BSJ Progress

Is the Baby Surprise Jacket looking more jacket-y today? No?

How about now?

It's called a Baby Surprise Jacket because it's a surprise to discover that the blob of yarn you've knit into a very weird shape can, by simply folding it correctly, become a sweater. The only two seams will be across the shoulders.

Something for a baby

This, believe it or not, is going to become a "Baby Surprise Jacket" for a friend's first grandchild. It doesn't look much like a jacket or sweater now, though, does it?

I love knitting this pattern. It's such a clever design by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Her designs take some getting used to, because Zimmermann isn't big on detailed, explicit instructions. But once you get the hang of what she's up to, a BSJ is a pleasure to knit. The design calls for circular needles, which I prefer anyway, and knitting in the round. The best feature, for me, is that the finished product has few seams to be sewed. Another great feature of this pattern is the fact that a lady named Dawn Adcock has written a help sheet to accompany Zimmermann's pattern. I rely on the help sheet more than I do on the pattern.
Can you see in this photo that a baby sweater is emerging? Once it's done there will be only two seams to sew: across the two shoulders.

I'm hoping to have enough of this Plymouth Encore self-striping yarn leftover to make a pair of booties, too, or maybe a little hat. 

If you'd like to see more Baby Surprise Jackets, in all kinds of color combinations, go here. Set aside plenty of time to browse, though, for there are 7,094 finished little jackets to ogle.

Our Latest Snowstorm

Can spring be all that far away?? This is a pretty storm, but I've had enough "pretty" to do me for awhile.

A bird house. I hope the birdies are snuggled warmly inside, or, better yet, still lounging by the pool in Mexico.

Here in Maine we measure the severity of a snowstorm by the depth of the snow on the backyard grill. I'm serious.

Tout fini!

The day that I thought might never come arrived yesterday. I finished the Aran cardigan. In fact, here I sit at my computer, wearing it as I blog.

The statistics:

Yankee Knitter  Adult's Aran,  design#20

Yarn: Briggs & Little worsted weight 100% wool in "Quoddy Blue," 272 yards/skein. I think I used six skeins. Maybe it was seven. No, it was six, because I have one full skein left over and a small part of another skein.

Started: December 31, 2008

Finished: February 17, 2009

Estimated hours of knitting: conservatively 100 hours (49 days X 1-3 hours per day) Probably more like 150-200 hours, but I don't want to think about that.

Best feature: It fits!

Second-best feature: It's a cardigan. I'm so glad I decided to make it a cardigan rather than a pullover. It'll serve as a light jacket once spring starts arriving here.

I had Ken do a "photo shoot" of me wearing it a few minutes ago. It's a cold day here in Maine, with a snowstorm arriving tonight and spending tomorrow with us, so a nice, thick Aran woollen sweater is appropriate. 

I might have given up on this project about 1/3 of the way through, what with knitting and raveling, knitting and raveling, then realizing the sheer number of hours required to complete it, if it hadn't been for the encouraging words of Cheryl, Lin, Caryn, Kay, Heather,  and Margaret. So thank you, guys. You kept me going.

Interesting

I suspect she isn't a knitter.

Squirrel-proof bird feeder

I can't even begin to count the number of times I've been thankful I decided to buy this $54.95 SQUIRREL-PROOF suet feeder. It allows "only songbirds" to enter its cage.

Right.

Would someone who knows more about birds than I do please tell me what kind of songbird this is?

(And is he giving a single-digit salute in the final photo???)

Progress Report #4

The Aran cardigan is continuing to take shape. I've now finished the back, the two fronts, and more than half of one sleeve. I don't dare say the end is in sight, but it's getting there.

I had no idea this sweater would take so long to knit. I'm working at it each day, and with luck, it just might be done by the end of this month.

Time will tell. 

Of course, once it's done, with the sections sewn together, the big test will come when I try it on. Here's hoping it fits.

I have two or three future knitting projects lined up, with the yarns already purchased and waiting in my knitting basket. All of the projects are fairly quick and simple ones, you betcha!

Meanwhile, there are signs of spring in Maine. This doesn't mean we won't get more snow before winter officially leaves us, but the hours of daylight are noticeably longer and various birds have begun returning from their winter digs.

Things are looking up all 'round.

Lap Dog?

We're wondering when would be a good time to explain to Molly that Labrador retrievers are not meant to be lap dogs. 

