Getting Green

My favourite part each week when I start this blog is updating the progress report.  I love turning the squares green.  The greener the spreadsheet the happier I am.  I was able to completely fill in the boxes for the baby hooded sweater.

The buttons look white in the photo but they are a lovely pale blue.  I picked them up at A Stitch in Time in Leamington.  I went in for buttons and came out with a bag of flannelette.  I almost forgot to buy the buttons.

I did forget to buy the little buttons for the inside.  I like to use a second button to secure the main outer button.  It helps to stabilize the button band and reduces the stress on the knitted fabric.  I picked these up at Len's Mill Store in London.  More about that later.

Tony's slippers are done.  More green squares filled in.  These slippers are green too - more or less.

I don't know why the colours are so ugly in the photos.  I tried various settings and this is the best of the lot.  They are a lovely green and brown.  Hubby modeled them for me.  Knitwear always looks better with a body inside.

They are a bit big on Hubby so should fit my brother just fine.

Felting slippers for me is more nerve wracking that cutting steeks in a sweater.  You put them in the washer and hope for the best.  I am never sure if they will felt evenly, too much or too little.  Luckily these came out just right.  I have a front-loading machine - not recommended for felting as not enough agitation.  I put these in on the delicate cycle with a towel to increase the pounding.  I used hot water wash and cold water rinse and held my breath.  They came out pretty good I think.

The Luella Shawl progresses.  The start of the shawl is endless stockinette.  Perfect for my carrying around knitting.   Most of this got knitted on Friday when I attended an event.  I wish I had stayed home.  I was overly tired and somewhat cranky.  The event started late and with the exception of only a few performances, not all that entertaining.  It might have been just me though.  I did meet other knitters there and each wanted to know what I was making.  While I enjoy endless stockinette it isn't much to show fellow enthusiasts when it is white, plain and still the size that might fit a Barbie doll.  The interesting part doesn't start until the wonderful lace ending.

I should make further progress on the shawl this week.  The league championship playoffs start on Tuesday with Essex versus Amherstburg.  This is the same team Essex played last year for the championship.  It was really exciting hockey then and I hope this series will be too.

The Gansey moves along.  The front and back are now split for the arm holes.  The front is done.

The back is coming along.  I use markers to mark the changes in the pattern so I don't have to count stitches.

On Monday I had to go to London for a medical appointment so I took the opportunity to stop by Mary Maxim and pick up some patterns for upcoming categories.  I also stopped by Len's Mill Store for the tiny blue buttons for the baby sweater.  Before coming home I headed south to St Thomas for an exploration of Little Red Mitten where again I picked up a pattern and yarn for upcoming projects.

I like to have a third project on the go.  I keep planning on gathering the yarn, pattern and needles into a project bag for the next few projects.  Instead I pick up a current project and work on it.  I have an hour before Hubby and I go to the movies this afternoon.  That should be enough time to chose the third work in progress.  Wish me luck.

P.S. There is a link to the Progress Report in the right side-bar.

Twenty Seven Weeks and Three Days to Go

That's how long I have to complete my entries for the 2016 Harrow Fair.  I have 4 on the go that need to be completed and 22 entries that I have not yet started.  Can I finish one a week?  I keep trying and here is progress this week.

The baby sweater is not quite assembled.  Only the sleeve seams and buttons to do.

The gansey upper chest decoration is started and I am at the point of separating the front and back.  It is a fun knit but not suited to hockey knitting.

For Tuesday's game against Mooretown I started these.

These are felted slippers Version II - Elf Slippers from the Paton's booklet Next Steps Four Socks and Slippers.  The yarn is Classic Wool from my stash.  Once the collar is finished I will toss them in the washing machine to felt.  I have little control over the felting process so there is the chance they will not fit the intended recipient.

The last felted  pair I made ended up too big for me so I gave them to Hubby.  He never wore them so I gave them to my brother who loved them and wore them a lot.  Too bad one accidentally got mixed up in the laundry and felted some more.  He now has a mixed matched set.  I suggested he wash the other one and give the smaller pair to a daughter.  I am counting on these remaining big enough to fit Tony.  Fingers crossed.

Essex won 2-1.  They have gone on to win 4-1 in Mooretown on Wednesday  8-1 last night in Essex.  There may only be one more game in this series tomorrow night in Mooretown.  Hubby says if they are going to keep this pattern going, Essex will have to win 16-1.

