Good Morning Everyone!
I hope you enjoyed the rainy Labor Day Weekend, I sure did! Most of my outdoor plans were completely derailed, but somehow it didn't ruin my weekend. Too rainy to go kayaking? Guess I'll just have to work on my Efa. Too rainy to hike through the Notch to Sterling Pond? Nothing like spending the afternoon with Addie having lunch and walking around Church Street. I consider myself quite lucky, my absolute favorite past time is actually "work" for me, and I did a lot of work this weekend. CHECK OUT MY EFA!!!! Andra lit a fire under my needles when she decided to wear hers on Friday for our monthly Zoom call. It was more than I could handle and I stared in silence in a state of jealousy. Well, not complete silence, I do recall making some kind of comment but I don't remember my exact words, I'm sure she does lol....I hope I did the short rows correctly, I paid really close attention to what I was doing and did my best to incorporate the established cable pattern as best as I could. Luckily there were only 2 rows worked after all of the short row shaping and then the stitches got transferred to my Purl Strings to hang out. Can I mention again just how handy those Purl Strings are??? If you don't have them, get some, I have both sizes available.
I am currently working my way up the front of my Efa sweater, I want to have it done before KAL starts on September 24th, two and a half weeks...I can already sense Andra thinking this is more than an attainable goal which it likely is, but my world (as perfect as it is) sometimes throws me a curve ball. I recently had one tossed at me, rather innocently, by the husband of one of my customers. You know that sense of accomplishment when you finish a project and your next 10 are already in queue and you're feeling like, I GOT THIS. Well, that was my mind set, Addie's Sipila was finished, Efa is coming along nicely, the next KAL will be starting, I'll be able to finally get back to my Emsworth vest, blah, blah, blah...What could possibly happen? Let's just say another iron was added to the fire.
So a car pulls into my driveway a couple weeks ago and I see a man getting out. I go out to see who it is and it's Gordon. I hadn't seen him and his wife Shirley for quite some time, which wasn't too alarming since they were in their late 80's, we've had this fantastic pandemic going on, and so their trips over here were limited. I'm looking around for Shirley when Gordon hands me a laminated card with her picture, my heart just dropped. Ugh....I hate this feeling. He asks if we can go into the shop, and proceeds to grab a couple of bags from the car. Inside one of the bags is a cardigan Shirley was working on for herself, it's about 75% complete. You all know where this is going, he would like me to finish it so he can give it to his neice for Christmas. How on earth do you say "No?" You absolutely DO NOT. Included in the bags are years of knitting needles, gadgets and a huge stack of pattern books. I ask him if the pattern was with the sweater, that would be too easy, it's MIA. It's still MIA and I did tell him that without the pattern I can't finish it. The right front is done, it's not a normal construction. The armholes for the sleeves look like they are for a Dolman Sleeve (thanks Kathleen, I think you're right), holy shit what do I do? My plan is to carefully go through this stack of patterns, needle in a haystack, but it's got to be here. The last little tidbit to this story is this, Shirley had a beautiful, hand turned, cherry yarn bowl. She brought it to the shop to show it to me. She said her friend had made it and to let her know if I wanted one, they were $125. I did really love it, but at the time I figured I needed to spend my money on something else, like the electricity bill in the Ralston building lol...Gordon gave me her bowl, he remembered how much I admired it and wanted me to have it, I've been using it ever since. The task at hand still remains, I need to find that pattern or, I'll be tearing the damn thing out and doing something completely different. Either way, it's a daunting task and I do feel honored that he wants me to finish it, Shirley was a beautiful knitter, I hope I can match her gauge....
Carrie and I (mostly Carrie) put away ALL 70lbs of yarn that arrived last week. I did post a video opening the boxes, but wait until you see it!! Wizard is gorgeous, I've already sold (2) sweaters worth, Vento, ooh, la, la is so soft and lightweight, my Leticia is in the shop for you to see. Renew is back in stock and wait until you see the Ultra Alpaca Chunky Naturals. I've got some cute mitten kits, hat kits, the Flax sweater kits and MYSTERY BOXES!!! I also just purchased the Pressed Flowers Hat Pattern by Savory Knitting, it would be stunning in Frida and Ultra Alpaca....
We will be meeting tomorrow evening for Stitch and Bitch from 6-7:30, I hope you can join in the fun! Make it a great day and I'll see you soon!
Katy