Revenant

The word-of-the-day on my desktop today is "revenant." It means, "One who returns after a long absence or death." Since I've been feeling a little guilty for not blogging for more than six weeks, I took this word as a sign.

Yep, I'm a revenant. I'm baaaaack!

Now to get caught up with things!

Like many knitters, I have Startitis Syndrome. The pursuit of the new project is such a thrill. Ravelry, with its search function, is my enabler. For example, let's say I want to knit a cabled scarf. OK. There's 67 pages of patterns for a cabled scarf on Ravelry. But then I can add filters: yarn weight, free or purchased pattern, yardage, fiber. So many different possibilities! Weeks can be spent searching.

I start and, at first, the knitting is tons of fun and I knit, knit, knit that scarf all day, all night. But, before too long, I find myself yet again on Ravelry looking for patterns for a new project. And the cabled scarf gets stuffed into a ziplock and tossed into the UFO pile. Sound familiar?

However, a few weeks ago, I enjoyed the sport of pursuing a new project without having to shout over a yelling conscience. "What?! Are you nuts? You're going to begin something new?!"

In August, the hubster and I visited a BIL and SIL in Vermont. These wonderful folks are going to become first-time grandparents in the winter. My SIL is a knitter and so, of course, she's thinking about knitting twee baby things. AND she didn't know about Ravelry!

Well, I took care of that!

What fun it was to introduce somebody to Ravelry! And it was even more fun to search through the patterns knowing that this project wasn't going to end up in my UFO pile.

She found a pattern. And off we went to the yarn store. Yarn was found. Since lucky SIL had won a gift card for the store, buying was even more fun!





SIL is now more than half done with the blanket and, I'm beginning to favorite patterns that I think she might like to knit. I like this! The pursuit without the ball and chain of Startitis Syndrome.

OH! But that doesn't mean I haven't started anything new. Stay tuned!

Bits and Pieces

I know my blogging has been erratic for a while. But that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about blog posts. All of these photos were taken during the summer with the intent that each would trigger their own blog post. But due to laziness, that's not happening.

First is a stole knit by a knit group friend. I've forgotten the pattern and the yarn--but it was lovely and very well-done.



I intended to write a ranting blog entry about summer shoe styles. This photo was taken on a day when it was 95+ both in temperature and humidity. Yet this woman is wearing boots! This is something I totally don't get and I see all over the city. What's worse are the Uggs worn with sundresses.



OK, what's the story here? Maybe the Wicked Witch of the West was wearing Uggs with a sundress and melted from the heat?



More knitting by a friend. Isn't this a sweet little sweater? The yarn is Bernat's Baby Jacquards in Rosebud. That's a self-flowering yarn. LOL



For this photo, the blog entry would have included a recipe for Israeli Salad--a wonderful summery salad. (Cucumber, scallions, tomato, parsley, mint, olive oil and lemon juice.)



And that ends this lazy, summer randomness!

Back to Back

I told myself I wouldn't blog till I had something to show. Ta da!



After ripping back the armhole decreases, I got back on track. But then had to frog back again because I confused ssk and k2tog. I think I still had vacation brain.

Back home, finally I was on my way. About six or so inches and the back will be finished. YAY!

However, I've looked over the instructions for the front. This is my first sweater and reading about how to measure for the buttons and buttonholes is scary. I see that math is involved and math and I have a love/hate relationship.

Experienced knitters, any and all tips and tricks on how to do this would be greatly appreciated!