Down and Up, Part II

In the previous post, I said I had three packages, but I didn't get to the third one.  It was from Eva, whose Secret Pal 4 I was.  There are stickers with googly eyes for the kids.  For me, there are three skeins of Anny Blatt merino.  They are a little bit lighter in real life than in the photo.  I've seen the Anny Blatt ads in knitting magazines, but there's only one store within 100 miles of me that sells AB.  I fell in love with a child's sweater I saw in an ad last year and made the trip to the one store that was listed as a stockist, but I couldn't find the patterns or the yarns and I couldn't get any assistance from the owner.  So, I'm thrilled to get something that I *really* can't get here.  I think that these will probably end up as mittens, maybe a hat or scarf as well.  The colors go together really nicely, so I could do stripes or something a bit more complex.

This photo doesn't do justice to the other items in the package.  It's hard to photograph yourself wearing a mitten, so I don't think you can see the cables very well.  However, this is one of a pair of mittens that Eva knit for me.  They are beautiful!  Thank you so very much, Eva!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never ever been able to muster up the courage to give something I knitted to another knitter.  I guess it's some deep fear that the other knitter will look at my work and think, "I could have done better," whether they say it or not.  I have to say, these mittens are perfect.  Eva does thumbs much, much better than I do.  She also made the mittens long enough for my long fingers.  As you may recall, the Kureyon mittens I knit for my friend last month were too short for my hands as the pattern was written.  The Colinette mittens that I made (and felted) also ended up being too short for me.  I think that I am going to give them to the Dulaan Project.  I'm going to check my stash in the attic next weekend to see if I have any yarn suitable for a hat or more mittens to send to that project.

I went to a LYS last week looking for some straight needles.  I finished Audrey's second sleeve and just couldn't do the neckband on Addi Turbos.  They were too slick and the yarn was too slippery and I started and ripped many times.  Amazingly, I don't have any other size 7 needles (that I could find), so a shopping trip was in order.  I thought that I could also get something for my Secret Pal as well as some red yarn for the Red Scarf Project.  I feel like I'm well enough along in other projects to do some more charity knitting, but I have no red yarn because I just don't like red very much.  That said, I saw some nice custom-dyed red at Lynn's blog (March 12th post) and Alchemy has a color called Scarlett's Dark Secret that is just gorgeous (and much nicer in person than on the web site).  Could I be turning into a red person?  I don't think so, but my horizons have been broadened and I'm thinking about it.  We'll see how much I like making a red scarf, if I can find some red yarn.

Didn't I just say I went to an LYS?  Yes, and honestly they had almost nothing to buy.  The only red yarn they had looked a bit like Koigu KPPPM and I really wasn't up for knitting a scarf at such a small gauge.  I don't want to say where I went shopping, because I like the owner (who wasn't there when I visited) and I wish her lots of success, but it definitely looked like the yarn, the books, and everything else was depleted.  Despite the fact that I was the only shopper the entire time I was in there, the store was also a mess.  On the plus side, the clerk was very nice.  However, there were only three pairs of straight needles in the entire store, and none were size 7!

So, here you have the start of Audrey's neckline, on some size 7 bamboo Skacel dpns.  I'm not having issues with the stitches falling off one end of the needle because this is only 12 to 15 stitches wide.  This is actually much longer now, because I knit last night while watching Deadwood and Carnivale.  (See I told you all that Brother Justin was Sophie's father.  I was right!  I have a new theory about why she's the omega, but I'm playing this one close to the vest.) 

There's been no knitting tonight (Monday) because I've been doing chores and working out.  Of course, as soon as I got done with the exercise, I grabbed a pint of Guinness.  That probably defeats the purpose of exercising, but I need this one for my mental health.  I've been impeccably behaved all day, and I'm letting loose. . . sort of!  I'll leave you with a gem from DD.  We've been trying to get her to broaden her palate, and she has been very resistant.  I finally got her to try a carrot today.  She remembered all the times I told her that carrots are good for your eyes, and she took a couple of bites and said, "I'm eating my carrots.  Now I can see the TV better!"  *sigh*

Comments

[Christina]

I love your daughters comment. I might have to remember that one to tell my niece. At least it got her to eat them.

[Eva]

Hi Susan, glad you like mittens and yarn as well :) Eva

[Heidi]

Oh kids! I love what she did with the dishsoap apron too.

Sounds like things are getting back on track for you. A little Guinness now and then can't hurt. I heard that they used to give it to women in British maternity wards because of the high iron content, so it's medicinal, right? :)

I love those animated lab cards you send!

[kerry]

I should use your daughter's line on my daughter. Your girl is so smart! (And cute.) Surprisingly, my daughter likes carrots, but that's about the only vegetable she'll eat.

The other night I served roasted chicken. She took one look and said, "I want REAL chicken." I guess, as in, chicken NUGGETS. I hang my head in shame....

[heather]

i think I have used that line for cooked carrots myself...pix will eat them...just not cooked. :)kids!

I feel the same way about my knitting...giving it away to a knitter...I feel like it's not good enough to give. :)I give knitters yarn. hehe

I mean who doesnt want yarn?

nice audrey lace! reminds me of something...hm ;)

Take care

[Christine]

Those mittens turned out really nice! How nice that she made them for you!!