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Knitting Friday

Early on, the hospice social worker (bright, articulate, fantastic woman) said that cardiac cases move along with plateaus, dips, new plateaus, new dips. Each time dipping further into sicker stages but also staying at these stages for short or long times before dipping again. In the 5 months, DM has dipped from a relatively good health stage (one where we questioned: Is she really sick?*) into one where we and she know she's not coming back.  And so we wait. At least the Zoloft is blocking her frustration.*This is pretty typical with beginning hospice since the patient gets better care than when he/she was on his/her own.

 

And through it all, even with wider and wider periods of inactivity (hibernation, yes, like the bears, set in some time ago), I find myself reading and not knitting. Oh, I knit is spurts of one or two rows but the two lace scarves which are now half-done seem to be crawling, not sprinting, along.

 

What am I reading, you ask? Short stories and Caro's bio of LBJ. I now have books in the family room on the hutch near the rocking chair, next to the fireplace, near the sliding glass door so I can read and rock with a lot of nature light.

 

I do have a wish list for knitting and crocheting:

 

http://auntekristy.blogspot.com/2013/09/free-pattern-definitely-diagonal-scarf.html

 

I made a swatch. which worked up very nicely with just enough variation that you won't get bored but also enough garter rows so you can look up to watch TV. Don't get spooked that you start on Row 4 after the set-up. It works.

Here's a free crochet pattern from Ravelry which I swatched also:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchin-a-ride 

 

 It's based on the paid knitted Hitchhiker:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker

Once again, don't be a scaredy cat like I was, In the set-up section, just before the main pattern, you start the saw tooth edge by turning before you work the last two ch2-spaces (Note: the pattern calls for sc, ch1, sc for the mini-shell. Save your sanity and work this as: sc, ch 2, sc.) The next row after the saw tooth will say "work to the end". They mean the end before the 2 unworked ch2-spaces. I kept wanting to work through these spaces to the end, like to do on wrap and turn, but that was a mistake. Oh, and be sure to mark that 1st sc as they say and also mark the side where you ch1 and T. (You only do that on one side.)

Here's a knitted shawl I want to try since I have those 100 skeins of Knit Picks Pallette from DH as a birthday present:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/two-face

It's called Two Face because each side of the triangle is a different color. I'm going to experiment to see if I could do the body of the shawl in "YO, K2tog* instead of stockinette.I have to get this right since you're increasing, folding one color into the other and working a pattern which needs a multiple of 2 at the same time.

And finally:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chain-maille-fingerless-mittens

I'm using this fingerless mittens pattern to make a scarf with a foundation chain of 12 loops (this foundation is great because you work your width/length one loop at a time) with an N hook and DK yarn. Just be sure to count your loops every few rows so you won't go from 12 to 15 as I did. It's a count of chain 9 then chain 2 and it's easy to mind-wander and start counting "chain 9, chain 2, chain 2.") I'll have a picture of this one next week. It's a good way to use up stray skeins.

Got to go. See you next week. Happy knitting.