Not a Happy Camper... 非常不爽中...

I got my package today. I was quite happy, as it was supposed to arrive tomorrow and now it arrived one day early. Then I opened it. They sent me the wrong yarn! I ordered Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, they sent me Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk! Not happy. Not happy at all... Where did I order it from? It's the one that offers 20% off with $60 yarn purchase and 25% off with $120 purchase. I have only ordered from them twice, and had problems both times. Feeling very grumpy right now...

訂的毛線今天收到了！ 本來還很高興, 包裹早了一天到. 結果打開一看, 有一組線寄錯了, 真是氣人！ 我訂的是Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, 他給我寄Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. ㄟ, 差很多耶！ 這是那一家呢？ 就是訂滿$60打8折, 滿$120打75折的那一家！ 才跟他訂過兩次, 兩次都出錯. 真是受不了！ 效率也太差了吧！

TKA Tiger Eye Scarf Finished 虎眼圍巾完成

Yarn: Karabella Margrite (80% extrafine merino wool and 20% cashmere), #13 deep red, a little more than 2 balls
Pattern: From Stitchin Girl / TKA Project
Needles: Addi Turbo US size 6 (4 mm) / 24" (60 cm) circular
Measurement: Pre-Block 5.5" x 58" Post-Block 6.5" x 70"
Start: November 17, 2006
Finish: November 28, 2006

線材: Karabella Margrite (80% 美麗諾 and 20% 開絲米爾), #13 深紅, 2 球多一點
圖樣: 網路免費圖樣 from Stitchin Girl / TKA Project
針號: 4 mm / 60 cm 輪針
尺寸: 定型前 14 cm x 148 cm 定型後 16.5 cm x 178 cm
開始: 2006/11/17
完成: 2006/11/28


I LOVE this scarf! I have always thought a 7" wide scarf would be too wide. But this, this lace is just beautiful. I knitted two pieces separately from each end and grafted them together at the center. There are 15 pattern repeats for each half. Strange thing is, I had just enough yarn left for grafting when I finished the first half with one ball of yarn. And I ran out of yarn on the second half, and had to use a 3rd ball for the last 9 rows. I was saving two balls to make another one. I guess I will just have to settle for a shorter scarf.

哇！愛死這條圍巾了！ 本來想7吋太寬, 織起來後覺得其實剛好. 這個蕾絲花樣真是太美啦！我是從圍巾兩端分兩片織起, 中間縫合. 每一片有15個花樣重複. 奇怪的是, 我織第一片時用了一球毛線還有剩, 剛好夠做縫合用. 織第二片最後九段時線卻不夠用, 害我要用到第三球. 本來是留著要再織一條的, 看來下一條只好織短一點了.


If you looked closely, you would probably see that it looks a bit different from the pattern. Yup! I changed it a little - decided not to do garter stitch edging. Just feels like every scarf is garter-stitch edged. Happened to see the slip-stitch double-knit border on Backyard Leaves Scarf in Scarf Style, thought it looked lovely, decided to give it a try. And I just love how it came out. There are 3 stitches on left and right edges and here is what you do:

有沒有看出來這條跟pattern不太一樣？哈！我小小給它改了一下. 因為覺得每條圍巾都是用garter stitch（正反面下針）來做邊, 有點無趣. 剛好看到Scarf Style這本書裡Backyard Leaves Scarf的邊蠻好看的, 而且不會捲, 就來給它試試看嘍！個人覺得效果還不錯哩. 左右各留三針做邊, 針法如下 （ㄟ, 歹勢, 這個針法中文不知叫啥…）:

RS 正面- k1, sl1 wyif, k1
WS 反面 - sl1 wyif, k1, sl1 wyif


I also changed the 3 garter stitch rows on the two ends of the scarf, to k1-p1 ribbing. Not really wanting the elastic feature of the ribbing, I stretched it out during blocking. And I was pretty relieved that it did not shrink back after I took it off the blocking board. Just the way I wanted it. COOL!

兩端的三段garter stitch我也給它改成一上一下的ribbing. 覺得比較好看. 定型時特地把它拉開到一樣的寬度, 乾了後它也沒再縮回去, 太好啦！


Another thing I learned is from the book A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker (where this lace pattern was documented.) To knit "k3tog" so that it is the exact opposite of "sl1 - k2tog - psso" (works well when you have a pair in the same row, although the difference is very subtle):

k3tog = ssk, slip the stitch back to left needle, pass the next stitch over and off the left needle, then slip the stitch back to right needle (also known as right slanting double decrease)

This is much easier than trying to twist the three stitches and knit them together, I think.

