You all won't believe it...not 24 hours after my last post did my Panta reappear! I took one of the work vehicles out and when I returned I happened to park next to the vehicle from the lost-Panta day. I get out of the car and through the glass I see my Panta, laying right on the console between the two front seats! Woo hoo! It must have fallen between the seats or something because I swear I didn't see it the last time I looked for it (obviously not thoroughly). Apparently someone else noticed it, and I am so happy 'cause I love that thing!

And the good news keeps on coming...the Victoria shawl is blocked and ready to roll:
(This photo is of me doing a robot walk, lol) I think she is so pretty...but I have promised myself that the next shawl I knit is going to be in a thicker yarn and a more casual pattern. The fancy shawls are fun to knit but how often do ya really get to wear them? Maybe there are some who would wear the fancier shawls out and about, but not me!

The whole time I was knitting this, I was worried it was going to be really small, but it blocked out perfectly--I think to about the 32" by 82" inch measurements called for. The shrivelly pre-block state always throws me off!

Pattern notes: "Victoria Shawl" from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby.
Yarn: 3 skeins of KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in color "Mist Heather", courtesy of the lovely Jeanne (thanks again :). Knit on 3.5 mm needles.

I didn't have any problems with this pattern! My only (unintentional) mod was making the edging stockinette-based lace rather than the garter-based lace that the pattern called for. But, it all worked out in the end and I actually like that the edging looks a bit more open and delicate.

Well, this past week I was all bogged down with a swamp-lung cold...I can't remember having this bad of a cold in at least a few years. Oh well, I am on the upswing again and hopefully this week will be a better one! Since I haven't posted a scenic picture in a while, I figured I better put one up now! There isn't quite as much "nature" around here as up north, but there is still plenty to be found. This is on a salt marsh near the ocean:

Sadly, I have a couple of knit-tragedies to report...it all started the day I went skiing and I was frantically trying to find my Panta, which is my go-to winter head wear. I finally remembered that I had last used it a couple days previously on some outdoor site visits for my work. No problem, I thought, I'll just swing by my office and pick it up.

Several minutes later, I ran through the eerie, darkened office (isn't being at your work on a weekend the strangest thing?) to my lovely cube...and...no Panta. I even made a desperate dash outside to the work vehicle that I had used that day...nothin'. I grumpily wore another hat for skiing, and I still haven't found the Panta. I'm starting to think I must have dropped it somewhere on my site visits and it's probably long-gone. So expect to see some sort of head-band type object being knitted up soon...a Calorimetry, perhaps?

Then, an even greater knit tragedy hit...One of G's Stinky Sox somehow ended up with a big, unraveled hole! Eeeks! We were sitting on the couch and G happened to sort of rub his ankle and said "What the...?" Looked down and there was this hole! It looks like the yarn broke, so I wondered if it had gotten caught on something but G said he doesn't remember anything like that. I figured it was sort of a freak thing until I looked at the other one a couple days later, and:The yarn broke along the cuff of the other sock.

After mulling it over, I wonder if I weakened them by machine washing (I did line dry)? I thought Cascade Fixation was machine washable but the Cascade website says to hand-wash. Anyone else machine wash their Fixation? Anyone else have this problem?

I guess this pair is pretty shot now...I thought about ripping it back to the hole and reknitting to fix it, but if the overall sock is weakened it's probably not worth it :( I'm especially sad because they were such a slog to knit.

Anyhoo, it's not all bad news here:
The Victoria Shawl is done and bathing! FO next time!

Whew--I am totally tired today after an epic hike yesterday. It was embarrassingly short in terms of distance (only a bit over 3 miles, round trip), but it went straight up a mountain on a rarely-used trail that took a lot of effort to follow, for a total hike time of almost 4 hours (!). We even lost the trail a few times and ended up having some fun bushwhacking. Let's just say that I do NOT seem to have buns (or calves) of steel. I did get some good scenic photos but I think I better wait to post them, since it has been awhile since I've done a knitting update.

Last Sunday, I spent a couple hours starting, ripping, and re-starting the edging on the Victoria Shawl. It took me awhile to figure out how it all worked and how to attach it neatly to the edges. Now that I've got it straightened out, I am loving the way it looks:I'm totally fascinated by the tidy look of the knitted-on edging, plus it is addictive to do section after section (although it still seems like it's going to take forever). Don't you just love that totally satisfied feeling that certain projects give you? This is definitely one of them.

Also on the needles is the new project I mentioned last time:You may recall the Trellis cardigan I made last year for the child of some friends. He's pretty much grown out of Trellis, so I decided to make him another sweater--this time an Aran-style pullover called "Aaron's Aran" from ByMelissa.net (scroll down to the second row of patterns), knit in Cascade 220. Besides being super-cute it is also super-easy, perfect for TV knitting. I probably would be almost done by now were it not for that captivating lacy edging!

Finally, believe it or not tomorrow is October 1st which means today is the last day of Project Spectrum! Here are my final photos, this time of orange, brown, and purple stuff:See Flickr for all of my Project Spectrum photos.

Unfortunately I don't feel like I really got to do any experimentation with colors as far as knitting goes, although I did make a number of things using the "assigned" colors. If nothing else it was a fun way to organize the order in which I was going to knit a bunch of already-planned projects. I also had a great time keeping my eyes peeled for certain colors so that I could take photos. It really made me pay more attention to my surroundings and look at things more closely.

That's about it for now...hope your Monday is good (and flies by, if your wish is anything like mine!).