Perhaps that window of opportunity has long since been slammed shut, come to think of it.

This all started when Molly was a cute, fuzzy, cuddly 8-week-old puppy. Ken would set her in his lap each evening, and the two would watch t.v. together. Molly, at eight weeks, fit Ken's lap perfectly, with no overhang.

Nature took its course, however, and Molly changed from a lap-sized puppy to a full-grown, 75-pound dog. A needy dog. An affectionate dog. A dog full of assumptions. A dog who likes to call the shots.

And Ken, if the truth be told, is obviously as reluctant as Molly to give up their nightly ritual. So it continues. Each evening 75-pound dog climbs into Ken's lap, overhanging the lap in various places. Molly settles down to sleep; Ken settles into a t.v. show, and both are contented. And that's that.

Memorabilia

When Ken added a family room to our first home over 30 years ago, we put together a time capsule and sealed it behind the wallboard of one of the new room's walls. The time capsule contained a daily newspaper, an issue of Time magazine, and various personal items to give future owners of that little house, perhaps, a glimpse into the lives of its first owners.

We did the same thing when we had this house built eleven years ago.  Ken took our time capsule to the construction workers and told them to seal the capsule inside one of the walls. I don't know where the items are sealed, but I do know they're here somewhere, hopefully to be discovered many years from now.
 

In a similar vein, I try to remember to save newspapers of important world events. I don't remember to do this as often as I'd like, but I do have a fairly substantial collection of newspaper treasures in the bottom drawer of a desk.

I got out my collection recently, when it was time to add the Portland Press Herald from the day after President Obama's inauguration.

I found in my collection the last Peanuts cartoon, from February 13, 2000; the Press Herald announcing that the Red Sox won the World Series, for the first time in 86 years, in 2004; headlines announcing the Hurricane Katrina devastation; the tsunami in South Asia; the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife and sister-in-law. One of my most prized newspapers is the one issued on August 17, 1977. Its headline reads: Elvis Presley: Rock and Roll King Dead. Elvis had been scheduled to give a concert in Portland, Maine on August 17.

I have several newspaper issues and a commemorative issue for September 11, 2001, the day the world turned upside down. I was teaching a class of freshmen when I first heard of the attacks on the World Trade Center, and that proved to be the longest school day of my career.

As I was looking over my prized collection of newspapers, I came across something that surprised me: the January 3, 2005 issue of Newsweek. On the cover? Barack Obama, called "A Rising Star Who Wants to Get Beyond Blue vs. Red." In one of the articles in this Newsweek issue, Obama says, "I'm so overexposed, I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse. I figure there's nowhere to go from here but down."

How wrong he was.

A Day on the Maine Coast

Yesterday we decided to drive up to Camden, about 2 1/2 hours from here, and check out their Winterfest. Camden's one of my favorite Maine coastal towns.

I took some photos of the salt marshes along the coast south of Freeport, then settled into some knitting as Ken drove.

Once we got to Camden, we saw little evidence of a Winterfest. We did see a sign saying the festivities would begin at 12:00 noon. Meanwhile, we decided to grab some brunch and look around. I scoped out a yarn shop immediately and purchased a couple of skeins of yarn for a future project.

The harbor itself, bustling with activity on any given summer day, was quietly resting. Sailing ships are moored and covered against any harsh winter storms. I liked the Christmas wreath someone had thoughtfully placed on this vessel.

 

                                                                                                                                                                Ken and I spent our wedding night in Camden many years ago (38, actually).  I remember our sitting on this embankment, looking out over the harbor, as we read our wedding announcement in the next morning's Sunday paper. It was mid-August then, though, so we didn't have to sit in the snow!

We decided to skip the Winterfest idea after Ken mentioned the Cabot Mill antique mall in Brunswick. So we headed south again, first checking out the Camden Snow Bowl and watching the downhill skiers and snowboarders for awhile.

One final stop before Brunswick: purchasing five pounds of fresh Maine shrimp from a local shrimp fisherman. We saw several of these "shrimp trucks" on our way up to Camden and promised ourselves we'd buy some shrimp on the way home. Fresh shrimp at 80 cents to one dollar a pound can't be beat.

 

It was a good day to be out in the fresh Maine air and seeing some sights. Although we didn't actually see the Winterfest, we had a great adventure.