Sure Sign of Spring

Today I saw my first robin of the new year. I was so excited. It was disappointing to waken to the Quipper's alarm and hear the weather girl say the temperature outside was 8ºF and the wind chill was 1ºF. Poor little robin. Yesterday I was so excited about being near the end of the pair of lace socks. I thought I completed one last night. That is, I thought it was done until I tried to put it on and found I'd really like the ribbing to be another inch longer and a little stretchier. Tonight I get to undo the end I so cleverly wove in and unravel a row or two and continue on a little bit longer. With any luck I'll be able to wear them on Saturday.

I'm looking forward to beginning two new projects. For a long time I've had in mind this sweater for the Quipper. I may be crazy considering the warnings "not for a beginner" and "cable set up and finishing techniques are challenging." This will be in Knitpick's superwash, jade green color.

And Dances With Wool has inspired me again with the most beautiful, delicate and feminine socks from knitty, the Pomatomus socks. I would not have considered them until I saw them on Lene's blog. The Knitty photo does not do them justice at all. In the solid color Lene chose, they are too pretty to resist. Another sign that I'm going nuts -- the pattern earned the "piquant" label.

When I searched my stash I did not find a white or cream color to use, but I do have a very nice navy blue sock wool blend that I can resurrect. Last April I tried to make a spiral sock with disastrous results. I think the yarn is ready to be useful again and it would make a nice lace. And I still associate knitting this yarn with baseball in my mind, so this April I'll have my work cut out for me.

Tiresome Socks

With the current pair of socks I am engaged in, I have learned something about my sock-knitting self. There is little built in motivation to complete a pair of toe-up socks. There are no decreases to shorten the time it takes to do a row. It is harder for me to keep the end in mind. Maybe I like having less length to knit before I do all the work for the heel and gusset than keeping all that effort for after.

I was very excited to begin the socks, and it was the only knitting I brought to Florida. I was pleased to learn the figure-eight cast on. It was fun to try the foot on for size to determine when to begin the heel structure. The gussets were a bit awkward to knit, in my opinion. The intrigue of the lace pattern on the leg of the sock wore off last week and I needed to take a break and do something new.

I got out some WoolEase (less tiresome on the hands than the Deminstyle cotton blend I'm using for the lace socks) and I make a baby's hat-mitts-&-booties set. Sorry, no photos until I have mailed them off to the recipient:-)

The baby set was a joy to make--it was a wonderful change of pace to be able to finish an item in an hour! And it gave me the break I needed to gear up again for the lace socks. I finally finished the lace pattern last night and began the ribbing. I am so glad I made these socks together. If I had not, there surely would have been one lonely sock longing for its mate and one frustrated woman who was unable to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
The socks last week: The socks today:We also got more of this white stuff last night:Poor Quipper just called. It took him more than an hour to get to work. It is usually a 15-18 minute drive. In a short while I need to head out the same way for the Artist's Latin class. Hopefully rush hour will be over by then.

p.s. computer update -- who knows what happened? The Quipper re-installed the virus protection and things are running again. We threw our hands in the air and forgot about it. For now. The fan still sounds like a locomotive when the PC starts up, so we continue to test fate.

Crash!

I think our family computer has died. Or at least it is very ill with some kind of virus. The Quipper said it is not recognizing our valid and up-to-date antivirus subscription. Not good.

I will miss my access to e-mail. So if I'm not replying to something you have sent me, sorry~ I'll reply when I can.

Eight P.M.

At eight o'cock Eastern time the Artist will be 10 years old.

You are such a joy, my Dear.

Thursday Evening in Florida

Thursday evening was a highlight of the trip for family fun. It brought a bit of that relaxing vacation feeling to the trip for the Quipper, who had been working at the corporate headquarters each day while the kids and I were out on field trips.

We had a romantic and exciting evening at Mai Kai restaurant. The atmosphere was phenomenal. I heard the building and grounds had been quite beaten up by a hurricane, but it was still very impressive. We started our evening in the gardens. We strolled a beautifully night-scaped path among lush palms and other tropical plants interspersed with carved totems, rock gardens, giant clam shells, waterfalls, streams and footbridges.Inside the building the atmosphere was excellent too. Massive totems and high-backed chairs and Polynesian music set the scene.

We enjoyed exotic drinks. The Artist had her first umbrella drink -- whipped chocolate and strawberries, she loved it! The Engineer had milk (the only good drink in his book!). The Quipper had a daiquiri and I had a Hidden Pearl, described as "The delightful tang of fresh juices and golden rums." It was delightful. We had a good meal. Not a great meal, as the prices might indicate we should have enjoyed, but it was good.

On to the entertainment. The 45-minute show was a revue of native cultural dances from various Polynesian islands. The dancers were excellent and the costumes were magnificent. I only took a few photos of the opening number. The Quipper had a better view, but he also had a five-year-old on his lap. The fire dance was most impressive of all and the Hawaiian wedding dance the most beautiful in my opinion.

The Artist was impressed too. After the show she approached one of the dancers to thank her and express how much she liked it.

Thursday Afternoon in Florida

After we finished browsing around the Old Fort Lauderdale Museum, the kids and I went outside to the River Walk. This area, on the edge of the downtown part of the city, was clean and beautifully maintained. If you are interested in the history of the area this placard tells a bit more. Click on the photo for a larger view. The kids got to see some every-day Florida sites that are more rare in our neighborhood. As we were walking towards the New River we heard a horn sounding. This railroad draw bridge was going to lower in two minutes. There was a large digital clock counting down the time. A couple more boaters scooted through before the clock showed zeros and the bridge began to silently lower. From a shady seat in the gazebo we watched the bridge lower. Here you can see the Engineer 'appreciating' the sounding horn. After the bridge lowered our attention was turned elsewhere. Across the river from us a dry dock complex was busy lowering boats into the river. Ships and barges in Lake Erie and the other Great lakes don't need anchors this big!

Tank Top

A few days ago I finished the tank top I knitted with the very strange yarn I bought on Ebay. I still love the color, but I don't think I'll be buying this yarn again.

It knitted nicely, especially in the mistake rib stitch (body of the tank) but I found it was hard to graft a new ball on the the work when one ran out. Also, it does not take a whole lot of force to tear it. I don't like the seed stitch neckline or edging on the arm openings with this yarn as much as I like the mistake rib stitch.

After much debate with in my mind, I settled on the three needle bind-off for the shoulders. They feel quite sturdy, and with this type of garment, the shoulders will not have the weight or tug of sleeves to support so I am not worried about them.

As for the side seams, again I debated whether finishing them with the yarn needle would be more of less effective than using a sewing machine. The yarn needle won the debate.

When I tried on the top, I was pleased with it. I thought when I wet it down and laid it out to dry it would have a little ease and not be too tight. I learned two things:

One, when it gets wet it gets very heave and stretches quite a lot. As I positioned it to dry I wondered if it would reach my knees!

Two, When I put it in the dryer instead of letting it air dry it returns to it's original size. Phew!

So my plans for the future of this garment are - hand wash, put in the dryer for 10 - 15 minutes, then lay it flat to air dry. I liked the way it looked, and more importantly, the Quipper liked it. Maybe I can wear it to his birthday gig on Friday night.

My more immediate knitting plans are to continue work on the toe-up socks I started in Florida. I have finally gotten past the heels and begun working on the legs. That was confusing as could be. The legs should go much faster now. Maybe I simply prefer top down sock knitting because that is what I learned first.