It's #INKtober!

As October loomed, I considered whether or not to squeeze in daily drawing for this year's #INKtober. I've let daily work on the Watermark Cardigan fill creative time, so wasn't sure if I could actually make time. And then the muse whispered in my ear: bridges. Hmmm . . . I do like to have a theme to follow and I do love bridge structures, so I made the decision to at least start and see if I could keep up with it. This is a fresh sketchbook and I decided that in order to keep time for each sketch at a minimum, I'd only use a Japanese brand Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Flexible pen - one I got in a selection of such felt pens - to keep me from spending too much time on detail. I got that tip from an urban sketcher I follow who also wanted to participate in #INKtober with quicker sketching than her usual detailed work. I think it's working. I started with sketching the different types of bridge construction before moving on to actual bridges.

As usual, there are some whoopses even as trying to draw loosely (or maybe BECAUSE I was drawing loosely) but good practice, and it should get better as I get back into shape. I'm using pictures from internet searches as my guides, although there will be at least one photo I'll use that I took myself. There will be bridges I've seen in person as well as famous bridges. Should be fun.

And now that it is officially October, most of the trees that have been holding back are now letting their leaves turn. With another week of beautiful fall weather leading to another cold and wet weekend, I made it to the Bay trail again and was rewarded with views of cottonwoods finally going yellow and other trees showing their colors.

Brilliant against the blue sky.

How lucky am I to live by this gorgeous lake with this nearby trail lined with these cottonwoods.

With the crochet bag done, I've started another project for that small block of time after lunch when I'm watching a news program. This is called "Distance Scarf" for some reason but has quite a beautiful pattern made up of cables turning this way and that. The yarn is a skein I bought years ago when a local alpaca rancher was shearing, spinning and dyeing up wool from her herd and selling it in a downtown shop. She even added to the tags the name of the alpaca the wool came from. It's the most gorgeous raspberry color, soft as a cloud and expensive enough that it was a real splurge to buy even a single skein. It's sometimes difficult then to figure out what to do with a limited amount of yarn, particularly when it is a special yarn, and so it has sat in my yarn stash waiting. A few years back I decided I'd like to knit a scarf or cowl for a cousin, and then settling on this yarn while I dithered over cowl or scarf, and now at last getting to it with this recently found pattern. The beginning is really fiddly as you go from a few stitches to enough to make about a 4 inch width, and the yarn slippery on the equally slippery knitting needles, but it's going faster and easier now that all the increases have been made and a sequence established. I want this done for a Christmas gift, along with a couple of small shawls, so I best get going!

It's A Sleeve! It's A Bag!

Well, this is exciting and yes that really is the right length for the sleeve of my Watermark Cardigan. The pattern gives options for this short length as well as a mid length ending above the elbow and a full length. The short length is what I saw first and fell in love with, and now as I near the end as well as the end of my yarn, I think I may have ended up playing "yarn chicken" had I gone with a longer length. The pattern designer kept reminding us that garments "grow" when blocked, by how much depends on the type of yarn, so don't worry if the body and sleeves seem shorter than you think they should be when done. I'm halfway down the second sleeve and should be able to finish it tomorrow.

And more excitement with putting the last stitches in the crochet bag which completed the handles. I've already put some yarn in it, even though there are yarn ends to weave in. Think burying machine quilting threads on the back.

 

The leaves are still pretty stubborn about turning color, although some of the ones that turn red are getting with it. The cottonwood leaves with a few exceptions are still very green and the birch behind my place has only scattered leaves turned yellow. I feel it's still early so the slow turn is fine with me. 

The Equinox

And that's exactly how it was.

I'd been watching the weather reports and saw that a cool front with rain was about to arrive. The first day of fall looked like my last chance for a while for a walk along the Bay Trail.

View from the Bay Trail - two sailboats in the distance

I'd been avoiding it, worried that an issue I've been having along my left hip would flare midway, making it difficult and painful to get back to the car which required navigating the steep hill to the parking lot. But I'd had no trouble at all on the Sunday walk around City Beach with a friend, so I decided to risk it.

Not many trees are sporting colorful leaves yet

City Beach is a wonderful place to walk, but it is along paved sidewalks through people picnicking and playing in the water, and a little further out, boats coming and going from the marina. The Bay Trail, little more than a quarter mile away, has dirt to walk upon and huge trees belying the fact that the city is so close by. It is cool, quiet, the main sound being the gentle lapping of the lake against the shore.

Although hard to see (poor cell camera) there are bright red berries on the mountain ash

Yes, other people walk there too, but not in droves. A few people were fishing along one stretch, several others I passed had dogs along, others were doing what I was doing, getting a good peaceful restorative walk in before the rain settled in.

I knew I needed it, but not how much until I was there, listening to that lapping water. . . . 

