It took me over an hour to get to work this morning and this is the view after I get here. I am thinking I should have called in for a snow day but since I am already here…… (big sigh!)

I left the “Little Princess Dina” laying by the fireplace…….(bigger sigh!)

CABLES 101 VEST by Janet Szabo 

Every one of my projects is a story and this one is no exception.  

I am finally able to work on my Cables 101 Vest and hopefully make some progress. I am using Black Water Abbey yarn in the color Ocean. I have been having a few little issues with the vest from day one. No one is surprised by that revelation; I am quite sure of it. After some coaching from Marilyn King I actually did do a gauge swatch and decided to start the vest using a US6 and make the medium size. The pattern says to use a US7 for the body and a US5 for the ribbing. Then I decided to change a few things in the pattern so I knit only 1″ and a smidge of the twisted rib border instead of the 2″ the pattern called for. I also used the same needle and not the one 2 sizes smaller as called for in the pattern. I really don’t want the ribbing to pull in. Then I decided that I did not like the XO Cable down the center of the back, because it is no where else in the pattern. I put in the Rope Cable instead. I also left out the bobble. Great, I got all that down and started knitting the back, for a while. I thought I could do it better so I ripped it and started over. Twice. I was finally cooking and knit up at least 4 inches of cable before I saw the dreaded mistake of a wrong crossed cable on the very first row of one of the cables. I though about leaving it but my dear friend Kathy said no, then promptly laddered down and fixed it for me. She is awesome. I kept knitting. Should be the end of the story, right??

Of course that is not all….. It is me we are talking about.

I kept knitting. Later that evening I decided to measure. I pulled out the needles and now have an approximately 26″ back that stretches to over 30″. Whoa, I only want 21″-22″ give or take, DRAT and more! I ripped the entire back out and started over using a US5 needle. I am a tight knitter and it is very unusual for me to have to go down any needle size. I now am struggling because I really do not like knitting the BWA on a US5 needles. I prefer to use a US6 or US7. I am even using a US8 on my Twist Cardigan and I like that gauge.  So I knit some more and get past the point of where I ripped and started over for the 3rd time. Is this the end of the story? HELL NO! (yes by now I am starting to curse a lot under my breath as I work on this vest, I am only so patient, I think cursing while knitting the same thing over and over helps keep one stabilized and focused.)

After knitting up a good 6″, I decided that I did not like the Rope Cable down the center of the back. You know the one I substituted for the XO Cable that I did not like. Well mostly it looked bad because there are two rope cables in the back already. I did not want to start over to change one cable so ….. I took the center Rope Cable all the way down and put in a Horseshoe Cable. I ended up changing the cable on Sunday afternoon at Knit Knack where I had lots of support from my other dear friends Cat and Nachaele and my new friends Karen and Shiela. Sorry you guys had to see this and nice to meet you! The back of the vest now flows better because there is also a horseshoe cable on each end. Finally …. I am at the point where I might be fairly content with the project to move on and finish the vest.  (grumble….. grumble) I still don’t like knitting this yarn on the US5′s but hopefully this will be the final anal fix I have to do and I can just knit the vest! The problem is I probably would have picked a different pattern or tried to knit the cabled vest with a different gauge if I would have thought I would be using a size 5 needle with this yarn to get the right gauge. Live, knit and learn, right!

Is the story over yet??? Who knows I am not finished knitting the vest yet. It will be nice when finished. At least that is what I keep telling myself. 

EDO = Earned Day Off. I work my 80 plus hours in 9 days and take an “EDO” day every other Friday. I like working this schedule since I don’t get much done at home during the week anyway so I may as well work to earn a full day off and then I can do anything I want. Usually my EDO involves some form of knitting but my last EDO day was a full day of knitting fun.

Once I got going that is, first I got to sleep in a bit which for me is 7 AM. After waking up I knit for a while before getting around. (There is a huge surprise for you!) It was cold and the Little Princess just wanted to hang out under the covers. I was supposed to go get my allergy shot after I took the Little Princess out for her walk but she does not like the cold and fought me every step of the way, refusing to do what she needed to do. I really could not leave her until she did her business so I spent extra time trying to bribe her. After a while she gave in to my demands gentle coaxing but it had gotten late, so I had to space my allergy shot. Oh well I hate them anyway. Thank you Dina, my Little Princess and if you just weren’t so darn cute you wouldn’t be so darn spoiled but I love you and love the fact that you are always so happy while being so stubborn.

Finally, I was ready. I packed up some knitting and headed out to A Knitted Peace in Littleton (25.33 miles, one way) to meet my friend Nachaele. I had all day to myself but for some reason that is the day that time speeds up and it get’s away from me. I arrived a few minutes late. I had not even had time to pick up my morning latte on the way, again thank you Dina, so we went next door to beg. I don’t even know the name of the place but they close at 11:00 AM and open again at 4:00 PM. They had just locked the doors for the morning but after they saw our sad little faces peering in the window, they felt sorry for us, let us in and made us a couple of hot espresso drinks. Whew, finally I can relax and enjoy the day!

