A Weekend of Piping Competition and Knitting

On Saturday our band, Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums, competed in our largest competition of the season, the St. Andrews Highland Games in Oakbrook (Chicago). The area, like most of the Midwest, was wet and muddy from the storms that have passed through recently. With temperatures in the 90's, we all cleansed our pores in a big way. Wearing wool kilts, thick wool hose, wool caps, and shirt with tie in hot humid weather could be called insanity, but we call it piping. [Digression: At least there were no cicadas as there were two years ago. After their 17 year hibernation underground they were out and about in swarms. The sound of our drones must have been like their mating call as they were very attracted to the pipes, landing on us, crawling up our limbs, etc. That competition was like one of the levels of Dante's Inferno.] This year the GOOD NEWS is that our band took second place in our level. We were 1st in piping and drumming but placed 4th in ensemble. That brought us to second place. Although it is more fun to be first, second is very respectable and we were pleased overall. Our next competition is in September in Waukesha WI. Next Sunday we have a parade in Marseilles IL. I'm hoping the 90 degree heat abates by then.

After an exhausting and dehydrating Saturday (left at 7:15 AM and arrived home at 10 PM) I didn't make it up in time for 8:30 AM church. We went to the 11 AM service, the more contemporary one, which was interesting since we haven't done that in a while. We saw people there we have never seen before. In fact, we could almost be in a different congregation altogether. Afterwards we went out for breakfast/brunch at The Denhart Baking Company , a delightful establishment that is located right on the Square in Washington. Both the food and service were great, and as for the atmosphere, what could be more fun than an old bank building, lovingly restored with creaky wood floors, a vault, and teller window (to pay your bill)? The prices are very reasonable also. On Friday night we went with friends, Carol and Dave, to dinner in the C-Note Pub, also part of the Denhart establishment. Bob and I love the sweet potato fries. We both had reuben sandwiches with the sweet potato fries. Yum. Kudos to Tom and Judy Gross for restoring this area of our town square.

In the afternoon I listened to my iPod while doing some alterations on Liesl, the cardigan I made from Ysolda Teague's pattern. I shortened it by about two inches. That was easy. Then I decided to add buttonholes. The original pattern has buttonholes knitted in as you work from the top down. I wasn't sure I wanted buttonholes or where I wanted them so I left them out.

My method was as follows:

I used a two-stitch I-cord border. Along the two front borders and using a needle two sizes smaller I picked up stitches at a rate of 3 to 4; that is, pick up 3, skip one. I then attached the I-cord border: Cast on two stitches. *Knit one, slip one, knit next stitch from border, PSSO. Slip two stitches back to left needle. Repeat from* I worked the left side first as this would be the side where the buttons would be. I tried it on at this point and like the way the border looked and the way it keeps the front corner from sagging down so far. That looks cute on Ysolda but not so cute on me.

On the Right Front border I marked where my two buttonholes would be. I picked up the border stitches and adjusted the second buttonhole to align with a place where I was skipping a stitch in the pick. When I came to the two marked spots I knit two rows of I-cord without attaching to the border. This made a nice snug buttonhole for my large buttons.

The buttons are not matching and I like that. I just dive into my jars of old buttons and find two similar buttons, same size but not matchy-matchy. Usually I put buttons in odd numbers but two looked best on this garment. When sewing the button on the lacy fabric it really helps to put a smaller button on the back side of the fabric to hold it securely.

Although I used cotton and short sleeves for my lacy sweater, it is amazingly warm. I know I will enjoy it this summer and beyond, especially in air conditioning. Liesl was a very quick knit. From the photos on Ravelry it looks good on a wide range of sizes. The sizing is very forgiving, too. My size small/med works on my size 8 figure and also on my sister's friend Melody. (see last two photos) who is about a 10/12. The longer length was perfect on her. I could easily make one in a few days now that I know the length I prefer and some tricks for the borders.


This Father's Day ended with calls from two of our three sons and long conversations with both. Son #2 already talked to us for an hour earlier this week. After the phone battery died we started watching The Dark Knight (yea Netflix!). We're not big Batman fans but we wanted to see Heath Ledger's final role. He's good, but as a Crazy Man, Jack Nicholson still beats all.

Book and Buttons

Last night I finished reading Year of Wonders: A novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. At times during the reading of this I had mixed feelings about the book but the more I read it the more the story drew me in. The subject is unpleasant and you know right from the get-go that the outcome isn't going to be great. A lot of people are going to die in a most unpleasant way. The story is based in fact. The people of Eyam, a village in Derbyshire, England voluntarily quarantined themselves from all surrounding towns in 1665 when they were beset with plague after an intinerant tailor brought in a tainted bolt of cloth. No one was allowed to leave or come into the town. At great personal sacrifice these people prevented plague from spreading to neighboring villages and kept the death toll down outside of their village. Provisions from the outside world were left at "the Boundary Stone" on the outskirts of the village. What happens to the villagers during this year of tragedy, mainly how they react to one another, death, and life is what draws one into the story. I highly recommend this book and thank Rowan for her posting on the real town. Comments from that posting led me to put this book on my reading list. Two weeks ago I went to a used book sale at our local nature center and picked it up for $1.

I absolutely love a Saturday when I have no place to be at a certain time. The phone is not ringing. My husband is at work, doing research at the university. I putter around in the house watering my African Violets and other plants, perusing a few catalogs and magazines, tidying up the house, and going into town on two errands. I needed to post a package at the post office and amazingly it was not crowded on this Saturday morning. My next stop was our town square which is surrounded by very interesting shops. My goal was to visit the antique shops to see if I could find old buttons to use on knitting projects. I hit the jackpot immediately by finding an antique Ball Jar filled with buttons for just $12. I am in the process of sorting by color and size. There are mother-of-pearl buttons and shirt buttons that will be perfect for baby sweaters. I don't think they would have to match completely on a sweater as long as the size works with the buttonhole.

The red corkscrew-like button is the most unusual I have found so far. I've only delved into the first 1/4 of the jar. There were actually two jars at the shop but this one had the button card with 11 mother of pearl buttons so I chose it.

It is about lunchtime now. I'm going to heat up the cauliflower soup I made for dinner last night. We ate it with freshly made whole wheat bread. It was delicious and the kind of soup that will taste even better today.