Not So Fancy Nancy

The irony of gauge and dahlias as big as your head

Ten balls of Berroco's Zen yarn have been rolling around in my stash for ... years? Some frightening length of time. I've saved half a dozen patterns from every source out there - on-line, IK, Berroco's own - but nothing has ever grabbed me enough to get it made. A few weeks ago I bought a copy of by Knitting Simple Jackets by Marilyn Cohen, who also wrote Knitting Simple Sweaters From Luxurious Yarns, which I like too. One great feature of both books is that she gives you all the info you need to substitute yarns. The patterns are very simple, but exactly what I was looking for:  easy to knit, easy to wear.

The pattern I've chosen, aptly named Simple Cardigan, is a dropped-shouldered box. I want to wear it over tank tops and skirts.

I've been looking for something that makes the most of the ribbon's shiny fiber and the ladder texture. It's a simple stitch pattern:

row 1: Knit (right side)
row 2: *K1, sl2 purlwise with yarn in back*.

Had an auspicious start when I got gauge right off using Addi Turbo US 10's. Wow, cool! Ran out to take Emily to gymnastics and whipped up the CO and first inch. Stopped for dinner, life, etc., and when I sat down late in the evening I suddenly worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn. I had thought I had 14 balls, but it turned out I only have 10, which left me with a 300+ yardage shortfall. Different yarn yes, but that's a pretty big difference. Decided to CO again in a smaller size on Crystal Palace (bamboo) in US 10 1/2's. Maybe the fewer stitches and bigger needles would stretch my yardage, kind of like Hamburger Helper ... oh my gosh, I should have never allowed that thought lodging in my brain, because it leads directly to Shake -n- Bake. I'm sure some of you remember that too-twangy country girl on the ads from the 70's - I'll be hearing her voice at odd moments all evening now!

Must find my Zen again ...Ommm ... OK, so I knitted the same number of rows on the bigger needles, then went to bed to cough all night. Woke up this morning realizing how to figure the yardage. Those of you whom spin will have jumped here long ago.

First I added the fronts, back and sleeves, rounding up for the sleeves and crocheted binding all the way around, and figured approximately 70 inches of knitting at the specified back width. I'd knitted about 1 inch on both needles, though the 10 1/2's yielded a bit more, which would definitely play out over 22 inches. Using my postal scale I weighed a new ball (to factor out the cardboard roll), then each of the balls. Six grams used on the larger needles compared to eight grams on the smaller ones. Some basic multiplication and division (I keep telling my daughter she will need it!) and I found that I would use only approx 8+ balls on the 10 1/2's compared to 11+ on the 10's. Perfect. 10 1/2 it is.

Got very responsible and unwound the knitting on the 10's very carefully, smoothing it flat while winding it back nicely. May need it and hate the thought of cursing myself for wasting that yarn. Recognize that quilt? I've got backing fabric for it now and will try to finish it this week.

So, what's the irony of gauge you ask? (Webster's definition 3 a for irony btw - I always second guess myself on that one and look it up since I don't want to pull an Alanis) Well, I got gauge on my good and proper swatch using the Addi 10's, and I'm sure since I measured it over and over. But when I knitted that test it ended up almost 2 inches too wide. The inch knitted on the 10 1/2's was visibly larger, as one would expect, but (wait for it) the exact width specified for the smaller size I'd cast on, expecting it to run larger. I'm coming to believe gauge follows the rules of an alternate universe. Guess even the needles want me to loose weight!

So far so good.

my-calorie-counter.com    The webs free Calorie Counter

About those dahlias. Maybe not your head, maybe a baby's head. But big.

Sorry for the high-noon sun, but that was the window I had today. The wind was blowing so this whole thing got a bit comical. I bought a six pack of delphiniums way back in the winter and the others all died (and were a pink I didn't like anyway). This one is a magical color and lasts forever in vase.

