Close Encounters Of The Ursine Kind

We found this when we stepped outside yesterday morning. The remarkable thing is not that a bear wandered through our yard and took a dump, but that our family beast slept through the whole thing. This is a dog that barks at her own shadow; I have no idea how she missed a black bear visit.




It's not all about the wildlife around here though; I also have some knitting show and tell. While at Article Pract in Oakland several weeks back, I was seduced by some Malabrigo Lace Yarn in "Tortuga."


It's mostly solid appearing in the skein, with wonderful greyish-purply/greeny variations that almost but not quite are done justice by this photo. I'm thinking scarf, though I haven't picked out a pattern yet.

I decided I had to jump on the Monkey Sock bandwagon about the time that I found this Koigu:



I'm hoping Hilary is going to jump with me so we can Monkey-Sock-Knit together in Virginia Beach next month.

No better time to segue into a shout-out to "anonymous" whose name I think is Wei-ming. (Am I even close?) We met on my last visit to Article Pract. I love bonding in yarn stores with fellow knitters. Thanks so much for coming to visit me here. How are your socks coming along?

And finally, time to show an in-progress photo of my Leaf and Trellis Stole, from Victorian Lace Today. This is 5 repeats in to what I think will be between 30 and 40 repeats total. Lots of time for progress shots, I know.



Ignore the funky pink provisional cast on. I'm using JaggerSpun Zephyr wool-silk. I know it looks sort of whitish here, but it's in a color called Mushroom. I'm using a much smaller needle than the pattern specifies, so I've added an extra 43 stitch repeat to make it wide enough. I'm using Addi Turbo Lace needles (3.25mm) for the first time and they are all they are reputed to be: Pointy enough, smooth join, not too slippery, lovely to work with!

The Colors Of Spring In Juneau

The weather has been quite lovely since I got back. There's been more dry than wet and a fair amount of sunshine. So we took a walk up Montana Creek Road the other day, and I couldn't help but notice that the lupine blooming amidst all that green reflected the colors of my baby sweater.

First Grand Niece/Nephew Baby Sweater

Pattern: EZ's Surplice Baby Jacket from VK Spring/Summer 2007
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK in Avocado (~2 1/4 x50 gram balls) and Navy (~1/3 x50 gram ball)
Needles: US Size 5 Knit Picks Options
Finished Measurements: Approximately 10"x10". I knit to the smaller size, but my gauge didn't match precisely. The joy of baby sweaters, for me, is not worrying about getting an exact size. Sooner or later, this will fit.


This was another clever and fun recipe from EZ. I followed the optional guidelines for longer ribbed cuffs and added contrasting I-cord. I also incorporated the suggestion to purl the "marked" stitches on the wrong side to produce a pronounced knit diagonal.

There's No Place Like Home

I recently returned from another medical sojourn in California. I'm feeling great and it is wonderful to be home. I was met at the airport by Nick and the boys who seem to have grown more, while I was away for 5 weeks, than my knitting did! Max is towering above me and all of Toby's pants are suddenly clam-diggers.

When last you heard from me, I was impatient to begin a lace project. It was duly started and provided some soothing knitting therapy for me whilst I was away. But then we got the call that all was well with our niece Julia's pregnancy and I was overtaken by the allure of baby dud knitting.

So here is an in-progress shot of my EZ Surplice Baby Jacket:



Lace beginnings and yarn purchases to be documented soon ...