Step Into My Thimble

Below are my two final FOs for 2005. One is a sample and the other is for Rodney…guess which is which? (You can click them for more info.)

I am still working on sleeve 2 of the Elann lace cardigan. I have a lot of notes on this project so I think I’ll summarize all of them eventually. I do have to say this now though:

Someone left me a comment recently about when I started the sleeves, and I am so sorry that I deleted it accidentally… but if it helps I had 60 stitches between the markers for each of the sleeves. When I started working in the round, I took three stitches on either side of the center marker as space for decreases under the arm, and started with nine repeats of the Milanese lace. Eventually I worked it down to seven repeats with decreases all along under the arm. Though I like the look of bell sleeves, I always hate how they drag in things when you actually wear them, so I wanted mine a bit more fitted. The picot bind-off is not as fab as I would have liked but I’m not doing it over at this point–too hard to tear it out and put a lace pattern back on the needles without a lot of mess.

Here is a pan of sticky buns I made the other day.

This is basically a recipe for sweet dough, with chopped pecans plus a slathering of caramel candy I made that never set up all the way. I hated to waste all that butter and brown sugar. They turned out fine, and as usual, they grew way huger than the pan could contain. I have a history of this. I’m not sure why…I guess I just buy good yeast!

Oh and I joined this quilt-along today. Soon I will have a finished quilt top to show you, using the fabrics I wrote about at the bottom of this post.

Rodney is on call for the entire New Year weekend. While this might seem like it sucks, we never seem to do anything for New Year anyway except go to bed around 10, wake up at midnight and kiss (which was really easy when everyone was shooting guns in Chicago the last few years), and then go back to sleep. While he isn’t around for a part of this holiday weekend, he can basically double his paycheck in four short days, so it doesn’t really suck that much at all. Just wish him luck that the calls come in at normal hours instead of at 3am–it’s snowy out there!

It was a sad day in Kalamazoo when the long-standing Salvation Army thrift store on Burdick (or Portage Rd.?) closed, maybe a month or so ago. That one was my favorite after the giant Nu-Way, at least before it moved from the old grocery store on the north side to its current location on Cork Street.* I have not done a lot of thrifting since I moved back here, but the other day I decided to give it a try. Some good things were to be had.

1. An already much-loved, but still in good shape solid maple high chair, ca. 1950s. From the “Treasure Chest” section of the Portage Goodwill store (Milham Rd.)–and if something’s been in that section over 21 days it is half off. So this cost me just over $14 with tax.

The stencil was obviously added later but I like it.

2. Some books. As a bit of background, Rodney and I are both serious library users, as well as longtime small-apartment dwellers, so we haven’t made a habit out of accumulating books for a long time. But now that we have a house I felt it was okay to invest in these gems, from the Nu-Way on Cork St. (which by the way is so junky lately!) Total for the lot: about $6.

The upper left book got cut off a bit. It is actually “American Mountain People” by National Geographic and is full of great photos. Here’s a caption from one of them (over on Flickr).

We already have a copy of Anderson’s Fairy Tales (my beloved one from childhood), which is falling out of its spine. This is the same text block/illustrations, but with a crappier binding. One of the better titles is here.

We also have the extended version with photos, historical info, etc., of Cooking of the British Isles, but it belongs to Rodney’s parents. Until we get to inherit it permanently, this handy spiral-bound copy of the recipes only will do. Would you like the recipe for Syllabub?

And I love the Seashores book with its goofy illustrations. I’m sure that style, or at least the printing technique, has a name. This one I like a lot.

The illustrations in The Pig Plantagenet are nice but black and white and didn’t photograph well.

Tomorrow: baked goods and knitting update!

*I think I’m going to write up a review of all the local thrift stores one of these days. If any of you very few locals are reading this, please let me know of any you think I should include. My knowledge has faded after 10 years living out of town…

Things to do during or before 2006 (with updates 12/29):

-Give this web site a new look (finally)! on hold since WP2.0 is out there now & I want to give it a little time for bugs to be worked out etc.
-Fix the problems with the Librarians/Archivists who Knit web ring (finally)! done, if you still have trouble let me know
-Organize the junk in my basement
-Make curtains for some of the windows in the house bought the fabric
-Bake bread more often–that’s a good 2006 resolution, don’t you think? made some 12/27
-More as I think of them.

Happy holidays to all!

There are so many milestones along the course of one’s pregnancy. This week we have hit a big one: the Overalls Stage. This will probably last all the way to the end.

There is no good way any more to wear things that fit from the non-maternity section. I could, but I’d have a gaping section of gut and the weather is just too cold for that. Overalls are such a casual look, but at least they are comfortable. I’d probably be whining about all this a lot more if I had a job (and had to dress for it)–but even though I am home most of the time, I still like to bathe, get dressed, and feel sort of together every day. Otherwise all the days are just a blur…

Progress has slowed a bit on the Aran Lace cardigan. The lace stitch used for the body of the sweater is really easy to remember, and not that hard to mess up. However, the Milanese lace for the sleeves has provided me with tons of confusion and mistakes so I am finding it not as fun. Here’s a picture of it before I divided it for the sleeves. I blocked it a little bit so I could try it on.

And, with part of the left sleeve in progress.

You can maybe see the underarm on the sleeve where I have been working decreases. This pattern leaves a little room for interpretation. I have decided that I’ll work decreases slowly all the way down the sleeve to avoid too much of a bell shape, so I have a section in the underarm that is stockinette. I am not clever enough to work partial repeats of the lace pattern with decreases (if that makes sense) so it was easier to just take a section and make that into the “decrease area.” There might be better or more attractive ways to accomplish this, but I don’t feel like figuring them out.

Speaking of no job, I am starting some volunteer work for a hospital library pretty soon. I still have to go through the orientation process and get the cool purple “volunteer” vest, but then I’ll be working on the little archival collection with the library manager. It’s the kind of thing that could turn into a grant-funded project if it ends up having enough potential, so we’ll see. And what better place to volunteer than a hospital, when you are getting up on the third trimester of pregnancy?

People! We are now more than halfway through the first implementation of our awesome new opportunity, and we’re thinking about recruiting for the second. Now is a great time to read about the features and consider it for yourself. Maybe we can work out a deal!
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