WIP Wednesday: Not Too Exciting

All I have for you is another pretty dull photo of my second "28's Cousin 57!" For once, I'm doing pretty monogamous knitting on two projects that are mostly garter stitch. Still loving the yarn, which is from Neighborhood Fiber Co. Karida Collins started dying yarn in a basement apartment in Washington, D.C., and has since relocated to an artists' community in Baltimore, Md. Her colors are nothing short of scrumptious. I wish I knit faster so I could buy more of them.

There is a reason for such mindless knitting: My graduate class on teaching writing started Monday, and it is amazing. Intellectually stimulating, challenging, fun, thought-provoking. There are 15 students in the class -- all teachers in one form or another -- and every single one of them is smart and creative. I'll share more about the class in the coming weeks, as all of us bloggers are also writers. Let me add that the class is also exhausting. We meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and there is ton of homework!

This is also the reason that I'm behind on my commenting, so please accept my apologies. I'm planning to catch up after school today and tomorrow!

Don't forget to see what everyone else is up to with Tami Amis.

GAAK!

Some years ago, blogger Rose Red coined the term "GAAK," which stands for Growth As A Knitter. I absolutely love this term so I am resuming my campaign to bring this acronym into common usage. I think it is just as useful as KAL (knit-along) or SSK (slip, slip, knit).

I experienced some GAAK over the weekend. Having finished the 17 triangles for the Ojo de Dios Shawl, I had to start the garter section. Garter is, of course, a cinch, but this shawl is shaped by short rows, and I have long been perplexed by the whole wrap-and-turn thing. Wrapping and turning is quite simple, but picking up those wraps has been mysterious to me.

However, I carved out an hour to sit down with my knitting and computer. I just kept watching videos on picking up wraps, and I eventually found one that made sense to me. Now, I can hardly wait to get to those wraps. It's funny how something can go from impossible to easy in a second -- if you keep trying, of course.

Is there a technique that took you some time to master?

The Anti-FO

Back in January, I said I was going to get to work on my many UFOs in 2014. Well, the year is half over and I have finished exactly zero UFOS! I took a pair of baby socks with me on our trip to Door County this week. I knit the first one three or four years ago. Here is where I'm at:

Even though I cast on the same number of stitches, the second sock is significantly smaller than the first one. Apparently my gauge has changed. For a while, I kept on knitting, thinking that I'd just block the heck out of sock number 2. But the more I knit, the worse the size discrepancy became. Finally, I realized that this pair of socks was not worth much of my time. The yarn is left-over from a pair of socks, so I don't even have any financial investment in this project.

I am going to frog the whole project! I don't do this very often, and I'd forgotten how freeing it is! I may have to frog a few more UFOs!

Knitting and Eggs

I am struggling with my vacation knitting, the Ojos de Dios Shawl. It begins with a line of 17 triangles, each picked up from the one before it. A number of knitters have said on Ravelry that this is a fun and easy knit.

That is definitely not my experience. I'm struggling with the cast-on of each triangle and finding the first knit row of each triangle difficult. However, I do think it is really gorgeous! I am, at least, happy with my color choice.

Yesterday we drove down the coast to Egg Harbor ...

... where there are beautifully decorated eggs. This one is dressed up with polymer clay!

And who could resist stopping at a candy store called the Chocolate Chicken?

We are being very leisurely and doing little more than relaxing. Keith was doing long bike rides each day, but yesterday one of his spokes broke. Apparently that puts the entire bike out of commission. So, now I get to spend more time with him!  He'll have to amuse himself when I'm doing the homework for my class, but I think he'll be totally fine with taking another nap!

Wisconsin's Answer to Cape Cod

OK, so it isn't quite Cape Cod. There's no ocean, no Kennedy compound, no Martha's Vineyard. But Wisconsin's Door County holds its own. Door County is the top half of the state's "thumb." Surrounded by Green Bay (yes, that's the Packers) and Lake Michigan, it is dotted with sailboats and cute little towns. It has long been a favored destination for the upper crust from Chicago.

