Still Before & a First for Me

Before & After Scarf

Euroflax Sport Wt. Linen

Churchmouse Yarn & Tea

My name is Lisa, and I am a Before & After Scarf addict.   Yes this is what it looks like, yet another Before & After Scarf (pattern, yarn & addendum from Churchmouse Yarn & Tea).  The first (green) is done but not blocked,  the second (pink) waits for beads & blocking, and this one, the third (natural) is in progress.   For the first two, I found matching beads but for this one, I am planning to use blue/green beads).  I have decided that this is what my female friends & family are getting for Christmas largely because I love this pattern and want to keep making them.    There are two more applicable yarn cakes (eggplant & cream) at the bottom of my knitting basket and I know where I can get more (Churchmouse ships very quickly).

Just lately I have found myself in that all two familiar position of having committed to more than I can comfortably get done without feeling like I should be committed.    The less familiar part, is that last week, rather than running myself into the ground, I took a realistic look at what I could do and what I could harmlessly disentangle myself from, and made a few calls.   I didn't read my book group's book this month (no time & little inclination).    I dropped out of a class at church (Plan though I might, I could not find the time to do the required reading).    I even put aside the simple wrap pattern I was creating for our brandy new Prayer/Comfort Shawl group, 

Instead, I choose an existing (free & simple) wrap pattern to get our straight needle knitters started (I can give the circular users my Simple Joys Shawl pattern).   I read a book that my sister recommended  (The Shack) and have been having fun discussing it with her via text.    I got the requested blurb (re: our new prayer/comfort shawl group) for our church newsletter in.  Although, not quite on time (Thank goodness for the patience and understanding of our admin).    Last but not least, I have been working on my Brave Girls Art School projects at my own pace (I am two weeks behind but the class is structured in such a way that, that is not as big a disaster as it feels like).

These schedule adjustments have allowed me to, breath a little, provide moral support to a friend with skin cancer last week, and meet another friend for coffee this morning.    I am feeling pretty good about that.

 

Day of Mourning...

“This is the first 9/11 I’ve spent in a state that was not one of the 9/11 states.  It seems to me that people in other parts of the country just don’t get it.  Activities were scheduled at the kid’s schools, a lot of people flew their flags at full mast, fundraisers at work for charities other than veterans/survivors, and no moment of silence observed at work. (This is a company that lost employees on 9/11).

Maybe I’m sensitive because I lived in an area and worked in an industry that was disproportionately affected by 9/11.  Now I live in an area where a lot of people with “Never Forget” bumper stickers have evidently forgotten.”

My hubby wrote this on September 12, 2009.   As far as we can see, not much has changed.   There is an open house at a local high school tonight.    There is no moment of silence scheduled at our son’s school.   The only place I could find full coverage of the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony was on LiveStream.com.   I worry that the day will come when there are so few people who see this day as more than fodder for a pithy bumper sticker, that short of traveling up North, we will be forced to mourn alone.

Before, a Leap of Faith…

OMG, I am addicted to this pattern.    This is my second Linen Bias Scarf and, as I write this, I am sitting in my car waiting for my LYS to open so that I can buy another hank (or three) of Euroflax Sport Wt. Linen so that I can make more.

It is a bit of a leap of faith since I have not even blocked my first one yet, but as I said in my last post (here), Churchmouse produces a pretty darn reliable pattern.

What do I love about this unproven pattern?   Well, first of all, it does not look nearly as bad unblocked as I expected it to given the disclaimer on the pattern.  (my fav barista offered to buy this pink one from me this morning).

This is the perfect handbag/travel knitting.   It is a breeze to knit.  The pattern, and there is just a bit of a pattern, is easy to put down and pick up without losing my place.   Increases & decreases are in the same place every knit row with a purl back.   Consequently a quick look to see whether I am on a knit or purl row, is all it takes to get going again.  Some days, I need knitting to keep me grounded.   This kind of meditative knitting is just what I need.

