What to do?

Deli is finished except for weaving in the ends and knitting the i-cord ties. Never mind that it has been over 90 degrees all week. I just want her finished. I bought 10 balls of Cashcotton DK and it should have been enough to knit the small size, according to the pattern. My gauge was spot on too. Well, we know how that goes don't we? I have used every scrap of yarn, I even unravelled the gauge swatch. But I still have to knit those i-cords. The LYS only had 10 balls in apple green, and I bought them all. They say they can order a ball for me. But, I asked them to do that in January for another project, and it finally arrived at the LYS at the end of April. So, the choices are: 1.) Search yarn shops further afield burning $2+ a gallon gasoline; 2.) Order from an on-line store and pay the shipping as well as the price of the yarn; 3.) Search Michaels and/or Joann Fabrics for a suitable ribbon in a matching color, although I really don't want ribbon ties. I guess I'll sleep on it tonight and think about it tomorrow. Me and Scarlett O'Hara. And, the dang camera batteries need recharging again. Hence no photos of Deli. Happy Fourth of July!

Is it a sweater yet?

The answer is, unfortunately not. The photo is the second sleeve of Deli, which I have since finished. My mission for today was to block the pieces. But, although I have at least a million big headed pins, I only had enough to pin out the sleeves and both fronts. The back will have to wait until the other pieces are dry and can be unpinned. I spritzed them with cold water, as I didn't know how the angora content of this yarn would react to steam blocking. What could have happened to all those pins anyway? Perhaps a visiting relative of the Sock Monster who lives in my washer swiped them?
second sleeve of Deli

close up of vine lace 

Vine lace socks

As a break from Deli while it was so hot, I knit a pair of socks for my sister, who, bless her heart, thinks my socks are the best and won't wear anything else. It's nice to knit for someone who appreciates it. The pattern is from SocksSocksSocks, edited by Elaine Rowley. I used Opal sock yarn in shade 29. It's a bright turquoise and the color in the photo is about right.
vine lace socks

It's too darn hot

I keep hearing Ella Fitzgerald singing "It's too darn hot" in my head. And it is too darn hot by my standards! I am a temperate girl, and I don't do well with extreme heat or extreme cold. It has been 90 degrees F here for the past five days and it's only June. If it were July or August, I'd suck it up and tell myself, "Well, it IS July (or August), what do you expect, so just deal with it already". Ok, enough whining.

Not much knitting has been done. I am 75 rows into the second sleeve for Deli, but the angora or cashmere in the yarn is making my hands sweaty. I have done some sock knitting, which is a bit cooler to knit. Still no pictures. Oh, I have taken them and even downloaded to my computer. However, my home computer is slower than molasses in January flowing up hill, and I have not got the patience to sit dripping with sweat while I wrestle with the software. Did I mention the computer is in the hottest room in the house? Maybe I can sit there in the buff with a wet towel on my head?

I'm off to my parents home for the week end. They have air conditioning!!! Yahoo!

Deli

I loved the pattern Deli from Rowan Cafe Classic as soon as I saw it. My daughter's birthday is in June, so I'm knitting it for her. I'm using the Rowan Cashcotton yarn in Apple green. It really is lucious yarn and knits like a dream. In addition to the cotton, cashmere, and polyamide, it also has some angora, which gives it a soft almost silvery halo. The color does not photograph well, but it really does remind me of those tiny, fuzzy green apples you see on the tree in late Spring. I'm making good progress; the back and both fronts are complete. One and a half sleeves to go, plus the lace edging.

I've only had one set back so far while knitting it. I knit the left front, completing first the decreases to the waistline, then the increases after passing it. After finishing the last increase row, the pattern instucted you to knit straight, stopping twenty rows below where you began the armhole decreases on the back. I dutifully spread out the back and counted the rows between the last increase row and the first armhole row. It was 34 rows, which I carefully jotted down on the paper I'd been using to keep notes (my brain resembles a sieve some days). 34 rows less 20 rows is 14 rows, so I proceeded to knit the 14 rows. At that point, the instructions for decreasing for the slope on the front neckline began. With no problems I finished the left front. I then began the right front and all was well until I reached the part about stopping 20 rows from the armhole. I was sure I had written down the number of rows to knit, and checked my notes. Sure enough, there it was, "34 rows" with a nice circle drawn round it for emphasis. So I knit 34 rows and began the decreases for the neckline slope and continued on, following the pattern until I finished the right front. Then I laid the two front pieces down to see how they matched up. Auggh! I had forgotten that I was not supposed to knit 34 rows, but 34 minus 20, or 14 rows! Duh! It was a sad job ripping that front all the way back to the last increase row before the armhole and reknitting it.

Also, I can't figure out why the pattern uses K2TBL for left slanting decreases instead of SSK. The right slanting decreases are K2Tog, which pairs nicely with SSK. I wasn't entirely sure that it would make a difference, so I did try the K2TBL on two decrease rows, but the slant is quite visible to the left. I went back to SSK, which makes a less visible left slant, and matches K2tog more closely. The designer is Martin Storey and I would have thought he would care how the decreases match up, but what do I know?

Well enough for now. I'll try to load some pictures tomorrow.