Random Updates

1. It snowed on Sunday. I love snow.
   
2. The power was out when we got home that day. It stayed off for 6 hours.
   
3. Wool sweaters are nice to wear when the power is out.
4. Hot chocolate, knitting and quiet music get condensed to knitting without electricity.
   
5. Our printer is in my list of companies to get coal in their stockings. They changed their printing prices and didn't notify their users of that fact by e-mail.
   
6. Adrenaline helps a body regroup quickly and multitask across many browser windows.
7. The Baby Leggings aren't going anywhere fast.
8. Boxes in the mail are fun. This week has seen a box from Woolgirl, KnitPicks, two MK boxes, and compression stockings.
9. Thirty two. That's how many hats we have in the box for Filia's contribution to a James 2 project.
   
10. It's time to go knit.
    

The Poems Twined Hat

You can't judge a skein ...

by its color?

You can't judge a skein's color by its color?

Or perhaps, skeins are hard to judge?

Exhibit A, above, depicts two balls of yarn before use. Exhibit B depicts those Same Two Balls, knit up. (Ideally, Exhibit C should be a close-up of the ball band with the color number and a link to the proper color but the ball band has gone inexplicably missing. (The band turned up! It's color 581)

Oh well. I was looking forward to a blue/red hat. I think I've got pink/green instead. Still, it's warm, and will be warmer yet when I finish it. The plan is to do a checked hem. Toastyness. If a little ice age creeps up on Minnesota (or do ice ages creep down?) I think I just might finally have some people interested in learning twined knitting. It beats acrylic stockinette hands down. Ears unfrozen.

Upcoming knitting includes Mitten 2 of Annemor #4, thumbs and a top for Annemor #5 (I found someone to send me yarn!!!), and baby hats to contribute to Filia's participation in a James 2 project.

Upcoming this evening is chat about Meno, Socrates, and the teachability of virtue.

Upcoming this week is a day visiting friends and talking about knitting.

Upcoming in 2.5 months is Knit From Your Shelf 2009!

So many things to look forwards to.

Fall - that wonderful time!

The soybean harvest is well under way, and that means that fall is here. And Japanese Beetles, and Box Elder Bugs. So far, they're staying outside the house, but I don't expect that to last much longer. The beetles manage to get into the house somehow, and then spend their evenings dashing themselves against the lights.

Knitting is, as always, proceeding apace. Can it proceed any other way? Can something not proceed apace? I understand that it can be going nowhere, of course (albeit not in an experiential understanding, but rather a cognitive one).

This weekend seemed to have a cream theme. The Latvian mittens were finished and blocked, a hat was made from stash yarn, and a garter stitch mug cozy was made from some yarn that's sitting in my knitting box and waiting for a knitting class next Saturday. Does that count as stash? I'm not sure. It's pre-consumer recycling, I suppose.

In my quest for something small to take along on a long drive Sunday, I started Annemor #5. Surely 32g would be enough for a main color in a child's pair of mittens? No. Shirley was wrong. I have - to the row - the top decreases to do on one mitten, and two thumbs left. Ravelry to the rescue! One (and only one) person has the proper color in her stash, and we've arranged a small swap so the mittens can get finished.

While away, I bumped into my knitting student from camp this summer. She'd been having some problems with a pattern for short row booties, and I could understand why. The pattern isn't crystal clear about some things .. so I set about knitting a pair of booties to disentangle the pattern. And voila ... booties!