A Quick Update

What a lovely weekend we had - and I took advantage with a Sunday walk at city beach with a friend I haven't gotten together with in a very long time. Seventy-five degrees, light breeze, people splashing around in the water or steering a boat back to a slip - it was so delightful. Sorry, did not think to take pics but trust me, it was beautiful. Before heading there, I sat with my crochet bag and did a few rounds at the top now that the pattern part is finished. Next round starts the handle! It feels so close to done.

I'm equally excited about the progress on the Watermark cardigan. Suddenly I was at the ribbing along the bottom. 

When I took this picture I still had more rows of ribbing to knit and today I got them done. Next row is binding it off, then on to the sleeves.

I have several smaller knitting projects I'd like to make for Christmas gifts, and once that crochet bag is done, I can get going on them. I also need to get on with a small dye session to produce a particular blue fabric for that friend who gifted me her dye supplies. I put that off all summer and am hoping I haven't in the process stalled progress on a project of hers. She didn't really indicate if she needed it for what she showed me she was working on, just that could I dye it up "the next time you dye some fabric." Well, I really don't dye up fabric anymore unless there's something specific and that hasn't happened since I did that big dye session for her last fall. I make too big a deal out of it and put it off when actually I only need to dye up a few pieces of fabric. Just need to get organized and get it done!  

Project Progress

Robert Benchley once said: “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing.” Yeah, that's me, and what led to my foot dragging about a few things that then led to it being a stressful week as I could no longer put them off (multiple tries before rental insurance document successfully uploaded to renter's portal, getting over dread of seeing NP re suspicious moles, etc.). Still, I actually got quite a bit done on the "fiber" front.. Sometimes it doesn't seem that way because I am doing small bits on more than one project, but I have managed one finish and marked major turning points in others. Let's start with the leftovers from the antique quilt. To refresh your memory, above is what I had to work with, more than I wanted to just toss, less than would make for an easy way to use them.

Pieces overlapped, pinned and ready for stitching

Zigzag stitching hardly shows

Several of you suggested I make a needle case, which I thought a great idea. I fitted the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle, overlapped slightly and zigzagged together with white thread. Nothing fancy here. Not terribly pretty either, but I forged on. After squaring up, I had a piece 11" x 15". Way too big for a traditional needle case. But you know what I really need? A needle case for my circular knitting needles.

I took up knitting as a teen, and once my mother saw how into it I was, she found a beautiful zippered case for my growing collection of straight needles. It had one wider slot that would hold my first circular needles, bought so I could make a poncho (it was the 60's, what can I say?). But once I discovered Mobius scarves that required different sizes and lengths of circular needles, and started finding sweater patterns requiring them too, my circulars no long fit in my case. I've been stuffing them in the front pocket of the binder where I keep patterns, and although it sort of works, a separate case for them would be much better. I spotted this piece of hand-dyed fabric left over from my business days with friend Judi, and decided why not? Matching old with new would perk things ups a bit and the hand-dyed tightly woven fabric would make a sturdy lining for my case.

I decided a layer of batting would be a good idea and sandwiched a piece of Thermore between the patched together outside and the lining folded to create pockets. I found a piece of red twine for a closure and caught it in the line of stitching down the center.

I finished the edges that holds the whole thing together with the same blanket stitch I used on the tote bag. 

Front

Messy back

And that's it! Here's the front and back - again, not the prettiest but very functional. I may decide to run another line of stitching down the center of one side - some of my needles are packaged such that they would fit in the smaller pockets that would make - but I'll wait until some of my circulars currently in use are freed up and ready to store. 

So that's my finish. A partial finish could be that I completed the back of the red sweater (which unlike the other two sweaters is knit in four pieces that will be sewn together later). Lots of curling in this unblocked piece so it was difficult to get it arranged, but there IS a little shoulder/neckline shaping at the top, but not much - it's a drop shoulder design. Sitting on it is the crochet basket which, once the base was completed, magically started up the sides with the change of a stitch. When I worked that first row, it felt a lot like when I made my first coiled fabric bowl on faith and found that the slight tipping of the flat base made the sides appear. As for my other knitting projects, the Autumn Wave sweater is past the yoke "wave" pattern and sleeve stitches have been put on waste yarn for later while front and back are now joined and worked down an inch or so. The Watermark sweater continues its slow progress but I was excited to get out the measuring tape and realize I'm only a few inches from starting the ribbing at the bottom. Now that cooler weather has arrived, I'm very anxious to get these done so I can wear them! 

THIS is Different

I've been waiting all summer for this plant to flower. I'd wintered it over inside because it still looked so good right up until we were due for a freeze. But the blooms on it were such a dark purple that I couldn't really see and enjoy them unless I was right next to them. As August went on, I saw that it had half a dozen buds so I waited anxiously for the flowers to reveal themselves. To my surprise, this first one is a lighter, prettier purple than last year's. Looking forward to enjoying these into fall. Still waiting for the zinnias to show buds but the geranium continues to put out blooms.

