Not a very knitty weekend. My parents came to visit and as my mom's a major league scrapbooker, that's what we did all weekend. I'm trying to get the whirlwind trips we took in December down in the books, but it's been difficult. I think part of the problem is that there's so much stuff that I'm overwhelmed.

I did get my order from Elann.com (I love this place!). Every now and again, I'll mosey over to the site to see what's new and I almost always order something. I picked up the Oat Couture Applegate shirt pattern and enough Nova Sophia (cotton/linen) to knit it. It will be a beautiful, drapy, summer-kind of shirt. I can't wait to get started. I have to fly to DC on business this week - I think this may be my in-flight knitting.

Have no fear, the Kimono is coming along nicely. My sister oohed and aahed over the finished bits and can't wait for me to get it finished. I think she's having delusions about borrowing it - HA!

So, why is it, I'll be at home for days and no one calls me. The one night I'm in bed and actually sleeping, the phone rings off the hook (yes, Mom, I mean you). Then my husband decides he's leaving early this morning to go fishing - resets the alarm for 3:30 am and asks me to wake him when it goes off!! Can you hear me making that really disgusted noise we can all make when extremely irritated?

As a result of the failed sleeping experiment, no knitting was done at my house either last night or this morning. I have to say that when I can't actually knit, reading about knitting is a close second. I've discovered Wendy Knits (link on the side there) and the woman is amazing! Her current sweater is the stuff of my knitting dreams. Oh to be so dedicated to color!

I hate it when I can't sleep. Normally, sleeping is not a problem for me, but lately it's been an issue (mostly because it's hard to find a comfortable position for my shoulder). The upside is, I've been knitting like a fiend. It's pretty amazing what a couple of hours on the couch with AMC on the TV can do for my current project.

So, I reached my (weekend) goal of having half the right front done on the Kimono. I have to say, this sweater really looks cool. I'm hoping to have pictures up soon. Not much other knitting is getting done. Here's what else I have on the needles:

1. sock from the green/yellow/beige colorway of Sockotta
2. unspun silk scarf (I got bored!)
3. fluffy, girly scarf made of yarns I bought when last in Seattle (September 2002)
4. Mountain Colors vest (okay, it's not really on the needles anymore, it's waiting for the crochet edging around the armholes and neckline - I've done the neckline twice and ripped it out twice then got disgusted with the whole thing and stuffed it in a bag)

Hmmm, it's getting warmer around here, maybe I should get that vest done soon. It will look really cute with a t-shirt under it. New weekend goal?

The left front of the Kandinsky Kimono is drying on my dining room table. I finished it up late last night and cast on right away for the right front. It's my small superstition that I'll never finish a project if I don't have a piece at least cast on. So, the right front is about 4 rows long, but it's started.

I woke up early this morning to be able to rinse and block the left front. It makes me feel good when I come home and see a knitted piece out on the table - a nice welcome home. (Never mind that I'll be picking cat hair off forever.)

I'm dreaming of taking over my husband's half of our shared craft room. His fly tying table has somehow made it into the middle of the room and is encroaching on my space. I'm wondering how soon he'll notice that it's been moved out into the garage. I'm also wondering about how to take over the basement, but make it damp proof and have enough light to be able to work comfortably. What I really need is a brand new house or at the very least a room of my own (where are you when I need you Virginia?).

Had lunch with my fiber friend Jillian today. I brought the back of my Kandinski Kimono for show and tell. I wanted some confirmation about the woven in ends. They do show, but Jillian (bless her knitter's heart) told me that when I was wearing it and moving around - no one would notice!! That was secretly my feeling, but it's nice to hear someone else saying it too.

Then we spent some time discussing the workshops and retreats at SOAR this fall. I'm thrilled that it's in Michigan this year. I've always wanted to go, but the cost of traveling some where else always put me off. I plan on spending the whole week and spinning so much I get dizzy.

Goal for the weekend...finish the left front of the Kimono and 1/2 the right front. I want to wear this thing on a cool evening this summer.

Jumping back in with both feet...

Yesterday was my first day back at work and wow - work has nothing on sitting on the couch with a 2 litter bottle of Diet Pepsi and the remote control. What I could do if I didn't have to work to pay for it!

So, here's a sample of what I've been working on

This is my first pair of Fuzzy Feet (from the last issue of Knitty) before felting. I gave those to my sister Mitzi and here she is wearing them.

I had such a good time knitting the first pair that I made a second pair. Here's my friend Terri wearing those. What fun - now they both have the image of me sitting on my couch, wearing my sling and knitting for them!