We're in our third week of school (not counting the 3 weeks of Intense History before school, nor the Preview Week between surgery and school) and although no one replaced my fallible children with perfect students, nor the multi-tasking teacher who under-explains with the ideal mentor, I think things are going well. I've promised we'll open up my chocolate Easter bunny (yes, from this Easter) as soon as we make it through a day of math without the words "Show your work" being spoken as an admonishment. Filius has given up on ever getting a taste of the bunny. (My bunny, let me say. He already ate his) Henle 2 Latin is going much better than I thought it might. Many errors of thought seem to have floated away over the summer. Will they stay adrift in a sea of vacation? Probably not. But we're off to a good start there. Diogenes: Maxim is coming along nicely as well - the first writing project is due tomorrow. Reading the models is bittersweet, as I remember vividly which sentences caused me such anguish in their diagramming. I think I'd rather diagram the apostle Paul than Benjamin Franklin. For one thing, Paul capitalizes and spells correctly. And I can but hope that it was clearer in Greek. Ben? No excuses there. Traditional Logic II is moving nicely, and thanks to Leslie's question I now have Uncle Asinebop as part of my logic arsenal. Science is, well, science (I can't wait for chemistry! Stoichiometry was such fun) and to my surprise Peter Saccio's Shakespeare lectures seem to be the highlight of the week. This week, and next, we'll be reading/watching A Midsummer Night's Dream.

And that's school. I'm keeping up with the Puritan Reading Challenge, and also the Plato Reading Group. And may have two knitting classes starting next week.

Filius and I are happily awaiting the first snow. Canis happily awaits Filius' arrival downstairs each morning. Filius brings blankets, and Canis jumps on the blankets and burrows before they get anywhere close to their intended resting place (on top of Filius, on the couch.) It can be dangerous to plop down on a heap of blankets in this house during the next several months. Something may be in there!

Ponder ponder

The twined mittens are done. My hands can now relax from the twist twist twist so inherent in twined knitting.

Now, I get to cable mittens. I *think* I've got the right stitch. (Anyone who doesn't think so, and can tell me why not, please PLEASE please leave a comment. I've got the right blue. I almost have the right cream. But I do not have the right gauge. And, knowing how the yarn works up on larger needles, I'm suspecting I may not have the right yarn. So. I'll start off with a child's size mitten, and then play with gauge later. The mitten on the left is, as the discerning reader will note from the needles at the top, the one I am knitting. The mitten on the right is the one from Latvia (pause for reflection on the journey this mitten has taken.)

I'm also, somehow, in the middle of a lace moebius scarf. Well, not in the MIDDLE middle, as that's the cast on row, and I'm beyond that. Thankfully. The first three hours of knitting on it were enough to make me grumble about my faithful Boye Needlemaster set. Cables and connectors and exposed threads, Oh My! But the next morning, as I began work on row 2, I realized I was just dealing with First Row Agonies, and all has gone well since.

And that's my knitting for this weekl. Mitten here, lace there, and a quiet week in which to do it.

Filia's cast has filled up quite nicely with signatures. She only gets to enjoy it for another 3 1/2 weeks, though. We are not sad.

Needles, needles, what's on the needles?

Version 2.0 of a felted mitten is on the needles now. But I'm on the phone with the IRS (have been on hold 23 minutes, after taking 10 minutes to find a number that didn't lead to technical difficulties and a disconnection. We're trying to get Filius reinstated as one of our children, near as I can tell.)

While I was at the hospital with Filia, I played with a new pattern for a striped hat. It ended up being a stripey argyle. With a smaller yarn, I'd have more room to play with the diamonds. It's got definite possibilities.

Then there's the Pumpkin Spice Mittens. They're finished now, but the camera is far, far from here and I like them so much I wanted to share an in-progress photo. See my ball of yarn? To deal with the twist, I S-plied the two strands together, so I can just knit knit knit. The yarn untwists as I knit it, rather than get all twisted up. So much nicer! Has anyone else discovered this? Is it a common thing to do, but my books just don't say so?


Our LYS had a sale, and I decided to get some more yarn for another striped hat. (What can I say? I like making them. And if I teach a class in them one day, I need to have some handy yarn for a nifty hat.) The yarn is akin to Noro rather than Mirasol, so I am looking forward to seeing how the gradations turn out.


Then there's the Starfish Tam. I'll order yarn to finish it with my next KP order. So far, that's the only thing I need so this is languishing on the needles. The hat has potential for disaster ... I calculated that there are 40" of stitches on it at the widest point. And it's for a 2 year old. It could be scary.

