Fiber Fool

Despite the fact that Coyote Ridge is about 5 miles from my house it took me 30 minutes to get there this morning. The straight forward way to get there is under construction until the end of September and both ways to easily get around that area of construction are also under construction so I had to go all the way to Loveland to get to Coyote Ridge which is really about half way between the two cities. Fortunately I was only about 5 minutes late and my hiking partner for the morning, Cathy, also got caught up in the construction craziness. So, about 6:45 am we set out on this fairly easy trail in a balmy (well for that early in the morning) 73 degrees.

I captured that panoramic above while I was waiting for Cathy. It captures the vast majority of the natural area on the east side of the ridges. It was quite the site!

Both the current trekking SIP and the FO socks (yet to be named) went on this roughly 2 mile trek. The first part of the trail that Cathy and I took this morning was quite wide and graveled. It wasn’t grated real even, but it wasn’t precarious for ankles or knees as long as you watched what you were doing. There were a couple short areas of semi-steep climbs, but easily doable.

Along the first mile of the trail you get to see a lot of high plains and montane shrubland plants. This included a lot of yucca, mullen, a couple different shrubs bearing berries, and some cacti of course. There was also wildlife to be seen such as this little cottontail having breakfast right on the edge of the trail. The prairie dogs were all over, but were very active so not particularly photogenic on this visit.

Because we got a bit of a late start and I was under time constraints due to my final root canal appointment (yes, it is all over, except the payments of course) we only hiked in the first mile to the bathrooms and a cabin that I guess can be rented out for parties. There was the log above nearby that would make a nice spot to stop and knit sometime when we aren’t on a time schedule. I don’t know what it is, but I love taking pictures of old logs, LOL! Then we turned around and took an easier trip back to the trailhead that allowed for some photo opportunities with the SIP…

Pattern: Ballband Warshrags from Mason-Dixing Knitting
Yarn: Lily Sugar and Creme Butter Cream Ombre and Jute
Needles: US 7 Addi Tubo 16″
Project Dates: May 5 - 7, 2006
Recipient: Grandma Bakke for Mother’s Day

Notes: I love these warshrags. In fact, I have a 5th one in progress right now. I made two others - a red and black and a red and jute. Those are for my mom. But I send the red and black one out with my grandma’s rags already.

I haven’t yet wet one, but I’m hoping those slipped stitches will give these rags some more stability. DH isn’t a fan of the garter stitch ones that you work from the corner, and I have to agree somewhat. They stretch out kind of funny when in the water and often you can put a finger through the stitches. But, to combat that problem just a tad the 5th rag I’m knitting for us to try and I went down to a US 6. It looks like it’ll be about 8 inches square which seems plenty large, though I suppose it would be just as easy to cast on 51 sts and do an extra twelve row repeat in there if one wished.

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This brings me to a book review of Mason-Dixon Knitting. When I first got to look through it I passed it up. It seemed most of the projects that caught my eye were ones involving cotton or linen (a couple different washrags, a linen hand towel, a linen nightgown and bathrobe etc.) - very inelastic sorts of yarns that can be hard on your hands if you don’t pace yourself and take time to stretch and exercise your hands. I wasn’t quite ready to pay cover price for a book that I found looked beautiful and appeared to have entertaining writing whose projects I wouldn’t be able to knit.

Jump forward about a week after that. I was in our local B&N browsing the knitting section to see if they had any of the other recent releases that I could look through. On my way to the section there were two copies of the book with 50% off stickers, plus as a member I’d get an additional 10% off. Well, that sealed it. I could buy a $13 book that I may not knit anything out of. So, it came home with me. I read it almost immediately from cover to cover. The writing style was fun and humorous and I enjoyed the little sidebars of extra stuff such as television to knit by and the timeline.

There are many projects in here that have caught my eye. I’ll definitely be giving the pentagon washrag a try once I tire of the color combinations to play with for the ballband ones above. I may do a couple log cabin washrags as well just to see what I think of log cabin knitting. I also may pull out some cotton from my stash and knit a baby Kimono. For whom, I have no idea, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have on hand.

I really like the balance Ann and Kay have achieved in this book between giving you a pattern and giving you a jumping off point to make these things your own. My only complaint would be the lack of technical diagrams for the clothing patterns. Yes, there are schematics for some, but they don’t contain dimensions. And, yes, we are given a gauge and the number of stitches to cast-on and increases/decreases to make etc. so one can fill in that information, I would prefer if it was already done for me because there is already enough math required if one needs to adjust the pattern’s fit. But that is rather knit-picky.

I know there were some in my SnB group who were not impressed with the book. I really liked it. I’d perhaps suggest if you are unsure that you watch the MDK Knit-a-long for a bit and see how the projects strike you. Or, browse a copy at your LYS or LBS before making the decision. But, I have to say I am very glad I did pick it up!

I have one hank of linen to try a hand towel with, I think I’ll be doing a Baby Kimono soon, there will be several more ballband washrags in prepartion for the holidays, and at some point in the future I’m pretty sure there will be a Moderne Log Cabin blanket, though there is no budget for yarn for that just yet and I don’t have appropriate yarn in the stash. My only problem is finding a good selection of Sugar and Cream or Peaches and Cream. It seems the selection is pretty spotty at most of the local places, though I haven’t tried the larger Hobby Lobby or Jo-Ann’s in Loveland yet. If you have a favorite on-line place to order those from, please let me know!

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Lastly, because it is Friday and because we did establish yesterday that I am a follower, please take my quiz!

This week I have jumped on several bandwagons…

I signed up for the Amazing Lace. My teammate will be Icarus knit out of Fino from Alacas with a Twist in Twilight. I had every intention of starting it this week, but the high winds of the last few days combined with through the roof cottonwood pollen counts has me dragging and my head foggy so I haven’t yet started it. But, also speaking of Icarus, I’ve joined the Icarus KAL. There aren’t any buttons there yet so it hasn’t been listed over in my sidebar.

Yes, I did succumb and pick up this book despite my worries about the large number of projects calling for inelastic yarns. I found a couple copies at B&N with 50% off stickers on them. I have no idea why. Occassionally I’ll find a couple copies of a book marked down because of an imperfection such as a warped cover or a dinged spine, but as far as I could tell it was in great condition so I couldn’t pass it up. So, I’ve joined the MDKAL. I’ll update you more on my progress with that one tomorrow for FO Friday…

In Dye-O-Rama news, I have the dyes I think I’ll use though I probably should have picked up a few more so I could tweak colors a bit, but my budget didn’t really allow for that. I have filled out the meme that was posted. For those interested (quite likely just my buddy) you can find it here.

I’m gonna sign off for now and take a hot bath in hopes of unclogging my brain some. Perhaps I’ll unclog it enough to get Icarus started… This afternoon Emma and I get to go to the vet… Fun for both of us! Not!