I live in FL.   While I don’t doubt that the wool version of this scarf is absolutely luscious, it just won’t do here.  

I love how linen gets softer the more you use it.   True it starts out kind of scratchy but with enough love (and washing) it becomes something lovely, light, & soft.  

Before the after...

What you see here, is the "before" photo of my Bias Before & After Scarf.    I know it does not look like much now, but, as I understand it, that is the nature of the beast.    We are promised that once this baby has been washed, blocked & steamed, it will be a thing of beauty.

On the one hand, I look at it in its curly, uneven state and have my doubts.  On the other, the pattern comes to us from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas, one of my absolute favorite sources for lovely yarns & reliable patterns.  I choose to trust.

So far I have bought & downloaded all of my Churchmouse patterns directly from their website, but have since realized that I can get them from Ravelry (here), which would leave a copy in my Ravelry library.  In future I may go that way.

As expected, this pattern is clearly written, easy to follow and well laid out.   The original Bias Before & After Scarf ($5) calls for  Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace yarn.  However, there is an addendum (here) that gives the necessary information to knit the scarf with a single skein of Louet's Euroflax Sport Weight Linen yarn.   I had two single skeins (pale green & pink) in my stash, and the intended recipients live here in FL, so I went with the linen/addendum version.   

From cast-on to bind-off took me a week.   While I did work on it every day, it was in my purse so only got my attention when I was out & about.  The knitting was so wonderfully mindless that I was able to work  while riding in the car, talking to friends and even at the movies (Hope Springs, it was okay).    The process of adding the beads at either end, however, was more than a bit fiddly and required my full attention to get the job done.  

I began the pink scarf the same day I finished the green one and given how fast they knit up, may wait until they are both done to block them.  

Wingspan

Every so often, a pattern takes the knitting world by storm.   The Wingspan shawl is one of those.  Usually, I try to stay away from the rage of the moment and I did this time too.   Well, at least at first I did.    However, once I saw the Wingspan that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee made, I was hooked.   Searching through my stash, I found this yarn in my hand-spun/hand-dyed bin.  Unfortunately, it was not in a bag, and had no tag, so I have no idea what or whose it is.   I think it may be a cotton/wool blend.   I do know that it is sport to DK weight, a wonderful color-way, and a joy to knit with.

The pattern is really well written, at no point did I wonder what the designer (Maylin Tan) meant.   The finished shawl shows off its unique construction, while making less obvious just how fast and easy it was to make.  I have already cast on another deeper one to knit on the beach and I will be adding it to our church's list of recommended patterns for prayer/friendship shawls.

Second Time's a Charm...

 

These are the pictures that Hubby and I took on Saturday morning.   This is the shawl that I started last year in Stefanie Japel's Design Your Own Shawl (DYOS) class.    After sitting unfinished in a basket for a while, I finally finished it earlier this year.   Due to a perceived lack of space, I did a less than stellar job of blocking it.   However, earlier this week, when it came time to wet and block my finished Wingspan (those pictures to come later this week), I decided to re-blocked, my DYOS.    I like it so much better now.   I blocked off our dining room (didn't think of that before) and was able to block & dry both shawls, dog free, with room to spare.  I even used a measuring tape to make sure the points were even.

Hands Across the Sand

This is what we did today.   Hubby and I got up early to go the beach to take photos of a recently finished shawl.   As soon as we got home, I woke up T2 so that we could head right back to the beach and participate in Hands Across The Sand (Hubby had work to do).    This is a movement best described on their website thus:


Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations and the borders of the world. This movement is not about politics — it is about the protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife and fisheries.  The accidents that continue to happen in offshore oil drilling are a threat to all of the above.  Expanding offshore oil drilling is not the answer; embracing Clean Energy is.


This is our third event.   We got involved the summer after the Gulf oil spill.    Florida's beaches are this states glory and we need to take care of them.   The idea that off-shore drilling (or on-shore drilling for that matter), can be anything but destructive, is just silly.   Some people think it is worth the price.   We do not.