And here are my next mittens, sort of. The mittens came from Latvia, and I'm going to try and make a copy of them (before I have to return them in a month). The cable is something I've not seen before, but I have two areas of inquiry that look profitable (thanks, TwistedinStitches and Trakaigirl!) and once I get the current mitten done I'll start experimenting.

And that's what's up in my knitting life.

Still on hold with the IRS....

Hospitals Are Fun

Let me begin by saying that I know not all hospitals are fun, nor do all people have fun in hospitals. However, it seems to be a truth universally acknowledged that an unmarried female faced with the proposition of surgery must be a miserable specimen of humanity.
I'd like to present some visual imagery to you, proving that this is not the case. These photos are unaltered (except for six gleaming red eyes which have been recolored with the marvels of modern technology) and were fairly unstaged. No minors were harmed in the shooting of these images.

First, we have Filia and the Bobbsey Twins. This photo was the only 'staged' one, since three females knitting do not normally sit close enough together for an interesting photograph. This photo was taken the night before surgery. Do you see any fear, panic, or trepidation in that face?

Next, we have Filia, the Night Owl, up in the pre-op room at SIX THIRTY IN THE MORNING. (She's been up for 1.5 hours at this time.) Tessie the Bear is cheerfully snuggled up to her. The polar fleece blanket is a gift from the hospital auxiliary. The only thing wanting is a particular doctor to bring a particular pair of mittens in for our careful examination. (And tucked under my chair is a box full of mittens and knitting books. We come prepared! Spare clothes, of course, stayed in the car. Who needs those in the pre-op?)

Two hours after arriving in her room post-op, Filia is hard at work on the computer, posting updates on her surgery to her friends. She would have done it sooner, but Child Life had to find a computer for us to borrow. We love Child Life!

Child Life arranges other fun things, like dog shows for the hospital inmates. Three therapy dogs did a meet and greet, as well as various tricks. Filia and her roommate were still hooked up to all their equipment (which staged beeping wars) as the dog show was the day OF surgery (and after), but they both popped out of bed and into a hospital wheelchair to attend. Perhaps 'popped' is too strong of a word? Anyway, there they are. A little wan looking, perhaps, but that can go with the territory. You can't go around looking TOO cheerful right after surgery, or insurance may decide it should be outpatient.

And more therapy dogs! Otis the mastiff came by the first day (before the dog show.) Otis is huge, but small for a mastiff. Sparkie is small for a Basenji (which is an entirely different thing from being small for a mastiff) but that just meant he could snuggle on the hospital bed!

It's all way too much fun. Filia is wondering if her left leg would benefit from any fixing the doctors can do, and how soon she can go back.

You know a hospital is serious about patient care when the catering staff hunt down a wayward patient at the air hockey table in the clinic reception area to get her supper order. (She beat me. Twice. And she beat the Bobbsey Twins once, and lost once.)


All is well with us. School starts in earnest on Monday, and I should have some decent knitting posts next week. I spent some time in Ravelry today to get it up-to-date ... next week is the week of catching up the blog.

And we're back!

Have been back for a while, actually. Surgery went well, and Filia bounced back from it very quickly (chatted with the nurses on the way into AND out of the operating room.) She would have run out of yarn to knit, were it not for the kindness of TwistedinStitches who both gave her some on Monday, and brought more on Wednesday. Me? I packed enough. The trip saw a pair of socks completed, a twisted hat begun (and finished today), a Starfish Hat from America Knits begun (and not finished ... I need more yarn!), and some very unclassical books read.

After finishing the hat, I've cast on for a twisted mitten. It's not a mate to the one sitting in my knitting box, but rather version 2.0. Dh did comment that version 1.0 fits him perfectly, and he seemed to like the felted feeling. Maybe if he's good, I'll make a match for version 1.0 for him. But he doesn't like mittens... but they'd fit OVER just about anything, for a double layer. We'll see.

