Memorial Day

Memorial Day for me is not just remembering and giving thanks for those citizens and friends of the USA who have given the ultimate sacrifice for me, but remembering and giving thanks for all my friends and family who have sacrificed and loved me during my journey here on this plain!

I am feeling sentimental today and missing people that I don't get to see anymore on a regular basis. Thank GOD for the internet, facebook, blogs, email, Ravelry, and the phone. I don't think I would have been able to move to Mexico without being able to stay in touch with my extended family.

I recently have reconnected with friends from Dallas through facebook. What a gift! I spent many, many hours, days, weeks, months, and years with these people. They had quite a positive impact on my life in forming how I think about myself, life, the world, spirit!

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING!
I love you this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!much!

Please know that you are often in my thoughts even though I'm over 1000 miles away. Hope everyone reading has a wonderful, grateful, reflective Memorial Day weekend!

Orenburg progress report

These balls of yarn are the three colors I'm using in the project. This is the first section of the right edge then you pick up stitches along the straight edge being created and use the copper color. The main triangle will be the sable color in the middle -- perrty huh?!

detail of the tooth edge

I've gotton some knitting done on the Orenburg lace and wanted to share some pictures of my progress. Once I wrote out the repeat lines from the chart I started enjoying the knitting more and making progress. However, it's getting a bit redundant.

Russian knitters primarily use k2tog or k3tog for decrease no matter which side you're on. I like that!

Anyway, I don't have a good book to read this weekend so most of my time will be knitting -- hopefully I can make good progress.

Orenburg Lace

I have started a shawl that I bought at a knitting conference in Sugarland, TX several years ago. It's a russian lace shawl that was featured in Piecework, Sept/Oct 2002, pg 51; "Triangular Warm Shawl" designed by Galina Khmeleva. It is all charted. I use to be able to do charts, even liked working from them--no sweat! My eyes are older now and my glasses aren't that great so words are better.

Roy scanned and enlarged the first chart for me, but it was taking me forever, knit one row, rip rip rip, knit it again, rip rip rip. So today I took the time to write out each row of the repeat section and away I went. Much more fun now and quicker. Actually making some progress.

By the way, I LOVE RAVELRY ! I found someone there who has made this same shawl and she (Karen from Bethesda, MD) has already helped me with my first "problem" in reading the chart. Knitters are the friendliest people.

Small world, Karen's husband used to live in San Miguel de Allende a while ago! I'll get a picture soon so you can see the progress I'm making.

Feather & Fan

too close and I can't get it in focus!

I have knitted many feather & fan shawls, baby blankets and samplers, but when I received this pattern (as a surprise) in the mail from my buddy Virginia Martinez I was looking for something to knit. This fit the bill.

I had previously gotten two different colorways of the new Noro Silk Garden sock yarn and so was ready to go. If I had gotten the pattern and then gone out to find yarn for the project I would not have used these two colorways -- one was for socks for Roy and the other was going to be a pair of bright socks for me. When I was working on the shawl, I wasn't sure I liked how it was turning out, but Roy kept telling me it was pretty.

One of the things I learned early on is that when you're the knitter you are sometimes too close to the project to see it the way others will. This is one of those projects. I think it turned out really well because of the light/dark effect of the two yarns -- two rows with one ball and two rows with the other.

I wish I cold take better pictures of my knitting, cause I think it's much prettier in person than in these pictures. Anyway...