Vacation and Some Bebe Things

We had a wonderful vacation in Door County, WI, our favorite place other than our home. We stayed in a new place for two nights and then on to our usual place. It seems I didn't get as much knitting done this year, although I did finish a prayer shawl. All that remains is adding fringe or tassels.

I also knitted a Baby Shrug from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby. While most of Debbie Bliss' patterns are the dreaded "knit in pieces and sew up seams", this one was largely made in one piece. I had to sew up the side seams, which wasn't too terrible. The snafu was picking up the stitches for the edging. It was practically impossible to pick up the number of stitches required and I lost count of the number of times I ripped the edging out. I ended up using the same size needle for the edging as I did for the body and picking up at every single opportunity. I also added a few stitches where the edging had to bend around curves.

The next project was a pair of baby booties from Erica Knight's Knitting for Two. These booties look so cute in the photo, but I'm telling you, the pattern is needlessly complicated and not at all well explained. After puzzling over the construction for a while I abandoned the project, comforting myself with the myriad of easy bootie patterns out there. There is simply no need to fret over a pair of booties.

Erica Knight redeems herself in this book with the lovely Lacey bonnet. It is a joy to knit, although the first part could be done on a circular needle, thus eliminating a seam at the back of the bonnet. Still, it is a very quick knit and would be a good beginning lace project. I haven't decided how to finish it off. The pattern calls for very large "retro bows" but I've never been very adept at configuring ribbon. The white bonnet is made from Bernat's Soy Natural Blends. It felt quite nice until I spoiled myself by using a raspberry pink Cotsoy (Queensland Bebe), a more pricey cotton and soy blend that I purchased at my local yarn shop. It is so beautiful to work with and will truly pamper a baby.

A grapefruit is the closest thing I could find to the head of a baby around here, so that is what I used to model the bonnets.

My Tulip Bibs

While knitting my Truly Tasha Shawl I slipped in a few baby bibs.
The "Safari Bib" is the Mason-Dixon Baby Bib O' Love. I found animal buttons and then the Peaches and Cream in a camouflage colorway. It turned out quite nice.

I've been playing around with turning the Petal Dishcloth into a baby bib. Last summer I made Leigh Radford's Petal Bib and liked the result; however, the knitting process with stitches on holders seemed somewhat cumbersome. I thought I could achieve a similar effect using the technique of the Petal Dishcloth and finishing it with I-cord ties, as Leigh Radford did. The stitches are not the same as in the dishcloth because I wanted it a bit longer and there are more rows between the petals. As I folded up the bibs they looked like tulips, hence the name "Tulip Bib."

I will post the directions for the bib if anyone wants them.

Now I wish we would see some real tulips soon around here! We had snow flurries again today.

Back from CA

I had a great trip to LA with Mom and Dad. They are very fun traveling companions. Dad is 81 and Mom is 78 but they seem a lot younger than that in so many ways. Mom talked me out of taking my camera and I should have known better. We thought it would be easier for me to use their little pocket camera but it just wasn't the same as having my own, although mine can be a pain to carry. I have to wait for photos from them. The last day we went to Knitting Cafe. Kudos to a very nice shop! Unfortunately I did not buy anything because I thought we would be visiting more shops and might come back to this one. Also, my dad and brother were like fish out of water there so I felt a bit rushed. Normally I would spend an hour in a shop like that! Then one shop was a dud and the other not open, although someone was sitting at the desk and saw me looking in...hmmmm, didn't she want a sale? Mom did buy some funky stuff at the Knitting Cafe in a lovely turquoise color to make a scarf for herself. I was able to help her in a remedial sort of way to start on the scarf. Her knitting is a little rusty but she caught right on and got quite a bit done on the plane. We flew home on 9/11 which was a bit different. LAX was not crowded and the plane was just about 1/4 full.


On the plane and at my brother's house during tv time I worked on a prayer shawl. Although I lead a prayer shawl group at my church I really haven't made that many shawls. That's ok. We always seem to have one when someone needs one. I have two people in mind for this shawl (about 1/2 done now) and I'll just listen to find out who it will go to.


