Blogiversary!
Thirteen years ago today, I hit the “save” button on my first blog post. I’ve had lots of fun and learned a lot about knitting in that time. Here’s to at least a few more years blogging.
There’s not much new going on at Chez Knitting Doctor. I haven’t gotten alot of knitting done this past week, but finished adding length to one half of John’s sweater. I’m working on the other half. It makes good basketball knitting.
Oh my. I got a wild hair this morning and figured I’d share it here. I did start that pretty lace shawl Thursday, it’s coming along nicely. I’m about 35 rows into it. Of course, there are about 344 rows in the whole shawl, which doesn’t sound like much until you realize that by the last of those rows, there are 693 stitches on the needles. This one will be a long, albeit pleasant, slog.
That wasn’t my wild hair. Here it is.
This is a Peace Fleece sweater that I knit for John a couple of years ago. It has always bugged the shit out of me, since it’s an inch or two too short for him. Every time he wears it, which is a lot, I notice it and it annoys me that I didn’t fix this at the time.
I have plenty of that yarn left, so this morning I started it. After a little googling, I found a video by Eunny Jang that shows how to lengthen or shorten a piece after the fact. Since this is just straight stockinette, it shouldn’t be that complicated, right?
You start by undoing the seams at the sides. I’m pretty enthusiastic about weaving in ends, so this took a bit of work to get started.
Then you pick up a row of stitches where you want to add length. Eunny shows it in her video, but basically you pick up the right side of the “v” on each stitch, making sure you stay in the same row.
Once you have all the stitches on a needle, the fun begins. You snip (CAREFULLY) the stitches in the row above the one you just picked up, pulling off the ribbing piece as you go.
Which leaves you with live stitches on your needle. Then you just join the new yarn, and knit it as long as you need, knit new ribbing, and Bob’s your uncle. Do the same on the other half (remind me to make them the same length), fix the seams, and you’re done.
I had a brief thought to save the ribbing piece and just graft the two together, but came to my senses on that one. I could probably knit a whole damned sweater in the time it would take to graft that much neatly.
I’ll let you know how this goes. I might need whisky before the day is done.
All done except for buttons.
I’ve been getting myself through the last bit of this with little rewards*. On Friday, John and I had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer AKA Major Knitter for dinner. We had a fine time, and she brought me a yarn** gift as a party favor.
Here’s the yarn:
That is 1600 meters of stunning lace weight yarn, enough for a huge shawl. And I have just the pattern for it.
I’ve had that shawl in my pattern library for years, waiting for the right moment and the right yarn. It is Longest Night, by Lori Law.
I’ve been rewarding myself for each little step of that baby sweater with a little teaser. I now have the pattern all set up in Knit Companion, ready to go when I sew on the last button. I don’t really “need” a new lace shawl on the needles right now, but I’m doing it anyway.
Jennifer and I did wear our Faery Ring sweaters to the restaurant. Here we are.
I’m off to sew buttons!
*Sort of like “Survivor”. “Wanna know what you’re playing for?”
**No, that doesn’t mean I fall off the Cold Sheep. Unsolicited yarn gifts don’t count. Now, if I gave my husband a list and said “why don’t you buy me a yarn gift”, THAT would end the no-buying streak.
Or,
Why I’m Such A Slow Knitter
I’m still knitting those baby sweaters. I’ve finished the first one, and just have sleeves and a hood to finish for the second one.
You wouldn’t think that two worsted weight garter stitch baby sweaters would take this long to make.
I’ve been having some upper back problems for the past couple of months that are really getting on my last nerve. I don’t make a very good patient, since I’m not very “patient” with not feeling well. It finally got bad enough that I started getting regular massages, which are helping, but it’s been a slow recovery. My massage therapist isn’t one of those that gives you a feel-good spa massage. It’s deep tissue/muscle work, and I’m wiped out for a whole day afterwards. It is releasing the knotted (knitted?) up muscles though. I haven’t been able to be on my Peloton bike as often as I’d like either since it hurts. You have no idea how much THAT pisses me off.
I’ve been trying to be careful with how long I sit hunched over my knitting, so that’s my excuse for how long these sweaters are taking to finish.
Also, for those of you doubters out there, I made it to 90 days without yarn shopping a week ago. It’s actually been a little easier this time around. It helps that I dropped my work hours from 0.8 FTE to 0.6 FTE the first of the year. That obviously* correlates to a 20% salary drop, so I do have an incentive to shop from my very deep stash instead of the internet.
And in other news, I get to have dinner tonight with Jennifer AKA Major Knitter! She is flying in later today, and we’re picking her up and heading up to Seattle for dinner. We’re both planning on wearing our Faery Ring sweaters!
*That first paycheck after cutting back my hours was a bit of a reality check!
In the category of knitting screw ups, can anyone spot the mistake here?
That’s the second color.
We’re at Wintergrass again this weekend. So far it’s been a blast, although we are really happy that our room at the Hyatt is on a “quiet floor”. I love the banjos, but not so much at 2 AM.
Conversation in my kitchen this morning:
John: “Are you on your way to your Iconoclast infusion?”
Me: “It’s Reclast*, not Iconoclast, but yes.” (He also calls Tessalon cough pills “Teflon pills”.)
John: “Were you intending to wear your slippers?”
