I want this.

Stephanie Pearl McPhee has one.  And all week long she has been rubbing it in my face.  I can hear her now.  "Oh, look at this book full of psycho-complicated lace made with painfully thin yarn!  Just the kind Aidan would love if he had this book!  But he doesn't!  Ha!"

OK.  Maybe she hasn't been saying EXACTLY that.  But it is something really close.  Don't you think?

So.  What else is new? 

I made a batch of chocolate and goat cheese truffles, flavored with just a splash of Irish Whiskey.  That was yum.  Oh, did I mention I made the goat cheese?  I'm not back with the goat until a weekend after next, but I expect to make a double batch of cheese -- this time I think I'll make some crottin and some Sainte Maure -- both are aged, mold-ripened cheeses which become sharper in flavor and more complex with age and culture.

I've only knit two rows of my shawl.  It just really hurts my wrist, even with the splint.  I miss knitting.  Oh, and kneading bread. 

I'm Loopy!

OK.  I'm not one to gush about Local Yarn Shops.  I've had some bad experiences.  Especially with LYS owners.   I've always liked Loopy Yarns because their people were friendly, helpful, and they listen to what I want...and then get it!  (Really!  I said I preferred solid sock yarn, 4 weeks later there were 6 colors of solids.  I like the Cascade Alpaca Lace, but I've bought all I like of the colors they have...yup!  4 weeks later there are 12 new colors!  And they have all my favorite needles!)  But I have a new reason to like them.  And I thought I'd mention it.

I've been working a bunch of hours, and I was getting off work after an 11.5 hour day.  The point protector for the circulars I'm using for the Eiffel Tower shawl keep coming off, and I had noticed that they had come off and I had dropped a few stitches.  (Luckily, only a few and I was able to correct it in no time flat.)

I rang up Loopy to see if it happened to be the night they stay open late.  Vicki, the owner, answered the phone and said that they had closed an hour earlier, but if I hurried, she would wait for me to get there!  And she did!  She stayed late, for me.  And my whopping sixty-six cent sale.  Can you believe that?

You know, I could use a few balls of Alpaca Lace....


OTHER STUFF!

I just took a huge spanikopita out of the oven -- we are having our chavurah (group of friends) of people mostly from our old synagogue over for an informal Kabbalat (Welcoming) Shabbat service followed by a potluck.  We will have about 25 people -- lots of singing, laughing, eating, etc.

Anyway, I've made this spanikopita a lot, but this time is a little different.  Why?  Because I made the feta cheese myself.  From goat's milk.  From a goat I know.  And love.  And milked.

I've been making my own chevre and other soft cheeses, but this was the first "hard" cheese I have made.  Flavor-wise it is a great success, but I was disappointed in the texture.  When it went into the brine it was firm, but after 21 days it was really, really soft.  Almost marshmallow fluff.  So I rinsed it off and the most fluffy part rinsed off and what remained was perfect for the spanikopita.  Good and salty and goaty!  I can't wait!

It's Not the Same as a Trip to Paris

...but it will have to do for now.  Last Thursday I cast on the Eiffel Tower Shawl, which was inspired by the iron work detail in the tower.  I'm half-way through the second chart, and enjoying it.  It is, for the most part, an easy, mindless knit -- which is exactly what I need right now!  The end border will be more involved, which I am sure I will enjoy as well.

Norbert is home from camp.  He grew two inches while at camp and is now 2 inches taller than I.  And he is only 13!  His return is much appreciated -- I didn't realize how much I rely on him for the tie breaking vote on things like going out for Vietnamese or buying ice cream for dessert!  All joking aside, he is a good boy and I am so glad to have him back.

Next week is vacation.  The three of us are going to Shell Cottage.  We'll spend one day in Shipshewana, Indiana, but other than that we plan to stick around and go to the beach, go kayaking, and lay around and read a lot.

While on the subject of books, let me recommend a couple I have really enjoyed:  "The Good Good Pig" by Sy Montgomery is at the top of this year's list.  I enjoyed it immensely and it really touched me deeply.  I'm also re-reading "Miss Mary Bobo's Boardinghouse Cookbook.".  I love the unfussiness of the comfort food.

Gotta run.  Have fun.  Be good.  Stay well.

I've Been Really, Really Busy

But that is really no excuse.

I've been doing the job of two people. Well, except for the 7 weeks when I had help. But he got a better offer and his last day was Good Friday. So I'm back to the job of two people.

