Truckee Shawlette…

Since Gramps Cardigan is done and Grace is blocking, it’s time to cast on for another project.  Hubbs and I are going to be going on vacation in a couple of weeks so it’s going to be Truckee Shawlette time.  Garter stitch shawlette with simple stripes is just the thing for keeping the hands busy but allowing my brain to be on vacation.

Picture from Jimmy Beans Wool

And by the way, how cute is her denim dress?!  I totally want one.  It would look great with boots and tights.  But I digress.

I chose Madeline Tosh Light in Rainwater (dark color) and Windowpane (light color).

In addition to Truckee Shawlette, I’m going to also take the yarn for Effervescence Cardigan.  I posted about it a couple of weeks ago.  I love this cardi so much that I ordered the yarn shortly after I posted about it the first time.  Can’t wait to work with the Quince & Co Chickadee that I ordered.

Gramps Cardigan…

Is done!

Pattern:  Gramps Cardigan by Kate Oates

Yarn:  MadelineTosh – Tosh Vintage in Charcoal (7 skeins

Needles: US 6 for ribbing, US 7 for body & US 8 for sleeves

Started:  March 29, 2013

Finished:  May 11, 2013

Notes:  Pattern easy to follow and clear.  I didn’t notice any errors.  Yarn is lovely and beautiful to knit with, like heaven as it runs through your fingers.  Blocks lovely.

Grace Cardigan…

Is blocking!  This was a very enjoyable knit and since all the hard stuff (lace) is at the top, it was perfect no braininer knitting during a stressfull time at work.  My office moved to it’s new location this week, about 3 blocks from the old location and I don’t handle change very well.  It’s stressful for me and I tend to get horriable headaches and nightmares.  Plus on top of the move, my best work buddy suddenly retired.  I’m bummed that she won’t be at work anymore but her husband has stage 4 cancer so I totally get why she would retire suddenly.  I’ll be keeping her in my thoughts every day and hoping for good things for her and her hubby.  The bad part is that her whole desk has been transfered to me and I’m trying to keep my head above water on it.  So it was a very stressful week.

But Grace is almost done.  I finished up the remaining button band and collar this morning so it’s blocking as we speak.

I’m also sewing buttons on Gramps Cardigan which I’m excited about.  Thankfully, despite the warm weather (summer is here in Northern California), my office is kept at 73 degrees and that’s too cold for me.  I’m tempted to adjust it up but since the thermostat is out in the open and next to the managers, I know I’d get busted.  I’ve worn Roehline almost every day this week but I’m looking forward to wearing Gramps.  It turned out so perfect.  The sleeves are a little tight but not so much that I won’t like them.

I tried on Grace before I soaked it and the fit is goinng to be great.  Sleeve length is always tricky for me since I have really long arms but the length is good and the shape is very flattering.  Since it’s a fingering weight yarn (Sweet Georgia Yarns, Tough Love Sock in the colorway Coastal) this is going to be a great summer weight sweater.  I love sundresses but with air conditioning I always carry a sweater with me, especially if we go to the movies.  I get cold when the air blows directly on me and no matter where we sit, it seems that the air always blows on me.  I guess some people like that.

After Grace dries, all I have left to do is weave in the ends and sew on the buttons!  Yay!

Why not working is dangerous thing…

When you have a yarn and knitting addiction.  I’ve been on leave from work for the last few days because my Gran unexpectedly passed away last week.  She was 91 years old and one of the most amazing women I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.  She was born in 1922 in St. Helena California.  She lived her whole life there until she met my grandfather, a salior on leave from the US Navy.  They married quickly and she left her family to move first to New Orleans and later to Norfolk, Va.  She had two children, my mother and her brother and raised them without the support of her family and mostly on her own as is the case with most military wives.  In the early part of the 1960′s, the family returned to the Napa Valley where she was born.  I interviewed her once for a paper I wrote in college and as part of that paper I asked her if she had any regrets or any part of her life she would change.  She said that even though her life wasn’t always easy, it was a good life and she was proud of the things she had accomplished.

Growing up I never thought I had much in common with my Gran.  Times were so different at the same age for her and I.  I became a teenager in the late 1980′s and she became a teenager during the great depression of the 1930′s.  The times and technology were so different.  But the changes she saw in her lifetime…I can’t imagine.  But I learned a lot from her.  The two most important lessons, besides how to make fried chicken the Southern way, I learned from her were how to be graceful under pressure and how to knit.  My mom taught me the basics of knitting but all the tricks I learned from Gran.

 One knitting memory I will hold dear is from this last Christmas.  I looked up from my knitting to realize that there were three generations of women all knitting in my living room.  That common bond, it was awe inspiring.  But my favorite knitting/Gran memory is from a few years ago.  All of the other grandkids got handknit sweaters from Gran.  When I opened my box, I got a pattern and the yarn to go with it.  When I protested, she simply said that I knit better then she did (I’m going to call BS but you don’t argue with Gran) and that she wouldn’t knit for me any more.  It still makes me laugh out loud when I think about it.  She was always a feisty woman.

