Juliets

I wanted to give you all an update before taking off for Thanksgiving. The Juliets are done and we will be wearing them tomorrow. Mine is blocking and I still have to sew on the buttons. I must say that had I not done the tiny one first, this project would have ended prematurely. I don't like knitting on fat needles. My hands got tired so quickly and holding the yarn double was sometimes kind of awkward, sometimes. This technique of course called for twice as much yardage and therefore the garment is quite heavy for a little cap sleeved thing.

Now, the Cascade 220 skein has about 220 yards to it (hence the name). My gauge was right on and I knit the size Medium which called for about 600 yards. I don't know where my extra 60 yards went, but when it was all said and done, all I had left was a little hand full of scrap pieces. I had to piece a couple of those together to form the last button loop. Whew, cutting it real close! I mean, I heard the tires streaking and smelled burning rubber on this one.

All I have to do now is sew on the buttons. I couldn't find 3 "large, pretty buttons." And can I say, this is one of my most difficult challenges with all my knit wear crafting, finding buttons. What a pain! For tiny Juliet I found these butterfly tortoise shell ones. They have this weird butterfly detail on the other side. How delighted I was to discover that the back side was blank. These kind of bland opally, pearlesque like buttons were the only ones I could settle on. If I like wearing the garment, I'll shop for something different. I would have preferred tortoise shell, but I couldn't find any bigger ones. These white ones are only 1 3/8".

So, since I finally finished last night, I decided to cast on a baby sweater. I need to make two of these by tomorrow for the new little mens in our lives. The last baby batch was a bunch of girls (which included Teddy Bear). So, having two new boys is kinda cool. You know, I think I can do it. This is my second try and I'm working on the body now. I'll be hitting the road at about 7 am tomorrow. I don't think these will need blocking, so I can hand them right over as soon as I'm done. I can probably bind off the second one by noon tomorrow. Unfortunately I don't have any tiny masculine buttons (just hearts). I considered tearing some off of old uniform shirts, but they all say Gap on them. We wouldn't want the recipients to get the wrong idea now would we?

And oh, a little treat I've been working on for myself. I do keep making mistakes with the spiderweb lace pattern, but I'm good enough now so that I can make a dam good fix that doesn't involve ripping back all the time. Isn't the color just splendid? I'm thinking about getting me one of those little swing coats to go with it. This project has no deadline and keeps getting set aside for other things. Hey, it's not even technically Winter yet anyway.
Well, this year I didn't get away with just bringing brown and serve rolls. The roast I'm responsible for will be done in about 30 minutes. I hate cooking this far ahead of time, but I won't be allowed to take up oven space at the host house. We've been instructed to bring everything sliced and ready to be served. This is not going to be possible, my drive is 1.5 hours and I'm leaving tomorrow at 7:00 am. I started cooking it partially frozen so that it will still be pink in the middle. My hopes are that by the time I reheat it tomorrow, for about 30-45 minutes that the meat will still be tender. Darn, I like pink beef. I also have to get busy with a banana pudding. Things that need to stay on ice are no problem. We'll be modeling the Juliets and the food for you tomorrow. I hope to post by Sunday.

Oh yes, I'm very thankful for all of you. I don't have any friends or relatives who crochet or knit as much as I, so I'm kind of the weird one in this area. You all keep me pumping. In my early 20s I used to hide my craft, but because of you I don't feel nerdy, or old, or whatever other mean name comes with my love for this thing. Thank you.