My life of late is about boxes’.  Think outside of the box….. flip the box over….. empty a box…. pack a box…. move a box….

Do you see a progression of box’s?  It all started so simple…. an outside of the box business plan that added some additional responsibilities to my plate.  I love my day job, but the travel burden was really difficult. So…..

On a beautiful afternoon, drinking a little wine on the deck, himself and I  were talking about the love hate relationship I have with my job. In that conversation I discovered it wasn’t the job I hated, it was the transportation and connectivity issues. That killer last hour of travel home, praying to the god’s that I would make the ferry-boat.

The having to take a flight a day earlier because the ferry-boat did not leave early enough for me to get to the airport. Add to that the day-to-day struggles of decent internet connectivity and sporadic cell phone connections were exhausting me.

We flipped the box over and said what if we lived someplace else? Wonder if our home would sell this time of year…. mid-September. Let’s see…… We listed our house on Thursday, on Monday our house sold….. it was a sign, by Thursday we had found and bought a new house. Yup, we are moving. I believe when the stars align you must go for it!

To simplify our life, we are moving from the country to the city. A downtown high-rise condo. Easy access to the airport, great internet connectivity, no yard, no maintenance…Phew.

Now the empty a box must happen. Our new space is 1/3 smaller than what we have today plus no garage. The empty and sort every box in the garage game began. There were boxes that have moved with us to our last three houses that had never been opened. There were mis-labeled boxes…how could I have possibly moved my mother’s floral sheets three times!

Boxes and boxes of old paperwork, duplicate photos, and frankly just junk.  Add to that way to much stuff in the house. Is it embarrassing to say the lady at the dump knows us on a first name basis, as does Goodwill and Freecycle? When all is said and done it is very freeing to have less and have to care for less.

We are now into the packing boxes phase. What is left must be packed up for the move. It goes something like this, pack a few books, tuck yarn around a few books… and NO I DID NOT get rid of my stash!

Soon we will be emptying box’s again, but with a joy of a beautiful new space. Stay tuned, in the middle of all this I am finishing up a couple of patterns for you, plus I have completed some fun simple knits that I know you will want to do as well. Now back to box’s……

I messed up my knee a couple of weeks ago. Injured the ACL in a couple of very stupid moves. The first one was at the airport security line….think heels, a runaway rollerboard, and slanted floor, all where you are supposed to place your whole life in five seconds or less on the x-ray belt.  Somewhat painful twist of knee and still had to get thru the airport, on a plane, thru another airport, up a really steep ramp to board a ferryboat to get home.

The second stupid move was day two of being home. Climbing stairs to my garden and realizing there was a ton of peas to be picked. So I knelt down on the knee and heard and felt the painful pop!. Now I am laying on the ground in my garden in serious pain. Seeing stars and not certain I can get up. Finally crawled into the house……just stupid, stupid did I say stupid.

So the party began, ice on the knee….no weight on the knee….hobbeling around the house.

O…wait it gets even better. In one week I am having a party at the house. Fourteen for dinner on the deck. These are business colleges that are flying in from all over the US for our one time casual gathering of our board members dinner. No way to cancel this deal.

Yup you get it……I have a list a mile long of things that must be done. And himself already has a list two miles long that he has to do to help me get ready for this as well. So the projects begin….weeding the garden. O wait, I can’t kneel! Plan B, I sit on an upside down bucket and weed….slide the bucket and weed some more. Did I mention that when you are in pain the logic part of your brain fails to function.

More ice….more wine…..I can do this. And yes I did. Planked Salmon on the grill, Thank you Himself! Roasted rosemary potatoes, grilled corn and tomato salad, spinach salad with blackberries, goat cheese, walnuts and toasted cornbread croutons. Dessert of a peach and plum crisp. Plus s’mores around the firepit. A real Pacific Northwest Feast!

Still ice on knee, still in pain but nothing can stop me now. The annual sidewalk sale is in town and that includes the YARN STORE. I am not going to miss that.  Think pain and logic not functioning. Now think buying frenzy, just crazy knitters grabbing bags of yarn to add to their stash and this is what happened.

Yup, I bought that crazy yarn. What was I thinking…..even better…..I bought a pattern to knit with this yarn and immediately started to knit it when I got home. Ice on knee, wine, crazy yarn…..Oh yah!

The knee started to improve so I went to knit nite with the pattern, the crazy yarn, and a portion of a sleeve that I had knit.

Thank you!!!! My dear,  sweet, wonderful, knitsters!!!!  You are honest……and have no fear to speak the truth.  And the table spoke…….”It looks kinda clownish”……  “Is it for a Halloween costume?” ……”It belongs to frogtown”

So the moral of the story…….when in pain….DO NOT SHOP FOR YARN!!!

