Shouldn't I be Settled by Now?

A tie Brian will never wear.

I have moved to new cities many times.  California is the ninth state I've lived in; San Francisco is the 21st city I've lived in.  That's counting the cities I called home as a child.  Cities I've chosen numbers 19, including short-term residencies during college.  Cut those out and I'm still at 17.  The point is, I've moved a lot.

One thing I've learned about moving so frequently is that it takes a good year to make solid friendships.  At this point I've gained two friends who will likely remain my friends even after we no longer work together (I also have a few friends ready-made from other places whom I've joined in San Francisco).  I'm feeling the urge to make friends outside of work, however, which is a much more difficult proposition.  Brian and I like to explore through walking around the city (see my Instagram posts for photos from around the city--I'm everywhereknitting there, too).  Being on the move does not allow the time to settle in, to get to know something really well.  Sure, they know my name and my drink at Starbucks, and I've made friends before

by lingering in stores, but this isn't quite the tactic I'd like to take.

Perhaps I should join some knitting groups.  I have made friends that way before, so it will probably work.  I just get shy in situations where no one knows me.  You'd think that after so many years of making new friends I'd be an expert, but I'm not.

Which brings me to knitting.  Since I don't have many friends here, and job hunting can only occupy so much of my day, I should have a lot of time for knitting.  Somehow, I don't do much of it these days, though.

I never did a summary of what I knit last year, so here's a quick summary:
39 total projects, plus one that has stretched into this year.
9 cowls
9 hats
5 baby items
2 pairs of socks
3 pairs of mitts
1 baby sweater
1 sweater back that has to be re-knit.

Not very impressive.  I did get on a run at the beginning of this year, but it has since fizzled out.  I'm working on a toddler sweater that just needs to be finished. 

This feeling of being unsettled has bled into knitting.  Some nights I dink around on my phone or computer instead of knitting.  Some nights I knit a row or two and then find something else to do.  I just can't seem to focus on knitting.

I think I need to revisit the "knit whatever I want" rule.  It's nice not having deadlines, but I miss presenting people with gifts.  Does anyone need anything?  Want anything?  I could use some inspiration.  I guess a knitting group would do that, huh?  Maybe I just need to be here for another four months before I feel settled enough to happily knit whatever, when I'm not out gallivanting with all the new friends I'll make.

A hat that has no owner.  Want it?

Promotion

Sabrina Gschwandtner wrote a short article for Interweave Knits about my friend Aimee Lee. Aimee often comments here, so she might be familiar to you. If not, or even if, read the article, go to her website, tell others about her, and buy her work! She's an artist, and makes her living that way. I'm amazed and lucky to have friends like her.

Summer Photos

I have a post in mind (what I've learned about knitting from climbing), but I've had such a busy summer that I thought I'd get the photos out of the way.

First, thank you for all the kind comments. I might have put the sweater in the UFO pile if left to my own devices. I'm still enjoying knitting Holly and made great progress on a recent flight. I have two other somewhat pressing projects to finish, but I can't take my hands off Holly.


Jacque and I hiked the Ruby Mountain Crest Trail a few weeks ago. I had never done a multi-day backpacking trip. I also grew up where it's relatively flat. I think I've acclimated pretty well to the altitude, because that wasn't a problem at all. I could breathe even at 11,000 ft. Jacque helped that by keeping our pace slow. I have a tendency to walk fast and then get out of breath. The trip was amazing. It was hard in some places, and simply fun in others. These pictures are chronological.

A gazillion-mile switchback at the end of the night. Just before Overland Lake (below)*

The Crest (we saw this same view after climbing that peak, and then again five more times)

Liberty Lake

The Parking Lot!

Then a group of people drove up to the City of Rocks to celebrate my birthday (and Jason's but he had to stay home on doctor's orders. Boo). I had no idea my friends in Elko were so amazing. I knew they all wanted to climb--that was really the point of the trip--but they also surprised me with an awesome gift, which I opened after cake.

Presents!

Last weekend I visited Jen and family. I just needed to see their faces. It was soul-soothing.

Now it's September and I'll be around for awhile. Maybe I'll actually get some knitting done this month.

*edited to add photo. My apologies for multiple versions of this post.

Conundrum

I had a high school teacher who would always say "Questions? Comments? Conundrums?" before moving on from the current topic.

