Almost too sick to knit...

I caught a late summer cold which was miserable. I sneezed and coughed and ached. I abandoned the computer. It was really a challenge to focus enough to knit. The only thing I could manage was my Seaman's Scarf because it was only 3x3 rib. And I really couldn't even do that right. I found purls where there should be knits. The worst was this far down:



I'm so grateful for the lessons I've learned about laddering stitches back up. I wasn't sure that I could manage that many stitches, but I managed. I can't even tell where the corrected stitch is.

So the scarf which is softer than I could possibly imagine marches on.

Car Show Knitting

The knitting isn't particular exciting. It's a Seaman's Scarf in Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere. It's deliciously soft. The needles are KnitPicks Harmony fixed circulars in which are very pointy and not at all flexible; I'm pleased with them. I did a provisional cast-on so that I can make the cabled sections as long as possible. None of that is exciting or even interesting. Look where I was:



Maybe this helps:




Rhinebeck! It's a great venue for the hot rods and we had a nice day. But it looks strange with the barns so empty:



A peek at the pineapple:

I do have a spinning wheel, but

it can't be used for spinning any more. It is a perfectly functional and comfortable rocking chair. It is very old. I remember my dad sitting in it at his aunt's house when I was a child. It wasn't a new chair then. The wood is showing its age so we don't let people sit in it any more. It usually sits in the corner of our living room with a throw over it and a resident stuffed animal.

This weekend, we were hanging some artwork and needed to move it out of the way. Once it was in the middle of the floor, I was really struck by how nice it was. I oiled it and tried to photograph there, but I couldn't do it justice. So I carried it outside. I know that the sun is bad for it, but it was there for a grand total of five minutes so I'm just not going to worry.

And for knitting content, there's this:



I was knitting along this evening and realized that the last row of cat's paw on the left side of the stole is messed up. It's really obvious so I have to fix it. I think the yarnovers are on the wrong side of the decreases. If that's all it is, I think I can straighten it out without ripping. But that's a project for another day.

Lifelines work for me

I've heard that lifelines are for sissies. And I have believed that and failed to use them. The problem with that is not that I make mistakes and need the lifeline to rip back to. The problem is that I leave my knitting on the arm of the chair. I'm not always careful to pull my knitting onto the cords so more often than seems reasonable, I come back to find that the needle has slithered out. If I put lifelines in, the escaped stitches have a place to stop which means I don't have to rip back to correct for my stupidity. I can just ladder them back up.

My MS3 would have been a pile of yarn several times over. And I probably would have quit. Fortunately, I've been reliable about the lifelines at least so I'm almost through Chart E.

I do wish I could remember to take pictures of things.

Pineapple Progess

Several years ago, I planted the top of a pineapple. Last year, I transplanted the ever growing plant into a much larger pot. When we came home vacation on July 28th, this is what we found:



A week later it looked like this:



I've been taking one picture a week, on Sundays, consistently:





Yesterday, I took this one:



We haven't harvested it yet. I wonder how large it will get.

This Yarn Makes me Happy!

I was sitting in the car Thursday evening, working on my traveling sock and made that comment to my husband.

He responded by asking, "Why?"

I answered that I loved the colors and it felt nice in my fingers. It's Fleece Artist; of course I do. I also added that it reminded me of our recent vacation where I purchased the yarn and started on the socks.

I suspect there is a generalization here. Yarn makes me happy.

Catching Up and a view of Lead East

So I've been slogging along on Mystery Stole 3, aka Swan Lake. I still love it. I'm working on Clue 4 which I enjoy, but I don't need to as pay close attention so I make mistakes.

I got into to Ravelry, id: trainlady. I really see the point there. The database aspects are useful. I'm looking forward to archiving everything there. I sometimes feel like I knit and knit with no results. The problem is I finish things and move on. They don't remain in my consciousness particularly when I give them away.

And it's a great help to look at other people's projects. When I'm thinking about something I want to work on, I would google it. Sometimes, I would find other examples. In Ravelry, it's not a measure of my google-fu. If they are there, I can see them essentially immediately.


We made our annual visit to Lead East, and I worked on my vacation Monkey almost the whole time. I finished several repeats. The sock is looking at the Rocket Ship ride. It's part of an amusement park ride which was mounted on an Olds Toronado chassis.

That sort of thing is what makes Lead East unique. Many car shows are about perfect and historically accurate cars. Lead East sometimes pokes fun at this. We've all heard the "mooring that boat" joke too many times. This guy makes it real:

Blogger ate my photos.