Antique Ivory Swift

Will you JUST look at how beautiful this is?? Um anyone have $26,000 to spare? I'll pay ya back - I promise!

It is a very old, antique hand-carved swift of ivory from a website that shows antiques from the old scrimshaw and whaling days. You can't see at the bottom, but that is a little carved hand holding the stem.

Can you imagine the face of the wife of this whaler that presented this to her as a gift after being away sailing and whaling for god knows how long? So amazing! Back in those days these guys would carve ivory gifts for their wives while they were away - usually hair combs, or sometimes little toys for their children. But THIS is really something - and practical! She must have used it - oh would I love to be a fly on the wall back in those days just to see the kinds of things people used, and how they used them. But I'm off on another tangent.

There are more detailed pictures on the website, including some of the the gorgeous inlaid wooden box it comes in/with. Look at this link to the site and you can click on photos to enlarge them.

OK back to the knitting now. About that Leaf and Acorn scarf I've started; I ripped it out and started again because I ran into some mistakes and I wanted it to be perfect. So I started again, and once more I've run into a road block. And I even went so far in effort as to contact the owner of the ranch in Texas where the Mohair was made (her goats), hand-spun and dyed, to be sure I could get a second skein, so I can finish it. By the way, I may as well plug her. She has beautiful stuff and so far it's only available in Texas, but I called one of the shops (in Dallas) and they are willing to ship. In fact they are calling me when my yarn is in. It's http://www.elcoyoteranch.homestead.com/ . Check it out and tell her the woman who called this week about the avocado mohair sent you!

The mohair I received is in a color called Avocado, but I think it's more of a dark mint/something else. It's very pretty! And I don't like the standard pastel mint color in general. Oh I think I have a photo of it:

Unfortunately this picture doesn't do it justice. It's quite a different color than this...darker and richer - both. And it has a twang of lime or olive to it, that you can't see here.

The texture is gorgeous and the woman at the shop in Dallas said she does really really well with El Coyote Ranch's yarns.

So there's my plug - ok and once again. Now back to the errors in the Leaf and Acorn Scarf. I don't understand it, I've tried counting them out in the pattern, but the stitches are wrong. It seems to start around row 8. They claim you should have 76 stitches and I keep ending up with 75. Then on the next row I somehow ended up with 77 stitches, and I'm supposed to have 76. The following row is supposed to have 83 and I'm such a mess I'm back to 76? SO CONFUSED I don't know if i should keep following the pattern and ignore how many stitches they say I should have and see if it works out, or if I should somehow self-edit my stitches to match theirs. HELP HELP HELP!!! Someone please tell me what to do!! I posted the link to the pattern on the previous site. If anyone reads this please let me know what you think. I hope someone reads this and can help me.

Knitting Lace

So, I am back and in full force now. I have decided to try knitting Lace. I went to my LKS, and wound up some beautiful Avocado Mohair that my Secret Pal gave me, from TEXAS. (With some guilt, even though I just finished the socks for my Secret pal's baby that i was supposed to send her in May, I haven't sent her what was due). Anyway, I decided at first to do this shawl - a one skein shawl that looked really really easy. It is the secret of the "One Skein Shawl" - Looks nice and easy doesn't it. Especially on those huge needles. Guess what i lowered the size of the needles to 11, so I could wear it as a neck scarf. It was probably going to still be way to big. I'll never know. I got to about 70+ stitches on the needles and I frogged it. I just didn't like it. I wanted something that looked amazing. This "fishing net" looking thing, did not do my beautiful green hand-spun mohair justice. So I picked out a new pattern and started over. First I picked something else simple with little kitty paws on it - a scarf. Then I still said, "No!" It needed to be better than that. So I picked this gorgeous thing: The Leaf and Acorn Scarf at Elann.com. It's so gorgeous I can't stand it. So I cast on and began. I got lost around row 12. Yikes. I ripped it out and began again this morning. I am bad about photos but I will get one on of the yarn and my beginnings. And maybe a photo of the baby socks as well. As soon as I block and do the final finishing work on them. I'm currently listening to Brenda Dayne of 'Cast On' while I work. My other favorite is David Reidy from 'Sticks and String'. I've been catching up on their earlier posts and I'm finally getting to the current stuff - thank goodness. Oh and for any of you Mom's out there. I'm from the Boston area and love love LOVE the podcast "Manic Mommies". I listen to it while I do dishes and laundry and ignoring my whining children who want snacks and dinner. It's the perfect thing. Makes me feel like I'm not alone.
- Have a great day all!

