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Dear Ellen,

Felting with the front loader did work great for the Mini Mitered Bag.  However, it did go through the whole cycle.  I need another felting project that requires mid-course checking to be sure I can rely on our machine for the range of my felting needs.  Here’s the little bag post-felting.  It yielded a very dense fabric with great structure.  I took this shot prior to pinning it in place folded over.  I’d like that folded top to be in the memory of the fabric.  I manipulated the bag to introduce that narrowing at the neck to support a nice fold at that point.  I think I’ll attach a button and loop to secure it, but overall am very pleased.  The I-cord handle is perfect.  I think this will be a gift for 7 year old Ava who is over in Japan right now.  (John and Katie’s daughter…John was my Chief Staff Officer when I was in Naples at the Telecom Area Master Station.)  Ava has also asked for an orange, purple and pink scarf with sparkles in it.  I’ll be working on that soon.

Love, Jan

Dear Jan,

At last it is done, my bronze colored gansey.  Just under the wire for a WIPs Dancing medal.

I am so thankful for the loophole in the rules that let us knit until midnight PST instead of stopping with closing ceremonies.  I decided to reknit the neck because it was way too sloppy, and I had plenty of time to do it, having finished the last sleeve Saturday evening.  I carefully redesigned, added some short rows to better fit the nape of my neck and got well into the ribbing. Upon trying it on, I discovered that the initials worked into the lower front left had disappeared.  Except they hadn’t - they were now on the lower back right, as I had knit the neck on backwards.  Bum initials are not considered traditional.

I ripped it all out, reknit it again, and finished the neck ribbing a bit after the Olympic flame had been extinguished.  Weaving in ends took a few more minutes, so I finished up as the late night show with more closing ceremonies came on, well before the deadline, though later than I’d intended.

I even got it blocked before going to bed so I could wear it to work today.  I really enjoyed it - this yarn is dynamite.  Green Mountain Spinnery Sylvan Spirit is a blend of tencel and wool and it results in a hand that is drapey but resilient, with great stitch definition.  I am much happier with the new neckline (and am happy that the initials are in the front).

I  originally planned to write this up as a pattern, but I got very creative in places.  Describing some of my acrobatics is just a bit too daunting.  The next one I’ll go about planning a bit differently and that will be the one I write up.

I think I’ll head to bed and start dreaming up that next design.

Love,

Ellen

Oh weekend long, we do love thee.
You kindly let us sleep till three.
Our brains recover with ample rest,
And feel much more able to meet life’s test.

Dear Ellen,

That pretty much sums up my 4 day weekend.  We did go to the Gibson’s for fellowship and feasting on Thanksgiving, and Marian was here for 3 of the days, but really I mostly slept.  And when I wasn’t sleeping I should have been doing homework and some cleaning, but instead I knitted.  And I am happy.

I finished the Hat for a Warm Necks and found that it was a pretty pleasurable knit.  I’m not sure it’s the hat for me…I like to wear my hair pulled back and found that the bottom was pulled away from my head allowing a neck draft when that really wasn’t the point.  I did take my hair down for a picture similar to your current Ravatar though.  That worked well, but as I said, I don’t typically have my hair loose, especially outside.  I noted on my project notes for the Winter Sky Hat that it blocked out very large…but then I threw it in the dryer and that worked well to tighten it back up.  I’m sure this had everything to do with the fact that I knit it out of fingering weight yarn on your recommended needle size.  Marian was eyeballing the hat while here…it may be for her.  Actually would work well for the way she wears her hair and the gray and blue would look very nice with her hair and eye color.  I have a few notes for you on pattern adjustments…the only critical one is to correct your tree of life chart (left side midway up).

I finished the Robin’s Egg Vest too.   It had languished for quite a while.  I had finished the right side on the drive from Colorado and then it got away from me.  And then I didn’t want to get it out because I’d have to figure out how I had done it.  I finally did and have it complete.  I particularly like the way I did the shaping for the neckline and armholes by slowly shrinking the cables.  All one piece, no seams,  and it blocked out to perfect size.  I suppose I should write this up too, but it probably won’t happen.  Once I send it off to Mom for Christmas, I won’t have it to count the stitches and reverse engineer what I did.

My last little project is truly little…yet it really pleases me.  I did a tiny toe up sock form my sock blocker key chain.  The pattern that accompanies the key chain is top down — and I really prefer toe up.  I’m not sure why, especially for a project where you really aren’t concerned about running out of yarn if you make the cuff too long, but I do.  I made up my own version…and included a tiny lace stitch.  It doesn’t show that much, but I know it’s there.  Now I’m making one with seed stitch.

