Double Applied I-Cord with Apologies to Elizabeth Zimmerman

Apologies to my husband whom I blamed for deleting photos of the blanket I made for Daughter #2. I found the photos on i-Photo!

I thought I would do a small tutorial on using I-cord to join two knitted fabrics. I could not find anything about this technique in Elizabeth Zimmerman's books, so I un-vented the technique myself. I later learned that Meg Swansen has a demonstration of this on one of her videos. Experience doing applied I-cord to an edge of fabric is helpful.

Tutorial:

Getting ready: Pin the two fabrics together with the amount of ease you need to make the two pieces match.

STEP ONE:

Perhaps you can see that I am applying a double edging (the pink garter stitch strip with the purple knitted-on lace) to the blanket. The section on the middle left has already been applied with green yarn using I-cord. The upper middle shows the edging pinned to the blanket but not yet applied. There are three stitches on my (sharp points) double pointed needle. This is a three stitch I-cord. I simply cast on three stitches to begin.

Concept: The idea is to generate one stitch from each fabric being joined. In this case, I generated one stitch from the blanket and one stitch from the edging. I obtain easy and good stitches from the blanket, which was knit on the bias, I did a single crochet in the green yarn all the way around the blanket, doing one single crochet stitch in each garter stitch "valley" row.

STEP TWO: Picking up stitch from the edging.

I "generated" an I-cord stitch from the edging after working the three I-cord stitches. Using the working yarn from the left, I pulled the yarn through the slipped stitch edge of the edging using a second double pointed needle. I found that this all worked much easier with very sharp double pointed needles.

STEP THREE:

Put this new stitch on the right side of your working needle and knit it together with the second stitch (previously the first stitch) on the needle.

STEP FOUR:

Do the same idea for the blanket edge. You have already knit the first (new) and second stitch on your needle together. You then knit the middle stitch of the I-cord on the needle. Then, you slip the third I-cord stitch.
Put your left needle under both loops of the single crochet edge of the blanket. Pull the working yarn through these loops so that you have one strand of yarn on the left needle as a fourth stitch. Put this stitch on the right needle.

STEP FIVE:

Pass the slipped (third) stitch over the new stitch. Slide the stitches to the other end of the needle and repeat from the top.

This photo (ABOVE) was taken just after I slipped the third stitch over the new stitch. You can also see the single crochet edging on the blanket (left of center) and the edge of the pink and purple edging to the right of center.

Here is the corner of the completed blanket with the I-cord holding together the edging strip and the blanket. I think it gives a nice framed picture kind of look. The I-cord adds texture and depth to the blanket.

I am very proud of how the blanket turned out. As with most projects, there was a point at which I thought the entire project was stupid and should be tossed into the trash barrel.
Because the knitting of the squares was so easy (garter stitch squares on the bias), I concluded that I needed to have a very nice edging. I didn't want future generations to say the blanket was ugly or that great-grandmother really didn't have many knitting tricks up her sleeve.


I like how the squares go together to form x's and diamonds. The effect is of an optical illusion at some points.
Credit where credit is due to Cosmic the Knitting Kitty. He helps with blocking, sitting on the wet wool to help it dry and removing the pins holding the pointed edges of the blanket in place.

Keeping My Girl Warm

As a knitter and as a mother my main goal in life seems to be keeping my daughters warm. The main goal of my daughters, however, seems to be avoiding receiving un-stylish sweaters from their mother. Un-stylish translates as "anything mom would knit." They do accept hats, mittens and gloves, provided that they have approved the yarn and the style ahead of time. Daughter #1 also accepts socks--in certain colors and certain (plain) styles.

These smaller projects were not enough to fulfill my mother/knitter goal however. Four years ago I convinced Daughter #2 that she needed a blanket for when she went to college. I began to make a blanket on size 2.5mm needles, using leftover sock yarn. The blanket went slowly, since I needed to generate leftover sock yarn. Then, people began to give me their leftover sock yarn, but progress was still slow. Gradually the blanket grew and grew and my daughter, while in high school, kept the unfinished blanket on her bed. Click here for previous posts about the blanket.

