Russian Join, Crochet Provisional Cast on and Other Fun

Russian Join

Another arrow in my quiver of knitting skills. I used this join for the first time while knitting the Lengthwise Cable scarf.  Where has this been all my life? It’s a wonderful join that eliminates the need to weave in ends. It makes anticipating joining a new ball easier and faster for me.

Crochet Provision Cast On

The latest arrow in my quiver of knitting skills. I’m knitting the Helen Pencil Skirt using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. I used the Lucy Neatby video to learn the provisional crochet cast on. Used another circular to pick up the 210 provisional cast on stitches and was able to unzip the crochet cast at the end. Used a third needle to knit the stiches on the needle and the cast on stitches together. Totally Cool!!

I celebrated International Coffee Day with two cups of Trung Lam Café. I order all my coffee from Vietnamese Coffee Online.

Cooperative Press is keeping me excited these days. Knit Edge continues to go from strength to strength with interesting articles to read and patterns to knit. Pen Hemingway (PenelopeSpider on Ravelry) is coming out with two new books: River Ganseys and Old Hand Knitters of the Dales.

Swatch Week

I have only two rows left till bind off on the Lengthwise Cable Scarf, but this week I left off finishing to swatch.

I bought three skeins of Cascade Eco+ in Lavender to knit a skirt. In January I'd bought some Black Welsh Mountain yarn from Countrybyrd on Ravelry. The yarns made for interesting knitting even if I only knit swatches. The Eco+ is commercially produced and knits up nicely as a Aran-Heavy Worsted weight. The Black Welsh Mountain is rustic, sheepy, and minimally processed, but it worked up wonderfully firm on size 4's in stocking stitch and the 2x2 ribbing was perky. At 12 wpi, I guess it to be a sport weight. What I don't know is the yardage. I suspect I have about 1500 yards.

The next couple of weeks are going to be quite busy. Deva Premal on September 24. In October,  Buddhist relics on display and Robert Thurman -- not together--and a lace class with Shirley Paden and then a weekend class on Rigden.

Slow Adapter

I’ve known for sometime that I was a slow adapter. What is a slow adapter? A slow adapter is someone who doesn’t jump on the latest technology bandwagon. What sparked this realization? It was a BBC radio show on technology about the new cell phone wrist watch and one of the interviewees described herself as a slow adapter. That gave me the language to explain what I am.

I don’t need a 40 inch television or cable because I rarely watch television. But I love listening to the radio and once I discovered that satellite radio was available for homes, I was on it like a shot. Never really got into DVDs or CDs; digital music has given me the music library I always wanted without having the need for the shelf space. The PC was a no brainer. It provided way to create your own content without paper, whiteout and with the advent of external portable storage devices, it is easy to physically store the content. Walkmans were great but the Nano is even better. A mobile is a must have and is convenient when charged, but I don’t have a smart phone. I figure any emergency can be conveyed by a phone call or a text message. I’ve always hated fax machines. They are like the microwaves of office technology. They either have basic features or a cornucopia of features that are never used. But I love e-faxing. It does what the first facsimile machines did: sends and receives documents with the added bonus of the capability of blasting faxes to hundreds or thousands without having to dial in each number.

This brings me to my latest gadget: the tablet. I wasn’t sure but went ahead with the purchase. I knew that I could and do download .pdf’s of knitting patterns and magazines use those instead of paper when knitting. Okay, so I am re-addicted to Tetris. But this week I found an amazing app that allows me to record by BG readings with notes. The data is charted and both data and notes are combined and can be emailed in an Excel spreadsheet. And since the clinic has an online patient portal, I can send this information electronically to my doctor for her review before my appointment.

Knitting this week

Still working on the lengthwise scarf. Just about at the end of the cabling. Fifteen rows of ribbing and then cast off.  It’s not going to make the dent in this particular stash of yarn that I anticipated, so I suppose a hat and gloves will be knit to use up the rest of the yarn.

I’ve found a pattern for the 8 skeins of blue yarn. It’s a skirt and I will have just enough. I’m going to do elastic for the waist as I don’t like the idea of a leather string tie for the waist.

All this has been a valuable lesson. I bought this yarn not because I was at all interested in knitting the pattern that came with it, but because it was on sale. There is nothing wrong with the yarn; it’s actually a yarn I like working with. It’s the colours and the quantity. I don’t have enough of any one colour to knit anything sizeable and I can’t really combine the colors with anything in my stash and to make a garment with both colours would mean making or buying something to match.

Back to The Blog

Where has the summer gone? For me it’s lost in a fog of work. I didn’t realize it was over until a week ago when it was brought to my attention that this weekend was Labor Day weekend. Could have sworn there was another week in there…somewhere.

I did stay on for three days in San Antonio to visit with Val, Tony and Courtney. I did visit the Alamo and highly recommend the PBS documentary although the John Wayne film is fun. I did visit the Yarnbarn of San Antonio and bought some Lone Star Arts Yarn, which I had been coveting. San Antonio was hot, but it’s a dry heat and nowhere near as oppressive as heat with humidity.

My birthday came and went as the BOD meeting started the day after. But I did scurry away in the evening to Looped Yarn Works. Their stock is expanding (YAY) with delicious selections of Habu and Harrisville yarns among others. Below is my birthday present to myself.

 

About the current issue of Pompom Magazine: It was really nice to see a UK knitting magazine feature a woman of color model.

Despite the press of work, I did manage to get some knitting done. I completed a Pi Shawl using Dragonfly Fibers Squishy Lace. The yarn is squishy but has lots of body and doesn’t split. The colours are rich and saturated. The shawl is more of a mini-pi. I should have used larger needles.

I knit Nougat by Susanna IC using Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Fine. This yarn is loosely plied requiring a dull pointed needle to avoid splitting. With such loose plies, I was a little worried—needlessly as it turned out--about stitch definition. It is soft and bouncy with a generous 473yds at around US$11.00 per skein. I liked it so much I bought two more skeins—in the photo above—to knit another Liz Lovick’s Cowls pattern in fingering weight. By the way, Liz has a book coming out: The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting. I can’t wait.

With the remaining Ultra Alpaca Fine, I’m knitting the Bonbons fingerless gloves. Both will compliment the Odessa beret knit last winter.

On the needles is a pair of socks to be finished and the Lengthwise Cable Scarf from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the Caution Colorway. I have 700 yards of the yarn and should have enough left over for a hat and maybe some fingerless mitts. These should compliment a rather drab olive wool jacket.

After deliberating most of the spring, I finally bought a tablet, the Google Nexus 7. It has renewed my addiction to Tetris. But it is great for downloading .pdf’s of patterns and using those instead of paper to knit from. Besides Tetris I have downloaded a few knitting apps and a Georgette Heyer novel to read. Odd thing is, Toupie doesn’t like the Nexus and settling down to read in bed a night becomes a tussle as he continually tries to paw the device.

Toupie was well behaved while I was on my travels. No pictures of freaked-out kitty on FB. No attacking the pictures on the wall or his auntie who kindly consented to mind him for two weeks. He did push his food bowl to different parts of the apartment each day (he’s never done that when I am at home) and there was one renegade incident of ripping open treat bags. I did have the vacuum treats in every part of the apartment including the bathroom.

 

A summer highlight was the opening of Each Peach Market. Really good artisan breads, out of the ordinary sandwich meats (as well as really good sandwiches) and a selection of fresh fruits and veggies and their own spice mixtures. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable making this a must shop stop.