When not at work, I've been enjoying Shell Cottage every possible moment. We try to go three weekends out of the month. I've done quite a bit of gardening and can't wait for high season so I can see everything going wild and blooming! I've discovered an absolutely huge..um...vine doesn't seem immense enough, but that's what we'll call it for now -- vine of wisteria growing through/over/in a spray of pine trees in the back yard.! My neighbor, DeeDee, says it is gorgeous in bloom.

One of the trees in the side yard is blooming! I don't know what kind of a tree it is, but it is beautiful!

The other tree in the side yard is the bottle tree. We are up to 12 bottles. Norbert gave me an early Fathers' Day present -- three unusual bottles, including red and yellow, which are unusual colors. You can just see the red bottle near the top of the pic above. DeeDee says the tree will bloom soon, as well, and that the blooms are white. If you have any weird bottles -- unusual colors, shapes, etc. -- send them to me! Nothing makes me quite as happy as adding another bottle to the tree.

We also have a shrub, above, blooming in the back yard. Again, I don't know what it is, but it is pretty.

As for the front yard, all of the raggedy bushes have been pulled, the roots dug up, and 6 hedge roses planted in their place. It looks like six twigs have been stuck in the ground, but give it two or three years and they will be spectacular with blooms of pinkish red. (And in the fall, brilliant orange hips!) This past weekend Myfanwe and I put down landscape fabric around the roses and then a good, thick layer of mulch.

Knitting

I'm a little bitter about knitting, but trying to get past it.

I will not have the Cathedral Window Shawl finished in time for the State Fair. Early in the year I had scheduled to take a class at an LYS on knit-on lace edging, since it seems fairly difficult to learn from written instructions. But then, four days before the class, the LYS called, mortified, to say that the teacher's "scheduler" had inadvertently scheduled two events in two different states for the same day. The class was rescheduled, but -- such is my luck -- for a date I couldn't be there. So I'm going to have to put it on the back burner for a bit until I can find a teacher who can teach me.

I hated the Rose Leaf curtains (more than I can say) and ripped back almost to the beginning and decided to design my own using stitch patterns from books. It's only through one repeat and I already know I like it more.

More later. Please don't forget me!

5.5!

We spent the weekend at Shell Cottage, where I was able -- for the first time in weeks -- to have genuine, guilt-free knitting time! And the result?

5.5 rows in 36 hours! That's 6347 stitches! And -- given work demands and the rigors of planning for the bar mitzvah -- I had been averaging half a row a day!

I have 8 rows left before the edging. And I can't begin the (1154 rows) edging until after I learn how to do it. And I won't learn how to do it until April 10th, when I am taking a class on Knitted Lace Edging from Franklin Habit at Loopy Yarns.


So when the body of the shawl is done, I am going to break my "One Project At A Time" rule and cast on a curtain for the front door of Shell Cottage. I have decided to knit Marianne Kinzel's Rose Leaf Curtain (above) in a butter-yellow cotton yarn that will take to starching. Mine will be probably a foot longer than that pictured, but I am going to stick with three repeats of the motif at the bottom. I don't want anything too fussy.

Off the Needles ... err...Boards

I finished this ages and ages ago as a gift for Norbert's bar mitzvah tutor. But -- in classic ME fashion -- waited until the last minute to block it and give it to her.





The Candle Flame shawl knit using Cascade's Alpaca Lace in Flax Heather. The recipient loved it and wore it the night we gave it to an opening at her husband's theater. Many compliments were received. I was pleased.

MORE NEWS!

OK. So we lost The Store in Watervliet.

Never let it be said that when the going got tough, I just crawled in bed, pulled the covers over my head and said, "It's too hard!"

This is our new home in Three Oaks, Michigan.

We saw it on Saturday. We mulled it over on Sunday. We made an offer yesterday. And it was accepted today. (And an hour after our contract was accepted another offer came in. Thank Bob we got ours in when we did!) We close on December 29th. (Record speed. My head is spinning a little.)

I already have plans in my head to dig up the raggedy shrubs in front and replace them with climbing roses. I will enjoy being able to cutmy own flowers to bring inside. And I love the soft, oppulent look of mounds of rose bush.



Three Oaks is a lovely community ninety minutes drive from Chicago. It is 5 miles from Lake Michigan, so the prices are not as steep as on the lake shore, but it is very popular with young, creative, artistic people. It is a town with a population of 1,700 which is able to support a professional theater, an art cinema, a silent film festival, and six art galleries. On Saturday evenings everyone packs a beverage and snacks, grabs their lawn chairs and walks to the park to hear music at the band shell.