I have a conundrum. I am working on the Holly Jacket. It's a fun knit so far. But I have been looking at the picture of the sweater, and at some completed Hollys on Ravelry and the Knitting Daily Galleries, and I'm not sure it's going to look good on me. I don't need more emphasis on my hips--trust me. And I'm knitting it in a color that doesn't look good on many people--yellowgreen--so I can't gift it. So what do I do? Knit it for the fun of it? That's a lot of time going into something that won't be worn. Frog it? But I'm enjoying the knitting, and I'm to the armholes on the back. I've even been staying up late-ish to work on it, which hasn't happened in so long and feels so sleepily good. Stop where I'm at and use the rest of the yarn (Ella Rae Shibu [very nice to knit with, but a little splitty]) for something else? I don't know! I don't have anything else I am desperate to knit, and the socks I'm working on are feeling too wooly for the weather. Silk is perfect.

In other news, Jacque and I are hiking the Ruby Crest Trail this weekend. Three days for 43 miles, and we're sharing a tent with her gaseous dog. I can't wait.

I Love this Hat!

This is Jacque.
I taught her to knit in January. She's made four hats. Hats are the way to go for a beginner, I think. She's accomplished so much in such a short time. She's going to make a vest of her own design next. Her latest hat is ribbed the entire way up, so Jacque had to figure out how to decrease in pattern, rather than using the standard spiral decrease I taught her. She's been knitting on straights and has had some trouble with her hats having nipples at the top, so I hope the ribbing and the different decrease pattern will solve her nipple problem.

In spite of this weirdness, every hat Jacque makes is a joy for her. She exclaims "I love this hat" while knitting them. She realized she said it for every hat and asked if I felt the same way about what I knit.

It's got me to thinking. I don't love everything I'm working on. Lately I feel like I've put down or frogged everything I attempt. I'm supposed to be working on a dog sweater for Jacque's dog (also in the pic), especially since it took much convincing of her husband that a dog sweater is still macho. But the yarn I picked is too bulky for the wording I want to incorporate. I thought I'd just make a prototype, then, since I wasn't using a pattern, but I haven't touched the sweater for weeks. I am working on other things, of course, but I don't love anything right now.

The closest I'm getting is on Patti. It feels good to make progress. I'm sure I won't finish until the sun is warming Michigan, but Jen will still appreciate it, I think (hope).

So I how do I get the love back? I still need to knit. I still want the feel of the yarn growing on the needles. I just don't love anything I'm working on. Nothing is bringing that joy.

Here's some Misti Hand Paint Sock Yarn I wound for Tympany. Tympany is fun. I'm almost onto the earflaps. I'm not going to have enough yarn, since I'm using some leftover yarn from a pair of socks, so I'll have to get creative.

High Five

I've had this post in my head for a while now, but since I released myself from the guilt of not posting regularly, I haven't taken the time to write it.

The Rubies. View from Dead Snag, December 7, 2008

I have never given so many high-fives in my life as I have lately. It all started at Ultimate Frisbee. Score? High Five! Make a good play? High Five! Pass a friend on the field? High Five! The hand-slapping moved to the crag, too. Lead a route? High Five! Successful climb on top rope? High Five! Good try at climbing anything? High Five! Belay? High Five! Then it moved home. Playing Cranium and get an answer right? High Five! Tell a good story? High Five! Goofing off at the bar? High Five!

It's nice to have supportive friends, friends who encourage you in all your pursuits. I love rock climbing partly because I love the encouragement along the way and the excitement everyone feels when someone accomplishes their route, or just gives something a try.

Knitting is like a high-five sometimes. Finish a hat? High Five! There's no one giving me a high five at one in the morning after I weave in that last end, of course, but the feeling is there. I feel accomplished, satisfied and excited.

I haven't finished all my Christmas gifts. In fact, one that I started way back in September hasn't been touched since then. The intricate, detailed pattern got confusing and I ran out of time to deal with it. My plan is to finish everything (except Patti) on the plane rides to and from Detroit. Here's what I've finished so far.

Gryla's Howl, now finished.

I'm Done

I'm not done with blogging, but I am going to take a break from the pressure of it. Things are too full, too heavy in my heart and head right now to worry about anything else. I will blog when I feel like I have something to say, and the time to write about it.