Golden Celebration is coming into bloom again. I can see this from the kitchen window and the back door, which cheers me up to no end. I love the re-bar pyramids my husband built for my tall roses - heck of a lot cheaper than the garden store ones and after you tie on the vines the structure disappears anyway.

I so happy about how this path is growing in. I really wanted you to feel like you were moving between areas so I added the steps up and down to emphasize that since it's only about eight feet long. The flat-headed yellow, white and red flowers are yarrow, which I can't recommend enough. The bluish-purple balls toward the back left are throatwort, which I'm finding loves my garden even though it's not zoned for here. I'm finding zones are like gauge. Maybe they share that alternate universe?

This photo was taken while sitting in the glider next to the fountain. By next year the paprika yarrow will spill into the path on both sides to soften the edges. I'm moving one of them (too small to see now) to the front right (of this photo) next time I dig to balance the colors. The bench, backed by a Mexican weeping bamboo and red hibiscus, is a focal point but there will be more planting over there someday (that's my husband's bed). The big hulking trampoline just off to the right is not supposed to be a focal point, but it keeps trying. Very useful for bouncing ya ya's out of kids though.

Oh my! It's a FO!

I am now working on some tote bags (w/tutorial), but when I finally turned on my cleaned and tuned machine I felt a deep need to FINISH something. Anything. I'd run the first three quilting lines of this before the repair, so this one was the closest to being finished.

I've not washed the finished quilt yet and the fabric was bought cut and not pre-washed, so hopefully the fabric will change a bit at that first run through the machine. I'd be happy with a little old-fashioned puckering to go with the look of the prints. This is pretty far from my usual style, but I like the simple look.

It was made to go in this room where I work on the PC and the dog sleeps (that's any room for her, but I only work here). The IKEA futon underneath is covered in plain cream canvas, so it warms it up a bit.

A couple of notes...

I liked the idea of the charm blocks being pre-cut with a selection of every fabric from Moda's Wuthering Heights collection, but since choosing the fabrics, designing the top and cutting are my favorite parts of the process, the convenience wasn't satisfying. I arranged the blocks and cut the borders, but that was it.

This is the first time I've used a poly batting and I learned a few things:

1) Overall, I much prefer the flat, high quality 100% cotton (but this has its place).

2) The whole feel of the quilting process changes, so I would suggest playing around a bit rather than just jumping straight into the middle of your quilt (guess which one I did?).

3) The poly doesn't work with quilting spray. I've since seen that written clearly on another brand, but the brand I was using just said (buried in the text) something like best on cotton. How about works like crud on poly and sucks up product as you try? In the end I had lightly-stuck batting - just enough to be a problem. After a few screwy rows I gather my wits and used a quilt basting gun to reinforce the basting.

One final, painful to admit in public, note. Don't ever get some silly notion in your head that when you have exactly - EXACTLY - enough discontinued fabric to make the back you should get cute like the quilt store ladies and cut a notch, then rip your yardage to make the two even pieces you need to seam up the middle. What possessed me? I've NEVER done that. Never. Never will again either. That's why there's a 1" fold-over on the binding and I machine stitched it through all the layers - to hide and secure the 3/4 inch shortfall that runs about a foot along the edge of the backing. If you ever consider doing that, just stop, breathe and remember this sad tale.

I'll leave you with a sunset image. This is one of my husband's watermelon radishes. I think he has three kinds, but since I"m not much of a radish person I've only half listened (hey, he could't tell you much about yarn other than I've got too much of it). Anyway, I may not eat it, but I think it's very pretty.

It matches some of my cleomes too.

 

Quilting inspiration all over the walls!

OK, so the crafting-by-the-day method is not exactly working. Not really surprising since I can't even keep my daughters on track with their day-of-the-week panties. Routine is not my strong point. But the goal I was really going for was to keep the entries focused. I tend to build up too many thoughts and then wait too long. So I'm going to try to post more often with few subjects per post. That seems vague enough for me to manage.

