A Busy and Eventful Month

I have to say, the last month or so has been memorable, to say the least.  Between, my mom and her knee replacement, a joint flare up that parked me in bed for almost a week, I have been quite overloaded.

I ended up staying the night at Mom's a lot when she first got home, because at that point, she was so off-balance and sore that we were afraid to leave her alone.  She is doing much better now, praise God.

The joint flare up started when she was in the hospital and continued for nearly a month.  Bad pain the first week, then I progressed to functional but sore.  Bad news: my hands and wrists hurt too bad to knit for a few weeks.  Good news: read a lot of books.

I got my Citron shawl done near the end of last month, and it turned out very cute.  Since I can use it as a scarf as well as a shawl, I am sure it will get a lot of use. 

I am almost finished with my Swallowtail, which will be shawl #4, and have started on Ella, which is a Knitty.com shawl.

On a sad note, our ram has passed away, which makes me sad that he died, but happy that I will no longer have to fear being smashed to death by him.  His progeny live on though.

Crisis Knitting

I think that all crafters, and knitters, in particular, revert to form when stressed, and dive in to their chosen form of artistic expression.  To me, nothing relieves tension like spindles or pointy needles.

When choosing a knitting project to get you through a crisis, there are a few things you may want to consider

1. Choose something that you can put down if interrupted.  I am working on the 10 Shawls in 2010 challange on Ravelry, and cast on a shawl just to work on when taking my Mom to doctor's offices and sitting in the hospital.  It is something that I can set aside if needed

2. Choose a project that requires little counting and brain power.  I opted for stockinette, and soothing.  My project only requires counting on two out of every twenty rows.

3. Pick something that you can wash.  My project can take a gentle soak in warm water and soap.  Cotton may have been a better choice, or even superwash wool.

Basically, when I am looking for a project to get me for a crisis, I go for easy, soothing and portable.

This is the shawl that I have been dragging back and forth to the hospital.  I decided to go with the Citron form Knitty.com's Winter 2009 issue because it met all of my prerequisites for portability.  A very soothing knit without being boring.

Shawlette

Shawlette
Originally uploaded by SpinningMommy

Since I last posted, I have finished two shawls, the first being the pink Chinook, which has gone to a new home, and this lovely little number, the 10 in 2010 Shawlette.
http://ravel.me/SpinningMommy/11eu9
This took me twelve days to knit from Knit Picks Stroll Hand-Painted in the Lullaby colorway. It is also my second shawl for the 10 Shawls in 2010 challenge on Ravelry.com. The next shawl up is Swallowtail.

Handspun Yarn

Handspun Yarn
Originally uploaded by SpinningMommy

As you can see, I've been at the spinning wheel lately, which has gotten me a few more skeins to play with, but not much further on my Chinook Shawl. Deb informed me yesterday that she hit Row 150, while I am still languishing somewhere in the 120's.

The skein on the far left is wool from PA that was locally dyed down there. Deb brought it back for me from her trip to Lancaster. The middle skein was from fiber I get at Rhinebeck last year. It is BFL in a Peacock Colorway, that I spun fairly fine and Navajo plied. As I am new to this plying method, it started out a bit tedious, but slowly got better. The skein on the right is wool/mohair plied with a single of silk, which turned out better than I thought.

Yesterday was a bad knitting day. I was working on a shawl for my neice's first communion, and somehow managed to go from 55 stitches all the way up to 64. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was trying to knit with the wrong hand. Even though I'm a righty, I carry my yarn in the left hand and pick it. I tried carrying it in my right and throwing, but it obviously didn't work out so well. Aside from ending up with too many stitches, I think they were also backwards, which I can't quite figure out. Definitely weird. So I ended up at a coffee shop in Clifton Park waiting for Chris while he was in his class, and the bad mojo even extended to my sock. I haven't been plagued by bad stitch counts in years, and I started coming up with bad numbers on my socks, as well. I took the hint, put the knitting away, and read my book.

Speaking of books, I just finished Adrienne Martini's book "Sweater Quest", and enjoyed it very much. It did, however, give me terrible nightmares about doing a huge afghan in Fair Isle, knitting flat with size one needles and laceweight yarn. I can't think of any knitterly thing more terrifying than that! She is supposed to be at Stuyvesant Plaza at the bookstore signing books and hosting a knitting get together tonight (good timing) and I am contemplating whether it is worth the trip down the Northway during rush hour.

Athena's New Ram Lamb

Athena's New Ram Lamb
Originally uploaded by SpinningMommy

Well, Athena surprised us yesterday with a lamb, sooner than I expected, and wonder of wonders, she is actually taking care of him. She is one of those sheep that is just dumber than the average sheep, and that says something, since sheep aren't exactly known for their brilliance. It looks like she will be a good mom. We are going to call the little guy Bilbo, which for some reason seems to suit him.

Gracie's lambs are growing like weeds. We are going to call them Bam-Bam and Bri-ella. We are hoping to get them out and about soon, weather permitting, of course.

Grace, Izzy, and the Twins

Grace, Izzy, and the Twins
Originally uploaded by SpinningMommy

Well, she finally had them on Friday, April 2. I went out in the morning to check her as usual, towing Bella along for the ride. I heard their little "maaas" before I even saw them.

I got Chris and Mark up to come out and help dip navels and get them nursing, and much to my disgust, nobody wanted to cooperate (I'm talking sheep, not family). Those lambs wanted to nurse, but every time they tried to latch on, Grace would walk away and knock them over.

After an hour of trying to get the nursing going, the lambs were wearing out and getting cold, and Grace still wasn't cooperating, so we hit the road for some colostrum and Save a Lamb. $40 later, we get home to find them happily nursing. I'm thinking that it is a small price to pay for not having to bottle feed.

So now we have ram and ewe babies, and are looking for "B" names!

Chinook Shawl

Chinook Shawl
Originally uploaded by SpinningMommy

I don't have a whole lot of lace knitting experience, but this is one knit that I am really enjoying. This is my version, in progress, of the Chinook Shawl knitted on a KnitPicks lace sampler.

The charts are a bit messed up in their numbering, but other than that, it is a good knit. Enough of a pattern to keep your attention, but not so complicated that you need to stress over it. I can't wait to see it blocked.

I am in the midst of a bit of a "shawl down" with my friend Debbie B., who got the same kit I did. I was well ahead in my knitting, and then we had the great sheep tragedy, and she's now catching up. Gotta push myself or she will buzz right on by me.