Can't Work Today

Dear Mandella,

I'm sorry, but I just can't be working. The sky has been too blue, the leaves -- even pine needles -- have been too full of color, and the weather has been entirely too magnificent. It is pullover weather. It is dig-out-something-warm-for-a-walk-in-the-crisp-outdoors season. It is the season that is the reason why we knit with wool even in the hottest of summer.

The colors are magical. Truly, the sky is this blue and the leaves are practically radiating color. This tree is just outside of my building at the Air Force base where I work full-time.

Yes, that's my building in the background, but my office is on the other side. I have to take a walk outside and around to see this tree, and when I do I never want to come back inside!

Well, I have been working, actually. I've had a horrendous week at both of my jobs, but I'm rewarded with two classes this weekend, both with Melissa Leapman of cable fame. See? I have my preparation swatches knit, my graph paper on hand, and her first book open to an inspiring photo:

The Leapman classes are also a reward for slogging through this very-much-altered version of the Dinan Jacket, here shown being done in Red Heart bullet-proof acrylic:

The truth is, it has to be done in this yarn. The dear person (Jane M) who will receive this is a teacher of "special needs" children. She needed something that would take numerous washings and God-knows-what-else. And it's quite a re-do, by the way. The original pattern is a cropped jacket that tapers from armholes to waist (where it stops). This version is straight up and down, going from hip to armhole with no shaping whatsoever. It has 3" of 2 x 2 ribbing on the bottom (another change from the original, which has only a rolled bottom). I've been slogging away at the stockinette portion (which is 10" so far, just an inch shy of the initial armhole bind-offs).

As you can imagine, I have amused myself with a few other things in the meantime, not the least of which is a fun little project of knitting my various scraps into mitered squares:

I know, I know; I have become my mother, using up every last little scrap. It's fun, though. I like stopping every now and then (as I have above) and looking it to figure out what kind of shape I see. So far it looks like a very colorful stingray that is having an extra fin grafted on. *sigh* It will take years for this blanket to be done, but it will be fun looking back and remembered what I knit from the yarns involved.

Oh, speaking of yarns involved, here is the leftover of a huge skein of Interlacement's Toasty Toes, a dk or sport weight washable yarn (shown in the Las Vegas Lights colorway). I'd originally knit a nice, thick pair of socks from this for my sister Denise; the leftovers are going to be a pair of thick anklets for my nephew Jerry who will be 6 soon. Not, of course, that I will get these done for his birthday, but they'll likely be done before Christmas. I'm nearly done with the foot portion of the first sock and will soon begin the toe decreases.

Oh, this one? Well, I don't know yet what it is. It will likely be a pair of mittens. It's from The Sanguine Gryphon. I think it's the Traveler, which is a dk weight washable wool, but I don't remember the colorway and I'm not going to fish out the ball band from the center of the yarn.

*sigh*

So much yarn and only two hands.

And then the weather turns lovely!

Hugs and good knitting to you!

Judith

Colorful Days

Dear Mandella,

The quilts are awesome! That four-corners one is just magnificent! I love your color palette (sp?)! I love your piecing! Oh, gawd, and you quilt, too????

Here (top left) is the basic unit for this new quilt top I'm working on. As you can see, it's comprised of four squares each of which are really 2 squares plus a rectangle. I have a light gold square in each, then the 2nd square and the rectangle are the same color; one set is a kind of oak leaf and acorn print (which comes off as kind of greenish) and the other is a rich brown spattered with black spots. When they're all put together, the overall design should be something like the photo below it.

Except that there will be more of it. A lot more. About 400+ little gold squares alone. The finished top (without borders) will be 60" x 60".

No, I didn't get a chance to work on this one this afternoon at my mom's house. I spent the time changing the dress pattern.

When last I'd written on the subject (October 6th), I'd put in the zipper and noted adjustments that needed to be made. Today I made the pattern adjustments and stitched a prototype (top portion only) from scrap fabric. It fits like a dream.

What I didn't mention earlier is that, when I went shopping for the 22" navy blue zipper for the trial dress, I happened to find this:



It's all crimped and creased and dyed lovely fall colors -- I think it looks like a whole lot of leaves that fell to earth and were kissed by sunshine! These are my colors! (Hmmm... they're looking a bit bright on my monitor. The reddish-violet is really darker than that. Oh, well...) So, I found a lovely deep reddish-violet in a dull satin from which to make the dress. The above fabric will be a simple shawl to wear with it. It will be perfect.

I have two sides (one long and one short) basted for hemming. My mom said she'd do the other two sides. I'm probably going to hem it by machine. It's just a narrow hem (about 5/16") and the piece is rather large (about 50" x 40"), so no one will notice a machine-stitched hem.

Let's see, other pictures I promised I'd show you are this quilt that was made by M's mother as a shower gift:
Isn't it adorable? It's a bunch of all style handkerchiefs that are stitched to white squares and then quilted. I think there are 35 in all. This one I thought was particularly sweet:

To the right of that square is a little hanky that has vignettes from Omaha, by the way. And above it is a hanky just like one I'd had when I was a child.

Now, as for dyeing yarn yesterday, here's the results:

This is one of those sock blanks from KnitPicks. It was a gift from a dear friend, Lorna. I had lots of fun dyeing it. I'm considering making it my first toe-up sock projects, but I'm also considering knitting two halfs of a lovely, lacy scarf and then grafting them at the center.

Three skeins of Trekking XXL sock yarn (75% washable wool; 25% nylon) dyed in a motley collection of medium blue, blue-green, and light blue:

Three 8 oz. skeins of Louet Gems sport weight (100% washable merino wool) in a luscious red that is for me. I will be knitting a lovely pullover for myself from this:

Last, two trials of "Southwest Colors." The first one I dyed yesterday, the second one I dyed this afternoon. These are Louet Gems sport weight, both 8 oz skeins (about 500 yards each). My friend M wanted something like this for knitting a scarf for her future father-in-law. I think she'll like the 2nd better than the first because that orange on the first (remember our orange friend?) needed to be toned down.

And I dyed three silk scarves to match the "Pacifica" sock yarn (the Trekking XXL), the luscious red, and quite coppery to go with the southwest colors.

I'm tired and I need to go to bed. Lots coming up in the next few weeks!

Hugs and good quilting to you!

Judith