Well, in September Daughter #2 left for college and the blanket still needed an edging!! There is nothing wrong with her memory, and she reminded me as we dropped her off at college, "Mom, where is my blanket!!??" Now, I knew that the weather wouldn't require a blanket until late October, when I finally finished the blanket.

Unfortunately, my husband's camera (or my husband) deleted the photos of the blanket that I had taken while it was blocking. This is a photo taken by a friend at The Sow's Ear, a much loved knitting and coffee shop. I think the sun shining through gives the blanket a nice effect.
I made a chart for Daughter #2 identifying the yarn in each square, for whom the socks were knitted and whether the yarn was donated. When she comes home from college, I will take better photos.

The blanket edging was a life time project in itself. Daughter #2 selected the edging colors while we were on vacation in 2008. She wanted a three colored edging, to give the blanket a framed and matted effect. I first knit miles of a 10 stitch garter stitch strip, with mitered corners. (The blanket is the size of a sheet for a long twin size bed.) That nearly drove me insane. In my blind need to find a more interesting stitch, I found a garter stitch lace diamond pattern, which I knit onto the garter stitch strip using a purple sock yarn. Although that was far more interesting to knit, it was twice as wide as the plain pink garter stitch and took about three times as long to knit.

I was ready to stop right there. Forget the green yarn my daughter had selected. But, promises are promises and mothers have to keep their promises. So, I determined to minimize the number of stitches using the green. I "un-vented" the double-applied-I-cord. If Elizabeth Zimmer could un-vent knitting techniques, I figured that I could un-vent something that she probably tried, but never published. I attached the pink/purple strip to the blanket using the green yarn and a four stitch I-cord, picking up one stitch on the edge of the blanket and one stitch on the edge of the edging. After a few fits and starts, I got into the rhythm and it worked!!

I delivered the blanket to my daughter's dorm in early December 2009, hoping to keep her cozy and warm from the brisk, frigid winter winds of Minnesota. Her bunk bed is right against the uninsulated windows of the room. Has she used it? No. The dorm heating system blasts out hot air 24 hours a day and she is always too hot. Does anyone see it? No. To make room for three girls in a room built for two, the beds are elevated with the desks and dressers underneath. No one can see what is on top of the bed. Does she love it? Yes--she treasures the blanket and would not part with it.

I guess, after all, what is most important is that we mother-knitters warm our children's hearts, even if we are unsuccessful at warming their bodies.

15 Seconds of Fame

I'm basking in my 15 seconds of fame. Kay of Mason Dixon Knitting recent blog posting showed me (minus my head) and my recently de-bottomed Dale of Norway sweater. The "Gail" she described, that's me!! She thought I was brave/delusional/insane for cutting the bottom off of my recently finished sweater. No one else has knocked at my door to admire my sweater, but I'm honored nonetheless.

Here are some photos of my other Olympic entries.


1) Completed Blackberry Mittens, pattern from Blackberry Ridge. Made out of sock yarns from Shi Bui (hand dyed) and Kraemer (white). I made one mitten two years ago for my Christmas gift basket. Unfortunately, no one selected the mitten as a present, even though I promised to make a second one. Therefore, during the Olympics I started and finished the second mitten and now I am wearing them. Perfect weight for Wisconsin early spring-late winter.




2) Leftover Sock Yarn Blanket. Before Christmas I finished the leftover sock yarn blanket for daughter #2. (More about this blanket in a later post.) Upon seeing the blanket, daughter #1 asked, "Where's mine?" Note that I worked for four years on the blanket for daughter #2. Not wanting to be accused of unfair or unequal mothering, I began to make squares for the second blanket. During the Olympics, I sewed these squares together, to show my good faith in actually making a blanket for daughter #1. Check back in 2014 to see the completed object. Meanwhile, I'll be generating leftover sock yarn by continuing to make socks.