Hubby and I did not attend the game last night.  We had made other plans to see Menopause The Musical at the Colosseum at the Windsor Casino.  I wanted some simple knitting. Ta Da!

It may be simple but I made a mistake early on and it needs to be ripped out.  I noticed the error as the house lights went down so I could not fix it and could not knit on it during the show.  Didn't matter.  I was laughing so hard I could not have knit anyway.  I loved the show.  Hubby thought it was a one-joke show and went on too long.

My original plan was to knit the Swallowtail Shawl.  This has been on my to-do list since I first picked up the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. For weeks now I have had the magazine out, the needles marking the page and the yarn picked out.  I did not cast on. I don't know why.

Earlier this week one of my friends in the Essex Library Group on Ravelry suggested we have a knit-along for this pattern.  It can be done in lace weight and I checked that I have enough  in my stash of the Magic Garden Classic 100% Polwarth yarn I was planning for the Swallowtail. I think it will be fun to knit as a group.  The endless stockinette at the beginning of the shawl will be perfect for hockey knitting.  I am in!  Swallowtail can wait.  Turns out it was only the yarn screaming to be knit up.  It was just getting too yappy.  The balls have quieted now that I have started -  even though I have to rip it out.

I set up for the photos for this post and left stuff in place when I started writing.  Reba decided to take advantage.  She has always liked to lay on my knitting stuff.  Her earliest puppy photos are of her asleep on my project bag.  Here she is today.

2016 Harrow Fair Link

Fun Times!

Sorry for my absence last week.  My mother's birthday is in February.  She decided to return from Florida and celebrate her birthday at home.  So a party was quickly arranged.  I travelled to Niagara to join in the festivities.  There were three birthday girls in attendance; my Ma, my one year old first cousin twice removed and my sister's sister-in-law.  Cousins came from Michigan to surprise my mother and  there were children, grandchildren, nieces, husbands and wives of various family members.  Hubby stayed home with Reba.  She had a vet appointment for her annual checkup and shots and I already had plans for Sunday that did not include Hubby.

I left home for the drive to the party on Saturday morning.  It was minus 14 C and sunny when I left.  I got to Dutton, it was minus 18C and I was in a snow storm.  It normally takes 15 minutes at the most to get from Dutton to London.  In a snowstorm it was more than an hour.  I pulled into the Southside Grill in London, exhausted and hungry.  I called my brother;  asked him the weather at his end.  It was minus 14C and sunny.  Could he please determine when I would drive out of this mess?   If I had to travel much further in this storm, I was going to turn around and go home. A few google clicks and he told me I should be out of the storm by Woodstock.  I told him to tell Ma I would be late.

Turned out I drove out at Ingersoll, 10 minutes before Woodstock. I was only an hour late.  I had planned to be early.

I was grateful to be heading east on the 401.  The west-bound lanes east of London were multi-car pile up after multi car pile up.  I hope there were no other emergencies in the area.  It looked like all the fire engines, ambulances and police cars were there on the highway.

For me the party was an opportunity for future recipients to model their knitwear.

Here is my brother Tony.  He put on the sweater and exclaimed all he needed now was a pipe.

You can't tell from the photo but but he is 6 feet 5 inches tall.  It is a big sweater.  Fits him nicely I think.

This is my neice's boyfriend Cody.  Before I started the vest I made sure to ask him whether he planned on breaking up with her.  I did not need the boyfriend curse applying to them leaving me with a man's vest after the fair.  I tend to be very forthright.  And just for the record, while I don't know him very well, he is a lovely person and they have been together for 6 years.  He says he likes the vest.  He has never owned one before.  I think it fits him nicely.

I brought a sweater and hat set for the littlest birthday girl from my "just in case" drawer.  The sweater was one of my entries for the 2015 Harrow Fair.  I got a second place ribbon for it.  I also knit a matching hat but that was not part of the entry.  There is no child's sweater with matching hat category.  The sweater fits her nicely too.  All the adults thought the hat was adorable.

This is what the birthday girl thought.

I just love how adults hang around and look adoringly at young children.  The littlest birthday girl was the centre of attention.

I am not the least bit offended that she preferred the pink tissue paper to the hat.

I was too busy knitting on the gansey and saving Spencer from being stepped on to take party photos.  However, my cousin sent me this one.  I am related to everyone in the photo.

