the sound of a whip cracking!

Posted by ann

What have we here? It’s a completed sleeve for the Hex Coat! Because unabated moss stitch is boring as hell, and Mr. Nick agrees, I took the picture with a mossy basket of geraniums. Artsy, no? I started back in on the left front. I had worked the fronts up to the armhole shaping and then put them on holders while I mulled over what length I wanted this coat. So I am more than ½ through.

Today will hold more workroom delights. We have finished cutting all the various lengths and angles and are putting the chairs together. I am a bit surprised that we are not further along, but Mr. Boar has turned perfectionist and things are being not only measured twice, but then cut to a template. I know it’s a good thing, but alright already! He does anticipate being finished today though, and then I will begin painting the chairs. I know I should paint them before they are nailed together, but each chair has about 15 pieces and times 6 and that makes for more wood than I have places to lean it while the paint dries.

Mr. Boar says I am a slave driver. It’s 8:00 am, do you think I should go and haul his ass out of bed so we can get to work?

~~~~~~~~~~

update: it’s 8:37 am and here is the scene in my bedroom

Happy Memorial Day!

Posted by ann

Poe says the pool is open, c’mon over!

Today I need to haul my arse to a nursery and get some plants for my pots. I am way, way behind on this task – I am usually a risk taker and have this done before Mother’s Day! It seems with every year household things that I used to enjoy are becoming more and more chores – I am ready for assisted living! I think I will plant some of these pots with hardy perennials in order to cut down on the sheer numbers involved in this yearly endeavor.

Yesterday I got back to work on the Hex Coat. After the color and splash of Larger than Life Bag, all that moss stitch seems okay. Peggy helped decide on a good length and I am ready to tackle the two front pieces again. I had become paralyzed over length decisions and when I got to that point on the first front piece, I put it on hold and moved on to the second front piece. Then when I got to the same place again, I put that one on hold and started a sleeve! The time was right for making a move otherwise I would have ended up with half a sweater.

I hope you have a wonderful, long weekend – with lots of sunny skies!

Holy Hannah – I almost forgot again! ~oink~

pinch hit by Flair

Posted by ann

Hello faithful readers of Purling Swine! I’m writing today’s post as my dear friend Ann appears to be suffering from writer’s block. I can read the signs as I myself suffer from periodic knitter’s block and the symptoms are similar. For instance, writer’s block = posting your chore list on your blog (this whispers end-stage block, don’t you think?). Knitter’s block= starting a baby log cabin from your leftover Sugar-n-Cream dishrag-frenzy stash because you can’t go any further with your “real” project.

As you may have guessed, I am currently in block mode. This is the result of taking on the task of my first pair of Jaywalkers, a bit over my head, although Ann might disagree. And not knitting said Jaywalkers non-stop and without lengthy interruption. If I put them down for a time, it takes me a bit to get my groove back …and by the time I pick them up again, well spin me around, I’m lost! I’ve forgotten the pattern, get stitch brain-freeze (“wait, is a DD slip two together, or am I mixing it up with an ssk)?”, rip back and fix stupid mistakes, etc. Frustration sets in, and I’m blocked. Can’t knit another stitch on my poor Jaywalkers. So I’ll start some amusing little nothing project, like the log cabin eyeglass case, until I can face the music and pick up the socks again. I will say, I am almost done – am working toward the toe of the second sock and they are awfully cute. I am tempted, however, to turn the unfinished thing over to Ann and tell her if she finishes them she can keep them, too! It would be very Zen if this came to pass, as she is the woman who bestowed upon me the skein of STR and the lovely (but dreaded) pattern. It would be so right for her to take the socks to their next and final next level.

As a guest blogger, I don’t have my own pigs to post in Ann’s place, but here is a picture of pig I gave to Ann that I bought right out of the display case in Iavarone Brothers, sort of our local Satriale’s Pork Store without the Tony’s and Paulie’s hanging around. I believe it sits in her living room, or maybe her front porch? Who knows, the pigs are endless in that house. They might even move themselves around in the middle of the night, only the dogs would know…

more hex coat ….

Posted by ann

I started the other front of my Hex Coat. The pattern does not tell you to do this. While I was working on the left front I had some doubts about the length of this coat but no one was around to measure me. So I put the whole thing on hold and started the right. It turned out to be a very smart move.

The pattern schematic says that the length of this from shoulder to hem is 40½”. It falls to the model’s knee. I measure 37″ to my knee. Further, I looked at other sweater coat patterns (in Big Girl Knits) and they are all 37″. I absolutely do not want this to be longer than my knee – as a matter of fact, I am not completely sure I want it all the way to my knee.

So I got out the old calculator and figured out my row gauge. I am going to rework the directions for a finished length of 35″, leaving a bit of room for it to stretch as I wear it.

I am also pleased to report that the moss stitch continues to not make me crazy!

another yellow pig!