Progress

It was nip and tuck but I got my first sleeve done on schedule. I even contemplated starting the second, but was just too tired. Not only am I challenged by lack of time, but lately by lack of sleep. Too many things in my brain to handle in the awake hours, so the brain turns on mid-sleep. But I did get started today while the repairman was fixing my stove. So I'm actually on track and ready to work on it tonight after Pilates and garbage and ironing.

This has been a crazy day, but I do have photos, so that's how I'll end.

Music

Here are the photos you should have gotten yesterday. Just for fun.

Last night the show at Yoshi's with Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot was just mind-blowing at times. This often happens to me at concerts where they are playing new music. I just get completely overtaken by something I never expected. Last night was unexpected. I was expecting a show of more experimental jazz and what I got was American Songbook, but it was played in the most unexpected way. Apparently the unnamed (as yet) group has done an album of country songs featuring singers (not necessarily country), but in arrangements that are completely not country.

Let's just say that I will never think about Roger Williams and Dang Me! in the same way. When Bill and Marc got their guitars screaming it was really quite incredible. Marc also sang, in a really pleasant, non-professional voice, and the whole thing was really eye-opening. Great to see musicians enjoying themselves and each other. Whew.

Jazz reminds me of designing.

Today's post will be photoless until the battery recharges on my camera. I guess I also need to get in the habit of regularly recharging that. I am often caught with a dead battery on my cell phone because I don't use it except to let Mitch know I'm on my way home, or occasionally to ask a questions of him when I'm out, or call my mother to let her know I'm running late, so it just doesn't get used much. It is, at this point, probably four or five years old--maybe even older than that. We got the same phone whenever we bought them, and at some point I dropped mine and it lost a button which made it difficult to use some of the features, but I didn't use them, so it didn't really matter. Last year Mitch got a new phone and took my phone number chip out of my phone and put it into his phone so I could have all my buttons. I have since learned to use that button to find missed call numbers, but that and accessing my recently called numbers are all I do. Mitch frequently calls in and deletes messages for me. So, long and short, I have no habit for recharging things--and this camera seems to go through a charge fairly quickly.

I was all jazzed about a new-to-me yarn from Schaefer Yarns called Audrey. What got me going on this yarn was her Memorable Writers colors. Not that the Memorable Women colorways aren't fabulous, but I just loved the idea of pairing a knitting project with a reading project!

I'd been rolling a cardigan concept in my head for months, maybe years, but it was actually quite simple and needed the right yarn. So when I saw Audrey, I knew it was a match made for knitting. Cheryl Schaefer graciously agreed to provide yarn, and while waiting for the undyed product to arrive at her studio, sent me a bit to swatch so I could finish my pattern while I wait. This yarn bit arrived in yesterday's mail and before I left for Pilates I cast on so when I got home I could knit as soon as I had a minute. So I have about 5" to show off, but no camera!

BTW, the yardage on this yarn is awesome--700 yards to 4 ounces. Fingering weight, silk and merino single-ply. Swatching on size 4(3.5mm) needles and getting about 6.25 sts/in. The ball band suggests 8 sts/in on size 1, but this is a cardigan, and I want it to be slightly open, so 6.25 is great.

I feel a bit disloyal as I have not touched my Sea Shell knitting since Monday. I got distracted by my swatch to test out my lace trim on Tuesday (which I haven't finished either) and then by Audrey yesterday. Tonight I go see my favorite musician, Bill Frisell so I won't get much knitting done.

Another Thread

In the interests of efficiency I am trying to combine two projects. How can that be, you might ask. I am having a session with a videographer today to figure out what I need to know to create videos for online classes. Presumably I will need to show her something so she can test out possible processes, I need to write a class plan, and have some technique to demonstrate.

I'm working on a trim for a shawl. When I say that, I mean I'm trying to figure out the trim for a shawl that is currently being knit in Bijou Basin Laceweight yak. I'm looking for a way to adapt a crochet technique to knitting needles. Surprisingly, I thought about it for a while and I think I've got it! But then I needed a swatch to try it on, and it needed to be using larger-than-laceweight yarn, in a light color. Lucky for me I have many lovely yarn offerings from Yarnsisters and Zealana, so I picked up the pale lilac Cashmere/merino--I mean why not make a swatch from the best possible yarn?

That was what I knit on last night. Sadly, at some point about Row 11 of the swatch I missed a YO so I had to do some frogging to get back to that Row and so I'm not finished yet. I did take a couple of pictures to demonstrate starting from the center for a counterpane and how it looks a few rows in, and establishing a lifeline in lace.

I am determined to get into the practice (and hopefully learn to use my camera) of documenting my progress on some of my knitting projects.

We have reconstituted the Sea Shell Knitalong on Ravelry and I am back to knitting it. I am working on my sleeves, which will have red trim, then lime for the rest. I had a bit of a rocky start, but seem to be moving along

nicely now. This is a mediocre picture of my trim. I kind of got going late last week, but realized I'd done the pattern wrong,

so ripped back to the trim on Sunday while waiting for dinner to cook. I got back into knitting it after dinner, and got past where I'd ripped Sunday. Mondays I don't get a lot of knitting done because I usually work in my office until I leave to run (often literally!) to my Pilates class, then I get home about 8 p.m. and put the garbage out.

I have a little knitting time while waiting for Mitch to get home from his Pilates session, then a little more after we have dinner about 9:30. So I'm lucky to get an hour of knitting in. But last night I did get about another 1.5 inches done. Today I put in Stitch Dots, and while cropping my photos, I realized that I have actually done one more increase than I have marked, so I only have about another 1.5 inches left to knit before I put this sleeve aside.

These plant fiber yarns are really a pain when the ball starts to fall apart. I had saved a mesh vegetable bag (I have another one, probably in a drawer in the kitchen--I need to find that), and tamed the yarn that had come undone on the outside of my ball and put it in the mesh bag. Nicely behaved yarn. I think I bought 5 lbs of potatos in that bag! I buy all of my produce at the local farmers market and actually avoid buying the ones that come in these bags because they seem wasteful, but I'll have to remember this for plant fiber yarns. I've had a bit of time lately unravelling messes of plant fibers.

If you're interested in the Knitalong, check this out. http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sea-shell-knit-a-long-is-back-on-april-1st-2010/1063402/1-25#14

Colors of Tuscany

When planning the project for our retreats, Jill and I get to pick yarn. She selected a nice summery blend from Zitron, one of our favorite yarn companies because he is very eco-conscious. Jill had the brilliant idea of selecting pics from our Tuscany collection and choosing yarn colorways from that. I made the collage of her pics. It's so summery and colorful. Now to pick a colorway. . .I like them all so much!

If you haven't signed up yet and Tuscany is calling, check out details. We still have a few spaces left.

Knitted Animals

Some of us at Y2Knit are knitting Safari Friends to fill a tote for the Breast Cancer Awareness Purse Auction on May 2. We think this will be a winner. Pictured are a couple of zebra, an elephant and monkey. Missing for this pic are Gertie Giraffe and Brother Monkey. We hope to have more! If you are interested in the pattern, give me a jingle.

I took the basic structure and created a First Bunny for my youngest grandson who will be 8 months old when he gets it on April 4.