Nice and quiet

 

It's nice and quiet here this morning, so I'll try an update.  I wrote a big, long, lovely update about three weeks ago and thought I'd posted it, but instead I think I deleted it.  Ooops!

Since early July, we have moved from the Rocky Mountains to the Central Plains and accomplished it in the middle of a terrible drought and heat wave.  I was smart enough to find a rental home with central air conditioning, but it was still hard to pick up the needles there for a while -- never mind being too busy to think, much less knit.

When you move to a new location, everything changes, and while this change hasn't been unpleasant for us, we're still trying to figure things out.  For instance, at our former home I had a few great locations where I could photograph works in progress or finished projects.  Here, I haven't found that place, because the light in our new home is so different.  Nevertheless, here's a picture of the one thing that I did manage to finish and photograph right in the middle of the big move -- my Granny Square Bag.

Back in May my friend K --'s daughter sent her a photo of a crocheted bag and suggested that her mom make one for her.  K -- showed me, and I decided to join her in figuring out the pattern and making one.  I found some great undyed yarns at our local yarn store in my former home city, dyed the white ones with Koolaid and some Jaquard dyes in my stash, and began to crochet granny squares.  Once I had the required twenty-four squares, I got help in arranging them color-wise from The Amazing A -- and L -- and marked them with numbers so I could sew them together in the correct order.  I stitched them up, and did a row of single crochet around the top opening.  All of this took me about two weeks of stitchin' between all of my moving chores.  I kept my yarn basket right where I could always find it! and I'm so glad I did.

Then, the handle had me stopped for about a month; how to make it?  I figured out how long it should be by measuring my copy of the original photo, then measuring the squares of my bag, and coming up with a formula to keep the proportion right.  Next, I trolled the internets for instructions on making a crocheted i-cord, and tried several iterations of that technique.  The handles kept coming out like fat sausages, so I put the whole thing aside for a while to think.  Finally, I decided to just stitch them flat -- I made a chain just a hair shade longer what I needed, and did seven rows of single crochet to make a long oblong.  Finally, I stitched the long sides together so they butted against each other, and voy-lah!  Handles made, in correct length and size. Stitched on, and photographed.  Just for the record, K -- is still working on hers, at least as far as I know.  She had set a Christmas deadline for herself.

Before I start loading this baby up (it's huge, by the way) I want to line it with fabric.  I just haven't gotten out the sewing machine to do this yet.  But for the most part, the bag is finished.  The photo doesn't do the colors justice -- the orange and lime green are the colors dyed with Koolaid, and they're practically neon in person.  The turquoise and teal are lovely and subtle.  The background is a pleasant neutral light greyish brown.  Everyone who's seen it comments that it's a throwback to the 1970s.

Intelligently, I kept some of the most-called-for needles and a ball of yarn or two in my basket and handy during the move, in case I needed to take refuge in a knit.  At one point, desperate for a simple knit that could be finished quickly, I made another dishcloth and meanwhile kept pecking away at the latest sock-in-progress.

These are being made with Opal Schafpate yarn, in a blue and purple colorway, so I'm calling it the Berries and Cream sock.  I started this pair before we left, and have finished one sock already, but again, haven't found the right spot to photograph projects.  I took this picture before we left the old home.

I had other projects tucked into the knitting basket, too.  More than once, I've started to knit the Dahlia Cardigan from the Fall 2011 Interweave Knits before making one mistake or another and then having to frog it.  When we began to settle down here in our new house, I found it in the basket and started it one more time, but then made a fatal mistake -- I looked at finished examples on Ravelry and read other knitters' comments.  Not only is the construction a mistake for my anatomy, but it wasn't going to be flattering even if I did figure out a way to make the sleeves work for me.  So it's off the needles and put away.  I do have a pretty good pile of that lovely Ultra Alpaca Fine yarn, so when I find just the right project for a fingering weight alpaca, I'll be ready.

Meanwhile, I've got the yarn for Velvet Morning in the stash -- some pine green and autumn shades in Plymouth Galway.  If I'm smart (not always a given) I'll hurry up and finish the Berries socks, start the Emperor's Christmas socks, and get going on Velvet Morning for myself.