For anyone that has an interest in this crazy orange stuff……let me know, otherwise I think it will be fuel for my next batch of s’mores.

I was zooming along on several projects. Micki’s shawl is finished and ready to mail.

I finished this fun little cardi.

I have a very cool looking sweatshirt style sweater on needles and a couple of more things in the works. All seemed well and then……..It turned on me….the weather that is.

Summer hit us overnight. It is hot. Toooooo hot to knit wool sweaters.  So what to knit next?  That’s when what I call the conundrum began. I pulled out a bunch of pattern ideas and yarn and spent days swatching this and swatching that…starting this and starting that and could not get into the rhythm of what I wanted to do next. I did a very difficult thing. I stepped away from the yarn and the knitting for a few days/hours and took a time out.

Besides the heat, the indecisive knitting, a garden going crazy, and work travel even crazier…..you can understand my brain hit overload. And suddenly a little bit of cool air blew in. My brain cleared….peas and lettuce were picked…..I needed a project for a business road trip and the knitting began again.

First I did a really fast and fun project

This is from Knit.Wear 2012, the Deep V Tee. I knit it in a day and a half. So cute, so perfect as a toss on with khaki shorts. I want to knit another.

Then I chose to knit what I really wanted for summer. A little white sweater. This is linen and the pattern is Featherweight. I love this pattern. I plan to change it up a little and do a twisted rib along the front edge and all the ribbing.  I like how it is looking and the fit is perfect.

Linen is a little hard on the hands so I have another project on needles as well. The vest is a Carol Sunday pattern, Clair de Lune. It is a little more complex. Perfect for afternoon knitting on the deck.

As for the pause button…..well all the woolly knits are resting until the weather starts to cool a little. Which is not anytime soon I hope :-).

PS Don’t tell himself, but I already bought yarn for another Deep V Tee…….

I knit two rows this week…….no, I am not sick…..yes, I had plenty of airplane time.  How could this be…

Let’s first say it was an intense week for my real job. A business conference. If you don’t know the drill it goes like this; early morning breakfast meetings, general sessions, breakout sessions, special customer meetings, cocktail hour, dinner meetings, after dinner meetings, sleep for 3 hours then repeat…….Meetings like this for me are exciting, thought-provoking, and exhausting.

To begin with, I selected the wrong choice in carry-on knitting. Black, lace weight, charted lace pattern. What was I thinking!

Going to the conference, I had Mr. Hog the Arm Rest because he had the middle seat guy.  Even when I pulled out the Addi Turbo Lace needles he did not back off.  Then the window seat person closed the shade as did the window seat person in the aisle across from me. Can we say darker than normal on a plane and trying to knit black. Yup you get it. Did it stop me oh no…..just let me do two rows get off pattern and try then for the rest of the trip to back it up and not drop stitches!

Knitting was set aside as the conference began. I did have one early morning with no meetings and bright sunlight in my hotel room. I ticked back those two rows and fixed the pattern, it was a SSK and YO that were out of sync. Now I was ready to go for my airplane ride home!

Conference over…..mad dash to airport. What! flight delayed…..long lines everywhere…..no place to sit. I should be knitting, but chose to get caught up on email knowing I would have airplane time to knit. Emails complete…..time to board plane. Let the knitting begin!!!!

This time no Mr. Seat Hog….everyone left the shades up. Yarn out, chart out, headphones on, music up….let the knitting begin!!!

Nooooooooooooo! Mr. Middle Seat wants to chat with me! Does he not see my headphones…..my knitting! He wants to talk with me about my chart and my knitting.  Just somebody Shoot Me Now.

I failed to mention that while I was at a Business Conference the rest of the world was in the same city at the Google Conference. The plane I was on was filled with geeky boys and girls that were really wired up and excited about….well you know geeky stuff.

So Mr. Middle Seat was a geeky engineer that was fascinated by my knitting chart. And shouting so I could hear him over my music/headphones the “party” began. “I just figured out you are using the chart for what you are doing”  Me well “Duh, yes, it is called knitting….trying to work on this project that requires focus”

Mr. Middle Seat….”What do all the markings mean, why are part of the numbers on one side of the chart and part of the numbers on the other side of the chart…can you talk me thru what it all means?”

Me, ripping off my headphones…..”I will show you one row then I really have to put these back on and FOCUS on this project!”

I will never EVER be this polite again…….I am going to practice sneezing and coughing so I am left alone. The one row took two hours because Mr. Middle Seat was Mr. Man of four hundred questions. The two hours, was the full-time of the flight……Thank God only two hours.

