My-my-my-my Corona

Since I feel pretty secure with knitting and purling in the Portuguese style, I thought I'd try a stranded yarn project.  Something small - a pair of fingerless mittens.  I watched videos and bent two large paper clips to tension the yarn through, one on either side of my collar.  I'm afraid it was too much of a fiddly mess for me, and I ended up knitting the second mitten the traditional way.

But ouch, my fingers!  Thankfully, I discovered a product called a "Norwegian knitting thimble," which is a miniature metal coil that slides over your index finger.  It has two jutting coils that your yarn strands feed through, and thus your yarn is tensioned without smashing your fingers together too tightly.  Apparently this works for stranded knitting as well - one color of yarn in each coil.  I'll be excited to try this when my thimble arrives!

In other fiber news, Todd and I went to a quilt show this weekend.  I was interested in the color, detail, and design of the quilts...

...but mainly I was interested in the actual quilting.  I noticed that most people used a design called stippling, which is basically random squiggles across the fabric.  It's not a style that appeals to me, so I was glad to see many other designs implemented.

I even got to see a long-arm quilting machine in action.

One of these babies will set you back between $3500 and $5000!  You can program in an overall design and the machine will go to work, or you can grip the handles and quilt your own.  The idea of having so much space and freedom is really appealing, but the price tag is not.  For now, I'll stick to my cramped home machine.

We saw the full eclipse!  Here's the corona.

I didn't use a solar filter, just the iPhone.  I loved seeing the 360 degree sunset, then total darkness for almost 3 minutes!  A man near us in the parking lot where we waited had flown in from Denmark just for those 3 minutes.  He got in his car and headed back to Atlanta for his outgoing flight right after the sun came back out.  It just emphasized how special this experience really was!

Here at the house, we're still seeing swarms of hummingbirds.

Our red-tailed hawk continues to perch around the property, and thankfully he's grown out of his adolescent squawks!

Our average heat index has been between 95 and 100 degrees, and it's pretty unpleasant.  Even in Indiana, August is my least favorite month, and the last 2 weeks of August are always the worst.  My yearly ritual has begun.  "Look, the season must be advancing.  The sweet autumn clematis is in bloom."

"Nandina berries are taking on their blush."

"Beauty berries are in full color."

It's still tough, though.  At least we can enjoy the color...

...and take heart in the rapidly-shifting calendar pages, even if we can't feel an actual change.

And hey, we're always enjoy the antics of our indoor cats, even though most of those antics are relatively sedate.

Here's hoping for cooler days ahead.  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!