This and That

The Lace

The garter lace is coming along very nicely. The shorter edge is now about 24" long. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to make it. The longer edge will ruffle automatically and I don't want the lace obscured by too much volume, so I will probably stop soon.

 

In a Pinch

When I finished a cozy a couple of weeks ago, I left my markers on the kitchen table instead of putting them back in my bag. I only discovered this the next time I was out and about and ready to start another cozy. Now, the cozy pattern is fairly easy and I've made so many that I lost count long ago. Nevertheless, not marking the slip stitch columns is an invitation to disaster. I had a straw wrapper nearby so I tore short lengths (obviously not as perfectly as in the diagram) and used them as markers. They were a bit more fiddly to pass from one needle to the other than actual markers, but they did the trick! And yes, I switched back to the normal markers soon after I got home.

A New Stitch Dictionary

Japanese stitch dictionaries are probably the most creative in the world. They explore unusual techniques and put common ones together in unexpected ways. There's no need to know Japanese, because they are all charted and the chart symbols are often explained with diagrams as well as words.

When my husband and I were at our local Kinokuniya store, he found this new one and asked me if I wanted it. Silly question. The pattern stitches are remarkable! Not only are they great as is, but they inspire so many ways to reconfigure them!

Unfortunately, I'm  not going to have time to do that for a while. We are moving back east later this month. If you've ever made a major move . . . well, you know. To top it off, I've come down with a cold. Not too bad a cold, but really, did I need the extra stress?

I have a lot of lace swatches I haven't photographed yet, and I will try to do that as I finish organizing. I may manage to post them before the move.

Until next time . . .