... but nothing much to show for it at the moment.

I worked my way through two more rows of the dragon lace shawl (and I am beginning to hate laceweight alpaca yarn to knit with, even though I love the hand) and, with the help of my teacher, threaded over half of the 840 heddles that I needed to thread for my project -- I am now on my third week of just warping for this project.  The Zebra Striper sleeve keeps going, but, it's not really worth another picture yet.  And, in spite of my best intentions, I didn't even remember to whip out my camera and take a shot of the nice little pepper crop that is ripening in our deck garden.

<sigh>

Fortunately, Monday is another day, and my projects will all keep on keepin' on. 

That said, if you have a little extra positive energy to spare tomorrow, it would be much appreciated.  Everything is good, but there are some things for which have a few extra good vibes is always a good thing.

To say that the "Dragon of Happiness" has been my most complicated knitting project to date would be an understatement.  I have done more tinking on this project than any other project I've ever worked on.  The first part -- the stockinette border with the Chinese characters knit into it -- was relatively easy and I managed to accomplish that without any serious problems.  But the second section which contains the dragon uses "ring lace" as the background lace stitch.  There is pattern work on both sides, making it a true lace stitch.  And you would think that 30 six stitch intervals would not be that much of a challenge to get right row after row, but I've run into just about every problem.  I miscounted once on the base row and had to rip and re-start.  I've run into problems with maintaining the pattern (in other words, I started out doing one thing and ended up doing something slightly different) and I've just plain gotten confused with something and had to tink back until I could resolve the confusion correctly. 

I think the resulting ring lace is lovely, but at the rate I am going (I have just finished row 41 in the picture) I am destined to finish this project sometime around when Z heads off to college. 

I finally decided to put stitch markers in every 3 repeats to help keep myself on track.  I had put in a life line (it's just barely visible in the picture) at the start of the lace motif region, but learned quickly that using a fine sewing thread wasn't the best idea.   Next line I set will probably be with a thicker perl cotton

All that said, I think the ring lace is quite lovely and I'm looking forward to seeing how things continue to develop.

Tuesday saw a trip back and forth from Madison, WI for work.  Luckily for me, I can combine work with a little fun and visit with my good friend Judy.  We had a lovely little lunch and she sent me home with something very lovely for Zosia, which I will share when I have good light for photography.

This Wednesday is going to a be a little random.  After a long trip back through too much Cubs traffic on I-90, I'm just not all that functional...

• I have rediscovered my love of peanut butter.  My favorite way to eat it is just to bypass the bread and eat it directly from the spoon. 
  
• My kid pays more attention to my iPhone usage than I do.  "Mommy's checking twitters!" is one of her recent comments.
• There is nothing that makes me feel better after a stressful day that sitting on the couch watching something with my kid in my lap.  Yes, I wish she would watch something besides "Wubbzy's Big Movie" -- but some days you take what you can get.
• It had never occurred to me to use dental floss as a life line, but now it seems incredibly brilliant.  Thanks to all the commenters on Monday who suggested it.  My next lifeline will come out of my medicine cabinet.
• I am ever so tired of the itching that comes with my eczema.... who invented this skin problem anyway?  The steroid cream makes it better, but only if you remember to use it the three times a day that your dermatologist suggested.
• I am determined to finish my Kushu Kushu scarf... but I don't think I ever want to knit with one single strand of silk/stainless steel again.
• I can change songs on my iPhone with my butt.  Yesterday I popped it into my back pocket and skipped to the next song.   Does my butt have a problem with Fleetwood Mac?

I'm outta here -- before I fall asleep at my keyboard.

My friend Judy taught me to knit.  This happened right after I split up with my then fiance and moved into an apartment of my own.  Judy had been knitting since she was in grade school and had a small portfolio of interesting multi-color sweaters to show off.  I really never quite understood what place knitting and the fiber arts would start to take in my life, but I definitely appreciated both her help learning something new, her encouragement (my early style was rather unconventional, to say the least) and her companionship while I made the transition out of one image I had had for my life into another.

At that time, I had been getting back into cross stitch after a long hiatus.  So, in the spirit of fair play, I introduced Judy to the elements of what I knew how to do.  Judy, long a knitter, had also long been a painter, and loved the idea of playing with more color in thread.  So I got her some simple things and some embroidery floss to get started. 

Flash forward about 13 years to the two of us having lunch at a nice little cafe in Madison.  Her second baby (and second boy) is due in October, but it was Judy presenting me and Ms. Z with a gift.

It is a beautiful and sweet and somewhat bittersweet gift in many ways.  Any of you who have done counted cross stitch will understand the work in this piece (actual size is roughly 8" x 10").  The wings have gold blending filament in them and the whole piece is worked on an Irish linen.  Judy made it before she had children, with the idea that when she did, it would be on the wall in her little girl's room.  Since son number two is likely the last child, she wanted it to get the chance to live with another little girl.

When I brought it home to Ms. Z (wrapped in tissue and happily ensconced in a bright pink bag), she had the bag out of my hands before I could even tell her I had something special for her.  I had to do a little juggling to put down my things and help her take it out gently and unroll the tissue so that she could see.  "She has wings!  Like a butterfly!" were the first words out of her mouth.  She then went on to point out the rabbit and the deer, and was very excited when I told her we were going to hang it in her room. 

