Black is Black

Black is Black.  Yet another sweater connected 60's song reference!  This yarn sure is black.  I hope the deep black lets you see what I see close up.

 I think you can see the beginnings of the shape of this sweater.  Very simple.  The short rows do all the shaping to take the form of a round yoke.  

It looks a wee bit sack like without the benefit of blocking but it is going to look great when it is done.  Already I can see that.  

Looking great is not enough.  It can look great in principle even when it has serious flaws.  If you read project posters on Ravelry, the one comment is that the sleeves are really narrow.  And oh my goodness that is what I am finding.  The upside of this sweater is how very easy it is to adjust to make it fit.  It is all in the short rows.

The pattern says to knit the shoulder, and then to join with the bottom and to immediately begin knitting the back. ...Not likely.  

Not unless you were very, very slender, 12 year old girl slender, could you do this and have a nice fitting sweater.  Most women will need to knit something of an underarm. My first sleeve version had 2 more short row sections than the required number over the shoulders and 8 garter ridges for the underarm.  Too tight.  

A few more rows of underarm were knit. I tried it on again, but it still was not quite right.  The sleeves are fine, but it is pulling too tight, right where this sweater is most vulnerable, where the yoke and sleeve join.  

It has been taken it back one more time and another garter ridge or  2 will be knit and and I shall try again. That ought to do it.  

My other major modification is hip shaping.  To fit nicely I need more inches at the hips.  Flaring at the center might look good for those without hip issues but too much flare just draws attention to what is not one of my better features. It will look far better if it hangs gracefully down from the neckline.  At two points on the front and 2 points at the underarm, I knit 35 stitches and turned, and then 40 stitches and turned, and then back to the regularly scheduled shaping. To keep it tidy, I am doing this hip shaping on the first row of a 6 row shaping set. And it is working.  It gives flare at the front without excess.    It gives just the right sort of shaping.

So onward I go, knitting some, trying it on.  By Monday this sweater will be substantially done.  Or I think it will.  Its pretty hypnotic and an amazing amount is being knit without me even noticing!  

Decadent

Mr. Needles left early this a.m. for a work trip.  He will only be gone a couple of days which is nice.  I stayed in bed.

Before he left, he made some coffee so I am sitting here late for posting, sipping a coffee someone made for me, feeling very quite content.

  

Having someone make coffee for you in the morning feels very decadent.  

To everything there is a season

It has been a few days now and that crystalline white stuff is still here.  Drat.  The weather is supposed to warm next week, but the chances of it melting after this many days on the ground is zilch.  It is here to stay. To everything....

Because it is here to stay and because I could not get some yarn back in the closet, I am working on yet another sweater.  Who knows, maybe it will be an almost 10 sweater year.

I am knitting Elysium.  I saw this soon after the pattern popped up on Ravelry.  Cascade 220 in a rich murky green heather was my first choice of yarn but yarn and pattern did not feel like an urgent project, though the sweater was always on my mind.  

As I tidied, I came across a yarn I have had out of the closet since spring.  I came across it again when I was tidying up after the great stash out.  The yarn is Custom Woolen Mills Mule Spinner 2 ply. Contrary to what Ravelry's yarn database says, this 2 ply is a dense and full worsted weight (the database thinks a 2 ply must be sport).  

It is a funny yarn.  It feels a little ...I am trying to think up the right word here...Sigh.  OK trying again.  When it is wound in the skeins it feels hard. Dense. Reserved.  It feels a little prairie if you will.  It looks like a simple yarn.  It looks like it could not possibly have any secrets hidden within, as if it had no layers. It looks a little dour.  Prosaic.  

Like prairie people, it hides its true nature from those who will not stop to look deeper.  It might feel thick and hard in the skein, but the moment you wind it into a ball, magic happens.  When you wind it into a ball, it begins to breathe and fluff up and becomes this deliciously soft thick stuff.  It feels very sheepy, rich with lanolin, and ... really wonderful.

The true gift is that when you wash it, it blooms even more.  In garter stitch, it becomes this thick deep fabric that you just need to wear.  

In all the cleaning and sorting and goings on round here, one of the bits I did while waiting for the computer, was wonder what the heck I was going to do with this yarn.  I did not like my original plan for it.  I liked but did not love my next sweater try.  The yarn felt like it wanted to be different. After listing it in my stash, I searched through all the projects made with it.  Not a soul used this yarn for a sweater like Elysium, but Elysium is what came to mind.