Those pesky family things have been occupying me since last week. Eldest had one of those mommy-projects that involved a costume, props, memorized two minute speech and various PC generated activities and charts. Fourth grade mind you! She's a hunt & peck typer at this point - how else is she going to create four or five pages, including a word diagram, without me at the keyboard? I really don't want to be the parent that does their kid's work and I usually hold that line, but they don't really leave you a choice with assignments like this. Anyway, last night at the final presentation they were all cute in that mumbling 9-11 year old dressed up in costume kind of way. Mine of course was the cutest.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on my posts last week. They meant a lot to me after such a long break from blogging. I've also been catching up on my blog reading and continue to be amazed by how much cool stuff you're all making. I've got the fabric for a bag tutorial spread across my dining table, so look for that as my next post. For now, I'll show you a place I go for inspiration...

Sowing Sisters in Carlsbad CA. They just opened in a new location 3X the size of the previous shop with tons of windows. I took these photos while they're still organizing, so you can imagine how great it's going to be when they get settled in. You've got to stop by if you're anywhere near San Diego County. There's lots to do in downtown Carlsbad and the beach is just blocks away, so the family could stay occupied while you indulge.

I've got to go in again this week because they had stacks of boxes from Westminster yet to be opened. Ms. Be*Mused has me jonesing for the new Kaffe prints so I know what I'm doing tomorrow. On top of that they're having their anniversary sale this week - 20% off your entire purchase. Christmas in June!

I first went to the store about five or six years ago after I bought my sewing machine. Back then they were in a tiny three room cottage a few blocks away. The modern quilting fashions hadn't really hit the market yet, but they encouraged this newbie. A few years ago they rode the wave of newer fabrics into a bigger store and became the best place around to see up-to-date quilting fabrics and quilts in person. Beckie, the owner, her daughter and the women who work and teach there keep the walls full of the latest patterns. Nothing is more inspirational than to see all these quilts in person. It's this shop that brought Kaffe Fasset to town for that workshop I took in January.

Finally, I'm adding the weight loss ticker below as a form of public accountability. A good friend of mine loves WW, but I just don't do meetings of any sort except under great duress. My goal is about 3-5 lbs/month with the target reached by New Year's. Losing 25 lbs would put me at my lowest weight in the last 10 years (post first child). When I get there I'll worry about new goals.

I know that for me simple calorie counting combined with regular exercise is the answer. I'm overweight, but genetics has blessed me with low blood pressure, great blood sugar and very healthy cholesterol levels. Before you think I've won the genetic lottery you should factor in that I have two herniated discs and spend the first 20 minutes of each morning figuring out how much pain I'm going to have that day. My mom and dad are incredibly healthy, but we all have bad backs. I figure mine can only benefit from hauling around less butt. If I'm destined to live a long life I'd like to do so standing upright. Finally, I've grown out of all my favorite clothes, and that bugs me. We're talking about clothes from the last three years, not my high school jeans.

This website is one of many, but I like it so far. I bought access to the upgraded features because just about everything I eat has to be entered as a custom food. We do 90% of our grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Wild Oats, so the standard list of grocery store foods doesn't offer me much. I also like it that you can create custom meals since I eat the same combos for breakfast and snacks all the time. I've spent this morning adding in my favorites. I know this won't work if I can't eat the foods we love around here - I just need to eat less every day and watch for the diet-busters (aka kids).

my-calorie-counter.com    The webs free Food Tracker

Scrapping Wednesday & Finally ... Views of a Garden

Little change to the program: Wednesday will be scrapbooking and all other paper arts. I picked up the latest Somerset Studio yesterday and ideas filled my head. Let's see if they can fill my work table. Thursday's going to be sewing beyond quilting. Gardening can pop up at anytime. My blog, my rules.

This filled my work table over the last holiday weekend. Just three more layouts to go and the album's done.

