It is a good thing that I was able to finish so many projects last week because this week I am back to work!  My doctor okayed me to work part-time of my already part-time job, so I am currently banking 10 hours a week.  And wearing gloves.  Some of the patrons give me funny looks, but my co-workers are thinking about joining me.  Public libraries can be dirty dirty places.

While going through my stash, I found a bag with five balls of magenta cotton yarn from Debbie Bliss. Purchased years ago with a summer tank in mind that didn't work out - and half of the yarn went to make a sweater for a little baby in Idaho - I was finally able to use up almost all of the remainders.


Pattern: Provence Baby Cardigan (PDF!) by Cecily Glowik for Classic Elite Yarns
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton DK color 25 Magenta (discontinued), 4 skeins, 95 yards each, from Village Wools, NM
Needles: size 6
Modifications: I had to rework the numbers to get the yarn to work, but the math was pretty simple after all. (Has anyone else noticed that their simple math skills have gotten better thanks to knitting?)  While I was at it, I added five stitches to each front for button bands (instead of picking up stitches and making the button band separately - moss stitch can look sloppy if the purls don't line up just perfectly!).  And since I was feeling frisky, I flipped the lace pattern so that each side of the cardigan would be a mirror image of the other.  I could have added crochet around the neck edge, but the stitches remained neat, so I didn't bother.



Only 60 yards of this yarn remain in my stash - so it has been put in the bag with the other cotton remainders for a baby hat....someday.  Right now, I am done with it.  It felt so good to use up this yarn.  From a failed project, to two successfull baby sweaters - I feel like balance has been restored....Finally!

Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark from Wrap Style
Yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply (discontinued), 5 skeins, 120 yards each, color 271 Cheerful, from Newbury Yarns, Boston MA
Needles: size 5 addi lace needles
Notes: I couldn't resist making a Shetland Triangle out of the Yorkshire Tweed - so beautiful and tweedy!  I started this shawl in Cambridge, MA, finished knitting it in Holt, MI and blocked it in East Lansing.  First time I wore it? Ohio.  Pictures taken at Inniswood MetroPark Gardens in Columbus.



Another project off the needles.

P and I headed 'down south' this weekend to Ohio - my recuperation is coming along nicely, and P wasn't on call so we decided to take a wee trip. 


Knitting at Columbus Crew vs. Houston Dynamo.  My warm-up top is Nederland, not Dynamo.


Marzipan peach at Mozart's Cafe - sugared painted marzipan surrounding cake, peach buttercream, and raspberry preserves.


Inniswood MetroPark Garden - shade plant ideas. I think every knitter in Columbus should take their FO photos here!

There was also a chick-fil-a run, a trip to the Columbus Zoo, and a yarn shop visitation to Knitter's Mercantile where a small quantity of yarn was purchased.  It was such great fun to be on the road again, even if I didn't do any of the driving!

This weekend was a celebration of freedom!  First, P and I cleaned out the garage - with my PICC line out I can now lift and carry heavy (ish) objects.  And lift I did!  The last of our moving boxes were broken down and brought to recycling and all the random junk that was dumped in the garage in November was organized, sorted, and put away. Our garage looks so much bigger. Then on Sunday P and I went exploring around Lake Lansing, and by accident walked close to 3 miles. I was completly pooped once we got back to the car, but it felt so good to be outside and in the woods.  I hope that I will be able to run those trails by the end of the summer.

But the best thing about this weekend is I finished my Ariann!


Pattern: Ariann by Bonne Marie Burns, long-sleeve version
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool, 240 yards, 5 skeins.  Purchased from A.C. Moore in Somerville, MA
Size: 40.5
Needles: Sizes #6 and #7
Notes: I lengthened the torso by 1/2 inch, and the sleeves by 1 inch (I hate cold wrists).  I also eliminated the top buttonhole (although I wish I had a button at the very botton of the sweater) and I think I would have moved the buttonholes over by one stitch.  Oh well.  The leather buttons are from a thrift store.  My buttonholes are not-so-nice.  I think I need to work on those.



So with the completion of Ariann I can officially remove 1,200 yards of yarn from my stash.  Which is good, because despite my best efforts, it keeps expanding!  One of my LYSs is going out of business - the owner is retiring.  So I hustled on over to the store the first day of her sale and bought enough Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed for a jacket.  And perhaps some more yarn for mittens.  And maybe I have been gifted some yarn recently too.  And maybe I picked up a few balls when I went to see the Yarn Harlot.

Yeah.  I have a problem.