Last week we had four little blue swedish ducklings hatch naturally under their mother. Unfortunatly we lost two of them in two days- probably to the big bullfrogs (yes- a bullfrog can eat a newborn duckling!) So I had to make the sad decision to take the babies away from their mother and hand raise them at least until they were too big for a frog to swallow. So now, much to the delight of baby Angus, we have ducklings in the bathroom.

Ducklings love to eat their greens and you can put some fresh picked clover along with some water in the blender for a second, or snip up some fresh spinach with scissors, dandelion greens are great too... drop the greens in fresh water and the babies will dabble it up happily.

Fiona shows off the babies and her new "I did it myself" haircut.

We did a cute litte duckling craft. I smeared some washable children's paint in the bottom of the bathtub between some sheets of typing paper and let the little ducks track it all over- the little pit pat of their feet was so sweet, and their tracks made very cute stationary. The art in the project came in knowing when to remove the ducklings before they left any extras.

Patriot Indiana

July 4, 2007

Patriot Indiana is the only town in the Untied States named Patriot. It's a quiet river town in an oxbow of the Ohio river far from the nearest highway or bridge. Population in the 2000 census was 202. Despite the small size, Patriot has a big heart and puts on the best fourth of July parade they can muster which consists mostly of all the firetrucks, the ATV riders and some horsemen.

Today I decided to take my camera along so I could take some photos to make a CD to send to servicemen overseas. I wanted to share a little piece of our country with them and let them know how much we value our freedom.

It is really an amazing thing to watch the smiles light up when I told people what I was doing. I have never had an experience like this as a photographer- but the people just were so open and full of pride and love. I know my pictures are not technically perfect, it's just a little Cannon PowerShot... but I think the love these people have for our troops surely shines through all my exposure problems.

After the parade was over there was a dedication ceremony of a memorial park in town. The park consists of a gazebo, two memorial stones, the old school bell and many flagpoles which fly the flags of each branch of the armed services. The American flag on the center pole was raised by an Iraq veteran from Patriot (in the foreground in the gray shirt) who brought the flag home and presented it to his hometown two years ago.

I 'm just posting a few select photos here, the rest can be found in an Album on Flickr.

It was an honor to meet this gentleman, Russell Fitzgerald, a veteran of WWII. When I asked if I might take his photo to send to our soldiers stationed overseas, he removed his hat and nodded. He arrived in the theater in North Africa and then fought in Italy and France. I told him that I had lived in Italy and the Italian people still deeply love Americans for what you guys did.

I recently found out about an effort that I think is very important and special. It's called Sew Much Comfort and you can learn more about what they do on their website. Briefly- volunteer seamstresses retrofit and custom make adaptive clothing for soldiers who have been wounded. Store bought boxer shorts, T-shirts, basketball shorts- are all reworked so that they have velcro and snap openings on one side or both to make it easier to get dressed over braces, casts or halos. They also make pants with larger legs and a velcro side opening to accommodate a brace. These specialty garments are in high demand and not only are functional- the feeling of wearing real clothes and not a hospital gown is a big morale boost.

This first set I did has been sent off for quality control - hopefully I did good with these, their instructions are very specific about how it needs to be done. Hopefully then the regional director will have some advice for me how to manage the tax deductible donations end of getting new garments to retrofit. I'd like to make more of these basketball shorts, they say they are the item in highest demand because they are the most expensive item to purchase. These shorts were only $7 on sale... I don't think that's too bad.

A Meme from Joyce

#1 Is it about the finished item or about the process of knitting? Some of both? Has your focus changed one direction or the other over time?

For me it's a little of both. I think I used to be much more product oriented, but now I get much more satisfaction during knitting that it balances out. When I finally get the satisfaction of having finished a project, seeing it complete- I want to take a little break from knitting and then jump right in to the next thing.

#2 How do you view mistakes? Do you think they give your project character? Is it important to have one, as my Aunt says, because only God is perfect? Or would you rip all the way back to row 5 of your husband's finished sweater knit on size 3 needles to eradicate a mistake no one else would notice?

I enjoy fixing mistakes, but ripping out is hardly ever a reasonable solution. I usually catch mistakes soon after making them. I love doing difficult laddering fixes, like if a cable was twisted the wrong way. I also enjoy fixing mistakes for other people. It's fun to save the day. I don't fix mistakes because I'm a perfectionist- I fix them because I can, and because I get as much pleasure from fixing a mistake as I do from knitting- so why miss an opportunity? .... a question like the one you posed- rip back to row 3 of a finished sweater? No I would never do that... but I might actually cut the yarn back at the mistake- pick out the mistake and use a piece of scrap yarn to graft a seamless perfect patch in that spot.

