Knitted sweater and better weather!

I have curtailed my baking quite a bit, but one of my favorite baking websites is Sally's Baking Addiction.  She has a monthly baking challenge that I just started participating in, and I love it!  The September challenge:  piping sunflower cupcakes.  I bought my ingredients and set aside some time, only to discover that I didn't have the right leaf tip needed to pipe the cupcake petals.  ARGH!  I substituted a different tip, but between the incorrect tip and the near-90s temps, my petals were a little droopy.

Todd's office still liked them!

I also made one of my old standbys, half chocolate chip and half chocolate cookies.

And now that it's basically PUMPKIN SEASON (despite the forecast of, you guessed it, near 90s again by the end of the week), I'll be baking a lot more.  Next up, oversize pumpkin muffins with crumb topping and browned butter oatmeal pumpkin cookies with cinnamon chips.  Hooray for my favorite season!

Despite my sore fingers, I'm knitting on.  I started knitting a pair of gloves, but chose a yarn that contained silk.  Silk doesn't have any "give" (like cotton) and kills my fingers.  So I quit halfway through...

...and re-knitted in green wool.  I knitted the right glove in the Portuguese style, but my fingers hurt so much by the end that I used my old "clutch and throw" method for the left glove.  As you can see, it's significantly smaller, but fits so much better.  The right glove is a bit too big but will work (I'm thinking about layering with those small, tight gloves from Target).  I blocked the left glove after this picture was taken to make it a little bit bigger, so the difference is less noticeable.  Layering gloves will be fine because my hands are always so cold!

I also finished my sweater...hooray!  I knitted it to be two sizes smaller than I am currently, but since I knitted it in the Portuguese style, I think it's only one size too small.

I had a friend at the gym model it (she's a size S/M) so that I could at least see how the neck laid on the shoulders.  Taking into account both poor lighting and a poor fit on my model - I love it!  It's all blocked and waiting for cooler weather.

I have been working on my Snails quilt, but very slowly.  Our cats are very pleased with this development.  If I leave a piece of fabric out too long, a cat will claim it.

The same goes for quilts.  My Snails quilt has been in the machine so long that the cats think I've really been making them a giant bed.

I've finally had to admit to myself that while I love choosing and cutting fabric and love the actual piecing of a quilt, I despise the actual quilting of it.  I've practiced and practiced...

...but despite the addition of a quilting table, special gloves, and a slippery surface to quilt on, I stink. For my Snails quilt, I chose to quilt a giant concentric circle.  I thought it would be really easy.  But you're constantly rotating the quilt, shoving it through the tiny throat space again and again...such a pain.  Also, when quilting concentric circles, you have to stop and start (when adjusting fabric) every few inches or so.  When you start quilting again, your needle jumps, leaving an obvious jag in the line.

I was ready to pull my hair out, but thankfully someone advised me to "pool" the fabric around the needle before starting to stitch again, and that does minimize the jag.  Todd suggested that I bite the bullet and pay someone to do my quilting - it costs around $130 - but so far I'm stubbornly sticking to it.  I'm forcing myself to put in 30 minutes a day and hopefully it will be done within a couple of weeks!

Speaking of cutting up fabric, I got a package of fabric scraps through the Random Acts of Kindness forum on Ravelry.  I *love* receiving random scraps of fabric.  I took a couple of hours on Saturday and cut them up into common fabric sizes:  2", 2.5", 3", 3.5", 4", and 5".  I also have 1.5", 2", and 2.5" strips.

I would probably never purchase, say, watermelon-print fabric...but it's going to be so fun to use in a scrap quilt!

We're slowly sliding into fall in South Carolina.  Cooler evenings mean Scrabble time by the pond.

Todd is finally able to do some home improvement projects in comfort, like digging a water-diverting trench around the house.

Here's hoping for more cooler days ahead - SOON.  Have a great week!

Bites, Kites, and Insect Flights

Yard work couldn't be put off for another weekend, so I dutifully gathered my supplies on Saturday and headed outside.  Bags, gloves, clippers...camera.  There's always something going on!

