FO: Juicy DK Cardi

It is done and I am planning to wear it on the plane tomorrow :-)

Here is the lace portion

This is the Sirdar pattern 9149. Juicy DK yarn - a delicious blend of bamboo sourced viscose and cotton. (Don't ask me what that means 'cos I don't know!) Since I am such a loosey-goosey, I knit on #3s.

Heading to NY tomorrow and back next week. There will be only limited internet access, so checking this blog may not happen. Feel free to leave a comment anyway :-) I'll look next week.

Have a good week and I'll see you when I get home.

Cast on and Cane

I cast on for Broderie and knit the entire waistband. Blocked it to a ginormous size then ripped it all out. I am down to #2 needles (just call me loosey goosey) and am now knitting a smaller size. Hopefully there will be a picture of success this weekend.

Cane is an ongoing necessity of oboists. Here is 1/2 pound to be processed.

I made some really good reeds from a friend's gouge and decided to buy a machine like hers. This is the Innoledy Gouging Machine. I communicated with the designer and his measurements are exactly what I use! It will take about four months before mine is ready so I guess I will have to muddle along as I have been doing.

Here is a Jeanne machine (my current gouger):

Here is the Innoledy:

Cool, eh? Or am I just a nerd. No need to answer that one :-)

Scallops and Socks

Scallops

Our dinner tonight will be this Citrus Scallop recipe:

Ingredients

· 1 lemon
· 1 lime
· 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
· 1/4 teaspoon(s) freshly ground black pepper
· 1 1/4 pound(s) sea scallops, rinsed
· 3 teaspoon(s) olive oil
· 1 tablespoon(s) finely chopped shallot
· 1 teaspoon(s) Dijon mustard
· 1 bag(s) (5- to 6-ounce) baby greens
· 1/4 cup(s) fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Directions

1. From lemon, grate 1/4 teaspoon peel and squeeze 2 tablespoons juice. From lime, grate 1/4 teaspoon peel and squeeze 1 tablespoon juice. Set juices aside. In small bowl, combine peels, salt, and pepper.

2. Place scallops on paper-towel-lined plate; pat dry. Sprinkle with citrus-peel mixture.

3. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil on medium 1 minute. Add scallops; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until opaque throughout, turning once. Remove from pan; cover.

4. To skillet, add 1 teaspoon oil and shallot; cook 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in Dijon mustard and citrus juices, scraping up browned bits; cook 1 minute.

Toss sauce with greens; place on plates. Top with scallops and chopped parsley, and serve with whole wheat couscous (to make couscous, follow package directions).

Socks

Here is one of the twins:

Fraternal Jaywalkers?

I just started what I hope will be fraternal Jaywalkers.

The pattern is Grumperina's found here.

Well, sort of - you can download it from Ravelry or email her to get it.

The yarn is from that new sampler I just got - KP Felici and the color is Schooner.

The needles are KP Harmony #1 DPNs and I am knitting the smallest size.

The cardi is still in the works - the sleeves are pinned in and ready for attaching. My past few weeks have been too busy for me to sit during the day (with good light) and stitch them up.

I really hope I will have time next week.

My DH and I were getting tired of the old decor in our bedroom, so we made a change:

to this:

We are looking for a new comforter to join in the lightened and

freshened up look.

I am headed up to Wichita Falls today for symphony and the guest artist is

Ricky Scaggs.

Should be fun :-)

My only hope is that the hotel is better than last time.

The housekeeping and maintenance staff were unbelievably negligent - I had to change rooms do to the shower running - it literally would not turn off.

And then in the morning, I pulled back the coverlet to find a disgustingly soiled comforter.

It was really repulsive.

They gave me my money back, but it makes me question the rest of the cleanliness of the room.

This time, I am taking the Lysol wipes and wipe everything I can before touching it.

And I will check the linens as well.

I would not stay there again if it wasn't "the" hotel the symphony puts us in.

Oh well, this is the last concert of the season for this group.

Maybe the accomodations will be improved next year.

FO: Dragonfly Socks

These were a really fast knit.

The pattern is Dragonfly Socks free from Cavyshops and the yarn is Premier Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Weight. This yarn is very soft but thinner than KP Essentials. I knit with #1 (2.25mm) DPNS in hopes the fabric would be substantial enough.

The socks came out very soft but quite thin. They feel wonderful but I don't know how well they will wear. I was going to keep these for myself but decided to send them to Mom instead.

Thanks for your comments on the last posting. The green yarn is heading to it's new home since the color is not at all me. I know the recipient will enjoy it more than I would have.

Our weekend is full as usual - I am driving up to Apple Leef Farm this morning to pick up the rods for the built-in lazy kate on the Scholar. It is almost an hour each way.....