I also started on the Kandinsky Kimono and the back is complete. (No picture yet.) I'm a little worried about the ends I wove in. I decided right away that I didn't want to weave them all in after the sweater was complete, so I've been weaving them in as I go along. The problem is with some of the brighter colors - they show through on the black background. You can't really see them from about 2 feet away, but they bother me. My husband just rolls his eyes and says, "Live with it, it's a beautiful piece." (He really did say beautiful - go figure!)

Okay, even with my ever increasing range of motion, that's enough from me today!

Okay, let's get something out there right now...shoulder surgery HURTS!!! Maybe I'm naive, but I expected to be able to sleep in my own bed and function normally after the narcotics wore off. This is not the case (as I sit here typing with one hand because I can't take off the sling yet).

I tried knitting yesterday. It wasn't that hard with my circular needle. I figured if I stopped when it started hurting I'd be okay. Problem was, it didn't stop hurting. My husband has been making me ice all day today (as much as is safe anyway).

So, I've learned my lesson - sit on the couch with an ice pack and the remote. I just feel like I'm wasting valuable time doing nothing!!! Dr.'s visit isn't until Tuesday - I'm sure I'll live until then.

I pulled out the materials for the Kandinsky Kimono, you know, to just look at and touch. I didn't want to start anything new until I seamed up the Mountain Colors vest. Well, of course that lasted about 2.5 minutes. I've knitted about 20 rows on the back - at least I've forced myself to knit only in my early morning hours until the vest is done. I should be able to do the seaming in direct sunlight this weekend and then I can fly on the Kimono.

I'm in a very happy place these days because my fiber friend Jillian (the Knitting Frau) is coming back! She was here in the area about 10 years ago and we sporadically kept in touch (her in-laws are still here). Anyway, she's coming back sometime this spring!! Whenever I get bummed out about something, I tell myself "Jillian's coming back and she can talk you into starting a new project and out of your doldrums in no time flat."

Shoulder surgery is Monday - I'm a little scared, but mostly hopeful that everything will turn out okay. (or at least that the orthopod doing the surgery doesn't make it worse!) I'm a little unsure about how much time off I'll have (my concern is being able to drive well enough to get back to work). Anyway, I hope I'll be able to knit and spin at least a little.

Here's my wheel. It's been sadly neglected for the last couple of months, but we'll see what a little time off can do for it. I have a whole fleece that's sitting in my basement designated for a project - it needs to be carded and spun first. I'll let you know how far I get.

So glad last week is over. I knew it was going to be bad, but I never really understand how bad it can be until I'm living it. I had 2 consecutive days of software training, followed by a day-long meeting. My head was swollen. I didn't even go home on Wednesday, just checked into a hotel in town - now that's dedication (or stupidity!).

I finished the pieces of the Mountain Colors vest yesterday. It's a beautiful dark colorway, so I didn't want to seam it at night. I'm hoping that sometime this week, I'll get home early enough to have natural light. I also need to dig out my reference books to learn how to crochet an edging around the neck and arm openings.

My shoulder surger is next week. I'm wondering how soon afterward I'll feel like knitting. I will probably bring in the yarn and pattern for the Kandinsky Kimono before I go to the hospital. I'll feel better if I can see it, even if I don't feel like working on it.

Hmmm, does it count that I was at least knitting like a fiend even though I didn't knit the thing I said I would? I still had the Mountain Colors ribbon in the car when I took my son to hockey practice on Friday night. To keep my daughter busy during his practice, I took the ribbon into the rink and she held it while I rolled it into balls. She didn't complain too much because it was so soft and yummy (I did have to tolerate her rubbing the yarn on her face every now and again).

So after that sensory experience, I had to start knitting with it right away. My first attempt produced 6 inches of knitting before I realized that I had made a mistake and shifted one of the lace panels over a couple of stitches. When I held it up for my husband to view, he shook his head and said, "You have to take it out don't you?" When I said, "Yup" and shrugged my shoulders, he looked at me in surprise and said "Wow, not so traumatic, that would have made you cry a couple of years ago." While he got the timing wrong (it was more like 7 or so years ago that it would have made me cry) he surprised me by remembering how traumatic a mistake like this used to be. Now, it's not such a big deal - I get to enjoy knitting with the yarn again!

So, anyway I have just a few more inches to go on the back of the vest and I'm hoping to knit that away tonight and get started on the front. I love vests!!!!