A green shield bug takes flight.

A yellow jacket, after a few unsuccessful attempts against the marauding ants, waits impatiently for an opening to steal some of this dead cicada's rich protein stores.

Since it's August (although not even remotely close to the end of hot weather, this being South Carolina), I found more insect carcasses than earlier in the season.  A beetle hangs suspended in a forgotten web:

A dragonfly retains its characteristic shape despite being completely hollow.

There's still life out there, though.  A new generation of anoles recently hatched out, and I saw frequent flashes of scurrying movement in my peripheral vision as I worked in the front beds.

Of course, we still have plenty of full-size anoles, like the one that lives in the fern by our front door.

Yes, there's still a lot of beauty out there.

Todd came outside for about an hour to do some yard work, too.  Once again, despite being incredibly careful, he was attacked by fire ants and had to go inside.

There are no tell-tale mounds and they are so tiny.  He got bites on his arms and legs too.  We're going to broadcast bait, but they seem unusually numerous this year.  Suffice it to say, we try to limit our yard time.

At least I'm getting a lot done inside!  Todd is off yeast right now and misses his breakfast toast, so I whipped up a surprisingly tasty Irish soda bread loaf.

I modified this recipe (does anyone seriously bake with margarine?!) to make it a little healthier and it was so tasty...like a giant scone!  Perfect with a little butter and jam!

I've slowly been picking away at my craft projects.  First...I finished my sweater!  I couldn't understand why it was taking so long to finish, until I realized... a six inch super wide neck plus a double paneled front equal a LOT more fabric than a typical sweater!  It was almost a perfect rectangle when I stretched it out for blocking.

I ordered twenty small brushed brass buttons for the front panels and will sew them on next week, hopefully!  But until then:

I admit, it looks a little odd.  But per the pattern, the neck won't stand upright, but fall into deep folds on the shoulders.  I can't try it on because, in my usual self-flagellating way, I knitted it a size too small ("Motivation!!!").  So buttons will be sewn on and it will be put away for "later."  The positive aspect is that the entire sweater was knitted in the Portuguese style, and it saved me from sore wrists and fingers.  No problems whatsoever.  Ready to expend my repertoire, I attempted a fair isle project Portuguese-style (Kites pattern on Ravelry).  It's been quite a challenge.  Fair isle projects done in this method are knitted inside-out...or rather, purled.  Charts are read backwards.

Here's the working side:

And the inside, which is really the outside:

I don't think I'll ever try this method for fair isle again.  Tensioning one strand around my neck and one strand from a paperclip in my collar on the other side is a major pain.  Repetitions aren't as intuitive, since you can't really see the pattern developing.  I'll get into a rhythm, which is promptly interrupted every time I get to the end of one of my four needles, or every 30 seconds or so. I have to finish this mitten in the Portuguese style (whimper), but mitten #2 will be done the old-fashioned way, sore fingers or not!

I've also been working on my Garden Snails quilt.  It's also been a bit fiddly but all snails are done and all that remains is to sew the strips together.  Here's a small preview:

Because my width of fabric was shorter than the pattern called for, I am six inches short on each tan strip.  Last night, I increased the length of each by adding a little fabric, so I anticipate having the whole top sewn together with just a few hours of work!  Hopefully the extra seams aren't too distracting.

These projects + my job + everyday life have been keeping me pretty busy.  With several new quilts and a sudden ability to knit again, we'll be plenty warm when cold weather comes...whenever that will be!

Have a great week!

To Frog or NOT To Frog?

Our bulbs are blooming!  I was able to pick a "spring mix" from the yard today.

 

Spring, too, has brought out some new creatures.  This is Clotilde.

She - or he - is a stray - or a wanderer - who comes by every few days.  She's friendly and seems to be well taken care of. 

She drives our cats crazy.

She makes me think of our old visitor, Clarence.  He belonged to a family a few houses down in Indianapolis, but spent a lot of time with us.