Elysium is designed for Malabrigo, one of the softest yarns on the market.  Mule Spinner 2 ply is one of the earthiest.  But this yarn, this earthy dense rich warm yarn seems somehow, just right for this sideways knit garter stitch sweater.  Just so very very right. You would not believe what is going on here. 

The yarn is black.  So there are not going to be a whole lot of photos.  It isn't going to take long to do this one up either.  It has only been two days and I am past the first sleeve section.  Its hypnotic to knit too.  Knit in 6 row or 3 ridge repeats, it just zips along and the sweater almost happens without your knowing it.

I think I am fated to like these simple yarns, yarns that feel like home.  There will be more knitting with them.  To everything there is a season and winter in Canada is the right season for Mule Spinner 2 ply. 

I almost...

I have finished the mammoth task that was entering my stash on ravelry.  My shoulders are stiff and my mind is sort of blank, and I am tired.  Tired yes, but I think I am going to like it.

It is so easy to see exactly what I have and how much of it I have.  The benefit was immediate.  I played on it looking at patterns at yet another way. Like all the other cool things about ravelry, you can search by starting with your stash.  Click on a yarn and you can search for all projects in that yarn, or for just cardigans or baby things or shawls or whatever you want.  I love the search versatility of ravelry.  

Bu it has also been a good thing to see what I have in there.  Right in front of me.  Sorted by quantity.  (shivers) Sorted by metres. (shivers twice) It is probably a good thing.  By my rough calculation I have large quantities (over 700 metres) for almost100 sweaters.  And that isn't counting the lace.  

How long would it take a person to knit 100 sweaters?  If I knit 10 sweaters a year for the next 10 years, I will just be catching up.  I don't plan to knit 10 sweaters a year.  That would be almost all my knitting time.

I have enough lace to last me a very very long time.  I could knit many many shawls of size and IIRC, without looking, I can knit close to 100 lace scarves or small shawlettes. 

And then there is a whole host of scarf yarn and mitten yarn and small project yarns.  

And sock yarns. Which is mentally don't count as stash, but really it is, isn't it?  I have enough for a whole new sock wardrobe of socks for 5 years.  I will knit for a very long time on what I have here and I will love every minute of it.

By the by, I have not listed a bunch of coned yarn that I have, Jaegerspun something or other and several cones of various colours from Webs cone sales. I also have not listed things already in projects.  Seriously I had to stop somewhere and I drew the line at yarn on the needles.  And I think I forgot to list my Zauberball and a few yarns in the drawers of one small cabinet.  I'll get those done in a few days.  

I have always been a wee bit ashamed about my stash, but only when I am talking to ordinary people.  I have always been comfortable with it around knitters.  A knitter understands about stash. Still, even for knitters, it is a large stash.

The very good thing about digging deep like this is that it is packed up nice and tight for the season.  Until I need to get some out to knit that is.  In the digging and the sorting this weekend, I somehow managed to get a lot more yarn into the closet.  

Which means that I have some spa....Slaps self upside the head.  Cut it out.

Things

I could talk about a dozen things today.  

I could talk about how Mr. Needles brought me popcorn the other night.  

My bowl.

His bowl.  Very funny.

I could talk about how I finished the different after thought sock heels, and how the sock heels fit wonderfully, but the socks themselves need to be shortened.  In other words the sock doesn't fit...

I could tell you about the yarn I started a sweater with...for the 3rd time.  Third time is the charm. Please.

I could tell you about how I spent a very good part of my weekend putting stash on ravelry almost to the point of a repetative stress injury (pick up yarn, read labels, put it back) and how I still have a ways to go.

I could tell you about any number of things, but I think I will just show you this.

It had to happen.  It always does.  It may not stay today, but the day isn't far away when it will stay for the season.

First person who says the 's' word jinxes it.

A slightly different afterthought heel

The beneficiary of all these sock heels is Mr. Needles, of course.  He is a fairly accepting sort, seldom complaining about much, so when he voices an opinion, I do try to pay attention.

Yesterday, when trying on socks, he mentioned that sometimes the rows of decreases along afterthought heels felt thick.  Since I cannot change the basic construction of the sock, without completely reknitting it, I thought a bit about what I could do.  I realized I can do a different sort of afterthought heel.

 I picked up stitches in the usual manner.  I added 3 stitches at the corners of each side as usual.  I knit one round to get properly set up.  And then I proceeded to knit an ordinary short row heel.

