The Sweater (I) and The Sweater II Update

I'm picking Paul up from the airport this afternoon. He has been in England visiting his mum who has not been doing too well health-wise. He has had an exhausting few weeks (as has his mum) and so I've been busy this weekend working on ways to spoil him: apple pie is made and in the fridge ready to be baked this evening, his car is cleaned and vacuumed, the house is clean (a miracle), pot roast is in the crockpot, and so we should have no chores to do when he gets home.

Speaking of Paul, A few weeks ago I mentioned that the back of The Sweater II was almost finished. Well here it is! I had been working on it a few rows each night for the past week and last night I measued and it was the correct length: 26.5". Inspired from getting a big section done, I immediately cast on the stitches to start the first sleeve. I only wish I could get this done for Paul before winter is over. With spinning the yarn almost as fast as I'm knitting it, it seems like it could be possible, but with lots of experience in having unrealistic goals for my crafts, I know this will not come to pass!

Last night I was rummaging around for my circular needles to use on the sleeves for the Sweater II, and I realized that they were still attached to The Sweater (I)! So I thought, might as well get this one finished since all I had to do was bind off the stitches. If you recall, this sweater was supposed to be for Paul and then a valuable lesson was learned. When knitting patterns, don't measure the chest size and knit according to that exact measurement. Add a few inches for ease. So this, The Sweater fits him like a glove, but fits me more like how it should. Hence, The Sweater II was born.

The Sweater II Update and Yardwork

The delicious feel of fall in the air and the smell of fires in fireplaces are some of the signals of my favorite time of the year. Our maple tree in the front yard is Christmas red right now (our small maple, Mavis, has still not turned any colors yet) and I spent a few hours yesterday raking leaves and getting ready to re-seed the lawn. It was a great weekend to be outdoors!

But some of my favorite things about the fall are sitting by the fire and reading a good book and bundling up in flannel sheets and cozy blankets at night. I sleep so wonderfully in the cold weather. It is also a time when I enjoy my knitting more.

It is not fun to have a hot sweater on your lap in the summer and work on knitting it with sweaty hands, and so naturally I didn't get a lot done on The Sweater II this summer. But I am 1.5 inches from finishing the back as of this weekend! I will post a picture when it is done and off the needles. I think I'll work on the sleeves next before starting the front piece, to add a bit of variety (the front is identical to the back).

Constant Companion

The Sweater II, my knitting project, has been my constant companion this week. We have argued ("I know I didn't purl those stitches a few rows back! Now you are making me pull out your last few rows!"), we have weathered the storm on the bike ride through the rain, we have waited out the storm in Caribou Coffee and today we were in the field together.

Yep, I'm down in Florence, SC working for a few days, and my job is to make sure two samplers keep their gloves and safety glasses on. So, while I'm keeping a close watch, I get a few rows in here and there. Now, me and my knitting are in the lobby of the hotel getting ready to pay some bills on the laptop. For some reason, wireless does not reach the 7th floor, so I've parked it in here in the lobby.

In a nutshell, my knitting has given me some strange looks, has inspired some conversation at the coffee shop and at the office (I'm in the process of giving knitting lessons to a guy in our office), and even though me and my knitting don't always get along, we are connected at the moment. With a good project, it's just plain hard to put it down!

The Sweater Saga

The Sweater, near completion with T minus 10 rows left to go on the collar, has switched from being Paul's sweater to mine. This is how it happened:

I was reading my new book, "A Fine Fleece" and was on the sizing section which was describing a scenario uncannily like mine: if the person's chest measurement is 41"..... it went down hill after that.... then you should make the sweater 46-47" to allow for ease and comfort. Uh-oh.

Paul is 41"around his chest and so therefore I had made The Sweater according to the pattern for 41." Dang it! No wonder The Sweater fit like a glove. I could see it in his eyes when Paul tried it on, "Gee, it's a bit snug." But he didn't dare say it, knowing how many many hours have been poured into it. But not to worry, "no biggie either way," to quote Dad, I was ready for a new spinning/knitting project anyway, and so it all worked out in the end.

I have already made some progress on the new sweater, The Sweater II, but I will post pictures later. I tried to tonight but I'm in a different hotel here in Virginia than in my favorite Hampton Inn and the internet connection is lousy. I waited 15 minutes to upload one picture, then wrote my long drawn out story and it all went ca-put and got erased. So the rest will have to wait until I'm back home again!