Also different, this cluster of delicate pink blooms that showed up in the big pot by the front steps. When I first saw the clump of leaves, I nearly pulled them as weeds, but then decided to wait because they didn't quite look like any weeds I'd been been removing from this pot. Very glad I didn't but I don't know where these came from, just like the violas that have taken root out of nowhere. What a lovely end of summer surprise.

An update on my fawns, who showed up again this week . . . but with mom! I'm relatively sure this is the same group I was worried about when I saw the doe limping so badly and the fawns showing up on their own later. I'm going to go with that and am very relieved. Also relieved that our weather has turned fall-like with some rain that has cleared the wildfire smoke from our skies (although fires still burn north of me). It has allowed me to go back to daytime walks while the sun is still up!

More Intimidation

The crochet cardigan has been waiting patiently for me to add the finish stitches around the armholes, fronts and neck, but it required learning a new stitch plus "guessing" I was adding the right number of stitches "evenly" along all those edges since the pattern didn't give exact number and placement. I indeed was feeling intimidated. But eventually, I had to face my fears, look up how to do that new stitch since it wasn't in that booklet I've been referencing, and trust I could get the right number of stitches everywhere. The new stitch was a little tricky because it required going in from the front behind the "post" and back out the front while the next stitch did the opposite. It's a clever way to make a finish that looks like knitted ribbing. I often think that crocheters feel like the red headed stepchild of yarn manipulation so are constantly working to make their results look more like knitting that is held in higher esteem. I really like this ribbed looking edging. 

Here's it is finished and how I hope to be wearing it - over sleeveless tops and dresses. I'm of an age when cap sleeves look better than short sleeves on my arms, and I'm hoping this will help extend my current wardrobe. I learned quite a bit making this cardigan and, like with my knitting, stay interested in working on projects because there ARE new things I have to master. And apparently that's a good thing as we age, according to this tidbit I ran across:

What the hands do for the head

A Mayo Clinic team followed around thirteen hundred older adults and found that the ones who made things — knitting, quilting, that sort of thing — were meaningfully less likely to show signs of mild cognitive impairment than the ones who didn’t.

That’s an association, not a promise, and we’re not about to suggest a scarf is medicine. But it makes sense when you look at what knitting actually asks of a person: planning, counting, sequencing, catching your own mistakes, holding a shape in your head that doesn’t exist yet. Plus two hands doing different jobs at once.

Here’s the part we didn’t expect. A Harvard neurologist who studies this makes the point that the benefit lives in the learning, not the doing.

When I bought the kit for the crochet cardigan, I also bought a kit for a crocheted bag. Before I forget all my crochet skills, I decided to move it up the priority list and am hoping for a relatively speedy finish. The kit included this ribbon "yarn" which is worked double using a really big crochet hook, hence my belief this will go quickly. You make the base in the round first, something I probably haven't done since I tried a doily pattern from my reference booklet when I was first learning back in the 70's. And I learned yet another new trick of the "magic ring" that the first stitches are made in which allows you to pull up the stitches tight into a ring, leaving no hole in the center as other methods do. It's been a bit tough going, pulling that doubled ribbon through the tight big stitches, but I can see this will make a very sturdy bag.

On another note, I had a birthday this week. Nothing special this year, just not feeling up to my usual tracking down of a take-out dinner and bakery dessert or going someplace special to spend the day as we are still dealing with enough smoke that I shouldn't spend time out in it. However, I did remember that I'd bought a box of fudge brownie mix on sale when I had a chocolate craving, then left it there because I'm constantly trying to get my weight down. Well, birthdays are great excuses for splurging so I bought some icing like you put on German chocolate cake and baked it up. Good lord, what a sweet treat! With a banana and plain yogurt on the side, it's been my lunch all week.

I did make one other splurge with a trip the day after my birthday to the local yarn shop that carries Marlabrigo yarns. I'd been looking at one in particular via their website and was teetering on the edge of treating myself when an unexpected birthday check from a brother arrived. He said he had a feeling a needed a nudge to do something special, so off I went. I bought more than his check would cover, but it was the deciding factor in my taking the plunge. Enough there for a sweater I have the pattern for (the "buy with intent" method) plus an impulse buy of a single skein of the variegated one called Fire Agate, the colors of which kept calling out to me as I studied the various choices on the wall (might have been my choice for the sweater except there was only a single skein which I'm thinking will end up a scarf or shawl). Susurro yarn is particularly soft as it is 50% Mulberry silk,25% Merino wool, 25% linen. This color reads a beautiful dark brown but changes to something almost dark purple in different light, which the store owner attributes to the silk. Longtime readers will no doubt remember that I have a difficult time passing up anything with silk in it! This is going to be so lovely to work with and then to wear, but I have three other sweaters on the needles to finish first. Still making steady progress on all of them but this new yarn waiting in the wings . . . THAT should push me along - lol