The second row was completed on the rest of my journey home. A short ferry-boat ride. I had just pulled out my knitting when a woman plopped down in the seat next to me with the “Hope you don’t mind if I sit here” Doomed, I thought I was doomed. I told her I did not mind, but was on a difficult knitting row and had to stay focused. She immediately pulled out her bag of knitting…..her bag said it all “Shhhhhhhh, I am knitting!!”

I am finally among my people! Welcome Home!

Help!!!! I fallen into a black hole and can’t get out!

It is spring…..I should be knitting spring colors, but not me, nope. I am knitting everything black, a summer cowl, a black cotton sweater, a lacey black shawl. Black goes with everything…..including more black.

I knew I was doomed when at knit nite I was not at the table but my  knitting was and someone comes in and immediately recognizes my knitting because it is “Black”. That same night, when I tried to buy black yarn….the knit nite group put me in a time out and would not let me buy black……”come on add a little color” they screamed all at the same time! “You look so good in color”

So I am doing my best to crawl out of the black hole…..the black summer weight cowl is finished.

The pattern is Churchmouse’s Mohair Bias Loop, in Debbie Bliss Party Angel.

The black cotton sweater is also finished. It is  from the 2012 Knit.Wear Magazine, the Linen and Lace Cardigan, in Hemp for Knitting #210 Hempton.

The lacey black shawl is still on the needles and will be for awhile. It is a gift for a friend, but is an easy piece to carryon for airplane knitting. The pattern is Churchmouse’s Smocked Lace Wrap in Isagar #1

In the meantime, I listened to my knit nite friends and have jumped forward into project with color…….Carol Sunday’s pattern Clair de Lune in Shibui Knits Linen. The color is Graphite, not black……right.

I said I was crawling out of the Black Hole….

While you all may be thinking I left the knitting world and jumped to basketball……wrong……I have been having my own little March “knitting” madness going on.

I have been knitting mittens, yes, I know in March! I should be finishing my last warm sweater….did not happen, or perhaps planning and starting spring things…..did not happen.  Instead I knit seven pairs of mittens!

Ok, so there was a perfect reason. They were for a fundraiser for Bainbridge Chorale. I sing in the Chorale and last year I knit a beautiful shawl for the fundraiser. This year I was trying to figure out what to knit when one of the Chorale members said “I really love those mittens you have on….I would bid on them at auction”.  I replied “In March?” She replied, “It is still cool in March and April, plus nobody can turn down a chance to buy a pretty had knitted mitt.”

So….you know me by now. I just could not do one pair of mittens. I hatched a plan….a great stash busting plan…..I would knit a “basket of mittens”….One for every day of the week or every occasion.

And so the crazyness began….

Loop de Loop Mittens, the ones that started the madness. This is a Churchmouse Yarns and Teas shop pattern. Knit in Plymouth Yarn Mushishi.

Susie Rogers’ Reading Mitts, free on Ravelry. Knit in Patons Lace Sequin.

Strappy Stella Gloves, free on Ravelry. Knit in Blackstone Tweed

Seeta Fingerless Gloves, free on Ravelry. Knit in Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Lace Back Fingerless Gloves. A Churchmouse Yarns and Teas pattern. Knit in Madeline Tosh Sock and beaded.

Welted Fingerless Gloves. A Churchmouse Yarns and Teas pattern. Knit in Mano del Urguguay Silk blend with velvet buttons

And finally Team Spirit, my personal pattern. A flip top mitten knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, I will be releasing the pattern early fall.

Here is the basket all wrapped and ready for Auction.

Last weekend it snowed. It was the weekend of  the auction. Good news for the bidding on the mittens. This weekend it will be almost 70 degrees here. Bad news for the new owner of the mittens.

Now I am ready to knit….anything BUT Mittens!!!

There was a package waiting for me when I got home from knit nite this week. It was from my BFF and was not expected. I always love surprises. This one was a little book……

Yup, “The Secret Language of Knitters”, a guide to knitter’s code talk. You know those secret words….DPN’s, Frog, Stash…..

I found the definitions to be clear and written with a sense of humor. See her definition of Design Modification

Now I know my BFF thought it was fun and perfect for me, I know she will not hate me when I tell her….by this post….that I going to re-gift it. That’s right, it is the perfect little book for “Himself”.

I am going to park it on his side table in the livingroom. No longer will he have to panic and guess what he should do…..celebrate and smile……or run and pour me a glass of wine…..or leave the room for an hour until I calm down. He can reach over to his little code conversion book. Look up the words I am spewing and quietly exit the building.