Since I wrote last a lot has happened. A friend died. You can learn more about it at Perry's blog. Perry is writing so elegantly and eloquently about it all, in spite of his closeness to James and James's death, that I will leave it to the words he's already used. A couple days after that I had to go off to a conference, which was fun and educational, but overcast with the thought that I couldn't be with my Elko friends, mourning and supporting. The day I left Kentucky and the conference, I got a call telling me my grandma, my Nana, had died (my other grandma, Babci, died in September). I flew all the way to Salt Lake City just to turn around and fly to Detroit (I traveled a total of 20 hours that day). I was very close with my Nana, so this was especially hard to take. There was all sorts of family stuff to deal with while home, too, which only added to my worry and sadness. The day after I returned from Detroit, I drove with friends to Salt Lake City to attend James's memorial. It was beautiful and heartbreaking.

Nana and Me. Isn't she beautiful?

While I was gone, I was neglecting a major deadline at work and now I'm behind much more than I'd lilke.

So I'm taking a break from blogging. I've been knitting, but nothing's done and nothing's new, so this seems like a good time to take a break. Please continue to email me. I need a push now and then to keep in touch.

And I declare this: I'm done with Death. That's it. I'm done.

August 22, 2008. Nana and Papa were finally wed in the Catholic Church, after 50 years of marriage.

Picture!

Made for Perry for his birthday.

This yarn, Polarknit, is a bit strange to work with. It's a synthetic, of course, so it has that weird feel (though not sticky like acrylic). Its construction is like a piece of fleece was cut into a very long strip. It was staticky, which I haven't experienced in a yarn before. The end result is fabulous, though, so it was worth it for a hat. It's going to be one warm, hip hat, for sure.

Inching Along

Chicago was great. It felt like being home. I got my fill of yummy Handlebar food (and then I dreamed about vegan biscuits and gravy last night, so maybe I didn't get my fill after all). I saw 13 friends. My friend Wyatt said, after telling him that I had to leave: "But, I'll miss you," and he looked at me with his three-year-old eyes. My heart broke. I would have stayed there forever.

I also reconnected with friend I had neglected. Now I owe her an email, but I'll get to it, I promise. I did miss one friend that I really wanted to see. Add another email to that list.

I didn't do much knitting. I finished the February Sweater. The person it's for reads this, but I'm going to post it anyway. This sweater was just as frustrating and just as fun as the first time I knit it.


While I was in Chicago, I stopped at Nina. I was craving a trip to the LYS as much as vegan biscuits and gravy. I needed help deciding, since I was overwhelmed by all the beautiful things. I had to ask Sam a few times for some help on color. Everything I bought was in a blue-green shade, except for the Silky Merino that just happened to match the Misti Alpaca yarn I bought.

Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Cotton. I've wanted to try this for a while. I'm thinking colorwork mittens.

Malabrigo Lace. It was too luscious to pass up. It's going in the stash to wait for the right project.

Misti Alpaca Sock Yarn. These will have to be made into socks. But for whom?

Malabrigo Silky Merino. I love a Merino Silk blend.

So I've been catching up. I've been having a lot of fun at Frisbee. I think I'm starting to feel more confident in the game. I went camping this weekend, which was great fun. I went with two different sets of friends, so the weekend was doubly interesting. I took along BYOB and the Everlasting Bagstopper. The Bagstopper has been sitting for some time, waiting for yarn. I bought some at Nina, but when I went to knit with it this weekend, I realized I'd bought the linen, not the hemp I needed. I don't mind having more linen in my stash, but I would like to finish this bag already. At least it's living up to its name.

Euroflax Linen, purchased at Nina, sitting with the hemp bag.

Besides Chicago, the best thing to come out of the last couple weeks was teaching Perry how to knit. Let me clarify a little. His mom had taught him how to knit, but I taught him how to cast on and how to purl (though he only purled one row). Next, he's going to start a hat. Teaching knitting makes me so happy. Maybe even happier than knitting itself. Now I've got to get Perry to teach me to rappel, like he's promised.

Nevada Weekend

I don't have any knitting progress to show. My only knitting news is that I'm headed to Chicago tomorrow, so I'm going to get a lot of knitting done; buy a lot of yarn (I'm sure); and hang with my knitting friends.

Last weekend was a constant reminder that I'm not in Kansas (or anywhere in the Midwest) anymore. I went to a dinner party where we mostly talked about rocks--both mining rocks (gold) and climbing rocks. I went to a ranch where I fed a leppy (warning: opens in QuickTime. Watch it. It's short. And good) and played with barn cats. I went to the quietest parade ever (while parades are not unique to the West, Elko seems to have a parade every month). Then I finished the weekend at the Basque festival, where I watched Basque dancers and the weightlifting competitions. I also went to the picnic, but I didn't eat anything because the Basque only eat meat.

