Needle Size/Yarn Size

Here we have a Swallowtail made on size 3 needles and merino lace yarn. Then we have the same number of stitches done on size 8 needles and Lavold Silky Wool. What a difference in size!

Baby Booties????

Well, DD wants her Maryjanes and the only pattern I have for them isn't all that nice. If I make them out of 100% wool and lightly felt and stretch back into shape, they're pretty much okay, but it's a lot of worrying, manipulating, etc. There's a Fibertrends pattern for felted ones out there. And since I'm cheap (confusedly -- been told I'm penny wise, pound foolish) -- I made up the booties because the pattern was in the Knitting Encyclopedia and I happen to have the book. I figured I could learn how they did it, translate that into real people size. Hmmmm - what do we have here? A humongous fat foot slipper. Perhaps if I spent $5 on the pattern, I wouldn't waste $5/$10/$15 on yarn trying out a pattern!!! But dang, those booties are cute!

The Bride and Groom

We drove to Laughlin for a wedding! Please note that Mom is wearing Swallowtail Shawl!

Mourning (Knitting content see end)

Lambie is dead. God rest his soul. He lived 27 years, March 1979 to December 2006. His later years, he was a mere shadow of himself, coloring was off (perhaps liver disease). My daughter may never recover. I tried to make a replacement in anticipation of just such an event, but...

The demise was as follows: DD put his innards (all that was left of him) in the pocket of her pj's for safekeeping. Later in the day, she did her laundry. That night panic set in when she realized that the lint trap had had its way with Lambie. She has not been the same since. She cannot sleep. She wakes up looking for him still. It's only been a few days.

Here he was then. We have no recent pictures.

(Knitting content: The black thing on Kelli's head (which started this whole entry) was my last shawl. I used Skacel Merino and though it's nice to knit with, finished blocked project is not near as "substantial" as Zephyr. Result: I don't like this shawl/scarf much)

Chicago Getaway

Well, I got my snow and still managed to get out on our scheduled flight. We dined at some great places, my favorite being Osteria Via Stato where you pick your main dish and they just bring various other dishes to your table. If you want more of anything, just ask. And we asked for some more of the BEST onions in the world. They were sliced rather thick, doused in cream, butter, and parmesan cheese and roasted in a pizza oven. My main course was short ribs removed from the bone served atop creamy polenta. The three restaurants we had dinner in were all so different - Tru's, Joe's Seafood, and Osteria Via Stato. Tru's was unlike anything we've ever experienced. This sounds weird, but my favorite dish of the evening at Tru's was a consomme! Of course, it was not JUST a consomme, but contained some partridge, chestnuts... The food kept coming. When we collected our coats to leave, they presented each of us with an individual wrapped banana loaf which we had the following day with our morning coffee. The shot of the four of us is at Due's eating our first Chicago pizza.

In these pictures you will see Gwen wearing the last hat I made which ended up being for her because it was PERFECT on her. Doesn't she look fantastic? Steve is wearing the Chicago Scarf I made for him. Bob and I got to wear hats, scarves, vest, sweaters - all the knitted goods we could. It was COLD.