Knitting for Old Age

Maybe it's just me, but when I get towards the end of a project, I tend to get very focused on finishing. One more row...one more row. Sometimes it's because I'm ready to move on to something else. More often, it's because I can't wait to see what it's going to look like once it's all done.

This Deep Peace Shawl was the rare exception to that rule. I hated to see the knitting come to an end! The simple lace patterns were fun to knit, and the yarn...the yarn. Such beautiful Riverwinds Farm Yarn! The colors are perfect and the spun fiber is some of the nicest I have ever used.

Now if I could only learn to be comfortable wearing shawls. I love to knit them; I just rarely use them. They always seem to be in my way when I'm trying to get some work done. I'm telling you, someday, I will be the envy of my nursing home.

BSOD!

There I was, minding my own business, when BAM! Out of nowhere comes the BSOD! No warning. Nothing. Just the dreaded blue screen of death and then blackness. How can this be? My laptop is only a couple of years old. But the the BSOD knows not age and strikes when and where it wills. And now my computer sits. Waiting for its checkup. And I'm not naive enough to expect a hopeful prognosis.

So, I'm back on my dinosaur slogging through months of updates to make it usable until I get the miraculous news that a repair is possible or the more likely event of having to buy another computer. It's a sad, sad tale. (Not to mention the loss of a couple of documents that I neglected to save that represent so many hours of work.)

Luckily, I've been away and busy enough to not have to dwell on my misfortune. We spent a few days on another golf jaunt---this time through Wisconsin. Perfect golfing weather and some fun with family. Then we came home just long enough to repack our bags for a few days in Chicago.

Chicago is one of my favorite cities. The people are friendly, the city is beautiful, and, of course, the pizza is the best. It's a city we never get tired of visiting.

We didn't have any special plans for our weekend---sometimes the best way to travel. Besides eating pizza, we did a little shopping, saw a movie, and even indulged in an afternoon nap one day. We even had the chance to watch some of the filming of the upcoming Transformers movie. What is it now? Transformers 3? 4? 5? No celebrities to see, only pretty cars and trucks. On Sunday, we decided to head over to watch the World Cup final on the big screens over at Soldier Field. They had a decent crowd for the day. Sorry, but I just don't get it. Nothing happens! And the drama. Not for me, but a couple of cold beers made it bearable.

It's good to finally be home for a few days. Even if it does mean facing my laptop woes.

Lady Kina

A couple of weeks ago when I needed some inspiration for a take-along knitting project, I took a peek in the list of most popular patterns on Ravelry and came across Lady Kina. Apparently, this pattern is the adult version of an earlier baby pattern. It looked easy, it looked cute, and since it was almost July and I had yet to have any cotton yarn hit my needles this year, I decided I'd give it a try.

What turned out to be a great pattern for our golf trip---easy, mindless knitting---turned out to be somewhat of a burden once I got home. Oh sure, it's all fun and games until you finish the sleeves, and then there's twenty-nine centimeters of stockinette stitch, over lots of stitches, and in cotton. Man. I was seriously excited when it got to the point when I could knit the bottom band.

It is a pretty cute sweater though. Clever in its simplicity. If I made it again, I think I might pick a loftier yarn than the Cotton Ease, but this works too. The only change I made was to knit the bands in moss stitch rather than garter stitch and that was just on a whim. I think it's cute either way.

As soon as I had m'Lady blocked, I cast on the scarf/shawl pattern Deep Peace in the yarn I bought a this spring's Sheep & Wool festival. It's good to be back knitting wool; it's so much easier on the hands. And this is really beautiful wool---a kettle-dyed cormo from RiverWinds Farm in the most gorgeous color combination. I was happy to find some hand-dyed yarn, in a color I liked, that wasn't sock weight yarn! The only downside is that the colors remind me of fall as we're turning the corner when days begin to get shorter once again. Don't think about it.

Are You Lookin' At Me?

Our white squirrel has been back visiting more frequently again, and so the other day when he popped by, I went and grabbed my camera to see if I could get some better pictures. I guess we're getting used to each other, because he seemed okay with me getting close enough to snap a few shots.

After a several minutes of staring each other down, I have to admit that I was beginning to wonder who was watching whom?

The Woes of Minnesota Grilling

Over the weekend, I patiently waited for the skies to clear without much luck, so I decided that today was the day to get my butt going. No, not mine. (Although that would be required as well.) No, it's the pork butt that's been sitting in my refrigerator for the last couple of days just waiting to be turned into mouth watering pulled pork goodness. (And yes, I know it's not really the pig's rear end. I'm just going for the pun here.)

I trusted my local weatherman last night who prognosticated spotty rain for today and went ahead and mixed up the briney bath for piggy to soak in overnight, but when I woke up this morning and saw dark skies I had my doubts. As it turns out, those doubts were well founded. The butt is still on the Weber, but it's not as much fun spending the day tending the fires when it's drizzly and cool. I should be enjoying ice cold beer while I'm sitting in my lawn chair reading a book, not running in and out adding charcoal with one hand while I hang on to an umbrella with the other.

Another couple of hours ought to finish it off. I always figure that the meat is done when I smell as smoky as the grill does.

Since I've been tied down to tending the hearth all day, I have gotten plenty done at home--even went for homemade hamburger buns for the pork. Now that it's late afternoon, however, this self-imposed lock down is getting a little old. (Can't you tell? I am writing this.) The sun did break through long enough for me to get out and take a few more pictures in the garden.

Back to the Weber.

Nice to Have Cardigan

I don't know, but I think "Must Have" is a little over-the-top for a cardigan sweater. Now that I've finished it, I guess it's nice to have a new sweater, but trust me, I didn't really have to have another one. (You don't want to know.)

This Must Have pattern and yarn hung around for almost a year before I got around to getting it on the needles. I was initially attracted to the pattern because I kept reading people's complaints that it ran a little small in size. Perfect! I get so tired of having to adjust patterns to fit.

It did not disappoint. It fits perfectly. I must confess that I did do a little last minute jiggling with the stitch count at the top of the sleeve to make the sleeve a smidge wider. That's it though.

I would recommend this pattern to someone who would like to try their hand a cables for the first time except for one reservation. I consider myself a fairly accomplished cable-er, but I still had a heck of a time figuring out what I was supposed to be doing for the "Wrap 3" stitch described in the glossary. The directions given in parentheses for this stitch may have been better written as (K1, YO, K2tog tbl).

This pattern also puts you through the hellish exercise of trying to pick up a precise number of stitches around the entire front edge. Don't do that to yourself. You will learn to hate picking up stitches. Just go ahead and pick up three stitches for every four and then do a little math to get the ribbing and buttonholes to work out correctly. Much easier and considerably less frustrating.

Wouldn't you know it? I finished the knitting on this sweater the day before we were heading out of town for a few days, so I quickly had to find something new to cast on for the trip. I went from wool to cotton. If I finished a wool sweater just in time to put it away for cold weather, I should naturally finish my cotton one in time to put it away for next summer.

Peony Update

So pretty.