Sunday I headed back to London.  Weeks ago a friend and I arranged to go to the production of 42nd Street at the Budweiser Gardens.  On Saturday London got at least a foot and a half of snow.  Sunday was a cold but sunny day.  The snow on the roofs of the buildings reminded me of the boiled icing my mother used to make for birthday cakes.  It was white and smooth and sometimes looked like it was sliding off the top.  There was no safe place to pull over and stop for photos of the roofs but I did take some shrubbery photos when I paused for lunch before the show.

My friend and I had arranged to meet at her office an hour before the show started.  We could leave one vehicle there and drive together to the venue.  It would be easier to park one vehicle rather than two.  We would have plenty of time to find a place to park, have a glass of wine, relax and socialize before the show.  Now before I tell the rest of this story, I want you to know that my friend is the most organized, capable and intelligent person I know.  She had arranged for the parking lot at her office to be plowed out on the Sunday.  Too bad after he left, the City snowplow dumped two feet of snow onto he end of the driveway making it impossible for us to get in.  No problem, she came early and unlocked the building to locate the shovel.  She had time to make a path.  Unfortunately, she forgot about the extra security lock she had installed on the office door which has to be separately disabled after the door is opened.  The door closed as she stepped outside locking her purse with the office keys, car keys, cell phone and show tickets inside.

I arrive.  I think the situation is funny simply because it is not me.  This is exactly the sort of thing that happens to me.  No matter how well I plan, fate likes to whack me up the side of my head.  We sat in my car with my cell phone and the car's blue tooth calling 411 for telephone numbers of everyone who had keys to the building. She had no one's phone number as they are all stored in her cell phone inside her purse inside the building.   This is a Sunday of a holiday weekend.  Of course no one is in their house.  Chances are they are outside shoveling snow or screening calls.  No one is going to recognize my cell phone number.

I don't know who's bright idea it was to switch the 411 phone number lookup service to voice recognition software.  If I ever meet him.  I am convinced it is a him.  I am going to whack him up the side of the head and ask what was he thinking.  We are two women with standard middle Canadian accents.  The kind of accent that everyone in the world whether they speak English well or not understands.  The accent that gets hired by American broadcasters because it sounds accentless.  We were not asking for unusual names.  They were simple standard common names.  The 411 system could not understand us at all.  So each time we called, we had to go through the frustration of dealing with software that was useless and then wait for the system to connect us to a live human being who had absolutely no trouble understanding us on the first try.  It reminded me of the episode of the Big Bang Theory where Kripke illustrates the short-comings of Siri, Apple's voice recognition software.  Kripe has a speech impediment. We don't.

Eventually a co-worker came to our rescue.  We made it to the show - just minutes to spare.  The show was great.  Dinner was great and I made it home safely without further snow.

Segueing back to the birthday party - I managed to get the littlest birthday girl to sit still long enough to measure her feet.  Did you notice her orange socks above? I did.  I got home and cast on these.

Son Socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2006 issue.  The yarn is Kroy .  The orange colour is from my earliest experiments with natural dying.  I used beets.  The colour will fade quickly.  Hopefully not as fast as the girl will outgrow these.  I added a little extra length and width in the foot from the measurements I took.

The gansey looks the same as last time but longer.  I am now at the point where I am about to divide the piece for the front and back yokes.

I am almost done the hooded baby sweater.  Since I took this picture the hood is knitted and I am adding on the white ribbing edge.  It should be finished this week.

I have completed 16 items not counting the one above.  This is more than I have entered into the fair in any other year.  I should feel pleased.  Instead, I feel like I am so far behind and should have completed at least half of the entries by now.  More and more it looks like I am going to have to ask my boss for all of July off.  I refuse to give up.

The knitting is almost done on the hooded sweater.  Most of the work  left is finishing the thing.  This leaves me with one project on the needles and I am starting the part that needs concentration.  It will not be suitable hockey knitting.  I don't know what to start next.  I need to be ready for the next game on Tuesday.  Essex starts the next playoff series against Mooretown.  Mooretown finally beat Lakeshore in the 7th game of their series last night.  Essex beat Alvinston in four straight games and had more than a week off waiting to see who they play next.  Poor Alvinston.  They only scored 1 goal in the whole series.

Quickie Update

The Big Green Monster otherwise known as the Levity Shawl is done.

