Right as Rain

I'm a Weeble, People, a Weeble. You can knock me over, but you can't keep me down. This sick thing took its toll; bleary eyed and hacking away for over a week, nary a stitch was stitched. But now I'm back and ready to rock. Except for the hacking. And a wee dip in stamina. So where were we...

First of all, I missed my anniversary. My first year blog anniversary. Was it only last January that this adventure began? And less than a year earlier that I took up knitting as a Serious past time? There have been a lot of hits and misses since then, I have decidedly grown as a knitter during that time. So while I hold on to the new stuff just a little bit longer, lets take a brief walk down memory lane... (And, as always, you can click on any picture to view it in full size.)

January brought my first FO of 2007:

childHood by Natalie Wilson

Like most of my beginning projects, this one came from Knitty. And like many of my first offerings, this was made up in acrylic. Hard, icky acrylic. I made this up in both the hooded and hood less version (I much prefer the hooded one.) Given the right circumstances, a do-over may be in order. I still think it is rather a cute cardi and for the right little girl and the right yarn I'd give it another go.

February's cold was a natural inspiration for scarves and Scarf Style was the first pattern book I bought. Having it shipped to me in Israel made the anticipation that much greater.

Of course, Knitty was still a major force on my life and I was already a true Argosy addict. In February I completed my 4th. (I've picked up my snoozing 6th again, BTW, and I fully intend to knit a minimum pattern repeat per day so I can finish this up.) I also knit up my Funky Chunky Zigzag scarf (by Debbie Bliss,) Midwest Moonlight (by Ivy Bigelow) and started a few more.

Still in the scarf groove, March brought Lacy Ocean (much of which was done in Eilat, on a surprise mini-break UM & AB sponsored,) Elbac (by Laura,) and Backyard Leaves (by Annie Modesitt.)

I would venture to say that it was Backyard Leaves that turned me from a knitter to a Knitter. My first chart and first true lace pattern, where each row, RS and WS, was different. It inspired the book purchase as well as the first on-line yarn purchase. Yes, it was Knit Picks, in Andean Silk Lettuce colorway. And though more exotic yarns would come, this scarf is still a treasured favorite.

April was the month of the ughs. Endless hours were spent in pure joy working on Nora Gaughan's Capecho.

Imagine the bitter disappointment when I, like so many others, learned that VK's cover shots were a wee bit misleading. Although I toiled into the next month, I never finished it and am still sad every time I see the pictures or the miles of frogged yarn; a lovely, not inexpensive, dusty rose yarn from Gedifra (Airmix, a merino, cotton mix.) April also saw the failed Entrelac experiments. The technique I got down cold, but never completed a project using it. The desire is still there. Next try will be Eunny Jang's Entrelac Socks (IK Spring '07.) Shapely legs I've always had, but the calves run to the large size so I'll not be making the knee high version, nor will I be using the tassel!

May, the month of my birth, brought all the joy that is Arietta. Though she remains a UFO I love her no less.

Why, you may ask, if I love her so much does she remain unfinished. Two reasons. First, all that cotton was drying out my fingers and as the weather turned colder I needed some squishy wool goodness. Second, try as I might, I have yet to lose the girth that stands between me and my love. So, though this is not a forum for resolutions, (goal will be addressed in a couple of days,) I hope this year to lose the necessary bulkage to fit into my Arietta when the time comes. Other UFOs remaining from May are the Windchime scarves and some TBD skinny version of Clapotis, just to say I did.

June saw no photo shoots as my mind was mostly on the, finally public, impending departure from Israel.

Tomorrow should see us through the balance of the year, followed by goals for 2008, including a virtual UFO Hall of Shame to get me back on track with some forgotten friends.

Oh, the thrill of it!

After Havdala at the end of Pesach we wish each other a Gezunte Zimmer, Kayitz Bari, or in plain English, a Healthy Summer. For those of you still seeing droplets fall and feeling the cold winds interspersed with moments of clear, bright skies, I wish you all 3! After last night's sand storm we could use it. I had no intention of taking such a long break, funny how real life can encroach upon your designated blog time! I enjoyed my all too brief Pesach. Highlights included a meander through the Har Tzofim campus with S who was desperate for HiJinx and had an urge to hit the road and a fabulously relaxing few hours at the beach in Bat Yam with C who has my undying gratitude for not only coming up with the idea but supplying the transportation and most of the picnic basket! Until I moved to Jerusalem I lived most of life about 15 minutes away from the ocean, but with the hustle, bustle and stress of life I sometimes forget how much I miss it. Just a few hours absorbing those negative ions and I was a new woman! Here's a picture I took a few years ago while visiting my old haunting grounds in La Jolla, a place I used to go to at night and watch the waves roll in and find a fleeting moment of zen.


All this talk of fresh air and oceans makes me think of all things nature which reminds me that my Backyard Leaves scarf is completed! (How's that for a segue!) V. exciting news since it is still cold enough to use it. I am in love with the KnitPicks Andean Silk yarn I used; soft, warm and delicious! Can't wait to use it again. And hey, I really do love nature. Most of my favorite photographs are nature oriented. Here are a couple of my favorites: Man of War (at Monterey Aquarium) and Surfer at Sunset along 17 Mile Drive.

