What A Weekend!

What a weekend it's been! I woke up Saturday morning, looked out the window, and there it was. Snow. It was coming down like crazy and piling up on the ground. In September! Our trees haven't even turned yet! The last time it snowed in September around here was 1926! I was not happy. Actually, no one was happy.

We had our annual Parktoberfest family party on this snowy day. We were hoping for nice weather so we could be outside enjoying it. Instead, we were all in our niece's garage. It was nice and toasty warm in there, and we all had a good time despite the weather. But no caber toss, log sawing, or frying pan throws for us. I suggested a snow shovel toss. Ha ha. There was lots of good food (I made macaroni and cheese for the occasion) and laughter.

On Sunday morning I awoke to 4 inches of new snow. Ugh.

It was wet, heavy, and didn't stop falling until well into the afternoon.

A lot of people lost branches from their trees because they all still have their green leaves on them and it was heavy snow.

Some of those branches took out power lines over in Spokane. Fortunately for us, we did not lose our power. I went out and shook the snow off the branches so they wouldn't get overloaded and break.

The apples stayed on the tree and seem to be okay. They should be ripe enough to pick soon, assuming it gets warm enough for more ripening. I was hoping to wait until next weekend, but I don't know. Probably should pick them now.

I got quite a bit of knitting done since doing yard work was out of the question. The high of the day was a balmy 35F degrees. I finished sewing the sleeve pieces together on Margaret Tudor. The next step will be knitting on the cuffs and welts.

I also knit the matching booties and hat for the current layette project. I still need to block them, add a pompom to the hat, and ties for the booties.

I got several rows knit on the front piece of the Milo sweater too. It's coming along nicely.

This evening I plan to crochet the edging on the blanket fleece. I have KnitWits meeting this week and would like the set to be finished so I can turn it in.

It's a little bit warmer today, though the sky is covered in clouds. Most of the snow is melting very quickly. I'll be glad when it's gone and the weather gets a little closer to normal later this week. Snow in September. Who'da thought?

Live long and prosper. \\//

Milo Progress

I finished the knitting on the back piece, and have started the front piece.

The shoulder shaping gave me some challenges. The pattern says to bind off the first 9 sts on the next 6 rows, then bind off 32 neck stitches. I decided to short row, leaving the sts open, instead so I can do the three needle bind off to join the shoulders instead of sewing. Well, a different color is being used on each row, so how do I carry the yarns across the stitches being bound off? I wove them, like I do when knitting across larger areas in fairisle. It worked great until I got to a row that had the purls on the front side. Can't weave in that situation without it showing on the right side. I was going to have to carry a yarn across 9 sts. That's a long float in worsted weight yarn. So I spent some time doing research to see if there's a solution to that problem. I googled, and looked in my books. Found nothing. Nothing! Then I realized it didn't matter because that particular row was the last shoulder shaping row anyway. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.

Here's a close up of the stitch pattern. It's been an interesting one to do.

I turned the furnace on Wednesday. All 3 fur kids were laying on me trying to get warm. I had some chores that needed doing. I wanted to get off the love seat. It was pretty chilly in the house, so I relented. Otherwise I would probably have sat all day with the kids using me as their personal heater.

It's amazing how fast things change when we go from one season to the next. One day we're roasting, and the next it drops into the 50's and we're all digging out jackets, sweaters, and long sleeve shirts. There's no gentle tapering off around here. Just BAM!

Live long and prosper. \\//

Ha! and Sewing Things

It thought it could defeat me. I showed it! I fixed the sleeves on the robe yesterday. Now it fits perfectly. Just in time for summer to be over. No, there will be no pics.

Now, about sewing. I am very good at sewing my knitting together. I have had Fair judges come looking for me to meet me and find out how I seam things because the work was so beautiful. It's really a matter of practice.

In the early days of my knitting years, I didn't do top down seamless sweaters cuz I had no access to such a thing. (This is, truly, what is best about the internet. Having access to so much information) Most of my knitting years I was isolated and had only learned what I could find in books that I found at the library or magazines. Most patterns were knit flat, in pieces, and needed to be sewn together, just like regular sewing does.

Oddly, I do not mind sewing my knitted things together. I kind of take pride in it, seeking to make the best seams I can. I did not find out about seamless knitting until the early 2000's when I bought my shop. Wow, I learned so much those years, just from the inventory it came with.