Tonight I'll be scrubbing mold and mildew out of the shower, from under old caulking. Nasty job. I'd rather be knitting. But, the state of the shower was caused by regular knitting rather than regular house cleaning. Rats!!

Taking care of those treasures!

As with all other sock knitters, I LOVE my hand knit socks. I love wearing them. I love seeing them in my drawer, I love making them. What I don't love is finding a hole when I go to put them on. Given the amount of time that went into making each sock, I subconsciously plan on them lasting at least 25 years! Consciously, however, I realize that holes happen!
After graduation from library school, I had a little time on my hands, or on my feet......I washed all of my wool socks carefully. Then, I applied a little pill-buster "machine" to them. This is a little hand held, battery operated pill remover that I found at the hardware store. I love it. It keeps my socks and other wool items looking spiffy! Then, I examined each sock for signs of wear. I rummaged through my leftover yarn box to find matching yarn, and I duplicate stitched any worn spots. Then, I put them out in the sunshine for a nice group photo! (these are only my wool socks. My cotton/wool/nylon socks are still in the sock drawer.) Then, I put them in a box to save for next fall.
I realized that I need a little more color and variety in my sock stash! I love the fit and texture of Lucy Neatby's Mermaid Socks, so I'll add that to my list of socks for the fall. I'll also add another pair or two of the Feather and Fan socks from Socks, Socks, Socks. And, I'll try some new sock patterns that the bloggers are making. Finally, I'll make some more of the elegant rib socks--elegant rib is from Barbara Walker's stitch guides and it is a fabulous snug rib with cross-cables every once in a while. I'll also get out a knee sock pattern to see if I can make some that stay up!
With my left over sock yarn, and left over sock yarn from friends, I've been steadily working on daughter #2's leftover sock yarn blanket. You can see that she uses it every night on her bed, even though it is not finished. (Her beloved cat sleeps in the "nest" on top, with the baby blanket I made for her. The cat loves the little bobbles--in a way-too-Freudian way--and sucks the baby blanket before curling down to sleep!!!) Currently, the leftover sock yarn blanket is 13 by 11 squares. We think it needs to be 12 squares wide and 14 squares long to make a real blanket for her bed while in college. After knitting up those additional squares (let's see; I've knit 13 x 11=143 squares and I need 25 more squares, for a total of 168 squares total!!!!) I will put applied I-cord around to keep all the edges in line. However, I'm not finished with sock yarn squares. Now daughter #1 says she wants a similar blanket. So I've got 168 plus 25 more squares to make!! This is a very long term project.

Non-knitting and knitting friends alike ask me how long it takes to knit a blanket (not a smaller size afghan) out of sock yarn on size 2.5 mm needles. Well, 168 squares times 2389 stitches per square equals--401,352 stitches!!!! (or, 401.352 for European readers). Multiply time-per-stitch by 401,352 and then add the time of sewing the sides together (roughly four sides times 168 equals 672 and subtract one side for each of the edge squares) and you have the total!!! I sew the squares in as I complete enough for a side or edge and, therefore, reduce the angst of sewing together. Just doing the math makes me tired.

I've been on a spring house cleaning of my unfinished knitting projects. I had only a few items on the needles and I decided to finish them all before starting anything new. (does this ring a bell with anyone???) I finished the shaped shawl that I showed in my previous blog and gave myself a big pat on the back. Then, I finished my Potomaous (spelling??) socks from the Knitty pattern. They are made out of wool/cotton/nylon. Therefore, they went into the sock drawer, not into the box for next fall.

I also got out my husband's Dale of Norway sweater which needed 1.75 sleeves. It now needs only 1 sleeve. Sorry, I don't have a photo.

