FO: Jacques Cousteau Cap

I just finished this for an oboe friend:

And if the yarn looks familiar, it is because it is the leftovers from Jim's Cobblestone. The pattern is Jacques Cousteau Cap I found on Ravelry. It was quick to knit even though I had to frog it and reknit in the smaller size. According to his wife, my friend has a small head - even smaller than hers.

I hope your holidays were filled with friends, family and good food. We are finally feeling rested after an arduous season. Mom is here and it is so nice to sit on the sofa next to each other and chat and knit. Life is good.

Best wishes to you all for a Happy and healthy New Year.

The nights before Christmas

And all through the house

not a creature was stirring

because no one was home!

We have been nutty with Nutcrackers.

The work this week looked like this:

On the way to work

Da boys in da back row

Camera goofiness

It was snowing in the pit - all over me!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah ~

Quick Update

Thanks for your comments - we love the new screen too. Since are not "frou frou" people, the clean lines and Mission style are just what the dr. ordered! Jim is happy with his sweater... and I might even think about knitting him something else. Maybe.

Here is the start of the Bluebell V-Neck Cardigan:

I am using the Wool Ease I bought a few months ago.... it is not my favorite to knit with but I think it will turn out to be a good utilitarian cardigan.

We are in the middle of the crazy busy season. This weekend is filled with church services that are both good and not so much and on Monday I fly to NY to get Mom. We fly here Tuesday and on Wednesday the Nutcrackers start. Next weekend is a Messiah and the rest of the Nutcrackers. I canceled my students until January. Whew.

Oh yes - the new table arrived! We ordered it from a company in North Carolina and delivery was Sunday. Now we can eat our Christmas dinner in the dining room :-) We disputed the original order charge with the credit card company and have a provisional credit. We are waiting to see what happens now.

So have a good weekend. I hope your holidays are joyous.

Out with the old and an FO

And in with the new... fireplace screen, that is.

The old:

The naked...

The new:

In use:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Where's the hot chocolate?


Here is hubby in his finished Cobblestone:

The yarn is Sirdar Country DK and the gauge was 22 sts = 4" so I had to fudge the numbers for a size that fit. I think it came out pretty well. Whew. There was a lot of stockinette but the short row shaping held my interest.

I think Jim will stay warm and I hope you do too.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Here is a pictograph of our past two days:

The pie went in like this

And came out like this

While Jim and David were hanging the Christmas lights

The turkey breast was in the rotisserie

And came out delicious.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the cooked turkey breast - it was yummy and really pretty!

Then we ate and went to some friends' house to share our pies

And some laughs

Then the turkey bones became stock

Today we went to work -

Here is our concert master taking the tuning note

And my husband concentrating more than me

Our music is the Nutcracker

Here is the oboe section

And my surreptitious photography of the dancers

Whew! I'm glad no one caught me...

Tomorrow is rehearsal with Sandy Patti... probably will not be able to sneak any pictures....

I hope your Thanksgiving was great! See you in a few days.

A beautiful fall day here

Good Monday Everyone!

The sun is shining, the temperature is pleasant, the leaves are rustling in the light breeze. All in all, a perfect fall day.

Thank you for your thoughts. The health issues are almost gone and so are quite a few pounds from not eating at night! Who would have thought?!

I am halfway through another Ice Queen, but in black. I have a colleague who I think will like it.

Jim's Cobblestone is progressing amazingly well. I ditched the Sirdar sweater (too much seed stitch) for this easy-peasy pullover. I am using Sirdar Country DK, Options #4 needles and knitting the 2nd largest size. My gauge is 22" instead of the called for 18" so I am hoping this will fit.

The short row shaping is fabulous! And by knitting the wrap with the stitch, there are no holes :-)

And here is a shot of the sleeves attached. I think this will be an FO very soon.

I planted some sweet little violas this weekend -

I love the tiny size of these flowers and the look of pansies. All in all, a perfect flower.

What are you all doing for Thanksgiving? We are having a friend eat with us and he and Jim will put up our Christmas lights. Then the seasonal insane schedule of rehearsals and performances begins. Nutcracker is Fri, Sat and Sun along with a rehearsal and performance with Sandi Patty.

I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with joy. I feel thankful for my beloved husband, wonderful mother and family, dear friends, both in person and cyber-space. My best wishes are with you all -

FO: Ice Queen

My dear knitting friends - Thanks so much for your thoughts on the furniture. We are hoping everything will work out and we'll actually have our refund and a table before Christmas. As for the dietary issues - I am determined to do my best to stay healthy! After last night's concert, instead of drinking a glass of wine and eating fried bits of who knows what, I had a bit of juice and some popcorn. (Had to eat something!) Low acid, thank you. I do plan on eating sauce and spicy foods in moderation - will just reinforce the situation with Rolaids or something similar.

