Cables!

Back in June, I mentioned a cover for a pillow that I was working on.  It's been sitting for a while because I wasn't sure if it was going to be big enough.  This morning, while waiting for the flooding from Hurricane Harvey to begin (I live in Houston), I decided to block before casting off.  Happily, with a little encouragement, it is exactly the same size as the previous pillowcase, so I will stop there and then figure out the back.  I am hoping I have enough yarn to make a plain back, or maybe some wide ribs.  Perhaps I should weigh the two and see, although the cables take up more yarn than plain stitching will.

Here is what it looks like:

I've done some more rows of the lighter blue stripe on the blanket for Middle, and am hoping that perhaps I can finish that stripe off tonight.  Then there will be just one more colored stripe.  I'm a little worried about having enough yarn for the border, but I will just have to see how that goes.  Maybe a yarn inventory is in order.

I should probably work on Jeff's sweater once I finish the stripe, or maybe even before, since the blanket is so much easier to work on other places.  We'll see how it goes.  School on Monday has already been canceled, so there's another day off to knit, and Jeff's been asked to stay at a hotel close to work tonight so that he can go in on Monday even if there is flooding.  Lots of alone time with not much to do but filing papers or knit...

Hopefully all will be well here so that people can focus on helping folks where Harvey made landfall.

Margie

Progress!

A knitting blog I like to read recently talked about how, if you have a big project, if you just work on it a little at a time, eventually it will get done.

I have this blanket that Middle was going to knit when she had just learned how and was enamored with knitting (maybe 5th grade?).  That passed quickly.  I started on it back then, and it's been sitting and sitting because I thought it was such a huge project that it would take Forever to finish.  I took it with us as we drove to Colorado two weeks ago and what do you know, a couple of hours in the car is a good way to make some progress!  There are four colored stripes in the blanket (Bright Stripes Blanket) and I finished the second stripe on our trip.  I've made the blanket my TV knitting (we have free HBO for a month and are trying to watch Game of Thrones as I've never watched it) and now I'm about halfway through the second stripe.  This picture was taken during some independent dance practice that Smallest wanted to do.

I've also started taking Jeff's sweater with me to Smallest's ballroom lessons because they're all 90 minutes long now, which is enough time to get a couple of rows done.  I've started on the sleeves, and I have them both on the same circular needle so that I can get them both done at the same time.  Plus, if I make an error in one, I'll make the same error at the same time in the other!  Handy.

I'm hoping to get the blanket done soon now.  Once I finish the fourth stripe, there's just the three sides of the border to finish and I think that picking up stitches will be the most unpleasant part of that!

School starts on Monday and I am ready for that!

Margie

Scarf of Doom done!

I think I mentioned this scarf before (Khaleesi Shawlette).  I picked it up when traveling and as it was a local kit made where we were, I thought it would be fun.  It looked small and the construction was clever.  Looking at the Ravelry pictures, I think maybe I needed a larger needle size?

I started it a while ago and rapidly discovered that I do not like this type of project, so it became a Dreaded Project.  I was on the verge of frogging the whole thing and starting over to make it a rectangle when Smallest said that she really liked it and would like to have it.  Ugh.  So I trudged along and finished just before we went on vacation.  I still am not wild about it, but at least someone is.  If she loses it, I won't be sad that it is gone, but I will be sad that all the time I put into finishing it is lost.
Anyhow, here it is (pre-blocking):

I needed a good project for a car trip as we drove to Colorado and back for vacation, so I took the Bright Stripes blanket that I started for Middle a couple of years ago.  I finished the second colored stripe and am preparing to start the third.  I think it will also be a great project for TV watching.  I took the sweater for Jeff, but it requires too much attention at this point (I started with the sleeves), so it will have to wait for some other time.  Maybe dance class waiting.

I think that's about it for now.  I'm taking Smallest to a ballroom competition in LA over Labor Day weekend, so there will be more travel knitting to come!