I got sidetracked onto a new project!! I know, I can't control my start-itis. My step daughter (age 40) will be getting married on July 2. Last week I offered to make her a shawl for the wedding!! Why I didn't make this offer a month ago,I don't know. (yes, I do know. I was overwhelmed with finishing projects for my MLS degree!! How quickly we forget labor pains!!) I am now making a shawl out of very fine lace weight cotton. Because her dress is lacy, she wanted a plain shawl. I can't show photos or divulge the pattern until after I send the shawl to her. I'm using size 4 needles (the new Addi Turbo lace needles for which I have mixed reviews). Laceweight cotton is more difficult to work with than I anticipated. Plus, the stitches get stuck on the join between the needle and the cable. Rats!!

After washing and mending all of my wool socks, I got to work on my wool sweaters. I washed all of them in my super dooper front loading washing machine that has a superb hand wash cycle. I spread the sweaters on my floor to dry. This attracted Cosmic, who loves damp wool. I, being human, do not understand the glories of damp wool as a bed, but who am I to say.
Cosmic's eyes are flashing a warning--do not disturb!!!

Flushed with success

Do you see those happy, smiling faces??? Those are faces of knitters who have just spent 2.5 hours on their knees and "arses" (as the Yarn Harlot would say) sewing the garter stitch red border strips to the completely assembled blanket. Our faces show a mixture of pride, relief and pain--none of us are young enough to sit or kneel on the floor that long, with legs under or splayed out. The five of us are only half of the group, but we are the ones who put in the last stitch! Dee, second from the right, has the unwelcome job of weaving in all the remaining ends. Although, after I wove in about 35,000 ends 10 days ago, there are not many remaining. Click on the photo to see a larger image.
Here is the blanket in all its splendor. I had a hard time getting a good, non-distorted image without a wide angle lens. And, somehow the ugly fireplace ended up taking a prominent place in the photo as well.

In addition, I finished another strip of 11 squares for my daughter's similar but not so artistic left over sock yarn blanket. Unfortunately, the socks I've been making recently have used up nearly all of the yarn in the balls. For example, the upper right corner has a yellowish square that used up every inch of the leftover yarn from those socks. Same story with the square that is third from the top right.

I now have two friends who are making similar blankets. However they aren't following THE RULES. That is, they purchase sock yarn specifically for the purpose of making squares for the blanket. Whereas, my original RULES required using only left over sock yarn. That is, I have to make a pair of socks first, then use the remaining yarn for the blanket. However, since I have been getting only one square per pair of socks, and there are now 110 squares in the blanket and I will need at least 36 more squares, that means 36 more pair of socks...... I think I may also bend the rules. My friends are swapping sock yarn. Therefore, if they give me some of their remaining sock yarn, the yarn is--technically speaking--leftover, even though the skein was not originally used to make socks. What do you think?? Am I cheating if I bend the rules???
Here is an example of the problem. Do you see this sock?? I have two skeins of JaWoll sock yarn--should be enough to make two socks with a little left over for a square for the blanket, wouldn't you think??

Look carefully at this toe. I had to add solid grey in two row stripes at the toe to extend the yarn enough just to finish the sock!! I must admit that the striping solution worked beautifully, but it means that my plan to knit socks to generate left over yarn will not work.

Mother Nature has bent the rules about spring here in the upper Midwest. The daffodils and tulips were luxuriating in the warmer spring weather and poking up their hopeful heads this weekend when, wham!, Mother Nature sent 6 inches of wet, sloppy snow!! This was after some nights of freezing that bent the flower stems and flattened most of the blossoming daffodils and tulips. However, this little ice coated guy remained upright in the gloom of the dreary, cold day. He gave us hope that spring would eventually come!!


The birch clump in front of our house was especially burdened with the soft wet snow. The clump split in two, with the branches of each side nearly touching the ground, even after I tried to shake off the snow.
Our wind vane was frozen in place and did not move, despite the strong winds.



