Amalfi poncho

The Amalfi poncho is done!!


I had Lee take a quick pic sans make up or hair fixing - it was just too hot to be bothered.
I finished it last night but after some texts and chat with Julie we decided to go with ending 12 rows earlier than the pattern calls for and knitting the last triangles in the CC.






The designer -Ann McDonald Kelly - responded to me on FB saying that she wanted to have the cast off triangles the same colour as the cast on ones so she eased the last triangle into the seam when finishing (as you can see from the pic in the magazine).
I personally wasn't bothered by that detail and didn't like the bunching created by easing in the extra colour set.

And the seam at the collar - I am very pleased. I didn't give it much thought until I had cast off for the collar, rolled it over to have a look and said, "no Siree Bob"!! To my admittedly particular self this is significantly better.



All in all though I am very pleased with it - a well written and easily followed pattern and the yarn makes it even more fun to knit.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Still Knitting

It's been too long, I know. I've been busy with work and family (the good and the bad) and there is always knitting!
So I did finish Elise's sock. Much better on 3mm needles.

I finished the two toddler projects for Julie. Blue Sky Alpacas Cameron Hoodie and the Beatrice Top. Easy knitting and well written instructions.

I'm in the midst of the Amalfi Poncho right now. I am using the suggested Classic Elite Liberty Wool Print, col #7840, Middle Earth and #7845, Spark.

 

 
 
 Again with the easy knitting. I love the cabled projects but getting back to basics is always a pleasure as well. I try to find a fairly matching colour section when I have to move into a new ball and I use a spit splice so the continuity is maintained (and fewer ends to sew in!!).

I didn't give much thought to the last bit of the funnel neck which gets seamed to the beginning until I was ready to cast off the neck stitches. No matter how you stack it, it wasn't going to look a bit right. It might not bother some but I could feel the hives waiting to break out if I didn't sort this.


I'm also not generally one for knitting in my ends. I know, but I prefer to sew them in after. That being said, I am knitting them in on this project. It seems (no pun intended - groan) to be finishing up well.






There - all caught up on the knitting.

The Misfits finished our regular baseball season without adding any more wins to the column but I pitched great, hit well and had a fantastic time!! Our whole team improved and we really started to play well together. Learning each others  strengths and foibles, making the most of our assets and helping cover each other in the field. We play our year-end tourney in two weeks and I'm looking forward to it but I'll be sad to have it end for another year.

Stopped & Started

The interminable rib is still going, kind of. Normally when I have a sense that I'm going to run out of yarn I start knitting faster in an admittedly futile effort to beat the yarn to the end. This time I think that I was trying to postpone the inevitable. I am about 10cm short on the ribbing. Julie is sending out another ball - thank goodness I had something else to knit on!!

Every Last Yard by Amy Swenson knit from Madelaine Tosh DK in tart. I am in lust with this yarn already!!! I know that to most of you this is like preaching to the choir, but for those who haven't had the experience ... get thee some Madelaine Tosh!! The yarn has a nice twist that I think will stand up to wearing but is soft in hand when knitting. I don't know if the depth and richness of the colours are coming through on your monitor but they are mesmerizing. Saying that it's cherry red, merlot and almost sangoire only begins to describe the complexity of the colourway. insert lustful sigh

This is difference in just winding a skein once (on the right) and twice (on the left). It's just a bit tighter with one winding, and while I'm knitting it up right away I can almost hear the yarn whimpering from being so cramped so I wind twice.

I think that Julie is trying to make me a circular needle convert - that's okay, it's giving me a chance to make good on my justification of the collection of Addi Lace needles that I bought in The Netherlands.

CE Elizabeth

So here she is blocking. Just a couple of seams and the interminable ribbing for the collar. I was really hoping to have it done for tomorrow but I've been a bit of a slacker the last few days. No worries Julie - I'm all over it now!!

My hair is starting to grow back!!! I have some fluff of hair that didn't all fall out and is a bit longer but I can see actual new hair growing out of my scalp! Yeah, my wish for the 'not grey' - FAIL. Now just waiting to see if it comes in thicker and/or curly. I don't care - I'm just glad to have it coming back!

