End of month progress report

Since this is the last day of August, I thought I'd do a quick update on the scarf . . .


(Pattern)

. . . and the butterfly fairy . . .

. . . from last update . . .


. . . and what's been done through today.


Of course Mouse had to help while I was trying to photograph the scarf. She is turning into such a little camera hog.

My granddaughter's scarf

I've decided on who gets the next scarf - my granddaughter. Yes, I know I'm stitching the butterfly fairy for her, but everyone else in the household is getting a scarf so I decided she needed one as well.

I was having a sleepless night last night - note the timestamp on the pattern entry - so I decided to start the scarf in the hopes it would put me to sleep. It didn't, but I did get a nice bit knit after I decided what pattern I would use. Here's the first set of progress photos:





I had one skein of Bernat Softee Baby left over from my stepdaughter's scarf, so I'm using it for this one. I cast on 57 stitches which equals 9 iterations of the pattern plus one ending stitch and two Randmaschen.


(Pattern)

Pattern for granddaughter's scarf

If I give an instruction that is incomprehensible, post a comment and I'll try to clear things up. I'm going to put up the instructions for the pattern and not the scarf.

k# - knit specified number of stitches
p# - purl specified number of stitches
sl2tog - slip two stitches as if to knit
p2sso - pass the two slipped stitches over
yo - yarn over
R - Randmacshe (first / last stitch)

NOTE: The pattern is worked over 6 + 1 + 2 stitches. This means the pattern covers 6 stitches plus one stitch to end the pattern on the row as well as one beginning stitch and one ending stitch. In German, the first and last stitches are called Randmaschen and that is how I always think of them. The Randmaschen are never part of the pattern.

Row 1: R, * k1, p1, k3, p1 *, k1, R

Row 2: R, * p1, k1, p3, k1 *, p1, R

Row 3: R, * k1, p1, yo, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, yo, p1 *, k1, R

Row 4: Repeat Row 2

This completes the 4 rows that make up one iteration of the pattern. The asterisks (*) in the pattern rows indicate the 6 stitches of the pattern.

To help the scarf lay flat, it begins and ends with a 5 row rib pattern.

Row 1: R, * k1, p1 *, k1, R

Row 2: R, * p1, k1 *, p1, R

Row 3: Repeat Row 1

Row 4: Repeat Row 2

Row 5: Repeat Row 1

(Photo)

Another one bites the dust

Yeehaw!

I've finished the scarf for my stepdaughter.



(Pattern)

A bit of shopping and the guardian cat

Since I worked on the butterfly fairy on Monday and Friday, I took today off to do other things like treat myself to lunch and dig around the local Hobby Lobby for stuff. The stuff I found includes the following items being zealously guarded by my own personal guardian cat:



Not being content to just keep a vary, watchful eye on my recent purchases, Heru decided he needed to guard the items, precious as they are, with his very body.



I don't know what I would do without Heru to make sure my possessions don't get up and walk off while I'm not looking.

At long last progress

Yipee! I've finally done some work on the butterfly fairy for my granddaughter. I worked on it a bit yesterday and a bit this morning.

This is what it looked like when I left off . . .


. . . and this is what I've gotten done this weekend.


It's very hard to see in the photos, but I've filled in the almost white portion of the moon by the right wing. I also did a bit of the moon in the middle.

I treated myself

I had the pre-orientation meeting for my new job this morning, and on the way home I stopped by Michael's to look around. I was completely underwhelmed by their cross stitch and knitting yarn selections, but I did find some books and magazines to drool over. I decided I deserved a treat so I bought them.



I'm going to fix myself a nice cup of tea and spend the rest of the afternoon reading through the magazines.

I can't believe how relaxed I feel. I wish I could bottle the feeling and share it with everyone.

Yeehaw!

I've been offered a job which I have accepted contingent on a couple of exams I have to pass. They shouldn't be a problem. If everything goes well, my first day of work will be September 6th. To celebrate, I just spent the last couple of hours knitting on the scarf for my stepdaughter. I think I'm only a couple of pattern iterations away from being done with it, but my fingers started to cramp so I set it aside for today.

An update, of sorts

Those few of you who read my main blog know that I was laid off work last Tuesday. For those of you who only read this one, I was laid off work last Tuesday. I've been busy trying to get my little duckies in a row so I haven't done anything even remotely crafty. Truth be told, I haven't felt particularly crafty so I don't know when the next set of updates on the scarf, afghan, or butterfly fairy will occur. Unfortunately, right now, job hunting has become my all consuming passion.

But bear with me. I will get bored with being a single-minded job huntress and I will eventually get back to being a crafty little beggar.