and JOY! Happy New Year :-)

Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas Day is coming to a close and I can't help but reflect back on what's happened. The long-awaited socks for Daddy were unwrapped, not with surprise, but with a great deal of joy. Daddy put them on immediately last night and declared them perfect. Ever the critical eye, I thought they looked just a smidge on the snug side. Next time I'll try either a slightly fatter yarn or a few more stitches for some extra give. They also looked a little snug across the toes. They didn't feel too tight and Daddy said they weren't, but once again, I'll add maybe 1/2" on the next pair. He wore the socks with his dress loafers when we went out today and he showed them off to everyone. For as much as I did not enjoy knitting those socks I know I have to knit another pair for him very soon. It's the very least I can do to help his poor aching and sensitive feet find a little comfort.

I showed mother what I had knit on her lace stole thus far. I have dubbed my adaptation of the HeartStrings Scotch Thistle Lace Stole pattern Thistle's Epistle. I kind of like the ring to it, and I got into knitting an adaptation because I didn't go back and read the pattern instructions (the "epistle"). Her response was favorable, although she was so tired and grouchy that any hint of a positive response was a miracle. But, since the stole wasn't going to be under the tree, I gave her a new set of Wolfgang Puck knives--ones that are sharp and safe, unlike the scary things she's using now. I refuse to touch those knives--scary!

A few days ago I was feeling the need to knit a little something simple, yet lacy as a perk me up alternative to the big shawls and stoles I have OTN. I was surfing the FOs at Ravelry and someone posted a scarf by a popular lace designer, Sivia Harding. Off to Sivia's website I went in a flash, threw open the lace files and coughed up some cash! (My apologies to Mr. Clemens, ahem) There are 3 Harding designs I'm eager to knit, 2 of which are med-lg shawls. The other is this sweet beaded scarf called Angel Pearls, knit from a single skein of Kid Silk Haze. After a little math and some scary yarn manipulations I turned a cone of cobweb wt. baby alpaca singles into a triple-stranded center-pull ball. The yarn is a rich golden yellow so I chose silver-lined gold beads to go with it and I cast on. Failure to concentrate did necessitate tinking a row here and there, but I have 1.5 repeats of the center chart completed and things look good. The yarn is a bit tricky to work with as it's very slippery and easy to split the strands, but the fabric it produces is lusciously soft and enhances the lace. The best part of this scarf design--it's knit in one piece from start to finish with no grafting or provisional cast-ons or anything complicated. I'm finding such designs in lace to be hard to come by, so this is a big deal.

My Christmas was everything I had hoped for. I knew what most of my presents were beforehand, but Mom did surprise me with a few things from Coldwater Creek. I love everything I received, but I'm especially liking the new pajamas. A nice, heavy cotton jersey, the red pants are covered in preppy plaid and green triangle "trees" with a white top emblazoned with the word Celebrate right across the "girls". My "big" present was a red suede jacket, which I adore, but I Bet I wear the PJs more ;-D

Ho Ho Ho, it was a very Merry Christmas after all!

Whoa!!!!

I'm pulling on the reins, but it's not because I'm Santa telling Rudolph and the reindeer to take off with the Sleigh full of gifts. Not hardly, rather it's me yelling whoa! Time is going by too fast, faster than my fingers can finish knitting the stole I'm concocting for Mother's present. I have accepted the reality that I cannot complete socks for my sister, nor any other major knitted gifts for other family members. This is not so terrible as I wasn't certain my sister would wear the socks, and everyone else wouldn't really appreciate how much work such things take. Simplify, simplify, simplify, quoting Ann Morrow Lindberg, has become my motto.

I thought I'd share the last photo I took of the Mystic Waters Shawl (MWS). I haven't knit any more rows in about 1.5 weeks, but I think I'll go back to it so I can switch between Mom's shawl and the MWS. Working on 2 shawls really helps with the tedious aspect of repetition. The last clue of MWS was posted last week and Anna posted a picture of her finished shawl on her blog just the other day. She used a finer yarn than I am using, and her finished wingspan was over 90" with a depth of 50+". I suddenly realized that if I knit the whole thing, my shawl would be 100+ inches by 60+ inches-- way, way too big. I'm afraid I'll have no other choice but to knit the "small" version and hope that it isn't too small. My guts tell me I really wanted a finished size somewhere between the two but I don't want an afghan. Stay tuned to see what happens!

