Weekend Wonders

The rain is on the way - again. Here in the Inland Empire, one can see the clouds moving from the horizon to overhead. And the wind is kicking up. Of course, we always have wind out here. This is just a little wind high in the palm trees. Not a blow over the patio umbrella and cast iron base breaking a rib on the 9 foot umbrella. No. Not that bad. Yet.

So, the creatures and I are off to the desert for a bit. It is a holiday weekend you know. The dogs and cat are coming with me today. Bert can't come just yet. The dogs get the back seat - with their favorite towel. The towel only comes out for trips to the desert and I think they have learn what is happening when they see the towel.

Snowy's lovely purple cat carrier fits securely on the floor in the front. It is a nice quite spot and he is not bothered by a dog flinging drool into the front of the car. I'm bothered by flinging drool. But at least it is happy drool - I can almost hear Comet and Covey singing "We're goin' to the dessert!"

Bert has to wait and come out later. Probably tomorrow, after a business dinner. Not that Bert has a business dinner. My Dave has a business dinner. And Bert's travel cage fists very well in the back of Dave's large car.

Prediction is for the rain to make it all the way to the desert. That's OK. Being home in the rain seem confining. Being in the desert in the rain is an adventure. Totally different. And lots of time to knit.

post edited 30 minutes later to let you know that there is a huge patch of blue sky sitting over the house. What happened to the rain clouds? Mother nature is such a tease! Wonder how long it will take her to change her mind back to rain clouds??

I Cord - Therefore I Am

Guess what I did yesterday? I made I-Cord. Lots of the stuff. Lengths of the stuff. This was the beginning pile.

A teaching moment has come my way and this will all become samples. Next week I will be teaching a short workshop on corded closures.

Corded closures, also know as ‘frogs’, are a fun way to add interest, decoration or embellishment to fabricated items. They are not just for garments, but can also be added to the front of a purse, opening of a pillow or a pocket. These decorative and functional closures can also be used to add interest to a shawl, bottom of a sleeve or used more traditionally on a mandarin collar.


Weaving the knot, sometimes called a Chinese knot, will be a fun practice for everyone. The actual weaving is not very difficult. It boils down to loop, loop, under, weave through. The picky part comes when pulling, tugging, fudging, straightening and all the manipulations needed to get the knot smooth and pretty with two equal tails.

Now don't go thinking that my hand is hiding unequal tails. Very pleased to say this sample came out great - - much better than the blurry photo might lead you to believe.

I think the workshop will be fun. Mostly it is just a refresher/reminder of the possibilities that corded closures can bring to a project. I was having so much fun with the samples, that the entire three page handout is is written, formatted and copied. Days before needed!

Where's The Yarn?

Where's the yarn?

When I cast on for the sleeves of the cabled cardigan, I started two brand new balls of yarn. Exactly the same. Even the dye lot numbers match! That's how exactly the same the balls were. Now, nearing the end of one ball, the two are not so much exactly the same any more. One ball is clearly more endowed with yardage. So what happened?

The knitting is flying along. Short rows, decreases, increases - you know cabled sleeve shaping. Suddenly the two balls are no longer equal. In fact they are no longer equal by quite a bit. So upset by this situation was I that the measuring tape actually made an appearance. Result - two sleeves the same length. HMM. Most unusual. Could it be that the short rows, the decreases and the increases were not the same from sleeve to sleeve. No way! The whole point of working both sleeves at the same time is to insure uniformity. I have it down to a science. Actual notes and row counting occurs.

Both fronts were worked at the same time in the same manner as the current sleeve knitting. Started each front side with a brand new ball just as I did for the sleeves. But when the fronts worked up - exactly the same - all the yarn was equal from ball to ball.

Where's the sleeve yarn? Is it some accident of ball winding? Is my tension that off from the first sleeve to the second sleeve? Or, is it just a puzzling idiosyncrasy of yarn that keeps us slaves to its mysteries? Yeah. That must be it.

PS - Having a bouquet of roses arrive at the front door sure does make for a happy knitter. And these are not even Valentine Roses.

End of the Week Gift

Enjoy this lovely end of the week gift from Mother Nature. There is something spell binding about a rainbow.

Short Row Day

This afternoon had a blank spot. An actual chunk of time not committed to anything. Seemed like the perfect time to cast on and work through the lower sleeve shaping for the cardigan. The pattern specifices a nice gently rounded edge created by short rows.

Managed to get one sleeve all shaped and at a good stopping point.



The other sleeve is cast on and ready for the first of the short rows.














Bert is not impressed by short row shaping.