Myfanwe really loves the style. It's growing on me. Although I expect I will end up having to learn how to paint furniture so that it fits with the shabby chic cottage decor.

Some day in the not so distant future I will take out all of the upper cabinets, patch the wall, and put up open shelving. The upper cabinets are -- I kid you not -- only 8.5 inches from the counter top. My coffeemaker won't fit on the counter. Neither will a microwave. Or a vase. Or a glass of milk. And I'm thinking of taking an occupational therapy class at the Lighthouse For The Blind before I chop anything on the counter, cuz I won't be able to see what I am doing.


Doesn't this look lovely!


So once again, the inspection is Friday. It's a pretty full day. I will drive to Michigan for the inspection. Meet with the insurance agent. Stop by my real estate agent's. Drop by the mortgage broker. Drop a load of stuff for the house at a friend's place to store until the 29th. And make it home in time to make dinner for the first night of Chanukah! But (ptew, ptew, ptew) I won't have to drive to Michigan again on Saturday!

The plan is still to ring in the New Year in the new home, enjoying the quiet, peaceful nature Harbor Country. I need to make a note to myself -- somewhere betwqeen now and the 29th I need to get up north and buy a mezuzah!

All country homes need a name. What name do you suggest? I think Norbert and Myfanwe would like something Harry Potter-ish -- The Burrow, maybe? It's not hobbitty enough to be Bag End.

KNITTING

I have been making slow but steady progress on the Cathedral Window. I am on row 22 of the last 49 rows before the edging. Pictures soon -- but I'll warn you right now, it looks exactly like a placenta right now. But when it is blocked, I think it will be beautiful.

I think a shabby chic cottage in Three Oaks is just SCREAMING for some hand knit doilies, don't you?

MO PROGRESS

Although I finished this in August on the flight home from Dublin, I didn't block it until today.

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague. Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Glazed Carrot. Less than one skein. (I still have 1.25 skeins left. Any ideas what I should do with them?)


This is for Myfanwe. She's allergic to lace, but I think, since it is in her favorite color, she might be able to wear this one.

As usual, I can only see its flaws. I am an average knitter, but I am a below-average finisher. If they had taught blocking at my high school, I would have finished in the lower third of my class.

PROGRESS

OK. I know this must be getting tedious. Once a week I check in with a few words about the Cathedral Window Shawl with no pictures. Well, this is no different.

I managed to get all of the stitches picked back up and have now made it to row 12 of the 24 row repeat. Then I'll knit an eyelet row and do another 24 row repeat. And then I think I will be able to start the 1154 or so rows of edging. And then I will be done.

So, if I stick to the current schedule -- which I rarely, if ever, do -- I will need another 3 weeks before I start the edging.

Edging which, now that I look at it, I have absolutely no idea how to knit. So I should probably figure that out.

IN OTHER PARTS OF MY LIFE


Myfanwe and I have been looking in Southwest Michigan for a second home -- a weekend retreat in a greener setting...someplace quiet, with a fireplace. We found the perfect -- the PERFECT house. A 1960's rach backing up onto woods, 200 yards from Lake Michigan, on an acre of land.

We made and offer. Then an improved offer. And we lost it. And it has nearly broken my heart. We are still looking, but I feel like a mourner at each showing.

SNIT! FUDGE! SPAM! PASS!

I have been working quite diligently on the Cathedral Window Shawl. Earlier this week I executed the next increase to 1152 stitches per row, inserted a lifeline, and began plugging along, knitting happily on the next 49 row repeat.

I was on Row 4

WAS.

As I was knitting this morning, about 30 stitches slid off the left hand needle. And promptly -- given the taste of freedom -- practically danced out of the constraints of the stitches beneath them.

I had to take the shawl off the needles and rip it back to the lifeline. I now have to pick up all 1152 stitches from the lifeline.

SNIT! FUDGE! SPAM! PASS!

P.S. I'm hoping to have some really exciting news very soon. Cross your fingers! Say a prayer!

I CRIED, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY

I grafted the hem on the Lace Dream shawl on Saturday evening, and I blocked it this evening. It is prettier than I imagined -- even with my wanting skills and poor blocking.