The only reason not to do this on a regular basis is that you have one heck of a long graft at the end.  After all these heels and toes, I can do a plain stockinette graft without any problem.  Above, you can see the heel completed, ready to graft.

You can also see that when I knit the heel, I paid attention to where I would end up.  I knit the heel on the sole side, so that when it was time for the graft, the graft would go where there was less wear, near the cuff.

 Half grafted.  Once the graft was half done, I finished the stitches, or rather, I tightened them up to see how I was doing.

 No problem.  Pleased so far.

Finished!  This looks like an ordinary garter stitch short row heel.  You would really have to look closely and even then, I doubt most knitters would guess.  

And most people, even knitters, do not look that closely at socks.  

In other exciting things, I am busy putting all my stash into Ravelry.   Till now I have avoided doing so. It just took too much time.  With the new tools (they have been there a while, I am just getting to it though) for adding a lot of stash, it goes nice and fast. 

I know most of my stash, but it would be nice to know for sure, do I have 8 balls or 10 balls. Most of the time I know, but there have been a couple incidents recently where, I have had to go digging to be sure. 

It would be nice to be able to add the yarn from stash when I add the project.  It would be nice to see what I have left after I knit something from some of it.  It is this last that will be the real time saver.  Down the road, I won't have to wonder, 'do I have enough for mittens or a hat of that nice red stuff?'  I can just look in my list.   

And if you have been listening to your insurance agent, special collections should have a good detailed list.  What is this lovely stash of mine, but a special collection?  

So to appease myself and my insurance guy, list, list list...

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings" (Rodgers and Hammerstein)

It's good to stop and make a list of some of the small things, the tiny special moments that happen in spite of our brisk and busy lifestyles.

Things like clean sheets against your skin as you crawl into bed at night.  Like sitting in a protected place with the warm morning sun shining to warm you.  Like slipping chilly fingers into new gloves on a cold fall morning.   

These things are pure joy. You just have to stop and notice them to know how lucky you are.          

On the plus side

First off, farmers socks definition:  what my daddy wore, big gray and white socks with red heels, toes and cuff.  He farmed, so I call these basic workman's socks, farmer socks.  Only the ones I make are more than red, gray and white and are of nicer material.

I might be avoiding something, but these are the positives:  

 Heels in these from the sock WIP basket.

Dishcloth that was sitting on desk completed while photos uploaded.

 Second pair of sock heels from sock WIP basket. Heel 2of this pair will be done before I go to work.

 Third pair of socks from sock WIP basket.  The Earl Gray pattern from the Yarn Harlot.  Sock one is complete but I had to go back to before the heel flap on sock two and work two more of the small twists to make the socks match in length.  I am midway down the foot now.  By the end of the evening, I hope to be complete but for the toe.  If I really work on it, I will have them done before morning. (insert boundless optimism here)

And finally, something I did not find at the bottom of the sock basket, but I did find the swatch for this at the bottom of the other WIP basket, the things I feel like working on WIP basket.  (This is different from the WIP basket of things that I don't feel like working on, and the things that are hiding in the closet that are in a pre-frogging state.)

It is the beginnings of a simple blue sweater.  My wardrobe needs  replacements of basic sweaters that work with everything. This one is going to be as simple as I can make it, crew neck type collar, 3/4 length sleeves, simple tunic shape.  

I am debating lace work just to relieve the boredom of long long rows of stockinette.  If I do put some in, they will run down the length of the fronts. It isn't the sort of thing I was thinking about as I began, but now that the shoulders are set up, I have time to think of options.    

There are a couple more pairs of socks to finish the heels on before I leave the sock basket.  After the sock basket is done, it will be my next set of days off and I promise myself I am going to get back to working on the vest.  

By next week, I will be ready to face it.  I will have sufficient positive results under my belt to bolster my fragile knitter's ego.

Mr. Stripey, the baby set

I don't know if I believe in making full old fashioned baby layettes and yet, here it is, a full baby layette...for the modern age.

 Just simple things, but each one a different sort of striping pattern.

 The jacket, a doubling pattern of 2 whites, 6 blues, 4,4,6,2.  The jacket is based upon the Seamless Baby Kimono.

The blanket is your basic ball band dishcloth baby blanket gone rectangle.  The stripes are a sequence of ridges, 1, 2, 3 up to 7 ridges of white each separated by one ridge of blue. 