To say I'm behind on scrapbooking doesn't even begin to touch the definition of understatement. These are from a trip to Oregon two summers ago. My method is to open my photo box and riffle through until a set of pics catches my imagination. Then I scrap those and don't worry about being in order. I think scrapbooking is the most "suburban mom" thing that I do (no soccer mom am I), but the power of photos to bring memories to life keeps me at it. I like my layouts to tell the story visually and sometimes I skip the journaling all together.

When I get home from a trip all the flotsam and jetsam goes in a large baggie and gets stuffed somewhere. I don't try to decide what's important or useful - that will work itself out. I like bits and pieces that have names, dates, maps or details that will support the story without further explanation. Yeah, that's lazy, but also realistic. People like to breeze through scrapbooks, stopping on the occasional photo, but otherwise taking it in at a glance. I want those glances to be content rich. 

With a trip or event album it's easy to grab coordinated stuff and then limit all layouts to that pile of stuff. Keeps me from falling into the 10,000 great ideas sinkhole. First I spread out all the photos and try to feel the vibe. This one felt modern and clean to me and these colors complement most of the photos well. I divide the photos into layout groups and dig in, not necessarily in date order. Then I cull, chop, arrange and play as I get to each layout. Basically, quilting with paper.

I've become dedicated to snapping expository shots that capture the flavor of a place, even though people look at you funny when your standing in the middle of the street photographing manhole covers and such. Who the hell cares? You're just a crazy tourist who will be gone tomorrow anyway. I'm also always on the lookout for good portrait backgrounds. No white walls, No overhead sun and not too much visual noise. I liked the red wall in this cafe (though the white shirt is way too harsh) and adore the scribbled chalkboard behind my husband that matches his eye color. Couldn't have dreamed of better.

OK, over the last year some of you have asked to see long shots of the garden. I've been waiting for something to show. It's all garden from here to the end of this post, so to those of you who don't care, see ya next time.

June 2006 - paint on the ground:

February 2007 - hardscape in place and beds in the making:

June 2007 - time and mother nature are in charge now:

Feb 07:

June 07:

July 2006 - Nancy's folly:

June 2007:

Now you know what I've been doing for the last year. I drew the plans and my husband and I did all of this except the fountain, patio and trellis. Our contractor did a fabulous job realizing our vision within our budget - he was amazing to work with. My DH is almost finished with the steps up the hill. I asked for them and he built them. I deeply appreciate him for that. There's still some planting on the hillside, but that will wait until fall. The pot fountain will have a metal frame that fits around the bottom of the pot to serve as a visual floor and hide the basin, but we still need to design those templates and then find a metalworker.

Much of this garden is really a raised bed. Since the soil is rocky we raised the level of the yard to avoid digging and provide drainage. Every single rock you see except for the slate pavers came from this ground. The fountain, the wall facings, everything.

Now I just have to wait for things to grow. That nasty gap behind the fountain will be filled with three bougainvillea that will visually join it with the hillside and drape over the front to soften the lines. The trees and shrubs will obliterate the neighbor's houses and crappy fences. There will be dappled shade from the now stick trees in five years.

It's hard to get good long shots of this yard. The design and plant arrangements are made to be lived in and walked through, rather than photographed. These were my design goals:

• Mediterranean plants. Butterfly, bee and hummingbird friendly. No pesticides. No lawn.
• Plants near the edges with interesting smells or textures for kids (and adults) to explore.
• Water feature that doesn't use much water.
• Every sitting spot has a different vibe and a unique view. Try to screen neighboring houses.
• Keep some areas partially hidden until you walk to them, with glimpses to draw you forward.
• Elevation changes and winding paths to keep the walks interesting.
• Fruit trees and a veggie garden (neither are in these photos, but they're there).

These are tall orders for an 85' x 60' hot, rocky yard with a slope. There are a hundred ways it could have gone and I think I considered at least 99 of them.

