Some More Updates

Finally! A picture of the completed and BLOCKED Pacific Northwest Shawl, also known as my Upper Penninsula Shawl.


You can finally see some of the details - little fish swimming at the border, the water waves, sand dollars, Trees, and seagulls. Could be either Pacific or UP - take your pick! I like the color, however, since I dyed this yarn myself.

Also, I couldn't help myself! Known by many as the "one-project knitter" I now have three going. Saturday, I balled up some of the beautiful antique blue cotton/rayon yarn my niece, Wendy, brought home from Stitches Midwest a couple weeks ago, and began the Krista Tee.



Granted, not too much finished - took a while to "get in the groove." But what is finished looks totally awesome!

Socks of August - Update

Well - here is sock #1 done in the tried and true "Blueberry Waffle" pattern, and the heel detail of the eye of the patridge heel - looks like mult-colored dots with texture! How neat is that???

Gansey Update - 8/19/06

Now for a quick update on the "progress" of the Gansey from Hell:

As you can see - the first buttonhole - with one of the beautiful silver Celtic Knot buttons from Stitches poking through.


And here, we have the beginnings of my initials which are on the far left front side - about 2" from the side "seam."

I've been doing some reading about the Ganseys origin. These are fishing sweaters, knit (as this one is) with 5-ply wool. These are tiny plys, since the yarn is as thin, if not thinner, than sock yarn. They are knit on small needles - in this case US size 1s so the finished fabric is tight woven. This makes them water and wind proof, pretty much. Of course, if you're knocked overboard by a huge-ass wave, or pulled into the drink by an enormous fish, it won't keep you dry! That's where the initials come in. When your body washes up on shore, the initials give some clue as to who you were!

I get a big chuckle out of all of this, and realize that this is a very traditional garmet, one that will no doubt take me until the end of time to complete, and, if given the chance, it will be worn with great pride.

I'll post more pictures as this thing progresses, and share more tidbits of the tradition as I can.

Stitches Stash Enhancement!

I may have to go to Stitches Midwest vicariously with my niece, but I got some REAL stash enhancement!

She brought me the Lorna's Laces Somerset I've wanted (80% wool, 20% nylon and oh-so soft), some Fly Super Sport (superwash Merino wool), Berroco's Touche (50% Cotton, 50% rayon also super soft) for my Krista Tee, a cool cables pattern, buttons for my Gansey sweater (like she expects I'll finish it in this lifetime!), a pattern for a shawl from the new Victorian Lace Today book, and my Folk Socks book (actually from the Interweave Hurt Book Sale a couple weeks ago).

You gotta love the way she shops! She even took an empty suitcase with her to Chicago so she could bring her bounty home! I am so thrilled! She also gave me her Tahitian Sunset Koigu that she just couldn't seem to knit. Some of you may read her blog, Shoes and Yarn, and she tried a bunch of different patterns with this yarn, ripped everything out, and gave up. A million thanks to Wendy for all these goodies!

We had such fun - I showed her progress on my sock and sweater, saw her feather and fan shawl, and we both got to see her mom's progress on a Christmas alphabet she's been cross stitching since she broke her thigh bone in early June. It is amazing just how much you can get done when you're forcefully glued to the sofa! My poor brother left the dining table and watched TV while we three sat there another couple hours going on about wool, knitting, and cross stitch.

Blog Food Expo!

Ok - Here's my entry in the food expo!

Christmas Tree Coffee Cake Directions
Grandma Field / Aunt Susie

Make basic Sweet Roll Dough – one batch makes one large coffee cake – so make a couple batches.

Basically, follow these pictures:




Roll the dough to about 1/3” thickness in a rough triangle shape. Brush liberally with melted butter. Top with brown sugar, chopped pecans and cinnamon.


If you’re smart, you transfer to dough to the cookie sheet prior to forming the coffee cake. If you’re me – well – you end up having to transfer along the way. Note, I use a large jelly roll pan with a lip – in case the filling runs out, it won’t end up on the floor of your oven.



Roll the edges in with a nice arc, and make slanted cuts at the wide end for the “trunk” and roll it inward. With a sharp knife, make cuts along the side rolls.




Twist individual rolls “up.” Kind of point the outward sides of each roll and press onto the cookie sheet.

At this point, you can freeze or refrigerate until you’re at Christmas Eve.

This can raise overnight in the fridge if it has been refrigerated. If it has been frozen, I take it out, let it thaw, then pop it in the fridge before going to bed.

Bake at 350° 12 to 15 minutes.



Frost while hot with powdered sugar/water/vanilla glaze. Just drizzle it on – nobody’s awake enough to notice fine art.



Serve annually Christmas morning to a large family that has nothing else to eat for breakfast . . . Sit back and enjoy praise.


Pass on the tradition to the next generation as soon as humanly possible!

The Socks of August

And it came to pass that . . . 410 stitches will not fit on my tiny #1 circulars! Boo Hoo! At least all three welts are completed, and we await the arrival of the new needle. So, I got me over to eBay and ordered another circular to add to the collection.

And that left me with nothing OTN. Bummer! So, tonite, I cast on for a new pair of socks - in bold, bright, beautiful colors. See??

I bought this yarn a little while ago, and have been itching to try it. I did try the toe-up socks last week with it, but wasn't that enthused about it. Now, this, is beautiful. Am going to use the tried and true "Blueberry Waffle" sock pattern. Did that one last year and have a beautiful pair of socks to show for the effort. I love this yarn!

Well - Welts!

No, not Lawrence Welts (Ugh, bad joke).

Yes, not only do I now know what welts are, I've even finished knitting a couple and have one more to go before my #1 dpns become entirely too small. Here's what we have so far:

The largest one is the back of the sweater, top one is the left-hand side, and bottom still being worked is the right side. Once I finish this one, I will knit across all three, adding stitches until there are a miraculous 410 stitches total. Apparently, this is what is meant by "split garter welts."

Then the real fun begins with the patterned stitches. Thank goodness the body of the sweater is knitted flat!






It will include seed stitch initials, definition ridges, starfish and diamond motifs, two-stitch seed seam stitches, gussets, unshaped neckline, shoulder straps, and a ribbed neckband. Whew! Now - considering it's taken me 3 days to knit what I have so far, any bets on how long it will be before this is finished? I'm guessing if I get 10 rows finished a day . . . . . . . it will be completed sometime just near retirement! (But it will still be just as pretty!)

A Day of Two "Firsts"

Progress on the Koigu socks has come to a total standstill - not enough yarn. Eventually may rip it out and try something else.

Today was boring, so it became a day of firsts.

My very first swatch - is the Guernsey yarn for the Grace's Cardigan. Actually came out right on the money! Notice the "Channel Island Cast On" that makes the nice little picots on the edge. Decided to throw those into this just to see if I could do it.



Following that success, I then tried my first "toe up" sock - not too bad for a novice!

Strange Phenomenon

So, I sat here today admiring the first completed Koigu sock. I must admit, it came out rather nice. See?

And I sit there, thinking how nice the multi-colored yarn is - how the colors go so good together, how much I like the little flecks of dark blue and green and a bit of red and rose. It is just a lovely combination of colors - and they are very pleasant to look at for long periods of time . . . .

I should know - they MATCH the sofa and love seat I've been admiring for the last 11 years! How strange!