Pischi Days

At Last, 70"x 16" Blocked

Sitting on the porch a-knitting away on my first lace project, the Candle Flame shawl, I wondered about how long it would take to finish up the third and last ball of the delicate yarn. It was during those few moments that I made the decision to complete the pattern repeat and then fini. I had reached my destinations length.
Julie and I each started this shawl patternas a KAL for 2; hers is a peacock blue while I chose the maple. The yarn is a silk alpaca blend and hand dyed as well. Julies shawl traveled to the eastern Caribbean, India and the Himalayas. Mine stayed home. Candle was finished during the Oscar presentations and blocked during commercials. As a shawl, only 16” wide, it’s not so generous as to give any sort of warmth. The colors are warm and it will look pretty draped over the arm of my knitting spot on the sun porch or around my shoulders during a cool evening.

Specifics
Candle Flame Shawl from Knitpicks
Yarn: Shimmer from Knitpicks
Started: September 17th, 2006
Finished: February 25th, 2007

Shopping for a Sunny Saturday Sky

Today’s Saturday Sky installment features another tree, though this tree has been in my sight for quite some time, mere miles from my home. It’s a fascinating example of nature taking back its territory. I will have to chronicle the growth progress of what was once a “No Dumping” sign. I was able to capture the sky through its boughs by tipping my camera and looking up.

My “Catch of the Week” is a fabulous bag from Indonesia, the fabric it rests on is a sarong cut that I plan on transforming into a summer blouse. My friend Terri hooked me up with a complete set of Lantern Moon ebony DPN’s, (the other sizes are on backorder, sigh) a gorgeous ball of Leigh Radford’s gelato silk ribbon complete with pattern. I was delighted to find a Norwegian knitting thimble at Wal-Mart, of all places. I hear that it’smulti-stranded knitting best friend. I want to retry Rae’s Iris Garden socks as some as I get my Lenton Rose and Tatiana off the needles. I should get some quality knitting time in poolside at the weekly swim meet.

Eye Spy with My Little Eye...

...a sweet family of raccoons. I have driven by this tree for years. It took my taking a right and using this little side street before I ever noticed that someone painted a furry family into the knot of the oak. The corner that it lives on had old single wide trailers on it. All but the remains of this trailer are gone. The tree remains with a ribbon of bright orange tape to designate it as off limits to the bulldozer, or so I hope. Our charming town, slow to grow, has been discovered by the developers and many things changing...not all progress is good.
I did a little shopping and will share my treasures with you tomorrow. Tonight the temperature is threatening to dip into the 20’s, disastrous to our plants. The most sensitive are all covered by sheets. Our fireplace is blazing and I’m listening to the boy’s wheel and deal around the Monopoly board. I am heading back to the love seat in front of the fire to knit on the Lenten Rose.

Blue Skies, Nothing But Blue Skies...

The knitting bag goes wherever I go, so when realized that the bag had been left under my desk at work Friday afternoon, I had a panic attack. We were due to leave the house a 5:45 am to a swim meet 1 1/2 hours south. This is my knitting time. Glancing around and wondering if I should make the 20 mile round trip and back to retrieve the bag, I opted to conserve gas and time. Didn’t I have enough yarn and needles to just cast on another project?

Here is the result. The Lenten Rose yarn from Sundara’s Petals Collection and the accompanying pattern. Alas, I had no Lenten Rose to accompany my progress, so the azaleas had to step in. The yarn is a pleasure to work with, very springy, not willing to split during a PSSO, and the subtle gray shades are soothing to watch as they slip through my fingers.

My Saturday Sky was taken while speeding south on I95 during the dawn hours. We had 3 giggly teenagers in the back of the Honda that provided ongoing entertainment on the trip. As the sky changed, tom opened the moon roof and I snapped a few pictures.

Eye Love Candy...

Here are the last of the Valencia’s off the tree. They gave their lives to a good cause...Cranberry Raisin Bread and a couple of wonderful Screwdrivers. Hold the umbrellas.

Blog Encounters of the Florida Kind

I met my first knit blogger, live, in a cozy restaurant over coffee last night. We had so much to say that the few hours we had were not nearly enough. Caroline lives just south in the Miami area and I’ve been reading her blog for several months now. I loved reading tales of her trip to Utah. She has hooked up with some incredible knitters on all her travels. I hope that we can meet again soon and actually do some knitting. Maybe I can tempt her into trying a pair of socks.

Speaking of socks, I’ve finished Tatiana I and am casting on her twin tonight. I love this pattern. Cookie A. of Pomatomus fame has the reputation of creating patterns that challenge and this one did not disappoint. I started with 72 stitches and had 72 after the gusset decrease, but you really have to count those YO’s and K2t’s to stay on top of the stitch count. I ended up with only 64 stitches in the foot area. The sock still looks and fits fine. I love the way the cable starts at the heel  and winds around the foot.

My order from Blue Moon arrived and I will have decided to use the Downpour skein for my “Springtime in Paris” socks. I hope to cast the first sock on by this weekend. It’s the start of the club swim season and we’re trekking south to Ft. Pierce. I should be able to soak up some sun and work on those socks that keep multiplying.
There’s a new button on the sidebar.  Get Stitchy is a new site for knitters, crocheters and spinners. Somehow my site ended up on the blogroll, don’t know how but I am in good company. It looks like a great place to discover other fibreistas.

Forecast: Cloudy and Wet

It’s been a slow weekend here in our corner of the Sunshine State. We were spared from the destruction that the tornadoes caused just a few miles away. As if we don’t have enough to worry about from June to November, we can now add tornadoes to our list of threats.
I’ve been nursing a small blaze in the fireplace all weekend, catching up with laundry and intermittent knitting. I thought that I would bring some pictures of our feline family into the blog this week. They were both curled up, one on the stripped bed, and the other in the down comforter that I was airing out on the back porch.

My Saturday Sky shot is a day late in posting as you can see the skies are gray and the bird feeder needs filling.
Here is Tatiana reclining in front of the fire. I am having a hard time putting her down. She is definitely a challenge to knit, but now that I have wrapped my head around the pattern (a Cookie A. creation) and I understand the mechanics of the snaking cable around the foot vs. the disappearing lace. Nothing is holding me back from completing the left sock today. Not even an uninteresting Super Bowl lineup. I’m holding out for the new Masterpiece Theatre (from a Phillip Pullman novel) installment.
After a long absence, I have revisited the 6Sox Knitalong. This session’s pattern is too good to pass up. It called “Springtime in Paris” and its description of raindrops on my hotel window and views of the Eiffel Tower were enough to lure me back. I treated myself to some new “Socks That Rock” in the “Downpour” and “Barney Rubble” colorways.  It seemed that I didn’t have just the right color in my yarn stash. Well, I don’t!
My Candle Flame Shawl is almost done and I’ve would my hanks of Hand Maiden Sea Silk into balls in readiness to cast on the Storm Water shawl. I also want to cast on the Lenten Rose socks in my first Sundara yarns package.
So, you see, things are looking up again. On a “Blissful” note, after a decent washing and a tumble in the dryer my Bliss sweater bloomed, shrunk around the sleeves (a good thing) and became much softer. I will be taking her on a date to a mini Super Bowl soiree prior to tuning into to PBS.
Happy Game Day all!