Because recovery went so quickly, we were out of the hospital before the swelling was down enough for a cast. Tomorrow we shall remedy that, and get rid of the plaster/cotton/ACE bandage dressing. And we'll visit Half-Price Books, and the Olive Garden, and maybe a yarn store or two....

And we're (almost) off!

Filia and I are taking a mother-daughter break this week. It's not the traditional mother-daughter stuff, done over the weekend and involving lots of shopping. (If it's not yarn, I'm generally not a shopper. And even if it is yarn, I'd rather shop for one project and start knitting than just 'shop'. Maybe that's why my stash is in the shape it is.) No, our mother-daughter break will take place at a hospital, and it will involve a literal break, to be followed by a cast. Hopefully (according to Filia) neon orange. Two or three days and much knitting later, we'll head home. Sound fun?

We think so.

The pre-op doesn't involve anything remotely like 12 cups of Go-Lytely (akin to the stuff one drinks before a colonoscopy), and there are no incisions to hurt while sitting up ... what's not to like? Nurses, yummy hospital food, visitors, more videos than one is normally allowed to watch, no chores. And lots of knitting time. Plus,it means the start of school gets delayed. What's not to like?

Filia hasn't decided what she's going to bring to knit. I'm working hard to figure out what I can safely leave home. I think my spinning wheel will stay home (just not that much room in the hospital!), which means I need to get some yarn plied for easier twined knitting. I finished the mitten I was working on, and it's become a 'sample' since it didn't shrink widthwise In The Least. 10" circumference before felting, 10" after felting. At least the mitten had the good grace to shrink lengthwise, all of 10%. I love how it feels. Twined knitting with fingering weight yarn and felting ... mmm, mmm, good.

I've got a pair of socks on the needles as well, and will be swatching for Filia's sweater if both they and the mittens get done. And there's yarn for the nifty starfish-shaped hat from America Knits, so I need to jot the pattern down. I can't see bringing a HUGE book along for the 13 lines or so the pattern is. Unless I need reading material? Maybe I should bring it. And maybe some spare yarn in case I want to cast on for a Latvian mitten.

Packing for the hospital isn't the challenge, though. No, it's packing for the overnight BEFORE the hospital We don't want to get up at 4 AM and drive for 2+ hours, so we're imposing upon someone who just happens to live closer to the hospital than we do. And she knits, and wants to pick my brain about knitting. And so, I've got to bring my mitten box. And my twined knitting books. And my fair goodies. And and and and. We're going to have fun. (If we have too much fun, I won't have to worry about waking up early. I'll still be awake!)

Besides the twined mitten that came off my needles, I have made another pair of felted slippers (argh. The opening is too big. Next try - felted clogs), and finished my legwarmers. Two hats have contributed to stash depletion, too.

And that's the knitting and non-schooling news from the non-hurricane-prone North.

A whole post without mittens

This has been a very un-mitteny month for me. Just one pair of mittens for the whole month? Let's just say the month went fast.

You could also say I've been knitting other things.

Celestine Btoroj (just pretend like it's Cyrillic, and it'll sound better) used up another 36 grams of leftover sock yarn. It's almost like a sock Memory Keeper ... these socks were for Vicki, these went to mom, these went to mom, these went to mom ... and these are 'pre-socks' from Lene!

Here are more socks. From left to right, they are in Risata, Essential, and Essential Kettle-dyed. This is probably why I've not been up to much mitten-wise. Socks just *are* easier to knit in social situations than Latvian mittens are. Something about colors, and yarns, and patterns, and thumbs. Plain socks really just need attention at the increase, heels, and cast off.
Tea Cozy! I'm working on a pair of slippers (that are going to be true destashing slippers ... there's WOTA Bulky, Alafoss Lopi, Reynolds Bulky Lopi, WOTA worsted, Cascade 220, and 100% mohair in my grab bag) to felt along with the cozy. I do hope that I don't felt them too small for use in this household. Although if the slippers end up scary, that might work out.
And the legwarmers. These have been on hold for a while, as I'm waiting for more yarn. Four skeins wasn't quite enough. I have one cable row, and then some ribbing to go and all will be done. There's something in me that objects to putting down a project almost done, and not picking it up for a week or two. It's like a cold draft in the winter. But I only have 3" of yarn left. It's not in my power to finish these without introducing a new color of yarn. And I *like* this color. I thought about making my slippers in this color as well, but decided to destash for the slippers.

