Cutting the mustard?

Not being a native speaker, I was puzzled by the expression when I encountered this link. But once I figured it out, I happily solved the quiz:

Your English Skills:

Grammar: 100%

Punctuation: 100%

Spelling: 100%

Vocabulary: 40%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

Ha! All my English teachers would be so proud of me... except for the vocabulary part. What on Earth is halcyon?



I've been knitting the last square for this afghan. I'm using shadow knitting but I couldn't find a chart in the book that would meet my gauge, so I came up with one myself:








I know I already used hearts in a previous square. But I cannot think of somehting else and time is short. I'm using green and light grey (I used yellow for the chart because it saves toner on a black and white printer), and the heart is supposed to stand out in green. Right now it's just a couple of inches long and not worthy of showing here, but when I get a good picture I'll post it.

Forgotten anniversary

Heather reminded me I've been blogging for a whole year. Looking back, I've managed to complete a few things, and I'd be very happy about them except for the blue thing. I think I got the yarn for it immediately after starting this blog and I'm still working on it.



I knitted both halves of the neckband and attached one of them to the neckline. I'm used to leaving live stitches on the neckline, but this time I didn't know what to do, so I crocheted them to the knitted neckband. I'm not sure it's working:






I'd appreciate any ideas/opinions on this.



Also, I'm wondering what I should do about joining both neckbands. I think I'm going to have a pretty ugly seam back there unless I learn how to
GRAFT. Oh my.



As for the pencil case, it now looks like this:





I have to weave in that end, sew a patch of velcro as closure, and add the iron-on. I'm guessing I'll do that sometime next week because the afghan project needs yet another square, which I'm happy to provide. I'll be picking up more yarn tomorrow and then knitting as fast as I can because they really need it ASAP.

I'm back!

I only was away for five days, but getting ready for that short trip required too much of our time. Nevertheless, I feel safer now with new driving glasses and new brakes on the car.




The trip was wonderful and the weather was lovely, and I don't mind the preparations or the extra hours I had to work in order to be able to go. However, my knitting was also affected and I didn't even get to finish that pencil case (so much for instant gratification). The computer is being fussy and I don't know if I'll be able to post any pictures, but I'll try.



I'm back just in time for the 2005 TV turnoff. Go ahead, turn off yours during this week and see how many other fun and productive things you can do with your time. (Those TV-B-Gone™ devices sound like fun, but they might be a tad too rough).

Two blue things

First, the one I've been neglecting for a looooong time:



I completed the front and the shoulder seams. I did short row shoulders and for the first time I picked up the horizontal wraps when doing a three needle bindoff. While the results are prettier than my previous attempts (in which I completely ignored the wraps), the wrapped stitches look kinda crooked, don't you think?



And here's the other blue thing:






I was very amused (and maybe inspired) by the answers I got... the nose warmer made me laugh a lot, I do need one because my nose is always cold. I'd feel silly with a triangle on my nose, though. There's actually a pattern for those in knitty. Who'd thought of that?



It's actually a pencil case. And I'm planning on decorating it with an iron-on. Has anyone attempted to stick an iron-on to mercerized cotton? I hope it works.

Not what I had planned

OK, this is not THE BLUE THING but it's a blue thing. After speding a month with those afghan squares I wanted some instant gratification. Can you guess what it is going to be?




Hint: It's not a sock.



I can't believe I spent a full month knitting just two afghan squares, can you imagine spending six months knitting a full sized afghan? I shudder at the thought.

Another finished square

Only, it's not really square.... I should have added a few rows...






Or better, I should have done a fourth row of relief squares and omitted the black edging on the top and the bottom. The problem was in the intermittent garters, they make the fabric crumple and thus my calculations failed. In fact, each section is supposed to be a rectangle, not a square. Oh well. I'm not ripping this. I truly ran out of yarn and I'm not planning to get more just for a few rows. I think blocking can fix the problem and if not, when the afghan is put together a few crochet rows will be enough.



Here's a look of the back:




And a sideways look, so you can see the shadows:




It's time to move on and get back to the poor, neglected blue thing.

I see shadows now...

Can you see them too?




This is very easy to knit, especially compared to that cabled-intarsia tree. I do have four bobbins and one skein, so it's not a very portable project. I'll be done soon.

No shadows yet

This is how my second square looks so far:





When I'm done, it'll be a checkerboard square. I'm a little uneasy, because I really cannot see any difference even when looking at it sideways.



My husband reports that his socks fit him fine, but they are itchy. I guess this means he won't wear them unless I beg him to. Which I won't, because I believe socks are like underwear: you should only wear them if they are comfortable.



Should I knit him another pair? Nah. I've got other things to knit first as soon as I finish this afghan square. I'm keeping my promise and I'm not buying anything until I finish the blue thing and I do something with my linen yarn.



Which reminds me, Urraca wanted to know where in Madrid did I find 100% linen. It was in an alpargatería, a place off the Plaza Mayor on its South side. I cannot remember the name of the store, but it sells basketry materials, ropes and strings. No serious knitter would be searching for yarn there, but someone from "El Gato Negro" (which is on the plaza and sells expensive yarns) pointed me to that place.

A finished tree

It feels like it took forever. Here's how the tree looked when I was done knitting:







And here's how it looks with the little hearts I added:






While I admit it looks a little cheesy, it looks much better with the hearts than without them. I was going to return all the extra yarn, but I offered to make another square and my offer was taken. So lets see.... by weight, I have enough yarn, but more than half of it is Black. Depressing. But lookie here.....



Isn't that technique just perfect to use when half your yarn is a dark color? I got this book in January and have done nothing with it since. It's the ideal opportunity to learn how to knit with shadows.

Little crochet hearts

ch 3, join with sl st.

ch 3, 4 dc, 1tc, 4 dc, ch3

join with sl st.






I like them better. I can even make them with yarn insted of thread (though thank, you, Stacie, for the suggestion). They're still sort of tall, so I will not attach one on every branch. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

I'm running out of time

I started to make a little butterfly using crochet thread and the same pattern I had tried before, but I did not bother to finish it. It already had a one inch width with just two rounds, and the third round would have added one more inch. A two inch butterfly would have made my tree look like a tiny shrub. The square measures 12x12 inches, but the inner square is only 9.5 x 9.5 inch.



I do have to finish this afghan square as soon as I can. It's already blocked into it's right length and width but it looks empty, it needs a few red things on some of its branches. Are hearts such a bad idea?



I hate indecision. And I'm not happy either with the way my orange yarn turned. It's a very pale shade of orange:



I definitely need more experience with my microwave dyeing. Talking about which, my husband was wondering why our power bill went up just as the weather is getting warmer. It must be all that yarn zapping.



Thanks for your comments on my Spanish blog. Heather wanted to know if it was hard to keep up. Since this is just my second translated entry, I' don't know yet, but I'll keep it going as long as I can.