#3 Would you rather knit a project that is comfortable for your skill level, or do you prefer a challenge that requires you to figure out new things?

I love a challenge. I enjoy the thinking and the rewards. I feel annoyed when I encounter people who are afraid to try new things in crafts- knitting, fiber arts- are such a low risk activity- there is nothing to lose in failing- so why not at least shoot high for succeeding!?

#4 What is something you really want to make but haven't yet? What holds you back? Is it money, skill level, time, fear of the unknown or something else?

I would like to make a blanket that I saw in the Knitter's Almanac. It's a blanket of mitered squares which are grafted together to produce a magical effect she claims looks of having been knit from all directions at once. Her blanket is of one solid color- but I would like to try a variation on this with color.

First I would knit one mitered square so that I could measure the length of yarn needed to do it. Then I would create 12 individual pieces of slow shading yarn. (for a 3x4 block blanket, or 20 for a 4x5) Now you might be asking yourself- what is the point of grafting the squares seamlessly if they are going to be different colors? Well- I dream that the finished blanket would be rainbow tones- and the blocks would be two color families- a warm set and a cool set- but both sets would finish with a common color.

For example- one set would be *green blue purple red* and the other set would be *yellow orange red* So all the squares would have red edges and when grafted the red would actually produce a grid effect. I think the shading between warms and cools as well as the angles and perpendiculars would be pretty. I can't decide if I'd like to spin dyed roving or dye spun yarn- but I am fascinated by the idea of an individaul strand that is created to play a specific role in a piece of knitting. ...imagining the project shoe-box containing 12 wound cakes of colorful yarn radiating color out from their cores, arranged in a little miniature plump grid version of the blanket they will be extrapolated into...

Denali Dawn

I once lived for a brief time in a landscape with a mountain which rose above the treeline. It was in Austria and the Mountain was Otcher. One thing that was so striking about the mountain was that sunrise came so much sooner to the mountain that to the rolling farmlands in the valley. There was a brilliance and magic to see the beautiful colors reflected on the glaciers, to think of the silence and wind, the proximity to heaven.

It's been a while since I have posted any knitting, I've been working on this gift for a baby who is going to be born in Alaska this summer. This is the Jojoland yarn I purchased back in March. The colors of the yarn reminded me so much of the beautiful sunrises I've seen on mountains, I have named this one of a kind design "Denali Dawn" For a real picture of a the morning sun catching Mt. McKinley, check here. The beads are Czech glass and were all strung before knitting. there are even a few beads up at the "tiara zone" of the hood. What's an arctic princess to do!?

I used many of my favorite stitches in this sweater, the beaded smocking I learned doing "Crumpets" The lower edges are seed stitch to prevent rolling, the sleeves are very elastic mistake rib, the sides are seed stitch, there is a lot of braided cable, some calculated decreasing in ribbing to make the yoke, some calculated increasing to shape the hood, a tiny bit of linen stitch and lots of picking up stitches so there are no seams.
From the side view you can see that the cable runs from the wrist right up the outside of the arm- the textured pattern of the yoke is interrupted for the cable, which aside from changing color at the top edge of the yoke, goes on uninterrupted over the shoulder, and up into the hood until at the very end- the two sides of cable are grafted together.

This close up of the back of the hood shows that the shoulder caps (peach) were actually shaped with lightly increasing short rows (bouncing back and forth picking up stitches off the blue yoke edge) to the neck- at that point the hood is knit as if it were a flat piece with either edge forming the hood sides which will frame the baby's face. I this knitting on little double pointed needles. I don't have a circular needle that small. Unfortunately one needle was a little bigger than the others and it did mess up my stitch tension some.

As I shaped the hood I had to have a lot of faith that the shape was going to come together- I had the work split onto 3 DPN's One in the center and one on each side with the cheek and cable. When I finally had enough rise in the hood and it was time to begin shaping the top- I reduced the stitches on the middle needle by 50% by K2tog. My plan was to nibble away at the remaining 50% by decreasing on each side at every other row. I knew that this would produce a triangular shape to the top center and I wanted one that was more round- so I decided to use the linen stitch for that triangle- because the linen stitch does not grow lengthwise at the same rate as stockinette- I thought it would bide me some time till I got all my stitches decreased. it worked... up at the very peak of the triangle- I simply quit knitting the linen section all together and slipped 6 which helped me round off that peak.