Now, I told you that story to tell you this story.  Since I’m home/doing family stuff I’ve had a lot more time to work on my knitting then I expected to.  Grace is supposed to be my vacation knitting but I’ve already completed the yoke and am several inches into the body.  I’m afraid that Grace is either going to be done or close enough to done that I wont have enough left to make it through the vacation.

Not being at work also means that I have more time to play on Ravelry. Yesterday I found Effervescence by Olga Buraya-Kefelian. Considering that I knit Gramps Cardigan in DK and am working on Grace in fingering weight, a sport weight cardi seems to make sense as my next sweater project. The pattern calls for Quince & Co in Chickadee. I haven’t used any yarn from them before but I’ve heard good things about it. So I went ahead and ordered enough to knit this.

Picture by Quince & Co.

Have you seen…

Coastal Fog by Anne Claire?  OMG, what an amazinly cute cowl.  Did I just order the yarn for this from Yarn? Yes, I did.  Like I need another project.

Gramps Cardigan has reached the blocking stage and currently just needs buttons to finish.  So I cast on for Grace by Jane Richmond from the book Island also by Jane Richmond.  I was able to pick up the book locally at one of my local yarn shops, Anna’s Yarn Shoppe.  I ordered Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock from Jimmy Beans Wool at the end of last week and it arrived at the house on Wednesday.  I finished weaving in the ends on Thursday morning for Gramps Cardigan and blocked it same day, just need buttons.  I have some that I pulled off of my Gnarled Oak Cardigan…that I haven’t finished after I frogged the first one, but that’s a story for another time.

Grace is supposed to be my vacation knitting for next month, but you know how that goes.  Yarn comes in the mail and the urge to cast on is overwhelming.  You must cast on and you must ignore the overwhelming number of WIPS that you already have.  Argh!!!  Why can’t you knit faster or have more arms like an octopus?!!!  Then you could knit all the things!!!

I also ordered yarn to knit the Truckee Shawlette.  It’s not fancy but it might make for easier vacation knitting than Grace.  No matter what I have to have vacation knitting.  It’s a must and a given.  I’m sure that I will have Grace, Truckee Shawlette, and at least one pair of socks with me on our road trip. 

Hubby, Maggie and myself are hitting the road next month for some time in Klamath Ca and time with my parents and “baby” sister next month.  We’re planning on doing some salmon fishing, hiking and general exploration of the North coast of California before heading into Southern Oregon for time with my family.  I saw my dad briefly in January but haven’t seen my bonus mom or little sister in two years.  It’s been too long and I miss them so much.  Life is too short to be separated from the people that you love for such a long period.

But between now and then, I plan to keep myself busy with work, knitting, and our back yard remodel.  But I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.  I’m so excited, I can barely contain myself.  I haven’t had a vacation in three years and this vacation is going to be great.

I Feel So Old…

That I need a cardi fit for Gramps.

Photo by Tottopper

A couple of weeks ago Hubbs and I made a long weekend out of Ceaser Chavez day and went camping up at one of our favorite camp spots, Collins Lake.  It’s only about an hour and a half north of here and a great weekend get away spot for us.  Of course you can’t relax without knitting.

I’ve had the Gramps Cardigan by Kate Oates in my Queue for a while and I’d finished the cowl that I’m knitting for my bosses going away gift, so I figured why not.  I ordered up some MadelineTosh Vintage in Charcoal from Jimmy Beans Wool.  I’m making pretty good progress on it when I’m not being sidetracked by that crazy game, Candy Crush on my tablet.  Ugh.  Such a time suck.  Anyway, I just finished both sleeves and have moved on to the raglan decreases for the sleeves.

My regular everyday sweater is my Roheline by Srvi Simola published in Twist Collective (seen above two years ago with Boomy).  But after 2 years of almost daily wear, it’s looking a little worse for wear.  The yarn has pilled badly and it’s just looking ragged.  Gramps Cardigan will replace Roheline as Roheline transistions to my around the house sweater.  I might knit Roheline again since I get so many compliments on it even in it’s ragged state.

Hiking with Maggie…

Hubby is out of town today and instead of sitting here and wasting my weekend…ie knitting (not that that’s ever a waste but the weather is too nice to spend it inside) I packed up Maggie and my little point and shoot camera and we headed off to The Auburn State Recreation Area for some outdoor fun.

The butterflies were out in mass!  Maggie liked chasing their shadows as they flew along.

Maggie really seemed to enjoy all smelling all the things…except big dogs, then she hid behind my legs.  The funny thing is that she seemed unfazed by the horses.

Our fist stop was at The Black Hole of Calcutta waterfall.  It was an easy walk in that was mostly level and an easy walk on an old railroad bed.  Magg’s isn’t much of a water dog but she did dip her toes in.

 

The wildflowers were blooming along the trail.

We stopped and rested a lot because it was pretty warm even though it was fairly early in the day.  Lots of water for both of us and a couple of snacks.

The sky was a deep blue without a cloud in sight.  Perfect day for a hike.