4420 Mitchellville Road
Bowie, MD 20716
301.352.5560
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
4420 Mitchellville Road
Bowie, MD 20716
301.352.5560
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tonight I decided to be brave and try to wind one of my other Lisa Souza yarn hanks into a ball. My daughter gave me that, “Mom, you’re NUTS!” look as I began to drag out the swift, knowing full well my troubles from the last week. But I knew that the hanks from this one particular colorway of yarn seemed to be more tightly wrapped than the others, so I figured my chances of success would have to be pretty good. I was right.
My kids both found my new Strauch Jumbo Ball Winder to be a wondrous machine, and enjoyed immensely taking turns at the crank. I’ll have to get pictures of them doing this next time since they seemed to enjoy it so much. I am now happily swatching for my Elizabeth Zimmermann February Baby Sweater from Knitter’s Almanac. (Note to self: I’m using the 3 mm Harmony needles for my swatch. I can’t tell yet, but I think they’re going to be too big. I’m a loose knitter. Wonder how many repeats of the stitch pattern I’ll have to add to make the sweater fit an actual baby?)
BabyKnits Hats & Booties–by Edie Eckman, Bonnie Franz, and Debby Ware. Well, it’s new to me, anyway. I bought it yesterday while at my knitting group at Borders. I especially love the hat and bootie set on the cover, but as a mom of people who used to be actual babies? I’m not sure what I think about the ribbon yarn in terms of safety. I’d probably substitute with icords or something. That said, there are some SERIOUSLY cute patterns in here! Definitely worth a look if you want to knit something cute, and maybe a little fun, for baby.
It is uncharacteristically hot for this early in June in these parts, and some folks on some of my knitting groups are complaining about how it’s too hot to knit. No! It’s not! I can attest to that. My Bowie group met today for our usual first Saturday of the month meetup. And it was such a good time that most folks stayed beyond the two hours I usually allot.
Lissa came all the way from the other side of the Potomac to help me untangle my yarn woes! And she stayed at it for about three hours, too. Amazing! The hank was in such a mess though, I’m sorry to say, that even after all that, it still wasn’t done. Oh my, why am I so clumsy with my yarn? Not to worry, though… my dear friend Rhoda volunteered to take it home and keep winding. (She said her daughter actually likes to do these things… I don’t get it, but more power to her!
Speaking of Rhoda:
She’s back! After having foot surgery a couple of months ago she was finally able to join us again. Rhoda is my main knitting buddy and I have sorely missed getting together with her, as we have somehow managed to do every couple of weeks over the last couple of years. Here she is knitting a sock from some Opal yarn that I covet!
This is Yvonne, our newcomer for this month. She is a wonderful teacher of amazing second graders, and she is making the fabulous Frock Camisole
from the Spring 2008 Interweave Knits. Lissa, who had showed Yvonne how to pick up stitches without a crochet hook, really coveted the yarn, which I forget what it is. Yvonne returned the favor by showing Lissa how to do a gusset in the tank top she’s working on (demonstrating with Rhoda’s sock). Aren’t knitters great? This is one of my favorite parts of knitting group–that everyone learns from each other.
Jo came along and was knitting away on a purple sock (which I, as a lover of all things purple, drooled over). We all practically squealed when she said that the yarn was her own handspun. It was surely gorgeous! Spinning is something that eludes me but I admire people who can do it! Go, Jo!
And this is Marie, who brought along a baby sweater and hat that she was working on with some red and white yarn. We all agreed that it would make an ideal Christmas sweater. Now Marie just has to meet some lucky baby to give it to!
We survived the scorcher of an afternoon with good friends, good air conditioning, and plenty of slushy cold drinks from the coffee shop. I already can’t wait until we meet again.
Ok, seriously? It’s like, after midnight here and I really should be in bed, but… LOOK! My first socks are DONE! Can you believe it? I know I can’t!
Ok, so they’re a little big, and pretty ugly, but you know what? Now I know how socks are made! I have the power! Ok, I’m punchy. Did I mention it’s after midnight?
I haven’t knit much or been on the internet over the last couple of days. Bad storms knocked out our power, and took out the cable for even longer. I’m fine with my knitting, but after dark when the power’s out, I really feel my age. There was a time when I could have knit by flashlight, but I guess those days are a thing of the past. So it took me the last two days to do a half a row on the second sock and then the sewn bind off.
The pattern for the socks was Two Toe-Up Socks on One Circular Needle, by Kristin Bellehumeur, a.k.a., “Silver”. Only I did one sock at a time, knowing that it’s hard to manage two balls of yarn when most of my knitting takes place in the car and the yarn ball is in my purse at my feet. I pretty much followed the pattern as written (except for the two socks part!) and did 36 rounds for the foot and 25 rounds for the ribbing. They’re for the daughter, but because they’re big, they actually fit the husband as well, who has requested a pair with a longer, tighter cuff. Oh, and machine washable. That’s a biggie. So I’ll be making him some “sleeping socks” out of worsted weight superwash wool in the near future. He’ll be getting some for Christmas, I think. The guy is even wearing his sleeping socks to bed right now, and it was 90 degrees today. (TMI? Ok but I’m just sayin’. The guy likes his socks!)
My next socks will be muuuuuuuuuch smaller. I plan to spend most of the summer focusing on baby things. Oh, and there’s that brown ripple afghan on the sofa that needs to be finished. Wish me luck!
More evidence of my complete undoing this week:
There’s no other word for it. Yarn Barf. This is the thing I hate most about knitting. The starting. Perhaps this is why I hate finishing so much? Because finishing something means starting something else. Now, I don’t mind the excitement of a new project. But for me, the excitement only comes AFTER the winding of the yarn and the casting on and the knitting of the first row. After that, it’s all good. But the setup? It kills me, every time.
I’m thanking God that this week is our knitting meetup. One of my knitterly friends has offered to come from afar and help me dig my way out of yarn hell. Thank goodness for good friends, or I don’t know what I’d do.
Today I found out that Franklin has a new book coming out, featuring the adorable and hilarious Delores. It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons Looks like it’s due out in October. Honestly, I don’t think I can stand the wait. But still…. thinking about that book sure beats the yarn barf alternative that’s facing me tonight.
Go here for details:
http://www.knittinguniverse.com/flash/events.php