Then there was a matter of a big graft through the cable- but it was long awaited and enjoyed.

I wanted to add an underlayer to the gift- but could not find any jammies in the right shade of salmon pink to go with the sweater- (I was shipping with the sweater and all the needles hanging out of my bag) Finally I remembered this beautiful dye kit that I have been too chicken to try and I thought there was a light purple in it... so I bought some white onsies and white romper pants and dyed them "Wysteria" What a great match! Lucky me! I also made the little skirt- it's yellow chiffon with the prettiest tundra flower trim (the ribbon flowers are yellow warp with a purple weft poking out the edges in little spikes) Under the chiffon is a salmon pink petticoat with a white ruffle.

This whole project has been so much fun!

I have added some videos of some of my favorite animals from spring. These videos are not intended to be funny or exciting, they are quiet segments of real life.

Purple martins building nests and interacting as a strong community. At the start of the video you can hear the horn of a barge at the lock on the Ohio river miles away!


The bullfrog video was shot in the dark, so although the frogs are there, you won't see them. At about the 55 second point the chorus starts to get very intense, and then a rest, and another verse or two. They seem to build on a song and repeat the same patterns over and over. Turn up the volume. A biologist was once at our farm and could recognise the voices of six types of frogs. I would like to know all the voices too.


Never confuse frogs and toads again- this video records the high pitch song of a two day breeding frenzy of American Toads.



The chicks from this video are now Robin sized birds with feathers, but they still stick close to mother and all 10 are still alive. The weekend the toads are breeding their call is inescapable!



Speck shows his moves!

I have to do some extreme sewing this week and then it'll be dress rehearsal dance recital hell...ehh... practice week. Every afternoon- all afternoon with all three kids on "behavior pointe" in the windowless cinder block cell block cafeteria of the Rising Sun "school is on lockdown can't go in and out for walks in the sunshine"... the only thing sunny about that place is the name. My son is in two skits and there were no male costume offerings to suit the themes- so I'm on the spot. That's ok- I can handle it as long as I can keep everyone's hands off the brilliant white sailor shirt pieces at least until it's made.

Poor dance teacher- there has been a costuming disaster this year- the company who had her costume order appears to have taken the money and run. They are not returning her calls and she hears that hundreds of other dance schools are in the same boat- so at the last minute she had to contact another company and order ready made ready to go costumes... and wouldn't you know it- of the costume options- the only costumes (for all the skits) which they had left in stock were the blue. Usually a lot of interest is built into the mediocre dancing (did I just say that?)with an exciting variety of costumes... but the kids will almost all be dressed in some shade of blue, and dancing in front of a beautifully painted backdrop from last year of... a blue (sunless)sky. The stage at the middle school does not have any sort of lighting and it's lit with the most morose green cast fluorescent school lights. There are two lighting options- bright and dim. There is a chance that some lights may be imported- I pray. When the replacement costumes arrive- they will have to be fitted at the very last minute. I think I might offer to help with that- but I will need my mom's backup to keep the kids.

Well, here it is, the sailor shirt finished. (from scratch, no pattern!)

The dance is a really nice tap routine, a salute to our armed services. I had to make the eagle on the patch up using just regular old zig zag on my machine- I don't have any sort of fancy embroidery program. I think it came out good enough for a stage... with dim fluorescent lights. Next up- The African Safari Jazz Cheetah!

Our pond is a nice size- and it grows a nice size bullfrog- that's for sure. When I was a kid we used to catch frogs and tadpoles tag team style in this swampy little shallow wetland creeks in New Jersey- back with the rotting oak leaves and skunk cabbage. Well- catching frogs here on the farm is not so easy when one hop delivers them to a sure escape in the deep bottom of the pond.

Country folks talk big about frog gigging- in fact our neighbor has apparently been listening to his dinner sing to him from our pond and today asked John if he could have some of our frogs, he said they sound real big... hah- don't we know it! Would you believe they even sell frog legs at Walmart? Do they sell frog legs at everyone's Walmart? I have yet to taste- or see anyone else eat a frog leg though, and I'll be fine if I never do.