I knit this shawl for my dear friend, the Principessa Maxine de Rumball-St. George. Maxine spent the greater part of this year very ill, and I was very worried about her and felt very impotent, being far away from her. I knit this shawl as a vehicle for focusing prayers for her health and well being. I wanted something really spectacular for her. As I neared the end of the shawl I received word that the Principessa's health was, finally, making improvements and that she had passed the first, most important milestone on her way to a full recovery.


I don't know if it was seeing the pattern finally revealed and realizing that it was even more than I imagined, or if it was a sense of relief and gratitude for the Principessa Maxine's recovery; whatever the reason, I was moved to tears.

I couldn't wait to show it to you. It may well be the most beautiful thing I've ever made. I still can't believe I could make something so beautiful. Tomorrow morning it will be off the wires and I will take more pictures. I will probably be working a great number of hours between now and Friday -- when we leave for the de Rumball-St. George's -- so I may not get to post more until after the weekend.

WHAT DID SHE CALL ME?

As my regular readers will attest, I am incredibly fond of buying things. I reserve a greater fondness still for buying books. One of the few things I like more than buying books is knitting lace. And one of the things I like doing most of all is buying books on knitting lace. This, however, is a rare sort of treat, as good books on lace are few and far between. I have only a couple books devoted solely to lace. (I am still looking for an affordable copy of Gladys Amedro's Shetland Lace. Myfanwe refuses to let me spend that kind of money on a used knitting book. But please don't judge her. She's a muggle. She just doesn't understand. )

I recently -- ok, today on my lunch hour -- purchased a copy of Marrianne Kinzel's 1953 book, First Book of Modern Knitting, which has a few interesting patterns. I've already read all of the substantive text and the line by line of a couple of the patterns.

What did I think? Well, it's mostly stuff I would never make -- doilies and tea cloths, each knit out of crochet cotton, starched, then blocked withing an inch of its life. But her technique is good, and her method of blocking is interesting. And I'm thinking that the same pattern for a 64" square tablecloth, knit in a drapey alpaca or silk blend, would be a wicked shawl! And who knows. I might find it in me to knit a doily or two some day. They look to be quick and would make lovely gifts for the 80 year old women on my gift list. (Wait. I'm the only 80 year old woman on my gift list. Hmm.)

The book is a little anachronistic. It was written for housewives. Housewives in the 1950's. Kinzel's stated aim was "...to inspire the needlewoman of to-day [sic] to take up, in a new fashion, the old and fascinating art of lace knitting which enjoyed a tremendous popularity in the 18th & 19th century." (I'm not imagining it, am I? She did just call me a needlewoman, didn't she?)

The dedication of the book reads thusly: "A Dedication to ENGLAND, refuge through centuries of the persecuted, the proscribed, the people without a country, where my husband and I sought haven in exile and found most happily a welcome, a country, and a home."

I don't know where she was from originally, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't Ireland.

It's Like, Cosmic, Man.

My niece pointed me towards this, and while I wasn't quite sure I would find this sort of thing interesting, my niece is pretty cool, so I gave it a shot.

This is a video remixing parts of Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series, setting it to music using autotune on their voices. It is actually really awesome! (I'm not sure what Autotune is, but just go with me.) Check it out!



KNITTING:

Everything but the grafting of the hem done on the Lace Dream shawl. I plan to undertake the grafting next Saturday or Sunday.

I cast on the Cathedral Window shawl. I'm not entirely sure I've got the right needle size. I figure I will wait until the first full pattern repeat is completed, then I'll look at it and see that I think. So far I've done the central few rows, plus half a repeat of the main motif -- at which point it starts over with the motif on row 1 through 24. I'm on 6 now, so tomorrow I should know if I'm going forward or if I'm ripping back and starting over on size 2's.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE!

...to knit a shawl!

SO, my friend, Cheri, needs some knitting help. Knitting MATH help. And, really, when maths rears it's ugly head, I become that simpering Barbie Doll from the 1980's, whispering in my breathiest baby doll voice, "Math is hard!"

Could you please read the comments to this post and see if you can come up with the answer? I tried, but the answer I came up with -- Eskimo Pie -- didn't sound right to me.

The winner gets a gold star!

[note: edited to include the link. I am such a doofus sometimes!]

IRELAND. Part One of Many!

Let’s see. Where should I begin? I guess I should start at the beginning. A very good place to start...

