There are a couple a new things here. First of all the pattern. It’s the Moss Grid Hand Towel from Mason Dixon Knitting. I’ve never attempted a hand towel before. Srsly.  But I happened to see a hand towel that my neighbor made and it inspired me. Plus, I’m knitting this particular hand towel in linen, another first for me and it’s blue. Yes, blue. Blue the color that I use least often and that appears nowhere in my wardrobe (except for jeans). But somehow, blue is always my first choice for towels, such as bath towels, so this should make a nice addition to the bathroom when finished.

The pace of my life is crazier than ever and I’m mad at myself for breaking my once a  week blogging rule. I suppose nobody really cares but me. I thought my life would slow down once I finished my credential but now I’m in a graduate program at CSUEB and doing BTSA as well (don’t ask) – all in addition to teaching 150 whiny, needy, energetic, crazy, lovable, frustrating, rambunctious, creative, lazy, funny, high school students.

When I finally overcame my block about the edge for the log cabin blanket, it actually went very fast. I’m very pleased. Instead of working in the round, I knit each edge separately and sewed them at the corners. Easy peasy! Why did I think it would be so difficult?

I threw it around Max on a recent excursion to Stinson Beach.

Now it keeps me warm on these chilly November nights.

Everyone’s flown home and flown the nest and once again I find it’s just the three of us…me, myself and I. *sigh* Ah well I can’t complain. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at Karen and Jeff’s house as you can see. The crowd seems to grow bigger every year.

I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving too!

I actually sort of finished this blanket, a variation of the Log Cabin blanket, about a week ago but I didn’t make a grand announcement because I’ve been stuck at the edging. The directions according to Mason-Dixon Knitting say to pick up stitches all the around and knit four rows of garter stitch. That seems easy enough but the problem is the circumference of this bad boy is at least 240 inches – each edge is about 5 feet – and my circular needle is less than 46 inches from tip to tip (the cable itself is only 36 inches). I can’t even picture myself wrestling with this blanket and it’s 240 edge stitches in my lap. Has anyone ever attempted such a feat?

Here are a couple of solutions that I’m considering:

1. Crochet edging seems like a nice mindless solution especially on a day like today when I’m stuck inside during a heavy downpour with only half power (a line came down and won’t be repaired until tomorrow) watching political pundits on TV. meh.

2. I-cord edging which I’ve never actually done but seems like it might be a nice time to try given today’s weather (see above). I love the look of i-cord but I think it will take a lot longer than a crocheted edging.

I’m open to any and all solutions at this point. The blanket was started way back on Academy Award night, over six months ago and I’m ready to be finished. It’s so cozy and warm that I’m already using it – maybe I’ll leave the edging off altogether. What do you think?

(BTW: It was just about one year ago when I met the gracious authors of Mason-Dixon Knitting, Ann Shayne and Kay Gardner, at a book signing for their newest book at Powell’s bookstore. My how time flies!)

It appears that the illustrious Yarn Harlot and I are on the same wavelength. We are both making the same blanket, albeit in different colors. I had my niece, Juliana, and nephew, Jake, model the blanket in progress yesterday at the Father’s Day German Rouladen Fest here at Oma and Opa’s house.

Juli is *such* a poser.

Check her out last Fall modeling the Asymetrical Hat.

Astute readers may notice that this is not my first log cabin blanket. Yes yes it’s true. I’m still working on the first one, or not working on it as it were. I did try it on the bed to see if it was big enough yet. It’s looking pretty good don’t you agree. Second Obama pillow is also a work in progress and yes, his likeness sleeps alongside me at night. Tee hee.

Now that I’ve spoken to my mother by phone and wished her a Happy Mother’s Day, I can show you photos of the completed Kiri Shawl.

I was inspired by a Kiri Shawl that the ADD knitter made and even bragged in an earlier post that it was easy enough to follow sans pattern. Like the ADD knitter said, you can always see where you are in the pattern at any given point…and I could…until I got to the edging.

Somehow the edging didn’t quite line up.

It got a little hinky and just a wee bit offset…I looked at the chart several times but it didn’t seem to jive and in the end my desire to be finished with it got the better of me. I could have ripped it back but that’s an extreme hassle with lace and I was loathe to do it.

I suppose this project has been mistake ridden from the start.

No one will know or see the mistake until I point it out to them and I’ll have to restrain myself from doing that. I think most of us have a tendency to point out our mistakes but we shouldn’t. We’ve got to bite our tongues and put a halt to this self-deprecating practice.

Maybe that’s why I sent it to my mother. She’ll never see the mistakes until I point them out. Mothers don’t care about our mistakes. They love us unconditionally, despite our mistakes, and don’t all mothers love getting handmade gifts from their children? I think it starts with the first clay hand print in Kindergarten. However, when I spoke to my mother this morning, she didn’t say a word about the shawl. That’s my mother for you. At least she got the package and that’s all that really mattered to me.

After fellow knitter (and soon to be PSU graduate), Jessa, with her gorgeous golden tresses finished modeling the shawl recently, she was kind enough to throw the log cabin blanket over her shoulders so I could show you all the progress on that.

It’s not quite finished and progress is slow because I’ve been making the stripes progressively wider and each one takes nearly a full skein of Patons. However, each time I throw it on my bed to see if it’s big enough, it doesn’t quite cover the Queen sized bed.

I suppose I’ll keep on knitting until I grow tired of it. Or it gets too hot. For the time being, it makes for great meditative, mindless, soothing garter knitting.

Miles and miles of garter stitch. Is there anything better? This is my take on “Joseph’s Blankie of Many Colors” from Mason Dixon knitting, using six colors of Paton’s classic wool merino, three in the dark shade and three in a light shade, and increasing the number of rows in each round gradually. In the beginning the panels each had nine garter stitch ridges and now I am up to thirteen. So the panels will grow increasing bigger. I hope it will look ok. So far the blanket is about 33 inches square.

I have even knit on this blanket in my car while stopped at a red light – that’s how addictive it is. It’s my constant companion these days, keeping me warm on these dreary, rainy days of March. Next time I’ll photograph the blankie from the “wrong” side which looks almost as lovely as the “right” side.

Ballband Dishcloth, originally uploaded by alicethelma.

Fans of Mason-Dixon Knitting will recognize the Ballband Dishcloth which is one of my favorite pieces of knitting meditation and if I’m not busy making an oven mitt then I’m making a washcloth. So today I took the washcloth, along with Alice and Max, out for breakfast to the Cup and Saucer Cafe on Hawthorne in Portland.

Here is Brent, our wacky waiter, taking Max’s order. Notice the secret message on the back of his order pad that only the recently initiated will understand. In between scarfing down food and snapping photos, I did manage to knit a few.

Another oven mitt in progress special ordered by Roland.

For myself I ordered the Northwest Salmon Benedict with fruit salad instead of potatoes.
Utterly delicious.

Alice likes to drown her poor potatoes in ketchup. We go through gallons of ketchup around this place.

All in all a fabulous way to spend a Sunday morning with the ones I love.
Get thee to the Cup and Saucer post haste!

PS: I’ve changed the settings so that anyone can leave a comment without getting a google account first. Try it out and let me know how it works. I would love to hear from you.