School ... is still far off. We're postponing the start of school until Sept 22nd this year. It's ridiculously late, but when you have a 2-3 day hospital stay with surgery in the second week of September, it seems reasonable. We are tucking in a World History course into our post-family-camp/pre-official-school-start times, and the week before the official start will be a time of gearing up for school so we can hit the ground running.

At least, that's the theory.

Didn't they used to teach knitting in school? Now THAT is one subject I can see doing every day. Hmmmm.

Back from the Fair

The past few weeks have been so busy for our household, I wasn't sure if we'd make it to the state fair or not. I mailed some entries off (cheaper than driving up) and arranged to have the helpful clerks at the fair mail my things back after the fair (ditto previous reason.) There's so much to see and do at the fair, one can't really go up and do everything in a day ... so should one even try?




Mom decided that yes, we would go to the fair. And no, we wouldn't try and do everything. The goal for us is to make it from the gate where the buses drop you off to the Creative Activities building, and back to the gate, without killing her. Her knee doesn't always cooperate with walking, but she survived today quite well and is home recuperating for Thursday's shopping trip.

One of our first main stops (after the fish pond) was the Butterfly House. The butterflies loved Filia. She's only got 9 on her in this photo, but had 11 at one point. The butterflies are gorgeous, and do a nice job of tickling the fingers and wrists when they land. I was wearing blue, and only had two butterflies at any one time. Filius enjoyed watching them, but one on a finger was plenty for him.

After the Butterfly House, we meandered up to the Creative Activities building. The amount of gorgeous knitting in that building is amazing. Rachel and her camera had a better time of it than I did, so I'm going to use some of her photos (with permission.) There was a gorgeous Intarsia sweater (which you can see on her blog), and a gorgeous modular blanket made by Shelly and right in front of the blanket, there was even a person who looked like Shelly! (It's amazing what you can learn from reading about the fair in the MN Knitters group on Ravlery) I inquired if she were indeed that Famous Shelly, and she replied that she was. I introduced myself as the not-so-famous Carolyn


and we proceeded to have a lovely chat. The pdf of fair results really makes for a smaller knitting world. It's not just the garments, the glass cases, and you ... there are NAMES that go with the items (even if you generally have no idea what name goes with which piece of gorgeosity) and so you can put 'tags' on at leas three or four people who have entered the same category you have, and you realize that if you have four categories in common with someone else (who has to place in those categories for her to cross your long-distance 'pdf radar') you probably have some good common knitting ground.

And whoever met knitters that weren't delighted to chat with other knitters? (Yes, you in the back. Save your story for later.) Anyways, I had a nice chat with Shelly, and then the back of my mind remembered reading something about the Yarn Harlot asking people to bury a certain knitter in leftover sock yarn for a blanket ... and yes, that was Shelly. Wow. I shook hands with a Really Famous Person. I think I have enough sock yarn to knit the blanket on my own ... but it wouldn't have so many pretty colors. Maybe.

Dangling from mid-air, a display case away, was a familiar looking pair of gloves. In all, I found 8 of my 9 entries. The first one we saw, the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole, was being heartily admired by a friendly woman. I told her it belonged to my mom, and we had a nice chat with her. My twisted mittens were the next to be spotted, with a pretty pink 4th place ribbon on them. The twisted hat merited a 1st place ribbon. Next on our route was the white stole, and then? Then began the hunt. There were four more items to find, and one of them had a ribbon on it. Somewhere, somehow, it had to be displayed. Right?