This is laid out on a double bed and the shawl is so big it hangs off the side.

Hubby and I went out to Sadler's Park for a photoshoot.  Reba got a bit of a walk and I got a few extra steps.

I love how the Canada geese behind me pay absolutely no attention to us.  It is like they see this kind of activity every day.

Now for a little close up of the shawl details:

I love that I can completely wrap this shawl around me.

The baby sweater is growing.  It is knit in one piece to the underarm.  One front is done and I am working on the back.

A little close up of the texture pattern.

The gansey has grown a little.

I only got a little knitting done on the gansey this week.  Most of my knitting time went to finishing the green shawl.  I planned on getting a couple of hours of good plain knitting time at Tuesday's 73's game.  It did not quite work out as planned.  You cannot knit and text at the same time.  Both use the same fingers.  Hubby was on Pelee Island.  I was at the game and we settled on me texting him whenever something big happens in the game.  So I text the scores, who scored, major penalties and anything else that is exciting.

For the first two periods I felt like I was constantly texting goals.  Essex scored 9 goals in the first two periods.  Alvinston - zip.  I texted Hubby that if there was one more goal, I was going home.  No goals in the third period at all (not for lack of trying).  I stayed to the end of the game.

Essex won Friday's game in Alvinston 6-0.  The next game is back in Essex on Tuesday.  Maybe I will get a little more done on the sweater then.

I am having a weekend away this upcoming weekend and may not be able to post on Sunday as usual.

How I Came to Knit

I learned to knit in 1966.  It was not a popular pastime for women at that time, not with the rise of the Women's Movement and Feminism.  I was 9.  What did I know?  I just wanted to learn.

My mother bought me a book from Mary Maxim on learning to knit*, a pair of needles and a ball of yarn.  I remember reading the book and studying the drawings.  It was a good book but while it showed how the needles went into the stitches and the yarn went around to form new stitches, it did not show how to hold the needles in your hands.  I had to figure that out for myself.

I had problems with the cast on method described in the book.  I know today that it is the long-tail method.  My mother showed me the long-tailed thumb method instead.  The end results are exactly the same but the thumb method is so much easier especially for a nine year old.  The cast on my mother showed me is still my go-to method unless some other method is more suited for a particular project.  While my mother did not knit, she knew how.  Like so many children during the forties, she learned to knit for the war effort in WWII.

I knit on and off until my early twenties.  Mainly I knit doll clothes for my Tammy doll and my younger sister's Barbie doll.

Then I stopped.  Partly it was lack of money; partly it was time.  But, mostly I had a hurtful experience and to knit reminded me of that pain.

Then about almost 20 years ago now, I went to an auction sale.  I bought a lovely wooden tray.  As a bonus gift it came covered in balls of yarn.  The whole package cost me $1.00.  Now, what was I going to do with the yarn?  Christmas was coming and I had three nieces and one granddaughter.  All the girls had their Barbie dolls.  I pulled out my patterns from my youth and started knitting up the yarn into doll clothes.

This was fun.  I practiced techniques and learned new skills.  Each outfit was a little practice swatch.  I could try out lace, cables and finishing techniques.  I purchased plastic containers that would hold a doll on one side and lots of clothes on the other.  I filled each with doll clothes all the right size for Barbie.

That Christmas the package to my granddaughter was mailed off.  The three for my nieces were wrapped and taken to my mother's.  Hubby was in charge of handing out the gifts.  His beard made him the natural choice.  I told him that he had to give out my packages to the girls at the same time.

He handed the first girl hers. She had the paper off before Hubby could hand the second girl hers.  Her eyes were huge.  Her package was the same size and shape as the other and she could see what was in the first package.  By the time the third girl got hers she was jumping up and down with excitement.  She knew what she was getting and could hardly wait to start playing.

My cash outlay was probably around $10.00 per child that Christmas.  There were hundreds of dollars of toys, clothes and other stuff lying around once all the presents were opened.  The girls only wanted to play with their Barbie clothes.  They dressed and undressed dolls, compared outfits and had a grand time.   Their joy and excitement was intoxicating.   I was hooked and have not stopped knitting since.

All four girls are adults now and still enjoy getting knitted things from me, especially socks.

Progress is still happening on the Fair knitting front.

I finished the child's vest category.

The gansey is longer.