Keith and I started off our first day here with breakfast at the Summer Kitchen. It's one of our favorite restaurants here.

Then we came home and napped before setting out on our bike rides. Separate bike rides. I can't keep up with Keith -- nor do I even want to bike 50 miles in one day. I poked around Ephraim, possibly the cutest of the little towns along Green Bay. I stopped to paint for a while; then met up with Keith for ice cream at Wilson's:

Now we are back at our little cabin (more on that later), which is just north of Ephraim. Keith is relaxing, but I need to do some homework. I start a graduate class on teaching writing in about a week.

I suspect there will be knitting later.

FO Friday: Pretty in Pink

This has to be the slowest pair of plain vanilla socks ever. It's not in my Ravelry project list, so I may have started these as long ago as 2009. Or I just never entered the project.

At any rate, they are done now and I am quite happy with them. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Sock Stripe Flamingo. It's still available, and I have to say that it both looks and feels wonderful.

These are destined to be a Hanukkah gift, but I'm not saying who the recipient will be -- even though I don't think she reads this. You just never know!

WIP Wednesday: I'm Blaming the Yarn

Who could resist this ball of yummy, scrumptiousness?

Certainly not I. So I cast on a 28's Cousin 53! even though I haven't finished anything -- and I swore I was going to do more binding-off than casting-on this summer. Is my sin at all diminished by the fact that this is a gift?

This is the second time I've knit this pattern and I'm still enjoying it. It is a super-simple pattern, perfect for TV watching or socializing. The simplicity is perfect for showing off great yarn.

It's another gray day here, so I'm glad I took advantage of yesterday's sunshine to pack up my work and take it on the road. I sipped on some bubble tea while I did the reading for my graduate class this summer. On my way home, I stopped to enjoy the beauty of boats along Lake Mendota.

 See what everyone else is up to with Tami Amis.

I Highly Recommend

I read this book for my book group and I actually liked it:

This is unusual. I tend to hate the books the group chooses. But I -- and everyone else in the group -- really enjoyed this novel. So did my mom, who was reading it at the same time for her book group.

Khaled Hosseini is the author of The Kite-Runner, and I was sure that this would be the same book in a different cover. But it isn't. It's a tightly plotted story spanning more than half a century and extending from Afganistan to Greece to the United States. Even though there is a large cast of characters, they are vividly sketched and easy to keep track of.

The theme of caretaking and sacrifice runs through the book, unifying the subplots. All of the women in my book group are mothers and all have taken care of their parents at times, so there was a lot of fodder for discussion.

What books do you recommend this summer?

Sunshine On The Wrist

We need sunshine somewhere around here. Storms have continued to roll in, and last night a tree branch punched a hole in our roof. I guess that's convenient. We are having siding put on our house, so there was crew already scheduled to work on the roof today.

Here is the kind of sunshine I have control over:

I make a bracelet base using peyote stitch and then embellish it with glass and seed beads. The process is mostly zen, and I love picking the colors as I go along.

These aren't colors I'd be likely to wear, but I'm trying to make a variety of colors and sizes in order to sell these in a gallery. If only I were as good at marketing as I am at creating! (Not that I'm a brilliant artist or anything, but my marketing skills need some work!)

WIP Wednesday: Onto The Third Sock

Before I go into knitting I have to say that it is 7:30 a.m. here and as dark as night. Heavy storms are predicted. We had a number of tornadoes touch down about 36 hours ago, some just a few miles from our house. Climate change: What's not to like? I'm wondering if I should build a cellar to protect my stash and favorite knitted items.

In the meantime, I'm working on this

This sock has a 2x2 rib on the cuff so it will match with the sock on the right in this photo:

Some of you may remember that it wasn't until I finished this "pair" that I noticed that the cuffs did not match. I am not a knitting perfectionist, but this was too much of a flaw for me So I ordered another skein of the yarn and am working away at sock number 3, which will be followed by 2 number 4.

I love Opal yarn. I love these colors, but I am getting a little tired of them!

Go on over to Tami Amis' blog to see what everyone else is working on.