Almost. I found my Latvian mittens in a case far remote from the front wall, and my Rovaniemi mittens not that far from them. But I just could Not Spot two scarves. And one of them had a ribbon on it. So, I went back to the front to see what I could see.

I saw .... a Mystery. I had entered a scarf of Rowan KidSilk Haze in the mediumweight scarf category, and placed 3rd. I had entered a scarf of purple handspun in the lightweight scarf category, and didn't place. But what did my eyes see? A very familiar purple handspun scarf, with a 3rd place ribbon on it!

My best guess is the judges decided my handspun was more medium than lightweight, and moved it from a fingering-weight into a sport-weight category. The full tale will have to wait until I get my box back. But wow ... I placed, in a Very Competitive Category, with my wimpy handspun!!!

But in real life: I need to get some pictures taken of what I've been up to. Celestine Btoroj is done, the cable legwarmers have nearly every inch of 4 skeins used up and are waiting for me to order a 5th so I can finish the last 3 inches, and I'm working on another pair of Christmas socks. Mom and I are starting to plan next year's knitting. It's a good time to do that when you're inspired by gorgeous fair entries. Her sweater is going to be an Icelandic Yoke type, but in a fingering/sport weight yarn. Light blueish, with ??? for the yoke. And me? I need to get some more mittens going before I decide to start in on the Knit From Your Shelf a few months early.

Knitting in America is now on the shelf. Yum!!!!

Vacation Tally

We're back from vacation, and the tally is 1.1 legwarmers and two complete pairs of socks. One sock is going to get some remedial work - it's been so long since I've made a sock, I did a standard bind-off and it's a bit tight for comfort. Wearable, definitely. But snug. Probably when I finish .9 legwarmers, I'll tackle the refinishing of the sock. Guaranteed not to involve hazardous fumes.

Wordless Wednesday

Latvian Dreams: the second pattern

This is what I was up to! (Cast on Friday afternoon, finished Saturday night. Complete with sleeping, laundry, meals, book releases, and other normal miscellany of life.)

I've decided that, rather than agonizing over which mittens to make from the book, I will work through them in sequence. There are over 50 graphs, so I will be busy for a while. And there are no colors, or photos, or bottom edge treatments given... so there is lots of room for the imagination.

I used to wonder what kind of insanity it took to do a three-color fringe. Why didn't anyone tell me what fun they were?

I love these moments

Any guesses what I'm up to?

County Fair time!

Fair time is here, and last week I went through my basket of finished items and came up withThis isn't all of the items in the basket, but it's the 'neat' ones, or ones (like the socks) that I really needed to include to add some balance to my entry form. There are 12 or so categories for knitted items at the fair, and one of them is "Gloves/Mittens/Scarf". That pretty much covers what I knit, excepting hats, for which there is no category. So that little pair of baby socks needs to be in there for balance. Don't you think? (Notice that I'm not trying to bring balance to my knitting. I'm bringing balance to my entry form. Maybe?)

Finished objects dropped off my needles like flies this past week, and some of them were so unexpected that I didn't enter them in the fair. I could add them, I suppose ... but I don't think I will. They would add nice balance. Have you ever seen anything less like a mitten than the below-pictured stashbusting compilation of yarn?

Such a pretty thing. The menfolk in the house use it as a football. Each point has about 3 grams of sock yarn in it, and the free pattern is here

I also finished up the Southwestern Latvians. They are cozy, and if I didn't already have a pair of mittens I loved, these would take up residence in the drawer of winter wear. But I do, so they won't. The pattern is from a graph in Latvian Dreams.
After finishing these, a tea cozy, plain vanilla hat, and felted slippers dropped off my needles in short order. (Really short. One pair of slippers = 4 hours of knitting.)

Coming up next month in the Puritan Reading Challenge: Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices. I'm ready for it.