I had a difficult time deciding what pattern to use for mother stole. Finding a balance between easy-to-knit and interesting-to-knit with the limit of no knit-on edgings made the pickings a bit slim. But I was delighted to discover that Sandy at The Yarn Haven is carrying patterns from HeartStrings FiberArts, including the hot pattern of the summer, the Scotch Thistle Lace Stole. Problem solved! Well, sort of. The pattern calls for fingering wt. yarn and I planned on using a cone of laceweight cashmere (thanks ColourMart!). OK, so I doubled the yarn and kept the recommended needle size. I read through the pattern after I brought it home, but when I cast-on I just started knitting from the chart. It looks nice, but it doesn't look like the one in the picture. Why? In the written directions you are instructed to repeat specific rows multiple times before proceeding to the next part of the chart. Whoops! I briefly considered frogging back, but decided to go on, unventing the pattern as I went. The unventing is a bit interesting but it has called for a few tinking sessions when I hated the choice I made. You didn't think I was wise enough to throw in a lifeline before forging on did you??? Ha! not a chance (OK, I regretted not having a lifeline last night after tinking about 5 rows, ugh!)

I'm taking notes to share when I'm done with my version of the stole (with apologies to Jackie E_S). I'll post pictures next time. Until then, HO HO HO!!!

Christmas Bliss

I had an experience in Christmas bliss last night that I shall not forget. A bit of background--I am a singer as well as a knitter. I have been in choirs, large and small, for most of my life, singing the classical repertoire for the most part. Excellent choral music is a large part of my joy in life. No one in the family was more delighted than I when my nephew Christopher fell in love with choral music as a freshman in High School. He was in a magnet high school and had an exceptional professor who carefully tutored Chris' talent. He was selected to the All-East State honors choirs every year, and All-State his senior year (maybe jr. too...I don't remember). His gift for music was rewarded with college scholarships and selection for a special a capella men's group called the Seven Bucks his sophomore year. Now a junior at East TN State University (ETSU), he is singing with the ETSU Chorale, a modest-sized group of about 80 singers. Last night was my 1st opportunity to hear him perform with the choir at their Annual Christmas Concert.

The concert was held at the Munsey Memorial Methodist Church in Johnson City, a beautiful old cathedral-style church in the heart of the historic downtown district. In the first picture I tried capture the exquisite architecture of the chancel area. Above the altar was a soaring brass fretwork engraved with images of Christ and the apostles. It was difficult to see the detail from where I sat, but I was impressed nevertheless. The choir did not use the chancel area, rather they stood on risers in front of the pulpits and along the outer aisles. For the opening number, an early 17th century work by Allegri, a quartet stood in the rear balcony, the women were on the risers and the men in the aisles so the audience was literally surrounded by a glorious polyphonal sound. It was breathtakingly beautiful to listen too. I could not believe my ears I was so stunned by the exceptional quality of the Chorale. I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about choral music and *very* picky about things like intonation and timbre and the like. Frankly, I never even considered the possibility of music of this quality coming from a small university in the hills of Appalachia. I was so wrong, it was that good!!!

Perhaps the most joyous aspect of the experience for me was simply watching Chris sing (the redhead in the center on the top row). It wasn't hard to see that he was loving every minute of it. He was a bit nervous about his part in a solo quartet in a Ralph Vaughn Williams number, but he sang well. Daddy made the journey with me and he simply glowed with joy over the whole thing. It truly is a miracle that he even had strength to come and sit in a crowd for that long so late at night.

After the concert we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Alison(the ex) brought Matthew(nephew #3) and Connor(#4) up from North Carolina for the concert. The boys were *so* excited to see their Grandaddy! It was a Fuji moment and I was lucky to snap a couple of pictures--good pictures! (From left to right: Chris, Connor, Grandaddy, & Matthew) Matthew looked, well, (can an aunt say this???) HOT! He was decked out in a beautiful suit and tie--boy he cleans up good! Connor was in great spirits too, so it was a great family moment for us all. It was a concert event that will be the highlight of my Christmas this year. Ah, bliss!