It's Been a long long long long Summer

I haven't dropped of the face of the Earth. I only slipped off the Knitting planet for a short while. I failed miserably at my attempts to keep up with the Secret Pal stuff. I just was way too busy. I had better not sign up for another one, unless I promise to keep on top of it.
Now that Fall is here, I'm going to make an effort to return. I really want to join Ravelry, and hope that that will boost my incentive to finish stuff.
Life has been full of so many things that have nothing to do with knitting. I haven't worked on my socks, or sweaters in well...about 3 months. I know - it's horrible - I know. But here I am, and i have been listening to David Reidy's Podcast, "Sticks and Strings" all summer, catching up on old ones and working my way into the current ones. I think I like him more than Cast On now - nearly.
I've gotten into this horrible habit of either working or playing computer games while i listen instead of any actual knitting. Probably the worst habit I could pick up, and so I must force myself to only listen when I knit. Yeah, OK...well I'll try anyway.

I'm done, and I'm BAAAACK!!

Where to start ...I have so much to write that I can't even get to the opening paragraph. First and foremost, I finished the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer - 40 miles BABY and I did em' all! I have an excuse to sit now. You'd never believe it but I sat all day on Monday, and I looked at my yarn and my roving, and my spinning and spent some time reading my new book, "Yarn Harlot" from my SP, but actually did NOT knit or work on anything! 'HOOWHat'? , You say. I know sounds strange but I think I just DID SO much over the weekend, what with walking forty miles in the rain and sleeping out in a tent in between, I was juust a teeeny weeny bit exhausted. Just so you know, the walk is really AMAZING, and if you train well and keep hydrated and stay slow and patient you can do it! I recommend it to anyone. Men included - by the way there were several on this walk - many of them husbands of women they lost, or son's of women they lost to breast cancer, or just guys who can appreciate doing something for a cause. One of my friends, Robin, was doing it because his wife did it last year and didn't feel like she could do it this year. He also lost both his mom and his step-mom to breast cancer. Anyway, GET OUT THERE AND DO IT!!! It is a wonderful, and empowering experience.
Below is the beginning of a segment I wrote BEFORE I actually completed the walk:

Oh My... All I can say is my Secret Pal is soooo wonderful!! I just got such a lovely package and it brought me right back down to earth. She sent a sweet card with sheep on it, which reminds me I missed the NE Sheep to Shawl last weekend. O well. Next year I guess. She also sent some beautiful green Texas yarn, and some roving and a cute hand-painted spindle. And a book, and some note cards and some hand-painted sticky notes! I'm going to hop right on that spinning if I can do it sitting down on Monday, since I will be recuperating from my 40 - mile 2-day Avon Walk. I'm doing my Walk to raise money for Breast Cancer this coming weekend, and soon will be able to return to my normal couch-potato life of knitting and blogging again! Hooray! Odd that all this walking, has strengthened my legs and made me more energized, and yet... I've gained 5 pounds. People keep telling me it's muscle weight, - yeah..in my belly? I don't think so. I think exercise has made me more hungry and I'm eating more. So that poses an interesting question... if I stop exercising and go back to sitting on the couch and eating the way I used to will I lose weight? Hmmm, my sources say no.

OK, so I thought I would be spinning, but as you can see...nope. Too tired. I'm still too tired. Plus I took my spinning class over 5 years ago, and I've kinda forgotten how to hold the thread to add in the first piece of puff. I have to do some reading first to be sure I remember how. OOOh I will be posting pictures too, of all the things in my package! I would love suggestions for the gorgeous skein of Avocado colored Mohair (360 yards) she gave me. I'm thinking, obviously something lacy, but what? Socks? A small scarf? Patterns? Ideas? I need em'!
Oh back to spinning for a second - I've only taken one class using spindles, and have never even finished a a full spindle of single strand, tried a spinnning wheel, or plying, or anything else, and yet... my thought process goes wild instantly. First I think about spinning up some single strand yarn using the spindle, and plying it into a two ply or maybe a three ply. Then I start imagining getting a wheel almost right away so I can do more faster. Then I start envisioning maybe getting a bunny or a goat, and learning how to sheer/pull , and wash and card and die the raw wool. Then I imagine myself owning a ...now this is MY idea so don't steal it... A Working Wool - Bed and Breakfast! Fun for the whole family! WHEEEE. Ok, then I crash very fast down to earth since I live close to the city, can barely take care of myself and my family, and dogs and cat, much less more animals, land large enough to house them, and visiting guests!!!! Has this happened to anyone else? That's about all I have to say on that subject until I post my next post with pictures, hopefully of all my goodies and the beginnings of probably very lumpy spinning!