Hospital Time

There's God's time, earthly time, and Hospital Time.  If you've been a resident there or sat by the bed of a friend or relative, you know that HT elapses at a pace unknowable to mankind.  I don't think even the docs and nurses and aides can explain HT to you.  HT has a willful mind of its own and can be slower than glaciers and then pass more quickly than synapses in the brain.

Second verse -- sorta same as the first.  Another set of chest pains, a call to 911, EMT's at the house, ambulance trip to St. Joe's, boocoo tests (as in blood, x-ray, dye stress tests), and lots and lots of waiting in between -- all on HT.

I had a flight instructor who explained Flight Instructor Time to me this way:  hours and hours of boring flying punctuated by seconds of sheer terror  (remember there's a student pilot in the left seat, Pilot In Charge.)

HT feels the same way.  Long periods of boredom, bad food, interruptions for vital signs, and then finally a minute or two with someone who can explain test results and next steps.

Meanwhile -- I've grabbed my knitting bag on my way to the hospital.  Of course!

Here's what I worked on, all depending on available mental energy, interest level, and access to decent light.

Snug Sockettes -- from Vanessa at Mixed Martial Arts and Crafts.  Vaness at Mixed Martial Arts and Crafts.  Also on Ravelry if you wanna log in there.  I used stash, left-over Harry Potter sock yarn.  It's Cascade Heritage washable.

All the pics today were taken on the deck, as we finally have a bit of overcast sun.  We call them sun breaks here in PNW, USA.  It's a situation full of hope as in "we see enuf sun we can hope for the full dose soon."

Arimono Shawl -- Megan Goodacre from Tricksy Knitter.  I'm completely addicted to Megan's designs.  Just bot two patterns at her end-of-summer sale.  You might still be able to find a kit for Arimono, using Sweatermaker Yarns.  I gotta tell ya -- this is some of the most wonderful yarn I've ever worked with.  It's silk and cashmere, hand painted.  Tricksy Knitter.

Manchester United scarf -- my design and first experiment with Double Knitting.  Yarn is Patons Astra, sport weight acrylic.  This is very fun.  I encourage you to try something in Double Knitting.

We're home now and much improved.  We both enjoy being on our own time and away from HT.

Me, I prefer KT.

Knitting Time.

Oh, but tis soft . .

Cashmere.  And the combination with silk is unbelievable.

I've often thought that technology has yet another leap to make -- we've gotten to video sharing with Skype and FaceTime, but still there are a few things missing.

• We can't smell the food that looks so delicious on the plate.
• We can't have our thirst quenched by the bubbly drink offered in the ad.
• We can't shake the hand of a new friend.
• We can't touch the soft yarn in the picture.

Maybe someday.

Meanwhile I'm knitting the Arimono Shawl by Megan Goodacre of Tricksy Knitter.  This is my second Goodacre pattern -- both are grand, error free, easy to follow, include both charts and words for lace patterns, and they make me happy while I'm knitting.  You'll want to check each pattern.  I've already got my eyes on a third one to add to my Goodacre collection.

The kit from Tricksy Knitter was my Mother's Day gift.
Pattern and yarn are both still available.
Megan's most recent email said they had just restocked the
wonderful yarn.

I bot Pansies at Dusk -- don't you love the name!  It's from Sweatermaker Yarns, and uses both cashmere (30%) and silk (70%).  Pattern for Arimono Shawl comes in the kit, though you can also download it to your pdf reader after purchase.

Yarn and pattern -- 

Fabulous skein wrapper with the illuminated "S".  The yarn is
hand-painted and did I mention that it is glorious!?

Enjoying this one a lot.  Glad to have some relaxing lace to knit in between other projects.

Speaking of other projects -- that experiment with the Mitered Crosses?  I frogged it.  Addey used the best word to describe what I had tried to do -- it was 'fiddly.'  I knew I wouldn't knit another and didn't really wanna spend the extra time weaving in the ends for this one.  I do think the afghan would be lovely in just the yarn the designer suggested -- a variegated Noro, on US#6.  I used a cotton on US#8.  

Bottom line -- it didn't scale well to bigger yarn OR bigger needles.  It happens.

Sure am glad there's no fee in this establishment for re-stashing.

Sssshhh

Around these here parts, if you are bold enuf to mention  (sssh) The Sun (sssh) then somehow "it" knows and often disappears from sheer spite.

But tis gorgeous this early am.  Clear skies and bright sun are the visible barometers of a pleasant morning, the kind of morning for a walk.

Still, though, tis also cool so I am spending early quiet time working on the Paravel Wrap from Tricksy Knitter.  It has an asymmetric look, with long columns of wonderful nubby ribbing.

Reading from left to right --
Edge border which also appears on the 'other edge.'
Then the chevron lace, an 8 row repeat.
Body of the wrap begins with columns of ribbing
and morphs into stockinette with nubby rectangles.

I'm using Heritage by Cascade, their wonderful washable sock yarn, with a bit of nylon.  Needles are US#6.  Details -- 

Columns of ribbing 5x3

The border on the 'other edge.'

This combination is, with each row, confirming itself as the perfect Match Dot Com as described in a previous post.

• Love those wooden Brittany birch needles;
• Yarn is soft and the combo of US#6 and sock yarn has a wonderful drape;
• Colors are neutral without being boring; they have light and variety;
• The pattern is intricate and interesting but not painful to work; there are plenty of rest rows.

And now, (sshh) The Sun (sssh) is calling my name.  Morning walk with prayers on the iPod.  Definitely the right combination.

Match dot com

I don't think there's a site -- yet -- that promises to match you with the best pattern / yarn combination for the item you wanna knit.  Maybe there's an app waiting to be released?

Matching site or not, we knitters 'just know' when we've got it right.

I've had this wonderful Heritage Cascade Superwash sock yarn for several months.  Original intent was to make a lovely neutral cardi, inspired by some of the classics of the 40's.  Then I found a pullover from Textured Stitches.  I think I made at least 5 swatches, cast on about 200 stitches, knit or ribbed a few rows -- and ultimately set them aside, every one.

Now I think I've got it!  (with apologies to Professor Henry Higgins?)

The Paravel Wrap from Tricksy Knitter.  It's just grand and surprise!  It calls for fingering weight yarn (I've got plenty of that!) and size US#6 needles, straight or circular.  The designer gives the how-to for making the shawl wider and longer.  Ssssshhh -- I didn't even swatch this one.

I've  only finished one border repeat (8 rows, repeated 12 times), but it's working up quite nicely.

This one's knit across the wrap, so there is a manageable number of stitches.  I added multiples of 8 so I'd have a nice wide wrap.  Each edge has a scalloped border and then one long side has the v-shape border you can see in the link picture.  In between is a rib section on each end and a basket-weave type pattern for body of the wrap.

On the iPad using GoodReader.  I'm marking rows and
counting repeats with bright green highlights.

This one's a match -- wrap and yarn will be perfect together.  Check out Tricksy Knitter and sign up for the blog.  You may just find one half of your own pattern / yarn match there.

General announcement of note to no one but knitters -- I cleaned my house.  You know, with a dust rag, and a vacuum cleaner, and glass cleaner.  This process also included mopping the kitchen wood veneer floor (great look, terribly high-maintenance.)  If you knit or do any sort of craft that is more fun than cleaning you'll 'get it' that this is a momentous announcement.

But the BIG announcement of the day is the Match dot Com that resulted in a pattern / yarn combination that will be absolutely wonderful.  I can hardly wait to wear it.