green

Completed: November, 2003
Lion Brand Yarn / Homespun
98% Acrylic, 2% Polyester
Color No. 302 – Colonial [1 skein]
Color No. 3336 – Barrington [1 skein]
Needles: 10.5
Seed stitch

Although I don’t wear blues and purples very often at all, I’m drawn to the colors when they’re in the form of yarn (probably a good thing, since I’ve been told I need a little more color in my wardrobe; this scarf will be a gift, but I do have a particularly colorful scarf project in the queue; maybe I’ll keep that one). I thought these two shades of yarn would look nice together–Colonial is a mostly royal blue blend, and Barrington a deep purply-blue blend–and the result is another double-strand yarn scarf.

This is my second Homespun yarn project, and I do like the way this stuff knits up. Although this yarn handles a garter stitch very nicely, I tried seed stitching this one (for me, the lazy seed stitch: K1, P1, repeat for all rows using an odd number of stitches). The result is a little stiffer than the garter stitch but it produces a nice nubby texture.

This scarf measures about 4 ft. long, and about 8 inches wide. When I make scarves for myself, I usually do great long skinny ones. This one, however, is for a friend who is an attorney, so it’s a bit more subdued in length. This way, she can pair it with a suit if she wishes, or with something more casual.

Completed: October, 2003
Lion Brand Yarn / Kitchen Cotton
100% Cotton
Needles: 7

My knitting to this point has been somewhat pedestrian–just stockinette and garter stitching–and my efforts to knit neatly are usually less than successful. My edges are sloppy, my knitting inconsistent… Most knitters I spoke with said that a lot of this stuff improves with time and practice, so I set out to do little exercises to hone my skills.

First, I picked up some really cheap yarn at a garage sale (all that would fit in a grocery bag for a buck!). I looked online and found some texture patterns to try: moss stitch, seed stitch, various rib stitching, etc., then proceeded to make 4″ x 4″ texture sample squares, following the patterns. After doing a bunch of these, I noticed that my combination knit/pur-ling was getting better, that I was better able to read my own knitting, that my edges were getting a little neater (I’m still not great, but I’m no longer creating the gigantic loopy edges). I’d found a pattern for a turkish bath cloth a while back, and figured washcloths were just big textured squares with edges, so I bought some cotton yarn and gave it a whirl. These are some of the finished products. They’re about 7 1/2 inches square (more or less).

We wish you the best this holiday season, and a peaceful and joyous new year!

Love,

Brenda & Ted

It’s Christmas Eve, and we began the day visiting Bethany at her new house (well, new to us, anyway). The cat is Sadie, who has the most adorable face, dontcha think?

The rest of the day was spent baking Christmas cookies, the traditional Christmas Pizza (this is a family which holds dear their yuletide traditions), and a rousing game of dominoes. I made my first Pizzelles (maybe a tad too browned—oops), and dipped the peanut butter balls in melted chocolate. We had plenty of chocolate left over, so we just started dipping anything else that sounded good: pretzels, pecans, fingers… we’re all set for tomorrow’s arrival of Jack and Alicia (Ted’s brother and brother’s girl).

Took a day trip to neighboring Waynesville, a small town due west of Asheville. We strolled along the main street, where we enjoyed spirited renditions of Christmas carols by a Salvation Army band. The elderly woman on keys was swingin’ the Jingle Bells, swaying her shoulders… she had truly found her groove. We visited the general store and candy shop, art galleries, and enjoyed a leisurely day taking in the sights.

We end the day with a positive message from the Whispering Pines Motel:

The floral arrangement you and Dad sent? It looks like this:

Today we had lunch at the Early Girl Eatery, and got to meet a friend of Ted’s sister, Bethany. For those of you following the vegetarian food log, the Early Girl featured a menu ripe with delicious meatless dishes. I had a sesame tofu salad with—get this—grit croutons. They were tasty little critters, sort of like tater tots, but made of gritty goodness. yum…

We also snapped this photo of the sugar flask for Joe. At about 5 inches tall and 7 inches wide (with a spout bigger than your thumb), we estimate this holds about four free-flowing cups.

After lunch, we took a stroll around downtown Asheville. A couple places showcase pieces by local artists, including this one, Spiked Punch Bowl (in case you can’t tell, it’s made from railroad spikes painted safety orange, cradling a glass bowl).

We also took a trip to the Grove Arcade, an old refurbished building housing shops and cafés, including a space where Ted’s mom, Donna, sometimes sells her yarn and fabric handiwork. She never sets out to make something to sell, but she sells a lot (the shop was sold out of her felted hats when we visited).

A couple bonus photos: Ted doing the 150-knot dance, and a thoughtful Hilde, the family Schnauzer.

Today’s excitement: Ted’s mom Donna received her new quilting table, which arrive in a large semi this morning (probably one of the larger vehicles that has managed to make its way down Field Crest Circle). Thankfully, Ted and his dad were there to lend a hand to the driver–the crate is about 12 feet long, and about 500 pounds by Ted’s estimate.

For those of you who haven’t been to Ted’s parents’ home, here’s a view of the front, and the fantastic view from the back deck…

We had a nice, uneventful trip to Asheville, treated to some of the gorgeous landscape along the way…

We were met at the Asheville Jet Center Sunday night by Ted’s parents, and made an evening visit to the local Ingles (isn’t this just the coolest font? I think so). Posts will be a bit more sporadic now that we’re here, but we’ll try to share any particularly interesting things along the way!

There are many wonderful things about crossing the country in a small plane that only a pilot can love, and here’s one. Just east of Memphis is the zero degree isogonic line, which we crossed en route. What’s the zero isogonic line and who cares? At most places on Earth true north (the direction to the north axis of rotation) and magnetic north (the direction to the north magnetic pole) differ. How much they differ is a matter of where one is on Earth. The zero degree isogonic line is a line running north/south on which true north and magnetic north are the same direction. The line for the western hemisphere runs east of Memphis and we crossed it. As for who cares, I suspect that only I do. If you wonder what it looks like at the zero isogonic line:

Yes, I know this is super geeky.