Day 1 – which is really day 1 and 2, but we are just going to call it day 1 .The flight to Dublin was awful. None of us slept for more than 5 minutes. I sat next to an obviously troubled older woman with a jerky husband. He complained loudly that the light above him wouldn’t turn off. He kept complaining, even after they offered to move them to two seats elsewhere in the plane. But no, they stayed where they were. Mrs. JerkyMan divided her time between a) commenting on my knitting and saying – at least 100 times – that she only knit wash clothes and only knit them out of “crochet cotton”, as well as giving me a price history for the price of crochet cotton at Wallmart stores in Virginia over the last 10 years; b) leaning over he tray table and whimpering and/or sobbing; and c) twitching in her sleep – especially when her feet were touching mine. (She twitched so actively, if we’d wrapped her in copper we could have generated electricity.)

Our first day in Dublin was exciting, but exhausting. Our hotel – the Ballsbridge Towers, one of the D4 hotels -- was lovely, and our accommodations were definitely first class. Both Myfanwe and I have live in (several) apartments that were smaller! Our suite had a living room and a dining room! (That sat 8, no less!) And a kitchenette. And 3 – count ‘em – THREE flat-screen televisions! We even had a television in the master bath! We LOVED the bathrooms. Norbert had his own, and ours had a great shower and a spectacular soaking tub (with said television). I didn't think we'd use the tub at first, but you'd be surprised how many times we used it. (Our feet hurt a LOT over the week!) The pics don’t really do the hotel room justice, as we always seemed to explode crap all over the room the minute we walked in, but it we certainly couldn’t have asked for more or better or more comfortable. (Myfanwe loved the duvet so much, I think she will miss it most of all!)

Sunday night we were supposed to meet my friend Sinead and her partner, Malachy, for a pint a bite, but along about 4:00 I called and asked if we could reschedule for the next night. I only did this when Myfanwe and I had both fallen asleep at the National Museum of Decorative Arts. (An excellent museum, BTW. Norbert loved the arms and armor exhibit.) We both fell asleep so soundly that, when we woke up, neither of us had a good idea of how long we’d been asleep. Sinead was kind enough to reschedule, and we went home to the hotel where we had every intention of ordering a pizza from D4Pizza in the hotel. Instead, we all passed out. Norbert with his clothes on. End of Day 1.

Knitting. Let's see. This isn't limited to Day 1, but I'll cover my knitting stuff all at once. I took three projects, and I knit on all three. On the way there I mostly knit on the Koigu scarf I'm knitting for myself. Stockinette can be terribly boring, after a while. But I put about 2.5 feet behind me. I also got half a repeat or so knit on the Lace Dream shawl. And I -- drum roll please -- finished the Ishbel I was knitting for Myfanwe. (Only just barely. I finished casting off in the air somewhere east of Wawa, Ontario on the flight home.) I went to a lovely shop, This is Knit, while in Dublin. -- see the pic, above . I didn't purchase anything, but I had a lovely time looking and talking to the staff.

Places I knit: Dublin Castle, Malaheide Castle, Kilmainom Gaol, on the train, on the bus, at the Guiness Storehouse, a couple of museums, a cemetary, Trinity College, seaside at Dun Laoghaire and at Sandycove.

KNITTING BY THE INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGED

I have been fretting over the Lace Dream Shawl for weeks. I have never been able to get past the 17th row -- which I have ripped back and re-knit at least 10 times. Each time taking pains to knit exactly as my lace book told me to. Several times referring back to the original patter (instead of my lace book) to make sure the instructions I had typed and printed in large type were accurate. I did this repeatedly. WEEKS. And if I wasn't re-working the row, I was feeling bad about my inadequacy and inability to complete a simple row of knitting.

Well, it turns out that I HAD typed the pattern wrong. And each time I went back to the original pattern, I continued to read it wrong. WEEKS!

Well this morning I have finally made progress. It hasn't made me happy yet -- I'm still slathered in my own stupidity. But eventually I will make enough progress to force the frustration from my mind.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pics that make me happy. This is our beloved cat, Liffey. Liffey adores me. The feeling is mutual. Liffey obviously doesn't hold on to stress like I do.


Oh. Speaking of stress. Have I mentioned that I have put away the Ishbel shawl for a couple of days because the first row of Chart C doesn't come out right for me?

Calgon, take me away.

On & Off

I finished the Candle Flame Shawl last night after Shabbat Dinner. (Don't write and tell me that it isn't shabbasdik to knit on the Sabbath. Knitting is not work. It is relaxing and recharging and revitalizing and I don't care.)