We went back to KP to hang out but only briefly. Kathy, was waiting to meet us for lunch. She was home sick but really wanted some time out of the house even though she was barely to breathe. We met up the street at Tres Jolie. Nothing can keep Kathy couped up for too long and I am glad she made it for lunch.

The three of us had a most a delightful lunch at this perfect little tea shop. We treated ourselves to

a Mimosa and Raspberry Champagne Floats and

wonderful sandwiches. We knitted we talked, we had a blast.

The place has the coolest purple chandeliers

and even some purple sconces. It is my kind of place and I am definitely making the trek out there again soon. Thank you for suggesting this Nachaele. I love it. By the way and just for the record, I won’t be buying me one of those $2500.00 chandeliers anytime soon.

After lunch, Kathy had to load herself up with antibiotics, steroids and inhalers so she could make the trip back home. When I called to make sure she made it home okay she was in bed but was happy for the little outing. Please get well soon!

Nachaele and I went back to KP and had a most wonderful afternoon, knitting, talking, laughing and general catching up.

I worked on my #2 project, Brown Sheep felted hat in my new red colorway. I bought some needles, a magazine and a cute little post it note holder and yes you heard right NO YARN! I don’t even know how I did that. Then I headed home before the traffic got too bad. It was a perfect way to spend my EDO. Thank you Nachaele and Kathy!

Oh yea, this blog. I have been so very neglectful of my blog lately. I do apologize but I have had a lot to do because I hate Christmas shopping. I do everything at the last minute and to get it done under pressure just in the nick of time, takes all my time and energy. I do enjoy giving gifts but Christmas shopping is too stressful for me. I prefer to give special little gifts throughout the year as I happen to see something that I think is special for a certain person. I should save these up for Christmas but I don’t. I want that person to have it at once, right away, as soon as I get it for them. I guess it really it is my fault that when Christmas comes around I am at a loss. I just cannot find the perfect gift when shopping under pressure. A really great present just happens along the way; The perfect gift is found quite by chance and not usually in December when the merchants want you to buy the things they have stocked up on. Needless to say I really should shop early and be better prepared for Christmas because this last minute shopping and getting whatever is available is so tiring. Next year I will shop early.

Oh who am I kidding, next year I will probably do the same thing and just resort to giving gift certificates at the last minute.  If you don’t receive a special gift from me at Christmas time please try to remember that something special I gave you or something I did for you at some other time during the year because that is what I do best. 

I want to give a special thank you to Scout Swag for giving me very special secret help with my Christmas shopping this year. Check out her stuff, she not only has some way cool yarn, she has very cool knitting bags, books and accessories. THANK YOU JAMIE.

As you know from my last post I have a hard time following rules. The whole knit from your stash loophole just didn’t fly with Nachaele. Okay, so I don’t buy yarn right now, I will be fine, I really do have yarn and I don’t need to buy more but I will miss the getting new yarn thrill. It is quite addicting; I am a yarn thrill seeker; a yarn addict and now that I can’t buy new yarn, whatever will I do? I will have to spend my days figuring out how to “legally” break the knit from your stash rules so I can ”get away with something” and get my yarn thrill “fix.” I found one ”not buying yarn thrill” and it is with my new secret knitting project. It is not on my top ten list so I feel like I am getting away with something and I am happy now, I am “fixed.” At least for now!!

It is a brand new pattern that I and one other person in my group is knitting. I am using some Black Water Abbey  in the color “Sky.” This project is not only a cute pattern for me but it will be a surprise for Judy and Marilyn to see a different pattern made using the BWA yarn. I am so excited. My friend Kathy and I are making this project together. Kathy found the project and shared it with me (thank you Kathy) I loved it and we will debut sometime in late Winter or early Spring. The thrill of starting a new project cannot be beat. I don’t need extreme sports, alcohol or drugs to get my thrills,  I just need to start a new project!

Here is a sneak peek.

Weird, each picture looks like a totally different color. The first photo has the best color. Yes it is a sweater with cables …. but you don’t know which one!

Stay tuned for more details.

Little Princess Dina just did not want her picture taken

Not her best look here

Nonetheless, she is my little cutie.

Finished Beaded Shawlette. Designer: Judy Pascale; Pattern source: Beaded Shawlette; Knit from 3 skeins of Koigu and over 1800 beads. These pictures do not show the beads well but trust me they are in there and the beads capture the light making the shawl ”glimmer” when worn. Great pattern, I highly recommend it.