This has been a huge time suck. Hours upon hours poring over books. Countless trips to the local nurseries. Learning the names and habits of hundreds of plants. There's only one mystery perennial I bought without a tag and one day I'll run into it at some nursery and laugh out loud like a crazy nutcase. Last year I knew nothing about plants - now I can consider myself an informed newbie. This is by far the biggest, longest and most expensive project I've ever undertaken except motherhood and I'm darned proud of myself. Mistakes have been made. Plants have been moved, then moved again (a few to the compost heap). Soil has been amended, hauled and shifted. There are things I would change if I could. But overall, I love it. Our previous two yards were postage stamps with patios so this means a lot to me. I am Scarlet O'Hara and this is my Tara.

I've thought about not posting this very self-congratulatory and tres-American style bragging. But I've not had many successes to point at in my life, and there are a lot of things chipping away at me right now. I'm not saying I'm not a good person, but I've not accomplished much. Being a SAHM for ten years is a worthy life choice, but often I feel my days are marked by exceedingly trivial successes. Whoa ho, the laundry's done. Whoopee, the lunches were balanced meals five days straight. I need the "DAMN! I built this!" feeling I get almost every day when I walk out the door in the morning. I need my garden. That's one of the things about these craft blogs that I love. It gives us all a chance to say I DID THIS and I LOVE IT and I'M PROUD OF MYSELF. So forgive me for bragging, but I am.

Quilting Tuesday

Remember the red kitchen quilt? Just a day or so after that photo was taken (it's in the gallery over on the left) I found every last stinking one of those blocks scattered on the floor except one sad hanger-on. Seems the cats had played climb-the-quilt, and then wrestled in the block confetti they'd created. Soooo thankful for that blog photo as it's now my reconstruction map.

I like working in this room because it's just across the entry from my workroom. When I back up about five feet from where I took this photo I can see my newly organized fabric stacks. Moved the books off this old shelf and liberated the cloth from boxes. Better beyond words.

I guess I need to find a design wall rather than the fireplace, which creates the perfect cat-cave behind the batting. Anyway, this poor room has issues. This house was finished when we bought it so all the choices had been made. We don't want the fireplace and that wall is perfect for the armoire on the right. Then the sofa fits perfectly on the right between the windows now occluded by the armoire and the chairs go left where those recessed windows are occluded by the sofa. A Saturday afternoon's job. Just add a bigger rug with some patterning and all is well. But ... there's that little issue of demoing the 6' mantel and doing a massive patch job. We're going to leave the fireplace and hearth tiles there - the armoire will cover them. I know I need to just find someone and Do It, but I don't relish the thought of noise, dust, etc. And anyway, this is a nice design wall, though I worry that the cats will find their playhouse has been rebuilt.

No sewing getting done around here since my machine's in the shop. Took it to a generic Sew & Vac place for a "tune up" last year and it's not been the same since. That doof even lost the tension dial and only replaced it with a blank one after three trips to the shop to bug him (hummm, a blank dial, that's frickin' useful). Finally gave up. Started to quilt on a top last week and found the tension was blown. This time I traveled the extra distance (and paid the extra price) and went to a dealer-authorized center. Guy said a bunch of parts had been thrown out of whack. My baby comes home on Friday.

Until then I have to dream, and maybe cut.

This pattern caught my eye a while back, then I kept noticing it whenever it crossed my path until I finally bought it. Thought a lot about changing the color vibe, but I really like the brights.

She talks about choosing garden colors. I guess I have that on my mind. While dead-heading last night I ended up with a few roses worth saving for a day or two. All of them had short stems, so the balance of this arrangement is a little off, but it makes me so happy. For over ten years I've wanted a cutting garden. Testing out the other plants to see who holds on well in the vase.

 

New game. New rules. Knitting Monday

Knitting Monday
Quilting Tuesday
Scrapping Wednesday
Gardening Thursday

Shorter, focused and (much) more frequent. Of course there will be cross-discipline entries - cross-pollination if you will - and books and culture can show up at will, but my goal is to blog little chocolate bonbons. Sweet and satisfying, but just one bite.