I hope spring is coming more quickly in your area. I feel positively lighthearted today--there is sunshine and the snow is melting. We can again see green grass in some spots!! The trees are now standing upright again and by tomorrow I should be able to take stock of the daffodils and tulips to see what has survived Mother Nature's test of our patience and belief in springtime!!

Still Catching Up

Many knitting bloggers are posting about new projects for the new year. Unfortunately, I am still catching up from 2006's Christmas presents. Somehow this happens to me every year. I give people a box of yarn--these are people who do not know how to knit and do not want to learn. (yes, I also have a hard time believing the some people actually do not want to learn to knit, but they do exist. Right in my own family!!)
This past Christmas I gave my mother THREE-FOURTHS of a sock. She was very excited about it--I think. I must tell you that she showed excitement and deep appreciation when she unwrapped the box labelled "Christmas lights." She thought I had given her a box of Christmas lights!!! Now, I ask you, who would give their mother a box of Christmas lights???? And, what mother would be excited about a box of Christmas lights?? My mother did a good job of feigning excitment about the Christmas lights. Therefore, I couldn't tell whether she was feigning excitment about the 3/4 sock or not!!
Let me assure you, however, that she actually liked the completed socks. I used Paton's Kroy sock yarn in a heather-y blue and a pattern from Interweave Knits Spring 2004. The Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn Clark. I added eye of partridge stitch for the heel, just to look pretty for my mom.
Remember the basket of knitted items, from which friends and family could select an item?? Some of those items were not finished objects. This scarf, for example, did not have its ends sewn in. Nevertheless, my step daughter's boyfriend (very, very nice boyfriend whose mother used to knit a lot and APPRECIATES handmade items!!!) selected the scarf for his present! I think this is a boyfriend made in heaven, if you ask me.
The hat for step-daughter was also not complete. It did not have its tassel, nor did it have the microfleece lining sewn in. I was able to finish both, however, while she was looking at family slides with her dad!! My 15-year old demonstrated how one can get the tassle spinning (while wearing the hat, of course) and almost achieve lift-off!! Just watching her do this makes me dizzy. But, step-daughter was very entertained and actually got the tassle spinning!
My 15-year old received one mitten for Christmas. I finally finished mitten #2 and felted it a bit. She likes the mittens--to look at--at to wear--theoretically. Although the weather has finally reached normal (that is, cold) temperatures and we have snow on the ground (hooray!!) she has yet to wear the mittens. She says she is afraid of loosing them. Hmmmmm, Anyway, the pattern is from the book Folk Mittens, a favorite of mine. I used Cascade 220 periwinkle and Ultra Alpaca cream. The mittens are nice and cozy--I hope youngest daughter wears them someday. If she doesn't, the periwinkle also matches my new winter jacket.......

The leftover sock yarn blanket is an ongoing gift for the youngest. I hope to complete it before she goes off to college. Although I promised that I would use only LEFTOVER sock yarn, my definition of "leftover" has expanded. I used yarn leftover from socks that I made and from socks that other people made but I ran out of yarn. I can't knit socks fast enough to fuel the blanket project. Therefore, I have begun to use leftover sock yarn from yarn shops--those 50 gram one-ball remnants that go into the clearance bin because the store doesn't have a second ball. I feel like standing on a street corner begging, "Leftover sock yarn, please help an old lady warm her daughter!"
So far, I've made 90 squares. I gave youngest daughter 9 more squares for Christmas--the squares in the top row. She actually uses this item. It's not big enough to serve as a blanket for her bed, but she puts it ontop of her comforter and it provides nice extra warmth.
My "rules" for making the blanket are here. I would be very (extremely) happy to purchase any leftover sock yarn that you have. (washable and self striping preferred) Just let me know and I'll also pay postage.

