Getting On With It

I hate the fiddly finishing of knit projects. This weekend I sucked it up and decided to block the pile of finished projects I've accumulated the past six month. Of course, I couldn't decide to do it last week when it was in the high 80's and the humidity was down to 14% - No not me. This weekend it was about 70 and 49% humidity so it took a full 24 hours for each batch to dry and that's with a fan on it all day too.



Saturday I blocked the parts for Hey Teach





While pinning out the front pieces I saw that I'd knit two more rows on the Right front than the Left front. This is at the top of the neckline so, yes, it will show. Why couldn't I have seen this when I was knitting?? Absolutely the worst place to have made this MISTAKE! So my choices are to pull out the whole shoulder and re-knit or try to pick out the two rows and anchor the extra yarn at the back. Thick I'll try pulling out the two rows first and see how it looks before pulling the whole shoulder and re-knitting. Sigh... It's always something.



Sunday I blocked three scarves.





The scarf on the left is My So Called Scarf which I finished in February.
Ravelry link here



Center is the Noro Stripped Scarf I mentioned last post.



The Right hand scarf is the Grace's Scarf I mentioned in my Nov. 7th blog entry.



And this morning I pinned down the last project that's been languishing in my blocking pile.





My Midwest Moonlight Scarf from the book Scarf Style; at 12 inches in width seems more like a small shawl than a scarf.
Mentioned in my Sept. 8 blog entry. Ravelry link here



My second knitting problem was I ran out of yarn 2.5 inches from the end of the second sock! I kept looking in my sock bag like more yarn would magically appear.



This is the first time this has unexpectedly happened. The yarn label says 350 yards and that's usually more than enough for me to make an 8" leg with a 9" foot. I'm thinking the pattern may be the reason. I'm knitting the Welsh Traveling Socks out of the book Shear Spirit. So I ripped back the toe of sock one in order to finish the pattern part of sock two and will finish both toes in another yarn. No pictures as the sun went in before I got the photograph and the detail of the pattern wouldn't show up. I'll finished them and then you can tell me if I picked an acceptable color for the toes.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S.; enjoy your time with family and friends.

Now is a good time for me to say how thankful I am to all you that read this blog and have taken time to write to me. I really do enjoy hearing from you.

Miscellany

I'm always amazed at how something you thought was all your own turns out to be happening in other places simultaneously. Seems I started a Noro Striped Scarf at the same time as another Famous Blogger and I'm sure there are at least several other knitters that cast-on with us. Wonder what was in the Knitting Stratosphere to inspire this unplanned group knit-along? Can't be weather because it's still summer temperatures here in Southern Cal.

Is anyone else having trouble with their Bloglines updates? Some days there are duplicate updates and then other feeds have no updates for days. When I go to check on bloggers that usually have daily entries I find Bloglines has missed three or four daily entries. What's the deal? Am I really going to have to transfer all my feeds over to Google Reader? What do you use to keep you updated on all the Blogs you like to read?

Wednesday, at the Yarn Shop where I work, several of us that teach or have taught knitting were having a discussion on teaching Provisional Cast-on (click link for a YouTube video by Lucy Neatby) in a class setting. What method is the best for what purpose and which is the easiest to teach in a limited amount of time? We all agreed that the Crochet Cast-on was the quickest and easiest for us to teach. Of course, having many cast-on options at your command would be ideal but in a class with several students time constraints limit the time you can spend on any one topic. The Shop has tried a class on Cast-on and Cast-off methods which is always poorly attended; our customers seem to be project oriented. I'd like to hear your opinion on teaching a Provisional Cast-on.

And to show how crazy the weather is... I have an epiphelium in bloom. These plants normally bloom in this area in May. The big Epiphelium flower show in Balboa Park is always on Mother's Day. How crazy is that!!!

There are no pictures of the Epi; it's hanging in direct sunlight this morning which is beyond my abilities to get a decent photo. Maybe this afternoon.

Weaving & Fiber Festival

Sunday last The Photographer and I drove up to Torrance (just North of LAX) to attend The Southern California Handweavers' Guild "Weaving & Fiber Festival"
It's been two years since I attended and they've grown. I much prefer this show to the FiberFest held in Santa Monica in August. The Weaving and Fiber Festival in Torrance is aimed directly at the Weaver, Spinner and Knitter while FiberFest in Santa Monica has a very loose definition of "fiber."

Newton's was there

I didn't buy anything but was really tempted by their cashmere blends at really good prices.
The green cashmere I bought from them several years ago at Stitches West, that's still in my stash, held me in check but it was a close call. They had a gorgeous Navy I really wanted.

I did buy this (top of the picture Teal and Orange) incredibly soft Silk and Merino Roving.

from Red Fish Dyeworks.

More of the fiber at the Red Fish Dyeworks Booth


A weaving demo on a nice folding Japanese loom.


I wish there had been more weaving demos but the show has expanded to fill all the rooms now, I'm not complaining about that - more Vendors is a Good Thing! Just as a beginner weaver I can't get enough of watching people weave.

There was lots of handdyed yarn. Here's Chameleon Dye Works Booth


and a local dyer, Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio.

I bought two skeins of sock yarn for a pair of socks.

We had a great time. I enjoyed the show while The Photographer did his usual thing. And we stopped at one of our favorites restaurants on the way home. Fritto Misto in Santa Monica.

Here's a look at my current scarf project


I bought the yarn and pattern at the Taos Wool Festival.
The yarn is from Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Company. It's a hand dyed sport weight single. Actually more blue than it looks in the photo. And the pattern is "Grayce's Scarf" from The Pearly Queen. (No link for either but I do have email addresses if anyone wants them.)

That's all I have, too much work this week not enough knitting time. So, what else is new!

OH YEAH! I am so glad the election is over! Can you believe it went on for 22 months? There has to be a better way!