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 ~

A Bag and Bad Grass

No, not a bag OF bad grass! What are y'all - a bunch of old Hippies?

We have had too many days in a row of over 100 degrees and our grass is showing it. We have been watering but there is no fighting the searing heat.

Thankfully, the tomato plant is still growing well. I have gotten 6 tomatoes so far, and another is still ripening and 3 more are green. There are flowers but no new fruit - too hot! I hope to get another harvest in the fall when it cools down. It was such a treat to eat yummy home-grown tomatoes this summer I think I will plant them again - earlier next time - and maybe 2 plants instead of one.

The BYOB is only a few rows from the top color change:

The seed stitch was really boring me but the openwork in the middle was okay. I hope to finish soon as I am getting tired of it. I love how it is turning out - it will look great when done and worth the boredom. I'm not sure I see another in the future, though.

School starts on the 25 of August and I am trying to plan the schedule of my university students along with my home studio of 32 oboists. I always tell myself I won't teach so many, but then they just keep multiplying! The numbers are a bit out of control right now so I think I will weed out some of my non-practicing pain in the arse kids and encourage them find a new teacher.

Next week begins Mahler 6th Symphony with Ft. Worth Symphony so I will have my hands full. I am also trying to schedule a short trip to NY to see Mom. Yikes - there are not enough hours in the day, days in the week, etc. to accomplish everything.

I hope you stay cool and your upcoming week is joy-filled.

PS - I didn't get to wear my Flutter Sleeve cardigan because it was too hot in Utah too!

Tagged and Bagged

I was Tagged by

Jane.

Here are the Rules:


1. List these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

I have been married to the same man for 22 years.

If I had the room, I would have a workshop with power tools.

I would LOVE to compete in the Amazing Race with my husband.

I never wanted children though I love to teach them.

I prefer a hot climate rather than a cold one. Good thing I live in North Central Texas!

I am not ashamed that I drive an SUV.

I love snuggling on the couch in the dead of winter (as it is here) with a roaring fire in the fireplace and a glass of dry red wine in my hand.

3. Tag 7 people by leaving their names and links to their blogs.

Marj

Lesley

Mer

Sharon

Jessica

Bonnie

Mason

Bagged

Here is my progress on BYOB. It seems like it would be a fast knit, except my patience for rows and rows of seed stitch is limited. I am knitting with the old Cotton Ease yarn with #4 Options.

Once again Blogger is doing something weird with the spacing - sorry.

Thanks for all your great comments on my last few blogs. Sorry I didn't thank you sooner - just count on the fact that I am a delinquent. Er, I mean late in getting to it.

BYU, Friends and Rockies

Here are some scenes from Provo

A view from the campus

Me and my dear friend Fumiko

My name tag has a green ribbon on the bottom because I was a "presenter."

I liked that people knew I was playing and was more recognizable.

People looked at that and commented on our performance.

The Rockies from my plane window

Willa

We even let a clarinet player in. Hi Mary!

IDRS and Oboes

Dear knitting buddies ~ I confess that I have not touched my needles here in Provo. Instead, I have been making reeds, rehearsing and performing. Our recital was this morning and went pretty darn well :-) Then I tried and compared instruments for hours and decided to spend a pretty penny on this:

I have been looking since I sold my other one last summer. This one has a gorgeous sound and I hope will break in nicely. Methinks I will be on a yarn diet for a while. Hmmm ~~~ how much yarn does the cost of an oboe translate into?

I am coming home tomorrow and look forward to not having to race around for a few days and get back to my knitting. On the needles are the BYOB and a pair of Monkey socks. My first priority is the bag (right now, anyway).

Oops - Got to head out for a quick bite then back to BYU for the evening concert. Enjoy your evening.

Back from the beach

We're back! And I am in Provo..... More later.

Thank you

For all your lovely comments. I am looking forward to wearing this one :-)

But before I get a chance to wear it, we are spending a week on the Mayan Riviera with family and friends

lounging on the beach, partaking of fine food and cold adult beverages.

We almost had a crisis when last night our brother in law discovered his passport expires TOMORROW. He was able to make an appointment in the Houston passport office for today, flew there this morning, got there in time and managed to get a new one issued right away.

His wife wound up doing all the packing and will have to travel to Houston tomorrow to meet him, then they are off to Mexico. Let's just say she was not too thrilled when we spoke tonight.

But, the crisis has been averted.

We get home on Saturday, then I head to Provo on Monday for the conference and will be looking at this

We head out Sunday so no news for a while.

Happy knitting, dear fellow fiber friends.

FO Flutter Sleeve Cardigan

Here 'tis

This is Flutter Sleeve Cardigan from IK Spring 2008.

I am pretty happy with it. I used 5 skeins of Micro-Spun and #5, 4, and 1 Options. I cast on May 31 and finished on July 7. My plan was to finish in time for the International Double Reed Conference at BYU in Provo, Utah. The University dress code requests no sleeveless tops.... I thought it would be appropriate to comply. Wearing my little hand knit sweater :-)

Harp Fire 2008

Since I last posted, I have taught numerous oboe students, practiced like a fiend and attended Harp Fire 2008. Here we all are:

There were 34 participents and 6 faculty. It was hard work but a real blast!


Here is the Adult Ensemble up in the back

and if you look closely, the arrow is pointing at me.

I didn't get a lick of knitting done this week 'cos I was just too darn fried. But I did finish knitting Flutter Sleeve before camp began and am ready to seam it up. And one of my fellow adult students was a knitter and spinner! We had fun playing together and talking fiber.

All in all it was a great week. Have a GREAT July 4th.

Where were you when the lights went out?

