I am a little frustrated. I was knitting my February Ladies Sweater on my KnitPicks Options needles when a cord come apart at the join, not where it screws in but where the plastic attaches to the metal. I changed the cord and after a while it happened again. This is so disconcerting because then I have to pick up the stitches that fell off the cord. In lace, for me, that is not easy. I then switched to the only other size 8 circular I had which was wooden. Not a good idea – dull tip. Soooooo. I stopped and bought a size 8 AddiTurbo 40 inch. I am much happier now.

Here is something that happened to me while I was attending a woman in labor. This woman came in in active labor, 8 cm, with her first baby. She was from Sudan, although has lived in this country for a number of years and had a good command of the English language. Her labor progress fast and she was soon pushing. She only pushed a total of 1 hour, but when she was just about crowning, she said “I can’t push anymore, I want the surgery.” THE SURGERY!!!!!!!!!

That says a lot for our culture. And the fact that the C/S rate in this country is pushing 40%. Shameful.

By the way. A few minutes later she push out her howling son.

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Mother Teresa

Peace

Cynthia

UFO to Finished projects

I decided to make a few changes in how this blog looks. Just one column. The side column with finished projects, links and such seemed like a waste of time to keep it up, I will keep my projects current on my Ravelry page (if I can get my Flicker to work). I am also going to try to post a little more often. Instead of waiting until I have a lot to say, I will post smaller bits.

I finished the Swallowtail Shawl , Nupps and all.  It is beautiful. It really bloomed when I blocked it. It did not soften up as much as I had hoped, but I do like it. Here is a picture:

 

I have actually been quite productive the past few weeks. I also finished the Laguna Blouse (it even fits) and started a February Ladies Sweater. I am using  Elsebeth Lavold’s Classic AL,  an Alpaca Merino blend, colorway is Beechwood.

David and I just returned from Texas again. We were there only a week this time, and specifically went to attend Texolan, an alpaca show in Fort Worth. It was Peeka Ranch’s first show. We took two alpacas, David showed them both. Aries got a third place and Aquarius got a Sixth. Interestingly, Aquarius got a blue ribbon for her fleece.

One of the vendors at the show was Helen Hamann. She is the author of Andean Inspired Knits , a beautiful book with “a collection of patterns inspired by pre-Columbian textiles from the culturally-rich Andes in South America”.  Several of the patterns are knit with Classic Alpaca by The Alpaca Yarn Company. They are colorful, some look challenging but others look like they would be a fun knit. She uses embroidery in some of her designs to add the color and texture. She is a delightful woman, very animated when discussing her designs. She had beautiful garments for sale, her designs knit by knitters in Peru.  I bought a couple of balls of her alpaca yarn to see if it is something I want to carry in my store.

Here are a couple of pictures from Peeka Ranch:

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience..” Eleanor Roosevelt.

Peace

Cynthia