Ice Queen is finished! It was knit with Roan Kidsilk Haze in color 633 - violetta. I used #8 and #6 16" Bryspun circs. They have nice little points and are grabby plastic. They were great for knitting with this very slippery yarn. The color is actually more plum, less blue, but the camera did not want to accept that. I also used 60 Swarovski crystals but they are not showing well. They really sparkle in real life. I think my friend Joyce (who will be receiving this for Christmas) will like it.

This was such a fun little knit, I actually stopped at the LYS yesterday after rehearsal and picked up another skein of KSH in black to knit another for another friend.

Here is a little bonus shot of Silly Ewe at Friday night's rehearsal. Note the amazing sweater she is wearing (for which she won a blue ribbon at the fair this year!)

Have a delightful week -

A Queen, a table and a gig

Sounds like it ought to be a joke, no?

Ice Queen is moving right along but somehow I need more beads. I really thought I bought the right number - guess not. Anyway, here she is so far:

I am ready to do the bind off, but need the rest of the beads before I can continue.

We decided to purchase a new dining room set after we gave the old one away and after lots of searching found this beautiful one from Broyhill.

We gave the store our credit card, paid for the set and have been anxiously awaiting delivery. Friday a letter comes in the mail telling us the Broyhill Home Stores in the area have been closed and are declaring bankruptcy and that our furniture will not be delivered. What the *&#@?

We called customer service for the manufacturer and were told these stores owed the company millions of dollars and we could file a claim to retrieve our money. So we called the credit card company and explained the problem - they have a dispute form we can file to get our money back. In the meantime, we still have no table or chairs.

I found a distributor (in North Carolina) for this particular line of furniture that ships nationwide. But - it will take another 6-8 weeks for delivery! The price is actually about the same so I think we are going to order from them. If we are lucky, we will be reimbursed for the original purchase and have a new dining set by Christmas. What a pain in the butt!

Here are some shots from last night's job - my husband:

St. Andrew's Methodist Church:

Inside the sanctuary:

We play in some beautiful settings although coming from a small town in upstate NY, I am amazed at the size of these churches. I think our little one could easily fit inside this a few times over!

I wanted to thank you for your comments about my health. I appreciate your good wishes :-) I am definitely almost done with the coughing but the dietary changes are a pain in the a$$. Things like not eating three hours before bed - I don't finish work until later than that many nights. And not wine at night! Rats!!! My favorite adult beverage! No acidic or spicy food - yeah, right! We live in Texas - so there are lots of great Tex-Mex places and delicious Italian food. I have even cut back to 1 1/2 cups of coffee in the morning (apparently caffeine also aggravates this condition). I have been faithfully taking the Nexium and now carry Rolaids around with me. If I know I am eating something I have been warned about, in go the Rolaids. So far, so good.

This is just another thing I have to discipline myself to do. Isn't enough that I am highly disciplined in my profession (practice and make reeds daily? Yes - every day!) and now I have to adhere to this too?!

As she drinks her morning coffee (bad girl!) she says, "I hope your day is a good one -"

Ice Queen

This has been a busy time for us. Work has kept us pedaling as fast as we can... yes, this is a good thing. It surprises me that in today's economic situation we musicians are very busy. But then when the Titanic was sinking, the musicians played until the end!

Last week was filled up working with a pick up orchestra job, a church job playing Bach (difficult but soul-fulfilling), and Poulenc Gloria - a glorious choral piece. This week is Metropolitan Classic Ballet, then Dallas Chamber Orchestra and a weekend church job. Then next week is RSO....

Here is Ice Queen so far. Kidsilk Haze is yummy soft but really slippery to knit with. I am using Bryspun #8 16 inch circs and Swarovski crystal beads. The color does not look true - it is a dark plum, not so much blue. Of course it looks like a blob until blocking:

And a shot out in the sunlight:

And the Cobblestone Pullover for Jim is coming nicely - I have about 10 inches knit so far. No pics today - nothing much to see.

The mums we planted in the yard are, well, see for your self:

A quick health note - after oodles of doctor's visits, tests, and pharmaceuticals, it was determined that the coughing is due to Acid Reflux! So these past few years of problems are finally nearing the end. This was really a surprise to me since I simply do not have heartburn. Ever. What I didn't know is you can have the condition and not the usual symptoms. I have already changed some of my eating habits and am taking the meds prescribed with good results. This is something I will have to treat for the rest of my life. As soon as the coughing is totally gone, we should be able to find a generic prescription that will work and not break the bank. At least I am hoping so because Nexium is really pricey.

