Humorless

I'm having a hard time finding my sense of humor today. Actually, I'm having a hard time finding my sense of life-is-worth-getting-out-of-bed today. The KH described the events of the day as "ironic" and said it was a good day in that he wasn't hit by a meteorite. I think we passed ironic a ways back, and frankly, that meteorite is looking more and more appealing.

While I was at my unpaid--but you get to pay for gas and parking and all your other expenses--job, my husband was, with great relief, sending out a large bill to a client after a solid week (and weekend) of work, payment of which...well, let's just say it would be a nice idea, what with property taxes and income taxes being due this month, in addition to all the other bills, and the kids still wanting to eat and all.

And then Sam started bleeding from his mouth and the rest of the day pretty much went to hell.

The KH examined Sam's mouth and found...something bloody. So he took Sam to the vet. While sitting in the examining room, he got an email from the client--the one who now owes us a substantial amount of money. The sense of the email was, "I hate you and I'm not paying." And then the vet came in and told him Sam has a tumor. Numerous tumors, actually, but the big bloody thing in his mouth was the one that needed emergency surgery.

As in, you're not getting out of here without forking over the mortgage payment surgery. Sell your firstborn and all his toys surgery. Cough up a kidney, because that's the only way you're going to pay for this surgery.

'Cause this is a freakin' GREAT week for that.

I'm trying to be philosophical here. I really am. But the past couple of years have been a long, hard haul, and there is no end in sight. I try every day to be cheerful and optimistic and say things like, "It's going to be okay; we just have to keep going. Eventually it'll get better. It's just a matter of time." Most of the time, I even believe it. But today I'm wondering if I ought to just give it up and change my name to Job. My cheerful has gone missing and hasn't left a forwarding address. Stick a fork in me, because I'm done. Th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks.

But I don't have time for a nervous breakdown. The kitchen needs cleaning, the laundry needs doing, the house needs vacuuming, the sick dog needs meds, the kids need help with their homework...

...and, damn, I need a drink.

Wipped

I'm generally a pretty monogamous knitter. I don't like to have a lot of WIPs going at once, because I find it distracting. A sweater, maybe a bigger project, like an afghan, maybe a sock--that's about all I can handle at one time.

Which makes it tough to explain what's happening around here lately.

I have had less time for knitting the past few months, since I started working full time away from home. You would think that would cause me to cast on fewer projects than usual. Oddly, the opposite seems to be true.

This is what's been going on:

This is Red Ruffles. I've blogged about it before (you can use the search box if you're interested--I'm not). It's been around for a while, and it went on hiatus after I discovered I had totally screwed up the right front. Eventually I got around to ripping and reknitting that front, sewed it on, and knitted the first sleeve. Which I then decided looked waaaaay too wide. So now the whole mess is sitting in the WIP basket waiting for me to accept that I'm going to have to rip and reknit that sleeve.

This is...something green. I know I blogged about it, and there has to be a pattern around here somewhere, but I don't have the energy to dig it up and figure out what's supposed to be happening with it.

This is the World's Easiest Lace scarf, which I blogged about here. As you can see, nothing has happened on it since that post.

This is my very first BSJ, knitted from some brilliant purple and pink Mountain Colors Bearfoot, my favorite sock yarn. It is for the same childhood friend who received Icarus as a bridal shower gift. She is due in May, so at least I have a while longer to procrastinate on this one.

And then there's this. This is Summer Solstice by Heidi Kirrmaier. Mine is a winter version made from 100% alpaca. And before you point out that I live in San Diego and don't need a 100% alpaca sweater, you need to come spend a day where I work. I don't know what's wrong with the ventilation system in that place, but I swear I saw icicles hanging from the vents on Friday. I don't like sitting at my desk wearing my suit jacket, although it's preferable to having my nose dripping all day. So I thought I'd make a basic grey sweater to keep in my office for when the temperature drops below freezing.

The construction on this is very interesting. I eventually gave up on trying to comprehend it and just followed the pattern. It seems to be turning out right.

There's an awful lot of plain stockinette, but that's not generally a negative for me. If I'm getting a little tired of it, well, I'm almost done. The best part is, the sleeves are knitted first, so when I'm done with the body, I'm really done! Oh. Except for the collar, which also runs down both fronts. Yeah. That could take a while longer.

Somewhere around here there is also a camisole waiting for straps, some black cashmere that wants to be a turtleneck, and half a lonely sock, hoping for a little attention, but I think you get the idea.

