Fading Memories...

This post is way overdue. Back in July, I promised that I would let you know how I fared at our Moebius Knitting Retreat on the shores of Lake George. As it gets colder and darker here, I am happy to remember those warm halcyon days of summer...

To recap: My two sisters and my s-i-l (and our non-knitting husbands, and our children, some of whom DO knit, but not moebii) gathered for a week long family reunion in Ticonderoga, NY. We stayed in a lovely house right on Lake George and it was the perfect venue for our First Annual Knitting retreat.

My sisterly patience made up for my lack of teaching skills; everyone had a moebius cast on by the end of the first full day and knit diligently ...

and happily...

and even giddily...

until they were finished!!

Follow this link for a close up of Hilary's beauty!

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I have been knitting too. Slowly making my way through a shawl and ready to embark on a pair of mittens. I will try to be a better blogger. I miss all of you!

As fall arrived on Monday, so did the snow on our nearby mountains. We're waking up to crispy mornings and the urge to knit wooly things is strong ..

Summertime And The Blogging Is Iffy

Back from a wonderful long weekend in beautiful Kelowna, BC where Max was playing in a soccer tournament. It was HOT, brutal for the soccer players, and a little bit much for the spectators, but a nice change from our cool Juneau weather. Kristie in Kamloops directed me to a GREAT yarn store, Art of Yarn. (Thanks, Kristie!) It was well stocked with lots of nice yarn, but I was suffering from my usual indecisiveness and left with nary a skein.

It might be just as well that I showed yarn-buying restraint as I will soon join my enablers family for a visit and we are sure to do some yarn store visiting. Anytime we gather, there is a frenzy of knitting related activity. This usually includes actual knitting as well as future project planning, yarn buying, helping - you name it!

This year, we going to be more directed; we're going to have an official knitting workshop! Other years I have encouraged my sisters to start projects, only to leave them on their own, with unfinished projects and great anxiety, at the end of our vacation. This year, I picked a project that could be completed in one week. I'm going to show them all (two sisters and a sister-in-law) how to make a Moebius Scarf a la Cat Bordhi. I'll share highlights of our Ticonderoga Knitting Retreat when I return.

In th meantime, I'm nearing the end of my top-down Tee shirt. It should make for good, mindless, travel knitting.

I hiked my shorts up so that this wouldn't turn into a midriff shot. At this point I probably still have 5-6 inches to go. But I'm ever hopeful that it will be finished soon!

One FO, Two WIPs and a Brush With The Kniterati

I've been a happy knitter for the past few weeks. Around the same time that I changed lace directions, I was also agonizing over my Diagonal Triangle Tank out of my long-stashed Allegro yarn. It just wasn't doing it for me, so I finally ripped that off the needles. It's just as well because once off the needles it looked frighteningly tiny - I don't think it would have fit me. The thing is, I had really grown to like the yarn, but what to make? One day I glanced up and the garter stitch swatch pinned to the cork board above my desk was catching the light just so. Garter stitch brings out all the best in this yarn.

SO what to knit? The time had come to take a crack at a top down sweater ala Barbara Walker. Several months ago I added Knitting From The Top to an Amazon order when I "needed" to add another item to reach the free shipping requirement. (C'mon, you know you've done it...) I've been thumbing through it regularly, feeling too intimidated to jump in, but suddenly I was ready.

I had a few false starts, but now that I'm solidly on my way, it feels right. It's rather hard to do it justice in a photo just yet, but I'll give you a peek anyway ...

I know it doesn't look like much yet, but I'm delighted with it nonetheless. I'm especially happy to have gotten past the "top-down" block. I knew I was going to be a convert, and I've been itching to try it on a human scale ever since I tried it in miniature here.

I had just settled on this and was working the fussy beginnings with shoulders on provisional cast-ons, short rows and neck shaping when the need for a mindless, portable project caused me to set it aside for a few days and cast on for a moebius scarf. It was the perfect take-along project for the 5th grade field trip - a catamaran cruise to Endicott Arm!

We saw whales, goats, bears and a calving glacier!! We never had field trips like this in California!

I finished it up a few days later and I'm very happy with it. I like to wear these doubled, up fairly close to my neck.

Moebius Scarf

Pattern: Basic Purl Ridge Moebius from A Treasury of Magical Knitting, by Cat Bordhi. I did 5-round ridges; next time I think I'll do3. I finished it off with 3 stitch "fingers."
Yarn: Crystal Palace Waikiki
Needles: 47" circular US #7
Best thing about this project: Wearing it to lunch to meet Evelyn Clark!!

I finished it just in time to wear it to lunch with some Juneau knitters and a special guest! The Juneau knitters are two woman, Sally and Kim, I met through Ravelry, and at the time of this lunch I'd only actually met Sally in person. Kim had done a workshop with Evelyn A. Clark a while back and when she learned she was going to be in Juneau for a visit, she invited her out to lunch. Somehow, I got lucky enough to get an invite too!! What a treat!!


I'm behind both in blog posting AND blog reading, but I know there's a meme going around and I've recently been tagged. Helen, I almost never do these (but you know that, don't you?), but I'm flattered that you tagged me .. maybe that will motivate me to post again SOON.