Which brings me to our funny story today. The three kids and I were out on the pond in our canoe ...really- the pond is not THAT big.... but it's fun to paddle all around it and see the frogs in their hiding places and visit the red wing blackbirds in the cattails building their nests. I let the canoe drift right up to the shore and we cornered a really big frog- I was just thinking that we just might be able to reach out and catch him when - BONK- he jumped right into the canoe with us. He hopped around a few times from end to end and of course we all had some tippy canoe frog freaky giggling catch 'em if you can hilarity- and eventually I got my hand on him and we took him in and took his picture just so people would have to believe us when we tell them that we have some really big frogs here.

The little red hen has hatched ten beautiful chicks. Five are dark and five are light with stripes. She hid her nest in a back corner on the floor of the goat shed to keep those eggs from being collected for breakfast. A smart choice on her part, away from dogs and other predators. Unforeseen, was the recent cold snap which brought six freezing cold freshly sheared goats cramming into the shed to keep warm. Somehow this brave girl kept her eggs safe from all the trampling feet and kept up the incubation through several nights of sub freezing weather. A marvelous accomplishment!

In our local Amish community, their church rule is to not hang paintings or photographs on the wall. It is not disallowed though to have decorative useful objects in the home. So as a way of getting around the first rule, not of of rebellion of course, but just following the natural human desire for ornament- any item which could be hung on a wall (including the shelf itself) or placed on that shelf, like a clock, calendar, canister set or set of drinking glasses- will usually be chosen or painted for it's inevitable decorative value in the home.

A baby boy was born to some friends of mine who had moved far away. The baby's uncle who still lives locally contacted me and asked if I might paint a hunting scene on a gun-stock as a gift for the baby. He said that he has many nieces and nephews, but that baby John was the first of them to be named for him and he was so proud that he wanted to spoil the baby. I agreed to do the job, but was a little confused over how to proceed. There is not much precedent for hand painted gun-stocks and I didn't know how I would be able to protect my artists paints without changing the finish already on the stock. It presented a technical problem. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that wood burning was a more appropriate style for a gun and would not need any clear coat or change the finish on the wood.

I did this scene and inscribed the back and delivered the gun last night. Uncle John was thrilled and I was relieved that he was happy with the wood burning. He told me that actually he had wanted it wood burned but didn't know anyone who did that, so he just asked me to paint it.

Recently I posted a picture of my father and I at the Parthenon. I have lots of stories from that trip to Greece during the orthodox Easter in 1982. There were many sights we were able to enjoy directly related to the Holy Day, for example riding a train through villages and urban neighborhoods and virtually every home had a spitted lamb on an open fire in the yard. One night we had a view from roof of the hotel- of the beautiful nighttime parade of lights...worshipers descending the zig-zagging footpath of the Acropolis, carrying candles from the midnight service at the Parthenon to take home. Later, a flush of car traffic coming through the downtown streets, each car with a candle visible inside.

We had not anticipated that our trip was going to occur during their holy week because we had already celebrated Easter. Unfamiliar with the Greek Orthodox tradition we were not prepared for tourism snafus, like museums being closed or trains being canceled. Should I mention that our journey began with a missed flight due to my mother's inability to ever master the 24 hour clock in Austria? The resulting train adventure (without proper visas or provisions) through Hungary and Yugoslavia will get it's own page one day.

While in Greece we rented a car and made several day trips, one time driving to Epidaurus to see the famous Amphitheater from the 4th century. Unfortunately we arrived to closed and locked gates. The guard on duty made it clear that the site was closed for the Holy day. My mother said, using her only Greek,"Christos Anesti." (Christ is risen) to which the guard replied, "Alithos Anesti!" (He is risen indeed!") and he unlocked the gates for us. We had the entire Amphitheater to ourselves. It is true what they say about the acoustics, you could hear a person's foot shuffle in the gravel from the floor all the way up to the top. My father set up his camera on a tripod and took a giant panoramic scene in about seven shots. Here's one I found online- same ancient wonder- minus the gangly twelve year old from my father's series.
Panoramic view of the theater

This website has more pictures and information about the Greek Easter, she reminds me with her mention of wildflowers how green and lush Greece was at that time of year. It was also the first and only time I ever saw a field of poppies.

Here in Indiana, we enjoyed a puppet show at the historic Hoosier Theater put on by the Frisch Marrionette Company. Afterwards was the town egg hunt on the courthouse lawn. Our pretty spring weather had a shocking recoil the past few days, we had snow yesterday and freezing temps today. The winter coats, not blossoms are more indicative of the day's weather. The children were sorted into age groups and John took baby Angus to his first egg scramble. From across the lawn I tried to get a shot of my guys... and... is that really?... the Easter Bunny giving Angus a pair of bunny ears? (there is a person in a giant white rabbit suit on the other side of the fence)

Much to John's delight, in his first egg scramble- baby Angus displayed perfect gathering form...