The wee hat is a simple cast on of 60 (this is a relatively thick yarn) with even stripes of 4 blue and 3 white all the way up to the wee toggle at the top.

The booties, simple socks knit farmer style in one row stripes of blue and white.  

Each one a different sort of stripes, but it all looks cute together.  

As to vest blocking, no not yet.  

It is completely possible that I am avoiding the issue.  In the effort to avoid it, I am finding a dozen things to work on instead.  Work in progress things. Not new things!  Things I can really pat myself on the back and say 'good girl' for.  

I have delved into the basket of unfinished socks and am working on those.  One last pair is now ready for heels, and the poor Earl Gray Socks  , which, the last time you saw them, were two different sizes, are now being re-knit, and will be the same.  

I might be avoiding the vest, but I will take some comfort that it is taking me to a place where I needed to go anyway.  That sock bin was getting a wee bit too full for comfort.    

If I keep avoiding the truth of the vest,  who know where it might lead. 

Awash in cuteness

I have finished up...almost...the complete set for wee Alex.  It turned out so very cute.  This household is awash in cuteness.  

I am in the process of blocking it right now, right in the middle of it really.  Not fit for photos, not even for this blog!

I might yet reknit the sweater sleeves.  They just look funny and I prefer a baby sweater with big floooppy sleeves so you don't have to fight to get tiny hands in it.  

At the same time that I am blocking baby things, I am doing an early block on Mr. Needles vest.  I have a really bad feeling that it is going to need 1 section reknit.  I am concerned because the section is way down in the middle of the vest and if it is as I fear, I will have the distinct pleasure of taking all the rest of the stranding apart.  I am not happy about this and am currently wondering if one could graft in a reknit section...I know it is crazy to contemplate this but well, there you have it.  The vest is driving me batty.  Keeping fingers crossed, closing eyes, and praying.

So, move along.  Nothing to see here. Photos, inspiration and intelligent conversation (ha!) on the morrow.  Maybe.  

Close to Complete

I like this point in any project.

I've just finished working the white stripes and am back to the solid blue.  The solid blue down to the corner means I am just about done.  1 blue ball of yarn  to completion.    

And I am right where I want to be in terms of yarn use.  When the blanket is done, I will have 1 ball of blue yarn left and almost 2 full balls of cream yarn left.   Lots of yarn for a hat and a pair of something for this wee babies feet. 

And then what next?  This is the really fun part.

  

 

All up!

Isn't that just the most amazing thing?  They just got better and better at getting them up, faster and faster.  A job well done by all.  Who says there aren't miracles anymore?

Back to the much, much more mundane and inconsequential...

.  

I have been on a small scale yarn diet.  In part it is because I have a really nice stash, but also because I have no more room to store it without going outside my study. Going outside of the study to store stash is not to be tolerated.  Period. End of story.  I can only buy yarn as I knit it away. (Note to self:  Knit faster)

This doesn't mean there hasn't been some purchasing, just very little yarn.  This has been a season of very good books.  Alice Starmore's re-issued Aran Knitting, Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library (new to me!) Rae Comptons Traditional Knitting, another goodie from a long time ago, have all been added to my library.  

But other than as needed for a project there has been very very little yarn buying. More or less.  Reeeeally.    

Till this last week.  Last week, I had to make sure to get my deeply desired Tove while I had the chance and before someone else gets to it before I do! 

As you can see, I now have a good supply of this marvelous yarn in natural and natural looking heathers.  Shawls, sweaters, all good things are wonderful in Tove.  

There have been a few other goodies creeping in too .

 Kirameki from Noro, a laceweight rayon, nylon, wool and cashmere blend.

Mini Moochi from Crystal Palace Yarns. 

Hardly any yarn buying at all...

Watching the Chilean Mine Rescue

It is fascinating really.  I don't know about anyone else, but it makes me think there is hope for humankind.  I pray for them all.

Otherwise I am still knitting striped things.  For relief from stripes, I started another small thing.  But it is accidentally striping too.

Zauberball Crazy, top down crescent shaped, switching from garter to stockinette whenever the colour changes.

Mr. Stripey

I am busy playing with stripes these days.  You will remember this from last week.

  It is more or less done.  Which means I have a finished photo of the cute thing with my usual skillful finishing (?).  Skillful finishers anyone?  All of the ends, bits and pieces remain to be worked in but there is no rush, because before it can be given to little Alex, I have to finish this.

