My back’s against the wall.

I fly out tomorrow. Is the grey shawl finished? No. The knitting is done. My internal time clock is WAY off with the recent time change, so when I woke up this morning at 3 AM, there was nothing else to do, but to knit as fast as my fingers could move. Which I did, in the yarn room, (which miraculously had enough room for me to sit down and knit - that's another story), praying that I had enough yarn to finish this baby. Then I got to the bind off. Now I’m thinking, don’t do it Kathy, just bind it off and get the thing in wool wash so you are not bringing a damp, smells like a wet, dirty dog, wool shawl on the airplane tomorrow. Don’t you realize YOU HAVE TO BLOCK THIS THING NOW??? Do I listen to myself, oh no. I have to be Ms. Perfectionist. We don’t want a normal bind off; we want a nice elastic, bind off with no discernable stitches along the edge. So of course that means the Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off. So I grab a Chibi, cut a 19 foot, yes 19 foot tail, and start the bind off. And I bound off, pulling that length of tail through every stitch. Am I finished binding off? No. Is the shawl blocked? No. Can I work on it tonight? No, I have to pack and take the boys trick or treating. DO I wish I was anywhere else than my desk at work, and could continue with my bind off? Yes. Am I starting to feel like I am running out of time? OH YES! Is this girl going to drink some alcohol on that plane tomorrow? Stupid question – YES!

Knit a Dale in a Year - Yeah Baby!

We are up! Here is a picture of seven of the Highlands Ranch String Knit a Dale in a Year knitters, with our sleeves. The goal is to knit these sweaters over the next year, and by Halloween of 2007 have some GORGEOUS sweaters. It's slow going in the beginning, getting gauge, and modifying some patterns, but I'm thinking this is going to be fun. Next update on the sweaters, sometime around Thanksgiving. Want to join us?

No blizzard last night, and I sure didn't hear any wind , but here is the other half shoveling very heavy, wet, snow that is continuing to fall. The higher elevations already received 14 to 16 inches. We are around 4 or 5 so far, not enough to close the schools. I'm working from home today so no playing in the traffic for me, YAY! Glad I'm not trying to get to Denver today. Maybe later the grey shawl will get some attention. Stiches East is just a week away.

So where is the snow?

Here's the deal. All day long I have received weather alerts on my computer - blizzard warning, 8 to 15 inches of snow, wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour. And I'm thinking, what a great thing, I can knit all day long! So, it's supposed to start tonight, but it's 9:15PM, and there's no snow. No sprinkles, not even any rain, and I sure don't hear any wind whipping through the Aspen trees in the backyard. My thermometer says it's 53 degrees. Was this a test, getting us ready for the 3rd, yes count them, 3rd snow of October? I don't know. I thought I could still see the mountains when I looked out the window. Hmmm. I wonder what I will wake up to tomorrow morning, or maybe tonight? What's nice, our powerlines are underground, so we probably won't lose any power if this storm actually happens. As long as we have some wine in the wine cellar, and can dig a path next door to get some beer from the keg that is always ontap, as far as I am concerned, it can snow all it wants. I have yarn, I have needles, I have yarn for one, two and 3 glass of wine sweaters (how many glasses of wine you can drink while working on your sweater and not have to rip out what you knit). All I'm looking for is some snow...

YUCK!

Did someone say yuck? Because that’s how I feel. I don’t mean that I am sick or anything, it’s just that everything seems to be a pain in the backside right now.

I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the grey cable shawl, but the thought of knitting 36 more rows of cables, and then some 12 rows of seed stitch seems never ending. I worked on the purple swallowtail shawl last night, but I think it’s going in the frog pond. I just don’t know if it measures up to the beautiful cashmere I’m knitting with. I need to work on something new, something that makes me want to stay up way too late just because I don’t want to put it down.

It could be that I just have a case of the blahs. I hate an endless project I am working on at work. It’s just me and the boys this week while the other half is hunting. Maybe it’s just because my knees are hurting, and I wish I had the knees (and body) I had in my 20s. Who knows? But today it is just yuck!

Did someone say snow?

Do you see what I see? It's snowing, and before it's all over there may be 6 to 8 inches on the ground tomorrow morning. There are still leaves on the Aspens, and my roses still looked beautiful, and I guess we picked the last of the tomatoes on Sunday. This is what I refer to as Halloween snow, although it's 2 weeks early. We always get snow in October it seems, so the kids have to wear heavy coats over their costumes, and we slip and slide on the snow and ice. Then two days later it is gone and it's back in the 60's. Welcome to Colorado!

What knitting is going on today? Well, the lovely Anne, designer of the Wing of the Moth Shawl (www.knitspot.com) invited me to join the red sweater KAL (www.redsweaterkal.blogspot.com). Red you say? Did I have red in the stash? Of course. So I went shopping in the stash, and brought out the Jane Slicer-Smith swing coat which needs to get done, ripped out the whole back, because it was too long, washed the wool and viola! We are up on the needles. Now who doesn't need a little red in their life?

Let's see, what else? I'm in love...with my new washer and dryer. The Kenmore front loading HE4T, quiet as can be, and they HOLD A BOATLOAD!!!!!! Just cutting down to one load of jeans is making this girl very happy.

