Trip Planning

I am on the home stretch of my Sweet Dreams shawl.

As I am using very fine yarn and have lots of yarn to spare, I did the lace Chart B twice and just finished the third row of Chart C - the lacy border. There is a picot edge created by casting on 3 sts and binding off 5 until all the stitches are consumed. Picots are very picky to pin for wet blocking but the results are spectacular.

I did a long garter ridge tab to start as recommended by Susan Rainey which eliminates a 'peak' in the center of the neck edge of the shawl. To get a crescent-shaped shawl, 6 sts need to be increased every two rows. When knitting lace, the increases are usually yarnovers. On this shawl, there are 4 increase yarnovers on the right side row and 2 on the wrong side row.

I'm almost finished the second "Man in the Brown Suit Sock". As we're getting ready to pack up here and head to visit friends in Panama City and then make our way home, I need to plan what to knit on the road. I visited A Good Yarn again yesterday and selected a Manos del Uruguay sock yarn, "Alegria" (happiness in Spanish) in yet another autumnal colour.

I haven't decided what pattern I'll knit as our Internet signal has been very erratic so surfing Ravelry for ideas is practically impossible.

I also bought a skein of Three Irish Girls cotton/bamboo fingering weight in the 'Not a Cloud in the Sky' colourway. It would make a lovely, lacy summer shawl.

Some Say 'Newgrange', Some Say "Triskelion"

I finished the second thumb of the Triskelion mittens last night.

They were a very easy knit. The instructions and chart were very easily interpreted and they knit up quite quickly.

The inside even looks very nice. There are actually knitters that are obsessed with what the stranding looks like. For the most part I didn't anchor strands up to about 6 stitches long as I didn't want the green to show through the black but I did a modified anchoring technique on some of the long strands.

When knitting with two colours, I keep one yarn in my left hand and the other in the right. If you switch hands a lot or don't pay attention to which yarn is dominant, the look will be uneven.

Triskelion Mittens

I finished the first mitten - except for the thumb. I'll do the two thumbs when I've finished the second mitten.

The pattern is called "Newgrange", inspired by the stone at the entrance of a prehistoric Irish passage tomb.

The triple swirl is called a triskele or triskelion so I have named my mittens 'Triskelion.

The second is underway.

Yesterday we attended a Grapefruit League Spring Training baseball game between the Rays and Jays. It was easy to get to the Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte.

It was a lovely and sunny. We were very glad when the sun moved so we were in the shade.

Of course, the Jays lost. No surprise there.

Friday we'll see the Braves and the Orioles here in Sarasota at the Ed Smith Stadium.

Man in the Brown Suit - Part I

I finished the toe of the first "Man in the Brown Suit" sock.

I really love the madelinetosh sock yarn. It is rather thick with excellent twist which makes for great stitch definition. (Sorry, bad lighting)

This photo gives a much better idea of it.

It was a very quick knit. The cables were very regular and the texture easy to execute. If there's a lull - I'll cast on the second sock.

Inspired Again

I finally have found a couple of new projects I want to knit.

The first is Newgrange Mittens by Kat Lewinski. I liked the Irish motif and visualized knitting it with a black background with a contrasting lime green yarn.

I found exactly what I wanted at the yarn shop:

Cascade Heritage sock yarn in black, and

Claudia Hand Painted Fingering 55 yarn in Limeade.

I decided to do a Latvian braid at the bottom and top of the cuff. Rather than a two-colour, long-tail cast-on, I cast on in black then immediately did the first braid alternating colours. I then did 3 rounds of black before starting the cuff chart. I did the reverse at the top of the cuff, then three rows of black before starting the palm and back chart and thumb gusset.

Once the pattern was established it moved along quite quickly.

I might even have the first mitten done by St. Patrick's Day.

The second project is the Sweet Dreams shawl from Boo Knits' 'In Love' Collection.

I selected a sunny, yellow tonal laceweight by Anzula Luxury Fibers. I was surprised not to find that brand listed on Ravelry.

It is my 'on deck' project.

Scented Yarn

I have been using up odd bits of dishcloth cotton knitting my favourite pattern, "The Cotton Dishcloth (once removed or dressed up)".

I didn't notice when I bought this yarn but it's another scented one.

This time, lavender. The colourway is the striped yarn  on the dishcloth below on the top left.

On the solid blue one, I used 18 stitches rather than 16. The yarn is heavier and I don't like it for a dishcloth but it's a good cleaning cloth.

I'm working away on the Man in the Brown Suit sock. I'm on the foot and have decreased to 62 sts to make it a bit snugger on the foot. Yes, there is a mistake on one of the cables. I think I did 2 x 4 instead of 4 x 2 there but I didn't rip it all out to fix it. I figured it would be under pants so not noticeable when I'm wearing them. However, I won't be entering this pair in the Brooklin Fair this year.

There's something wonky about the 2nd cable from the top on this side, too, but I'm not sure what I did wrong. Oh well. They're still going to look fine in the fall. I love autumnal colours.

I still need to knit a pair of black socks. I did a pair of black, ribbed, merino/silk socks a few years ago and one went missing. I do have an extra ball of the same yarn so one of these days I'll knit a replacement.

I'm still looking for some knitting inspiration. I think I'll do some surfing on Friends/Activity on Ravelry.

CRAFT and Crunch

I picked up a lovely skein of madelinetosh sock yarn in the saffron colourway a while back.

I have CRAFT (Can't Remember A Freaking Thing) and have no idea when or where I bought it. I do remember it was the only skein of yarn I purchased at that time - whenever it was.

I am knitting Maureen Foulds' "Man in the Brown Suit" from her Agatha Christie Series, Volume 1.

It is a lovely textured pattern alternating with 4 x 2 cables down each side.

I'm ready to turn the heel.

So far the only modifications are that I did a tubular, circular, 2 x 2 cast on with the assistance of this video and I mirrored the 1 x 1 cables down the sides of the foot.

Last night, while eating a lovely camarones al mojo de ajo (shrimp fried in oil and garlic) dinner, I crunched on something. It felt like a little piece of crab shell or something. I felt around with my tongue and felt no voids indicating a missing filling or part of a tooth. I felt a little throbbing on the lower right side so finished chewing the rest of my meal on the left side.

After getting back to the condo, ate a bunch of Brazil nuts, flossed, brushed, and popped a piece of gum in my mouth. I noticed a while later that the gum was sticking to the lower, back, right molar. I then felt a sharp edge with my tongue. Crap! I had broken a tooth.

I went to a dentist this afternoon and we have decided to just baby the tooth until I get back to Canada. I'm not in any pain and the broken chunk is moveable but is staying put for now. The dentist confirmed that I'll need a crown on it and the two other molars forward of it.

I successfully chewed my lunch on the left side and will continue to do so in an attempt to avoid any force on the compromised tooth.

I am hoping the root is not exposed at all and the piece that is broken is just the outside of the tooth that was next to the filling. If the broken chunk does dislodge, apparently a patch can be put on it. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get home without any pain or further dental issues.

Another Charade

I finished this UFO a couple of days ago.

Charade Socks

The leg of the first sock had been languishing. I don't remember the source of the yarn but it has a very nice twist and was great to work with.

This is the third or fourth time I've knit the Charade pattern. It goes very quickly. It is a unisex pattern depending on the yarn you use. There's lots of stretch and they hug the ankles nicely due to the somewhat ribbed pattern.

Hopefully it will be too nice for me to wear them once we get back to Canada.

Don't they look spiffy with jeans?

My next post will be about my next sock project - a Maureen Foulds design.