I have 4 balls of the rich turquoise and 7 balls with an 8th available if needed, of the not quite white cream.  Because I couldn't do my usual progression of striping slowly changing over to to other colour, I am inventing a new progression.  Knit 1 ball blue till it was gone, then an increasing number of ridges of white through the body of the blankie always divided by one simple stripe of the blue, until I reach the width I want.  

Then, the plan is for even wide stripes of white through the centre,  finishing it all off with the same striping sequence, and ending with another blue corner.  The shape of the blanket is your basic cast-on-one ball band dishcloth, worked to be a rectangle, rather than a square.  

I am hoping at the end of the blanket, to have enough blue yarn left to do a wee hat and maybe some baby socks too.  Here is hoping...

Stripes, stripes, stripes, stripes, STRIPES!

Sign of the Season

I have been driving past the buffalo all season and have been watching their characters change with each season.  

In spring they are jaunty.  The yearlings gambol and play. Even the wise old ones raise their heads and observe.  They watch, they look, they listen.  The young ones look  every bit as rugged and ruffly as the old ones, as their coats shed.

In summer, they eat tender shoots from young trees, and crisp green grasses. Their hides are almost golden brown.  They gleam.  There is a richness about them that speaks of warmth and sun and harmony.  

As the summer sun starts its inexorable journey to its low winter path, the earth heats up.  Buffalo take to dust bathing to keep the bugs down.  They might look a little scruffy in high summer, but they carry an air of unhurried contentment.

In the autumn, buffalo look solid.  Quite simply solid.  You might think they would graze as usual, but there is something different going on. In spring they raise their heads and look at all that surrounds them  In the fall, it is heads down, focusing only on grazing.  

There is no desperation like a squirrels frenetic gathering of nuts and seeds.  It is a solid sort of eating.  They slowly move along but they make sure that they have all the good stuff.  

Shorter days and cooler nights have switched on a buffalo's internal signals that it is that time of year.  Their coats are starting to get thick and dense, ready for whatever winter brings.  They look thick, powerful, and beyond a doubt are the kings of the prairies. 

Soon they will be slipping deeper into the mixed bushy landscape.  I seldom see them along the edge of the road as I drive in once winter rears its hard head.  They will be gathering and hunkering down in the small treed valleys, keeping out of the reach of harsh winter winds.  

The end of my buffalo season nears.  I will be sorry to see it go but I know that within the park boundaries, these massive princes of the west live on as they always did.  I will see them again in spring when they search for the new shoots at the side of the road.  

I won't count the hours till then.  I will follow the path of the buffalo.  I will practice looking focused.  I will make sure I have all the good things gathered round me.  I will hunker down.   

In this house, the good thing is wool and hunkering down means knitting.  To all things there is a season, and every season is knitting season.     

Baby Things 2

I sure like knitting sweaters from the top down.  Even more, I like knitting little things from the top down.

There will be some cream coloured stripes in this, narrow little two row stripes.  Or maybe one row.  I haven't decided.  

Or it might be plain blue, with a cream edging. I'm letting the spirit move me.

FYI, that sleeping thing.  I think it is going around.  4 days, and you feel utterly exhausted beyond exhaustion really, and then magically one day, you wake up.  Several other people have talked about feeling like that.  

Or maybe its October.

Looking for Baby things

One of the boys long time friends had a bouncing baby boy a few weeks ago, and I would love to knit them something.  The mum, who comes from Thailand, really admires handmade things.

I have only knit the Baby Surprise Jacket and done a few blankets, and I would like to knit a little something different.  

I'm thinking of this one.  It is a nice little Baby Kimono, an easy to alter pattern, according to the reviews.  I am going to use some of the Cucciolo I have on hand in a clear turquoise and cream colours.  

Ease in altering is a good thing.  This yarn is much heavier than what the pattern asks for.  Sort of like winging it with a good map.  Ought to be just right.

**Fooled me again.  At the bottom of the pattern is a link to a version for heavier yarn.  Might be able to just get set up and knit! 

ZZZZZZZ

I think Mr. Needles loaned me his most recent attempt at a cold.  I don't feel unwell, but I can sleep the days away. After Mr. Needles left for work, I crawled back to bed (and I will do that again today), I had a nap after lunch - a four hour nap- and then went to bed and fell asleep at 8.

Falling asleep at 8 was inconvenient because I should have been at the lecture last night.  I knew that what I I needed most was to sleep.  So I did.