He liked to peek in our screen doors...

...or hang out with me in the garden.

If it wasn't for Todd's cat allergy, I would've approached his owners and tried to buy him.  They seemed indifferent about him at best.  Oh, well.  I hope he's being loved and cared for, wherever he is, and for now I'll just keep an eye on Clotilde for my vicarious cat thrills!

I just finished another knitting project, and unfortunately, that means frogging time.  'Frogging' is a knitting term that means ripping back your work...rip it rip it rip it...see the connection?  It's sad, but I've really lost my knitting mojo lately.  First, the socks.  I started this project recently.  The pattern is a traditional one called "eye of the sheep".  I used a white yarn as the background color and variegated yarn for the sheep eyes.

I finished one sock, but wasn't happy with how the variegated yarn looked.  It was too 'busy' and I ended up frogging that sock and putting away the pattern for a while.

Next, I decided on a more spring-like pattern.  Strategically-placed holes make the pattern of chrysanthemums and their leaves, and I always love spiky picot cuffs.

Normally I start with 64 - 66 stitches for a sock, but pattern notes on Ravelry warned that this was an especially tight pattern with little give.  I decided to go for the next size up, casting on 72 stitches and using a size 2 needle.  The completed first sock bagged around my leg.  Frogged, and re-knitted with 64 stitches and a size 1 needle.  This time the finished sock was too tight to fit over my heel.  Curses!  Sometimes a pattern is just not meant to be, at least in that moment, so I put it away, too.

Next I chose a tried-and-true pattern, Child's First Sock from a mid-1800s magazine, upsized for an adult woman.  I've knitted them before, for a gift, and loved them.  Forget the 600 other socks in my queue...I wanted to knit these again, for myself.

I started knitted with a 'mystery skein' from my stash.  I knew it was high-quality fingering weight yarn, but after I'd put in a couple of hours and was just starting on the pattern repeats...I realized that the yarn didn't seem to contain any nylon.

 Adding nylon to yarn adds 'give' and strength.  You can knit socks with 100% wool yarn, but they'll wear out a lot faster.  I hesitated, but frogged again.  I started over with more sock-appropriate yarn and am plowing through.

I've recently finished two sweaters.  The first was a stranded sweater that was my first steek - that is, the first time I cut through secured yarn to add in a neck.  The steek was easy...the neck was not.  It was an exercise in frustration from beginning to end.  I'm still not sure the neck is done correctly.  It's awfully snug.  And those shoulders....shudder. 

The second sweater was done with much nicer yarn and an all-over cable motif.

The knitting on the first sweater was basically mindless, but this sweater...it was knitted in 4 pieces and then seamed together.  A front, a back, and two arm panels.  The cables weren't comfortable 'knit 6 rows and then throw in a cable row', either.  Every line was a cable row!  It wasn't easy, even though it was repetitive.  And let's just say that I'm not a fan of seaming ever. 

The sad thing is that neither of these sweaters fit well.  I knitted them in my goal size, which is a size smaller than I am now (and that I've been maintaining for the past 5 months, unable to get any lower despite my best efforts).  It was meant to be motivating, a fun something to look forward to that would prod me on to greater loss if my willpower sagged.  In the end, though, it felt depressing and somehow debasing to put so much time and effort into something that proved to be tantalizingly out of reach.  I would have to lose an entire cup size for the purple sweater to fit, and I don't think that's going to happen, even if I lose this last 20 pounds.  I hate to say it, but I think that they're both headed for the FROG pile.  The purple sweater is going to hurt, but overall I rarely mind frogging my work.  I will always be knitting, and I can always re-use the yarn.  I think it helps to be somewhat philosophical about these things.  ;)

I'm gearing up to knit some sweaters that fit me now, at my current size.  Both are Kate Davies designs and feature cheerful colors and flower motifs.

I will knit them, wear them, and love them!  And hey, there are lots of projects I can use that other yarn for.