Denim Shirtail Sensation

Working on the cuffs at present. Two sleeves, two side panels, and it's done. But I am sooo close on yarn, I'm afraid to start before my new shipment comes in. That way I can do both sleeves in the new dye lot and perhaps it won't be noticeable.

Happiness

This is a topic that came up while at work yesterday and today with my favorite videographer. He had seen a blip about happiness on Yahoo which reminded me of a book Dennis Prager wrote entitled Happiness is a Serious Problem. "Happiness is an obligation—to Yourself and to Others. Not only do we have the right to be happy, we have an obligation to be happy. Our happiness has an effect on the lives of everyone around us—it provides them with a positive enviroment in which to thrive and to be happy themselves." http://www.dennisprager.com/

I totally respect Dennis Prager. He's such a good thinker/analyzer. So fellow knitters, we all know what makes us happy. You OWE it to your spouse, room mate, significant other, mother/father (whoever you live with), not to mention yourself, to go out and buy more yarn, needles, knitting books, maybe a yarn ball winder, swift...

The article Mr. Videographer was referring to can be found here: (by Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/060321/032106_sahadi.html?.v=1)

Some highlights:

..."evidence suggests happiness begets success. Then success can bolster your happiness, which then can breed even more success"... "The research evidence supports the notion that it is the amount of time that people experience positive affect that defines happiness, not necessarily the intensity of that affect," the authors explain in an article detailing their analysis.

"So a little joy-light every day might yield better results than joy-concentrate every few months. "

And I don't want you to miss MrsBear's comments: "One of my favorite thinkers, Joseph Campbell put it this way: 'If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are -- if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.'

"Not that we do only what makes us happy, and pursue life with no thought than to gratify ourselves, but that we put passion into what we do, and give ourselves fully to it."

Give us this day our daily bread

Crusty homemade French loaves are better than sliced bread any day! Julia knows her stuff. Everything I've made under her tutelage has been pretty much perfect. No Atkins followers here. How can it be right to avoid the staff of life?

Monday was spent wrapped up in my handknit sweater, snug in my little cottage, baking bread, knitting, and making merry.

Denim Duo Part 1

Well, I was making this for my mom and realize I made it a bit too small. I'll be lucky if it fits me. And it's not 100% wool, so blocking isn't going to help too much. I just looked at the final measurements and thought it would be okay, forgetting how much ease this one needs. SOOOO I've ordered another shipment of yarn and this will be my experiment and the second will be for my mom. The photo doesn't show the stitch definition very well. It's Encore Chunky yarn, so it'll be able to go in washer and dryer. And I made this first one a little long. For some reason the middle part which is moss or seed (whatever) pulls up and that's where I was measuring for length. I'll be interested to see how it looks when I get the crocheted edging on.

Another thing - This front edge looks like merely two knit stitches, kind of loose. Well, it's not. It's four stitches. On the right side you k1, sl1, k1, sl1. On the wrong side you p1, k1, p1, k1. It's very interesting. Makes a fat and sturdy edge! I've tried to photo it.

Lazy Woman's Afterpocket Experiment

What I learned is to read carefully! First I tried reading EZ's Knitting without Tears - messed it up. Then I read Jacqueline Fee's section on afterpockets in The Sweater Workshop and voila! Granted I should probably have tried a larger experiment, but I just don't like wasting knitting time.

Snip a stitch in the MIDDLE of where you want the pocket and unravel even amount of stitches in either direction - 20 stitch pocket - unravel 9.5 stitches in either direction. (You will have enough yarn from unraveling to weave in and keep it from further unraveling on each side, which you'll do after you're done with the pocket) Put all the bottom ten stitches on one dpn. Divide the top on two dpn's. Purl the bottom row (turns easier to tuck inside). Knit a pocket in a circular fashion until it's deep enough. Kitchener stitch the bottom of the pocket together. Tuck to the inside of the sweater. Weave in those ends, snugging it all up.

Here I show stitches raveled and on dpn's, the itty bitty knitted pocket, and lastly it in it's right position with a paperclip tucked in the pocket. So if this was all done in the same color, it would look right! I think if I were doing a pocket in a sweater, I'd use a bit thinner yarn - kind of like you would with a hem.

SUNNY CALIFORNIA!!!! L.A. is WHITE!

Need I say anything? This is gorgeous! I feel like I'm back in Michigan!

OT - Fast 'n Furious Fifties

Having rolled into my fifties a bit or two ago, I realize things have changed. Time is more precious than anything and days fly as fast as pages turn in an open book lying on a table near a fan (a fan - something you need when you roll into your fifties). By 9:30 in the morning if I'm not showered, dressed, and on my way to getting whatever done, I start angst-ing over the day being gone (which is 400 if Bob's home and 5:00 p.m. otherwise for those of you who don't know). Being that my husband is ten years older than I am, I've spent the last fifteen years listening to his thoughts on lack of energy, aches/pains, etc., all the while thinking yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, here I am and it's war. I refuse not to have the same energy level I've always had. There's just too much to do. I pulled in my mini trampoline today, placed it in the family room, and horror of horrors, turned on the TV to watch news and jumped away twisting, turning, taking turns running. This, you understand, will increase energy. Right? Well, I did learn Chris Reeve's wife died - something I would never have known otherwise. And that just makes me MORE decided that I will NOT worry about things over which I have no control. Next time I'll watch something more soothing like Food TV.

Okay - all that and I am vowing to relax and calm myself, but still get done tremendous amounts of everything in a day.

Drop the needles, step away from the computer.....

Soleil Update

Another half inch or so and I'll be ready for short rows for my breast pouch. This is rather tedious boring knitting. Sure hope I like it in the end. I did the shaping at the waist and am done with the increases afterwards. I'm thinking of shortening the sleeves from 3/4 to just regular short sleeves. hmmm.

Folk Bag Finis

I tried to line this. But how do you sew in the lining at the top? I used regular thread, but I don't know how sturdy this is. Should I do it by machine?? The more I look at those birds, the funnier looking I think they are.

Woman at Work

A demon or a spirit has possessed me, body and soul. This is not the normal condition of my habitat. (REALLY!) I am on a mission, and this stash buster is not too photogenic at this point. It's so NOT me, but fun. Working on jogless stripes. It sort of works, but not perfect. I found this size 3 circular in my junk and it's perfect for this! I wish I had some other colors, like some gold or deep red or some sage. But this is just an experiment.

Ok! So my birds' tails got caught in a door slam. What can I say?

Black Soleil (Tee)

This is the beginning of my version of the Soleil Tee. (Yep, another black thing) I've added one extra repeat of the lace bottom for a little extra length. I won't be doing the DEEP V. Mine will be more a little scoop (close to a crew neck) . BUT in the chest area I want to try to work a lace diamond shape in - much like the bottom of this, but just add the other half of the design to make a complete diamond. Then I will make 3/4 sleeves with the same lace work at the bottom. I was going to try picking up stitches and working the short row sleeve cap and work down, but then I wouldn't have the lace work on them, and my thought right now is I NEED THAT LACE. I'll be working the short row bust in this. And if it ALL WORKS OUT, you'll eventually see the results. If time goes by and no final picture, well, you know what that means. BUT what IF I picked up those sleeve stitches and knit down and finished with the bottom with the lace bottom on Black Beauty??? I was thinking I couldn't mix lace patterns, but BB did it so beautifully. That would mean the sleeves would have sort of a flounce on them at the bottom.

Should I do top down sleeves with a flounce or bottom up with same edge as Soleil?
	Top down with flounce
	Bottom up same as Soleil's bottom