The most frightening thing I saw this weekend was the road to the ranch covered in Mormon Crickets (don't follow this link if you don't like big, ugly bugs). I'll post a picture soon, but let me just say this. Eeew. At first I thought they were frogs. They are almost as big as frogs, and they jump. I stayed in the car.

There's Always a First Time

My Middle Name is Patience tagged me for a meme. It's my first ever, and it's very exciting. I like the topic very much, though it's so hard to limit my answers to one per question.

• Your favorite word? Super. With delicious tied for second.
  
• Your least favorite word? Hate (I'm trying to eliminate it from my vocabulary). There's another word that I dislike more, but it's not really a word and I refuse to write it down. Say it only if you want me to squirm.
• The word that is the most fun to say? Fantastic. I enjoy words so much this was hard to answer.
• What word should be banned because of overuse? Should (I'm working on eliminating that one, too).

Answering this reminds me. If I ever repeat what you say, it's not that I'm mimicking you, it's because I'm rolling the word around in my mouth. Today we played La Loteria at the Folklife Center. It's a game much like bingo, but you don't match letters and numbers. Instead it's pictures, and you have to figure out what the image is by answering a riddle. Because most of us were rusty on Spanish (or don't speak it, like me), the caller only said the names of the images. It was fun to hear everyone in the room repeat the words. Spanish words are fun to say, especially Loteria! when you win. I didn't win.

This being my first meme, I'm not sure who to tag. I don't want to leave anyone feeling like they wish I'd ask, but I don't want to force it on anyone. If Aimee, Perry, Lynn or anyone wants to join MMNIP and me in celebrating language, please do this meme. Email me if you want an actual invitation.

Here's the Second Sock. I had to use additional sock yarn, from the leftovers pile, to finish. I like the effect of striping the self-striping yarns. Thank goodness my friend Bill doesn't care if his socks match. These definitely will not.


The First Sock.

More Distraction

I was going to post last week, but we had a crazy wind storm that knocked out the internet. I wanted to show pictures of the rock I climbed the weekend before. Don't worry, I started small. Then I challenged myself (peer pressure, really) to climb a 5.8. I needed help starting, and then again when I got stuck and had to switch my feet. I'm still bruised up, but it felt good to climb it.

Then I dashed off to Seattle for the Northwest Folklife Festival, which was loads of fun (in spite of some bad incidents). The best part was meeting up with an old friend from Ohio who I haven't seen in ten years. I didn't have much time to see him, but the reunion definitely made the weekend.

I got back yesterday. I did very little knitting, of course. Just a bit on a secret project while on the plane. I'm hoping to finish seaming the Dollar and a Half so I can work on the button band and be done with it. I'm itching to start a new project, but I've got to finish at least one of these before I do.

The Adventures Continue

I've been spending a lot of time outdoors. I've been camping and hiking, and I'm learning the surprisingly fun game of Ultimate Frisbee. I have scratches and bruises and very sore shoulders. Tomorrow I'm doing more camping and trying rock climbing again.

I have been knitting, but it's definitely taken a back seat to the outdoors. It's so nice lately. I do get a little bit of knitting in each night. I made a cowl from the Curious Creek Fibers Isalo. I wanted it to be something special, but it turns out that for all the money I spent, it's just another silk yarn. To top it off, there were a lot of spots that didn't take the dye. I like the cowl, though, and it was a good way to avoid seaming the Dollar and a Half cardigan. I'm one side seam and one sleeve insert and side seam away from the button band. My sleeves don't fit into the arm hole, but I just forced the first one in anyway. I don't think it's going to be too bumpy in the end.


And that's it. I've got a sock project as a travel project (it's going camping with me tomorrow). I might need to start something new next week.

The exciting news is that I may have a chance to meet up with a friend I haven't seen in ten years. He lives in Seattle, where I'll be next week for the Northwest Folklife Festival. I can't wait to see him.

Fair

First, I want to publicly apologize to my friends and family for neglecting to email or call. I've been busy. But not with knitting. That seems to be slow going.

I'm busy working. I know there's a level of anonymity to keep when blogging, and it's taboo to talk about work. I like my work, though. This is the first time I get to work with other folklorists. I'm doing fun and good work. If you want to know more about what I do, please visit this site, and check out this cybercast and these links for examples of the events I'm planning. Please listen to the podcast, too. I don't work on that, but the podcasts are a good and interesting example of the work I do.