When I was putting that baby cardigan together last week, I edjumucated myself some more. I did some research to find the best way to sew the sleeves. I have always back stitched seams that are not vertical or horizontal, but are diagonal. However, back stitch makes for a heavy seam allowance and can be quite sloppy. Especially in a little baby jacket made of worsted weight yarn. I decided I needed to see if there's a better way.

I ended up mattress stitching it, which is quite a challenge because there are increases to deal with, so the seam isn't invisible. But the seam allowance is much thinner, which is a big plus to me. It doesn't look too bad. Not any worse than back stitching. (Ignore the cat hair. It's that time of year again.)

I was hoping for something more elegant, but oh well. Anyway, as I was googling around, I found a seaming technique called the Bickford Method. I'd never heard of it before, but it is a life changing revelation to me.

It's not seamless looking, but you have no seam allowance, and it looks very nice. I shall be using it in the future, though it didn't work on the cardigan sleeves because of the stitch pattern, which has garter stitch rows in it.

Now, not to be outdone, google provided me with yet something else new and wonderful. I was looking for ways to sew in set in sleeves because, again, I have always back stitched them in. I found a video of a method that involves a sort of half mattress stitch, half grafting method. I tried and it works very well.

 It produced the best seaming of a set in sleeve I've ever done. I am so excited.

All in all, I call it a good week. I learned new ways to improve my knitting skills. I share this info with you so you can improve your knitting skills too.

I've said this before, and I'm saying it again. I've been knitting for more than 50 years, and I still learn new exciting things about it.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Ramblings

I have made good progress on Milo this week. I've knit up above the armhole decreases. This stripe pattern is interesting. The stripes are one row, then you change colors. They are arranged so that when you start the next color stripe, the color you need is there where it should be. Waiting at the end of the row.

I'm carrying the unused yarns up the side as I go, twisting some strands around the current color as needed. When  the decreases for the armhole started, I just wove the other colors along the back as I decreased so all the yarns are brought in to the new edge. It's turning out quite nice.

The baby cardigan is almost done. I need buttons.

We had a new member show up to Yarnies on Thursday. Her name is Thea and she is a fun lady. I am so glad to meet her. Our little group has shrunk down over the years to 3 regulars. I remember when we used to have over a dozen members back when we met at Coeur d'Alene Yarn and Fiber (which has been out of business for a few years now. The owner died of leukemia). I miss that group.

We meet at Calypso's Coffee in downtown Coeur d'Alene. The owner gave me permission to put a poster up in an effort to gain new members.

I am feeling much better. I have been coughing a lot less. Only after I have an asthma attack, which is happening 2-3 times a week.

I spent half the day yesterday altering the sleeves of a fleece robe I purchased several months ago. I want a short robe to wear in the summer time. I found one I liked on Amazon and ordered it. When it arrived I immediately tried it on. The sleeves were about a foot too long! I'm not exaggerating either. I don't know why, but the garment industry seems to have the idea that if a person wears a 3X, their arms must go all the way to the floor. Rather than sending it back, I decided to shorten the sleeves. I removed the fluffy white cuffs from the sleeves in preparation for shortening. But I was also totally disgusted with the whole situation, so I ended up tossing the robe and it's cuffs in a corner and have been ignoring it the whole summer.

Yesterday I decided to work on it. I spent half the day figuring out how to put the fluffy cuffs back on. I did a beautiful job of sewing. So proud of myself. Tried it on, only to find the sleeves still way too long. I forgot to cut some of the sleeve length off before putting the cuffs back on. Talk about a total fail. Now I'm REALLY disgusted with the whole situation. ARRGH! All that work. Ugh. Well, at least I know how to do it now. Call it a practice run? Sometimes you win the day. Other times you don't.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Today's WIPs

WIPs to share. I've been sewing Margaret together. It's delicate work. The sts are so small. I have the front done, and the back, which is below.

Next is the sleeves. I'm not in any hurry to get this done because we still have a couple months before the snow flies.

I've made good progress on the baby cardigan. The body is done, and now I'm working on the first sleeve.

The yarn I ordered for Milo finally arrived. It took a long time to get here. I am surprised because usually KnitPicks orders get here within 2 or 3 days. I cast on last night and got a good ways.

It's been hot and humid this past week. A little smoke in the air. Temps are to go down in the next week. This morning it's gray and cloudy. Might get some rain. Good day for knitting.

Live long and prosper. \\//