One of the things I picked up from a book by Elizabeth Zimmermann was to add some short rows to the lower back of my sweaters. Sweaters are notorious for riding up in the back and appearing longer in the front.
This pattern called for German short row shaping for the yoke and since I hadn’t tried that before I gave it a go. Meh. I’m not that impressed, or maybe I’m just not wrapping the stitch over the needle snugly enough, hence the uneven, sloppy look to the ends of the short rows. So, after I did a few short rows at the bottom of the pullover, pulling the stitch tightly this time and still not liking it, I decided to do the short row wrap that I do when turning the heel on a toe-up sock and knit the wrap with the stitch on the next row. I like that much better.
I got that done last night and stopped short of beginning the twisted ribbing for the bottom of the sweater. I will tackle that today and start on one of the sleeves. I hope.
I’m paying the price for all the dusting and cleaning and blowing out the garage with the leaf blower with acute allergy symptoms, but so far I’m keeping it all under control. I finally remembered to make a fresh batch of saline to use for flushing out my sinuses and it made a huge difference. The trick is to add as much sea salt as you can tolerate: I add three heaping teaspoons per quart of distilled water as well as a heaping teaspoon of baking soda to help buffer the salt a bit. The more salt, the more decongestant action you get as the stronger saline helps cut down on stuffy, swollen sinus membranes. Burns like the dickens, but it works.
While working on this pullover I’m mulling over my next Ludlow shawl and thinking seriously about knitting it a bit heavier with two strands of fingering yarn instead of one. I’d like to try dropping one of the two strands and replacing it with a different color and continuing with the same yarn I had paired at the beginning, if that makes sense. Think A and B held together, drop B, pick up C and knit it together with A. I could keep A throughout for continuity and change each second strand as needed for the stripes in the pattern.
This is my favorite Ludlow shawl. All three of these yarns are Indie dyed yarns from Jo Dee Fish of Fishknit’s Yarn. The possibilities are endless when it comes to yarn combinations. I love the weight of the fingering yarn shawl around the house but I’d like a sport weight version for more warmth while sitting in my recliner reading or knitting in cooler weather. We don’t keep our home overly warm in winter. 68° to 70° is fine in winter during the day and 65° at night. We keep the thermostat set at 72° in the summer, day and night. We also have ceiling fans to keep the air moving in the warmer months.
Brad has the back seat of the pickup loaded with things to take to Audrey this morning when he picks the kids up for church. Sarah still has some congestion and will stay home. I bagged up two sets of king size flannel sheets that she can use for fabric for some sewing projects along with the white, pleated dust ruffle off of my old bed. It won’t work on the adjustable Tempur Pedic bed and it would be perfect for the girls bedroom.
The My Pillow mattress topper off of my old bed will be used on the boys bed. The cover has been laundered and I do two rinse cycles with vinegar in the first rinse so I know all the laundry soap is out of the fabric. We have hard water here and so we end up using more soap to get clothes clean. Vinegar also acts as a fabric softener which cuts down on static in the dryer.
I’ve also got a bag of aluminum soft drink cans for the boys to crush and add to their stash that will eventually be taken to the recycle center as well as several empty gallon vinegar jugs that can be used for storing water at the farm. When your water supply is dependent on a pump that runs on electricity you make sure you’re stocked up on water in case of emergencies, even with a backup generator. Clean, empty vinegar jugs can help keep saved water from getting ‘funky’ over time.
Vinegar is great to keep on hand. I use it for the first rinse cycle when doing laundry, I clean the coffee maker and the water kettle with it. After the water comes to a boil in the water kettle I pour that boiling vinegar water down the bathroom drain where the A/C drain empties and there is always a bit of algae in the drain. I do the same thing in the utility sink in the laundry room. Hot vinegar water does a number on stinking sink drains.
Since I can’t tolerate chlorine bleach I use vinegar to disinfect surfaces and get rid of water/soap spots in the showers and tubs.
All this talk of cleaning has reminded me it’s time to clean bathrooms, but I don’t do that on Sundays so it will wait until tomorrow. The Sears dude will be here to replace the motherboard on the Kenmore range sometime in the morning and when the new Whirpool range arrives on Thursday we can get the Kenmore out to the farm for Audrey and David. At least they can put off buying a new range for a good bit longer until they find what they really want.
Time to think about starting a pot of coffee and deciding on breakfast. It’s been awhile since hot cereal and I have dried cranberries and sliced almonds to add to the cereal.
Have a blessed Sunday with family and friends, ya’ll.
Rural Texas Knitter 