I start radiation on Feb 1^st. There is apparently no physiological reason for it to make me tired except for the back & forth to the hospital and considering that I'm back and forth to somewhere almost every day hopefully that won't be a problem. And I will allow the Cdn Cancer Society to drive me most days so that should take some of the load off (and not driving myself will avoid that eating into my knitting time!).

And I've sorted another dyeing day at Shelridge Farms on March 5^th. If you live in the area (Durham, ON) or area-ish and are interested in joining in on a whack of colourful fun let me know & I can give you more details!!

Same Old

I did not start a new project to kick off the new year - not to say that I didn't think about it though!!

I'm making excellent progress on Elizabeth though it's hard to tell. The side-to-side construction makes it hard to block as I go or spread out nicely for a picture. I'm past the halfway point and am really loving it - the yarn is lovely to knit with, the colours flow so nicely and the pattern is easy!!

I am going to work more on the Qiviut sweater tomorrow I think ...

I did wind a ball of yarn today with the intention of knitting socks for myself - a lot of mine are getting old and wearing out beyond reasonable repair. It's a ball of Touch Yarns 4-ply merino wool that I bought at Stitches East a couple of years ago. Yes, I think that it's been aged just right ... I just love the colours but I think that it's a bit of a fine 4-ply so I started thinking of a small shawl/scarf that I could knit. I got lost in the Ravelry pattern database for awhile but came out with Herbivore (Rav link). I think that it will be lovely and am looking forward to knitting it, but I really should get to some more socks.


I am definitely feeling the cumulative effects of the Taxotere with this treatment, the pain set in the next day, but am consoling myself with knowing that if I can feel it working on every other system in my body that it's killing cancer that I can't feel. Yeah, that and the Percocet helps!!
I am having to make a conscious effort to drink more water than I used to; I'm not sure if I'm more dehydrated or I just got out of that good habit.

Thanks for all of your support - it really helps!! I seriously don't know how I would be getting through without my friends - online & in RL!! I'm definitely going to find the best that 2011 has and make the most of it! Hopefully fibroids are the worst health problem that I'll have to deal with this year & from research and advice they're easily enough dealt with. Knock on wood.

I've gotten so spoiled by all of the marathons on TV - especially on Food Network - this past week or so that I don't know how I'm going to go back to regularly scheduled programming!!

Ringing Da Bell!!

Today was my last chemo treatment and they have a tradition in the chemo ward that on your last treatment you ring the bell. I rang the bell baby!!!
The 3-4 weeks until radiation starts will give me time to pretty much recover from the side effects of this treatment.
More good news - the pelvic ultrasound came back with "just" fibroids so I'll get a referral to a gynecologist and see what he/she recommends. My hemoglobin also went up to 105 thanks to all my bovine friends who have died for me.

It looks like a hot mess but I'm onto the body of Elizabeth - it's been perfect waiting room knitting.




Mitten Mania '10 has run into a bit of a sandbar - Amanda declared that she had enough mittens!!! I know - who's child is this?!? She allowed that I could make her a pair of black & white striped ones to match her new zebra hat but then she's kind of mittened out. No worries - I have a few friends & nieces with hands ... I'm Manic for Mittens!!!

On my way back from Julies on Monday I stopped in Mississauga for Krispy Kremes. I totally love those doughnuts and any time I'm close I stop in!! Kyle scarfed down all of the chocolate covered ones & when I called him on it he said, "I'll pick some up at Tim Horton's tomorrow". I told him that Tim Horton's doughnuts are not the same as Kirspy Kremes. He said that they were just as good. Philistine!!! No wonder I don't waste Hagen Daz, Lindt chocolate or real butter on my children - they totally don't appreciate quality in food!!! Seriously ... they think that margarine tastes the same as butter!!!

