MORE ON THE SHAWL

This is the shawl I started last week Saturday.  Here are some more details on that project and pattern.

The yarn is Lion Brand "Scarfie" colour 216, Cream/Silver.  There are 5.3 oz/150g in a ball, 312 yds./285 m., gauge: 14sts/4" or 10 cm. on US #9 needles or metric 5.5.  The needles I'm using are Knit Picks, Interchangeable Rainbow Wood Needles.  There are 9 sets of points, sizes US 4/3.5 mm to US 11/8.0mm.  They came with four cables, but no cable connectors. The wood points are very, very smooth and that makes for fast knitting.

These points screw onto the cables, which gives a very smooth join.  The stitches don't get "hung up" on the join while you knit, so the knitting moves along very smoothly.  That's such an advantage!  But there was a problem with them early on.  I hadn't noticed that the points tended to "screw loose" from the cables while I was knitting.  Suddenly the right hand point came loose from the cable and stitches were hanging off the gap (no picture)!  I transferred the right hand stitches, already knit, to the left hand needle and reattached the point to the cable.  After that experience, I "rescrew" the join after each row--no more problems.  Here you see the point and the cable partly unscrewed.

I especially appreciate these needles because I used to have a set of "Denise" interchangeable.  That join between the needle and the cable was quite bumpy and stitches tended to get hung up on the join.

This morning I finished the first ball of yarn and started on the second one.  It was important to find out how far the first ball covered, to know if the second ball would be sufficient to finish the shawl.  I think it will work.  If it came up short I would need to buy a third ball, but I'm pretty sure there is enough yarn to finish.

When joining yarn I make a knot and a bow on the wrong side of the work.  

When the piece is finished I will go back, untie the bow and knot and weave in the ends of yarn. 

NOT THE SOCK...

Well, what I have been knitting the past few days is not the sock.  There's a new project.  It's always so much fun to start a new project!

My friend Mary brought this shawl, which she had bought at a flea market, to me and asked me to extract a knitting pattern from it.  Fortunately, it's a very simple shawl:

It doesn't look like much, just spread out like this.  You get a better idea when you see how it's worn:

I took this picture with the help of the mirror on the closet door.  My left hand is held out just to show you how long the shawl is when worn.  It's very cosy.

It was easy to chart this simple shawl.  Here's the run down:  

SIMPLE SHAWL:

Cast On 70 sts. (or as many as needed to create a width of 20").

Knit 12 rows in garter stitch.

Section A:

Row 1: Knit 6 stitches, purl to the last 6, knit the last 6 sts.

Row 2: Knit all stitches.

Alternate these two rows for 18 rows.

Section B:

Knit four rows garter stitch.

Alternate Section A and Section B until you have 11 sections.

Repeat Section A one more time.

Knit 12 rows garter stitch.

NOTE: In the second section A, row 8, knit 8 stitches, cast off 5 stitches.  In row 9, when you come to the cast off stitches, cast on 5 stitches, finish the row as per usual.

Mary's shawl was knit in a fairly heavy cotton yarn, 14 stitches to 4 inches.

My first try with the lovely acrylic yarn that I bought at Walmart was short 2 inches in width, so I pulled it out and recast with 77 stitches.  That version had a big problem: there was a knot in the ball of yarn causing an abrupt colour change from grey to cream, totally unacceptable.  I pulled that one out and recast with 80 stitches with my second ball of yarn.  That's the version you see here:

This is the version that was begun Saturday morning.  We had company from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning, during which time there was some progress made.  Since it's such a simple pattern it's possible to knit while visiting or watching t.v.

This yarn is from Lion Brand and it's called "Scarfie".  I really like how soft and smooshy it is.  It will be comfy to throw around my shoulders when I'm sitting reading or just need a bit of warmth when watching t.v.  And a scarf is a nice change from one pair of socks after another.

I FEEL A LITTLE LOST...

I feel a little lost without a sock project on the needles!  I finished the pair for Zack, and the pair for my sister.  There is a pair I could finish that were started back in March as a demonstration for the sock knitting class, showing how to combine two different balls of yarn to get a nice mix of colours, but ...  they're not for any specific person.  The two granddaughters tried them on last week, but they were too small.  I should just get them out and finish them.  Maybe they would fit my friend Marcy who will be here tomorrow to sew with me.

When I get back home-home (Alberta, as distinguished from just "home" which is here in AZ), I will start a pair for Lola, who received my gift certificate and certificate of promise for a pair of hand-knit socks as the Pieceful Stitchers Christmas party.  Together we'll pick out the yarn for that, unless she already has bought the yarn.

I did start a hat to go with the scarf, but that's not too inspiring.  There's just a lot of plain garter stitch that needs to be done on that.

O.K., so I will get off my "duff" and get pick up that pair from March.  Picture of the finished pair will follow.

ABOUT THE LASAGNE

I had bought two big frozen lasagnes ahead of time, one with meat and cheeses and one "vegetable lasagne."  That looked interesting.  It was also very interesting what was left after the seven of us had our fill:

The one on the left is the vegetable lasagne--barely one square left over.  On the right: 3/4 of the meat/cheese lasagne.  We all agreed the vegetable lasagne is a winner!

It's Stouffer's Party Size frozen Vegetable Lasagne.  I bought it at the local Walmart.  Highly recommended!

VISITING

We've had the pleasure of a visit with our Dear Son #2, Geoffrey and his wife Cindy, daughters Katherine (18) and Kimberley (15)  along with Dear Son #1, Tim.  Tim arrived last Wednesday (he's been in and out with us since the end of November) and Geoff and family arrived on Thursday.  It was wonderful that the four of them were able to stay in my friend Mary's condo, just the second door down from us.  I had thought to rent room in a nearby hotel, but this was even more convenient! Great Big Thanks to Mary!

Most of the visiting was around the table (7 of us at mealtimes) or sprawled in the living room.  Kimberley is just about asleep on the couch, you can see only the top of her head.  But we also spent several hours at the pool, relaxing, reading and swimming.  We had a VERY GOOD time together!

Since I was still struggling with that virus (or whatever it is) I gave them grocery money and said I would provide dinner each evening, but for the rest they had to take care of themselves, which they are very well able to do.

For Thursday I had made a big pot of chilli, which is a traditional meal for arriving guests.  Easy to make ahead, and better tasting the longer it simmers.  Friday we went out to Golden Corral where everyone can choose whatever they want to eat.  The food is good there, but if you go there quite often, it gets a little boring, as the buffet is always the same, but does have good variety.

Saturday we had hamburgers scheduled, but they stopped at a Wendy's on their way home from a hike and had burgers, so I made (Sunday's) lasagne instead.  Sunday we had the burgers.  I had bought the special, big burgers from Sprout's--very good!  And then on Monday I went all out with a very nice meal--fresh small tomatoes, cut up cucumbers, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, oven-roasted brussels sprouts, pork medallions with stuffing, pie (pecan/cranberry) and ice cream for dessert.  It all turned out really well and was a wonderful New Year's dinner for us.

Yesterday they left around 10:15a.m. to return the rental car to the airport and catch their flight to Vancouver.  They called in the evening to let us know they were safe and snug at home again, with the wood burning in the fireplace.  It was especially nice that we had temperatures in the 70's while they were here, about 10º above average for this time of year.  They're already planning to come back next year around the same time.