The threat must have worked because...

...the mailman brought me not one, but two packages since my last post. He brought me this from Carrie at The Barefoot Cobbler.

I won a contest at her blog & she sent me not only these pretty stitch markers made by Arleta,

but also a dishcloth she made,

some Riesen chocolates & a nice note. Everything survived except the chocolates.

And the rest of the Rowan yarn for my Modern Quilt Wrap is here!

This weekend, I'm going to lay out all nine balls of the Rowan & figure out how I want my colors arranged.

That writing job I was in training for? I got it! :-)

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Stop! Oh yes, wait a minute, Mr. Postman

Dear Mr. Mailman--

You know, we have a strange relationship, one in which you have the upper hand. Or, as Seinfeld would say, "Hand". You have Hand because you bring me things; I have to wait for them. Some days, you're nice & come early. Some days, I don't see you until dark. I'm at your mercy.

So why are you tormenting me by not bringing the remaining balls of Rowan I ordered?? Now, I don't want to hear excuses, about how you're just the middleman, the messenger. You're not the Yarn-Shop-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. All you do is deliver & you have no control over when items come into the post office. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Since I'm too far away from the Yarn-Shop-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, I have to take my frustrations out on someone. Someone has to feel my wrath & I'm sorry it has to be you.

You've dropped many a few packages off at my door. You know what I buy. You know what I am.

Now I'm going to have to take the Hand.

I would hate to cut you off from Christmas cookies this year (I don't do homemade cookies for just anybody...you're special). I would hate to have to give your cookies to the UPS guy, who was here over a week ago. Don't worry, nothing happened...he seemed to sense my impatience as well because he set my package down, rang the doorbell & took off running. By the time I got to the door, his truck was rounding the corner. Smart guy.

Don't think I like standing by the mailbox day after day, either. And yes, that was a nasty look I gave you when you handed me bills, no boxes. I want my yarn today. Tomorrow at the latest. Otherwise, I'll be forced to take drastic action. Instead of getting my cookies come Christmas, I'll substitute my great aunt's, who bakes fluffy cookies each year that no one eats. My kids don't even eat her cookies (what kid doesn't eat cookies?). You want some air cookies this year? Do you??

Set the package down by my door, walk away & no one gets hurt. Got it? Good.

5 balls Rowan Kidsilk Haze, courtesy of UPS. Not enough for the Modern Quilt Wrap.

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Cable-Lace Scarf

Pattern: Dipsy's Cable-Lace Scarf
Designer: Our very own Dipsy Doodle :-)

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK
Needles: US size 6 (4.25mm)
Dimensions: 8 x 62 in/20 x 157.5 cm

Several months ago, my mother-in-law asked me to knit her a wide scarf to match a sweater of hers. I was happy to do it because my MIL appreciates knitting and creativity in general. Her sweater had cables and zigzags in it, so I searched for patterns with either. Luckily, someone at Knitters Review posted a link to Dipsy's pattern, which was perfect because it has cables and zigzags. Plus, the lace makes it even more pretty.

Next, I had to find yarn, which was a harder task because it had to be the same color as the sweater. I finally found the DB Alpaca Silk in as close a color as possible. If my yarn choice hadn't been as limited, I would knit this scarf in a nice wool, maybe merino. I think the cables would show up better. Still, the yarn is nice and incredibly soft. However, after starting it with metal needles, I switched to bamboo because the yarn is so slippery.

After reading about a cable tip in the latest Interweave Knits ("Exploring Cables" by Deborah Newton), I decreased 15 stitches (or 1-2 sts for every inch of width) as I bound off. This helps prevent the cables at the bound off end from flaring out. This is an interesting pattern, especially for a scarf, but it still took me a long time to finish because I got lost in Scarfland, just like I always do when I knit scarves.

I can't remember how many skeins of yarn I used...7 or 8. But I only had 2 ends to weave in because I split-spliced all the others. When I finally finished, I lightly blocked it because I didn't want the cables to lose their shape & I've already experienced what a full wet block does to alpaca. All I did was mist it with cool water & pin until dry. It's very lofty, soft & has a heavy drape to it. I hope it keeps my MIL warm for years to come.

ETA: I'm not thrilled with these photos (the light is terrible), but it's rained all week. I took my photos of my first Lizard Ridge rectangle yesterday in the 5 minutes of sunshine we had all day. But, the scarf is really that pink.

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The Beginning

Noro Kureyon #154

You know how sometimes, you'll see a pattern & at first glance, you're like, meh. It doesn't move you. Then you see the pattern knitted up on someone's blog & your whole feeling about that pattern changes & you want to knit it. Now.

When I first saw the Lizard Ridge Afghan, I wasn't excited. I wasn't big on afghans at the time, either. I didn't add it to my to-do list & soon forgot about it. Then I saw two beautiful afghans back-to-back. First, there was Anna's; soon after, there was Stacey's. I started to get obsessed. The main thing holding me back at first was all the Noro Kureyon. Sure, you could make this afghan with some other yarn, but the effect isn't going to be quite the same. I tried to figure out what body part I could sell to get the Noro.

Be glad, I didn't have to sell anything. I've been on an unofficial yarn diet most of this year, so I figured it was time for a splurge. When I ordered the yarn for my upcoming Modern Quilt Wrap, I ordered 9 skeins of Noro, too (I forgot about it until I opened the box), just to get me started. This is going to be another of those long-term projects. I'll pick up more Noro yarn along the way. I swear, one day Weedinator is going to leave me for a woman who doesn't knit, a woman who has inexpensive hobbies, like...stamp collecting.

And so it begins...

This is day number whatever on my Rowan KSH Watch (insert ticked-off expression of your choice here). Pray for my mail carrier.

Next time: A FO!

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Odds & Ends

This past week & a half has been rather grueling. I haven't had time for anything besides work. Well, I've snuck in some knitting here & there. For the most part, all I've been able to do is knit up some garter-stitch dishcloths. I needed dishcloths; otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

I have a lot of patterns for dishcloths, but besides needing some simplicity in my life, I love the nubbiness of garter with cotton yarn.

After I made the white/black one, I decided to break away from my usual habit of only making the most boring cloths for myself. I dug in my stash & found the pastel rainbow Sugar 'n Cream.

I hoped to have my 9 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze to show you, but the UPS truck hasn't yet arrived. When it gets here, I'm going to try & not ask the UPS guy exactly where he's been, like I'm his mother (but I can't promise anything--I've been waiting for a while). Also, like I mentioned in my last post, since I'm making my Modern Quilt Wrap in different colors than what's featured, I had to order yarn from two different sources. One color was out-of-stock. *sigh*

Next week, things should be easier & I should be around a lot more. I've really missed you guys.

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Fall Knitting

Upcoming projects...

Modern Quilt Wrap from Knitting Daily

While I love the rainbow colors in this version, I'm also envisioning one in only black, greys, cream and blues.

Tangled Yoke Cardigan
IK Fall '07

Judging by the IK KAL blog, this seems to be the "it" cardi of the season...is it any wonder why?

I may be scarce for the next couple of weeks or so--I'm in training for a writing gig that I desperately wanted (yay!). The good part is I have more money for yarn. The bad part is...I have less time to knit. Ah well...

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