Checking In

I`ve been on a holiday from blogging lately but thought I`d check in with my latest efforts.

I continue to work on the Every Way Wrap, a comfort shawl for a friend who recently lost her husband. I'm on the last ball of yarn and repeat 13 of 16 before starting the ribbed edge. Forgive the crappy photos - it's nighttime and the lighting is horrid.

I finished a sock and have started a second one. The pattern is called Katwijker Frok by Erry Pieters-Korteweg and it's based on a Dutch fisherman's sweater pattern from Katwijk, a coastal town in the Netherlands. There are only 4 rows to the pattern so it was great car knitting.

I started another Dianna shawl - a store sample to promote a couple of classes I'm teaching. This one is using Noro Taiyo Sock Yarn. The feel of it is like the Sekku yarn I used on two previous Diannas but the Taiyo Sock Yarn is thicker. It should block out nicely.

I`m also working on a rectangular one which will be 3 squares x 20 rows of the Jawoll Degrade sock yarn I`m using. It should block out to about 9``x 60`` when I ever get it done.

I found a WalMart with an extensive fabric department and picked some inexpensive items for my little fabric stash. I then noticed several shelves with cute cotton fabrics at between $2 - $4 per yard. I'm definitely going back for more. I have no idea what I'm going to make with all these random fabrics. Perhaps a pieced quilt of some kind with an eclectic collection of fabrics? Some more project bags? For now, I'm going on cute/whimsical designs I like a lot.

I recently learned how to download movies to watch on my computer and have been having quite the Downton Abbey extravaganza. Skip and I have been watching it on Sunday nights for a couple of months on on PBS. I downloaded all of Season 2 and the Christmas special and have watched them all. Then I went downloaded all 7 episodes of Season 1 and watched them, realizing I had seen the first one but had missed several episodes of Season 1 when they were first aired.

I was surprised to learn how many of my friends (Facebook and otherwise) and cousins were watching it. We`re all really enjoying it. Tonight PBS aired the last two episodes of Season 2 (Episodes 7 & 8) back to back and next week they`ll show the 1.5 hour Christmas special which resolves some story lines and opens some others. Season 3 will be aired in the UK in the fall and on Masterpiece Theatre Classic on PBS in the spring of 2013. We`ll have to wait a whole year to watch it (unless I download it after it airs in the UK).