Update on The Sweater and other projects

I've kept The Sweater under wraps lately even though I've made slow but steady progress. Who wants to see pictures of the same sleeve with 1" improvements made each week? So here it is with the sleeves done and the neckline in progress. This has been my favorite knitting project on the large scale because it was such an easy pattern that didn't require sewing pieces together. I don't like knitting in the flat and then trying to make sure it all matches up. This knitting in the round makes so much more sense!

However, I recently bought a book called "A Fine Fleece," which teaches how to plan knitting projects based on handspun yarn characteristics, and how to spin a yarn for a specific design. This book has way cool sweater patterns that are knitted in the flat and sewn together. So I will have to give them a try because the patterns are worthwhile.

On the wheel right now I have some very very fun fiber that Trish from Tanglewood Fiber Creations sent me as a special project. This is yak fiber that I'm to spin with thicker portions (aka "slubs") intermingled with thinner portions. It has been a big challenge to keep the thinner sections from overtwisting and keep enough twist in the thicker sections so they don't come apart. But I love that it's something new for me. This is a big batch but it spins up really quick compared to what I've been working on for Trish in the past.

Forward Planning

Paul is king of what he calls "Forward Planning," which I think is British for our American common phrase, "Planning Ahead." Obviously. Well, he has us on a very precise schedule carrying us through mid-February, past Phase I, Phase II and Phase III of our many events that take place in the very, ultra-near future. I fear that blogging has not been accounted for on our calendar, but I'm going to give it my best effort so that y'all can be abreast of our events (the same as everyone goes through when they move). Here's the synopsis of the next month and a half.

Phase I - Pre-moving Prep: Scattered days this week we will both be traveling for work. I'll be going to Camden, SC and Paul will be going to Utah. Birds are scheduled in for their grooming so that we have no accidental flights out front doors during moving. On Saturday the 12th and 19th we are scheduled to pick appliances, book our U-haul and set up our utilities and insurance for our new home. I'll be in Cape Fear for work during the whole week of the 13th. Our home inspection takes place on the 21st and I'll be traveling to Virginia for that day and the next for work. On the 23rd we appear at our home to meet the builder and do the walk through. Then we do all the banking stuff related to the house on the 26th.

Phase II- Moving Commencement: We sign for the house on the Thursday the 31st, pick up the U-haul and start to organize for loading (we haven't scheduled in packing but it starts today). People from my church are helping Friday and Saturday to help us load and deliver and unload.

Phase III- Post Moving: Appliances arrive on Saturday the 2nd. I begin cleaning the apartment on Monday after work to finish on Tuesday for our move out inspection on the 5th. Paul comes home from Sweden on Thursday the 7th and we start our search for a car. On Sunday the 10th we'll get a rental car which I'll be using during the next week (end of bike riding) until we find another car, since we'll then be living too far from my work to make it work with one vehicle.

Something we haven't worked into the schedule is getting the Mustang fixed. It is leaking power steering fluid and some jerk tried to break into it this week (luckily for us, unsuccessful of completing any theft), so now we have to fix the window paneling and get the leak fixed.

This commentary does seem overbearing and it is a not-so-subtle plea for sympathy. I know everyone has their trials and ours are not any more significant than yours, but it does help me feel better to write it down and share with a listening eye!

I think before starting the packing, I'm going to chill out with a bit of scrapbooking or continuing on with knitting The Sweater. On that score, things are moving along. The trunk is finished and I'm about to start the sleeves. Funny how out of proportion things look from this angle! Paul tried The Sweater on last night for the first time and it fit pretty well. A little snug perhaps, but in my defense he did have a big bulky T-shirt on underneath.

Tanglewood Fibers, Sweater and Beef Stew

Check out the beautiful superwash merino wool sent by Trish at Tanglewood Fiber Creations. This is my next batch to spin for her and I always enjoy it, especially because it funds my recreational spinning! You can tell I like the colors, because look it matches my couch fabric.

I'm going to get started on this right away, but had to get a few more rows in on The Sweater. It's coming along pretty well, although the seed stitch stripes at the bottom don't show up very well with the woolen style yarn (as opposed to worsted). Worsted yarn, from what I understand, is very sleek and spun from combs without much loft and fluff. My style has always been more lofty, woolen yarn produced on a drum carder, but it does not show the details of the intricate stitch patterns as well.

