Lace, Bib and Bread

Very slowly I've been knitting Ink Spot the scarf version of Fountain Pen Shawl in the current issue of Interweave Knits. I find it difficult to keep working on such dark stitches. I usually sit in direct sunlight in the morning and knit a dozen rows before I start the rest of my day.


The yarn is Knit Picks Shadow in Midnight. The picture looks like a solid black yarn but it has touches of blue-green in it. (Think Black Watch Plaid in the blender - those colors) One more picture - yeah, I know, unblocked lace looks like a blob.



I completely flaked out on SockMadness. My yarn was picked out and I was right there that Thurday morning when the pattern was released but Ink Spot was calling to me and when I cast-on it was lace weight in my hand rather than sock yarn. I feel so wicked.

Lace yarn has a tendency to either stick to itself or the whole ball falls apart, especially if it has a high silk content. Here's a picture of have I keep my yarn safe and secure.



I store it in an empty CD spindle package. The yarn is secure on the spindle; safe from dust, falling onto the floor and nosey cats. My family of Photographers kindly keep me supplied with empty DVD cases.



I finished a bib in cotton dishcloth yarn. (I'm not sure which brand as there was no label on this ball. I'm thinking it's Peaches & Creme because I bought a grab bag of yarn from them several years ago and none of them came with labels.)



The pattern is here. Overall it's a very good pattern and lends itself to what ever you can imagine. You could adapt this pattern to any dishcloth pattern for the first six inches. I would try a few things differently next time; I'd use an I-cord bind-off across the front neck, I'd taper a bit the bands that go around the neck and I did enlarge the button hole. (Trying to get tiny buttons done on a squirmy baby isn't fun.)

I've been trying the recipes in the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day." It really is an extremely simple recipe with no kneading. I've gotten some very good bread and they look every bit as good as the loaf on the cover. And the Smell when it's baking is just heaven!



My problem is my refrigerator - I HATE my side-by-side! I just don't have room to store the bread dough container. Since I won't be keeping the book because of my "stupidly designed refrig" I thought I'd give it away here. Anyone that's interested leave me a comment (be sure and leave an email address so I can let you know you won.) I'll mail it to anyone in the US or Canada - sorry everywhere else USPS is just too expensive.

So if you have a decent refrigerator and like to bake this book is for you. Leave me a comment by next Thursday April 9 at 9 p.m. PDT.

Do you read the Rainey Sister's Blog? The last two days Susan has been showing a method for keeping count of rows, increases and decreases as you knit. Sure makes sense to me.