After a two-day frenzy of seed stitch and seaming (hee hee, just the two side seams, that is), Nerissa is done and looks OK both coming:
And going:
I love the interplay of the three different textures: stockinette, seed stitch, and a simple lacy pattern:And finally, I seem to have captured the true color of the yarn!

All in all, no major complaints, although I wish I had made it the teeniest bit longer (seems to be a frequent problem for me). Definitely not a huge deal. We shall see if I get to wear it before next summer...it's been quite cool so it's not looking likely for the immediate future.

Pattern Notes:
"Nerissa" from Rowan 41
Knit in Rowan Handknit DK Cotton in color #334 "Delphinium", on US size 6 needles

Pattern was very easy, although the lace pattern kept things somewhat interesting. A couple of things I would've done differently in retrospect: 1) On armhole shaping, I always make decreases one stitch in from the selvedge. I think in this case I might of tried doing decreases right at the selvedge, because you later have to pick up stitches for the seed st edging without having the decrease stitches visible. Because my decreases were 1 st in, it was a bit of a pain to pick up neatly and it left a kinda thick "seam" behind the picked up stitches. Or maybe there's another clever solution for this that I don't know of? 2) The pattern has you pick up 103 sts around the armhole, I probably would've reduced this a little bit because the edging doesn't have much snugness to it...it kind of flares out a little bit (but not too dramatically). I also thought it was interesting that my lace section looked way more texture-y than the pattern photo. Maybe I didn't block it as agressively as they did.

Yarn was basic...not particularly exciting but good quality and no complaints.

Now, full speed ahead on the Victoria Shawl, and I'm already halfway through the center section:Tons and tons of diamonds!

And here is something funny too--our computer keyboard died last week (hmm, may have had something to do with that glass of water I spilled into it, but let's not jump to any conclusions, K?). I ordered a new, fancy wireless one that came today, and it rules. Especially compared to what we had been using in the interim. That is a true classic, found in the depths of a closet at work. It makes the most extremely loud "clickety clickety" sound as you type. I also particularly love the purple function keys, what a great '90s look, huh? And the ergonomic setup, holy crap what a pain in the bum. I just could not get used to typing on it. Does anyone actually use those anymore?

It's sure hard to believe that it's September already, but I'm happy to be heading into my favorite time of year. And, I took Friday off (I had to work until 11 PM on Thursday due to a public hearing--another thing that I'm glad is o-vah), so I'm enjoying an extremely delightful and much-needed four day weekend.

I'm speedily moving forward on Nerissa and have the back completed, and a good start on the front. Since there are no sleeves (yee haw!), this is one knit that should be done soon, although I don't think I'll get to wear it until next summer.Yet again, I'm appalled at how poorly this purple color photographs--this makes it look really blue! The true color is shown fairly well at this website--the color is #334 Delphinium.

I also couldn't resist starting a lace project from "Victorian Lace Today", which I purchased a month or two ago (along with "Fitted Knits" which I am also swooning over). Me, actually working on two projects at once, shocking eh? The book is full of lace patterns that are for the most part simple, yet beautiful. The pattern I ended up choosing, the Victoria Shawl, is particularly plain, but I love the crazy edging:I am making it in Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in "Mist", a pale bluish-white color, slightly variegated, that Jeanne so generously gifted to me (thanks again!). Looking good so far, although I think I may be using a slightly smaller needle that I should.The yarn is wonderful to knit with, so soft. Believe it or not this is the first thing I've ever made with Knit Picks yarn!

So, back to my long weekend, the original plan was to perhaps do a short backpacking trip. Unfortunately, I had slightly injured my ankle back during our Cape Cod trip (I will say nothing more than it happened after a long night of partying and involved some deck stairs), and while it is not painful to walk on during my normal daily routine, it is a bit sore when it is bent a certain way. Since hiking is an activity rife with the potential for ankles to be bent in strange ways, it seemed safer to not go, particularly since the section we were planning to hike is quite rugged and remote. Apparently ankles take forever to heal too, so I'm not sure if the planned hike will happen this year or not.

Even more unfortunately, I had to face up to what I really need to do this weekend: a long list of chores that have been put off all summer. The weather is projected to be gorgeous all weekend, perfect for washing and waxing the vehicles (groan).

So today I washed a car, and even better, I was able to make a needed repair to it. Behold:
Back on some horrid day in late March, I went out to open the passenger door one morning and the plastic door handle completely broke off without any serious effort. A strange bout of weather had led condensation to build up around the door gaskets, then froze the doors shut in a way that was not visible. So for the last five months, whenever G and I wanted to drive this truck anywhere, we had to open the door from the inside to let the other person in (it did make a handy redneck security system though, LOL!). Finally we bought a replacement handle and this morning I worked up the gumption to try to install it. And, it actually worked! Well, it works for now, anyway. I think I broke a bunch of stuff inside the door while installing it so we'll see for how long things hold together, ha ha.

And for another ha ha, last night was the final evening of our summer couples bowling league (candlepin, bien sur!), and I had to show off our fabulous his-and-hers trophies:Don't you just love that gleam, like it's the Heisman trophy or something? And the fact that the figure on my trophy is wearing a skirt? Hilarious! We actually didn't really win these for anything, since our team (go Wild Cards!) came in dead last. But since it was such a small league of only four teams, they decided everyone needed a prize. So much cooler than just a "Participant" ribbon, huh? Actually the teams that won the first and second place trophies were kind of jealous of our groovy retro statuettes. They will surely have a place of honor in our abode ;)