I've also been working on my husband's Christmas gift for 2005!!! I won't repeat the painful time we had picking out the pattern and yarn. I finished the color work on the sweater and now am doing boring, boring, boring stockinette shaping the neck. I just can't face it. I am in the black hole of knitting where you knit 10,000 stitches and measure the progress, only to find that the measurement decreased rather than increased!!!! I won't even show you a picture, it is too painful.
What does a knitter do when she is bored with a project??? Cast on for a new project!!! I need mittens. Weather here is COLD!! I opened up the gorgeous book by Charlene Schurch, Knitting Marvelous Mittens. [Digression__I love her patterns and have made three or four of them. But, I can NEVER get the proper gauge. My dad's Christmas mittens from the book ended up 15 inches long!!! And, he has short stubby hands. Fortunately, I like to felt mittens to keep out the wind. His finished mittens will keep out a winter gale!!] I am following a pattern for child mittens, size 3 needles and Mountain Colors weaver's quarters and Ultra Alpaca. I needed to begin decreasing about 10-12 rows sooner than the pattern called for. And the first mitten is fabulous!!


Can you tell the difference between the two photos??? It's not a mistake.

This, however, is a mistake. I tried doing the kitchener stitch for the top of the mitten, but it looks sloppy--especially since I couldn't work the pattern repeat for the desired length. I'm going to pick it out, turn the mitten inside out, and use a three needle bind-off.

My school break ends tomorrow. Back to school on Monday. I have loved knitting so much during the break, and hosting company. And I was tickled to see how excited people were to paw through my basket of hand knit hats, scarves and mittens. I'm going to keep a basket of items, I think, just for the fun of it!!

Too Frazelled to Knit!!

Making a mistake in real life is much more difficult to repair than a knitting mistake. No "frogging" in real life!! No ability to simply rewind, and love the moment over, doing the right thing on the second go around.
We (husband, 14-year-old and I) were supposed to leave for Barcelona Spain last Saturday. Friday night we were copying our passports and discovered that our daughter's passport had expired!! Last month!! Take note, all of you international travellers. Children's passports are issued for only FIVE years, not ten years like adult passports. What to do?? Besides feel incredibly, incredibly stupid!! Daughter held up well; no weeping or carrying on. Husband was the one carrying on, anxiety ridden, etc., swearing, wondering whether the trip was doomed, etc. etc.
Unfortunately, nothing could be done until Monday. I did the best thing possible--convinced Husband that he should take the scheduled flight to Barcelona and I would sort things out on the home front.
So, husband took the Sat. a.m. flight . On Sunday I called the passport agency's hotline for making appointments to get emergency passports. I got an appointment for July 3. Not good. Not at all good. But, I kept my cool and my daughter and I went to the zoo!
On Monday morning I called our U.S. senator's office. By 9:00 they had arranged an appointment for me at the passport office in Chicago--a three hour drive away--at 12:30. By 9:15 I had awoken the 14 year old and we were in the car heading for the Windy City. By 4:00 p.m. we had her passport in hand. Also by 2:30 we had new reservations for tomorrow at no extra cost and with no penalty!! We couldn't believe it.
The trip home from Chicago was at a modest and relaxed 65 m.p.h., unlike the mad dash down there.

Normally, in times of crisis I knit. I was too upset to knit much this weekend. I couldn't even concentrate on garter stitch. Nevertheless, I made two more squares for my full body sock blanket--it now has 56 squares!! When finished, it should have 108 squares. I need to find more knitters with left over sock yarn to share!!

I am now running last minute errands, packing yarn for the trip and getting ready to start my new Violets by the River shawl.

I will provide a travelblog here along with Violets by the River progress at various European sites. I figured a sock in the photos would not have enough "class' for Barcelona and Paris. (Sorry, Stephanie!). Rather, a lovely lace shawl would be just the right thing....

Oh, about the cow--The Cow Parade has come to our town. We saw Cows on Parade in Barcelona in spring 2005. Here in Wisconsin, the cows are decorated more on a cow theme--since this is the Dairy State!! The Barcelona cows were very artistic. These cows are, well, cows!

End of the semester!!

