AWOL or MIA

I can't make up my mind whether I was "absent without leave" or "missing in action" from the blog world for the last two weeks or so. I haven't even taken the time to read the blogs I normally follow and still have some 600 e-mail messages to read, most of them from one group. It's not that I've had a hot date or anything. However, I've been knitting diligently, even went to the doctor and had my blood tests done and they were all normal even my long-term test for diabetes was normal and that without medication. Yippee! Amazing what less stress will do for your health. So here is what I've been up to:

I finished my Undulating Rib socks and as proof here is a picture of both socks:

They are fraternal twins rather than identical. But they are waaaaarm and so soft since they are made from 100% Merino. This is not a sock to wear in regular shoes. The Merino would wear out too quickly, but in my Birkenstocks they are just right.

I've also knit a scarf for my son for Christmas. Since he never reads my blog, I can talk about it and show a picture. The yarn came from the basement of the mother of one of Angie's friends. It is also a very soft yarn, and seems to be hand spun, Navajo plied -- one strand of brown and one strand of gray plied together. The yarn had no label, but looked as if the colors were "natural sheep". It's just a simple scarf made with the Brioche stitch. I've been using up old stash, and it looks like a mouse feasted on this part of the stash since one skein was almost chewed through. Nevertheless a darning needle was all that I needed. The Navajo ply lends itself beautifully to pulling one end of the yarn through the other end. The reason he gets a new scarf for Christmas is that his sister and I took him out for his birthday dinner. He had a nice scarf on, but when I felt it to see what it was made of, there was a hole on the underside. Now, I just can't let my son walk around with a hole in his scarf, can I? (Leave it up to a mother to turn the scarf right at the point where the hole was.

Finally, I've also been working on my Shawl KAL. I have two more parts to knit before I am finished--just in time before the next KAL starts. The next KAL is called "den-Fischer-sin-Fru" or "The Fisherman and his wife." I bet you didn't know what happened after the fisherman's castle was returned back into a shabby hovel. Well let me tell you: His wife was cold in the old hovel and thus frogged her husband's nets and made a shawl for herself. He finally had enough of her needles clicking away and not having any nets for fishing and he goes back and tells the flounder all about how miserable he is. The flounder takes pity on him and transports the poor miserable creature to a deserted island where he finally found peace. But the fisherman's wife is.... still knitting. I can't wait to see what the shawl she is knitting looks like.

Not the best picture to show off this section, but it does show some details. This is the middle of the shawl.

Another view up to the 6th installment. Only two to go.

And this is what the edging looks like, including the short stubby hair of Sir Rat aka Pepe Le Pew aka the rat terrier. The dog does not leave my side. I think he's an outgrowth of my left hip. No the right hip; it has to be the left hip.

And finally look what I found in the chicken coop today. This egg is just over 3" long, has a 6" circumference and weighs 3.3 oz. or 96 grams. I bet you the chicken who laid this egg said "Ouch."

So now you know why I hadn't gotten around to blogging. I was too busy knitting.

So let's all "Knit on!"

Interlude on a Sunday Afternoon!

I was knitting merrily away at my Secret of Chrysopolis Mystery Shawl when I noticed that eight rows or so down I had knitted about 10 stitches when I should have purled. Wonder what got into me? I am usually pretty good at correcting mistakes, but not this time around. Too many stitches and too many rows down with yarn overs and knitting stitches together. And since it was a really dreary Sunday and I didn't have enough sunshine to undo the rows.

I decided to put the shawl aside and knit something fun. So I made these three washcloths. All the patterns are from: http://freepatterns.k1p1keepingyouinstitchesstudio.com/
If you haven't seen the site yet, it's a veritable treasure trove of patterns. And they all are free.

Flickering Flame
Little Shetland Leaf

Tuscan Tiled Roof

I love the pattern in the Tuscany Tiled Roof. Now back to undoing eight rows of lace knitting. We are supposed to have sunshine tomorrow.

Knit on!

Further Stash Enhancement and Knitting Updates

I did it again. I enhanced my stash of sock yarn. The skeins were hand-dyed by a nearby LYS. Unfortunately, the dyer no longer works at the LYS, and thus the line has been discontinued. But who can resist a bargain? Not me. If Al Qaeida or some other terrorists attack, I have sock needles with which to defend myself and yarn with which to keep warm. So without further ado here is my newest stash:

I really have to do something with that waste basket in the backyard, like pick it up and that little white blob in the upper left hand corner is one of the new chickens.

I also acquired from my daughter a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn. She was playing "dye-me" with the LYS owner and this is what she came up with:

And then, of course, two more skeins of 50% off Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn also jumped into my shopping basket.

If you're wondering what is under the yarn, it's the Miss Crazy scarf. I still have to make the tassels for the other side before I show it off.
And now to knitting projects. I finished the snowflake scarf. The yarn used was Regia Sock yarn, I used about 2-1/2 balls (50 gram balls). If I knit the scarf again, I will make the edging a two stitch garter edging rather than the stockinette edging. With the stockinette edging it wants to curl a little too much. The pattern came from the Yahoo Group Weihnachtsgeheimnis (Christmas Secret).

And finally, I am finished with part three on the Secret of Chrysopolis Shawl, only 4 behind the most productive knitters in the group, but it's starting to look really good and as more rows are added, it seems easier to knit.

So now you know why I've not been posting as frequently. I've been busy.

"Knit on!"

Gettinng side tracked...

...again. In between knitting on the shawl "Secret of Chrysopolis," I made three dish cloths and half of a narrow shawl from the German Christmas secret (Weihnachtsgeheimniss) Yahoo KAL. I have decided that whenever I get frustrated and/or make mistakes on the shawl, I just pick up something different and then get back to the shawl and whatever I thought was a problem usually has solved itself.

And now the more mundane things, i.e. dishcloths.

Swing Shift from Knit 1, Purl 1

Block Party from Knit 1, Purl 1

Brickwork Lace, from Knit 1, Purl 1

I really should quit knitting and get some housework done.

Nevertheless, "Knit on!"