Something Other Than Knitting

I know this isn't knitting but I wanted to show off the new curtain and pillows I made.

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More Oak Leaves and Acorns

Because my husband was flat out sick (literally), I managed to knit more on my Oak Leaves and Acorn scarf without interruption.  In fact, I am just over half-way there.  I am not in love with the join at the middle but because I made some mistakes at the very beginning before I had the pattern down, I am just going to leave it as it is.
 
Yesterday I made a curtain for the back window along with some matching pillows.  Very nice!
 
Felt well enough to ride my bike yesterday - up hill for seven miles, then a fun ride downhill for seven.  I didn't want to over extend myself just yet.
 
Very rainy today so after cleaning the apartment up for a homeowner's association meeting here, I should be able to get even more knitting down.
 
 

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Arsenic and Lace?

Being ill hasn't been all bad. I finally started my "Oak Leaf & Acorn Scarf" using the Windy Valley Muskox Qiviuk" that I bought about 18 months ago.



This is the first time that I have knitted lace and the learning curve has been huge. Despite knitting for decades, I found it hard to keep up with the pattern. I probably have frogged this back about 10 times.



But now the pattern actually has a rhythm and I have been able to knit 80 rows with little problem.



The biggest issue I had at first was what to do when I got lost on the row. Since I hadn't yet "felt" the pattern, the only thing I could do when the stitch count was off was to tear it out and start over. Lace is not one of those projects that I am going to be able to knit and have any distractions



The yarn is so soft and feels good in my hand. And is a joy to knit with even through two earthquakes tonight (3.4 and a 3.5). This is certainly turning out to be a unique vacation - if one can call it that.



So while I am recovering and my husband suffers in bed, I will continue to knit this scarf.





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Vacation?

My husband and I flew to Hawaii on Sunday for a two week vacation :). By Monday night I was feeling just horrible with stomach issues (need I say more?). Anyway, things progressed and I spent Thursday in the emergency room. I am feeling so much better today (Friday) but now my husband is sick with probably the same thing. This isn't turning into much of a vacation. The weather is so sunny and here we are indoors, staying close to the bathroom. Not sure if this is a horrible vacation or a terrible nightmare.

One good thing out of the experience is we met one of our neighbors as she works at the hospital.

Thanks for letting me share (just words, nothing else honest).

Another Monmouth Cap

Finished work on another Monmouth Cap. I like the top of this one much better than the last.

I believe my husband has figured out what the button on top of the cap would have been used for. You would use the button to take the cap off. This could be for two reasons. One, you don't want to stretch out your perfectly fitted cap when taking it off or two, you don't want to get the cap dirty when you take it off using your grimy (or otherwise dirty) hands. Brilliant!

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Monmouth Cap Deconstructed

I was sent a photo of an actual Monmouth Cap from the 1500's. Here is what it looked like:






You'll notice that there is a loop on the back that I believe would have been used to pin your cap to your shirt so that you don't lose your cap when it is taken off one's head (purposely or otherwise).

There is also what looks like a chain on the bottom edge of the cap. While working on imitating the cap, I believe I have figured out what that "chain" was for - to keep the bottom from stretching out too much. Remember, they were not using ribbing for that purpose until probably the late 1800's.

I have been told that there is a button on the top of the original cap. I added one but for the life of me, I can't figure out for what purpose they would add that button. I doubt it was for fashion. Perhaps it was to keep the end of the hat pulled tight. Not sure.

So here is my "deconstructed" Monmouth Cap:






I am totally happy with all I have learned about the original. I am not pleased with the excessive bunching near the top of the cap. I've got to think of how to handle decreasing the stitches in a different way without changing the rest of the cap.

I've got one more day off from work to keep fiddling with it.

The Continental Line Annual Meeting

We are attending The Continental Line annual meeting on Saturday in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania near Valley Forge. I personally have never been to Valley Forge and we are hoping to walk through on Sunday.

