Easy Peasy Knitting

Finally one of my "secret" knitting projects can be shown.   This is the shawl I whipped up for a friend who lost her mother.   The minute I heard, I knew that I would knit her a shawl.   This friend is a knitter from New England.   She understands the healing power of wool.   

A quick trip to the Sew & Quilt [and yarn] Shop, a couple of hanks of  Ella Rae Lace Merino Chunky  and I was good to go.   The first time I finished it, it was too small.   I ripped it out and re-knit it on bigger needles.   The new size was good but boring.   Another trip to S&Q  some knitting, some ripping,  more knitting & a little crochet and I had a border I liked.   She loved it.   I am so glad.

The pattern itself was so simple as to not merit a "real" pattern.   

So here it is, easy peasy:

I used three hanks of Ella Rae Lace Merino Chunky & US11 needles, but this pattern would work with any yarn.   Just remember to change your needle size to match your yarn.

Cast on 7 stitches

Row 1:   Knit front & back, knit to the last stitch, knit front & back.

Repeat row 1 (increasing in the first and last stitch) until you are happy with the size.   Remember to leave yourself enough yarn to cast off. 

Cast off using Judny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off

PIck-up stitches along sides and bottom

Now, you have two choices, 

knit two rows and end with a picot bind-off

or you can do what I did:

using a corresponding crochet hook, crochet two rows and end with a picot edging.

Weave your ends & you are done.   I did not block it, but if the bottom curls, you may want to.

I started the first one at dinner on Thursday and finished it at dinner that Saturday.   The second took longer, but mostly because I had less attention to give it.   Even then, it only took a week.

If only it were so...

A very wise woman once told me that your ghosts never go away.  You just get better at dealing with them.   For our family, and thousands of others, the horrific events of September 11, 2001 are ghosts that will haunt us forever.   Twelve years on, we have gotten better at dealing with them.   You have to.  Insanity lies in the other direction.

Recently, a church speaker gave a talk on trauma and the strengths we can draw from it.    I would, and have, gotten out of my sickbed to hear this guy talk.   He is just awesome.   As I listened, rapt, to what he had to say (not all of which I agreed with), he did it.    He went "there".    Now I can deal with 9/11 when I know it is coming, but when it takes me by surprise, it is like getting the breath knocked out of me.    He said, "Now take September..." (At this point it is like time stops, while I think to myself, "Please, please don't go there.  Don't open that box").... 11th (Damn, he went there!)    My head is filled with memories of fear, grief, tears, & terror.   

Hubby squeezes my hand and I know that we are in this together.   Slowly at first, I am able to breath.   I do not stand up and scream.   I do not run from the room in tears.   I take each breath (and each stitch, I was knitting, of course) one at a time.   Another speed bump is gotten past.

Please show some respect on this day.   Please remember that for some of us "Never Forget" is more than a political slogan and/or a pithy bumper sticker.   Please understand that  "Just get over it!" may not be a viable option.  Please don't forget.

Knitting in Threes

It's pretty where I live.
Pontes Vedra Beach
21Aug13

Whether we acknowledge it or not the number three figures prominently in all of our lives.

Think about it, Christians (Father, Son, Holy Ghost),  Buddhists (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), Pagans (Mother, Maiden Crone), Taoists (Heaven, Human, Earth),  Hindu (creation, destruction, preservation),  Kabbalah (male, female, uniting intelligence), physiologists (mind, body, spirit), scientists (animal, vegetable, mineral) philosophers (past, present, future) all find significance in the number three.

At Disney we pay based on child/adult/senior.  With the "Serenity Prayer" we hope for serenity/courage/wisdom.  There are three phases of the moon.   The Chinese see three as a perfect number.   To the Mayans it is the sacred number of women.   The Japanese believe in three treasures truth/courage/compassion.   The Egyptians see the cosmos in it.  Three primary colors are at the basis of all colors.    

Rambling, I may be but bare with me for a minute, I really am going somewhere knitting related with this.

Prayer, comfort, friendship, these are just some of the names we give the shawls we make for friends who have lost (a loved one, their health, their belief in someone or something) and are grieving, recovering, hurting.   We want to give them a hug infused with our sympathy, encouragement, and/or empathy.

Perhaps for reasons already given, many of us prefer to work these "giving" projects on a multiple of three stitches.    For me, at least, it lends itself to the prayer and meditation that I like to practice while knitting these special projects.   My hope is that the recipient will somehow find comfort not just in receiving a handmade item but in the sincerity of the good wishes that are woven into each stitch.

So, here is my question for you:  What do you call your Prayer Shawls and what (besides your time & talent) do you put into them as you work?

Knitting Accessories

It is so very awkward that I cannot show you what I am knitting these days.   One thing is for an upcoming pattern.   The original sample went up in smoke, so I am knitting another (actually I am knitting three others).

The other knitting project I am working on is a gift from someone who reads the blog.   Not until it is in her lovely hands, will you guys get to see it.   In fact, no one but my BFF has seen it since I cast-on.   No spoilers allowed.

What I can show you are these very cool, very easy stitch markers.  Every time I see them on Etsy and Pinterest, I think to myself "I can do that", and then I don't.    Well, yesterday I finally did.   Why did I wait so long?   They are super easy.   The rings are "chain mail" rings found at Joanne's.  I bought these "silver" ones along with a package of multi-colored rings.   The beads were "2/0 Czech Glass E beads".   I opened the ring, slid a bead right on, and closed the ring.    I bought jewelry glue but did not use it.   Given time and use, I may change my mind about that.