Have a wonderful week ~

Hello again and an FO!

Hmmm - it has been a while since I updated. Believe it or not, the cough is still here. After weeks of tests and pharmaceuticals it is finally better. This year has been my worst ever for allergies that caused the bronchitis. I am loaded up with meds but can at least function now. Good thing I didn't have any jobs for the past few weeks - I was non-functioning as a teacher or player. But we are on track now and I am working again.

Wallis Cardigan is finished. But I think I am going to place the hooks differently so the front doesn't gap. The sweater is not at all tight but the gaps make it look like it is.

Stats: Yarn: Sublime by Sirdar 50% cotton/50% soy

Needles: Options #4 & 5

Start: 8/10/08

Finish: 9/28/08

Jim's new sweater is Cobblestone from IK Fall 2007. I abandoned the Sirdar pullover in favor of this one. Using this Sirdar Country DK green heathered yarn (but this is not Cobblestone - just wanted to show you the color):

Bought some Wool Ease for a mere $1.99 a skein at Joanns today. I plan to cast on for Imogen later this week ;-) The total cost for the yearn was $15.00! I think my husband will be pleased with my thriftiness. Check it out:

The color is Blue Mist. I love the flecks of color and think it will look nice in Imogen. What do you think?

We have the opening concert of RSO this week - great repertoire: Brahms Piano Concerto, Schubert Symphony in D Major and Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis.

Guess I better go practice. Have a good week, y'all.

FO: Baby Sweater

After we finished the Mahler concerts, I took a week to go to NY and visit Mom. She is doing well.

I also visited my cousin (on the right) at his new home:

And got some knitting in:

This is a One Piece Baby Sweater. I used Hobby Lobby's new "I Love This Yarn" - but I don't really love it. I think there are other acrylics that are softer. However, it will be very easy care for the new Mama and hopefully fit the baby when it starts to get cool here.

I also developed bronchitis again (remember last year?!). Not at all fun. The Dr gave me loads of pharmaceuticals to drive it out. We'll see - so far not so good. I am on bed rest for another day .... I haven't even knit for 4 days - you KNOW I am under the weather!

Wallis Cardigan was coming along well in NY - both fronts are almost done. Hopefully I will feel like knitting later today.

We are awaiting the rains and winds from hurricane Ike. I need to go the grocery store for a few things to tide us over. Maybe tomorrow I can get out. We won't get anything like the Texas coast. but still will have some effects.

Mahler and More

Hi y'all. I just finished my portion of the Mahler Festival with our performance of the 6th Symphony last night. We got a nice review from the Ft. Worth critic and a lukewarm review from the Dallas one. We thought it went great, so there! Here is a shot from the audience. As you can see, the orchestra is enormous. We had 5 oboes (usually there are 2). The rest of the wind and brass sections were double sized as well.

In the midst of it all, I have managed to start the Wallis Cardigan in a delicious blue cotton/soy blend. I'll post the picture of the back though I must tell you that I am going to tink back a bit to make the armholes a little larger. I realized I miscalculated....

I loved reading your comments on the BYOB. In retrospect, even though I complained about it, the seed stitch really wasn't so horrid. It did go on for a while, but truly only a short while. If you need a bag like this - do indeed knit it. It was quick and worth the "seedy" time. But be careful with the tight cotton fabric, it really tore up my hands. And I am a relaxed knitter.

And Zippi - who are the Chargers and Bolts? Is that like nuts and bolts? (I know nothing when it comes to sports.)

I finally managed to get my schedule in line :-) It will be a busy semester as usual. But I would rather be moaning about too many hours than too few - if you know what I mean! I am headed out to the University for the student's auditions, then just one kiddo coming tomorrow. I plan to get in some quality knitting this weekend!

Have a good one -

FO: BYOB

It is fini!!!

I love how this bag came out, but the seed stitch drove me crazy. (I am now glad I didn't knit the Minimalist Cardi - it is all seed stitch. Aaaargh!) I used the old Cotton Ease from my stash and knit on #3 and #6 Options. Yes, being a loose woman, er, knitter, I always have to go waaaaaaaaaay down.

The first picture looks like a truer representation of the colors. The fabric is nice and tight, so I am hoping it won't stretch like some other knitters' have.

On to the next project - I have been rethinking the Wallis Cardigan and decided to knit it. When I was talking to one of the ladies at my LYS, she was saying how flattering that type of design is for many body types - I'm hoping she is right and it won't accentuate the parts I usually try to camouflage.

So today, after I make some Mahler reeds, practice the millions of notes in the symphony that I still cannot play, have some lunch with the girls and teach a boatload of students, I will swatch.

Enjoy your day ~