I'm looking forward to getting the sleeves done because I really don't like the short-sleeved sweater look. But, according to the instructions, I will finish the body first and then go back and pick up the sleeve stitches and finish the sleeves, and then the collar band.

As mentioned earlier today, I made beef stew last night from a new recipe I got from Whole Foods. As usual, I made my own alterations but mainly because I had to do without some of the ingredients called for because our fridge needs re-stocking. This was a really, really good stew, the rutabaga adding a bit of sweetness and flare to what seems an ordinary stew. And in my opinion barley adds such good flavor.

Here is my version of the recipe:

Beef Stew

~3/4 cup of flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 lbs. beef brisket cubed

2 Tbs. grapeseed oil (or olive or vegetable oil)

3 large carrots chopped

1 large rutabaga chopped

3 stalks of celery chopped

1 onion chopped

1/2 cup of pearl barley

1 1/2 cups of mushrooms sliced

1 qt. beef broth

1 qt. vegetable broth (or another quart of beef broth. I was out)

1 bay leaf

parsley

Mix flour, salt and pepper. Toss cubed beef in the mixture to coat all sides well. Save the rest of the flour for later. Heat 1 Tbs. of oil in a soup pot or dutch oven. Brown all sides of beef and set aside in a separate bowl. Add another Tbs. of oil to pot and add vegetables, cooking for two minutes, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add barley and cook for an additional minute. Blend in a little beef broth into the rest of the flour until smooth and add with rest of the broth and the beef into the pot. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered, sirring occassionally for about an hour or until thickened. Remove bay leaf, and garnish with parsley.

Try it! I'm sure you'll like it if you like a hearty stew. The leftovers are even better!

More Spinning

The spin-as-I-knit theory has led me to finish another ball of yarn for the sweater project. I was knitting away and came to the end of the line and so took up spinning for the last day or so of lounging.

One bobbin of single, unplied yarn.

The same bobbin of yarn has now been plied and rolled into a ball for easy knitting. The sweater as shown doesn't really demonstrate well because the circular needles are short and so the whole thing is bunched up and I can't lay it flat for a good picture. In hindsight, I should have used 36" needles if they make such a thing, rather than 24" needles because it would be easier to see what I'm doing and I could try it on Paul to see if it is fitting right across the shoulders. I've been knitting from the neck down and am at the area where the sleeves will later be knitted.

Lounging is an understatement of our weekend. On Friday we did go have a look at our house to check on progress (dry wall is up!), and then started our Christmas shopping and errands.

I love the hardwood floors! They will be stained a walnut color.

View from "the gathering room" of the kitchen and front entry way.

Yesterday morning began our 10-11 hours of sleep each night because brrrrr... it's been cold and bed is so comfy. We've been drinking hot chocolate or tea,

slouching around in our PJ's, knitting, Star Warsing, spinning and movie watching. Yesterday we did not step a foot outside and today other than a walk to the dumpster and a trip to church, we did not go anywhere. It's been really relaxing and refreshing.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Tracy, her mom and the friends that came over made an exceptional dinner. Tracy's friends came up from Charleston, SC on Wednesday night to begin the cooking, as one of them is a chef. We had cauliflower with a sauce that had mustard seed and fennel, green beans in a onion and white wine sauce, cornbread dressing, cranberry relish that was tasty enough to shovel in by the spoonful, cornish hens, sweet potato casserole and then my soup as an appetizer. It went down pretty well with some agreement about limiting the orange zest, but overall a success. For dessert there was almond tart, buttermilk pie (delicious), pumpkin pie and my apple pie. Wow.

Needless to say, as soon as we moved to the couch after lots of talking and eating, I fell asleep for a short nap... a few times, since we stayed till nearly 1:00. Not being a night person anymore because of the early mornings during the weekday, I struggle to keep up with the rest. But at least I wasn't the only one, because as soon as Tracy sat down she was out for the rest of the night other than about 15 minutes when she woke herself up for part of the conversation and went right back to sleep!

At Tracy's they have a tradition of going around the circle and everyone states what they are thankful for, which I thought was really neat. So this is what I am thankful for: family, our health, a fantastic husband who is also my best friend, new friends and old friends, good jobs, the comforts that we have, feeling so welcome in a new city. These are just a few. But I am truly thankful for these things every day and at least I don't feel that Paul and I take any of these blessings for granted.