This is turning out to be perfect lunch 'n learn knitting and hockey knitting.  That was the only time I worked on it this week.  I am saving this for the playoffs.  Essex finished first in the regular season and Alvinston finished 8th.  They start their series on Tuesday. Essex has home ice advantage for all their league playoff games.

The top four teams have home ice advantage and the top 8 teams get playoff spots.  The really sad thing is that there are 9 teams in the league.  Only one team does not make it.  The regular season does not end until tonight.  There are several games ongoing and they will determine who has 2nd through 7th place.  Essex is so far ahead and Alvinston is so far behind that no matter what happens tonight their positions as first and eighth won't change.

As discussed before, I am trying to keep three project on the go any given time.  While I was deciding what project I should cast on next, I worked on the Levity Shawl.  I am now half-way through the border.  I am getting bored with this project so I might just work on it more than the others to finish.  Then I can start something new and exciting.

This morning I decided to start this one.

Design A from Sirdar No. 280 Early Arrivals Knitting Book

I am knitting it in Cherub DK from Cascade Yarns in Classic Blue and Ecru.  I don't know where I got the yarn from or when.  For some reason, I did not enter this yarn into my inventory system.  I found the yarn in a bag in the basement where I store my inventoried yarn.  There is no store name printed on the bag.  There was no sales slip in the bag nor any price tags on the balls.  I don't remember buying it and I don't remember getting it as a gift.  It is a mystery but turns out it is perfect for this little hoody.  It is almost like I planned it.  The pattern calls for 4 balls of blue and one of white.  That is exactly what was in the bag.

I also decided that there was no chance of starting the child's socks unless I converted the skeins I picked out for them into cakes.  Did that this morning.

If you want to track my progress and see how many projects are still to go, there is a progress report on the right sidebar which links you to the worksheet where I track the projects.  I update it before starting my blog post each week.

* The book is still in print.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

The law of unintended consequences is the concept that actions of people and in particular governments always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.

Apparently this was one of the underlying concepts of Adam Smith but he was looking only at positive consequences of capitalism.  Smith held that each individual seeking only his own gain ends up promoting actions that turn out to be in the public interest.  He completely missed pollution, ozone depletion and climate change.

We are most familiar with bad or disastrous unintended consequences.   A Bad outcome was observed as early as 1692 by John Locke who objected to a bill to lower the maximum rate of interest that could be charged to 4% from 6%.  The bill was intended to benefit borrowers but Locke predicted that the  real effect would be to restrict available credit and lower the income of the very people the bill was designed to benefit.  The poor would have less chance of borrowing through legal means and would end up having to borrow from the equivalent of loan sharks of the 17th century.

There are three categories of unintended consequences.

1. Unexpected benefit.  Also referred to as luck, serendipity or a windfall.

2. Unexpected drawback.  This is a negative, unexpected detriment that occurs in addition to the desired effect anticipated by the policy, program or legislation.  This effect when viewed from the point of view of a taxing authority is referred to as loophole.

3. Perverse result.  This is the opposite of the effect that was originally intended.  The intended solution makes a problem worse and is often referred to as a backfire.

My firm decided that sponsoring a program at work for us to increase our fitness; maybe lose some weight was a good idea.  The concept being that if we were fitter we would be more productive.  To that end many of us acquired these fancy-dancy electronic wristbands that track calories burned, steps taken, and the amount of sleep we get.

I returned to work this week and got my very attractive fuchsia wristband.  Most of my co-workers already had theirs for almost 2 weeks.  The bad news is I am way behind in counting steps.  The good news is I got to observe some of the unintended consequences of the devices.

The firm is sponsoring contests between the various office groups such as managers vs partners or managers vs the rest of the office.  Many of the  water-cooler conversations involve how to cheat the device and how to generate more steps with less effort.  Now I am sure that these are just conversations and no one is actually engaged in cheating.  They are, I believe, just an unintended consequence of the device; generating increased creativity.

Some have suggested putting the device on the dog.  Even on a walk with you, the dog takes many more steps than the human. 

One couple discussed each taking turns wearing the device since one worked days and one worked nights.  You could double the steps recorded.  My own Hubby suggested he wear it when he goes to the gym.

One poor fellow discovered you could increase the recorded steps  when riding in the car by hitting a pothole.  We'll know if that technique catches on when the high cost of suspension repairs is the main topic of discussion.

