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I finally had the bad vertigo reaction late last week and have been feeling mostly better since. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday but needed naps both afternoons when I got home which makes it hard to sleep at night which is what I think led to some vertigo this morning and missing work. It drives me crazy, it’s like I start to feel better and I want to go back to the way things were right away but I’m realizing I may need to pace myself more and figure out something to keep me in a good sleep schedule. Blogging at midnight definitely is not going to be part of that schedule. But I finally feel a bit better and I’m awake so I thought I’d post.

I made pretty lace sachets stuffed with lovely-scented rose petals for my mom and grandmother for Mother’s Day. I even sewed up the little inside bags and made the cord myself. Plus the roses were from my stash of flowers I dried years ago. I love knitting lace and cotton is perfect for it!

Here is the finished blocked lace:

and a close up of the pattern:

and the inside fabric and cord:

and the finished sachets:

I was quite pleased with them and Mom and Mema loved them and especially loved that I made them.

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I’m still sick, had a second gentamicin injection on Monday (the 7th). Waiting for the nasty stuff to really kick in although this week hasn’t been much fun. I’m done with school which is kind of unbelievable and hasn’t quite sunk in yet. If I had attended my graduation, it would have been on Friday the 11th. So I’m officially a graduate, officially done with my Masters, officially a librarian. It is so nice to have that weight off my shoulders.

So what does a sick gal stuck at home do? Knit of course. And listen to lots of Harry Potter. I just finished listening to the 6th one and don’t know what I’m going to listen to next. I finished Julia’s Bag and it turned out great:

zipper and strap:

and a pocket on the inside:

And Julia liked it so that’s what matters. I’m realizing I should get myself a basic sewing machine. Just for sewing on zippers and such.

A few weeks ago I wanted to try out Log Cabin knitting as made popular in Mason-Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardiner and Ann Meador Shayne because I’m thinking about doing a baby blanket in that style this summer. So I grabbed some leftover yarn from another project and it turned out well enough. It’s just two colors so the Log Cabin isn’t as clear as it could be but I got a feel for how to work it evenly. And I ended up with a big rectangle. I let it sit on the table for a few days while I tried to decide what to do with this lovely, soft rectangle. And I decided to make it into a hand towel for our bathroom. So I got out my copy of The Knitter’s Bible by Claire Crompton and used the tiny bits of yarn I had left to make two little I-cords and sewed them on as handles. It’s not very tidy or well done but it served its purpose and its a decent hand towel!

I finished my Yellowstone Socks: and they are lovely and warm and fit perfectly. I had to knit the second one on needles one size smaller to get them to come out the same. Apparently I’m not great at making two things of the same size. But I’m in love with sock knitting. The yarn is Mountain Colors Hand Painted Yarns - Bearfoot inthe colorway “Yellowstone.”

Thanks to all who advised on the Camo Sweater sleeves, I decided to leave it as it was and the second one did in fact match. The sweater is nearly done, I just need to sew up the underarm seams, knit the collar, weave in ends and block it then I’ll post some pics.

I’ve been working on Mother’s Day gifts and a graduation gift for my sister so those are top priority right now as they would ideally both have been done by now. But I felt the need to update. I fiddled around with my blog layout a bit and I think I like it better, it’s a bit more streamlined.

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Well, for version 3 of the camo sweater I went down a needle size (from US8 (5mm) to US7 (4.5mm)) but cast on the same number of stitches (160), hoping that would get my gauge back down to 4 sts/inch and thus back on track to a 40″ bust sweater. After a few inches I spread it out and measured and guess what? Still huge. Gauge still 3 stitches to the inch. So I frogged it again and cast on version 4 with US7 (4.5mm) needles and 120 stitches. And apparently I finally settled into my gauge:

In case you can’t see the tape measure:

Perfect. I used two balls of yarn and alternated each row to prevent the wonky color pooling I’d gotten in past versions and I did a simple rolled edge. I’m quite pleased with it and thrilled to be done with that part.

So I happily cast on for a sleeve and decided to use one ball of yarn and hope the colors wouldn’t go wonky on me. At first they looked great. Then I started doing the increases. It started pooling a little. But I could be imagining it right? Maybe it’d stop. I kept going. It’s this kind of denial that takes four tries to get the body right. So here is a finished sleeve (including the big picture here in the post so you can clearly see what I’m talking about):

Yeah. The thing is , I think it looks kinda cool. But will the other sleeve turn out the same? Do I want it to? Will the whole sweater look wonky with sleeves like that? Am I in denial and does it not actually look cool? So, rip it out and alternate balls of yarn (which will be a royal pain with the double pointed needles and small rounds) or leave it? Come on knitters, I need your advice. I’m a sick gal with nothing else to do.

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More vertigo the last few days, hopefully this is the reaction to the Gentamicin and I’ll be feeling better soon. In the meantime about all I’ve been able to do is sleep and listen to audiobooks and knit. I finished the fourth Harry Potter last night and am waiting on the fifth to come in at the library.

The bag I’m making for my sister is nearly done. The pattern is Candy Stripers Messenger/Laptop Bag from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation by Heather Dixon and the yarn is Cascade Yarns: Cascade 220 Wool.

Pre-felting:

Post-felting:

My first felting experience went well! I sewed up the strap but haven’t been able to finish it up yet because I need to get a zipper for the top and I haven’t left the house in more than a week. I’ll post a picture of the finished bag when it’s done. More knitting stuff in another post soon…

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