New Scarf...

...ala Bad Cat Designs' Summer-Swatch-Me group has finally been blocked and photos taken. Yarn used is hand-spun from a no-longer known roving source. It looks like it is a silk/wool blend. Of course, the yarn was spun by my daughter as one of her early spinning projects. It's a little heavier than what she now spins. The beads visible in the detail photo are Delicas.

The photo of the whole scarf is truer to the actual color.

Knit on merrily!

Look what I found today...

...on my way to the mailbox. A whole bunch of new puffball mushrooms on an old oak tree stump. By the way, they are mighty good eating if you get them before they develop spores inside. They taste just like fresh unsalted butter.



And here is a picture of the 576 stitch portion of the Pi shawl.

Knit on merrily.

Mushrooms, butterflies and Pi shawls

Most German blogs I read are complaining about the cold weather and some actually turned on the heat. Wish it were so here. Since Saturday we have gone through the hottest days of the summer and wouldn't you know it our air conditioning quit working on Saturday. While it's only 75 degrees F today, the humidity is 78% and nary a breeze. You know what that means: the weather outside is oppressive and "the fungus is among us." Puffballs are everywhere and the tomatoes, beans and zucchini are growing mold. Boo hoo.



But on my way to the mail box I was rewarded with a monarch butterfly and quickly took a few photos. If you look closely, you can see that her wing on the left side of the photo seems to be injured. Maybe that's why I could catch a photo.





Lastly, the third portion of the Pi shawl, designed by Wendy Johnson, is finished and I am on to part four. Part four with 576 stitches and a potential of 128 rows will take a while.

I have a couple of lace scarves blocked, but haven't taken yet photos; so they will come later.

Knit on merrily!

Froggy went a courting

We went for a drive yesterday, exploring some of the many lakes in the Manistee National Forest. Lake County, our county, alone has 115 official inland lakes. The county south of us has 170 some official lakes. But in looking at the official lists, I can only say "there are a few missing." We visited Nichols Lake; it's representative of the many inland lakes: surrounded by woods, small cottages, no wake. For the landlubbers this means no big boats, water skiing, etc., but lots of fishing in boats with electric motors and the occasional Pontoon boat.

And what did we see as we went down to the boat ramp? A froggie! It's bigger partner was grass green, but kept leaping into the underbrush so that I was unable to get its photo. But here is the little one in all his(?) glory.

And then I found these wildflowers as we drove down one of the many dirt roads. I am not sure which particular species of the pea family this is, but it looked pretty, particularly when paired with Goldenrod and the Jack Pine.


And finally a picture of Nichols Lake whose look is representative of many of our lakes around this area of Michigan.


I promise more knitting pics in a couple of days.

Another Pi Shawl started

Well, I've joined another knit-along. This one is by Wendy Johnson, the sock book author, who decided to design her own, after knitting the Ravelry Elizabeth Zimmermann 100th birthday Pi shawl. I like knitting Pi shawls, the advantage being that you always have a place in which to carry your ball of yarn. I am using a 3 lb. cone of off-white sock yarn which we bought from Webs ages ago. The label on the inside of the cone states "Regina" and "Italy." The yarn seems to be "oiled" since after washing the yarn blooms and is a lighter off-white. I am using US size 7 (4.5 mm) needles.

Knit on merrily.

Another pair of socks finished

I am such a sucker for someone drooling over the socks I wear. I immediately offer to make them a pair. And that's how this pair of socks came about. My daughter's sister-in-law saw my 70th birthday socks I had knit for myself and said "I wish someone would knit me a pair of socks." She lamented that her mother had taught her how to darn and mend, but not how to knit. And thus Sandy's socks came about. They were knit with an old hank of hand-dyed yarn (thanks to my daughter) and US 1-1/2 (2.50 mm) needles.


Knit on merrily.

I'm in a sock knitting rut

I am on a sock knitting jag. These are patterned after the "Reverse Pod Socks" of Bad Cat Designs Summer Swatch Me Knit-Along. Knit with dear daughter's hand-dyed commercial yarn. The colors remind me of violets one can find growing in the woods. The yarn is a wee bit thicker than the average commercial sock yarn. Since the pattern used 64 stitches and I needed only 60 stitches for a snug fitting sock, I decreased each pattern repeat by 1 stitch. This change made the pattern look more asymmetrical. Now I need to knit the second sock.

The other pair of socks were also knit with daughter's hand-dyed yarn. The pattern came from a 99 page downloaded book called "The Sole Solution 2003/2004 Collection." The patterns will pop up in PDF form if you google the title. It's an easy pattern to remember. The pattern is knit with a multiple of seven stitches. I cast on 64, knit the cuff, and then decreased one stitch. First row: Knit, Second row: k1, y/o, p1, p3tog., p1, y/0, k1. Third and Fourth row: Knit. Repeat ad finitum. You can decide on your own cuff, heel and toe.

Knit on merrily!