Waiting

I could wait for the sun to come out to take and post these photos, but I won't. I could wait until I have finished more than a little bit of each of these projects to show them to you, but I don't want to. I could wait to post at all until I am not so antsy, but I can't. So here I am, and here they are:


This is a little scarf I am knitting with a pretty pear-colored fiber blend I got from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. It's Cotswold/CVM/Alpaca roving that spun up with a sweet texture, and I plied it sort of willy-nilly on purpose. Well, in reality, I just wanted to spin spin spin, so I let the fiber do what it wanted to do, and I ended up with this nice yarn. The pattern is the Corrugator Scarf, and I'm using size 8 needles. I think. I'm apporaching the knitting sort of willy-nilly, too. I have 280 yards spun up so far, and if I get to the end and the scarf looks nice, then I'll stop there. Otherwise, I'll try to replicate my "approach" and spin more yarn.


Socklessness can last only so long before it begins to gnaw at me, so I pulled some yarn out of a bag and began the Spring Forward socks from Knitty. The yarn is -- surprise! -- Sundara Sock in Sea Green over Willow. The pattern is easy to memorize and fast to knit, only I made a little error on one row halfway down the cuff. Don't tell anyone, but I left it there, because does it really matter if the YO's are one stitch off on one half of one row of a sock? I thought not.


Last but not least, here is the Narragansett Bay Scarf that matches the hat I finished last week. I got this far when the sock urge took over, so it's waiting until I finish the first sock. I played around with needles and drape for quite a while before I settled on size 6's for the Buffalo Gals yarn. I'm pleased with it so far.

The clock is ticking ever so slowly today, just because I am waiting for a phone call. I'm hoping that the nurse at Dr. Pearl's office will tell me when I'll get to start chemotherapy. I've been scheduled to have a port implanted (or inserted or installed or whatever the technical term is) on September 4th, and that has to happen first, so I'm assuming... I'll be participating in an interesting study, so there is paperwork and stuff to take care of, but I passed all my tests with flying colors and I'm ready to go. Why wait?

On a roll

I can't help myself; I keep finishing things. And starting more. And having ideas about other things I'd like to knit or design. This is a sweet little hat that I made last week. It's the "Narragansett Bay Cap" from Lisa Lloyd's A Fine Fleece (yes, I came across it as I was turning pages while knitting the Road Not Taken scarf).

Pattern: Narragansett Bay Cap

Yarn: Buffalo Gals Bison Merino 2 ply

Needles: US 4/3.5 mm

Modifications: Needle size

I've already started knitting the matching scarf. Since I know I don't have enough yarn to make it as written, I've modified the cap chart to make it work. See? On a roll.

My knitting energy extends to finishing and blocking the Rivolo scarf. I love how it turned out! I blocked it pretty seriously with blocking wires, and it looks and feels just lovely. The yarn has a silky shine to it that blocking seems to enhance.

Pattern: Rivolo by Anne Hanson

Yarn: Sundara Merino Sock Yarn in "Aqua over Terracotta"

Needles: US 5/ 3.75 mm

Modifications: Length (I made mine longer) and needle size

Once again, I find myself without a fresh pair of socks on the needles. I'll take care of that right away, or as soon as I decide what pattern to use. It's so hard to choose when there are so many I want to make! I think it's time for a bluish-greenish pair. Or purplish. Or not.

I'm also playing around with a cowl design. I read somewhere that cowls are the new socks. I don't know about that, but I do know that I was looking for a way to put a little bit of Sundara's Aran Silky Merino around my neck, and a cowl is as good a way as any. I'm swatching and frogging and knitting around and around, and one of these days I'll have a pretty neck tube to show. That's all a cowl is, really, isn't it?

It's going to be a busy week for me. I've gotten the go-ahead to do all the testing that I need to have done before I can begin chemotherapy, so I'm booked for blood work today or tomorrow, two scans on Wednesday, and (ugh) dental work on Friday. That last thing, unpleasant as it is, has to be done now because it can't be done during chemo. I'm going to fit some work in there too -- and one of the days will be my first time "on the schedule" since the beginning of June. Till now I've been marching to my own drummer.

Speaking of the drum, I hear it beating now. It's time to get on with the day. There's a breeze this morning, and it looks like another beautiful day.

Finishes

First, a rainbow, Friday night -- a welcome sign.

This post is all about things I've finished. There seem to be so many things in my life that are pending, or that have no end in sight, or that just seem to exist in their own little universe. It's nice that there are a few things around me that do show progress.

The first is a scarf I haven't blogged about yet. I love it. The yarn, the color, the pattern -- all wonderful.

Pattern: "Road Not Taken" scarf from Lisa Lloyd's A Fine Fleece.
Yarn: "Mokusa" Merino/Angora yarn from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, dyed in vibrant, happy pinky-peachy melba sort of colors by Jen.
Needles: US 6
Finished Dimensions: 7.5 by 60 inches
Modifications: None to speak of.


This yarn is soft, easy to knit, and an all-around pleasure for the eyes and hands. If you go to the website, you'll see that Jen has put a few skeins on sale. Hurry, though, because I've got my eye on one or two.

The next project to be finished was these socks. When I began knitting them I thought they'd be mine, but as I made progress they looked more and more like guy socks. So, they'll be a gift.


Pattern: Caterpillar Socks by Anne Hanson
Yarn: "Grey over Golden" Sundara Merino sock yarn
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm)
Size: Men's Medium
Modifications: I worked a regular flap heel instead of the short row heel the pattern called for. I made it more interesting by doing a little zig-zag thing with the slipped stitches.


The biggest finish of all: Radiation. Done. Finished. Wrapped up. Checked off the list. Hooray! Friday morning was my fourth and last treatment. I'll do a happy dance when I get a little more energy back. It's coming. Maybe by about Thursday...

Next up is a small break before I start down the next part of this road. I'll start chemotherapy whenever Dr. Pearl says it's time. While I wait I'm going to go to work as often as I can, get out and about, and keep taking good care of myself. I need a little more of this, too:


Flying Point Beach, July 25th. The lump of shadow at the water's edge is Niece Rachel and me. We went down to the ocean that evening, had a little picnic, and stayed until it began to get dark and chilly. I miss those two nieces, now that they're back home. It was a real treat to have them around this summer.