And all this leads me to my current WIP (work in progress): Nora Gaughan's Capecho. Featured on the cover of Vogue Winter 2006/2007, I absolutely fell in love with this cropped jacket/bolero which Nora calls a Capecho. This is my first big modular piece and I am really enjoying it. I am currently on my 5th pentagon. I just hope it looks as good on me as it does on the skinny minnie model! Specs as follows:

Gedifra AIRMIX in 7307, a soft dusty rose. 62% merino, 30% cotton, 8% polymide.
5.5 mm circular needles (lots of stitches!)
Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows = 4"/10cm in stockinette
Adjustments: pattern only goes to 45" bust (closed) measurement. I altered the pattern by extending the base proportionally to the existing pattern. By adding 4 more rows I had to add another cable on the original row 1 to keep the design. Below you can see a completed pentagon:

and a close up of the join between 2 pentagons (on the right side) and starting a new pentagon (on the left side.)

As soon as I get State side I am dying to go through Nora's book Knitting Nature and see if I want to add it to my library. Oh, and worry not; I haven't broken my moratorium on new yarns. I simply exchanged some yarn in my stash from which I had had immediate buyer's remorse!

Betwixt and Between

This is just a quicky while a take a deserved respite from my Pesach cleaning. This year I am being even more fastidious in my sorting and stacking so it can get pretty involved. And yet... there are things that call to me at the strangest of times and I must heed their beckoning. Like those Backyard Leaves which I hear rustling in the background saying "finish me, finish me". And so I admit, I did sneak in one 20 row repeat this morning. I can't help it. This pattern is like a great book. You get completely absorbed in it and way too quickly you find you are nearing the end. Wanting desperately to finish and yet for the experience to gone on a while longer. Seriously. I never would have thought this think would knit up quite so quickly! And while I haven't yet memorized the repeat (find me someone who has!) I am less glued to the chart with every passing row. Much of this has become intuitive knitting and though I have had my share of frogging and *TINK*ing (that's knitting backwards to the uninitiated,) I find the chart more of a reference point to make sure I am on track. I have to say it, I Love this pattern. Really. I could do it again. OK, I must finish this one first, but you get my meaning. I am now on the second piece and have completed 2 of 12 (I added one because I have the yarn) repeats.

Oh how I love this pattern, let me count the ways:

It's a challenge. No boredom to be found.
It's knit in two pieces which makes it easier to block on my makeshift blocking board.
Because it joins up in the middle, it is quite forgiving while you are working the whole thing out (not that I didn't restart several times to make sure there were no mistakes.)
The yarn I chose (Knit Picks Andean Silk in Lettuce) is so soft to work with and reassuringly warm.
I'm sure there's more but this posting is supposed to be about brevity, so with no more ado, here are some pics of pre and post blocking:

Oh, and let's not forget my reversible, cabled scarf Elbac, which I also brought to the knitting event and finished up just moments before I sank my needles into those Backyard Leaves.

Wishing everyone a Chag Kasher v'Sameach.

Good things come to those who wait

Despite my self imposed moratorium on new yarn, a sincere effort to finish all UFOs and to get back to sweaters; I am pleased to announce my KnitPicks Andean Silk yarn arrived today. At last! The yarn is 55% Superfine Alpaca, 23% Silk & 22% Merino, the color is lettuce and I can't wait to start working on Backyard Leaves! And don't let this luxurious sounding blend fool you into thinking I spent a fortune either.

While my yarn took a very, very slow boat to Israel (via La Jolla, CA - thanks Di!!!) I began to wonder whether it would ever arrive. You see after I ordered it the end of January, it decided to take a longer vacation in La Jolla than I anticipated. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I heard it was soaking up the Californian sunshine, even if I wasn't. This meant that it was not lost at sea... However a week ago I started worrying again, I mean the mail may be slow getting here but this was taking a wee bit too long. Then Friday morning I received an email from Di letting me know that it should be arriving any day (if it hadn't yet appeared.) So I went downstairs to see if my notice was there. No such luck, nor today when I went out for a meeting. And then, upon my return, after seeing my disappointingly empty mail box, I noticed that box next to mine had a delivery notice. Now I am not usually the nosy type, but I just HAD to look at the name, and yes IT WAS MINE!!!! So I waited 2 more hours for the post office to reopen, stood in line and was told about the million transparent people who were actually standing between me and the person I thought was in front of me (ok, there were only two but this crazy place holding here is beyond ridiculous. "I'm after you," they say as they disappear into the sunset or grocery store and finish their errands while you stand like a good girl - ooh am I sounding bitter or just fed up...) and finally the package was in my hand. And it was all worth it!

Let this be a portent of things to come!

In the meantime I finished my scarf based on the Laura Zukaite's lacy sweater Vogue Knits Winter 06/07. Here it is drying. I used Lanas Stop:Yes in colorway 205.

And here is a closeup of the lace work.
Now I have about 20 cm more of my Elbac scarf from Knitty (I am making version 1) plus the ending which is about 10 cm. Should be done tomorrow or the next day.

Then I am on to frogging my Banff sleeves so I can redo them using 2 balls of the Himalaya self striping yarn at the same time to give a more random look. And of course I will break my vow and finally start on Backyard Leaves.

Oh the thrill of it!