The other hope I have is to sell the few items I am bringing with me - a Liberty or Death Cap (I still need to add the tassel), 3 Monmouth Caps (2 using my new pattern which I really like), and four pair of stockings (3 pair with my new "hand-knit style" heel and one using hand-dyed cochineal wool).

Wish me luck!

Vacation

I just spent four days at my girlfriend's house in Cleveland. Boy was it cold. Of course, it wasn't cold for Cleveland but it was for me. And believe it or not, I didn't take a single picture the whole time I was there.

When we got home, I fixed stir-fry. Gwen seemed to like it immensely. But that may be because she had to stay home while we were gone and she was trying to be one of the flock again.

I am now busily knitting stockings to show (possibly sell?) at the Continental Line annual meeting this coming weekend. Pictures later.

Christmas in Alexandria

We saw a beautiful green wreath in Old Town Alexandria yesterday. I had to get closer to see what it was made with. Amazingly, it was done with brussel sprouts. How original and quite a striking wreath.

With four days off from work, I have been getting a lot of knitting done. I am trying to get some things together to take with us to the Continental Line annual meeting. So far, I have knit a Liberty or Death Cap and two Monmouth Caps (in my new design). I want to knit one more Monmouth Cap and then two or three pairs of stockings.

Hopefully everyone had a great Christmas. The pies were delicious.

The Hawk Cometh

Every winter we have hawks that come to our yard and eat the birds that come to the bird feeder - mostly Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk. Saturday, we had a visit from one of the hawks. It just sat there on the fence waiting for a bird to make a mistake.

In the past, I have seen the hawk on the ground jumping from bush to bush looking for any birds that are hiding. Our neighbor has reported that they have had one on their sky light eating a bird.

I knit a mobius scarf today. Now I am knitting a head warmer to match.

Home Sick - Socks Knit

I stayed home from work today with a cold. I didn't get much sleep. My husband is sick as well but he had to go to work. The only thing I really missed was the office Christmas Party.

Gave me time just to sit in front of my knitting machine with Gwen on my shoulder and knit some socks. Both are Christmas gifts. Nice. It will be an early night tonight. I am exhausted.

And in my new packaging, they look like this when finished.

Knitting Machine Eats Socks

While trying to knit some more machine knit socks, I purchased the wrong size yarn. I have two balls of Knitpicks Andean Treasured (100% baby alpaca) in Woods and four in Mystery Heather that I had planned on turning into man's socks (for Christmas). These are sport weight yarn balls which my knitting machine decided it didn't want anything to do with except to eat the yarn. I just don't do enough hand knitting to justify keeping these in reserve.

Know anyone that is in need of some soft baby alpaca?

Christmas is Getting Closer

Finished knitting another pair of stockings. These no longer have holes showing the increases up the leg.




And, I finally put up a Christmas decoration - on my front door.

Sock Difficulties

I finished knitting another scarf. This time with KnitPicks Imagination in Seven Dwarves. Very nice yarn. I didn't make socks out of them due to their chance of felting (they are marked as machine washable).


I have stopped making socks for right now. I usually make over the knee stockings and I never do ribbing at the top. With the regular socks that I have been trying to knit, I haven't found a way to add ribbing to the top in a manner that looks good, isn't too much of an issue, and can be done using the machine.

But, I finally figured out what to do. Not on my own though. I had help from another machine knitter, Lorna in Australia through Ravelry. Thanks Lorna. She has coached me into buying some decker combs to be able to move one bed of stitches over the the other bed. She has been doing it and her socks look great. I especially love her Marokko Socks.

I also caught Gwen playing with a toy with red and blue LEDs.

Not a Finished Pair of Socks

I knit up a sock using KnitPicks Risata. I am not happy with this yarn. Works great until you have an issue- like ripping out stitches or grabbing a lost stitch. When that happens, the yarn untwists and is difficult to handle.


I balled up some other yarn that I can't wait to use - Knitpicks Imagination. Pictures later.

Tomorrow evening we are going to the DC zoo to hear Irene Pepperberg speak about her new book Alex and Me. She is the woman that trained Alex the African Grey Parrot. I am really looking forward to it.

