Almost a Blog Entry

I promised myself that I wouldn't post another blog entry till I finished something--

SO

The Clapotis is finished!



Well. . . sort of. I still have stitches to drop and ends to weave in.



Consider this sort of a blog entry.

Cast Away!

I figured out the tubular cast on! Thanks to part 1 and part 2 of this video.

To cast on, I used a very long straight needle. (Thank you for the needles, Aunt Ellie!) As you can see, I kept the needle upright. And, when I knit the swatches, I tucked one needle under my arm.



Here are the swatches. The left one is the long-tail cast on. The right one is the tubular cast on. Something seems off and I'm not sure I like the look of it. Several people have suggested that I should try Eunny's tubular cast on and I will.



One more thing. The blue (almanac) yarn was asking to be something else. Thank goodness I have more Shelter yarn in hayloft to make the scarf!

Bedeviled

Read over the pattern for the Wayfarer Scarf. Got stuck because it calls for a tubular cast on. Since this is a cast on I'm not familiar with, I looked it up here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Using scrap yarn that I keep handy for practicing techniques, I attempted a few of these methods. However, this tubular cast-on is surely the work of the devil because I began to hear Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells."



I'm just not getting it. I liked Isolde's cast on (the first link) best--but distracted me couldn't keep up the rhythm of under, over, back, forward . . . Oh, it's sunny out. . . What was the name of my second grade teacher? . . . Casting on--right. Now where the heck was I?

And all those other ways to cast on? They just made my head spin around.

So I wound a skein to chase away the demons.



And started a swatch to get acquainted with the yarn and to see how it looks using different needle sizes.



I'll figure out this tubular cast on over the weekend. But if you don't hear from me in a few days, please send an exorcist. An exorcist who knits. And exorcist who knits and can do a successful tubular cast-on.

Gimme

Shelter!



OH MY GOSH!

I'm weak--I'm the first to admit it. I tried to resist this yarn. I really did. But all it took was a gentle nudge. You know who I'm talking to, Jane.

What will this tweedy, yummy deliciousness be? That was an easy decision--Brooklyn Tweed's Wayfarer Scarf. I just love the look of the lines of this scarf. For somebody who barely passed NYS's geometry Regents Exam, it amazes me how my eye is drawn to knits that incorporate strong linear designs. And Mrs. Lenz, my geometry teacher, would be even more stunned since, in high school, I couldn't even figure out what a line was.

Yarn specifics: The color is almanac. I bought it at Loop--but the yarn can also be bought on Jared Flood's / Brooklyn Tweed's website.

I think I'll wind a skein of the yarn tonight and try it out during the game tonight.

Signs of Change

The season (and temperatures) have changed. Some signs of:



Empty outdoor cafes on these chilly days



Pumpkins and gourds for sale





Christmas and Hanukkah displays in stores







No more pale, summery manicures and a handknit scarf



And, best of all, these tee-shirts:



A closer look--