Snapdragon Tam

Specs:

Pattern: Snapdragon Tam by Ysolda
Yarn: Madelinetosh tosh DK Candlewick
Needles: 4 US & 6 US
Knitted: September 11, 2011 - September 18, 2011

Perfect! This is the only way to describe this pattern. The only change I made was to knit the band on size a size 4 instead of a size 6. The hat is gorgeous and the Madelinetosh was a dream to work with. I will use this yarn again.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Slowly but surely progress is being made. I'm trying and mostly succeeding at not knitting for long stretches of time. I've spent all of my knitting time working on my mom's Christmas present Mermaid by Hanne Falkenberg.

I have professed my hatred for garter stitch, but each time I knit a Falkenberg design it vanishes. This particular pattern has so much variation that it never gets boring. I tried it against mom and it looks great. I'm hoping that it doesn't grow during blocking like my Skyline did.

We did our yearly demo at the fair last Wednesday. I checked my entries and I received blue ribbons for my Snapdragon hat, Ziprelaxagon socks and Greenleaves fingerless gloves. My Adamas shawl received a second place. When I got to the socks mother and I burst out laughing so loud that everyone was looking at us. We were laughing because even though I didn't win the sweepstakes this year I won the second highest award which is given by my guild, the Palmetto Purlers. It consists of a ribbon, a membership in the guild and a $30.00 cash award. I paid my dues last month so I guess I'll get a refund at this months meeting.

The hat is Ysolda's Snapdragon tam from Whimsical Little Knits Book 2.


I love everything about this hat. The design is incredible and this picture doesn't do it just. I used the yarn the pattern called for, a rarity for me, and the Madelinetosh is too die for. It is so soft and the color is gorgeous. This was one of my yarn splurges for the year and I'm certain there will be more of this in my future.

This weekend I'm headed to the mountains for SAFF and beading. We're planning to hit SAFF on Friday and the beading store on Saturday. Mom is joining us on this trip. The leaves are starting to show their colors so it should be beautiful up there. I'm going to try very hard not to add to the stash, but I'm not going to prevent mom from doing so!

Back in the Saddle Again

It feels good to finally be able to knit for periods longer than 15 minutes. Between the nerve problems and the high blood sugars I haven't been able to knit much lately.

I still experience problems from the nerve compression and going 17 months without an injection didn't help the situation. I did pretty well for a while, but as the pain begain to increase I wouldn't heed the signs and schedule an appointment for one. The last 2-3 months have been a hell of intermittent and sometimes debilitating pain. I finally took my mom's advice and scheduled an appointment. I had the injection on Wednesday and I have already experienced a lot of relief. I will never wait this long again.

After years of good control, I have been experiencing high blood sugars fasting and throughout the day. I can always tell when my blood sugar is high because it adversely affects my eyesight. I've been told that this is a good thing because I will know when I don't have good control. I pay close attention this because the relatives on my dad's side including him tend to have diabetes-related blindness. I tried an injectable, Byetta, but was unable to get any control with it. I'm on a morning and evening dose of insulin and this is working. My vision has normalized and my highs have begun to come down.

I had grand ideas of putting a lot of entries in the fair but that didn't work out either. I did manage to enter 4 items which is better than entering nothing. I'm also serving as one of the co-presidents of the Palmetto Purlers knitting guild for the 2011-2012 year along with Boykin Exum. There's  much work to be done coming up with a schedule of programs and hopefully a big weekend knitting event. It has been quite a while since I was an officer, but I'm looking forward to serving this year and possibly the next.

I'm not committing my self to making many Christmas gifts but one that I have gotten started on is the Mermaid jacket by Hanne Falkenberg. It is a present for my mom and after a couple of false starts I'm finally on track.

This is my second Hanne Falkenberg design. I have another Mermaid and Pagoda kit to knit after this one. Her instructions can be a little cryptic so you really have to pay close attention. My earlier mistakes were from not reading the entire pattern and misunderstanding what I had read. I've set a personal goal of finishing this by the end of month in case I do decide to make a gift or two or three. Nothing is set in stone for me when it comes to knitting.

I hope to update this blog more often now that my health issues have settled down and I can enjoy the crafts that I love.