I did not win $250,000,000 in Powerball. I cannot believe my bad luck.

So I guess I have to go to work today.

Sometimes life is so unfair.

I worked some more on Frogner last night. Once again, I thank thee, oh ye gods of air conditioning, for enabling me to knit with wool during the hot humid DC summer.

In an unusual display of thinking ahead, I actually bought the buttons for Frogner quite a while ago.

Lucy loves it when I change the sheets on the bed.

And Finally . . .

Do you think Kate is the only one obsessed with Birks? Not at all!

I bought these in Bobcaygeon:

And these upon my return home:

And . . . um . . . these . . .

Ebay will be my downfall.

It’s summer, with a vengeance.

I dragged myself home through the heat and humidity yesterday. I unlock my front door and am greeted by a welcome blast of cool air. Ah, blessed a/c!

Lucy comes bounding toward me, bright-eyed and fluffy-tailed, happily meowing. She’s as cool as a cucumber. Why shouldn’t she be? She gets to wallow in the a/c at home all day, while I take the subway to an office where the air is tepid at best.

Life just ain’t fair. I think it’s time for me to start buying Powerball tickets again.

Socking Along

Lest you think that I abandon all my projects, here is proof that I don’t:

I am still knitting on the pair of socks I started before I went on vacation. I finished the first one the morning I left and started the second one there, though I didn’t work on it much — I spent most of my knitting time on Parched. I picked up the second sock again on Monday and have done a wee bit on the train.

But mostly it’s just too darn hot. The a/c on the trains often leave a lot to be desired.

Something I Keep Meaning to Mention

I recently joined the Knitbloggers Reading Group. I had already bought a copy of Life of Pi, our first selection, andstarted reading it in the airport returning home from Toronto. Did a bit more reading last night, and I’m about three-fourths done with it. It’ll be fun to hear the other group members’ impressions of the book. I always wanted to join a book discussion group, but knew I’d be too lazy to actually attend meetings. A virtual book group! What could be better?

The return to the working world yesterday wasn’t too heinous. I’ve got way too much work to do and not nearly enough time in which to do it, but that’s nothing new.

Floating Along . . .

I’m plugging away on Frogner. This is a particularly fun pattern to knit because the front and the back are different. The front has the pattern that looks to me something like crossed sheaves of wheat and flowers, and the back has a simple checkerboard pattern. So knitting in the round, it goes: one side front with interesting pattern, the boring and easy back pattern, then the second side front with the interesting pattern. For some reason, this rhythm appeals to me. Just when I’m getting tired of the boring back pattern, along comes another interesting bit!

There are some wide-open spaces in the front pattern that brings us to the age-old debate — to weave or to float. Even though some of the stretches of one color are wa-a-ay long, I’m still floating. It works for me. My tension is pretty darn good, so my resulting fabric is nice and even. And from experience I know that a good steaming after the knitting is done will make floats lie down and behave. What more could a girl ask for?

Lucy is so on board for knitting Frogner!

Daletta Notes

In yesterday’s comments Roi asked:

But Daletta is superwash wool and because some knitters said superwash will “grow”, I’ve been leary of knitting sweaters with it. Is there something different about Dale superwash?

Anyone have an experience with this? I have very limited experience with superwash wool and have not had Daletta grow. Maybe because I’m using it in a stranded design, that helps it hold it’s shape better? Whaddya think?

One thing I can tell you is that Daletta splits. You have to keep close watch on it while knitting.

Repetitive Stress and Knitting

Purl asked:

Are you and any of your other readers finding that certain types of knitting still work for repetitive stress?

As far as I’m concerned, anything that isn’t done at a very tight gauge and/or involves tight twisting is okay. I can do colorwork with no pain. I can do a cabled sweater in aran weight wool with no pain.

The things that have bothered me lately are 100% cotton that has no give and the guernsey wool which is knitted at 8 stitches per inch. Anything else . . . no problem!

Repetitive strain injuries are really really annoying.

I started knitting Beadwork over the weekend and it wasn’t long before my wrist let me know that this was not a good idea. It only took this much:

Ouch.

So it’s abandoned indefinitely, I’m afraid. I took it off the needle and will unravel it. It I start it again at some point in the future, I’ll want to start from scratch.

For those of you who were planning on knitting along, sorry about that. Can’t be helped.

So What the Heck Am I Knitting?

Dale of Norway Frogner. Knitted in Daletta wool in olive green and off-white. Here’s part of the front:

And here’s part of the back:

It’s a cardigan, so it has a center front steek (the stripey bit you can see in the top photo). The pattern directs you to do a four stitch steek, but because you have to pick up stitches for the front bands, I’m more comfortable with a wider steek, even one that’s machine stitched. So I have ten rather than four stitches. I can always trim it after knitting the bands if it seems too bulky.

Back to Work

After being off since June 24, it’s back to work for me today. Groan! I shudder to think of the pile of email, voicemail, and other assorted atrocities waiting for me!

Lucy sympathizes.

Ah, the traditional self-portrait in the mirror. Here it is, laid out on the floor.

A Parched question from yesterday from Linda M.:

Did you make the long ribbed cuffs that are in the pattern? I’m thinking about making a looser 3/4 sleeve with just an inch or so of ribbing. I think it will be easier to wear in the summer that way. Did you like knitting with that yarn?

About the sleeves . . .

Before I started knitting, someone emailed me and told me there was an error in the pattern for P”arched. I asked Rowan, and this was their response:

In reply to your email, there is not actually an error in the sleeves for
Parched. I have checked with our Design Department and apparently the
original garment used in the photograph was amended to 12 rows in the cuff
after the photoshoot.

If you wish to have the longer cuffs I would suggest you knit the length
you wish and then deduct that amount from the rest of the sleeve.

As you can see, I didn’t do the long cuffs. If you want three-quarter length sleeves, I suggest you cast on more stitches at the cuff, because the sleeve will start further up on your arm, then knit to the length you like.

The yarn was the same that I used for Smooch — Gedifra Wellness. It was very nice to work with. For a cotton blend.

Happy Independence Day!

Lucy plans on just lying around the house to celebrate.