Warty Bobbles

Matinee Jacket

I finished the Matinee Jacket (and booties and bonnet) a few weeks ago, but it has taken a while to get photos of Gwen wearing it!  We had quite a heat wave (so she was not sporting woolies for a couple of weeks) and then it was a matter of working around naps, feeding, fussing, etc.

So, we used a stand-in:

But Sarah finally did manage a proper photo shoot:

Okay, how cute is that!!
Thanks, Sarah!  And additional thanks for updating my sidebar photos.

July Fourth

July Fourth dawned bright and beautiful (unusual for us) and I told myself that since it was a holiday I would knit only “for fun” projects that day.   I do not know why I thought I would have time to knit!  Family badminton tourney, family bbq, family fireworks in the cul de sac. 

But before everything kicked off, I did a little swatching.

My skein of Green Cay Calypso (from Creatively Dyed Yarn) had been calling to me for days.  It was my last yarn purchase at Stitches West this year (I had already surpassed my budget): 510 yards of gorgeous variegated merino sock yarn (like a handful crayons from the 64 box – all the really interesting colors).  I had planned to make it up into a summer top of some sort.  All those shades of green spiced with berry hues.  Mmmmm.   Especially appealing since I have been knitting lots and lots of pink yarn….

So, when we needed a skein of yarn to wind as a demo in our knitting class Thursday evening, I brought the Calypso (Sarah said, Mom, I know what you are doing – you are planning to swatch!).  It wound up into a most enticing cake of yarn and I carried it around with me for two days.  Thinking, thinking….

So, the morning of July Fourth found me playing with these delightful baby cables in my delightful summer-green Calypso yarn.  It actually took me a couple of days to decide on a sweater design – partially because I realized that 510 yards might not be enough and I would need to supplement it with another yarn.  I let my mind wander a bit as I studied the yarn.

Linen.  And since there are undyed stretches in my Calypso: natural-colored linen.  In a lace pattern – maybe Fir Cones (one of my favorites).

So, I ordered some Euroflax from Paradise Fibers (Spokane). 

And I am back to my pink baby projects.  The Calypso dangles tantalizingly in my thoughts – and I take it out and pet it every now and then.  But I can wait – until the Euroflax arrives…

Portable Projects

During the summer months, I appreciate being able to take my knitting with me (beach, park, festival, car trip, etc.).  So, I make sure to have a couple of portable projects going at all times.  Only certain projects make the cut.

Not every project can be stuffed inside a bag – if it requires frequent color changes and has an entourage of yarn balls, for example.  Or if there are lots of notes or books that go along with it – so most designing projects stay home.  Or if it might not survive being dragged through the sand by a 2-yr-old.  Or if it is genuinely irreplaceable (yarn I will never find again, perhaps, or if the design is undocumented) – because what if the parking garage exploded?

I try to keep my portable projects in a certain bag, so I can grab-and-go (the family sighs nosily if I shout “oops, wrong project!” and leap out of the car just as we are driving off).  Actually, the whole bag issue has its own issues, too.  I worry that a knitting bag looks temptingly like a purse left on the seat of the car.  So, I either have to be able to stow the bag out of sight or I will drag the innards (yarn, needles, etc.) out and display them in an obvious manner that says: I am a knitting bag not a purse.  Sometimes, I just bring my knitting in a Ziploc bag (by the way, there are terrific ones with expandable bottoms that are fabulous for knitting projects) and avoid the whole knitting-bag/purse confusion altogether.

My portable projects are usually simple ones – or the simpler stages such as a stockinette sleeve with an obvious increase (such as “every right side row”).  Something I can pick-up-put-down-pick-up-put-down-pack-away-mid-row is good.  The less keeping-track-of-rows the better.  Actually, something with little patterning is beat of all since I will probably be knitting amid distractions or might be expected to watch for freeway exit signs. 

On a true road trip (when I will be spending several hours in the car at a stretch) I will take something more ambitious – and generally a lot of it since I apparently (ambitiously) assume I will be knitting 60 mph! 

Airplane travel, while offering good blocks of knitting time, has its own constraints – mostly dealing with security regulations and my slightly manic fear of having a pair of expensive needles ripped from my work-in-progress at the passenger check-point.

And now just as I figure I have the whole portable knitting thing strategized, a new challenge arises:  for the first time since I was about 6 yrs. old, we are going camping!