Another Pair of Socks

I finished another pair of Christmas socks. These are made form Knitpicks Shimmer in Bayou. I double-stranded this lace weight yarn. I love this pattern and am probably going to make a few more.




I knitted my new heel on these stockings (see detail below). Instead of having the usual machine knit heel I attempted to make these more hand-knitted in style. I believe this is what I need to do with all of my re-enactment stockings since I am attempting to mimic the hand-knit stockings of the day, not machine knit.


This yarn is very soft and I believe the color is good to give these socks to a man on my Christmas list.

Another Pair of Socks Completed

This is the first time that I am posting my blog using email while I sit in the Dallas Fort Worth airport waiting for a flight.

I finished my pair of Noro socks.

I brought my Baby Cables sweater with me but in my rush out the door, I grabbed the wrong yarn. So instead I was working on my travel sock. I am now at the heel so perhaps I can finish the sock this trip. I'll try to take a picture tonight in the room.

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More Gifts

I finished some more gifts. The first is a pair of Suri socks. I bought two skeins at Stitches of Frog Tree. The yarn is so soft and light. The socks are great. They are a little big for me. Since they are for a man, I wonder if I should dye them a darker color. I like these socks so much that I think that I am going to use some maroon alpaca that I have upstairs to make another pair.

I knitted a pair of socks using Fortissima Colori. Not only did I mess up the size of the second sock, but the yarn isn't even close. The one sock has a blue colorway and the other skein has a red colorway. So, there is one pair of socks that I won't take the time to complete properly. Who would want a pair of socks that don't even come close to matching.



I knitted another scarf using Knitpicks Felici in Patina. This time I used Crystal Palace Lace Yarn which made the weave more open and the scarf lighter. I like the colorway of this one better than I do the other scarf.

Thanksgiving

This year, I am celebrating the fact that Mike and I are together for this so American of a holiday - Thanksgiving. And a celebration cannot be without lots of great food and drink.

On Wednesday evening I made the pumpkin pie and cranberry jelly. I also broiled the brine, let it cool, and started soaking the turkey. What a turkey. I ordered it a few weeks ago from our butcher down the street, "Let's Meat on the Avenue". It's a 15 pound free-range never frozen turkey.

On Thanksgiving day, I made the bread and garlic mashed potatoes and of course roasted the turkey and Mike made Gluewein.

And there was knitting. Here is a striped scarf knit in Knitpicks Felici in Dakota. With that scarf finished, I have just a few more knitted gifts to finish.

I knitted two more Monmouth caps and another gift - a Liberty or Death Cap for a friend's baby. I will add the pom-pom later.

I hope your Thanksgiving was spent with loved ones as well.

Progress of Too Many Unfinished Projects

I have been playing around with indigo-dyed wool in making Monmouth caps. Eventually, I would like to have a pattern that I can sell. I believe I am really close. Here are three of the latest "test" caps.

I finished the ribbing on top of one of my Noro stockings. Still have the other to finish. Doesn't the cochineal-dyed wool look great on the top? Seems to fit right in on the color scheme.


What is currently keeping me from finishing the Noro stockings is my Baby Cables and Big Ones Too sweater. I have ripped it out three times now because I didn't like what I saw or there were some major mistake. I am afraid that the dark color is going to "suck up" the cables. We'll have to see.

Close Up - see no cables

I started from scratch again this morning. I am up to twenty rounds.

The other project that took up most of my weekend was inventorying all the 1st Virginia Regiment's Quartermaster goods, taking pictures of each item, and starting to add them to the QM's website. Very detailed work with lots of counting tiny little items.

Knitting Socks Ribbing

I have started the ribbing on my Noro socks. I am using some wool that was dyed in a previous cochineal dye bath. I believe it looks good with the other colors of the yarn. But with size 0 needles, the ribbing goes slowly (doing K1R1 ribbing gets boring after just a few rows especially when I really want to be working on my sweater).

We finally downloaded Gwen's Ocean City picture (out front of Ripley's Believe it or Not). Too funny!