The good thing is that I'm quite happy with the fabric. As an added bonus, I was able to have the narrow width I was going for without altering the pattern at all. The bad thing is that scarves grow MUCH faster on size 10 needles than on size 6. The length is really inching along (hahaha! "Length" is "inching"! Oh, never mind). I have 15" done on each side and I'm nearly done with the prescribed number of repeats. I'm trying to determine the minimum length for a scarf. At any rate, I think I have a bit to go. If I hold the to-be-grafted ends together, I can manage to make it go around my neck, but I'm thinking at least 3" for it to be remotely useful. I like this pattern quite a lot, though. Why Scarf Fest 2006? Well, a friend had a birthday, another friend did a very nice thing for us, and my husband's aunt and my mother-in-law (along with two of her friends) are throwing me a baby shower. I like a nice scarf as a thank-you gift. I got a fair amount done on the road yesterday--Matt and I went hiking, which was lovely. It's past peak for fall foliage around here, but it was still very nice, and the weather was uncharacteristically cooperative.
Other knitting: What, all these scarves aren't enough for you? I still have the gloves on the needles and the baby blanket, but they're on hold at the moment. I have a sweater (Argyle Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Special Knits) for Butterbean to start. And I've pretty much decided to do Lace Photo Mats from Holiday Knitting and Soap Holder Thingys for Christmas. I have also been de-stashing a bit. What? Getting rid of yarn??? I know all the knitters are baffled by this. But Butterbean is starting to acquire possessions at an alarming rate (not really alarming...it's so exciting when the UPS man comes!) and though she will be tiny when she arrives, she has a lot of stuff that needs a place to go. So I dug through the yarn stash and pulled out anything I didn't have a pattern planned for/couldn't imagine what I would do with. I now have a rather sizeable, completely empty Rubbermaid container that can hold other stuff we don't have room for! And I tossed it all up on eBay, which is a wonderful, wonderful place. I should have done a shameless plug when I first listed stuff, but I didn't even think of it. At any rate, you can see my yarn-for-sale here. The last of my auctions end tonight.
Reading: An Assembly Such As Is by Pamela Aiden, the first in the Mr. Darcy trilogy. I'm 1/3 of the way through or so. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I'm rather disappointed, but it's fun anyway. Ms. Aiden is not the writer Jane Austen was, certainly. And I'm trying to figure out why Jane Austen could tell this story in one book, but Mr. Darcy's version requires three. It's a bit slow, and not in that great Jane Austen way. And I thought I would get a kick out of seeing some of the scenes from P&P in a new context, but it's distracting and highlights the...differences in writing talent. And it's not all that illuminating about the Mr. Darcy you don't see in P&P. You get a little insight, but you know, I would have thought there would be so much to bring out since you don't really see Mr. Darcy's internal struggles in P&P. But I realized that Austen shows everything you need to know about Darcy's character and situtation, so masterfully you don't even realize she's doing it! So the belaboring of things like his preference for Town society over country isn't as "Oh, wow, that's why he says that!" as I thought it would be. And yet, it's still fun.
Writing: Chapter 7. I've missed deadlines left and right for this part (which is the middle chapter and therefore just a bear to write), but I'm giving myself another one anyway: this Friday.
Cooking: Not actually all that much. Oh, I made pasta the other night, with kalamata olives and artichoke hearts. It was very nice. Stefaneener, I didn't even think of bowls for rising the boules. I will have to try that next time. The raising baskets are on my "when we move to a place with a bigger kitchen" list, for sure! I pre-peel my butternut squash. It's true, it's a pain. I did finally get one of those ergonomic peelers instead of the narrow metal one that killed my hands, and that helps. I think my book club was probably my last dinner party till, oh, Butterbean is 18 or so, so I really went all out :)
3 comments:
It is odd how these little beings acquire lots of stuff. Ours have as many wheeled conveyances as can fit in our garage. Um, last count was 5 bikes, one trike, three strollers, one bike trailer. . . ummm, some skateboards and scooters? It only gets better, really.
Nice scarf : )
The scarf looks lovely, I really like the use of different textures.
I don't think you can beat Jane Austen in the writing stakes. I love reading her works.
Great insight about Jane Austen. I do feel that I know everything I need to know about Mr. Darcy from P&P -- anything else would just be for the fun of the gimmick.
I really like the blue scarf! What's the lace pattern at the two ends? That's particularly lovely to me.
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