還有就是從 Barbara G. Walker 的 A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns 這本書看到的撇步. 在同一段如有成對的”k3tog”和”sl1 - k2tog - psso”時, “k3tog” 可以這樣織（會比較對稱, 可是不仔細看也看不出來）:

左針上第一和第二針做ssk（右下二併針）, 然後滑回左針, 用右針把左針上下一針挑起套過剛剛ssk的那一針, 然後再滑到右針

我是覺得這樣比較好織, 不用在那邊扭那三個下針.


My sister was right, it is hard to give away this scarf. But it is for a very good friend, and I know she will cherish it. I guess I'll have motivation to make another one since I love it so much...

P.S. This Tiger Eye has got eye lashes…

姊說這條圍巾織好我會捨不得送出去, 還真的被她說對了. 不過這是要送給一位好友的, 我知道她會好好珍惜. 織了半天, 自己沒得圍, 趕快再來織一條吧！

ㄟ, 這個虎眼有睫毛耶！還是眼屎…. 哈哈…

Not Much Knitting Done

No, I did not cook this feast. I was never a good cook. And with a toddler to care for (not much time left to do anything else), we decided to let Whole Foods do the cooking. This was one of the Thanksgiving meals available for ordering. We ordered it once a couple years ago and was pretty impressed by the quality, thus this year we decided to order from them again. The food was actually quite tasty. Usually the turkey breasts would come out dry, but this one was pretty good. I only needed to reheat and put the food on the plates. Couldn't be easier than that. Although I didn't have to cook, cleaning up the house and preparing the meal still took me a few hours. This year only my in-laws came over for dinner. The meal package was for 4 people. We had 4 adults, but still left with tons of leftovers. Connor had a great time riding on daddy's shoulders...

哈! 這不是我煮的啦! 那這麼厲害! 現在帶個小孩也沒什麼心情時間煮飯(尤其我煮飯動作很慢), 所以今年感恩節決定跟Whole Foods超市訂火雞大餐. 兩年前訂過一次, 覺得還不錯. 火雞肉很容易就烤過頭, 變的又老又澀. Whole Foods訂的這個就還不會. 食物拿回家後, 只須放到烤箱裡加熱, 然後裝盤, 就上桌了. 雖然不用自己煮, 但是還是花了幾個小時來整理家裡, 準備餐具. 今年只有公婆過來吃大餐, 一共只有四個大人. 訂的是四人份, 卻還是剩下一大堆菜. 看來, 要連續吃好幾天的火雞了. 照片是Connor騎在爸爸肩上玩 (老公只肯讓我post這種看不到臉的...)

We then spent Friday and Saturday in the wine country. I brought my knitting bag along, but still couldn't get much done. I only had time to knit in the car, and Tiger Eye Scarf isn't exactly the right project for knitting in cars. We haven't visited Napa and Sonoma for a while. This time we were hoping that Connor would let mommy and daddy do some tasting. It turned out wine tasting is still too boring for a toddler (ummm... no kidding!) We basically had to take turns - one person tasting per winery only. The other person had to take Connor, walked around, and tried to keep him entertained. Still, we bought quite a few bottles of wine. The weather wasn't too bad - cold but sunny. Here is a picture taken in the garden of the hotel we stayed at.

週五週六去了酒鄉. 本來希望能替虎眼圍巾增加一點進度, 結果根本沒有時間. 唯一能織毛線的時候只有在車上, 可是虎眼在車上實在是不太好織. 光是車子晃動邊看圖樣邊織就看的眼睛脫窗差點暈車, 還有織錯的危險! 其實好久沒去Napa和Sonoma嚐酒了. 帶個小小孩其實也不太方便, 一次只能一個人作wine tasting, 另一個人就得帶Connor出去閒逛, 免得他在tasting room裡無聊到大聲尖叫. 雖是這樣, 酒還是買了好幾瓶. 那兩天天氣都不錯, 雖然有點冷, 但是都有出太陽. 這張照片是在hotel的花園裡照的, 覺得這個花開的還蠻美的.

But next time, we probably shouldn't visit the wine country during a holiday weekend. The traffic was so bad on our way back, it took us two and a half hours (it should have only taken 1.5 hours.) One of the winery staffs said that January and February is usually the slow time, maybe we will plan another trip then?!

不過下次不會再挑這種假日週末去wine country. 回來時光塞車就塞到話不敢. 一位酒廠員工說一二月其實是比較slow的時候, 遊客較少. Maybe到時再去一次?! 哇, 會不會太酒鬼啦?! ^o^