Last week I finished the Bea Ellis hat. It's great, albeit just a little tight. I got into a good rhythm with the stranding. So much so that I repeated one round, but I figured that the friend this is for has a lot of hair, and could use a little extra height. I think I'm going to make We Call Them Pirates as my next Fair Isle-style project. Here's the requisite inside shot of Ufserud.

I'm currently struggling with Blue Sky's Brushed Alpaca. It's pretty and soft, but fuzzy. I'm knitting it in the round in garter stitch, so I have to purl every other row. Not fun. Give me a smooth yarn any day. I'll probably finish this project in a couple days, if I can find the time, that is.

Not Ready to Post

In fact, I'm not ready for anything. I start work, managing the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering for the Western Folklife Center, on Monday. I loved the event last year, and I'm really excited to be a part of it. But. After four months of very little work, I'm not sure I'm ready for full time. Quitting my job was the best thing I've ever done for myself. Will I be able to adjust to working again? I know WFC is not crazy or extremely dysfunctional and passive aggressive like the last, and I like the people I know and the ones I met last year. I am so very excited to work with other folklorists, doing work that I think is important. But. Do I know how to work in a healthy environment? It's been a while.

I'm also not ready for Elko. It's 40 degrees today, and it snowed yesterday. It's in the upper 80s in Chicago. I was definitely sick of the Chicago humidity, but I am not ready for snow and the dryness of the desert. This is small town, too. Not just small town, but small town in the desert, which means no other towns for miles. Elko is "town" for a lot of the smaller populations in Northern Nevada. This is new. Am I ready for this, either? I feel so unprepared.

I haven't done any knitting. I have one mitten complete and another started. I'm trying to unpack and infiltrate my stuff into my friend's house (she's been so gracious about me living with her). Perhaps I'll get back to knitting soon. My friend doesn't watch TV, so my knitting time is going to have to adjust to that. The knitting might be slow going for a while.

Oh, I did get a fabulous gift from Nina and one of her employees before I left Chicago. She gave me a great drawstring bag from Della Q in my colors, and four skeins of O-Wool Balance. Add the two blue and two purple to the two purple I already have and something good will come of this, I'm sure. I really liked that yarn for the February Sweater, so I'm trying to find something just as appropriate. Maybe a throw. It's cold here.

This Makes it All Worthwhile

Doesn't Jen look like she stepped off the page of the pattern book?

Looking at it, I can't believe I made it. It's Gathering Intentions from Inspired Cable Knits. When I saw the sweater, it just screamed out to be made for Jen. I finished it at her house, after she'd gone to bed so it would remain secret. It fits beautifully and really does suit Jen. The yarn is Valley Yarns Valley Superwash. I like it. It was really sproingy, which I love in a yarn. Plus, it's washable, which is perfect for a mom. Because Jen is a mom, I left off the gathered I-cord part of the right sleeve. I didn't think dangling ties were practical. She'd dip them in a lot of things and they'd get pulled on. I did leave the gathered part on the front, because I liked how it made the design unique.

Also while at Jen's I made Center Square. My floats were a tiny bit close together and they stretch on a big head like mine, making it feel tight. A person with a smaller head will be fine. I don't have an intended recipient, so I'll keep my eye out for someone with a smaller head. I showed the hat to my brother, who immediately wanted it. Then he said "but it won't match my scarf." So now I'm making another out of black and grey RYC Cashsoft. The lengths I go to for family. Let me just say how much I love this yarn, by the way. So soft.

Campfire Stories

For the last time this summer, I'm headed to the UP. This is my annual UP trip. I'm delighted to be able to do this so easily this year, and to have been in the UP so much this summer. I'm looking forward to spending my birthday with people I love, in the woods.

I've been thinking a lot about my parents. My mom seems to be watching over my shoulder all the time these days, and I'm dreaming of her often. I've had to make some hard decisions lately, ones that require moving across country, to Nevada, and selling my condo. It's all been a little easier when I think about the support that my parents always gave during times like these. I'll be celebrating and thanking them on my birthday, in the woods.

Every summer our family vacation was spent camping in the UP. We had a favorite campground that had a lot of trees and dunes and was right on Lake Michigan. On the drive up we would watch for hawks and eagles, and my dad was always so quick to spot them, leaning over the steering wheel, looking up instead of at the road. We'd always stop and eat at the Pizza Hut in St. Ignace, and then we'd swim where the highway runs along the lake. At some point in the trip we'd head up to Seney, to see more birds. I can remember exploring the woods and dunes with my sister, eating steak and onions (pre-vegetarian days, obviously) that my dad had made over the fire, and swimming longer than my sister because she always got cold. Just so I could stay in, my mom would stay in the water, floating on a tube, reading. The waves always seemed so big.

