I don’t mind the Daylight Savings Time switch, but it always makes me feel a little out of sorts, and a bit surprised by the slight shift in the day. So, what’s up? Feels like ages since I wrote anything. I’m just busy. Work. It’s time for the holiday books to start rolling in, and the calendars (oh, the calendars…), and you know, work. The other day a customer called me a “fixture” at the bookstore. Was that a compliment?
I have been a busy knitter, though. This scarf has been percolating ever since I found the yarn at Rhinebeck, and since I saw a lovely shawl that used something like this diagonal stitch. I envision a wide, soft scarf to wrap up in…
The yarn is sort of fingering/sort of sportweight, and I’m knitting with pretty small needles. For a scarf that is almost 15 inches wide and that will be at least 60 inches long, that means a lot of knitting. Progress is slow but steady (like Turtle!) and very satisfying. It’s comforting, really. The yarn is a dream to work with. You can’t tell from the photo, but I wet and blocked the first 6 or 8 inches just to see how the stitch and the yarn would relax. They did, and the fabric drapes just the way I hoped it would.
Pattern: Diagonal rib based on K5 P3, cobbled together from several stitch dictionaries
Needles: 3.5mm, US 4 (I just switched to my new Knit Picks needles, and I love them!)
Whenever I pick up this project I’m in Knitting Heaven. Here, the yarn planets are aligned, the rhythm is soothing, and the progress is satisfying. Even if I let the stitches get off by one or two and I have to go back, I like what I am doing. I plan to stay up here for a while.
Back here on Earth, I’m still happily circling my Indian Summer Socktober socks. Progress is a bit slow (see above), but this, too, is a very satisfying knit. I love Fleece Artist sock yarn. I love this Twin Rib stitch because it’s so simple and repetitive, but it packs a punch.
~:~Pattern: Twin Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks
Needles: 2.5 and 2.25 mm
~:~
All this knitting was temporarily interrupted this afternoon. When I found out that I won’t need new tires for another 5,000 miles, I went right up the road and invested in my future knitting pleasure. I love to watch TV while I knit. Once I get this TiVo thing figured out, I’ll never miss another episode of anything!
What’s next? The Knitter’s Review Retreat is just about a week away! There’s a Cat Bordhi workshop on Friday, and then there’s one with Teva Durham on Saturday, and the rest of the weekend will be spent visiting old friends (yippee!), meeting new ones, and knitting and spinning and laughing and well, just plain having fun. Rho and I are driving to Walker Valley together, which will be a hoot too. I have been waiting for this weekend ever since last year. Really, ever since I drove down off the mountain in Virginia, I’ve been marking time till now. It’s almost here.
Until I pack the car on thursday morning, though, there’s much to do. Work, for one. And choosing yarn and fiber and stuff to swap, and packing the Dulaan things and the clothes and the just-in-case needles and do-dads. There’s house-cleaning, and kisses for Annie, and laundry (always laundry). It’s easy to smile about it, isn’t it?
I think I’ll go see if I can record something, or two, or watch two things at once, or whatever it is that this contraption will do. At least I know that I can set it to record every time Clive Owen appears on television…
Not Plain Jane 