Sir Edward Saves the Day

Safe to say that life has interfered with my knitting! My garden (aka vegetable farm) now has a fence and has been thoroughly weeded and my house has undergone spring cleaning and clutter removal. Some items to go on eBay, some items to St. Vinnie's, and some to the dump! Whew, I love it when the decks are clear!

Always wanting a lovely photo to open a blog entry, here is one I took with my trusty Treo walking from Meg Swansen's Schoolhouse to her Warehouse a few weeks ago. Wisconsin in springtime is a wonder, isn't it? What a commute Meg has (although she cuts through the trees).

My Adult Surprise Jacket is coming along nicely, but with modifications along the way. I slipped it off the needles the other day to see what it would look like, and I was relatively pleased. Here's the picture (notice I didn't bother getting off the couch to take it!).

I decided, however, that the maroonish strip was too close to the front edge, and that the neck was a little deep. (Let me explain. The neck is too deep because I'm going to put in a small saddle shoulder. This is because I tried to out-smart EZ and make the sleeves narrower, and they are too narrow! Moral: Never try to out-smart EZ!). So, I ripped back to the part where I put the neck stitches on hold (on the garish teal yarn) and put fewer on hold. Then I decided to make it a V-neck instead, and started decreasing on the neck edge to create the V, and I kept increasing the miters past the maroonish stripe to get 8 ridges of solid blue before putting the front stitches on hold. Now, if you've never knitted an ASJ, this will all seem like Old Frontier Gibberish, but trust me, it will make sense to somebody!

I'm now satisfied that I'm on the right track, but wait! I was certain I had enough wool to finish! Now it seems I won't. I'm using Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran that I purchased in England or Wales in 2000. Believe it or not, the color is Mariner (blue). I had copious quantities! However, Garter Stitch being what it is (a little hoggish in the wool requirements) and my body being what it is (a little long and wide for quick-and-easy knitting), I seem to be running short. I still have 2 fat balls of wool, but have not finished the body, and then need to lengthen the sleeves.

So, I start searching the internets (sic) and find that the Aran weight of that yarn was discontinued in 2003! There are several batches for sale on eBay of different colors, so I could mix in some Navy and make it look intentional, but what fun would that be? So I searched "completed listings" on eBay and found that 2 skeins of the exact dye lot had been sold 3 weeks ago! I wrote to the seller, asking if they had any more (they did not) and to the buyer asking if I could please purchase it from them or exchange it with another yarn. I didn't get an answer in the first 48 hours (although I checked every 15 minutes), so I thought all was lost.

Then, I got an email from the buyer! He's a wonderful British knitter named Edward who understood my plight and will send the yarn right off if I pay for postage. He only asked that I send him some merino sometime in the future! Of course, I'm sending it immediately with my profuse thanks. Don't you love a story with a happy ending?

Back to the garden/farm/yard... I was ready to mow this morning, but Parsnip was using the mower. Guess I'll have to knit instead!

Refreshed, and Ready to Knit

Oh, such a wonderful knitting weekend we had! 22 knitters all together for 3 solid days of knitting and visiting, with no rotten eggs in the bunch. I will write more about it soon, before I forget how much fun it was. However...

My knitting took a hit! I was knitting along on my Saddle-Shoulder Aran and Meg commented, "there's a dark streak in your knitting". I replied that it was hand-dyed yarn and that the color variations didn't bother me. What was I thinking? After 4 or 5 inches of knitting like a mad thing, I went to splice in another ball of wool and the color variation was startling. It would have behooved me to look at my knitting in good light, don't you think? This photo was taken sereptitiously during class with my Treo, so the quality isn't great, but look at the colors! How could I have declared that it didn't bother me?

So, out I ripped! That ball has been labeled "don't use on sweater", lest I repeat my mistake (which I'm very good at). I have sorted the remaining wool to make sure that the "variations" aren't so severe. The more I knit with this yarn, the more I like it, even though I had this problem. I'm sure there is some way I can blame it on Randy (my SO), I'm good at that too - I just haven't figured out how (yet).

Randy and I have been tilling our veggie garden and working outdoors for 2 straight days. The weather has been wonderful. I have photos of our progress that I will post once I'm off deadline. I have a little editing project (knitting) that must be done today, no fooling! I did, however, run across a great photo; from last summer - it's titled Laundy Day at a Knitter's House. (Keep in mind, this was only the load of naturals/whites.) That's part of my back yard, ain't life grand? Also, that's a tree house in the background, not a deer stand!