After my parents died, we siblings talked a lot about where this campground was. None of us could remember exactly where it was, though Stefan was almost right (there, I said it). It was special to all of us, mostly because my parents took us there, but also because it's a special place.

On my trip in July, Dan was kind enough to explore the various beaches along route 2 on our way to the Lower Peninsula. We explored a few that just weren't right. I remembered what the road into the campground looked like, I remembered what the campsites were like (even though it was car camping, there was a lot of privacy because of the trees and dunes), and I remembered the beach exactly. I was sure we'd missed it, that we were too close to the bridge, but Dan suggested we try one last spot. I cried the moment we pulled in to the park. My heart just knew it was the place we'd lost.


This is the beach where we used to go as a family.

Maybe this should be a Travel Blog

All this travel has kept me too busy to knit. I did start something for a friend who is due any day with her first baby. I finally feel like I want to sit down and work on knitting.

Here's the thing. I've got this knitting blog project hanging over my head. I asked a few questions to a few bloggers who graciously replied. Then I let it go. It's been months since I've touched the responses. I wanted to follow up with personalized questions, but the holidays happened, then work got so bad I could barely move when I got home, then I quit my job, and now I've been traveling.

But the annual American Folklore Society meeting is coming up. I'm on a panel about using the internet for research. I'd like to actually have something to say. So here's my next step. I want to know why. Why blog about knitting? Why not blog about something else we do everyday? I know some people include food posts or posts about reading in their blogs, but ultimately, our blogs are knitting blogs. Why? Please email me. Tell me why.

I'm also thinking of creating a survey, with the hopes that more people will respond and I can have some statistics to share.

View from Fayette Historic Townsite

Lake Michigan


We canoed this part of the Indian River. This was an easy section.

Dan put his new socks to the test. They held up well in the muck, on the fallen trees, and sloshing through the water. He had decided that his shoes should stay dry (they didn't--we just had too much water splashing about), so he wore just these socks. I'm so glad that he actually uses them. The socks did well. Wool is so great for the water. He had good grip on the trees when we had to push the canoe over, though it could have been due to all the sand that collected on them. When we got back to Chicago, we washed them in the washing machine. They came out great, though clumped with sand. I'm glad the sand stayed on the socks and didn't go down the drain. So Dan brushed them off and gave them another rinse. I'm so proud of these socks.

But It's a Dry Heat

Yes, it's hot in Chicago. But it was even hotter in southwest Utah. My sister and I went to Zion National Park on Friday. We were headed to Emerald Pools and I didn't think I would make it--it was hot and sunny! Once we did get there, I was totally rejuvenated by the water. It was worth it. On the way down, we passed a woman who asked us how much farther it was up to the water. Boy, did I empathize.

Visiting my sister was great fun. I got to hang out with her at work--she's more competent than she admits--where I walked dogs and played with dogs and pet dogs. Good stuff.

Just before leaving, I started a skirt for Renée (who else?) and a pair of socks for Dan (who else?). I finished one sock just before I left, and I finished the skirt in Utah. I'll probably finish the second sock tonight.

The socks are a simple, toe-up pattern, using the Turkish cast on for the toe, and short rows for the heel. The cuff is "small herringbone rib" from Stitchionary. It looks the same as a twisted stitch, which would have been faster, I think, but I like the look. I'm using the Claudia Hand Painted Yarns I got on my visit to California in March. It's a nice yarn. I wish it had just a little more yardage.

The skirt pattern I made up as I went. It's in Bamboo from Be Sweet. It's a splitty yarn, but it is so soft and drapey, that I can overlook the splits. I started with the waistband, knit a few rows, threw in some yarn overs, knit some more, then more yarn overs, then garter (in the round), then repeated until the end, where I increased for the ruffle, which is in garter. It's a lovely skirt. Like everything I've made for Renée lately, it will probably be too big right now. Oh well. She'll grow.

I leave for the UP again on Friday, so I may not post for a while. I'll be there about ten days, then an overnight in Saginaw visiting Jen and family, then back to Chicago. I may not post until the very end of July, when I'll have more pictures of the UP and hopefully some knitting progress.