It's been a long time, it seems, since my last post. I have been overwhelmed with completing my end of the semester projects and papers. I can now say that I have finished everything!!! Last week, I had completed the work for two of my courses. This week, I completed one 17 page paper and two 2-page papers on Tuesday morning. I handed them in and took off for my parent's home, about a 3 hour drive from my home. My mother has had a very difficult year health-wise and she doesn't have the energy or strength to plant flowers. She has always had nice flowers around her house. This year she said she would not plant anything, because my parents will be going to stay at my sister's home in Colorado for 5 weeks. Mom was afraid that anything she planted would not grow--and besides, she couldn't plant anyway. Therefore, for Mothers' Day, I told her I would plant flowers for her as soon as I finished my papers. So, on Tuesday afternoon, I took off. I planted little pink vincas along the walk and geraniums and a trailing plant in the large pots. Someone will come to water the plants every week. I love doing these things for my mom, but I hate that she can no longer do them herself, if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, progress on the full body sock blanket (i.e. leftover sock yarn balnket) progress has stalled because I'm knitting the socks to get the leftover yarn!! I recently finished jaywalkers and the leftover yarn is the pale green and gold square in the bottom row. I'm currently working on socks in my favorite pattern of all time, the feather and fan socks from Socks, Socks, Socks. Meanwhile, the blanket has 39 squares. I'm planning on having 96 squares. You can see that I need to knit lots and lots of socks. However, I am reconciled to this being a long term project.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to finish my spring cleaning--in knitter's talk that means finishing old projects!. A few weeks ago, I finished the little girl's hooded sweater out of ancient but adorable yarn. Now, I'm trying to finish this sweater for myself, started before Christmas. It is a Dale of Norway pattern, using their discontinued yarn, Sisik. Since I am a woman of significantly more years than this lovely model, I plan to eliminate the little flower do-dad where the fronts join. I also eliminated the pockets because I thought they would make me look too hippy (that is, too big in the hips, not too much like the young flower child I once was). I have completed the back and fronts and am now finishing the sleeves. The sleeve on the needles is on its third iteration!!! Here's the StupidSleeve Knitter's History:
1. Knit sleeve #1. Too narrow. Leave as is.
2. Knit sleeve #2. Amend pattern. Just right.
3. Frog Sleeve #1.
4. Begin re-knitting Sleeve #1. Work about 5 inches.
5. Abandon for another project. (No longer recall which project.)
6. Months later, locate sleeve #1. Unable to locate pattern. Merrily knit away, using memory as guide.
7. Ready for sleeve cap decreasing on sleeve #1. Compare to Sleeve #2. TOO NARROW.
8. Frog Sleeve #1 for second time. My parents watch in horror. How can you rip out all that work????? Because I'm stupid, that's why!
9. Locate pattern and notes. Work on sleeve #1. So far, soo good.
10. Take vow to complete Sleeve #1 this weekend!! DO NOT START ANOTHER PROJECT UNTIL THIS SWEATER IS COMPETE!!!!
I'm in the home stretch, now. I plan to finish the sweater this weekend, if gardening doesn't intervene.

It is so difficult to convince my husband that knitting is much more important than yard work.......

procrastination!!!!

Well, I should be writing my papers for the end of semester, which are due this week. and, I should be studying for my Spanish final exam, which is on Wednesday. But, it is much more fun to read knitting blogs and update mine. This is all further evidence that knitting is an addiction, but a profitable and fun one. Or, it could be evidence that I am a hopeless procrastinator and I have no self control whatever.

At any rate, above is the progress on the Full Body Sock Yarn Blanket! The bottom row is composed of squares from lefover sock yarn given to me by a friend. Thank you Jeanne Marie!!! You made gorgeous socks!

Last night I finished my first pair of Jaywalker socks that I made out of cotton/wool/nylon combination. I think that the pattern might work better with wool--no cotton. But I will wash the socks before I issue my final opinion and photo. Rather than finding the socks too tight, I found the socks too loose!!

