Functional Knitting

After seemingly endless inches of stockinette stitch for "green gable" and still insufficient length to keep my belly from peeking out... I had to break down and knit some washrags.

Witness exhibit A:

My first attempt at a basketweave pattern with one 100% cotton and another with cotton and a fine thread of wet-spun hemp. They'll both be mailed off to non-knitters, who I'm convinced must not have any dishcloths. I love this cheap cotton-- One day I'll have to go tour their factory, located in Spindale, NC, a town that is also the home to my favorite radio station. (You may remember tuning in to this Northern Carolina radio station at work in Northern California.)

Also I'm knitting an easy-peasy baby bib out of Mason-Dixon Knitting compliments of my not-so-local library. You just have to love a baby named Rowan. Hopefully, I'll have a picture to post of him drooling sweet potatoes all over his new bib very soon.



Can't you tell tomorrow is Monday and I'm procrastinating getting back into nursing school mode? There's a vacation in sight-- I have three days off for the 4th of July so we are heading down to Edisto Island with the Moberg family. I cannot wait to knit on the beach and generally indulge myself in too much sleeping, eating, and fiction-reading. Ahhhhh.... Do ya'll have any plans?

We are tentatively scheduling a trip out to California on July 28th to August 6th... Maybe y'all could meet us in the bay area or further north? it's pretty much a sure thing but we haven't yet gotten plane tickets.

So back to Green Gable... after knitting around and around and around and around, I don't think she's long enough! I knitted at least an inch more than the model in the pattern but I'm still not sure. Here she is:

When my arms go over-head, it's just too short. I think I will be constantly pulling on it. Is this something I can fix in the blocking process? Or am I destined to knit around and around and around and around and around some more? Knitting Monogamy is killing me. see what I'm talking about? what do you think?

Also I love your recycled sari silk project... You are such a selfless knitter. Most of my knitting is for moi these days. Your glasses make you look even cuter and smarter and I love that gray cardigan in the picture... Did you make?

Thought anymore about SAFF? What classes do you want to take? What are the odds that you can make it out here?

More later. I may just have to photograph all my works in progress to really scare you. What a fiend you have created!

Knitting to Report

So I have knitting to report. I was in San Fran this past week and had to stop in at Art Fibers at 124 Sutter Street. Ooo La la I do love their yarn so I bought a cone of the Golden Chai which I have been salivating over for over a year and I bought some hand spun sari silk and started knitting right away. Most of the Sanskrit that was there was very red, though I happened to find a hank that was somewhat less red. The knitted product isn't all that complicated but I'm loving the colors. This will be given to my lovely hostess in San Fran, Lorre. I nearly finished it in two days, which probably isn't the best thing to do to my recovering arm, but I was so enjoying the knitting.

4 eyes

I now have glasses! What do you think? They are from the kids selection because I couldn't find any adult glasses that fit my head.

No knitting to report

OHHHHHHH! Your knitting is looking absolutely beautiful! I just said to Jeff that I need to pick up my needles and get busy. I was salivating over your pics. Trouble is that my right arm is causing me quite a problem. I’ve had trouble sleeping lately because of the consistent gnawing pain from my shoulder down to my finger tips. I think that it had a lot to do with my computer set up at my crappy job and should start to clear up soon because I’m no longer at that crappy job, but until then I’m trying not to knit. Too bad for Jeff because I was in the middle of a pair of socks for Jeff (a cotton pair for the summer) when the arm thing just became too… ARGH! I will however be participating in World Wide Knit in Public Day, check it out. I will be knitting in public in Santa Monica. Should be fun. Also I haven't forgotten about the Fiber Fair in October you wrote about. I want to come and I'm planning on it. So keep it on your Calendar too.

I do want to try spinning some of Shayly's fleece. Send me some. Perhaps that will be a little easier on my arm. Until then I'll tell you about my new job in Nursing. HA! in nursing. You must have been sending your nursing vibes my way. So I'm now working at Santa Monica College in the Health Sciences Department at a Project Manager, check out my website. It's under construction but you can see a little of what I'll be doing. The other perks of working at Santa Monica College is that I've been riding my bike to work (5.33 miles one way) I'm home in 30 minutes instead of an hour on the bus. Admittedly the ride home in traffic is somewhat terrifying but I'm getting used to it and I'm beginning to think about doing the California AIDS Ride next year. We are going to the closing ceremonies this year on June 10th to get ramped up. When I did the Boston to New York ride the closing ceremonies was just fabulous. I met a student at LACC that had done that ride too. We were commiserating about the hurricane that year and he told me he did the California ride a couple of years ago and that it was great. So now I have a goal. Ride my bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Jeff and I have started a housing search and its quite depressing. We looked at a condo near where we are currently renting that was $329,000. It is 800 sq. feet one bed one bath apartment style condo built in the 70's with the original orange shag carpent and cork wall treatments overlooking a parking lot. Lovely! HA! $329,000 for a tiny little crap hole. It's a sad thing when two professionals with good jobs can't afford a place to live that's not a falling apart shack in the hood.

Anyhow, keep the knitting up! You inspire me! and send some fleece my way.

Prairie Tunic and Works in Progress

I finished the Prairie Tunic in time for LEAF but I'm just now getting around to photograph it... I'm pleased with the finished results. I went to Knit in Charleston and learned how to mattress seam a garment-- I've been rigging everything up to this point, pretty much. So I'm turning over a new leaf, Knitting Things Done Properly.

I love the back of this top. I knitted the smallest size of the pattern (in IK spring 2006) with no modifications. There was a correction needed in the pattern-- found here. I lined the front so it wasn't scandalous with nothing on underneath.

As soon as I finished this top (and promptly put it on at LEAF,) I started Green Gable from Zephyr Style, inspired to knit one by the version at A Mingled yarn.


I think it will be a nice, clean-looking top that goes with nearly anything in my closet. I'm using the suggested yarn, Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. It's my first time using this yarn, and I like the way it feels and the price. Good deal.

Here's a shot of me knitting at LEAF... ahhh bliss!

I've been doing a little bit of sewing-- making a kimono/bathrobe out of some fabric I got in Ghana years ago. It's going to be beautiful, if I ever get her finished!

Here are some other fruits of my labor...





What's knitting on the left coast? Do tell... How's the new job?