My next mission is to get it framed so that Ms. Z can enjoy it in her room.  I'm hoping this weekend to get out and see if I can find something that I like for it.

Thank you so much, Judy, for sharing something so beautiful with my little girl. 

What is it about midweek that leaves me feeling slumpish?  Not sure. So I will be random.  And maybe share a few interesting links.

1. For those of you considering weaving, I encourage you to take a look at Syne Mitchell's WeaveZine.  It's full of interesting articles on weaving, with plenty of interest for people who enjoy rigid heddle looms.  This article on using a rug weaving technique to make Spa Wash Cloths has me ready to warp up my loom with some of the Sugar N' Cream that I have laying around and make some great treats for friends for the holidays. 
   
2. Speaking of weaving, have you checked out Weavolution? Weavolution is the weaving community's answer to Ravelry.  You don't need to create an account to see much of the content.  Even if you don't weave, it's a fun place to look at projects and color combinations.
3. Need some entertainment on a boring day at work? Passive-Aggressive Notes now has a permanent place in my Google Reader.  Fail Blog is also a pretty good place to waste some time. And even though we're in between political seasons, Pundit Kitchen serves up some interesting photo re-interpretation. 
   
4. Who are my favorite Etsy sellers?  Emily Parson has just added a merino/cashmere/nylon blend yarn to her stock lines (and if you read my blog, you know I like a little nylon when it comes to socks!).  It looks delicious and I've already ordered mine -- Charcoal to make a warm pair of winter socks for a certain husband and Mossy (a soft green) for me.   I'm also a big fan of the sweet little knitting bags (perfect for sock projects... I have three or four of them now) made by Stuck in Illinois.  She has so many fun fabrics and keeps a supply of bags with "seasonal interest".  And she takes special orders, too!   Need a clever pillow for your sofa?  Be sure to check out Alexandra Ferguson.  All her awesome pillows are made from post-consumer recycled felt.  Add a modern element to your living room and feel good about it, too!
5. The Dragon Shawl continues, the Kushu Kushu scarf gets longer, my Lang Sock gets bigger and the second Zebra Striper Sleeve remains to be cast on (and for Annie who was concerned about the size -- not to worry, that sleeve is no problem for a two year old hand -- it looks smaller in the picture than it really is.

Any favorite Etsy sellers you want to share?  Funny blogs you like to read?  Feel free to leave 'em in the comments.

A good Wednesday to everyone!

Sunday was a lovely, but incredibly unseasonably cool August day.  Rather than do our usual trip to the park, we took Ms. Z and headed up to the Chicago Botanic Gardens (something of a misnomer as the gardens are actually located Highland Park, a northern suburb).  It was a lovely day in the garden and while I didn't work on the sock project I brought along, John* and I got some lovely pictures for inspiration.

Yesterday I had the kind of day that leaves marks on your soul.  Unfortunately for me, these marks come on top of old scars.  I've told those stories here before, and I'm not in the head space where I can tell this one yet.  I'm not as emotionally overwrought as I was in the past, I had some warning of where things were going and had a chance to prepare myself mentally for what was coming.  But I've spent the day with a deep sense of melancholy, and a deep appreciation for my baby girl. 

I spent most of the day in a very contemplative way... and EZ's "Knit on..." quote passed through my head more than once.  I worked a few more rows on the Dragon shawl (I am only 4 rows away from starting on bits of the dragon and I am getting more comfortable with that birds eye lace).  I started a new project for myself, Ysolde's Damson shawl with some of the beautiful rich magenta/purple yarn I got when I traveled to Philadelphia earlier in May this year.  It is a simple little shawl/scarf with some nice details and I know the color will be lovely against my skin.  A little treat for the fall, which seems to be here already with Chicago's current cold, rainy grey weather.

And I went to class and worked on my current weaving project.  I finally have my loom warped, my header woven and I hope in my next class I'll be moving on to weaving the actual project.  I will say one thing for weaving: when you're getting your loom warped, it's really hard to think about anything else.  I earned a number of weaving merit badges tonight as I worked my way through all the issues that come up with a warp sett at 56 epi for double weave (28 epi for each cloth) and wrangling 840 warp ends and 8 shafts.  By the time I'm done with this project, I'm really going to feel like I've accomplished something.

Today I will deal with the wrap up and closure of yesterday and hopefully will end the day with my family at our favorite brew pub enjoying Z's favorite french fries and a beer.  And the scars will heal just a little.  And I'll start to move on.

Peace and a happy weekend to you all.

Dear Libby --

I think that perhaps it's time to put the last post behind me an move on to a more enjoyable topic.  I guess one thing that we learn as mothers is that the process is constantly teaching us something and constantly forcing us to draw on reserves of strength that we didn't know we had.  Parenting is so much about the long haul... something I didn't really understand until Ms. Z came into the world.  Perhaps Mr. C is sharing that with you, too.

Speaking of perseverance, I've hit a small milestone on your Dragon shawl.