scarves con’t.

I am still in scarf mode. Last night I finished the knitting on a holey-bias scarf for one of my girls. Claudia’s handpainted sock yarn is very very squishy. I used US 7’s and after blocking, the scarf will be barely 60 inches. It’s lacy and delicate. I’ve also been ribbing away on a Kureyon stripey scarf in 150 and 164. This scarf has lots of blues and greens, all slightly grayed and subdued. It will be great with a denim jacket. Rich has his eye on it. Scarves will be shoved out the way now until I make some fingerless mitts and a Calorimetry for my mom. I’m driving over the mountain on Friday morning to visit her for most of the weekend.

Yesterday morning I spent 4 hours with some very smart and fun women staffing the Hillary Clinton booth at the DNC meeting. We had lots of lively conversation and gave out good swag. It was definitely worth getting up early on a Saturday.

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diversion via color

While we were visiting last weekend, my sister gifted me with some yarn from her stash. Some of it came with knitting requests. One skein of Lorna’s Laces is to be used in a scarf for my niece. Two more skeins will become something scarf-ish or wrap-ish for my sister. I get to use the remaining skein of Autumn House Farms sportweight however I chose.

I decided that the skein of Bittersweet Shepherd Sport would be interesting to combine with some Kureyon. I had two skeins of 102 in my stash. I am using the simple mistake rib pattern. So far, I like it – but more important – Katie will like it.

I will be riding my bike and beach knitting for the next several days.

 

Take Two

After knitting about 4 inches all around on the Kureyon 95 pullover, I reconsidered my plan. It’s now a top-down design. The last few nights have been filled up – preparing petition packets at Hillary Clinton’s national campaign headquarters, working in the clothing room at ECHO – but this weekend should allow a little time to sit.

All four of us are driving over the mountain tomorrow morning to visit my mom for her 80th birthday celebration. We are taking her out for lunch, then dinner and cake will be at my sister’s place. I am really looking forward to finally giving her the feather and fan shawl. We are going to have good weather and the leaves should be turning colors up north.

The other big excitement this week was actually meeting Hillary Clinton in person. I attended an event at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, where she gave a science policy speech. She spoke about putting facts before ideology, creating a research institution for renewable energy, restoring NASA’s mission of protecting the planet – it was very inspiring to hear her talk.

 

weekend knitting

We enjoyed a very relaxing weekend. On Saturday we drove up to Shepherdstown WV for a fall festival. The weather was perfect. I grabbed some sock yarn and started a new pair of socks while I sat in the sunshine and listened to bluegrass music.

Yesterday, though, I needed to start something a little more long-term. My mom’s shawl is finished, and I seamed the pieces together on Rich’s sweater and just need one evening for a collar. I have had some Kureyon marinating in my stash for a few months.  I often use Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns along with my stitch dictionaries.  I am starting with some basic ribbing. The last time I did a sweater in the round with Kureyon, I ended up frogging the entire thing after the body was completed because the stripes were too narrow. I re-knit, using multiple skeins that I re-wound in order to get similar colors together. I will be doing the same thing on this sweater.

This colorway does not have as many wild shifts in color as some of the other Kureyon yarns, but the close colors still have lots of subtle variation.

 

FO!

It turns out that it is not so easy to knit on the train and also carry on a discussion with colleagues, at least while also trying to do a stitch pattern and keep track of increases and the changes it causes to the pattern. Last Sunday I knit far too many rows twice while the Acela sped toward our destination. On the return trip I stuck to the Kureyon striped scarf that I started as a respite from too much green. Still needs to be blocked:

It is one skein each of Kureyon 95 and 164. Not very long, but still a nice size for me.

I also had to use free time for some household projects, and I got to spend an evening with each of my girls. The sweater lagged but I made a little progress on the first sleeve. The front is finished also.

No travel this week, but lots of activity getting the last baby bird off to college for the first time. For anyone who is counting, that is three kids in college at the same time.

The gardens are coming back to life with a little water and some easing of the hot weather. I am expecting a second blooming of the bee balm any day now. The hummingbirds just flock to it.

 

blogging from the Acela

Before I left I took some photos but did not have time to touch them until just now.

I blocked some of the Kureyon mitered squares and hopefully they are dry so that I can do more of them tomorrow. I expect to find them still looking exactly like I left them:

The squares will be set on point. I will have to try to remember exactly where each of the little fill-in triangles goes since I did not number them or even take a photo after I had them all laid out the first time.

I also heard that I got a USPS package and I am hoping that it is my swag from Scout . I ordered a Haiku bag because squishing my knitting into my briefcase or my purse was just not working. Juggling one extra bag will be worth it. I also ordered a Go Knit pouch since I really could have used one when I was on vacation and knitting at the beach. We’re going back a few more times soon.

Rich’s sweater has a few more rows until the front piece is complete. It would be great to get the sleeves underway this weekend. The next beach trip is in two weeks (a long weekend for his birthday) and I want to be able to give it to him while we are away. Meanwhile I am really eager to start to knit something more colorful. He’s worth the sacrifice though. He is the POD (parent on duty) when I travel and besides, I am madly in love with the guy.

 

telecon victory

Teleconferences rule my life. I must interact on an almost daily basis with people in other cities. Frequently the people on the other end of the phone are in other time zones. Today’s evening telecon (8 pm EDT for me) featured participants from Japan. So picture me at the dining room table (best cell phone reception) with a notebook and a glass of wine. If I am in the office, those telecons can be mighty boring. (I am not discussing telecon situations where I must pace back and forth to keep from reaching into the phone to interact in a more personal way.)

At lunchtime today I accidentally let it slip to my new team that I like to keep a knitting project in a desk drawer so that during telecons I can used the knitting to “stay focused.” bwahahahahaha. The reality is closer to “tune out.” It was revealed to me that others on the team play games on the b-berry, GREEN LIGHT, office knitting. WOOHOO!!!

I think another blanket project will be just the thing.

I might have accidentally ordered the new fall colors last night. can’t wait.

 

blocking party

See this?

In two weeks the house will be relatively empty for 8 days. I’m going to use all of those empty beds to hold my dozens of mitered squares. This big bad baby is going to be sewn up before Labor Day. It’s been sitting for a couple of months. I ran out of steam after I knit all of the little fill-in triangles. These mitered squares will be set on point. yep. And as soon as the weather starts to turn cool I will be ready. My very own Kureyon blankie will waiting on my knitting chair every evening.

I have another box of Kureyon, each skein a different color, waiting for the next blankie idea. Sounds like a perfect project for the train trips I will be making every week this fall and winter.