I was in the pit at Bass Hall! We are in the middle of the ballet performance (click for the review - our concertmaster played a breathtaking solo) and suddenly the stand lights went out. We were in the middle of Khachaturian's Spartacus when POOF! half the orchestra was in darkness. A few lights did remain on, so the players with crucial parts (like solos) sidled up to a light and played. Our conductor said he heard all this scurrying about but since he was looking at the stage he didn't know what happened. As soon as we finished the piece, I ran upstairs to alert our stage manager who was already on his way down to help. Our conductor halted the performance (at the end of Spartacus) while Justin figured out what had happened.

Can you say fried extension cord? The fix was quick and we were back on our toes in no time. Ah, the excitement of live performance :-)

I didn't have a large quantity to play so I got in some quality sock time during rehearsals. This is Meteor from Knitpicks - it was in the sock sampler from a few months ago. And I am knitting another pair of Cookie A.'s Monkeys.

Flutter sleeve is moving albeit a bit slowly. I have finished the ribbing on both fronts and am into the sleeve and neck shaping on one. I couldn't take it to rehearsals - too much counting involved.

Thank you for your buttony input. My friends here who have seen them also thought they would be a nice addition. And Bonnie! That is so funny! We have great taste :-)

The tomato plant is growing very happily and has a few itty bitty tomatoes on it. I put a bird mesh over the top since you warned me about it (thank you, thank you).

I hope your Sunday is restful and the upcoming week is energizing.

See you soon -

Cosi fan tutte

We are in production of Cosi fan tutte.

It is really hilarious (meant to be, thank you) and I hope we have a good turnout.

Since we have been rehearsing until 11:00 pm this week, my knitting time has suffered.

I have managed to get to the ribbing on both front pieces.

(No photo, not much to see.)

But here are a few IK shots of the Flutter Sleeve

And I found these buttons.

They are clear with bits of real lavender suspended in them.

I think against the creamy vanilla cardi they will look really pretty.Yes?

Time to go make reeds for tomorrow's performance and work out those last few measures that are still eluding me.

See you after the weekend ..... Have a good one

From Wallis to Flutter

Thank you for all your for your "harpy" comments. Yes, it is difficult but I am having fun with it. Unfortunately, this week I am consumed with rehearsals then performances of the Mozart opera Cosi fan Tutte and do not have much practice time. After teaching lessons, making reeds all week, trying to learn my part and rehearsing for 5 hours yesterday, practicing harp was not at the top of my priority list.

However, knitting was. Instead of that beautiful Wallis Cardigan, I am in the middle of Flutter Sleeve from IK Spring 2008. While I love the style of Wallis, I am thinking it would accentuate the tummy area - which needs no accentuation, if you know what I mean ;-)

Here is the completed back:

I am using Micro Spun for this and find it very sweetly soft. It is quite splitty, but with the Options seems not too bad.

No Knitting Here, Well, Maybe a Little

Yup - you read it right. There is minimal knitting content on this knitting blog! (At the end if you want to pass all the other words.)

But I do have some Harp content - Yes indeed! I am taking lessons from Laura so I can attend Harp Camp and not embarrass myself too much. Here is this morning in her studio after my (2nd) lesson.

Daily news - we had to replace our mattress last week. It was a drag not only because of the price of a king, but our old one was only 3 years old. We decided it was defective since one side had no support any more. So we got a Simmons Beautyrest in firm. It felt very supportive bit a bit hard. After doing some research, we decided to get a mattress topper and are much more comfy now. This one is from Walmart and quite inexpensive - but according to Consumer Reports, people liked it more than the $$ ones.

Now it feels very nice indeed :-)

Ocean Cardigan is ready for assembly. I was thinking about the effectiveness of blocking since this ribbon yarn is 62% nylon and 38% cotton. One suggestion made was not to block until I seamed it all together. I am trying to decide what to do since the edges roll alot.

What do you think? Will this fiber block? Or just jump back to it's unruly sproingy shape?

My next project:

Wallis Cardigan from IK Summer 08. The suggested yarn was way too $$ for my budget, so I bought some Lion Brand Micro Fiber in a lovely Vanilla color. the weight is very similar and I figured it would be good for the conference at BYU this summer.

Spinning and Tomatoes

Thank you to everyone who has commented. I loved refinishing the wheel - maybe that should be my next avocation. Yeah, right, in my spare time! And the Baby Surprise Jacket and Mary Jane Booties were so much fun. Annie came by yesterday to pick them up - and she loved them. She thought they would fit their soon to be new born baby just fine!

Here is what is on the first bobbin on the Scholar. I am not sure what the fiber is; it is from my classes last summer. My goal to get comfortable with the new girl is to fill the bobbin, spin some white fiber I have and then ply them.

A crazy note - since my blood pressure is pharmaceutically controlled, I do monitor it from time to time. Two days ago, after 1/2 hour of spinning I checked and it was lower than it has been ever since I can remember. Hmmm - does spinning lower blood pressure?!

We are going to plant this little tomato plant tonight and see what happens. I would love to have fresh veggies and herbs..... this will be the first sojourn into plants to bear food.

Have a beautiful weekend and Happy Memorial Day!

Awwwwwwwwww...

Mary Jane Booties

to go with the BSJ.

Same yarn, #3 needles.

2 FOs

Here is EZ Baby Surprise Jacket before seaming:

And here it is all seamed up:

The yarn is Red Heart Luster Sheen, the color is Baby Combo. I used #4 options. I think this is a good newborn size - at least I hope so. Annie's baby is due in a few weeks :-)

And the next FO is my Scholar:

You can see the damage



And here is my repair

And she spins!!!

I washed all the wood, gave it 2 coats of stain and one coat of wipe on Poly. Deciding I didn't like the look of the poly, I went over her with steel wool and rubbed in a few coats of Watco Wax Finish. I am much happier with the look.