I've been tagged by Sheila. What fun! From Sheila's site I found Jen and love what she did to the plain bib from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I have a whole tin of buttons from my grandmother so perhaps I'll find something there to perk up the bib I made last week.

These are my initial reactions on the tag, which is to use words to describe yourself using the letters of your middle name. I will tag some knitters tomorrow.


J-joyful
A-adventuresome spirit
Y-young at heart
N-nesting instinct is strong in me. I enjoy making my home comfortable for family and friends.
E-Ever resourceful



I'm off to pipeband practice!

Insomniac Knitting

Yesterday I played a funeral in the morning. It was hot at the cemetery but there was a nice breeze. I saw an Common Buckeye but alas, no camera. Even if I had had my camera it would not have been proper to run around in a kilt (or anything else) shooting photos during a funeral service. I think the butterfly understood what was going on because it landed quite close to me and spread its wings several times, just to show off. Sadly, we do not see Common Buckeyes as often as we should. Many butterflies are decreasing in numbers due to pesticides, herbicides, loss of habitat, and other environmental reasons. It is frightening to think how precarious their situation is.
This photo was taken last summer at Sand Ridge State Forest. The "eyes" on butterflies are thought to be a defense mechanism. A predator thinks the dots are the eyes and therefore connected to the head. I've seen many a butterfly getting along with partial wings.

Last night I had trouble getting to sleep so I got up, made myself a cup of hot chocolate, and thought about knitting. I'm ready to start a new project but I didn't want anything too elaborate. Reading the many knitting blogs and seeing such spectacular projects inspires me but right now I'm in mindless knitting mode. I go through these phases. I've done the Fair Isle and Arans, etc. and will get back to them. So I started one of the baby bibs in Mason Dixon Knitting. All garter stitch and totally mindless. After about an hour I was ready to sleep.

Tomorrow I am packing for a 5 day trip to LA to visit my brother. I'm driving to my parents' home and we'll fly out together.

You have to start somewhere

I've finally plunged into the world of blogging. It seems a bit daunting but I'm going to give it a try.

It rained most of the weekend. What could be better on a rainy day than knitting in a rocking chair and listening to rain on the skylights of the sunroom? From my chair I look into the treetops and also watch the birds flit about the feeders. I whipped up a little baby bib out of Sugar and Cream Cotton. The pattern is called Petal Bib from the book Oneskein: 30 quick projects to knit and crochet by Leigh Radford. It turned out very cute and I will probably make more so I have a set of them for a gift. One seems a little paltry. If the middle petal were a bit more narrow it would look like a butterfly. I'm thinking about trying that variation.

On Saturday I happened to see a hummingbird flop down on a chair on our deck, just below the feeder. I don't know what precipitated the fall although I am guessing she was hit by another hummingbird. They can be quite aggressive and territorial. At first she was on her side, but still breathing. I ran to get my camera and when I came back she was sitting up, looking much better. I know I could have put my hand over her and held her, which was tempting, but I knew it was not the best thing for the bird. My camera was just a few inches away from her and she didn't seem to having a panic attack. I left her alone and came back about 10 minutes later and she was gone.

The pipeband has a competition coming up on Saturday, probably the last one of the season. That reminds me that I have to plan a project that I can easily work on while we are not tuning up or playing. On Saturday I practiced my pipes for an hour, 30 min on pipes and 30 on chanter. The chanter looks like a recorder and has a double reed, just like the chanter on the pipes. Pipers learn the music on chanter and it all has to be memorized. Have you ever seen a piper with a music lyre? No, because there isn't anything to attach it to.

We also had rain all last night and throughout today. It is hard to believe that neighboring states and even other areas of our own state are experiencing drought conditions when we have had so much rain all summer. Everything looks very fresh and green, and yes, muddy too. I like rain because I hate drought. This summer has been unusual because we have had no drought the entire summer.