I am resting today...

...because I overdid it yesterday. I decided me and my little pain machine could tackle the outside area around the house, do Fall clean-up and lug it all to the end of the driveway for the garbage man who comes early Monday morning. Well I did six bags and the muscles in my body let me know. But, there is always knitting.

This sock has shown up a lot lately on German knitting groups. Since it was free, I downloaded it and started knitting with 100 grams Regia - Kaffe Fasset. The pattern was in German and rather cumbersome, unlike other knitting patterns found on German sites. As I tried to wade through it, I finally scrolled down to the end and found that it was by Lucy Neatby from her book Cool Socks - Warm Feet. Only I could happen on a pattern that was translated word by word from English to another language.

Off to the Internet I went, looking for the book. It's out of print, but Amazon had several copies, some for as much as $103.64 used. The good news is that there was a vendor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that was selling it new at the original price. The book was originally published in 2003 and had three editions, the last in 2006. In my opinion, the book is quite wordy, but would have been a good primer for beginning sock knitters. Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks and More Sensational Socks are a much better bargain with many more patterns. I am sure there have been other beginning sock knitting books published that are just as good. I certainly wouldn't pay $100 for it.

I have also finished a "shawlette" by Monika Eckert in bright fingering weight turquoise. It was originally designed for a lace weight yarn by Atelier Zitron called Filigrano. I cannot find the yarn in the US as yet and am unwilling to pay for the postage from Germany. On top of it, it's always more fun to experiment with other yarns. I had a partial cone of Jagger Spun Maine Line yarn left, and it did just fine. The shawlette is a little bigger than originally intended, but it's getting winter around here, and I am going to keep this one for myself. Pictures as soon as I can block it.

So that's it folks. Knit on Merrily!

Simple things

I delight in simple things and thanks to my new TENS (transsubcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit, I can take walks again. They are short; I am up to 1/3 of a mile. But I hope that I can take longer walks as my strength starts to return. Fall came quickly to this part of Michigan. The days have been on the cool side and the nights are crisp. Just the right kind of weather.

This photo was taken just beyond the mail box. I love the bronze colors of the Fall grasses on the side of the road.

Even the oak trees are already starting to turn.

And this tree is full of red berries. I can't believe that the cedar waxwings have missed these berries. It looks like a flowering dogwood tree. I'll have to keep an eye on it next summer.

The milk weed is ready to burst, soon showing its silken fluff after the seeds have blown away. I wonder if you could spin with the down of this plant? The Monarch butterfly larvae feed exclusively on the leaves of the milk weed.

And here is a closer look at the grasses.

While most of the ferns seem to have dried up overnight, this one is still in the process.

And tomorrow it's back to knitting photos.

All in white

The Bad Cat Designs Summer Swatch Me sampler is finished. It used just under 200 gr. of Regia Wool/Silk/Nylon sock yarn on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles. As you can see, the edging has beads in it; I used 6/0 matte iridescent seed beads.

Other projects in the works are a pair of socks and finishing the Shetland Pi shawl.

Knit on merrily!

Eye Candy, I hope

Well, it's a bit late, but I've finally blocked the Kalendar Scarf I knit from December 1 through December 25, 2009. For those who have short memories like me, this was the annual Advent Calendar Knit-Along from the Swedish web site http://www.kalender2009.slojdohantverk.se. The scarf was originally knit with Musk Ox yarn. The pattern is no longer free, but if you wait until December 1, you can always download the daily patterns for the 2010 sampler. I knit this scarf with one skein of Wisdom's Poems Sock yarn. I would suggest never to knit anything with this yarn if you have either a short-haired cat or dog in the house. We, of course, have both. The yarn, a single ply yarn, attracts short stubby hair from a mile away, yet alone the critters running around in the house. Also I think the name "sock yarn" is a misnomer. I would not knit socks with it since the thickness is slightly inconsistent. So here are finally the photos. Thanks to my physical therapy and my TENS unit it is easier to do blocking and taking photos.

Knit on merrily!

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!