Well, I've got some work to do, some knitting is calling my name. And it's still snowing...

I'm back for a while

Hopefully all my road trips except for Stitches East are over for a while. It seems that I have been on a plane every other week for months, and although it's great knitting time, I really am behind at work and at home. The yarn room is a mess. I have so many projects I want to work on, but some I don't even know where they are in the room. I need time to organize, but I doubt that that will happen in the near future. It's too bad that I have to work so I can buy yarn.

Sucking the Life out of Me...

Do you have one of those projects? It will be gorgeous when it is done, but oh my goodness, as my friend Diane would say, "It's sucking the life out of me!" It appears never ending. If it is a shawl, you swear that it hasn't grown an inch, and heaven forbid that the thing ever gets blocked. If it's a sweater, it's not even close to the time of year to wear the thing, because it doesn't seem like it WILL EVER GET DONE, and you still need to knit the sleeves. Or what about the other sock? The first one was fun, but now the second one is just another thing to be added to the list of unfinished projects. I have about 4 or 5 of these projects, 2 of which are coats, and one of them is the grey shawl. I want to wear them in my lifetime. I just am sick of knitting them. I think that is why I start so many projects. Life is too short for knitting to feel like a chore. Oh well, back to the grey shawl.....

Close up of the shawl 

I like my cable needle...

If the picture shows up, I have something pretty to show you. I am working on Cheryl Oberle's Kilkenny Cable Shawl, and am close to being half way done. It's in Black Water Abbey Yarn. I really would like to get this finished this week. Now, I love cables, but let me tell you, it takes me almost a half hour to twist the cables over the 308 stitches, which is done every 4th row. And this yarn has always been hard on my hands. I love the finished product, after it's been in a wool wash. I'm thinking the next time I might wash the wool first. Anyway, back to the cables... Now people have tried to sell me on cabling without a needle. First there was Amy at knitting camp, who said that it was the way to go. Then Marilyn of Black Water Abbey said you should cable without a needle, it's so much faster. But you know what? I LIKE MY CABLE NEEDLE! I don't think I'm any faster without it, and you know I like to find ways to knit faster. What do you think?

Friends

What is it about knitting that you meet the nicest people?

We had a discussion about this last night at the LYS, because our significant others just don’t get why we go to the store to knit. It’s because of friends. Friends that come in all shapes, sizes and ages. Friends who just like to knit socks, those who are new to knitting and are willing to try anything, friends who know so much about our craft of choice that they will forget more than you can ever learn in a lifetime. Friends who just make you smile when they walk in the door of the shop. Friends who are going through a hard time. Friends who make you laugh so hard that your face hurts, or you snort your drink up your nose. Friends who were very quiet and reserved when you first met them, and then you find out that they have a wicked sense of humor and can make you laugh hysterically when they describe how to use a Nastapena to wind yarn. Friends who make you rip. Friends who will join you on knitting trips. Friends you have met through blogs.

And they all appreciate your abilities, your unfinished, and your finished objects. Knitting just attracts the nicest people. To all my friends, thank you.

Is it fall?

How do you tell that it is fall? Of course, you have your obvious signs, the lovely red, orange and yellow leaves, the glorious sunsets,, the crisp “sweater weather days.” Football games. Today the boys and I saw enough leaves on the ground to rake up and jump in. Maybe we could combine some leaf jumping with our “pajama walks” who knows?

For me, there are a couple of signs. One is the first bloody nose of the season, and luckily it usually happens while you are taking a shower. At 5,390 feet it sure gets dry here and your nose pays the price, along with chapped lips and dry hands.

The second sign for me is knitting on anything, and you don’t get hot with it sitting on your lap. I was riding the lightrail into work this morning, kntting on my wrap out of Black Water Abbey worsted weight, and noticed that even though I had my jacket zipped up, and lots of knitted work on my lap, I wasn’t uncomfortable. Yep – it’s fall. Time to break out the sweaters.

There's just not enough time....

It's October already. Where did the summer go? And Stitches East is a month away. How did this happen? Surely I had all the time in the world to knit beautiful things that I was going to wear in Baltimore. Are they done? NO!!!!!! So I have to attempt to be realistic and choose a few items that I can knit on. Now some of you are laughing at this because you have some idea of the size of my stash, and that there is no way that I could possibly enumerate how many projects I have on needles. Yes, I have start"itis." I love to see what a new yarn or pattern does. I like the smell and the feel of new wool. I have been asked to leave many people my stash in my will.

Oh, and to add to the mix, I start studying for the Colorado Bar this month so I can get licensed here. (Nasty Colorado Bar examiners, no reciprocity for California attorneys!)

I will attempt to finish these items before November 1: 1. My Cheryl Oberle shawl in a beautiful silvery grey Black Water Abbey wool. 2. My swallowtail shawl in gorgeous purple cashmere. 3. My twisted sisters sweater in a nice slubby cotton, and 4. is yet to be named.

Now I will have to cast on a new sweater this month, because I'm teaching a "Knit a Dale Sweater in a Year" class at Highlands Ranch String (www.stringboutique.com).

Can she complete the task? Or is it Mission Impossible?