A View from My Window and a Little Venting

The trees are beginning to change now after a very hot and dry spell. We finally have the cooler nights they need. It may not be the most colorful autumn we've had but there is always beauty to be found in nature.

The photo shows the view from our back deck. There are some prettier trees with vivid red leaves but I had to take their photos through the porch screens so they aren't great photos.

The little baby sweater in Bernat Cottontots doesn't seem quite right. I'm sure my gauge is off. I thought that would be ok, just that the sweater would be for the little girl as a toddler, but now I'm doubting that. The front pieces seem a lot larger than the back. If anyone has knit this sweater from One Skein Wonders, please let me know how it turned out. The photo shows how it looks without the arms.

Ok, I have to vent about something. I like to watch Martha Stewart. I record the show so I can watch at my convenience and buzz through some of it. I'm not a crafter but I do enjoy the cooking and gardening segments. The one thing I bothers me is that Martha interrupts her guests constantly! For someone who prides herself on etiquette it is surprising that she hasn't figured this out yet. She also says "Ummm" a lot but I can get over that because it isn't rude, only annoying. So Martha, I'm sure you are reading my blog and I know you are a nice person and don't want to appear rude, so there it is. I don't want to hurt your feelings but someone had to tell you and everyone who works for you is probably afraid to mention it. Whew! I feel better now. Martha said she has a blog on MySpace but I haven't read it. She probably is not a regular reader of my blog because she is very busy and she is also not a knitter. Knitting is one of the few things she does not do because if she did we would have seen it on the show by now. Pity.

A Kimono for Adriana

One of the projects I've been working on is a sweater for Adriana. Brent and Missy recently went to China to officially adopt Adriana and bring her home. You can read about their adventure on Melisa's website. They have been home for a week now. Missy stopped by yesterday and I gave her the sweater. The pattern is from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding.

The yarn is Swishwash (color Aloe) from Knitpicks. I bought 4 skeins. Knit in size 12 mo. I only used 3 so I have some left for a bonnet. Adriana is 19 months old but is only 24 inches tall and 19 lbs. She is adorable and Missy and Brent are so happy to be her parents. She has an adoring big brother and sister also. This was a very fun project for a happy occasion!

A Piper's Revenge

What a great day! I had a whole day to myself with no appointments and free license to do whatever I wanted since it was a holiday. My husband is a professor and the school doesn't take Labor Day off so it was a work day for him. After my morning walk I ate breakfast on the deck and relaxed with my pot of tea. I knit up a pair of baby booties to go with the Heartbreakingly Cute Kimono. They seem to be too big to be worn with this sweater, but hey, maybe the kid will have big feet. The tiny ball of yard by the sweater is all that was left of the two skeins.

In recent days I finished two more bears for the Bears for Zimbabwe project for a total of 5 (I've relinquished custody of one) My plan is to knit a bear and then knit on another project so I don't burn out on bears.

The day would have been perfect had our future neighbor not been using a skid steer and chain saw all day. The chain saw wasn't bad but every time he backed up the skid steer there was a very loud beeping sound that started driving me crazy. I finally retreated from the deck and later closed up the house and turned on the AC. Well, as a piper I will get my revenge in the long run. hehe. "A Piper's Revenge" sounds like the name of a movie, doesn't it? I am actually very considerate of my neighbors. When the weather is especially nice I will practice on the back deck from about 3:00 to 3:30. That's p.m., not a.m. No one has complained and many say they enjoy hearing the pipes.

I am almost finished reading Consequences by Penelope Lively. I enjoyed the first part of the book, but it began to drag after the initial main characters died. I do not recommend it. It isn't a bad book but it isn't good either. I do recommend both books I've read by Jennifer Lauck: Blackbird and Still Waters. She is an excellent writer. there has been some controversy about the veracity of her writing. I believe her.

Baby Kimono and Piping Competition

Saturday was the pipeband competition. The weather was beautiful, which is always a bonus because these events are held outside. Our band didn't do as well as we have in previous competitions this summer but we got 3rd place and prize money, so that part is good. The downside is that we were only competing against 4 bands in our grade level. In other words, we beat just one band but since it is one of our close friendly rivals, that was good. Thirs place was better than being last. I knitted a teddy bear while we were waiting between the competition and massed bands.

A piping friend just called me to ask if I could pipe at a wedding on Saturday. She is not able to do the gig due to bursitis. Since I do not have anything going on that day, I am happy to do it. I like to play funerals better than weddings because there is less pressure. At funerals people are just so happy to find a piper at a moment's notice. Brides want everything perfect and they have no idea what perfect means with piping. They want specific tunes that cannot be translated to pipes. The reason is that there are only 9 notes on pipes and a lot of embellishments. The embellishments have names like "birl", "taorluath", "doublings". The embellishments make the music interesting. One of the reasons people hear Amazing Grace so often on the pipes is that it is easily translated on our scale. It is also probably the most popular hymn and one everybody knows. For this wedding I am going to pipe the bride down the aisle and back. Then a friend will join me for the reception so he and I will play together while guests are arriving.

I finished a toddler sweater that will be a gift and will post on that later. I also knitted up the "Heartbreakingly Cute Kimono" from Mason Dixon Knitting. http://www.masondixonknitting.com/ For a baby gift this is about as easy and quick as it gets. The yarn is Bernat Cottontots 100% cotton. It was a dream to work with. These ombre yarns are seductive. They definitely entice me to "do one more row".

The kimono is a gift for a friend who is having a baby at the end of September. I have enough yarn left over to knit a hat or booties, but probably not both. I'm leaning towards booties.

This is a photo of the sweater before any sewing up is done. Interesting, isn't it?

Here it is laid out for sewing up. Two nice seams is all it needs now. The pattern calls for gros-grain ribbon ties on the side. I love garter stitch, especially for babies.