Mending and doodling

This has been a week of small things. And some not so small. For one, I no longer have a digital camera. Filia has been afflicted with Shutterbugitis, and I have bequeathed the camera to her. Most of the photo credits must now go her direction.

One thing a fledgling photographer has to deal with is cantankerous wildlife. Our dog has a homing beacon for anything laid on the floor. So, after the cardigan above was mended (I think a small child with scissors may have experimented a bit. Small child is now wielding the camera. The cardi has been in the mending pile for quite a while), we plopped it down for a good photo. Voila ... dog! If anyone recognizes this pattern, do let me know. It's from 1994 or so (at least, the knitting was) and I have no idea where the pattern came from.

I needed some basic knitting for the ride to church on Sunday. Voila, mittens. Stashbusting mittens, nonetheless! I still have two more balls of this, which will probably become a hat, or perhaps another two pairs of mittens.

The Shetland Shopper bag. Market bags have intrigued me for a while, so I put one on my list of things to knit. It stashbusted 74g of Cotlin.
And here is the fingering weight stash that needs busting. Actually, the non-sock, non-coned, wool yarn that needs stashbusting. This is what I studied and contemplated, along with Latvian Dreams, before diving into the Southwestern Latvians

The Bug Mittens. The Bugged Bug Mittens. Bleagh.

Fair time is rolling around, and today was preregistration day. I am definitely holding up my end of knitting in the county, and the display case will not be scantily populated. Some years, especially when the children were little, my entries were the only ones in the knitting category. The State Fair is another matter entirely, and I learned that they will only accept ONE PAIR of stranded mittens. Or any mittens with a color pattern. That will be a serious thing to consider between now and entry time.

I am delighted so many of my four readers are thinking about joining mom and myself for the Knit from Your Shelf 2009. (Perhaps followed by Knit from Someone Else's Shelf 2010, but that's planning TOO far ahead.) The rules are entirely flexible, but must consist of knitting things you haven't knit before, from bound printed matter in your house you haven't worked from before. For myself, I am excluding magazines. You can include them if you like. You do not need to set a goal of knitting something from EVERY book in your bookstash. The goal can be anywhere from one book to all of them. I think I have 7 or so books that need attention on my shelves. Off the top of my head, they are:

• Knitter's Stash
• Armenian Knitting
• Meg Swansen Knits (or something like that)
• Ann Feitelson's Fair Isle book
• Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified

That brings me to an abrupt halt. The technique taught in the last book is a pet peeve of mine. Thus, let me footnote right here that, although one is to knit from the book, one must not knit ACCORDING to the book. I will use my own Fair Isle technique which I much prefer.

And you know, I think that's it for books I haven't used. Nope ...

• Sally Melville's Color book

Now, THAT's it (after a cursory inspection of the shelf.) It looks like three sweaters, a vest, a hat, and I'm-not-sure-what will be coming off my needles next year.

Reference books need not be used, except as a reference. If you've got a stitch dictionary you've never used before, do something (a washcloth?) with a stitch from it. If you've got Knitter's Handbook and have never used some of the information in it, do so. Expand your horizons!!!

But not for another 5+ months.

Long before then, the fairs will be over. Time to go finish off a pair of mittens that will be getting entered in 7 days or so.

Plotting and Planning

I am, by nature, a plotter and a planner.

This does not mean I never fly by the seat of my pants. That happens quite often ... I will go smile at my stash, select some pretty colors, snag the ubiquitous set of 2.75 mm needles, look over a few graphs, study the corner of a doorframe, and cast on. One reason I knit quickly is self-defense. Without writing anything down, how will I make a second just like it? (Speaking of which, I really should cast on for Bug #2 tonight before I forget anything important.)

I plan globally, I suppose, and then wing the rest of it. So, although I know what we're doing this year in school (Henle Latin 2, NEM 2, Traditional Logic 2, Physical Science, Diogenes: Maxim and, um, something like a Humanities), that's about as detailed as it gets, and by mid-November will probably be as detailed as it is. Early September will have the most organization.