Other fathers apparently were not as happy with their child's performance. This is a view of the four year old section... odd balance of girls, I hope that this does not present a problem in years to come. My Fiona is in this picture, she's the one in pink and blue.

Happy Easter everyone... all around the world- no matter how you celebrate.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Happier than two girls in a yarn store- with eight kids between us, we two knitting moms were happy to get out without any kids and enjoy a little afternoon out in Northern Kentucky! Here we are at Knit-on in Bellview Kentucky on the Ohio River. I picked out a soft wool fingering weight yarn in pastel baby tones. Jojoland "Melody"

On a completely unrelated note, I used to hate shopping for jeans- trying them on was such a chore- now with three kids- it's an impossibility. So I got up the courage to just order some jeans online from Old Navy. The jeans came in record time and are a perfect fit- what a treat to be able to order the "longs" because the stores never carry longs in sizes larger than 5 (it's like they think that tall women are not really larger people- they are simply short women stretched like silly putty) I'd be thrilled if it weren't for the dumb pockets... what's up with this?

Why BOTHER!? This is a pair of John's standard Levis next to my new Old Navy Jeans. The amount of seaming, rivets and craftsmanship that went into constructing these pockets are identical- what missing is about 1 or 2 cents worth of cotton muslin. For the life of me I can't figure it out... is it because pockets inside your pants might actually show up as an outline on your thigh when you wear your jeans super tight?

This storm came through in so many bands, I'm sure that everyone will have different types of photos from how the precip came down before Valentine's day. For us it was mostly ice, and thankfully the ice has not damaged many trees, just decorated them with a beautiful crystal glaze.

Broadus took this picture of the willow. His photography is really improving. For a while he struggled to hold the camera steady while pressing the shutter, he seems to have mastered that. He accidentally got his wet glove on the lens- which added some foggy mystery to the willow shot.

The thorny multiflora brambles were disarmed.

Hammock strings.

A new hat for the baby. This design came from the "Knitter's Dozen" book. It's the Fini Blues pattern, which is shown in Brown and white in the book. I altered the pattern just a little because there were a few rows with huge floats that I didn't think would work for a baby. I really love the fancy braid break between the top and bottom of the hat. I am mulling over adding ear flaps to keep Angus from pulling the hat off- but so far, if I let him forget about the hat- he can be distracted with much more fun pursuits like kissing his cute little reflection.

Violinist

Astronomer

Photographer

Graphic Designer

Marathon Runner

Electrician

Child of God

Last week's steady rain is resulting in a slow rising Ohio river. Expected to crest at about 48 feet sometime tomorrow below the official flood stage... but well after it has swallowed our familiar riverfront park.

"Why does it only flood in Indiana?" my son asked.

"I assure you the river rises on both sides equally," I told him, "It's just that here- the banks on the Kentucky side are so steep, and we are on the flood plain, so we see more water here- but as you follow the river the floodplains switch sides."

This conversation gave me the opportunity to explain about the river's oxbows and how fertile floodplains are formed. I wanted to follow up our discussion with a good look at the elevations on a topographic map. Unfortunately I was not able to find a free map of the Ohio River basin, so we looked at the Aeriel photo on Google maps. The Aeriel photographs revealed much more than I expected because the patchwork of the farm fields of the floodplain stood in sharp contrast to the wooded hills with clefts of creeks which almost inevitably lay directly opposite.

The farmland lays on the inside of the curve of each oxbow. I found great beauty in the intricate levels of texture, color, land, water, straight and curvilinear, flat and jagged - all displayed like a rich textile, evidence of an ancient flow that carves and deposits the river silt. As we traced our way down the river from our town to Louisville- my son noticed a few dart shaped islands and I mentioned that sometimes in a slightly different situation, the curves of an oxbow become so exaggerated that they touch- cutting off an island and allowing the river to follow a new path. Just a little further on our aerial river trek we saw an amazing figure in the landscape- just across the river from Alton Indiana, can you see it?

If the path of the Ohio River interests you, I recommend this historical novel which is based on a true story which played out locally right along this river and along the backwaters. "Follow the River" By James Alexander Thom. It's the story of Mary Ingalls who was kidnapped from Virginia by Shawnee in 1755, escaped at Big Bone Lick Kentucky and was guided and tormented by the Ohio River as she used it to find her way home through the wilderness. Another suggestion if you like Historical Novels is "The Frontiersman" by Alan Eckert which details the life of Simon Kenton.

