Knitting Quote

“The rhythmic and repetitive quality of the stitching, 
along with the needles clicking resembles a calming mantra,”

explains Dr. Herbert Benson, a professor at Harvard Medical School
and the author of The Relaxation Response.

“The mind can wander while still focusing on one task.”

♥

Kitten Cuteness

Well, the kitten is just as cute as he can be.

I’ve refrained from posting a flood of photos to the blog,
'cause you know how travel/baby photos can be...

And with the iPhone at my side,

I have been taking lots.

(They say that the best camera

is the one you have with you,

and they are so right!

I have gotten many photos

that I would have missed

if I had had to run go get my camera.)

Anyway, he is growing so fast!

He is more A Miniature Cat now,

instead of a kitten.

And his Ragdoll fur has “sprouted”.

He has a ruff now!

Okay, okay.  I could go on all day,

But I’ll quit with only these few.

I wish you could hear him purr….

He has quite the motor!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Unraveled

Sometimes when you knit, 

you find that a project just doesn’t do it for you anymore.

Probably the pattern and the yarn 

aren’t well suited for each other, and you can sense it.

I found that I disliked how loose this shawl was knitting up, 

and realized that I should quit “forging ahead”, 

and just do something about it.

So, I made the decision to unravel it.

It is a big decision, after all. 

But I knew I would be happier 

if I began again on smaller needles, 

and perhaps use an easier stitch.  

Life is too short.

Non-knitters are usually horrified 

to see all that work being unraveled.  haha

They see it as time wasted, I guess.  

I don’t.  I figure I’m knitting anyway.  

But I’m also thrilled that I can unravel if I want to.  

Or if I need to.

You see, in my other life I am a lettering artist.  A calligrapher.

If you get to the bottom of a page of calligraphy 

and you misspell a word, there’s no unraveling.

  

And rarely can you “erase” a mistake in lettering 

without the paper looking too damaged to continue.  

(Because you use a razor blade.)

So I think it’s a glorious thing to be able to 

UN-do my knitting and do something else with the yarn!

And most yarns are very forgiving, 

and let you use them again and again.  

(Now Rowan Kidsilk Haze can be tricky, 

especially at the ends of rows, 

but I have unknitted quite a bit of it, too.)

So now I can start fresh and make something else with this yarn.

Perhaps a simple garter stitch shawl.  Nice and mindless.  

Every knitter needs a mindless project in her collection of WIPs. 
(Works in Progress)  

Besides, I need something to balance all that lace knitting! 
LOL

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Casting On

That is soooo true...

Ditto for buying more yarn,

despite a closet full at home.

I just cast on for a new lace project!

The yarn is my favorite, Rowan Kidsilk Haze.

It is a combination of silk and mohair.

Yummy!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

The ChiaoGoo Fiasco

Well, I sure tend to learn things the hard way with this knitting thing!

You see, I was using my wonderful set of ChiaoGoo interchangeable knitting needles the other day, when the worst thing that could’ve happened, happened.

They came unscrewed and, unbeknownst to me, the cable fell right off the needle.  And by the time I noticed, I had 118 live stitches staring at me in the face!  118 stitches in mid-air.  Merciful heavens!

They say the first thing to do is to take a deep breath, so I did.

And since the yarn I was using had a bit of mohair, the stitches actually sat there pretty much and waited for me to get a tapestry needle and some dental floss and sew them onto a temporary kind of cable before going to bed, completely spent.

I worked for quite a while the next day, just trying to get things back to where I was before The Great Unscrewing, but during it all, I was so upset at my wonderful new needles for betraying me.

After all, that’s why I got them.  

(Well, one of the reasons.)

My Denise Interchangeables were always coming undone and I needed something I could count on.  (They are made of plastic that had gotten worn and loose over the years, I guess, and began to come apart every time I used them.)

Besides, I love ChiaoGoo’s Red Lace pointy pointy tips.  And interchangeables sounded like a dream come true.  And they are.  They really are.  But I had to learn the secret first.

And apparently I had to learn it the hard way.   :)

So after my needle and cable unscrewed and came apart on me, I googled it to see if it had happened to anyone else.  After all, these interchangeable needles only debuted last fall.

What I learned was, in the zipper bag that the needles came in was a Tool (a key) for tightening that screw join and I didn’t even know about it.

When I got The Tool out, a T-pin looking thing, and put it through the hole on the needle (it gives you extra torque, I guess) and I tightened the needle-cable connection all good and secure, it hasn’t budged once.  Not once!  And I am again in love!   <whew>

You’d think these things would come with instructions! 

Well, if they did, mine must’ve gotten lost.  I looked and looked for an insert explaining the tightening tool, but I never found one.  And there isn’t any info on their website, either.

So thank heavens for the internet!  Once again, it has come to my rescue.  ♥

And now, as long as you know about the tightening tool, I can tell you, for sure, that these are the best interchangeable needles that I’ve ever used, and that I really really love them.  

But, good grief,
why do I have to learn everything the hard way???  LOL

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

p.s.  BTW, ChiaoGoo is the brand of knitting needles,

       and is pronounced chow-goo.  It means “crafty lady”.

p.p.s.  Don’t you think “The ChiaoGoo Fiasco” 
           is a good name for a book??  haha