I'm not sure what's going on, but if you don't hear from me for a while, send help. I may be buried under the ever-growing pile of WIPs.

Why I Love Kids--Reason #731

They don't need a reason for balloons.

Groucho?

I swear he didn't have an eyebrow when I left for work.

The kids swear they didn't do it.

I think it was Heidi.

World's Easiest Lace Scarf--A Free Pattern!

I had the urge to knit a lace scarf out of some Sea Silk I had in the stash. Alas, we all know my unfortunate history with lace knitting. I wanted to actually enjoy the experience, and after a couple of hours on Ravelry, it became obvious to me that I was going to have to come up with something a whole lot easier than any of the lace scarf patterns available online.

It took just a few minutes to come up with this pattern. There are only two easy rows to memorize, and it is highly adaptable to any yarn and any needles. I used Sea Silk, which is a fingering weight, simply because that was the yarn I wanted to use. I used size 3 needles because I have a pair of Signature straights in that size, and I felt like using them. I would have preferred perhaps a size 5 needle with this yarn, but it's no big deal. I just have a bit denser lace than I would have liked.

I had a hard time coming up with decent pictures, as it is dark out and my kitchen lighting doesn't seem to be the best for this sort of thing. But I hope you get the general idea.

Without further ado, here's the pattern:

Cast on a multiple of three stitches, plus two for the edges. I used 47 stitches, which is giving me a scarf about 8" wide with my chosen yarn and needles. Your results will, of course, vary. If this matters to you, knit a swatch.

Row 1: K1, *P1, K2tog, yo*, end K1

Row 2: *K1, P2*, end K2

Knit until you're sick of it, or the scarf is long enough, whichever comes first. Cast off. Block it if you want to.

That's it. Really couldn't be easier, right?

The pattern as written creates a scarf that is entirely lace, with a single-stitch garter border. If you want more of an edge, cast on a few more stitches and work those in garter stitch. If you want a shawl, cast on more stitches; just make sure you use a multiple of three for the lace section. I think this would make a great shawl or throw in worsted, or even bulky weight, yarn.


The pattern looks great from both sides, which I think is important in a scarf.

So...anyone feel like knitting along? I only have about eight inches done, so you have plenty of time to join me!

FO: Ribby

I blogged about this one here. Again, a while ago. It doesn't look a whole lot different now, but I thought it deserved an official FO post.

This is an interesting design, if I do say so myself: nothing more than basic ribbing, with a little shaping, but the horizontal ribbing in the center panel makes for a pretty dramatic design feature and adds curves where they don't really exist.

I used some Rowan cashsoft dk I had in the stash for a long time (I ordered it by mistake, thinking it was cashcotton). I debated for some time about what sort of sleeves to make for this. In the end, I decided to make it a tank top, mostly because I wanted to move on to something new and this was the fastest finish.

I did a quick single crochet finish around the armholes to give them some structure.

I've never actually worn this. I think it would be more wearable with sleeves, and some day I may get around to knitting some. In the meantime, I think it would make a good vest over a shirt, but since that's not really a wardrobe concept I've ever embraced, it mostly just sits on a shelf in my closet.

Look! Up in the Sky!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...

Knitting content!

I blogged about this one way back here. It's been done for a while and I've been wearing it regularly. In fact, it needs washing, so I decided to get some pictures before I put it in to soak--because, you know, I'm always convinced my knitting is going to hit water and dissolve. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm still on the alert.

This is the one I've named Flame D'Amore. It's based on Francis Revisited, which is a lovely pattern all by itself, but I'm not one to follow a pattern. I worked this from some handspun merino and merino tencel which I plied together for a fingering-dk weight yarn. I knitted it at 19 stitches to four inches for a light, drapey fabric. I added plenty of waist shaping using darts both front and back.

I did this one as a top-down raglan and knitted the cowl neck on afterward. I picked up stitches and worked the sleeves top-down in the round, so there was no seaming at all. We love that!

I left the edges to roll for a light, casual finish. They rolled a bit too much initially, but after a little steam blocking, they relaxed nicely and gave just the baby-roll I was hoping for.

The fabric is surprisingly warm, considering the light weight. I've even worn it to work under a suit a couple of times. It looks great with a black suit; the reds and blacks add a nice pop of color. Since I wear black suits several times a week, I'm always on the lookout for flattering bright colors to wear with black.