Love, Jan

Dear Ellen,

Lately I have been so consumed by life (much like the mother in the book you got from Jeanne) that I have utterly failed as a partner in this blog.  Oh wait, that’s right, I’m a partner, and that means I have someone who helps carry the load when I can’t.  I guess I performed the needing someone to help part of partnership pretty darned well, so I’m not an utter failure!  Thanks so much for being there and keeping the conversation going while I’ve been under the weather and overwhelmed.

For those not in our out-of-channel communications, here’s what’s been up in the last month.

• Worst head cold ever (in bed for 3 days, but no fever, so not flu).  I was home but so tired I didn’t even keep up with e-mail, much less feel like blogging.
• Traveled to Millington, TN twice for Navy business
• Traveled to Pennsylvania to work on and walk on Fair Winds
• Labyrinthitis (extreme vertigo) that put me back in bed for another 3+ days — I couldn’t concentrate on the computer screen without feeling nauseous…It’s now minor, but still troubling — I see the doctor again Monday.
• Marie broke her left ankle badly…I drove to New Jersey to stay with her in the hospital post-surgery.  She went home after 4 days and is healing slowly — will need a second surgery in several weeks.  She did get permission from her doctor for car travel, so Dale is picking her up right now and will bring her down here for 5 days.  It will be a good change of scenery for her and a good break for Heidi who has been heroic through it all.
• Long, long hours at work while we struggle with resource allocation and strategy in the Middle East.

On Monday I head to Europe for the week, so will probably go fairly silent again, but this time I expect it will be for a far shorter period.  At least I surely hope so!

On the knitting front, I have clung to opportunities to click my needles together and say, “There’s no place like knitting!  There’s no place like knitting!”  It has really helped me keep my sanity.  I have concluded that I am absolutely a process knitter as it was so evident that just having 10 minutes to focus on the creation of stitches would slow my heart rate and give me a tiny escape in which I blocked out thoughts of the craze going on in my life.  I found it very rewarding to have a tangible product — proof that I was moving forward on something!  And move forward I did.

I finished the Fractured Fairytale Socks.  And they are awesome.  They have about an inch of negative ease lengthwise and I now know the perfect length for me.  Working a simple gusset toe-up sock, if I start the gusset just when the sock reaches the crease of my thumb when slipped over my hand, the sock turns out at the perfect length.  This will prove very helpful on airplanes when trying to check the size of a sock in progress.  I wonder if it’s true for most people?  The lattice is made with simple twist-left and twist-right stitch work and was fun to watch grow.  I can tell you I was under more stress while knitting the second one and it is ever so slightly smaller than the first.  And with the last pair that did this, I was under more stress for the first sock — also the ever more slightly smaller of the two.  Do we see a pattern?  It works out okay for me as my ankles are different sizes from abuse I’ve heaped on them over the years, but I will now think about breathing more as I knit.  That seems to “even me out.”

I also made some real headway on the Cinnamon Tee that I started at the beginning of the summer.  I am loving this fabric.  The yarn is Elann Nilo and it is perfect for summer sweaters and tanks, though it doesn’t have much spring as there’s no wool in it.  There’s cotton, linen and viscose — the latter adds a nice bit of sheen and some interest as it picks up the dye with a bit of a different intensity.

A Stitch Away From Genius is also making progress.   I expect to even be able to wear it this year.  I’ve knit it on the short side, expecting the bulky alpaca to stretch a bit.  How about that, I’m actually planning in accommodations for my yarn choices.  It seems so unlike me to plan ahead.  Hmmm….

Midnight Moth is very nearly complete.  I have 2 rows and the bind-off to go.  Of course, these are at the hem edge, so they are very, very long rows.  This is done in Elann Soie Bamboo, which I think they’ve discontinued.  A shame really, the fabric is soft, as I’d expected, but is also quite warm.  I didn’t expect that.  I am guessing it’s the silk that adds that characteristic.  I found the yarn to be quite splitty, but after adjusting to it, it was fine and I love how the pattern is turning out.  I hope to have it blocked in time ot travel to Europe with me.  Just the thing to add a dash of fashion to my garb.

I’ve chosen yarn to test knit your gansey cap, which I’m going to name Winter Sky…400 yds of fingering weight that is Tempted Good Grrl in the Helena colorway, a variegation in greys and light blues that makes me think of those winter days that want to be bright, but still have snow clouds hanging there.  I know gansey is traditionally a solid, but this appealed to me and I wanted to see how it would work.  Stop me now if you think this is wrong.  I would have wound the yarn and cast on for this two weeks ago had it not been for Marie’s accident.  It’s hard to use a swift while driving on the New Jersey turnpike.  I’ll be taking it with me to Europe.