There are probably 20 steps involved in going to the coffee maker and pouring a cup of Joe.  However, there are 800 steps if you leave the office to go to Tim Horton's down the street.  This does not bode well for office efficiency.

One young co-op student is driving his mother to distraction as he paces the house.  To relieve his boredom he is practicing walking backward.

If you stand in place and lift your feet, the device records steps.   It also records steps if you fidget with your feet sitting at your desk.   I returned to work after almost a month's absence, I was rather alarmed by all the twitching of my co-workers.  It was like walking into a room of jitterbugs.  What neuro-toxin was affecting them?  Did we have a new case of sick building syndrome?  Was it a new contagious disease?  Should I call 911?  Had the entire office taken up bird watching?  No, just a desire to increase steps.

I admit that I am dead last in the number of steps.  I am sure I will continue to be dead last.  No one is going to want me on their team.  It is going to be grade school and high school all over again.  My activities do not generate steps.  I like to swim.  I will admit I have not done this for a few months.  I developed an ear problem and I did not want to make it worse.  The wrist device is water repellent, not water-proof.  If I swim - no steps.

I also dance.  You would think that this would generate lots of steps.  It doesn't.  I have checked the device before and after.  I am a belly dancer.  A lot of the movements do not involve moving your feet.  Shimmining in place - no steps.  Chest circles - no steps.  Layering a shimmy on top of other movements - no steps and no extra steps for layering on top of an actual dance step.  It is great exercise as you use all the muscles of your body. You are in constant motion just not necessarily moving your feet.

I walk Reba.  This will generate 2,500 to 3,000 steps.  Too bad she is on Pelee Island three days a week.  I cannot force myself to walk in the cold and wind on my own.  Also if Hubby takes her for a walk before I get home, no way am I going to wake her up and take her again.  She is over 12 years old now and I do not believe in animal abuse.

What I spend most of my free time doing is knitting.  No matter how much I wave those needles around, how often I pull the yarn from the ball or how fast I knit no amount of steps register on the device.  Knit or walk?  Perhaps I could attempt both at the same time.  Chances are the unintended consequence will be me tripping, falling and breaking my arm.  Maybe I will just buy a spinning wheel and learn to spin wool.  All that foot pumping should count right?   Just what I need - another hobby and a fibre stash.

Now for knitting progress:

The Levity Shawl has a few more points in the border. It pretty much looks the same so I have not photographed it.

The child's vest is blocked.  Assembly and finishing is still required.

On Wednesday I had some video training scheduled at the office.  I cast on a hat for the preemie hat and matching bootees category.  I got most of the hat done. Only the top decreases and securing the ends was completed at home later.

The lovely ball is a Christmas decoration I picked up at Pier 1 a couple of years ago.  It is the perfect size for blocking baby hats.  I was thrilled when I saw the balls and realized their potential.  I was getting tired of the strange looks.  Tired of mothers hugging infants closer to their chests;  tired of mothers pulling  toddlers closer to safety as I tried the baby hats on oranges and grapefruit in the grocery store; searching for the right size for blocking.

I knit up the bootees later in the week.

The yarn is Sirdar Americana a cotton and acrylic blend.   I think the yarn is now discontinued.  It is missing from Sirdar's website.  I purchased three balls a few years ago at the Needle Emporium with the intention of knitting a baby sweater.  Instead, I knit a hat and bootee set for the Fair three years in a row now from this yarn.  The yarn is finally down to a small collection of leftovers.  I have plans to drop the leftovers off for LeeLee Hats.

Friday we had our annual training summit at work.  I did not have to present so there was hours of knitting time available.  I am able to stay awake and participate better if my hands are occupied.  Plain knitting was the right knitting for this work event.  

Above is the start of the Great Gansey Sweater.  I am making modifications to suit me.  I want it longer, more of a tunic so I need to accommodate my hips.  Hence side slits and extra stitches.  I am making more of an A-line sweater than a box style to take in those extra stitches.  Also, I have eliminated the texture stitches in the main body.  Mine is straight stocking stitch until the garter stitch rows of the upper chest.

The yarn is Paton's Classic Wool in the colour Currant.  The yarn was a Listowel tent sale purchase in 2014 so the colour is most likely discontinued.


This week ends with one more finished entry, one nearly finished, one newly started and one project that feels like it is never going to end.

