It's A Cardigan!

Watermark Cardigan designed by Marie Greene of Olive Knits

Mid-week saw me putting in the last knitting stitches on the Watermark Cardigan as I added the button bands after knitting the neck band ribbing. I can't actually say it's done, but to have the knitting done makes it feel done. However, just like quilting, there are some finishing touches to attend to - weaving in those dangling yarn ends, sewing on buttons and blocking - before I can actually wear it. Based on how my gauge swatch looked after blocking, all that lace should open up and relax, but my, isn't it beautiful as it is now?

I gotta say, the chickens were squawking in the hen house as the fox neared the door (a reference to aforementioned playing yarn chicken). I tapped into my last ball of yarn to finish the last sleeve, then picked up stitches to do the ribbing at the neckline. I was getting nervous, giving the ball a squeeze to get a sense of how much was left. I wasn't sure if I'd make it, ready to undo my gauge swatch for extra yarn if necessary. As I picked up stitches for the first button band, I decided I simply couldn't keep checking that ball of yarn to see how near I was to using it up. Once I finished the second button band, I finally took a look and this is all the yarn remaining! Validated my decision to count rows as I knitted and stop slightly before rather than slightly after the inch and a half ribbing width.

As the end grew near, I got out my button collection to see if I had anything on hand that would work. I so wish I had just 5 more of those green buttons on the right but as you can surmise from the card they are attached to, these are pretty old and not to be found currently. The cardigan takes a small button - no more than 1/2, and I am tempted to use one of the two kinds of glass beads that probably came off either my grandmother's or mother's clothing long ago. I thought maybe a white or off white buttons would work, but I'm not convinced. I'm leaning toward the darker of the mottled brown buttons which came off of a man's shirt - probably my late husband's or maybe my dad's - newer than the rest.

I'm giving myself a break before making these final steps - I was quite amazed at how released I felt, a real weight lifted after this daily work since July 1st. To be honest, beautiful and interesting to work on as it was, it was starting to feel a bit of a grind after so long, and I was ready for it to be done. Now I can allow some other things to be worked on in that time I allotted to the cardigan. In fact, with the weather moving from cold and wet to sunny and 60's as the week wore on, I treated myself to another lake walk at the easy to manage loop at City Beach. At one point as I turned to look far across the lake, I had another "pinch me" moment, a little disbelief that I actual live here with this kind of access to beautiful Lake Pend Orielle. 

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.