I have a double for Symphony on Saturday then students and a Messiah Sunday. I am looking forward to the Messiah because a former student (who graduated from Eastman and is now working on his Masters at SMU) will be playing second. It should be fun.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend, my friends :-)

Yarn and stuff

After an exhausting but exhilarating week of Easter music, things are back to the norm - teaching, making reeds, practicing and knitting. I ordered one of the sock yarn samplers from KnitPicks (hah - like any of us really need more sock yarn!!!) and it arrived last week. The color palette is beach.

I like most of it... not a big fan of the green in the back but some sock recipient will be :)

I also stained the spinning stool my DH gave me for Xmas thinking if I get it finished I may actually use it.

Then I emailed Leef to see if she could help me get the missing rods for the lazy kate on my refurbished Scholar.

She has them at the farm now so I hope to take a ride up and get them this week. We (and Ashford) think they are the same ones that are on the current models of the Traveler and Joy. Cross your fingers that they will fit, please.

Someone had a Scholar for sale on Ravelry; she was asking $300 for it. Obviously she did not do her research because you can find them for around $150. No wonder there was no response.

There was some knitting on the Dragonflies this week :

I love it after the heel is turned and the gusset is decreased because we are in the home stretch now :-)

Enjoy your week my friends~

Bluebonnets and Dragonflies

It is Bluebonnet season in North Texas. So on the way home from the University, I pulled over and took a few shots. We don't have the proliferation of some years, but they are still pretty. Or in Texan: purty.

Although the Sirdar Juicy Cardi is still waiting to be seamed, I did CO DragonFly Socks. I bought some inexpensive Serenity Sock Weight at Joanns. The color is "Chili" - the color of the skein in the front. It seems okay, similar to KP Essentials. No, it isn't Lornas Laces but I think it will be just fine.

We have been thankfully busy with Easter music though some of our colleagues are sitting at home. We do feel the economic crunch though so far not so bad. There has been a drop in my DH wedding work and neither of us have Maundy Thursday services this year. Hopefully we can continue to do what we do best - make beautiful music.

I hope your celebrations of Easter and Passover are joyous.

FO: Monkey Socks

Here is the link to Monkey Socks. If you haven't knit these yet, go for it. They are easy enough for knitting while watching TV and complex enough to not be boring. That is just about the perfect balance for me ;-) I actually knit these while traveling, so I am dubbing them my airline socks. They were finished in the hotel room over the weekend (had symphony out of town) and adorned my happy little feet yesterday. I love knitting socks and I love finishing a project.

I used KnitPicks Essentials that came in their sock yarn sampler a year or two ago. This is called Meteor Twist.

The needles were #1 dpns.

And you can see how fat and round my foot is - I used the round toe instead of the one in the pattern. That has become my fave since it fits the shape of my feet best.

The cardigan is ready for shoulder seaming, then on to picking up the stitches for the front band. I didn't want to do that in the hotel due to a lack of light but hope to get it finished this week. Pictures soon.

Have a lovely week :-)

Montgomery Worsted Mill

As we are driving back from dropping my husband at the Newburg/Stewart Airport, Mom sees this sign for the Montgomery Mills and says, "I used to come here to buy yarn."

We pulled in and up over the hill was a very old building with an historical marker

We went in

There were wonderful snow white silks, wools, cottons ready for dying. Alpaca, blends, natural colors, tweeds and more. There were so many boxes of yarns I was a bit overwhelmed.

But I did find a delicious wool/alpaca DK blend in a gorgeous charcoal gray. They sell by the pound - 1 lb = 1330 yards. I think it will be enough for a simple cardigan.

I was so intrigued by this place, on the way to the airport the next day I stopped back in and asked if I could take a few pictures.

I was in a bit of a time crunch so I couldn't stay very long to talk to the folks there but definitely plan to stop in next trip and spend more time. I hope it is still there; this is an article on the mill and the dificulty of it's survival. If you would be interested in joining me in a Ravelry group for the Montgomery Mills, I would be happy to start one. Please email me, comment here, or leave a message in my Ravelry inbox - Cecioboe. Maybe we can make more people aware of this hidden gem.

Insanely Busy

I just finished week-long run of The Secret Garden put on at a nearby private school. A colleague is the orchestra director there (and a fine violinist) who did a fabulous job conducting us. The orchestra was pro (except for 3 terrific students) so it made things quite nice. The kids did a bang-up job in 4 performances! We old folks had fun working these talented high schoolers and I think the kids got quite a thrill singing with a real orchestra.

Knitting content is nil - I didn't get home until 11:30pm all week and was too pooped to knit. Next week I will have some new pics for you.

G'night for now -

This FO only took a year

I just couldn't bring myself to finish the seaming.

Now that I have, I really don't know why.

This is Sirdar Cardigan #8872 knit with Sirdar Ocean.

The yarn is a cotton/nylon ribbon yarn.