Elizabeth 2.0

I am normally a nice tight knitter, I know how to compensate for that so it's all good. It appears that circulars make me all loosey-goosey. Yes, I swatched but because I have exactly the right amount of yarn that the sweater calls for I decided to rip out the swatch. I must have loosened up and it totally didn't occur to me to check in on it until I was nearly done the sleeve. I checked my tension then because I still had one more increase to do and I was almost at the 18" and even when I match stitch gauge for a yarn/pattern I almost always have a tighter row tension. I usually adjust my increases so that they are spread out nicely. My row tension was 27 sts/4" rather than the called for 28. It's not a big deal but the pattern has just the body increases just 2 rows after the last sleeve increase (by the maths). This doesn't seem quite right to me (usually there is at least the same # of rows after the last increase as between the increases) and I'm debating adjusting the increases to reflect that. ARGH!!!
So I swatched on a 4mm and got the gauge but it felt tight so I ripped out the sleeve and just tightened up my tension on the 4.5mm - golden!! 20 x 28.

I have also made excellent progress on my Windy Valley Muskox design. Gosh this yarn is just buttah in your hands!!

The tattoo for the radiation is a barely perceptible dot. I've been contemplating a real tattoo for a while and I'm totally going to go for it. I just need to find the right place/artist - any suggestions in the GTA?

Progress

Mitten Mania '10 continues - Amanda loves this striped pair the best. I can tell because when we went out she tried not to take them off, to the point of turning magazine pages with them on at Chapters!! That truly makes it all worth it. I think that the Yarn Pirate mittens will be next.

I've been fighting off a cold for the last week, I'm feeling like I'm finally getting the better of it today. Still with the tight cough but the useless exhaustion is pretty much gone. PHEW!!





I finished the Classic Elite Molly scarf and started on the Elizabeth sweater. I know - that is a circular needle!! The sweater is done side to side and I really don't like changing from straights to circulars mid-project, it can really affect your tension so I'm rediscovering my circular needle skills.






The old Beaumark vacuum that I've had for about 20 years has finally given up the ghost. Mucking with it for 10-15 minutes to get it to start is a serious waste of knitting time & when I need it the most I'm afraid that it will not start at all. I've been wanting a Dyson for awhile & I totally got it at the right time - Future Shop had them on sale for $449 (sale runs until the 27th) so I price matched that at The Mighty Mart of Wal so that I could get my discount on top of the sale price. I ended up saving almost $200!!! I did a quick test run with it on the upstairs hallway and OMG - the amount of dust/dirt that it picked up!! Amanda just vacuumed on Tuesday and while she is not the most thorough she's not incompetent!!

I am almost excited to go for treatment on Wednesday - it's my last one!!! Then I've got almost 3 weeks of before I go down to Sunnybrook Hospital for my tattoo - it's a tiny little dot that marks where they need to aim the radiation. Seriously - aim for the scar dude!! It's a specialty tattoo that very few hospitals do. No worries though - I've set up a ride so it will be me knitting all the way there & back!! Then it will be 6.5 weeks of radiation every weekday, but the visits will be very short.
I'm feeling pretty good - tired still and there is a new thing; my eyes just won't stop watering!! It's annoying enough just sitting still, walking around inside creates enough breeze to make it worse and if I go outside ... tears streaming down my face!! I walk around stores dabbing at my eyes with Kleenex and I can see people looking at me like they want to ask if I'm okay but mercifully (or maybe it's a bit sad) they don't.

Good Things Come ...

... to those who wait.

I'm definitely feeling the effects of the anemia more - another day spent in bed after clearing off the sidewalk. I just feel tired & winded but fortunately, after years of wishing that knitting was more aerobic I am grateful that it is not!! OMG - I can't believe how much snow that we got this week - 3 snow days and one day where they actually closed Amanda's school (it takes a lot to close a walking school!!). I paced myself and Amanda & her friends were an excellent help, but I really am quite over the snow already.

I finished the Multi-directional scarf - I don't know who it's for. It may just be a DKC Knitting for the Cure scarf!
I also got around to knitting up these little wristlets that were a gift (don't even ask how long ago!!) but they were a perfect little knit that brought the gifter close to my heart when I needed it. They were such a fast knit - DK weight yarn and 6/0 beads (of which I have quite a stash!!
I also finished the socks for Elise - they'll be in the mail tomorrow.

The Mailman brought my KnitPicks prize - Amanda will have another pair of mittens soon! The book will make for some lovely eye candy.

I also got my next projects from Julie - she knows how much I love variegated yarn and I get to use the lovely CE Liberty Wool to knit up the Molly scarf & Elizabeth cardigan.