So... as it's Monday ...

Knitting Blues?
Remembering the Blues?
Blue Memories?
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes?
Remembrance of Blues Past?

Thought of H,S,K & T because I want something I can nap under that covers it all. I vow not to stop until it's 72" (which gives me that extra foot to cover my ass - literally). Using a simple scalloped pattern on every 4th row - pretty mindless. Thought about applying logic to the color repeats but decided that was too much mental effort. Yarns change on the left, on the right and sometimes in the middle if required. Gained over 2' this weekend! Don'tcha love knitting progress that can be measured in FEET? Yes, I slept, ate, walked the dog, gardened and occasionally took care of my family too - it's that fast! The idea here is to find a daily use for these lovely yarns that were just sitting in stash. Started this project in the last house, but since then the basket has been on top of the bookcase in my art room serving as the kitten's secret hideout.

Tech note:  I say mindless, but that's due to these markers. I often skip markers between pattern repeats, but with all the yarn texture changes I found myself missing simple errors. That ring every 17 stitches keeps me flying along. Before I dug those up I had to rip back a couple of times to find a dropped YO or missed P2tog and I can tell you that finding and dropping down to correct a mistake in 140 highly textured and colors stitches is no fun. The checksum effect of a marker is well worth it here. The needles are US 15's, so regular markers won't fit. These little pre-made wine marker rings from the jewelry findings section of the craft store are perfect. They split apart so you can string beads or charms on them, but they're tightly wound, so I've not had any problem with the wire catching. The split also lets you move them at will. Cheap and cute. Perfect.

The memory theme in those titles is because all these yarns are part of my knitting history. That super thick boucle and the double knit plum tape are from a old Berroco sweater pattern frogged in a moment of common sense. I so loved the colors. I think most of us know the pain of a misdirected passion (or three) from early in our sweater knitting lives. I'm still known to occasionally fall for the sweater version of a bad boy - so damned attractive yet so bad for you. Long, horizontally striped bulky sweaters with a ribbed bottom band are illegal in seven states when worn by short, hippy women (or should be). The Fiesta Yarns Kokopelli mohair/wool solid hand-dyeds are from the oddaments basket at their shop north of Albuquerque. Stopped there years ago and fell hard for the colors and texture. It is gorgeous, easy to knit yarn, but I didn't know enough to estimate project yardage, so I ended up with half skeins and tiddley bits in six or seven colors and not enough for anything. The other main yarn is Colinette's Graffiti I ordered directly from Wales years ago (pre-ebay). Decided one Colinette bulky sweater is enough for this SoCal gal - there's some Point 5 in there too leftover from that sweater. The rest are bits from shawls and scarves.

The kitten (her name is Raven, but we all seem to call her "kitten" or "the kitten" about 75% of the time) continues to claim this as her own. Every time I sit down with it across my lap she materializes and settles in for a wash and a nap.

Liking that Proustian name, but that's more the Alain de Botton fan in me coming out than the literary scholar (which I'm not). I was just thinking about Thomas Mann (whom I tried to read around the same time as Proust) while driving Emily to school this morning. I could never get past the first pages of The Magic Mountain because I would start playing "find the main verb" games in my head and lose interest in the story (hint, look at the end of the paragraph). Not very flatting revelation I know, but truth. I've given up on Mann, but still hold on to hopes for the Proust.

Can't really tell you how I got to thinking about that, but realizing how fractured our inner dialogs are reminds me to look around at red lights and wonder just how many other people are thinking about odd things. Like that early scene in Wings of Desire when the angels are flying around Berlin listening to people's inner voices and offering a touch of peace where needed. I'm not much of an angel person, but I loved that imagery.

Following this kind of loopy mental trail is what I do when I knit for a long time in the quiet, which is what I did yesterday, so the Proust inspired title seems apropos. Remembrance of Blues Past it is.