Knitter on fire!

And another sweater finished.  This one is loosely based on the Vanilla Sweater by Corinne Tomlinson.  I'm not thrilled with crop sweaters. They seem to cut me in half, and I'm small enough not to want that.  So  I did some modification:  much narrower, long sleeves, and longer in the body.  I also increased each side of the side seam (fake seam), at around the waist to give a bit of ease at the hip. 

I just loved knitting this sweater.  Usually I hate miles of stockinette; it's so boring but this time, it just flowed along so nicely. 

I can see more of these top-down raglans in my future.  Stripes, patterns on sleeves and/or body?  A bit wider?  A slightly lower neckline?  All good fun to think about.

Corinne Tomlinson owns The Woolly Thistle up in NH.  Beautiful yarns from the UK, Norway.  That's where I bought the Frangipani gansey yarn in the last post.  Soft woolly yarns, stunning colors.  I'm in love!

Where did she go?

Knitting.  Knitting like crazy.  I am a knitting machine.  Eriskay ganseys.

Here's Sheltering Gansey.  Why sheltering?  Silly, 'cause I'm sheltering.  This one is made out of KnitPicks sport Wool of the Andes. 

This one is not totally authentic in that a couple of the patterns are from other places than the British Isles.  So, a fake cable from Japan, a star from a Danish book.  Also, no underarm gussets nor shoulder straps.  I did those things many years ago, and don't need to do them again.  I'm not making historical ganseys.  I am not a fisher lassie, nor do I sail or catch fish.  Yep, NJ is on the Atlantic coast, but I'm inland.

An Eriskay gansey comes from this tiny little island called Eriskay, and has patterns on the body, a cross pattern, and then separate patterns on the bodice.  Different patterns on the sleeve.  All that patterning makes it very interesting.  Just about the time you're bored with it all, you move on to another set of patterns.

Now this Eriskay gansey is more authentic.  I used the real gansey yarn, Frangipani gansey yarn with a worsted spin on it.  The patterns are all from fishing villages. But, again, no underarm gussets nor shoulder straps.  This one is very warm!  It didn't help that I stood out in 90 deg heat for the Hubz to photograph it.  Bring on winter; I'm ready.

Quilting?  Knot a Garden (see previous post) is now quilted, and the binding cut out.  Just have to attach it and then sew down the binding.  Eventually.  In the heat of summer, I feel the need to knit warm woollies instead.

Knot a Garden

She's sort of like a knot garden, but not a knot garden, so her name is Knot a Garden quilt.

Differences in colors are due to sun or shade. 

A couple more photos.  I'll post more pics after she's been quilted.

Quilting is back

I'm so happy to be quilting again.  After 5 weeks of mask making, I'm finally done with them! If there's a need when the next wave of the virus comes along, then I'll go back into masks.  But for now, freedom! 

Here are the first 2 rows.  I'm so loving this quilt!  The pictures aren't great, but they'll do for now.  I think of the quilt as a bit of a knot garden, except that it's not a garden, so... the name of this quilt is Knot a Garden.

I'm knitting a sweater, the usual pair of socks, and baking and cooking a lot.  It sometimes seems that we spend our days eating.  Breakfast, mid-morning break with home-made biscotti, lunch, mid-afternoon break with home-made muffins, supper, and nibbles while watching TV. 

Way back in January, I started to run out of all-purpose and bread flours.  So the Hubz, who loves to market, bought me some more.  We already had yeast bought in Dec (I think).  I buy yeast by the pound, and freeze the bulk of it.  I take off enough for a small jar and keep that in the fridge.  It lasts me about a year.  We also put in a flour order from King Arthur flour.  It was all back-ordered,  and was supposed to arrive in about a month.  Instead we got it all in a couple of weeks.  So we are all set from bread and pizza baking as well as muffins, biscotti, etc. 

And on that note, I'm off to eat lunch.

Masks

Sigh.  I do not like making masks, but masks need to be made.  So, I'm looking for pretty or cute fabric from my stash.  It does cheer me up to see silly masks.

Eggs.

Chickens.

Chickens and eggs.  I don't know which comes first, the chicken or the egg.  But here they are.

Back to the masks.  Stay home.  Stay safe.  You do not want to catch the virus.

Sewing masks

That's what I'm doing.  No pics because it's enough to sew them.  No, I haven't made thousands of them, nor hundreds of them either.  I'm not that fast.  I get done what I get done.  I will not make the Guinness Book of Records, but I will do what I can.

Rabbi Tarfon said:  It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.

I cannot save the world; I cannot make masks for hundreds, but I can do my part.  If we all do something to help each other, then we are helping the world.  If you can sew, then sew.  If you can cheer someone up, then do so.  You don't have to be perfect.  You don't have to make the most masks in one day in the history of the world.  Just do what you can.  You don't need to feel guilty if you make 10 masks/week.  You've made what you've made.

If you can afford to order food from a local restaurant  occasionally, then do so.  If you can make a small donation to a worthy cause, then do so.  If  you can be kind to someone, then do so.  You can't perfect the world, but you can take part in it.

What you all don't want to read

If you all are somewhere where the virus is not lunatic like NJ, please, please, please wear masks when you go out, and better yet, don’t go out if you can help it. Here are our latest numbers as of 2 hours ago: N.J. coronavirus death toll jumps to 2,805 with 68,584 total cases. Another 365 deaths and 4K positive tests confirmed.

The population of NJ is around 9,000,000, and we now have more deaths than from the Vietnam War or the World Trade Center destruction.

We have not yet peaked, and are a long way from opening up businesses and going out. The crazy headlines from the NY Times are accurate. None of it is “fake” news. Social distancing is working, but it is really slow. The best thing you all can do is stay far away from other people. Don’t go visiting your aunt/mom/sister/brother/kids/grandkids.  Don't chat with your neighbor over the back fence.  There are a helluva lot of people who have this mess and are asymptomatic.  Stay home.

Do not think that where you live is immune from COVID-19.  It isn't.  Rural towns, farming communities, small towns are experiencing the virus.  If I sound like a ranting maniac, it's because I can see what's going on in the NY/NJ metro area.  

You can all handle social distancing.  Trust me.  Better that than catching this nightmare of a disease.

If you sew, make some masks and donate them to your local hospital if the hospital wants them.  You don't have to sew thousands of them.  Anything will help.