Makes for a very interesting texture but is not my favorite to knit with.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming now.....

Idle hands...

...are the devil's workshop, or so they say.

Here is the next project.

And a bag of yarn for it

And one skein worth of knitting

Juicy DK is a new Sirdar yarn - 80% bamboo and 20% cotton. Soft, supple and splitty (as most cotton yarns are). The color is #426 - a soft peachy/nectarine.

FO: Eyelet Cardi

OMG ~ it fits!! (happy dance)

Why, oh why

Why, oh why do sleeves take so long? There are only a few stitches on the needles (started at 62 and decreased to 42). They are not very big, yet it took me 4 nights of knitting!

It feels really wonderful to know this is going to fit :-) And I love, love, love the Silky Tweed! Too bad it is discontinued.

I was browsing Ravelry for new projects and found Broderie. All I could think of was how great this would look on stage if it was knit in black!

I searched for the yarn recommended and decided it was over my budget so decided on this RYC Luxury Cotton DK instead. Yummy - cotton/rayon/silk softness! Since my LYS didn't enough, I ordered from Webs.

Now I must hurry to finish that second sleeve....

I think I can, I think I can

I think I can, I think I can - knit a sweater that fits!! The Eyelet Cardi is coming along nicely.... since it is a top-down raglan, I can try it on. I believe it is going to fit!

The yarn is an Elsebeth Lavold DK Silky Tweed and I am using #4 Options.

Thanks for all the comments about the too-big bluebell. I have been wearing it around the house 'cos it's been cold here but I cannot wear it out. The WoolEase feels *really* soft and warm so I may have to give it another chance on some other item. We'll see how pilly it gets after wearing and washing a few times.

And regarding reed making - yes, professional oboists make all their own on a daily basis. It is just part of what we do. I learned when I was in college but try to teach my advanced students while they are still in high school. We split, chop, gouge, scrape and agonize over the reed constantly. I think playing oboe is a love/hate relationship. Actually that is a good thing for me as it keeps my brain cells a-hoppin'!

We are performing the Poulenc Sextet today on a recital at one of the local community colleges. We played it yesterday for a music club meeting and it was very well received. I hope today will be as good. Cross your fingers for us :-)

Ahhhhh, oboe cane and a little rant

As an oboist, one of the tasks I must do is make reeds.

In order to do so, the materials must be prepared.

This is the cane aka arundo donax

in the form that we reed makers purchase it -

harvested, dried, chopped and sized

Then we split it, chop it even shorter and gouge it.

These are the curls from gouging

The gouged cane looks like this

And here are a few pieces soaking so that I can make some reeds

And that is how I spend some of my non-knitting time.

At least in part.

Edit: I have to add a minor rant to this. Tonight at 7:50 (we had dinner out) I received a call asking about my availability for a job in late Feb. I called back as soon as we returned home (8:40) and left a message for the contractor. He called back after a while and told me he had left numerous messages for people for that gig and someone already responded so he didn't need me after all. I was a bit miffed and told him that I thought that was really not a nice way to hire people. So now I guess I won't hear from him again.

But really - if you are going to put out a cattle call, at least have the courtesy to say that on the message. I find this a pretty tacky aspect of some contractors that we do not encounter too often. And if they do say that on the message, we frankly don't usually bother to call back.

I will just stay home that weekend and knit. So there!

Thanks! Whew! I feel better now :-)

Bluebell V-Neck Cardigan FO

Okay - here it is - in all it's gigantic glory.

I used WoolEase and #6 Options. I think this is a nice pattern but I would like it in 1) smaller size and 2) lighter weight yarn. WoolEase is not my favorite yarn, either. Although I love the color, it was *really* fuzzy and seems like it will pill pretty vigorously.

Thanks for the sympathy on this one Marj .... And I am taking your comment to heart, Janiannie and knitting my next one a smaller size. May I really am not as big as I think :-) Or maybe I just don't get the ease idea right. At any rate, on to the next project.

Thanks for your flower comments. They make me smile, too.

Too big, too bad!

Happy Sunday morning. Thanks for your thoughts on the Jacques Cousteau Cap. It fit the recipient perfectly :-)

Unfortunately I cannot say the same thing about my Bluebell V-Neck Cardigan. It is enormous on me and I am thoroughly bummed! I thought I got gauge and knit the proper size - but Nooooo. So I am not posting a picture of it today. Waaaaah! I have now knit 4 items that have all been too big and am not happy about it.

I told Jim I was determined to knit something that fits, so I cast on this. I am using some yarn I have in my stash: Silky Tweed by Lavold. I began on #4 needles and it seems to be the right gauge (or not). I think I start knitting tighter then loosen my grip as I go along so everything gets bigger. I'm not sure how to correct that...

Here are a few flowers in my living room to brighten your day:

Amaryllis

and some Bromeliads

Enjoy your week.