Picking up stitches

Good Monday to you all. Thanks again for your sweet comments - my back is much better :-)

The lace edging is fun to knit after all that stockinette! Here it is on the bottom edge of the back of the bolero:

But what a royal pain to pick up all those stitches! I am seeing why the directions called for doing each piece separately - the number of stitches to pick up is greater than the number of stitches on the edge (pick up 103 from the 96 and even more around the front). I think the math and the size would make it too unwieldy to have everything seamed and then do this procedure as a whole.

I used a crochet hook (as per Vogue Knitting) and it did work well - but I was very slow and it is certainly not my favorite technique! It is much easier to pick up the gusset stitches on a sock.

More to come~~~

Home and a new project!

Thanks so much for your comments! I wore my sweater at Mom's a few times and felt really special knowing I had knit it. What fun! (Note to self - must knit more garments)

Mom is doing quite well for an 86 year old who lives alone. She is in good health and pretty good mind. However I am beginning to see some forgetfulness and that concerns me. I worry even more since she is by herself in a 2 story house with a basement. My brother who lives 45 minutes away does not get there too often. I am trying to convince her (ever so gently) that moving to Texas might be a really good idea......

The flights in on Tuesday were fine but on Wednesday when I was cleaning the tub, my back went out. So much for my plans of doing the physical chores around the house! I was laid up for 3 days and began moving slowly on Saturday. I was able to get some of the work done on the weekend, albeit in slow motion. The rest of the outside (and inside) work got done on Monday and Tuesday. One good thing - I got a lot of knitting in. More on that in a minute.

Yesterday was my return. Due to bad storms in the Dallas area, our flight was diverted to Memphis. The airport was virtually closed but at least they let us off the plane. Instead of arriving home at 9:00pm, we actually rolled up to the gate at midnight. It was a minor inconvenience compared tot he people who had to deal with terrible rains, hail and tornadoes. My beloved husband drove out and got me - so all is well. But my back is still not good.....

Okay, here is the promised knitting content: After all the choices, I drove to my LYS for a different yarn since the Cotton Ease was just too thick. I ended up with a beautiful Sirdar Cotton DK.

The color is a luscious coral. The pattern I decided on is this Bolero:

The pattern is number 8706. I couldn't find it on any web site, so it must be really new.

And I made a modification. The sleeves are stockinette and they will curl, so I knit them a bit shorter and will put the lace border on them as well. Pictures soon - All that is left to knit are the two front pieces and the border.

I have a question for you all-knowing wonderful folks - the pattern calls for the border to be knit on in pieces before seaming - first the bottom back, then the fronts starting at each side and joining at the neck. Is there any reason I could not seam the sweater then knit the border all around? I don't understand the logic of all the separate parts.

One last thing - I was at WalMart with Mom and saw a little knit sweater that looked exactly like Bonnie Marie's CeCe pattern! And then I saw a woman wearing it - - - looked very sweet, so I am going to knit that one as well.

Oh my - it is late. I must get going........... Enjoy this beautiful Wednesday.

FO!!!

Well, here it is! This is from Garn Studio Drops Design, #94-27. I used Queensland Collection "Maldives" and #4 needles.

My journey began in April 2006 when I knit the back and sleeves. I hit a roadblock at the front pieces and put it away until last month. I was able to get some guidance from Sillyewe for those front pieces and was determined to finish! Then you all helped me in the finishing process - thank you!

The grand finale was this morning at about 10:00 a.m. It is quite amazing to me that it fits and looks pretty decent too! My disappointment is that I was hoping it would make me look young and thin like the model :-)

Ready and willing to jump right into the next project, I chose CeCe from Chicknits. Then I started looking at the new Drops designs for spring and summer and fell in love with this:

It is design #101-32. The lace has four different sections (and 2 extremely confusing charts) so it will take some major deciphering on my part. I think I can do it!!! I bought this yummy Berry colored Cotton Ease to use.

Oh Yikes!! I just saw this one:

#100-26

Egads!! Now what am I going to do???????

Thursday morning I am on a plane to NY to see Mom. Since her house is not wired, I won't take the latptop and will be off line until the next Tuesday. I guess I could find some WiFi access, but I thought since I play a Bach Concerto in 2 weeks, I think it is wiser to take my oboe instead to get in some good practicing.

And I will of course take my knitting - but which one?!

Seaming and Shostakovich

We performed Shostakovich 5th Symphony last night with RSO. It has the most beautifully forlorn oboe solos in our repertoire and our principal oboist performed them magnificently! It is a real pleasure and honor to be able to work with such wonderful friends and musicians.

Thanks to all your great suggestions, that fine link and with some more reading on my part I was able to seam up my cardi. I only wish we were all sitting together with that cup of coffee....

Then I realized I needed to crochet the border, so I practiced a bit on an old swatch. It was sort of like riding a bicycle - I haven't crocheted in over 20 years, but my fingers just went where they needed to!

Of course I need a different size needle than what I have, so I cannot really begin until I make a trip to the craft store tomorrow. I hope to have an FO soon 'cos I would like to begin my summer lacy cardi. This is CeCe by Chicknits. Now how could I not knit a cardi with the same name as me??!!

I am planning to use Shine Sport in Sky (light blue).

FO coming soon.....................

Sneak Peek

You know what this, don't you?

Yessiree - the back and front of my Drops Cardigan #94-27! (Please pay no attention to the color - it is really much more attractive than it looks in this picture). I ran out of pins, so the sleeves will get their bit tomorrow or Monday. I can't believe the knitting is finished! Now I must figure out how to assemble the darn thing.

Any hints would be gratefully accepted even though I have the Vogue Knitting Book for guidance.

I hope your Easter is joyous.

More Socks?!

Well, I made it through the weekend. The music was good but the drives not so much. We had terrible storms to drive through on the trip home Friday night. Thankfully I was not alone and had good tires on my car.

I was able to get a few more inches done on my cardi, so I feel on track with my goal to get it finished. And thank you for all your encouragement. It does feel good to figure something out. I hope to have this finished in a week or two but it depends on work - we are playing Shostakovitch 5th Symphony next week (lots of difficult notes) and I am playing the Bach Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe a few weeks after that, so my oboe is beckoning me to practice more. And when I get home after rehearsals, I cannot think too much with my tired brain.

My current sock project (yeah, like I need more socks!!!) is Almost Argyle Socks from KP. I am using their Essentials sock yarn in Burgandy and #1 Pony Pearls DPNs. I LIKE these needles a lot!

The top is what is called Latvian Twist - I thought it looked interesting (don't know if you can really see it here) but the directions were somewhat confusing.

This week is also a bit hectic with church rehearsals and services for Easter so I'll see you in a few days.

Happy Easter!