As for today, it is a playground. Paul is already searching the internet for Black Friday specials and I'm about to do some spinning or knitting. Later today we might go out and get some Christmas shopping done during the sales or go see our house progress or maybe not. Having no solid plans is so nice sometimes!

I have started knitting the Anniversary Sweater and it's moving right along so I keep spinning more yarn to keep up with the knitting. I'm nearing the end of what I have carded so I will soon need to do some more carding to keep up with the spinning to keep up with the knitting. I was going to originally card everything first, but I get bored doing the one step forever, so I keep going back and forth to change it up a bit. I'll post pictures when I get a good full bobbin of the single yarn and then the plied yarn.

Oh, and I've given up keeping the whole thing hidden from Paul. There is so little time to work on it if I only work when he's not here. He's just trying to not pay too close attention to what I'm doing.

Anniversary- Inspired Sweater

It is the season for anniversaries in my family. Today is mine and Paul's third anniversary. Around the corner on the 16th is my mom and dad's anniversary and my aunt and uncle just celebrated their 25th anniversary on the 4th with the whole family in California.

Now, I know you are wondering why the heck I'm writing right now when Paul and I should be celebrating. The reason is that I am getting home really early these days since I'm riding my bike to work and don't want to come home in the dark. So I'm working 8 - 4:30ish and skipping lunch. Paul won't be home until 7:00 so I had time to get things in order around here, since I have to partake in the chores now that Paul is a hard-working man. My list included taking out the trash and unloading the dishwasher. Plus, I set up the cards that our families sent so we can open them tonight. Not too difficult, so I had a little time to spare.

The anniversary mood and cold weather inspired me to make the sweater that I plan on making for Paul (he knows about this because I had to explain why it took me 9 hours to get home from Fishersville). This is the very one for which evolved into the all-day alpaca chase on the way home from Virginia last week. Paul if you are reading this, don't read any further or you will see the sweater design, fiber and everything. It's ok if you don't want to be surprised, but I know how you like a surpise...






This is the pattern that I got from Carole's because she suggested that it would be much easier to make a sweater like this as a beginner sweater maker, than to mess with knitting each piece separately and sewing together like I had tried in the "biceps sweater." This one you knit from the neck down in one piece on circular needles. Just what I need!



Here is the lovely alpaca fiber I bought from Shirley at Misty Farms. I sneeze every time I open the bag because it is alpaca fiber in the raw and needs a bath. Tomorrow night when Paul is in Ohio I will commence the washing ritual. This is not the most fun part of fiber preparation and I would personally skip this step and go straight to the clean stuff, but 1) it's cheaper to buy it this way 2) alpaca is pricey 3) it's a relatively clean fiber as it has no grease and so is not too labor intensive. Shirley gave me some simple instructions for washing it in the washing machine, leaving out the agitation step to avoid felting. I'll post the steps tomorrow so you can see.


I better get ready to go out to dinner, Paul should be home soon. I think we concluded on an Italian restaurant which might require a little dressing up as opposed to the other option which was Quaker Steak and Lube (a little more casual as the name suggests- gas station turned steak-n-burger joint).

Driving Home in a Roundabout Way

Let me tell you the story of my drive home from Virginia. I got a decent start at 8:30 loading the car and grabbing breakfast. Feeling ambitious, I asked the front desk about the local alpaca farm that was supposedly "minutes from the hotel." The lady told me some easy directions that I thought I could handle, and then some directions to a larger farm further down the freeway in the direction I was heading to get to NC. So I started off to the local place since I didn't want to make a day of it. The winding road was scenic and full of farms, but none that indicated an alpaca residence. The nicely paved road suddenly turned to dirt, but I persevered until it dead-ended at a busy cross-street that was not supposed to be there. In the end, I turned around and headed back to the freeway leading to home.

As I drove along, I kept my eye out for this other larger farm that was supposed to be outside of Lexington, off the freeway-- so close you can see it as you drive by. By the time I got to the heart of Lexington I had still no sight of an alpaca farm nor any signage. However, there was a sign that led to the visitor's center of Lexington, and as I'm not one to give up on a mission once it's in my head, I had to find out from the center if there was indeed a farm nearby.

At the visitor's center, a kind lady named Naomi told me that yes, there was a farm back up the 81 freeway (from the direction I had just come) and she drew on the map how to get there. During the conversation I found out she has a herd of Finn sheep which she shears and sells the wool. So I got her info in case I may someday like to try spinning Finn sheep wool. I got back in the car and debated whether it was a good idea to hunt down this farm or not. Since I've already invested some time, might as well. It was only 20 minutes of backtracking...