I knit a few rows (20) on the Lace Dream Shawl, but made a mistake and didn't feel much like tinking back a couple of rows while watching a Harry Potter film with the family, so I cast on an Ishbel in Malabrigo Lace -- color, Glazed Carrot. Tomorrow morning I will tink back the Lace Dream and knit a few more rows. I don't know why a modified Feather & Fan pattern would give me so much trouble.

I would like to take one of these on the plane with me to Ireland. And I plan to cast on a simple scarf for me -- double stranded lace yarn. That should be good for mobile knitting.

I had a bad week at work. I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

I Feel Stupid.

I began Eugene Beugler's Lace Dream Shawl on Sunday, and last night I had progressed to the end of the first 18 rows which are folded and knit together to create a doubled, finished hem. Although it was actually harder to pick up the live stitches from my provisional cast on, it was mainly due to the properties of the waste yarn I used, which didn't want to let go. The pattern is a modified feather and fan which creates an image of peacock plumes.

This morning during my 5:30 a.m. knitting time I began work on the shawl proper. And at the end of the first row, something was wrong. I didn't have enough stitches. I went back and counted, and, while I didn't have enough stitches to finish the pattern repeat, I had several more stitches than when I started the row, and it's a rectangular shawl, so I wasn't increasing for shape.

I ripped back.

I shook the cobwebs out of my head and started the row anew. I paid extra attention, or so I thought, to the pattern. And I still had more than my expected 115 stitches. And yet I still don't have enough to finish the pattern repeat.

What am I doing wrong? Why has Bob foresaken me?

Excuse me, but I have a row of lace to rip back.

OFF & ON

... THE NEEDLES, THAT IS

I finished this piece a few weeks ago, but it has languished, awaiting blocking. I've no great love for blocking, and it is something I feel I do poorly. I don't seem to have the intuitive skills necessary to do an exemplary job. And when I say I find it more difficult than knitting a lace scarf to begin with, they look at me like I have three heads, and one of them is up my arse.


Anyway, don't get all vershtimmeled. I fixed the bottom edging before it dried. The yarn is Alpaca Lace by Cascade in the Turtle colorway. I used approximately 520 yards, or 1.25 skeins. The pattern is one of those from The Knitted Lace of Estonia, but I'm too lazy to get out of bed and walk into the library and get the book off the shelf. (Aren't you proud of me, though? I got the entire stack of books from my bedside re-shelved! Myfanwe is quite pleased, anyway. After a while the pile falls over and makes it hard to walk.)

You can't really see the mossy green in the photos -- I'm going to have to learn this camera better before we go to Ireland. I don't think I've taken a decent picture with it. I'm sure I just don't know it well enough, but my old camera, which broke, must have been idiot proof, because I couldn't take a bad picture with it.


Now for ON the needles. This shows about half of my progress on the Candle Flame Shawl. The pattern is free from knitpicks.com. The yarn, Alpaca Lace by Cascade again, is in the Flax Heather colorway.

This shawl does not have to be completed until January, so I am going to give myself a special dispensation from my One Project At A Time rule. I have some beautiful Alpaca Lace in Amethyst Heather that I want to cast on. You will see the Alpaca Lace a lot in the coming months. It is a joy to work with. It doesn't split, it is smooth between the fingers, it is easy to grip, it is fairly forgiving, and I love working with it. You will also see a lot of it because I have purchased a lot of it. I also plan to start an Ishbel in Glazed Carrot Malabrigo Lace for Myfanwe.

When I break a rule, I really break it big!

CAN YOU CHECK YOUR MAGAZINE RACK?

Or check in the stack by the commode? I am looking for the Yarn Magazine Issue 6, April 2007. I went to the magazine's website, and although they have most back issues available for sale, guess which one they DON'T have!

Why, you may ask, do I want this issue so badly? Here. A picture is worth a thousand words.


This is the Cathedral Windows Shawl. And I want to knit it. I have a cousin who is a Sinsinawa Dominican, and I would like to knit it for her or -- because she is not the greedy type and might well give it to one of her Sisters -- for a member of her community. I knit a shawl for Cousin Margie a couple of years ago, and when she was here for dinner a couple of weeks ago she mentioned how much she loves it. I think the Sisters will like this one, too.

So if you happen to have Yarn Magazine, Issue 6, April 2007 in your collection and would contemplate parting with it, I would be more than happy to purchase it from you. You would be doing a mitzvah!

(p.s. I borrowed the image from a Ravelry project. Do you think it would be wrong or bad or rude to e-mail the people who have knit the project to see if they would be willing to sell their copy? I feel a little uncomfortable. I'm kinda shy.)