Cue the National Anthem:

Don’t be fooled. That’s not snow, it’s camellia petals.

And not a moment too soon! It was 68° when these pictures were taken. I might have contracted frostbite without them.

Brrrr.

“You’ve just won the gold, what are you going to do now?”
“Well, Bob, I think I am going to check my email for the first time in a couple days. Then, I am going to catch up on my blog reading. After that, I might vacuum the house. That last one has been a dream of mine for some time…”

They aren’t the greatest bit of knitting I have ever done (what with all the lumpy parts and uneven stitches). I didn’t expect them to be, the Checks and Charms Hat and Mittens were a Learning Project for me. They have served their purpose: I am not afraid of two-color knitting anymore! To prove it: I have my eye on one of these.

Mitten bodies!

To the thumbs - and VICTORY!

Much to my delight, the Yarn Aboard Radio Box is finally on its way!

They are checking for anything liquid-perishable-or-potentially-hazardous.

Why, yes, that is a customs slip a top the box. It’s on it’s way out of the US! I have a confession to make: in the interest of the Greater Good, I went right to Rachel and divulged my Secret Identity as her Box Pal. Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures, people! You would have done the same thing in my place. While the surprise of the box itself is spoiled, the inner surprises are still good - no sneak peeks for YOU. You’ll just have to lurk around Rachel’s blog to see what was inside.

Now, for Becky and the rest of you who are interested in the porch:

The one on the right faces the road. We really do live in town!

It’s a good-sized porch, Great Gran’s is much bigger. It wraps around three sides of the house. This is what the view from Great Gran’s front door looks like. The azaleas are just beginning to bloom.

PS I planted most all of the trees in the bucket, all that’s left are a red bud, two birches and the long-leaf pines.

Just for you, Becky (your socks look so good)!

We actually have two front doors. The house is very symmetrical.

It was foggy yesterday when I went out to take pictures so I thought I would wait ’til today and try again. It’s foggy today, too, so you’ll just have to take what you can get. This is not the view straight out the door (as I am sure you can tell). That view is of a vast, muddy expanse of driveway and a gigantic tree stump that has been leaning across it since Katrina. The part of the tree that was in the driveway has been cleared, but it’s too much effort to get the farm equipment over here for just three upended stumps. There will be more down this summer. It’s just too depressing. So I’ve opted to show you what I choose to see when I look out the door: some of Gran-Dad’s camellias. You can’t really see the flowers because of the fog, but trust me, they are pretty. The bucket of sticks is actually my haul from Bay Minette’s Arbor Day. Alabama is 70% trees so we take Arbor Day very seriously.

And now I tag: Leah and K.T. and Jenn. Show us the view from your front door!

Yarn Aboard Update
I gave up on the ordered yarn and bought Emergency Yarn to send along to my Box Pal. I was all packed up and ready to go and went to copy her address out of my email only to find that it’s not there! HOW did I manage to lose it?! Every other Yarn Aboard email was still in there. I can tell you my Pal’s name, blog, fiber preference and generally where she lives. Everything except those crucial numbers and street names. I’ve emailed Amanda (who I am sure has saved everything because she knows disasters happen and honestly, I am surprised she still lets me play) so the box should be on it’s way shortly. I hope.

Update to the Update
Akk! Amanda is having her own disaster with “corneal erosion.” It isn’t permanent but it does NOT sound fun. Speedy healing, Amanda, and don’t worry: I am taking matters into My Own Hands.

It needs to be blocked, but the worst is over! On to the mittens!

I also worked on bedspead examples to give my left wrist a break. I liked the one in Rowan Magazine #33 much better than the others (as well I should - I had to pay for that one). But I didn’t like it as much as I felt that I could like it with minimal effort. I made some changes. Well, I made a lot of changes. The only things that remain the same are the number of stitches, the inclusion of yarn overs, a bobble row (with a different kind of bobble) and a leaf. The hard part is deciding which yarn to use.

On the left, Sugar’n Cream. On the right, Shine.

I know which one I like to knit with better. I know which one is prettier. I know which one is softer. I know which one will be less expensive and which one will allow me to make fewer squares. What I don’t know is: Which one will hold up better and stand the Test of Time? The Sugar’N Cream is 100% cotton and the Shine has %40 modal. My gut says that the Sugar’N Cream is the way to go because it is the closest to the cotton that Gran-mother used. Has anyone made anything from Shine yet? Knitter’s Review praises it (and I can certainly see why - it’s marvelous!) but for a spread, I just don’t know. What do y’all think?

The Yarn Aboard Radio Box came to ME!!

I hold all my yarn above my head in triumph.

This tickles me: I saw the yarn leaving Alison’s and tried to order some! Sunshine Yarns was out of “harvest” but more was promised on Valentine’s Day. The Radio Box made it here before I had a chance to order. This yarn is really pretty stuff! Not only are the colors spectacular (handpaint) but it’s awfully soft. I can’t wait to try it! But I think I’ll wait until April (can I stand it?) and use it during Project Spectrum. I think I am going to make a pair of socks each month. At the end, I will have a rainbow of socky goodness. The rest of the box held:

The post card with skiiers and balloons (HAH) is inside the bag.

