I finished sweater #2:

It’s soft and cuddly, although I realized after buying the yarn that maybe Cashmerino isn’t the most practical for a baby sweater. There were no written washing instructions on the label, just those little symbols. Does anyone know what those symbols really mean? I know they’re supposed to be international and all, but it’s not like it’s common knowledge. Thank goodness for the internet.

Is anyone watching Colonial House? I’m finding it fascinating, although some of the people can be irritating. Why did the atheist couple want to participate? It’s 1628 people, and the colonies are ruled by religious law. You have to go to church! Of course today it would be ludicrous to demand that people go to church, but they’re re-enacting the 17th Century, they had to know going in that women had no rights, everyone was religious, and you had to wear a scarlet letter for things like profanity or immodesty. That’s great that they want to make their statements (not just that particular couple, several people have rebelled in different ways), but I tuned in to see what it was like in 1628, not 2004. So quit being whiny babies and suck it up! Anyway, it’s really interesting, and I’m sure they’ll be re-running the first four hours throughout this week before they show the last four next week.

Here are the pieces for the Chinese Charm Bag from Stitch n’ Bitch:

And here they are all put together and finished (the flower was an afterthought, it need some zing and a big silk peony was just the thing).

And a look at the inside (I ended up using a different fabric for the top bit, I didn’t have quite enough of the pink big floral print):

Mother’s Day sort of snuck up on me, so I picked up a few skeins of Lion Brand Homespun to make a throw blanket for my mom (luckily, unfinished gifts are acceptable in our family, and I really will finish this quickly, it’s just mindless knitting-perfect for TV watching):

It’s plain, but soft and warm. I made one for myself last fall and one for my MIL for Christmas. Cats love them too. I had to knit a little cat blanket with a bit of leftover yarn so I could actually use my own blanket. The cats kept pulling it down from the back of the chair and curling up on it. They think everything belongs to them. Our queen-sized bed? Why no, that’s just a giant cat bed and if you’re really nice perhaps they’ll let you have a little corner.

The nephew sweater, 2nd edition, is coming along nicely. I only have one more sleeve to knit and then I just have to put it all together. I rock! The next picture you see of it will be that of a completed sweater (my second sweater ever!).

Ta-Da! This little sweater is moving right along.

I’m not a fast knitter; I’ve accepted that fact. I knit to relax. At work Tuesday’s are for knitting class at lunchtime. I’ve taught a few co-workers, and I try to make them understand that knitting shouldn’t stress them out. Swearing occasionally is acceptable (we try to keep it PG-13 at the office, though). It’s nice to see them go from tightly clutching their needles to just holding them normally and knitting along.

I forgot to mention that Sweet Pea day was lovely and relaxing. We wandered around the gardens, walked through the sweet pea maze with scissors to clip our own bouquets, and sat on the lawn and listened to a bluegrass band.

Afterward, it was back to my house for pie and lemonade on the porch. I like to revel in the fact that I live in the country, although San Diego is just a 40-minute drive away.

A few more pictures from that day:

A typical shot of the dogs. Reggie is jealously guarding the soccer ball. Reggie (a Cardigan Welsh Corgi), is more of a retriever than Bear. If you throw something-anything, actually-he wants to run and get it and bring it back. Bear (the Golden Retriever), however, wants you to chase him. I guess no one told him he was a retriever. He likes to play soccer, though. These are his rules: kick the ball around a little bit, then pick it up in your mouth, run toward the human and veer off to one side at the last second while they try to kick it out of your mouth. Let them chase you for a bit. Then “accidentally” drop the ball so the human can kick it across the yard and you can run after it and start at the top again. Repeat until the human is panting and ignores you while trying to catch their breath. It’s the funnest game ever!

This is the Man of the Trees. When we lived at the beach, he was Neptune, and hung above our front door. Now he’s on our biggest oak tree, in the middle of the driveway. Neighbors have told us that it’s between 400 and 500 years old. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the trees (there are 3 Oaks, 2 big Pines, and a bunch of little ones and a dozen Cottonwoods) were one of our favorite things about our house, and it is big enough that when I park my car behind it, you can’t see it from the street. When we had to evacuate during the fires I was more upset that we might lose the trees than the house. I love the bark, it’s grey and rough and old, it almost looks like stone, it’s so ancient.

I have been busily knitting and will have pictures shortly. I decided that the nephew sweater was kicking my butt and as the poor kid is 2 months old and I haven’t sent him anything I’m re-thinking the whole idea. I decided instead to make a raglan sleeve sweater from the Debbie Bliss Baby Knits book. It’s done in Cashmerino Aran, and I managed to knit the front in 2 days, so I’m optomistic that I can whip up the rest in the next week or so. I’m not giving up on the star sweater, it’s a 12-month size after all, but now I can knit it without so much pressure. So I went from tiny cotton yarn on size 2 needles to luxurious Cashmerino on size 8 needles. Ahhh, so nice :o)

I’m also making myself the Chinese Charm bag from Stitch & Bitch. It’s all knitted in hot pink cotton and I just need to assemble it. I was in need of a quick, satisfying, mindless project. Maybe I’ll finish it tonight and share a picture of the completed bag.

And that is the most boring entry in knitting blogdom for today!

Because I’m sure everyone is wondering:

I have made progress on the bag. I’m up to the handles now, and I had a little trouble at first, because I went from reading the chart in the round to reading it back and forth. My brain had a little trouble with that concept, so I had to re-chart the odd rows in reverse and now I just switch between the two charts.

I have no knitting time for a couple more days. I edit our little town monthly newsletter, and my deadline is long past, so I must finish tonight and get it to the printers tomorrow morning on my way to work. Then I have to clean my house on Friday night so I can play on Saturday. I’m meeting friends to celebrate Sweet Pea Day, and then it’s back home with them for treats and a garden tour of our own, and perhaps a sit on the porch.

You may or may not know about our dumb dog, Bear. Further confirmation of his lack of brain power has recently been noted. We have a massive oak tree in the middle or our driveway, and it seems that a rather large family of birds (woodpeckers, we think) is nesting there. The evidence of this is a whole lot of bird poop on the ground on the front side of the tree. This has Bear completely baffled, and he is now spending vast amounts of time laying on the daffodils under the tree inspecting the white stuff that falls from the heavens. He can’t figure it out and he is strangely fascinated by it.

Even though I have plenty of projects, I like to plan ahead. I’ve wanted to make this:

since I first saw it the current issue of Interweave Knits.

But what color?

It is a wool yarn, so it would be a fall/winter sweater.

I’m currently working on a cardigan in this color:

which is Cascade 220 Quattro. And my last sweater was blue and green. I don’t want to do boring charcoal or indigo, and I think a darker color wouldn’t show the pretty cable rib pattern. Opinions please! (not that I need to decide right away, I still have to finish the nephew sweater, but once I do, I’m ordering this yarn!)