I hope to get it started tomorrow, but first I have to finish a project for Marie…a cast cozy.  I’m making it out of Dream in Color Starry in the Gold Experience colorway.  The stitch pattern is a variation on the broken rib stitch.  I’m calling it the broken ankle stitch.  I’m sure it already exists as something like “interrupted seed” or “broken seed,” but I’m claiming unvention rights regardless.  It looks like a pretty cool Christmas Stocking, so maybe she can re-purpose it by then.  I hope she’ll launder it first.  In the meantime it should keep her toes warm and her leg dressed up a bit.

Love, Jan

Dear Ellen,

“PCS” stands for “permanent change of station.”  PCS status is when you have checked out of one duty station and are on your way to the next one.  For us, this meant a 28 hour drive across country.  You would be correct in assuming that it also meant a good bit of knitting time.  The projects I worked on included the “Hopeful Booties,” “A Boa for Marie,” “A Stitch Away from Genius” and “Desert Skies Socks.”  No, I did not finish them all.

In fact, the only project completed was “A Boa for Marie” — which on Ravelry I’m calling “Beautiful Boa.”  Please no comments on the photos.  Dale and I had to horse around a bit while taking them.  I made this to show my support for Marie’s burlesque efforts…how many mom’s would do this? The result is actually quite good. I knit 10 stitches across for 2 skeins…quite a long fuzzy scarf. Then I picked up stitches down the longitudinal center of the scarf and knit 3 rows and bound off. Then I picked up stitches down the longitudinal center of the other side of the scarf, knit 3 rows and bound off. The result is a scarf with an “X” cross section…and lots of fuzz and a good heft for throwing about one’s shoulders. It packaged up nicely.  And I have to admit…taking the pictures was kinda fun!

The boa was the only project I actually finished on the drive.  I did almost finish the “Hopeful Booties,” and have since finished them…in fact, I finished a second pair.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that since then I seem to have totally misplaced them.  No pictures.  And unless I find them soon, I’ll need to start a 3rd pair as that baby isn’t holding back on growing in order to give me time to find them.

I did get pretty far on another footwear object, this time in my size.  (Good thing as these are for me!)  The “Desert Skies Socks” are a very pretty mix of turquoise and browns in the Crystal Palace Maizy yarn.  It’s 82% corn fiber and 18% elastic and nylon.  The same yarn as for the booties…I liked it well enough with them that I picked up a few balls for adult-sized socks.  They sat there on the counter for a while waiting to go into my stash for packing…and somehow never made it.  Instead they went into my knitting bag and I cast on for them on the first day of our drive.  I could have finished at least one on the trip, except I ripped out the insole about 3 times.  I was trying to do a very cool stitch pattern with following stitches and crossing lines.  First my mind screwed me up (now there’s a first) and had me thinking public and wrong side rows since I wasn’t knitting the stitch pattern all the way around as I did the foot of the sock.  Duh…it’s still all public rows as the sock is in the round even if the instep doesn’t go all the way around.  After 1 1/2 complete pattern repeats (18 row repeats…yes, 18 row repeats) and wondering why the heck it didn’t look at all right, it came to me in a blinding flash. I did the obligatory whining and moaning and then ripped it out and restarted.  This time the pattern looked far better and I finished 2 whole repeats.  It was at that point that I had to overcome my denial and say that although it was now correct, it still was not right.  The yarn characteristics and the colorway caused the pattern to be lost.  This time I kept the sole stitches on the needles and dropped all the instep stitches and kept the boundary stitches and sole stitches intact.  (The soles are princess soles in reverse stockinette.)  I rethought the whole thing and decided that stair-stepped cables would be simple and would be more effective with the yarn.  I was right.  This time the foot moved along nicely, the gussets looked smashing and I was on the leg by the time we were accepting household goods at the new place.  I finished the first sock of the pair this weekend and intend to get the next one cast on tonight.

I also plugged away a bit on my Einstein Coat, that I call “A Stitch Away from Genius.”  My substitution of a bulky for the chunky is driving a few adjustments in row counts, but the schematic gives plenty of info to work it out.  I’m about 2/3 around my hips for the bottom part at this point.  It’s a great knit for when I get home at night and am brain dead.  As long as I remember to start with that slipped stitch, I’m golden.  And there have been a few frogging sessions as I’ve managed to forget it a few times.  That’s how porous my brain is some nights!

More on our move and on the re-establishment of my knitting rhythm in a few days.  I still hate you for getting to go to Sock Summit.  I really hope you had a BLAST at Sock Summit.   I expect pictures.

Love, Jan