A Knitting Post From Home and Some New Office Stuff

Flames and Lace Stole Knitting Pattern

Home Time, Books, and New Office Stuff

I am home for this weekend and have some knitting to show you. I also have a few new things in my home office.

I drove home from Pittsburgh on Sunday . The trip was long but uneventful. The one bonus of a long drive is more audio book time. During my trips from Nashville to Kalamazoo to Pittsburgh and back to Nashville, I had many hours of listening time. I listened to Later by Stephen King, Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner, and began The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadesh.

This was my second time reading Later. I had forgotten how good it is. If you like the movie The Sixth Sense, you might like this book. Secrets of a Charmed Life is very good for fans of historical fiction set in two time periods. The main characters are two sisters separated by World War II and how that affected their lives. I am not even halfway through The Weight of Ink yet. It’s a bit historical too, but in a different way from the other one I read. It doesn’t feel as personal but it is very interesting. The main plot revolves around some manuscripts from the mid 17th century and the people that wrote them in the past versus the ones discovering them in the present. Technically it is the year 2000, so the past to us, but in modern times.

While we are on the topic of home, I want to show you that I added a few things to my home office recently. I added a few desk lamps, a filing cabinet and best of all, a comfortable desk chair. I am writing this post from here and it’s awesome! I really do feel more productive. Now, I just need to use that productive feeling to get my new knitting pattern written for that shawl I finished.

Knitting Updates

Speaking of that shawl, let’s take a look at the blocking shots and a few after blocking pictures.

I love how the pattern opens with the blocking. This stitch pattern is not hard to work because as you can see it’s pretty solid for a lace pattern. That is the reason I chose to use US 3 needles for the fingering weight Classic Merino Bamboo yarn that I used. Normally I used US 5 needles to knit lace with either of my fingering weight bases. I am happy with the body in this shawl that the tighter gauge creates.

I ended up using almost all of the 3 skeins. The shawl weighs 295g. I measured it after removing the pins. The length is about 84″ and the width about 23.5-24″. The width was more than I had planned but it’s actually a nice size for wrapping up in. I think the width is a result of how I blocked it. The edging wanted to be stretched more and therefore, I went with it rather than making the fabric stretch more lengthwise. You may also notice that I chose to accentuate the shaping of the selvedge that occurs due to the lace. Now, I just need to get the pattern written and published. I would like that to be done in time for my next show in Wisconsin next weekend.

I have one other knitting project to share before I end this post. You may recall that I started Saltarello in my Classic Merino Superwash Sock yarn.

I am finding the stitch pattern easy to follow, even in the dark yarn. I do need good light to work on it but that can be true no matter the color when working lace patterns. I have gotten through the first two charts at this point. I hope it will show the design well in the booth in the dark color. Blocking will help I think. I am using US 5 needles on this shawl to help the stitch pattern open up more. See you next time.

Lots to Catch Up On

Hi everyone, well I know there are at least a few of you out there. LOL! Sorry for the couple of weeks with no updates. Life just got a bit hectic and no time for blogging. So I’ll briefly bring you up to date.

A couple days after my last post I traveled up to Jefferson, WI for the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival. The festival was wonderful! I did however have a slight mishap on the drive up. A deer came out of nowhere while I was driving through north central Illinois and I had hit the poor thing before I even knew it was there. It was just in front of me and I had no time or way to swerve. It could have been much worse, I know. I have no idea what happened to the deer either, I’m afraid. I drove on a mile or two with my heart pounding and thought I had better pull over on the side of the road and assess the damage. The deer was several miles back by then. Fortunately my truck was able to continue, but it looked a bit sad. :-(

I contacted my insurance company and they processed my claim within a couple days so I could have the body shop order the parts as soon as I got home. The problem was going to be getting the work done within the time I had at home. I needed my truck to pull the trailer to shows, which I had every weekend this month and into the first week of October. They called me the Thursday after I gave them the estimate and said my parts were in. I needed the truck that weekend to go to Yellow Springs, OH for the Wool Gathering so the repairs had to wait until my return the following Monday. Surprisingly the headlight and blinker still worked even if they were wonky, so it was not too bad having to drive it that way.

So off I went again, and the show was again great but you know how things happen in three’s? Yep, had a few more inconveniences while there. It is a tent show and it was pretty hot, but at least it wasn’t rainy. Looking on the bright side here, LOL. There were yellow jackets and flies everywhere and I got stung on the face Saturday morning. I wasn’t too bad at first and I hoped it would just be better by Sunday morning. Nope. It was worse.

It was more annoying than anything as it made it hard to see because my glasses sat funny, but as you can see I’m fine now. The swelling didn’t go completely away for about 5-6 days though. Oh, and the third annoying thing which I swore I would keep to myself but here I am sharing, was that I somehow forgot to pack underwear. LOL! I have never done that and it was a mistake that I will be forever diligent not to repeat. No guest laundry at the hotel either. I will spare you further details. LOL!

I hurried home on that Monday after Wool Gathering and dropped off the truck for repairs. I reminded them, since they had assured me they would work with me to make sure I had my truck when I needed it, that I had to have it back by Wednesday afternoon. I needed to leave again early Thursday morning for Virginia for the two festivals I had there the next two consecutive weekends. They come through for me! I was so happy to have it back all pretty again. :-)

Which brings me up to the present. The Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival was this past weekend and it was perfect. The weather has been beautiful so far and attendance was great! I will be staying here at this hotel until Friday and then moving down to Orange, VA for the Fall Fiber Festival . I don’t have much plans other than maybe doing some reading and knitting. I’m boring, I know, but it’s honestly what I love most to do when I have time to myself. I do miss my family and feel a bit home sick this morning. It just isn’t worth the long drive home and back up in three days, so it makes more sense to stay through.

Okay, before I close I’ll show you the progress I have made on my Flagstaff shawl. It’s a fun one and I may very well finish it while I am here. I am almost done with chart 6 out of 7. See you soon!