An Even Dozen

I feel like I have been knitting up a storm these last few weeks.  I have been battling with Poindexter and knitting.  I did not have much energy left for anything else.  Today I checked my spreadsheet and I have only  completed 12 items.  It feels like so much more.  Twelve seems like such a small accomplishment.  I keep telling myself that I have been working on the big things first.  They take more time and effort.  Yeah right my inner voice says.  

Lets look at some photos of recent progress.  Maybe it will take my mind off the fact that I have 30 items still to go.

I whipped up the dishcloth category.  I used the waffle stitch from the Knitting Stitch Bible for the centre with a garter stitch edging all round.  The yarn is Sugar 'n Cream, 100% cotton.  I picked up a couple of cones in 2013 at the Listowel tent sale.

The baby blankie is done.  I was trying to save this for hockey game knitting but it was just too much fun to watch the self-striping pattern appear.  I could not stop knitting on it until it was done.  The final size is 30" by 36".   I could have made is square and had enough left for a baby hat but since I was not going to have time to make a hat I simply made the blankie bigger. [I understand the lack of logic in that statement.]

I did get to knit on it for one hockey game.  Essex played Wallaceburg on Tuesday night.  Essex won 9-1.  Normally when the game is this lopsided I plan to go home early.  However, on Tuesday night there was enough interesting and goofy things happening to keep me there right to the end to see Essex score their final goal with 1.7 seconds left on the clock.

The Timbits came out to play following the first period.  Both the red team and the yellow teams had goalies.  Then I counted the players on each team.  Red had 6 and Yellow had 9.  All 15 players did a slow chase of the puck.  The pack headed out as a group following the puck.  The group spread out like a comet with its tail. One child fell down taking half a dozen with him.  I hid behind the baby blankie 'cause I was just laughing too hard.  The red team managed a goal.  I wasn't sure whether to cheer for Red or go ahh for Yellow.

The big kids had their own tumbles.  Two Essex players collided and knocked each other down.  A Wallaceburg player was heading back to his bench.  An Essex player was heading down the ice with his stick in front.  Neither looking at the other.  The Wallaceburg player skated into the Essex stick and down he went.

The linesman was almost taken out.  An Essex player and a Wallaceburg player were each struggling for the puck and moving along the boards down the ice heading towards the Wallaceburg end.  The linesman was along the boards.  The linesmen and referees amaze me with their ability to remove themselves from the line of play so that they do not interfere with the puck. I have seen them leap in the air, spread their legs and hop on the boards.  The linesman hopped on the boards but it was not enough.  He was still in the line of play along the boards.  He lifted his feet higher so that he would clear the players heading his way.  Lucky for him, the Wallaceburg players on the bench caught him before he completely tumbled back into their bench.  Play continued unabated.

With excitement like this how could I go home early?

I started the child's vest category.  I have a child in mind for this one.  My favourite restaurant is Mama's Place in Essex.  Paola, the proprietor has a young son.  I think this will be perfect for him.  

I am using the tank top pattern, Design F from Little Sweet Peas as a basic vest pattern but doing my own design to it.  As of this morning I have the back done and the front to the underarms.  The yarn is Knit ca Delight, purchased back in October when Hubby and I went to Stratford.  It has been talking to me about being this vest since it came home with me.  I am using white, cardinal and maize.

The Levity Shawl is coming along.  I am adding the lace border.  I have 5 of the 23 points done.  It is going faster now that I have the 24 row repeat memorized.

I have located patterns, yarn and needles for the next 3 projects.  I do not have to worry about having hockey knitting for 2 weeks.  There is no home game this week.  Maybe I can make further progress on Levity and start something more complicated.

Essex has only one more game to play in the regular season which ends January 31.  Essex has the league's first place already sewn up.  The battle now is for second, third and fourth place in the league.  Only first and second place finishers get home ice advantage for the league playoffs.  Four teams are vieing for those remaining three positions.  Playoffs start in February.

On Tuesday I finally broke down and went to the Harrow Health Clinic to see someone about Poindexter.  I am now on antibiotics for a secondary infection.  I think I am feeling better now.  I hope I am getting over this; I return to work tomorrow.

Since I was going to be in Harrow, I offered to pick up some cream that my friend C was looking for.  The store was closed for inventory so I decided to continue my exploration of the little towns in the county and stopped in at Blimeys in Harrow.  The store was a surprise and a fun place to browse.  I loved the selection of Dr. Who merchandise and the next time I need to get a teapot I am heading there.