I am having severe problems posting photos to my blog. I just lost four photos I was going to post. Rats!!! The problem has occurred with Mozilla as well as with Internet Explorer. I haven't changed anything in the camera, the software for putting photos on my computer, etc. I have concluded thaat I either have some type of interfering virus, or that Blogger has some problem. Rats!!

At any rate, yesterday I hosted a Literary Tea at my home. This means that I spent all day Saturday shopping and cleaning, etc., etc. On sunday morning, my 14 year old was pressed into service, as was my husband. Big thank yous to both of them.

I was going to post photos of the lucious tarts, cakes, etc., but they failed to upload. I was successful in loading one photo...

The vintage table cloths belong to Madge, the woman on the right. The tea was a fundraiser for the library in the School of Library and Information Studies. We had 11 people, and each brought a poem to read. After the tea, cakes, sherry and readings, we walked down the street to a neighbor's garden, to view her spectacular tulips and other bulbs, set in a hilly woods. Her gardener (she is now in her 80's) plants about 3,000 bulbs in the woods each fall!!!!! Her garden is a gift to the village in which we live, and to her many friends. She invites the entire village to walk through her garden each spring, when it is in full bloom. I think she gets as much pleasure watching people delight in the springtime blanket of color as from watching the tulips bloom herself!! Like a knitter, I suppose, who devotes hundreds of hours to make something beautiful out of a long string and two sticks, only to give it away to a friend!

Obsession

I admit it, I am obsessed with basically no-brainer knitting. Once I started this left over sock yarn blanket I have become totally dedicated to making these bias squares and sewing them into the blanket. As you can see, the bias stripes formed by the self striping yarn create an optical illusion effect. I love it, as does the daughter for whom it is intended.

You can see that I have learned a bit in making and assembling the squares. I learned that one needs to create stripes if the leftover yarn is not self striping. Therefore, I have used two sock yarns in some squares to achieve a striped effect.
I have also learned that my patience is not as great as I thought it was. That is, I had intended this to be a long term project (read--over several years). But I have become obsessed. I am running out of sock yarn and I want to stand on the street corner, soliciting left over sock yarn so that I can finish the blanket this spring. I can't possibly generate enough left over sock yarn by knitting dozens of socks within the next two months!!! Hmm, maybe I could post an ad at the LYS!!!

Meanwhile, I have been teaching a class on making the Flower Basket Shawl. I hope to take photos at our last class in two weeks, so that I can post the beautiful shawls that have been made.

I haven't been knitting on any other projects mainly because I have been busy with school assignments. I am doing my student teaching at a local elementary school, in the school library. I spend lots of time reading books to kids and preparing for a big research project that will begin this week with the 5th graders. They will be researching famous people from the Civil War.

In addition, my dishwasher has refused to empty water. Since I don't have time to stay at home to wait for a repair person, I need to start doing dishes by hand. I know, this is not a big deal in terms of the world as a whole, but it does cut into knitting time!!

On a happier note, my 14 year old daughter is preparing for the coming of age ceremony at our church next week. We purchased a cute spagetti-strapped pink dress with a "tutu" underneath. When I was young, we called those "tutus" stick-out slips and my mother would starch them. Now, it is just gathered netting with no name; christened "tutus" by my daughter. She thinks this is a new style! Ha! What does she know??

How did she possibly get so old?? She is finishing her freshman year in high school and will be at home for only three more years before going off to college. Oh my, I don't know if I am prepared to be an empty-nester. My nest has been full for 30 years--my oldest is 29 years old now. I don't know what it will be like to have only my husband and myself at home. How lonely it will feel. Meanwhile, we are enjoying and getting the most out of every minute with the 14 year old. Because we each have had our older children leave our nests, we have come to cherish all moments with this daughter--even the hormone driven teenage "moments"--because we know that her life with us is so limited.