We are still settling into our house.   In order to make it livable with-in the desired time frame, I not only gave up working on my office but I put every thing I did not know what to do with in there.   On move in day, our house looked lovely (except for my office which looked scary).   I considered taking "before" photos but decided against it.   I don't think I want to remember.    As of today, some order has come to my chaos.   I am actually sitting at my desk typing this and I could be sitting on my love seat knitting if I wanted to.   There are just a few more things to hang (including curtains) and the room will be ready for pictures.

Just Bullets Today...

Lots going on at Chez Serenity these days:

• We are finally back in our house.  YAY!    Okay, so I miss the apartment a bit and still run over once a day to use the internet (better than ours) and the pool.    But, we are sleeping in our house.   Most of the rooms are done.  The last of the furniture was delivered on Friday.   There were some glitches.   The a/c did not work in the living room (fixed).   The satellite TV worked for a day and then died (fixed).   The only outstanding thing is the leak in our roof.   As part of the re-contruction we had the vent in our kitchen changed from circulating to venting.   Now we have a leak around the roof vent, causing water to come in through our dining room ceiling (Summer in FL, it rains every single day, really hard, but not for very long).   We are hoping to hear from our contractor later today with a repair plan.

• T2, our youngest, my baby, started college last week.   College!  Even now, a week later, I am stunned by the fact that I have two sons in college.   We are not yet in a position to give him a car. He is not only at a different school than his older brother, but in the other direction from home.   That means that I drive him and pick him up.  So far it is going well.   He LOVES college and I found a very nice coffee shop to knit/surf/blog from each day.   Hubby's car is paid off early next year.   At that point, I will get a Prius, and T2 will get my car.   I am looking forward to that.

• Do you remember my talking about running away from home a few months ago (more about that here)?    The men were grumpy so I took my toys (aka knitting) and ran away to a the Sew & Quilt (& yarn) Shop, where I was, as usual, welcomed with humor and affection.   While visiting the other day, one conversation led to another, and it looks like I will be teaching my Simple Comforts Wrap sometime in late September or early October.   How cool is that?    I will post the details when we have them.

• Two kids in college and a wake-up call (i.e. house fire), have us looking hard at our spending habits.    We are committed to not replacing much of the stuff that we lost in the fire and (gasp!) not eating out so often.   With that in mind, T2 and I came home yesterday after school with the intention of virtuously eating lunch at home.    While he made the veggie pizza (we are doing Meatless Mondays), I made iced tea.    Unfortunately, the tea pitcher burst as I was pouring in the boiling water.   I now have third degree burns on my belly and second degree ones on my leg.   T2 had me wrapped in wet towels and at our local ER in a matter of minutes.   They sent me home with creme, bandages, and instructions to rest and apply cool compresses.   Yesterday was pretty bad but I am in considerably less pain today (None, if I don't move, so I move rarely and carefully).    T2 pointed out that it would have been less trouble and expense if we had just gone to Panera.

Nirvana Knitting

No matter what I do to this photo, it does not quite reflect what it was like sitting by the river this afternoon.    While a lovely lady taught T2 to swim, I was able to relax on a covered patio, knitting, and enjoying the breeze..    Even the whoosh of the cars going over the bridge was soothing.    These last few weeks have been grueling    It is moments like this that get me through.

Our house is once more ready to be our home.   All of the work is done and most of our new furniture, etc. has been delivered.   We thought we would be in sooner (the keys were handed over two weeks ago) but not one delivery has gone simply.   Sears brought the wrong cord for the washer (the right one was brought back the following week), the refrigerator was delivered broken (we had to pick out a new one and wait for delivery), Ashley Furniture delivered most of the living room furniture (which is very pretty) but forgot the accent chair (OMG, did you want an accent chair?), and brought us full size headboards for our son's twin beds (Dealing with them has been a nightmare.   Apparently, "customer service" is not really their middle name.)    We still do not have a delivery date on those.

We have been to IKEA (two hours away) four times in four weeks and still managed to forget to buy bedroom curtains.  That's our bad.   It turns out that moving back in is way harder physically and emotionally than we anticipated.   We are tired, sore and brain fried.

Thank heavens for peaceful afternoons on the river.

Solitary Knitting

Simple Joys
Patons Grace
Aquifer

I love Hubby and the boys to distractions, but, I am so, so happy to finally have the apartment to myself.  T1 is home from NJ, so he and T2 took my mom out shopping today.   Hubby is at work.   This is the first time I have had the apartment to myself since before T1 went away (six weeks!).

What have I been doing with my alone time?   I slept in, read for a while and enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee on the patio.   Then, I knit.   Then, I took pictures of my knitting.   Now, I am writing about my knitting.   Once done here, I am going to go eat fish tacos (that only I like) and very possibly read about knitting while doing so.   Yes, folks, this is the perfect day.

Now, prepare yourself for an Andy Rooney moment.   Do you know what I hate?    Well, nothing really, but I do seriously dislike not being able to find something that I know I have.    During the photo portion of my lovely day, I wanted to pin out and photograph my in progress Simply Exquisite Shawl (thinking of changing that to the Phoenix Shawl since it rose out of the ashes) but couldn't find my blocking pins anywhere.  I know I have them.  I used them the two times I pinned and photographed this same shawl (I am actually working on three samples but am only photographing one for the pattern).   In an effort not to let this glitch derail my day, I used embroidery needles to pin it, but I really am going to have to find those pins.

What you see here is my Simple Joys shawl.   This will be my sample.   The one I wear out to be seen. I know it does not look all that impressive but it is early days yet.    I love Patons Grace.   It is awfully nice for a not high end yarn.   The mercerized cotton washes and wears well and some of the colors are really outstanding.   It really is perfect for Florida summer knitting.