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The Letter L and the number 1.

Today, we are going to talk about things that begin with L. The first thing, kids, is lost. When we lose something it means we don't remember where we put it. On Sunday, I lost the nonattached sleeve to my sweater. So when we lose something we also look (another L word).

L, also starts many other important words (love, lion, luggage, lamb). But most importantly the letter L is for Laundry, which is where I found my missing sleeve. See the sleeve sitting arrogantly among the sheets I took off the bed?



It turns out that after I had taken the second sleeve off the blocking board I placed it on the bed (I am not sure why I didn't put all the peices on the bed, but there you have it). I then took the sheets off the bed and remade the bed with new sheets encasing my non attached sleeve in my dirty sheets and tossing them downstairs to await their turn in the laundry. Luckily, Chad moved sheets and the sleeve came out or else I may have had garbled knitting and pink sheets.

So, now for the number 1. One finished sweater!



This sweater is a modified version of this pattern . I adjusted the sweater so that it falls to my natural waist rather than being cropped. I am not sure where the cropped movement came from, but I never really got on the bus and I think I am unlikely to start now. Secondly, I adjusted the sleeves so that they were not rolled up on my upper arms. I can't find a lot of women who list their upper arms as their favorite attribute, in fact, I like most women I know...... think our upper arms are too bulky. Therefore, I couldn't really support having a cuffed roll on a place I already don't like. Finally, I also cut the amount of ribbing on the bottom in half to make it looke more petite.

"Attempt the end and never stand to doubt;
Nothing's so hard, but search will find it out."

- Robert Herrick

Pride & Prejudice

Things never go well for me whenever I fall in love with a yarn and then try to construct a knitting project to fit it. I usually end up with something that isn't at all like I intend. I frog it and it lives a very pretty and long lasting life among the stash.

Therefore, when I found this yarn (#627 Flamingo) at my not so local Pearls the Yarn Studio (sorry no website atm). I was almost instantly seduced by it's lovely softness and vibrant colors. I'm serious about the softness...... for a cotton it is so wickedly soft. But, a moment of doubt lingered. I tend to be prejudiced against bulkier yarns (anything heavy worsted or bigger). I typically don't love them knit up, and I certainly don't like to wear them. So the likelihood that I would wear a garment knit in this is, well it's slim.

Then, searching through the store I found a pattern that I thought I could modify to make me happy and I decided to stow my prejudice and start knitting. The knitting went so incredibly smoothly. No frogging, my measurements were spot on, I had the right yardage with just a little ball left to seam. I cast off the last piece last week, blocked diligently, and decided to attack finishing this weekend.

I start seaming, it's going well. I take a break and start to put together my blog entry outlying this successful project, I can't remember feeling so proud. THEN tragedy befalls. I am missing a sleeve.

I know I knit two, I blocked two, I put two sleeves in my basket to seam later. Now, I have one. I tear apart my craft room, no sleeve. I move on to the bedroom, no sleeve (some yarn I forgot I have.... but that's another story).

I start to think to myself, maybe I really didn't knit two. Maybe there is just the one. So I see if I have enough yarn to make another (nope just the little ball). I call the yarn store, they are sold out. She calls the distributor, they are sold out of that dye lot. She calls some other yarn stores, no luck.

So I quit for the night, my house is trashed and I am not one sleeve richer. I am going to go to sleep and hope that the sleeve magically appears in the morning.

I close with a pictures of my sweater........ sans sleeve

Who's got spirit? I guess I do

On the day we celebrate American spirit I finished a pair of socks in honor of an American tradition, futbol americana (also known as football). These socks make me think of fall, of watching football games, of tailgating. As such they are my rockin' hawk socks. They are so named because the color and choice of project was started as a (belated) father's day gift for DH so that he could wear them to keep his toes warm while he tailgates. Although our days in Iowa are limited, I am sure that he will continue to wear these on football Saturday's out of tradition. Happy father's day Chad, enjoy your Hawk socks!

The yarn choice was Lorna's laces Bee Stripe. Interestingly, none of the LYS carry this color. I found it this spring when I was in Pittsburgh at Dyed in the Wool , at first I was surprised (they had several different types of yellow and black yarn). I thought to myself, "Why all the Hawkeye love so far away?" I picked up my sock yarn and some other purchases and was making small talk with the owner and made a joke about how I had to fly to the East coast to find Hawkeye sock yarn. She laughed at my perplexed look and said, "That's Steelers yarn hon, but if you want to pretend it's Hawkeye yarn go ahead." Oh yeah, duh. The Hawkeye colors and uniforms were initially modeled (and still bear an uncanny resemblance to) the Steelers uniforms. So it is little surprise that I would find black and gold yarn in Pittsburgh.

The pattern is a chaotic sort of basketweave that was pretty fun, it is based on "Gentleman's Shooting Sock" from "Knitting Vintage Socks" on size one needles. They are also my first finished pair of socks for Summer of Socks!



Let's go Hawkeyes........... Let's Go!!!!!!

Here is a closer detail of the stitch pattern



"The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Let every loyal Iowan sing;
The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,"
Until the walls and rafters ring (Go Hawks!)
Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer, for IOWA
Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.
The word is "Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,"
Until the game is won."

- The U of Iowa Fight song