One sleeve done, and some blooms
Dear Blog-
Good morning on this cold, frosty December morning. I am in the habit of turning the heat way down before going to bed, because I like to sleep in a cold room in a bed with flannel sheets and a big fluffy down comforter, but the flip side to that is that when you get up in the morning, the house is danged cold and it takes it a while to warm up. Especially in this room and in the LR with the high ceiling, lots of windows, and only a little air exchange vent at the far end of the room. However, I dragged the little space heater down and plugged in here next to me, and it has really warmed the room up nicely.
Some things in this house that really do love the cold nights are my Thanksgiving cactus. I have them in the front window where they get northern light and can experience the cold. It is this combination that is so perfect in getting them to bud. They are just starting to get into full swing, so I took some pictures for you. I love this orange, it is a new one, and just covered with buds. Our friend Joe the cactus guy at the farmer's market tracked it down for me, and brought it to the market last Sunday.
This fuschia pink blooms like crazy once it gets going. These will continuously bloom all through the winter. You can see a little bit of the red one in the background.
This is a very pale pink that is so lovely when it is in bloom.
And a photo from outside the window (NOT taken this morning, thank you very much!) that shows the blooms a bit better. You can see the reflection of my car peeking around the corner of the bush.
But as exciting as all that is, the great thing is that I finished my CYO sleeve last night! This took me 4 days to do, and could really be counted as three days since I didn't do much work on it on Monday. I am planning to start the second sleeve today, as soon as I get home from all the things I have to do. I wanted so much to block this this morning, but on the other hand, I would really prefer to block both sleeves at the same time. So I stuck one hand in to roll back the top edge a little so that you can see the final bit at the very top.
Yes, sitting on the couch last nite I did slip it on my arm and show off my new sleeve to my husband, who already thinks I'm nuts, but loves me anyway. I am really astounded at how easy this is to do, and how quickly it goes. Of course, part of the reason for the speed is that I have been so interested in what each new section would look like that I can't seem to put it down. It doesn't look it in the photo, but it is 19" long, and I know it will block out a bit longer than that, anyway. I have longish arms and I hate sleeves that are too short.
I do have a couple areas where I differ with their design choices. If you look at their website, all the models seems to be swimming in their sweaters, the darn things are so huge. As I said I cut the 52 st. cast on for the cuff down to 40 sts and still could have reduced it a pinch more. Looking through their book tells me that they intend their sweaters to have 10 - 16 inches of ease! Whew! You could hide a whole nother person inside there! So I will be cutting down on the amount of ease a good bit.
So I asked DH if he would like a sweater or a vest done like this, and he decided that yeah, maybe he did. Last night I had him look through the PW book and pick out a colorway, next I'll have him choose a pattern, and then perhaps in February I'll order the kit. He asked me if I could make it with zip-on sleeves, and I replied with a flat No! The problem is that he does get too warm, and if he can convert it to a vest when he needs to, it will be more practical for him. But can you imagine trying to put separating zippers into that puppy and having ANYTHING line up! Let alone the nightmare of sewing them in? But on further consideration I allowed that I would be willing to make button-in sleeves.
I really have to work on the danged cat sweater, but DH has the clipboard with all the measurements in his car, so I will have to wait on that til he gets home anyway. Hmmm... perhaps I should pay some attention to the SS one of these days, too.
Ok, blog, off to get some things done, talk to you later!
Good morning on this cold, frosty December morning. I am in the habit of turning the heat way down before going to bed, because I like to sleep in a cold room in a bed with flannel sheets and a big fluffy down comforter, but the flip side to that is that when you get up in the morning, the house is danged cold and it takes it a while to warm up. Especially in this room and in the LR with the high ceiling, lots of windows, and only a little air exchange vent at the far end of the room. However, I dragged the little space heater down and plugged in here next to me, and it has really warmed the room up nicely.
Some things in this house that really do love the cold nights are my Thanksgiving cactus. I have them in the front window where they get northern light and can experience the cold. It is this combination that is so perfect in getting them to bud. They are just starting to get into full swing, so I took some pictures for you. I love this orange, it is a new one, and just covered with buds. Our friend Joe the cactus guy at the farmer's market tracked it down for me, and brought it to the market last Sunday.
This fuschia pink blooms like crazy once it gets going. These will continuously bloom all through the winter. You can see a little bit of the red one in the background.
This is a very pale pink that is so lovely when it is in bloom.
And a photo from outside the window (NOT taken this morning, thank you very much!) that shows the blooms a bit better. You can see the reflection of my car peeking around the corner of the bush.
But as exciting as all that is, the great thing is that I finished my CYO sleeve last night! This took me 4 days to do, and could really be counted as three days since I didn't do much work on it on Monday. I am planning to start the second sleeve today, as soon as I get home from all the things I have to do. I wanted so much to block this this morning, but on the other hand, I would really prefer to block both sleeves at the same time. So I stuck one hand in to roll back the top edge a little so that you can see the final bit at the very top.
Yes, sitting on the couch last nite I did slip it on my arm and show off my new sleeve to my husband, who already thinks I'm nuts, but loves me anyway. I am really astounded at how easy this is to do, and how quickly it goes. Of course, part of the reason for the speed is that I have been so interested in what each new section would look like that I can't seem to put it down. It doesn't look it in the photo, but it is 19" long, and I know it will block out a bit longer than that, anyway. I have longish arms and I hate sleeves that are too short. I do have a couple areas where I differ with their design choices. If you look at their website, all the models seems to be swimming in their sweaters, the darn things are so huge. As I said I cut the 52 st. cast on for the cuff down to 40 sts and still could have reduced it a pinch more. Looking through their book tells me that they intend their sweaters to have 10 - 16 inches of ease! Whew! You could hide a whole nother person inside there! So I will be cutting down on the amount of ease a good bit.
So I asked DH if he would like a sweater or a vest done like this, and he decided that yeah, maybe he did. Last night I had him look through the PW book and pick out a colorway, next I'll have him choose a pattern, and then perhaps in February I'll order the kit. He asked me if I could make it with zip-on sleeves, and I replied with a flat No! The problem is that he does get too warm, and if he can convert it to a vest when he needs to, it will be more practical for him. But can you imagine trying to put separating zippers into that puppy and having ANYTHING line up! Let alone the nightmare of sewing them in? But on further consideration I allowed that I would be willing to make button-in sleeves.
I really have to work on the danged cat sweater, but DH has the clipboard with all the measurements in his car, so I will have to wait on that til he gets home anyway. Hmmm... perhaps I should pay some attention to the SS one of these days, too.
Ok, blog, off to get some things done, talk to you later!
posted by Lynda Michaluk Sorenson at 7:50 AM
2 Comments:
the plants that you call "Thanksgiving Cactus" have always been called Christmas Cactus.
Wow -- amazing colorwork on your sweater! Green and purple are my favorite colors. Nice work -- I'm impressed :)
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