So to all my dears ones out there, might I suggest you get this little gift for the someone special in your life. Peace, Love, Harmony….stay out of my way while I Frog this one more time d######it.

Literally……

Can you tell I have been knitting with blue yarn. Have no fear, it washes off easily with a little soap and warm water.

I have been knitting with two shades of blue, two different projects, and two different blue yarns. One is Catskill Merino and the other is Shelter. Both are artisan producers, both US grown and produced yarns, but what a night and day difference between the two!

So let’s take a moment and talk about each.

Catskill Merino is produced from sheep to skein by Eugene Wyatt. This yarn is from his Saxon sheep. Think Italian yarn, soft fine, luxurious.  It is hand dyed with all natural dyes on his farm. So yes, the blue does come off on your hands as you knit, however, it washes off your hands and needles with ease. I also soaked my finished object in cool water and a little SOAK. I rinsed it clear and have had no blue residue on any clothing since blocking and drying.

So what did I knit with this…. a beautiful Cowl! The pattern is called Shimmer in Blue by Veera Välimäki. Think soft almost cashmere style wool wrapped around your neck. Just beautiful!

My other blue is still a work in progress, but has been an interesting comparison of style and finish. It is produced by Brooklyn Tweed, AKA Jared Flood a knit designer, photographer, and yarn producer. http://brooklyntweed.net . His yarn is sourced from Wyoming grown Targhee-Columbia sheep and spun and fleeced dyed in Harrisville, New Hampshire.  Think Irish countryside,  rugged, tweedy yarn. And yes this blue also comes off on your hands and your needles. It seems to take a little more work to scrub off my hands and I my swatch did bleed a little color, but again I think blue is just one of those colors that tends to bleed more than others.

So what am I knitting with this….a sweater. The pattern is called Burr by Veronik Avery. Think a rustic, wind breaker, that you toss on for a cool windy day. Perfect!

I am thrilled that we have American Made choices and these men are doing wonders to bring us beautiful yarn. Each has a unique style: Catskill is soft luxury…..Shelter more rugged. You choose what best fits your projects and you will not go wrong with either.

For me, well……I just came back from NYC where I had the chance to show off my cowl to Eugene and of course purchase a few more skeins of Catskill Merino.  So….. now I have a wee stash of Catskill yarn to dream on……..shhhhhh don’t tell himself.

I had to go into stealth mode for awhile. You know how it is….you have a knitting gift plan…..it appears the schedule will work……then another item or two gets added to the list…….a few parties, dinner parties, that you must cook take up your valuable knitting time and the whole thing goes out of control before you even start the Christmas Cookies!

That’s what happened to me this season. It all seemed fine except that the big gift this year was for himself. Yup the sweater vest in Loft, size 4 needles, and did I mention himself is 6’4″. Now he did know I was knitting him the vest and saw bits of it for awhile, but at some point you just have to do the finishing touches in secret. So the midnight knitting began.

In the middle of the midnight knitting, the rest of the gift knitting, chorale rehearsals, concerts, grandkids choir and band concerts, himself shows me his slippers from last year that have a hole in the bottom. Then says “I’m sure Santa Knitter will bring me a new pair this year” Yup, you already know where this is going……midnight knitting is now extended.

Let’s just say, I survived. Dinners with friends and family were wonderful! Cookies were baked!! All 15 kinds, plus three kinds of candies.

And all gifts finished….

A hoodie sweater for EV, 7 months old

An infinity scarf and fingerless gloves for EV’s mommy

A scarf for Natalie, 12 years old

Slippers for my dear friend Karen

And yes, a beautiful sweater vest for himself

and his slippers

and a little something for me that I whipped up between Christmas and New Year’s…..Marshmallow Fluff, Churchmouse’s Magic Three Yarn Scarf & Wrap

And now I think a little nap……Happy 2013 Everyone!!!

I love mittens and gloves. I love to wear them, I love to make them, I love to give them as gifts. I am always looking for a little something different and fun. I think these ruffled mitts are just that!

The lace peeks out from your coat adding just a touch of fancy to a simple mitten. You decide how fancy you want to be…a single or a double ruffle…….matching or contrasting yarn……a touch of glitter or plain…..

This is a fast knit, a quick gift, and a great way to use up some of your fine lace stash bits “Missy”

The details:

A Women’s Size medium  approx 7″ around your palm

1 skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca and approx 50 yards of Kidsilk Haze or Debbie Bliss Party Angel

Knit on US 4 DPN’s

Pattern is $4.00 US and you can buy now