Somehow I managed to not take a picture of the actual radio box. I’ll be sure to get one when it is packed and ready to go along it’s merry way. I hope that will be soon - I ordered yarn the day I found out the identity of my Box Pal. It isn’t here yet and no amount of grilling Ms. MailLady seems to help. Apparently the USPS is not omnicient. Thanks again, Alison, and may I just add: “You Rock.”

Now I have to go and unravel two rows of hat shaping. I can’t watch curling and count at the same time. Stupid counting.

The embossed leaf sock would like to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.

One Bloomin’ Sock down, one to go! No pressure, they don’t have to be finished until March.

Olympic Knitting? I got that:

Checks and Charms!

After one false start - Do you know anyone who can wear a mobius hat? Me neither. Shake it off, Emily, shake it off. - the Olympic Knitting is going well. I am trying to pace myself and avoid an early injury. My left hand isn’t used to having to do anything but hold the appropriate needle. It seems happy to be more involved in the process, but a little stiff. Why the orange color scheme? My pea coat is orange, if you’ll recall, and I do like things to match. In a perfect world, I would be making the cute green and pink colorway (to go with my olive pea coat). I did re-chart the pattern to include elements that I liked from all three of the colorways.

In the thrilling conclusion to a month-long saga (the music soars) Yarn Miracle proudly presents: The Perfect Cardigan Meets It’s Match!

I have worn it non-stop since Great Gran put the crochet around the neck. There is already a pull on the sleeve (you know where you can go, Mr. Mailbox, you rat). I have really really really missed wearing this sweater. I am so happy. The Perfect Cardigan is wrapped up and stored so that I’ll have it when I’m 80. This makes me happier still. I’m sentimental that way.

I’ve tried two color knitting before. I really wanted to make the Huntington Castle Pullover from Interweave, but I couldn’t get it to look decent. The floats just wouldn’t work.

Now, in the Olympic Spirit, I have decided that it is time to Conquer My Fear and Frustration. This time I’m better prepared: I got a book. It’s called Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified. I bought it for the three pages of instructions - there isn’t a pattern in there that I want to make. They are not to my taste. Also, that would be two layers of wool in the entire sweater. It doesn’t get cold enough for that.

The three pages of instructions have been worth the investment! This is my first practice piece:

You can see me getting better as I go along.

You put one color in each hand and work two different kinds of stitches per hand: the first kind (odd stitches) is regular, the second kind (even stitches) is to anchor the unused yarn. This means there are no floats! The only bad thing is that the book only tells you how to do knit stitches because all of their sweaters are worked in the round. This is fine for now, my Olympic hat and mittens are in the round.

Again, I’m getting better as I go along!

And the inside?

See? No floats!

It turns out that this is fun! I am feeling much better about the whole thing. I feel so much better about it that I am a little concerned that I have under-shot my Olympic goals . . . but I didn’t know that two colors wouldn’t be a hideous experience! I may be speaking prematurely: you never know how the actual project is going to go, M’s mom and sister are coming the week after next, I’ve never made a person-sized mitten (weird, I know), and I am notorious for starting over when things aren’t going well.

Next on Yarn Miracle:
Beginning the Checks and Charms Hat and Mittens.

The pattern had me make the heel in stockinette. Which I thought was wierd. I also thought that maybe it wouldn’t fit my Secret Socky Pal’s foot as snuggly as a sock should - especially considering the lace on the top. So I switched from size 2s to size 1s and am feeling better about the whole thing. I made a couple of other “adjustments” to the pattern, but I can’t tell you about them and maintain Secret Socky Pal’s anonymity. You’ll just have to make peace with not knowing.

The Doppelganger Cardigan has seams and a neck! The neckband doesn’t look quite like its counterpart, so I’ve soaked it, pinned out and it’s drying. If it still looks weird after all of that, I will take it off and put it back on. After that, all that’s left it a row of single crochet around the bands. Great Gran is going to put it on for me. Nice touch.

I solved my Family Denim Aran problem.

I had this stuff in my stash.

That yarn was supposed to be for a vest for M. I swatched and it works perfectly! The real questions is: why did I buy SO MUCH to make a sweater vest? It must have been a premonition.

I finally made it down to Daphne to Debi’s Little Yarn House’s clearance sale to buy all of this:

Not Pictured: 200 Knitted Blocks

Sadly, this was the only Cherry Tree Hill left (what do you think, Becky?). But the Wildfoote is pretty cool - I don’t have any lavender socks. Debi says she has some pale pink somewhere. She will hang on to it for me when she comes across it. And we all know how much I like to knit with self-striping yarns! Especially when they are half price!

In our next episode: Emily learns to do fair isle for the Olympics.