New student

I have been helping a lady with her knitting. She has done some knitting, has made several dishcloths but now wants to knit a vest. We picked out a beautiful grey tweed yarn and she knitted her gauge swatch. She found that her stitches were looser than recommended so went down to a smaller size needle. After she knitted several rows she dropped a couple of stitches. I recommended that she rip it out and start over. She was not very happy, but as we all know--as you knit so shall you rip!! I remember the first time I had to rip out a sweater. It was several days of fuming and fussing before I finally picked it up from the corner I had thrown it in and ripped it out. Fortunately, the second time the pattern was much clearer and I didn't have to rip it out again. When I have made knitted lace, I have ripped out several rows several times, usually because I made a mistake but occasionally a pattern is wrong. In that case, I finally had to give up on the pattern and find another.

I was making a baby bonnet from a magazine that I thought followed the standard knitting rule of finishing each row at the same point. However, the pattern was Australian and their rule of thumb (as I understand it) is just to stop at the end of the row and start the next row above it. I finally called the company and they had the designer call me. Call me a coward but I haven't had the nerve to work on that bonnet since.

 

Yarn sale

Michael's had a yarn sale and, as an appreciation for their employees, they had a once-a-year coupon special. Since I work there, I received a very nice discount on my purchases and, of course, came home with a huge bag of yarn. Moving or not, I needed that yarn and anyway how could I ignore that sale?

I have been working on a shawl using a very old pattern. In fact, the book I'm using was published in 1959. Originally the pattern was for a baby blanket/christening shawl, the center is increased from 3 stitches to 102 then decreased back down to 3 stitches before it is cast off. Since I am making it for an adult I only used the increases then cast off making the center triangular (see picture). The sides are worked separately in a feather and fan pattern then sewn together. I only have one side finished, since it is triangular rather than square, there are only two sides.

September 11

Today is September 11 and like so many people I have been thinking about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center six years ago. There was so much pain and suffering and even for us on the West Coast it has changed our lives. One way it has changed my life is to make me appreciate my everyday life more. Another way is to realize how very important this country is to each of us and how fortunate we are to live here. The American flag is a symbol of our country and today on Kim Komando's site of the day, she had a small symbol of the flag that will fly on your desktop as you are working. The site is www.deskflag.com if anyone wants it.

I am packing for my second move this year and I am constantly amazed at the JUNK I have in my life. I am trying to sort through things but sometimes it is so much easier just to box it up and plan to deal with it later. After all, I'll be moving in about three weeks.

Prayer shawl

I am working on another prayer shawl. I finished the beige one and started a second one, it is grey, brown and white tweed. The pattern for all three is the same so it is amazing the difference in the colors alone. I think I like the tweed one the best. I want to make a red one next just for the variety. I am also ready to try a new pattern!!! I have finished three lambs and am working on the fourth. I changed to a size 9 needle (pattern called for a size 10)and think it makes a tighter more easily felted lamb.

Lambs and moving

I have been knitting felted lambs for the bazaar. They are really cute and quick to knit, however there is a lot of finishing work on them. I have found that if I finish each one completely it is easier than leaving them until I have several to finish at once although that was my first inclination.

I am moving the first of the month. I have been living in an upstair one-bedroom apartment that is very nice, it has a great view and I really like it but it is so small I have had to have a storage for the rest of my things. The apartment I am moving into is right below this one but it is a 2-bedroom and the parking space is right outside the front door. Also, the stairs to this apartment are really steep and it does get cold enough that they would be slick this winter. The new apartment has a patio so Miss Daisy can go outside.

Reflections on Ahab's wife

About two months ago I read Ahab's wife by Sena Jeter Naslund. I still can't decide if I really liked the book, there were some parts that I loved and some that made me shudder. The ending, I felt, was a letdown but the story was basically that of a woman's life and, as such, was fulfilling in that I felt I knew her personally. A friend read it and felt the same ambivalence. I hope all of Ms Naslund's books are as compelling.

I think I'm going to start a lists of the best books I have ever read. Some books stay with you and most of the ones I remember are books I loved. Louisa May Alcott's book "Eight Cousins" was one of the first that drew me in and made me part of their lives. I still have it and every now and then reread it.