Oh well.  Anything to not be sick.  

Forests

I have lived in a forest for many years now.  There are things you give up when you live in a forest.  I know.  Hard to believe. 

And there are things you get for free from living in a forest.  One of these free things is an unlimited supply (or so it seems) of seedling spruce trees.  

Last year the volunteer spruce looked like this.  

What with one thing and another, we ended up not getting them moved last year.  

This year they looked like this.

Its a good thing 'what with one thing and another' happened.  All these little trees are going to stay right where they are till next spring.  Then they are going to be carefully planted at the farm, and one day will grace the farm yard and will be gracefully dotted around in order not to permanently block the sunrise and sunset.     

Yup, I'm going to baby these little trees.  We are keeping them well watered, cozy with their roots under the washed rock mulch, and come spring I'm going to rip them out and stick them out on the bald prairie.  Sounds kind of cruel when you look at it that way doesn't it.  

I'd show you knitting, but with the big event happening at the store, I've worked a few extra days.  Sum total of knitting is one lone dishcloth.  

We picked up the rest of the farm tools yesterday.  Well maybe not the rest, but the vast majority of the rest.

Discs

 Harrows, still in the crate.

 Cultivator and electronic 3 point hitch mounted to quad  tractor.

This last one gives you an idea of just how small these things are.  They are so small, they are cute, and whoever heard of cute farm equipment.  They might look cute, but they are built right, they are heavy steel and will do the job.

Mr. Needles father used to have a six foot long 'one way'.  He worked his entire farm with it and it took days.  When his dad was visiting, they had a really good time discussing exactly how long it was going to take to work up our 80 acres with these wee implements.  They span just under 4 feet.

And then they go and give it a cute name.  

The size of the things, the catalogues, the colors, are all meant to appeal to guys.  They are designed by guys, for guys, so guys can explain to their wives why they must have a new quad. Then they build them so they can actually do a the job. 

The cute name is meant to appeal to us, so we will let them.    

Tuscany

I have been working on the Tuscany shawl from No Sheep for You.   I didn't plan on buying this book, it just fell into my bag. hahaha

Seriously, there was a copy at the library and I had taken pictures of the projects I thought I would like to make someday. The River Rock Scarf , Bacardi, the Berthe Collar, Tomato, Morrigan (I aim high) were only some of them.  I came across the sheets with those photos, and you know what?  I had more than 5 things from the book I would knit.  Obviously this book wanted to come home with me.  

Then there was that delicious blue Mirasol Tika, colour 513.  In a season of beautiful blues, this blue is a cross between turquoise and true blue and the deep blue sea.  Sigh.  

And finally, my boss wanted to do a staff favourites: books, yarn, projects.  It didn't matter.  Customers always like to know what we find appealing and cottons appeal to me.  It is truly a gorgeous yarn.

Here was my reason to get the book, get the yarn and knit something fantastic for me, even as I knit a bunch of things for everyone else.  Mine just happened to get finished first.

 It wasn't with any intent.  It wasn't just that I preferred knitting this supple smooth cotton. I could knit this anywhere.  It went to work,it went to knit groups, it went to get the oil changed on my car.  Its the first lacy thing I have ever been able to  take along and not make any fatal errors.  Well OK, there was one.  I had to take back two rows, but that was it.  That was the only time in the entire pattern that I made errors, so not like me.  My usual specialty is ripping back.  

This pattern is so rhythmic, so musical, with its easy counts and its well marked registration purl columns, it would be an absolutely splendid first lace. With a marker as your best friend, you will soon begin to see how to read where you are in the pattern.  Others may find that hey, you don't need the pesky little buggers, you have that lovely registration purl to help you keep track. There are other clues in the strong curves of the leaves, the set of 4 lacy openings on each side leaf.  When there are 4 sets,you switch and knit a new leaf on the other side.

I will knit this pattern again.  I like its width (2 stitches for each row)in relation to its depth.  It is still a triangle but is is a shallow one. Its is a dream to block.  No points!

Any project well done, is wonderful, but this one is going to be one of my go to pieces.  It has the weight and warmth I want for sitting in front of a fire with a good book in hand or with a pair of needles and a pretty pattern.   

Next up for me is a baby blanket.  One of the nicest young couples I know had their first, a big fella named Alex.  Its going to be another garter stitch ruffly thing, but garter stitch ruffly things are fun and pretty and good to knit.