But the point of this post is, while I sit and knit (by the seat of my pants), I am plotting. And planning. And have you noticed, the Year of the Monthly Mitten is more than half over! I am keeping up with my goal of a pair of mittens per month. I am also being a good destasher and destashing each month. I may be overachieving a bit. Consider my project between needles right now ... the Bugs are destashing the yarn leftover from the Tour de Fleece mittens which were themselves a destashing of my fiber stash. So, not only am I destashing the destashings, but on a second pair of mittens in the same month. Don't think about it too hard, though.

My gaze looks forward to January. What will I do then? A year of shawls? Or sweaters? No, too big. I can knit a sweater a month, or a shawl a month, but the kind of sweater and shawl I delight in require DEDICATED knitting for a month, and I have no desire to spend an entire year making a scant 12 projects and doing so in a highly focused fashion. I like the freedom to make small things. Like a market bag. But another year of mittens seems unwarranted (any bets I'll be mitten knittin' anyways?) and socks aren't calling my name.

What about hats, you ask. Hats are a pretty canvas, and small. True, they are. And a year of tams would work nicely with destashing, but it does not inspire me. Nor does a year of baby stuff.

And then, I had an idea. A poll! Write down a lot of ideas, share them, and let my four readers vote. Being the dutiful daughter I am, I ran this idea past my mom. She liked it, listened to my options, and then told me which one I was going to do. (Well, not really, but by the time I finished discussing the options with her, it was the only one that sounded appropriate) And, because I can never sit on surprises, and love knitting company, I am going to toss the idea out here so you can think about it, let it stew, and perhaps join us.

2009: Knit from Your Shelf

The rules are flexible and fuzzy at this point, but here's the general idea.

1. Look at your shelf (pile, bag, stack, tower, bookcase) of knitting books.
2. Ask yourself if you have knit at least one thing from each book.
3. If the answer to #2 is 'yes', invent your own rules.
4. If the answer to #2 is 'no', consider these rules:

• Start with the leftmost book which you have not used. Pick a project from it. Make it.
• Move on to the next book on the shelf which you have not used. Pick a project. Make it.
  
• etc.

There's no 'monthly' thing about it. That will allow me (and you) to pick Gorgeous Humungous Adorable Projects that will take most of your knitting time for 2 months, and not feel guilty. If there was a time limit, I'd be making the dishcloths from Knitter's Stash instead of one of the sweaters in there which is the reason I got the book. And I still may make the dishcloths, but only because I didn't want to buy the yarn for the sweater.

You need not include books you get during the year. Set your own goal. I think I have 7 books on my shelf in an 'unknit' condition, and I'd like to make something from each of them. My mom has a few decades worth of Workbaskets on her shelf, and I think she'll have a different goal.

Time to go cast on Bug #2. And think about what I should do for vacation knitting and hospital knitting. I've less than a month to plan the first!

You'd Think I Was a Shoemaker

Isn't it the shoemakers children that are supposed to go shoeless? I make slippers, true, but this is getting ridiculous.

Especially for 20 mile hikes.

The pair of shoes with attached soles, cushioning, and no drainage at the toes lives in the closet. Can anyone tell me why? Actually, I think I know the answer. It's three letters long, and is something like B-O-Y.

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

Something for you to feast your eyes on, Rachel! Either the birds are ignoring the tree this year, or we are staying one step ahead of them by the grace of God.

Here is our garden's "semi-bush" acorn squash. I had no idea that anything semi-bush would grow to four feet and threaten to take over the pear tree we planted last year. The watermelon are underneath the squash, and it seems to have designs on the tomato cages around it as well. I just hope we get some squash off it!

Tomatoes. Green. Unfried.

Tour de Fleece Latvian Mitten, ready for top decreases. It's 6.5" in circumference before blocking, so I'm guessing it will be just right for a young girl. Although with the colors, a discerning boy of the right age would work as well. I know one thing--it's going to be TOASTY WARM.