My AnySoldier Valentine

I don't have my camera with me today- so excuse the poor scan of my own little gourd valentine. The scan couldn't get it all sharp because of the convex surface. It's woodburned with a light stain of red and blue color. It says "American Hero" and I really like the lettering because it reminds me of the Declaration of Independence. It's about 4 inches across.

It's still January- but I was thinking about Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day in the service specifically. I thought how hard it must be to keep connections with your loved ones when you are so far away and the everyday grind must be so difficult. Since I learned about Anysoldier.com I have been trying to send care packages, postcards and letters of support when I can, and I encourage everyone else to do so as well.

The most recent package I made up consists of a Valentine's craft project. I cut some heart shaped blanks from some hardshell gourds using a craftsman mini tool. The convex surface of the gourd makes a very pleasing curved shape that really gives each one a unique appearance. There is one group of soldiers I know of who have a woodburning tool, so I am just going to send them the gourd blanks. The package going to Ramadi is also going to have some purple and pink satin ribbon- some dimensional fabric paint- sandpaper, and some tiny self stick paper roses (I figure that they will want to pretty up the valentines they send home) It's probably not much, but I hope that spending a few hours crafting a little trinket like this will help lighten the heart of some dad to think of the smile on his little girl's face when she gets it.

If doing something like this interests you, please go the the AnySoldier website and spend some time reading the updates from overseas. You will quickly get a feel for the types of things that the troops are in need of... but beyond snack-food and hygiene supplies- what they need the most is the knowledge that they are loved, supported, remembered and appreciated by those of us at home. The postage on a letter or package is the same as sending a letter to the next town over. You can put your support on a bumper sticker... but you can also put it in a package and send it to them directly.

Flying Chance won his race last week by so far he looks like he is all alone in this racetrack finish line photo. We were invited up to the track by his owner to enjoy a pre-race barbecue and a night out at the track. Boy did this horse deliver! Afterwards we went down to get in the picture at the winner's circle- John and I are in the back row standing next to the guy with the beard.

I finished the socks last week with little to no fanfare. I’m really not happy with them. I guess the gauge is too loose because they are not warm and they feel rough to stand on, like net. I used size twos as suggested on the ball band- but I think from now on I am going to knit all my socks with incredibly tight gauge.

Beyond the breezy texture of the knitting, the pooling really threw me for a loop. I thought it was fun on the first sock and anticipated more of the same for the second sock. Unfortunately the second ball of yarn had a very different pattern randomly developing in the colored plies and the large sections of solid red simply weren’t there. The second sock did wind up with a pooled pattern but it was very subtle- there are bands of marled rows alternating with bands of solid color rows red and purple. Because I planned to wear these with clogs- I switched back to my remaining first ball for the heel and ankle to at least get a little cohesion- so this is the end result.

As I lost enthusiasm for the socks I realized that this wonderful yarn had just been misapplied in the project and I decided to try it out on the Diamond Head hat pattern by David Xenakis from the “Knitter’s Dozen” hats book.

Sure enough the nature of the yarn really shines when knit into tiny facets of this diamond design. Can you believe this is the same yarn as the socks!?

It is a very fiddly project and there are so many ends to weave. As I worked on it I kept thinking that a person with forethought could avoid most of the end weaving if they began the project with seven bobbins of yarn and didn’t break the yarn at the tip of each diamond… well… next time, if there ever is a next time. This design seems more reasonable for crochet than knitting but I am enjoying it… let’s see if I can still say that after I weave in all the ends!

This pattern was written and charted for people who would turn the work- since no row was longer than 22 stitches I used an unconventional (although not unheard of) method of knitting without turning. I made two little videos to demonstrate.

In this video I knit short rows without turning the work over by alternating between knitting english and continental style with the yarn always held in my right hand.

In this video I knit in the continental style without turning, this time I change yarn hands when I change directions.

Guess what I forgot to do when I turned the heel. That's right, forgot to add that nifty little reinforcing thread.

As for the pooling, I kept thinking I was going to have an increased number of stitches at the turn- forgetting that the short row geometry adds distance without adding stitch numbers.




And look at that, the pooling didn't shatter- it just keeps spiraling around until, mysteriously it decided to switch direction up here near the top of the leg.

I am a little bit concerned about getting a real soft stretchy bind off. I think I will try the "Russian Bind Off" which I found on in this very informative listing of Laurie B's Toes and Heels.