40 minutes later I was on another country road that had narrowed down to one lane and felt the intuitive feeling that I have somehow missed it. Noticing a car close behind me, I pulled over to let them pass, but the lady pulled up next to me and rolled down her window. "Honey, are you lost?"

"Yes," I laughed, "I'm looking for an alpaca farm. Do you know where one is?"

"Oh mercy, no. But I'm heading to a yarn store down the lane. Follow me and we can ask there."

So we drove another 10 minutes or so down the country lane. We drove across a very narrow bridge with no railings, over a very small creek, and I thought I was going to either break the little bridge, or miss it altogether. But me and the car made it across in one piece. I got out of my car and the woman was waiting with her hand stretched out to shake mine and introduced herself as Libby. The owner of Orchardside Yarn Shop, Carole, came out and Libby introduced her to me.

Carole invited us both in for a cup of tea and a visit of the shop. Libby brought her knitting in for Carole to help her with and I looked around at all the fabulous yarn and patterns. In the end, I got an easy sweater pattern to attempt my second attempt at making Paul a sweater (my first sweater attempt had built-in biceps and a crooked neckline), and the required knitting needles. Before I left, Carole informed me that I had passed the alpaca farm on the way and told me to go back along the road but turn left into the driveway past the bank and the fire department in town. My downfall was I guess I had not realized that that was "town" and had gone sailing right past it!

After saying my goodbyes and many thanks, I hit the road in search of some alpaca fiber to make the sweater in my newly purchased pattern. Although I found the farm with no problems the second time around, no body was home but the alpacas. The sweet animals were very hospitable and came over to say hi, but they couldn't help me with the fiber aspect.

Now feeling like this was a challenge to be met regardless of whether it was supposed to be an all-day event, I called the backup number that Carole gave me of yet another alpaca farm. Shirley was home, bless her, and said, "come on over." She gave me directions which led me back down the 81 in the direction towards home, covering the area that I had just backtracked. After more winding roads and more detailed directions such as turn left at the bus stop past the shack, I made it there in 40 minutes.

A bit frazzled but happy to have conquered the quest, I arrived at Misty Farms and was greeted by alpacas and many miniature dogs yapping happily at my feet. Shirley graciously invited me into her home and studio and brought out bags of alpaca fiber, mohair, merino and then showed me all different uses for the different fibers in the shape of hats, scarves, sweaters, socks, mittens, etc. I chose a very nice grey alpaca blend and some white 25% alpaca/75% merino blend to blend with the alpaca on my drum carder. Shirley suggested that for making a man's sweater with some shape (hopefully not so much that it has it's own biceps), I should blend alpaca with wool. Alpaca drapes and is 7 times warmer than wool, but the wool holds it's shape.

In the end, I was at Shirley's for about an hour, learning new spinning secrets and checking out her many spinning wheels, fiber and fiber-related gadgets. I was on the road again by 1:00 and made it home by 6:00. From Fisherville to Charlotte, it should have taken my 5 hours, but I made it a 9.5 hour journey. It was so fun, and what a beautiful drive it was!

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

On the way to one of the mundane tasks of collecting the mail at our mail center, Paul and I happened across a very beautiful sight. A buttery yellow object came gliding out of the sky almost floating like a leaf until it flapped once or twice and then floated again. Butterflies always seem pretty graceful, but this surpassed any I've seen and maybe it was the shear size of its wings that made it appear to move effortlessly. Anyway, I ran back home to get the camera realizing that the patch of flowers it was heading to seemed to be keeping it busy. Sure enough, there it was flitting from flower to flower, not noticing us in the least.

Of course then I came back and tried to find what kind of butterfly it was and turns out it is the state butterfly of South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama and Delaware-- a popular belle. This yellow beauty is called an eastern tiger swallowtail (Notice the long tail like extensions on the wings). It can be found as far north as southern Vermont and as far west as Colorado, but it is most prominent in the east. It is noted to be a strong flier according to South Carolina State Parks, and an important pollinator of orchards and gardens.

If you are into knitting like me, and would like a lace challenge, check out Fluff Buff's new project that is called "Wing o' the moth" which reminds me of this butterfly. She posted it on Sept. 10.

In case you were wondering, I still can't figure out what type of butterfly we found over Labor Day (see picture). Let me know if you know-- I'm very curious.