Me:
Me: “Why yes, apparently I was.”
That my friends, is the eleventy billionth and eleventy billionth and one reasons why we have to stay married to each other. He makes sure that I don’t go out in public in my jammies and slippers, and I make sure he knows the right names for prescription drugs.
*Reclast is the infusion I get once a year to treat osteoporosis.
Just a quick blog update. As of yesterday, I’ve gone 60 days without any yarn purchases.
New socks done!
Project Details:
Pattern: My own jerry-rigged sock pattern. 72 stitches, flap heel and gusset construction.
Yarn: Abi Grasso Self striping sock yarn
Needles: 2.00 mm
Started: 5/30/16
Finished: 1/22/17
For: Me
Modifications: none
What I Learned: Sometimes matching socks just happen.
We’re in Guayabitos, Mexico again this year for a week. This is the same lovely place that we’ve stayed for the past 3 years. Here are a few photos.
And one last sock photo:
We may have taken that “magic of tidying up” a little too far.
The furniture all got sent to storage yesterday. The cats and Lewey went to Bark Central this morning. And the rugs go today.
The guy is here today replacing the wood in the kitchen that was damaged. And next week the sanding and finishing happens.
Most importantly, WE’RE going today as well. We head to the airport tonight, and leave early in the morning for Mexico. When we get back, this mess will all be done.
Don’t even think about that yarn stash. The house, including my stash, is well guarded by our house sitter (AKA vigilant neighbor) while we’re gone.
There likely will be updates while I’m away, though the photos will be the same as the last two January trips, since we’re going to exactly the same place.
Excuse me, I need to go pack. The only thing I’ve done so far is get the knitting projects ready.
There are few things that amuse me as much as when striped sock yarn turns out to match perfectly.
I didn't even have to try very hard to make that happen. Mostly I don't try at all, and just have mismatched socks. These are going to be very cheerful when done.
We’re in the middle of fixing the warped wood floor mess caused by the rat escapade from late December. The torn out walls have been patched and everything repainted.
The floor guys are here today tearing out the damaged wood that was warped enough to need replacing. It will need to be open to the subfloor for about a week before they get the new floor in. Then sanding, staining and finishing. The whole main level needs to be refinished since it’s one continuous wood floor. So all of our furniture will need to be warehoused for the duration starting a week from today.
Sigh.
About a year and a half ago, I started my part time work journey. A couple years ago, I transitioned from doing hospitalist work to being “just” in the clinic. That meant more work days (since those hospital days were often 12 hours or more, I “got” to do fewer of them to equal full time), but no nights, weekends, or holidays at work. I’ve missed more family Christmases and such over the years than I can remember.
In June of 2015, I went from 5 days a week to 4. As everyone predicted, I quickly filled up that time with lots of things to do.
As of January 1st, I’m dropping another day, so I’ll only work 3 days a week. Which means that EVERY week, I’ll have Thursday through Sunday off.
Today marks the start of my first four day weekend!
Maybe I’ll get some of that yarn stash knitted up before I die after all. By the way, I’m doing the “no yarn buying” this year again. I last bought yarn on December 3rd, I’m hoping to make it through 2017 without buying any new yarn.
Or,
A Hap* For Lorette
Pattern: A Hap For Harriet, by Kate Davies
Yarn: Elemental Effects Shetland Rustic Lace, 1100 yards
Needles: 2.75 mm
Started: 4/11/15
Finished: 12/7/16
For: Me
Modifications: none, except for miscalculating the amount of yarn I would need for the second half, and having to decrease that end at a faster rate.
What I Learned: Despite all my careful weighing and calculating, I can still screw up and run out of yarn.
This is a well written pattern, knit end to end so the miles of garter stitch aren't so boring. You get to do a bit of simple lace every other row.
We had a relaxing evening last night at home. We had Dungeness crab, steamed artichokes, and a salad, along with enough champagne that neither of us made it awake to midnight. Oh well. We woke up when the neighborhood fireworks started.
Today is football watching day, and then black eyed peas for dinner. Don't forget yours!
Here's my recipe:
Lorette's BEP's
1 biggish onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
Celery, about 3/4 cup chopped
1-2 large carrots, chopped
1 Bell pepper, any color will do, chopped
Olive oil
Blackeyed peas, 1 pound bag, picked over and rinsed
1-14 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained (use the juice if you like it more tomato-ey)
Chicken stock, canned
1 bottle of beer
Splash of worcestershire sauce
Ham hock or ham shank (shank is meatier)
Thyme & oregano, a couple of teaspoons each
Bay leaf
Dijon mustard, a teaspoon or two
Salt and pepper
Cayenne, to taste. I start with about 1/4 teaspoon, and generally add more.
Saute the onion, celery, carrot, and pepper in oil in a big pot. Add the garlic when the other veggies are soft, cook for a minute. Add the rinsed peas, the can of tomatoes, the beer, and enough water or chicken stock to cover by about an inch. I usually use the tomato liquid, too. Throw in the seasonings, except for the salt. Add the ham hock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the peas are done, about 45-60 minutes or so. Add salt to taste towards the end of the cooking time. Keep an eye on it, and add more liquid if needed as the peas cook.
Pick the meat off the ham bone, if there is any, and add it to the peas. Serve with cooked rice.
Here's to 2017!
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