Here is the turtleneck I made. This keeps me on my self-imposed sewing schedule, and also completes my SWAP. I will do a proper SWAP report tomorrow.
You are probably thinking that I ought to press as I go, or at least press before I photograph things. You are right. My having noticed this is surely some kind of progress.
This is Kwik Sew 3093, and it was indeed fast and easy. It is a pretty traditional turtleneck, though it has some waist shaping. I think that if (when) I make it again, I will make the neck piece a bit larger; when folded, it doesn’t really double, leaving the seam visible. Apart from that small thing, I like it very well. Reading the reviews on this pattern, I found that folks who had made it in a slinky or thin fabric were less happy than those who used a more substantial fabric. Mine is a cotton interlock knit from Hancock Fabrics, and seems to have been a good choice.
Aside from being on schedule for sewing, I feel as though I lost a week to the cold. As a result, I was awakened at 3:30 this morning by a nightmare. In the dream it turned out that we had another child, whom we had forgetfully left alone at our place in the country.
The dream consisted of my attempts to rescue this feral child.
Women often have dreams about having inadvertently abandoned a kid, or having put a baby down somewhere and being unable to find it again. I tend to think that they are a response to the feeling that we have stuff we have allowed to fall through the cracks, or just have too much to do. And indeed, once I was awake, my mind was so filled with the errands and chores I need to catch up on that I couldn’t get back to sleep.
Something that may have added to this feeling is the fact that I was asked yesterday to be the Care Team Leader at church.
I was startled by this request. I sing at church, teach Sunday School, work with the UMW coffee ministry, knit prayer shawls (and I don’t want to think about how long it has been since I worked on my current prayer shawl) — where could they get the idea that I would be a good team leader for the ministry that looks after the sick and bereaved?
The people who thought to ask me this may have picked my name out of a hat. But they may also have been led by God to offer me this new opportunity for service. So I do not want to refuse out of hand, and I said I would pray about it and get back to them. My reaction — beyond thinking that there is no evidence that I am a caring enough person to do this — is that they probably need someone with more flexibility than I have. I work full-time and have three evenings a week committed, not to mention having a home and family to take care of. Can I count on people to arrange to be sick or bereaved only on the evenings I have free?
I assume that “team leader” also means lots of phone calls, asking people to make meals and passing along needs on the prayer chain. And you know how I feel about the telephone.
There are also needs in the music program for which I am more qualified, it seems to me, and the new education person has asked me to lunch to “visit” with her, so I assume that she has things in mind for me to do as well.
So I think I will probably say no to this request.
As for the rest of my feeling beleaguered, I need to keep that in perspective. It is Living Room Week on the Grand Plan and my house shows that I didn’t keep up with the housework last week, I have baby gifts to knit and my SWAP Stage II to plan, there are things my sons need me to do for them, I have homework to do and a writing contest to work on, I need to get back to the gym and get the taxes done, I haven’t even bought this month’s Book Club book let alone read it, #2 daughter is coming for the weekend, I did not send any Valentine cards, and I have a trio to prepare and music for Chamber Singers that I’ve not yet looked at.
The thing that all this stuff has in common is that it mostly just matters to me. These are not work deadlines, or things that carry fines if they are done late or not done at all. I can get the errands done today and the rest will wait.
I rested up this weekend and have recuperated from my cold, even if it has left me feeling like a have a lot of catching up to do. I did a couple of rows of Erin and started the Bijoux Blouse. This is a pattern from Oat Couture. On the left is their picture of it, and here is the link to it. I bought the pattern and the yarn last spring, but it has just now made its way to the front of the queue, and will probably be knocked off by baby gifts almost immediately, seeing as how there is a shower coming up this weekend.
Still, after I had to frog one design repeat on one row of Erin three times and reread a single paragraph just as many times, it was clear that I needed a zombie project if I was to make any headway on the whole reading and knitting plan.
So I swatched and cast on. Then I noticed that the Bijoux Blouse as written begins with an inch and a half of garter stitch. Garter stitch has its uses, but in general I feel that it is too stretchy, especially in cotton, and tends to be ugly. Cotton is inclined to bell out at the cast-on edge anyway, and I don’t want to encourage that. So I am changing that to seed stitch. My Bijoux — or at least the first inch and a half of it — is on the right, in 
Connemara, on #5 needles.
I don’t remember the name of this color, but it is a lovely shell pink, and I am enjoying working with this yarn. It has a sort of crisp texture.
The pattern is extremely clear and easy. There are explanations of how to decrease, and little reminders about things that might be confusing to a beginner. If you are a scarf knitter thinking about branching out into three dimensions, you might check out this or other Oat Couture patterns. They do quite a range of things, including a large selection labeled “easy.”
Now I must fold laundry and make a list of all the chores and errands so I can stop fretting over them.
Happy Monday!
Nice sewing and knitting. And I understand how difficult it can be to say no. Thank you for the info about the writer of “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream.”
Press as you go along. Press as you go along. Press as you go along. Press as you go. Press press press.
There is — IMHO — no way on earth that you could possibly function as Care Team Leader. You would have to give up everything else you do, and abandon all your children [not just dream about it, actually do it], or you’d be the Mother Of All Inadequate Care Team Leaders. This isn’t one of those times when you should feel guilty about saying no — this is a time when it’s your duty to say no, so that the task can be assigned to someone who’ll be able to do it as it should be done.
I have just violated my own rule — “Don’t offer advice unless you’re asked for advice” — and I apologize for that. It’s just that the thought of you taking on the Care Team Leader job is so terrifying. If you were on fire, I would also break the rule and suggest — unasked — that you lie down on a rug and roll yourself up in it, or leap into a nearby creek. I perceive this situation as analogous, except that it’s the church that is in danger.
a care team leader? Interesting role. Neat shirt too great work…
Happy Monday back at you!!! I spent this weekend under the covers on the couch watching brain fart TV. My sewing machine beckoned me from across the room. It was very lonely. I’m planning on making a wrist warmer for my mum (she has a bad wrist). I’m going to sewing a band that will fit around her wrist, then sew pockets on that band, fill those pockets with flax and chamomile, and then sew the pockets closed. I will sew a few “covers” for the band so that she can colour-coordinate. Then she just has to microwave the wrist band for a few seconds in the microwave – and, voila! instant moist heat for her wrist. That’s what I wanted to sew this past weekend. Darn sinus infection.
Oh, pardon, my two cents’ worth regarding Care Team Leader work: would you be doing a good service? To yourself? Your family? And those who you would be caring for? I have a friend who has a kind and gentle heart – and she likes to involve herself with as much as possible. But, she, unfortunately, has to neglet other important things in her life. So, I ask her if she is doing good work. She thinks so. And that’s what matters.
It’s good to say no sometimes. I’m glad you know your boundaries.
Nice turtleneck.
I once had a dream I left one of my children in a locker at the airport. “We’ll be back in a few days.” Oh, dear.
I would think that the benefit in making a turtleneck would be that you can make it long enough to tuck into trousers. My storebought ones have all shrunk up to right above waist level.