Spring Sprang

I know most of you are buried under snowdrifts and all cold but Seattle has been crazy warm this year. We never saw even a hint of snow and now it's spring. Yesterday it was 60° and my older son and I went for a long walk with the dog. There were crocuses and cherry blossoms popping up everywhere. So weird!

Scrunched

Younger son is still sick. We saw a doctor today to confirm that he doesn't have strep or an ear infection. But still feverish and sore throat and definitely not happy. I am feeling much better than on Friday but still not 100% either.

But that gave me a lot of time to work on Girasole.



I have 640 stitches in aran-weight wool on a 32" circular. It's slowed my knitting to a crawl. I had to make a run to the shop today and get myself a 60" circular. It should make things start moving better, literally.

I also realized that I need to swatch to be ready to cast on for the Ravelympics next week. I'm going to make Lloie's Cardigan in Felted Tweed. I'm changing the shaping and the colors. I'm going to simplify the color scheme to just a main color, yoke background and yoke foreground color. It's very subtle and quiet and I like it very much.



I've never knit with Felted Tweed before and I suspect I will need to go down many needle sizes. I started a swatch last night that just kept getting wider and wider and wider. I ripped it out and have started on fewer stitches on a US3.

Madrona is in just a few days. I really crept up on me this year. I'll be there Wednesday through Sunday, setting up our booth and taking classes. I'm looking forward to seeing friends, spinning, knitting and relaxing.

Sick Ward

I have been to more doctors' appointments in the last month than I have in the last several years. It turns out that I have high blood pressure and a chronic small sinus infection that's been around for years. I'm on all kinds of medication right now and none of them are making me feel any better. In fact, they may be making me feel worse. Today is my day off and I'm joined by my younger son who has a slight fever and a little cold. He is currently very upset with me because I found him in his room last night at 12:15(!) playing on his Nintendo DS! It's been confiscated. The little sneak...

All this feeling crummy has given me a lot of knitting time. I started Girasole on Monday night. I'm using Rowanspun Aran I bought over four years ago. I kept thinking I'd use it for a sweater. I might have. But it's making a lovely Girasole blanket. And I definitely have enough to finish the project.

Right now it looks like some kind of sea creature.




This pattern is working up really quickly. All of these shawls I've been working on lately have been such pleasant, effortless knitting. I love lace knitting.

Thursdays are for What the Hell is This?

This week I found a very good lesson in fashion styling. Here is a design from the upcoming V*gue Knitting.



This tunic is styled as a breezy, elegant summer top.

Here it is (at 5:45) in the TNNA fashion show styled like an ice dancer's costume.



Plus does anyone else see the face of an old knight in the torso? It's reminds me of this Don Quixote illusion painting.



It's not just me, right?

PS The tunic just before this one is by Project Runway contestant Gordana Gelhausen.

Bertha Lace Shawl

Pattern: Bertha Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark
Yarn: Mystery Shetland/Kauni-ish yarn, 105 grams, 500(?) yards
Needles: US6 Addi Turbo Lace
Notes: I made the the medium size of the Textured Trellis Lace Border Shawl. The pattern three variations on the shawl in three sizes. The instructions are excellent and the charts are clear and easy to follow. Now my only regret is not to have continued the Spider Lace for longer. But at least I didn't run out of yarn on this one!

Wow, Now That is Bitchy

For once I'm not the one doing the insane ranting. There is someone out in blogland who does not like my Thursday posts and has taken it upon himself to leave insulting comments, allegedly from me, on the blogs of people who do like my Thursday posts. Once again someone tries to tell me that I am rude by being really rude. So, long story short, if there is a nasty comment on your blog (that is misspelled and/or is missing punctuation) it's probably not from me. Please block that IP address. Sorry and thanks.

Bertha's Blocking

And Girasole has begun!

Unhappy Hipsters Knit

If you haven't seen Unhappy Hipsters you need to head over there right now for a good chuckle. Plus there's knitting!

Bathtime for Bertha

This one was really fast.

Sewing Bee

I had a (very small) sewing bee today with Katie and Sasha. It's been over a year since I did this. (Seriously? Wow) I finally got around to making a pair of pajama pants for my older son. There is no photo because they came out too small but will fit my younger son once I hem them. I also completed sewing a gift for a friend that I started over a year ago. The pieces were all cut out so it came together pretty quickly once I reacquainted myself with my machine. I'll post a picture once it gets to its recipient.

Now I'm at a loss about what to make next. I had fabrics sort of picked out for a simple Kaffe Fassett-ish medallion quilt but I was not feeling it today. The colors are mainly pink, brown and teal/aqua and I'm just not into that combo at the moment. I do have a bag full of quilt tops still waiting to be quilted. Some have been started, some are basted. I thought it would be a good challenge to try to complete them all by the end of the year. But I'm not committing to anything right now. It was just really nice to have a day with some friends and some sewing.

They're On To Me

I told my younger son the other day that this lamb costume was so cute I was going to have another baby just to have someone to put it on. He looked at me sideways and in his best Bill Cosby voice said, "Riiiiiiight."

Compulsive Knitting

A very interesting photo gallery and an interview with artist, Daniela Edburg, titled Compulsive Knitting.