It worked for me last weekend, so I'm game to try again. I'll announce the big project I'm going to start and then I'll have to give a report on Monday. I'm going to start the Kandinski Kimono (Interweave Knits, Spring 2002). Mission Falls Cotton is the most luscious cotton I've ever knit with. Normally, I hate to knit with cotton, so I picked up a ball of this stuff, just to try it out and FELL IN LOVE! The fabric is lovely and the drape is wonderful. I can't wait to get started.

I have been working on being ambidextrous in the last couple of days. It's not as hard as I expected it to be. I realized that I already do a lot of stuff with my non-dominant hand; it was a little surprising. There are some things that are just impossible for me to do with my left hand, however (clicking the seatbelt while in the driver's seat comes to mind). Oh well, I guess I won't be back to work as quickly as I had "hoped."

So, it seems that I can't get myself working on another big project right now. I'm overwhelmed with having to make a decision (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I seem to be the only one able to make a decision in my office - but that's a completely different story). I'm dithering between which big new sweater to start, so in my hesitation, I went to my LYS yesterday and spent my 20% off coupon on some luscious Mountain Colors ribbon. I fell in love with the pattern last fall and bought it on the spot, but couldn't pay $28.00/hank - no matter how gorgeous it is, and I needed 3 hanks. Well, they're in my stash now...

As promised, I also have a picture of my unspun silk scarf I'm fairly pleased with it and it goes so quickly that I feel a great sense of accomplishment with my 15-20 minutes of knitting nightly. Here's the hankie that it came from My daughter has requested "one just like it...only in purple." I can forgive her, she's only 7, but she knows what she likes!

I figured out how to make the camera work and here is a picture of the front of the finally finished Hanne Falkenberg Dacapo jacket...

And here is the back...


I do believe this is the most cleverly designed thing I've ever knit. I can't quite get my head around how she thought this up - but I am glad she did. Incidentally, the wool was a little rough feeling while I knit, but (as promised) it softened up beautifully when washed. I can't wait to wear it!

It's finished!!! The Dacapo is done and drying on my dining room table. I wanted to take a picture of it, but as I don't have my own digital camera, I haven't done it yet. Will be taking a camera from work to get the pics up ASAP.

The unspun silk scarf is coming along nicely. I didn't have the self control to attenuate all of the silk hankie before beginning the knitting - just wanted to get started. So, I did approximately 1/3 of the hankie and grabbed the needles. It's very soft and looks terrific, I'm just a little concerned about pilling. I think I'll wash it before beginning a second scarf. I'll also have to pull out my stitch dictionaries and see if there are other simple patterns I like to try this technique on the 12 other hankies I have in my spinning stash.

So, what's up for my next "big" knitting project? If I take a look at my list - it's the Philosopher's Wool sweater kit my mother-in-law bought for my birthday. Her's is absolutely gorgeous and I'd love to have a sweater like that. Of course, I could also finish the Sally Melville design I started last year and promised to have finished before going to Stitches East in October (the back and sleeves are done, as is 1/2 of the right front). Oh well, having no self control (as I stated before), I'll probably pull out the Philosopher's kit and at least ball up the yarn.

By the way, husband is doing well - with a minimum of whining on his part. He still needs help moving from bed to living room, but all in all for one who had surgery less than a week ago, he's in good spirits and fairly good health. I told him this morning that he has to be well enough to drive me home after my own surgery in approximately 2 weeks (rotator cuff tear). He's promised that he'll be designated driver as well as general supportive guy.

I'm going to take some advice from the KnitFlame list and start trying to be ambidextrous for the 2 weeks prior to the surgery. The tear is (of course) in my dominant shoulder and I'm worried about being able to drive back and forth to work. We'll see how it goes.

I've been looking for a turtleneck black dress to wear with my Dacapo sweater. I found one (with the help of my sister-in-law) at L.L. Bean. I hesitated to buy it, because it only has a mock turtleneck and I really prefer "real" turtlenecks. Well, I figured that I could just send it back if I didn't like it - so I ordered. It arrived yesterday and it's perfect! I tried it on this morning and then ran to get the unfinished Dacapo and it looks great.


So, my weekend plans are to finally finish the jacket (and I'm hopeful that I'll post a picture of it as well). I'd also like to finish the unspun silk scarf. There, it's in print and I'll have to hang my head in shame if it isn't done by Monday.


One more thing, husband is coming home tomorrow. It will be an extremely happy day for his little Brittany Spaniel who is about to starve herself for want of seeing her "boy."