1. Sunrise Circle – on hold, but I plan to finish this as soon as I get Dragon Scale straightened out.

2. Dragon Scale Wrap - To be honest, I was a little bit afraid to pick this up again. I thought the time off may result in a change in gauge or I’d screw up the pattern and have to rip back. None of that happened. It did take me 15 minutes to figure out that I was reading the instructions for the wrong sleeve and to determine how many stitches to cast on to lengthen the sleeve, but after that it was smooth sailing. *Knock on wood*

And now I take all that back. I wrote that several days ago. Now that I’ve finished the right front and my stitch count is like 13 stitches off I’ll be ripping WAY BACK to where the decreases start. Don’t even ask why I didn’t look at my decrease angle compared to the magazine photo and realize this about 50 rows ago. Note: the sleeve length is longer than the pattern calls for by design.

3. Riverbed Master Pattern Socks - still waiting on a measurement before I proceed.

4. Little Girl’s Bolero - knit until I ran out of yarn. Currently working on obtaining another skein so I can finish a bit of the collar and most of one sleeve.

We’re headed to Yellowstone for the weekend so I see a new portable project in my future since none of these projects will be ready or suitable to take along.

On Saturday I was eating breakfast and thinking about how nice it would be to have new photos of me riding Blondie. A few minutes later Richard says to me, “Today is about what you want to do and what you want to get done.” He had to fly out to Pennsylvania for a week on Sunday which is why he was offering. I’m sure going to the barn with me was not quite what he had in mind, but he went along with the instruction to use the sport setting on the camera and take a ton of photos.

Blondie had most of the Summer off while she received massage and chiropractic treatment. She has been feeling better the last month and I’ve started riding her again 3x per week for about 30 minutes each time. This is probably my 10th ride after putting her back to work so I was looking forward to getting some visual feedback.

Things these photos confirmed for me:
- I’m still tipping forward far more often than I would like. I’ve been fighting this for a long time, but the photos really drive home how much more work I need to do. I’m going to re-visit all the tips I have from books and bulletin boards on how to correct the problem.
- I’m too big for my horse.
- I need to shorten my stirrups at least one hole. My toes were pointing down in many of the photos, usually when I was rising to the trot.
- I’m trying not to pull when she rushes and she’s getting better about not rushing, but it’s still a vicious cycle (and likely caused by the first issue in this list).

On a side note, when we were done riding she was *really* thirsty. I checked her automatic waterer and she had pooped in it. Yuck. No wonder she wanted to drink from the water obstacle!

1. Sunrise Circle – just hanging out on this list as a reminder. My sewing machine is now available in case I have to do something drastic.

2. Dragon Scale Wrap – need to get back to this one. Knitting the bolero is a good reminder that children’s knits are small and quick (relatively as this pattern is relatively complex).

3. Riverbed Master Pattern Socks – still waiting on a measurement before I proceed.

4. Little Girl’s Bolero – I snuck in another project last week when my work paused on the socks. It seemed like it would be a fun, quick diversion that would also be a small stash buster. So far, I’d say it has lived up to that.

This is pattern #275 from Knitting Pure and Simple. The yarn is Noro Matsuri. The yarn was an impulse purchase because of the bright, fun colors. Even though it’s a mostly cotton yarn, it is true Noro that comes complete with knots, slubs, many thick/thin spots, and VM (vegetable matter). I guess because it’s cotton with a cable construction I expected it to be higher quality.

When I was in Washington I dug out some of my old sewing projects and took pictures. This is a blast from the past.

This jean skirt is the oldest. I’m fairly certain I made it when I was in high school. It doesn’t fit anymore and even if it did it would be too short for comfort!

This gold dress I made for a company Christmas party in the late 1990′s. It still fits, but it’s just not me anymore. I’m not into the color or the all vertical look. The skirt drops straight to the floor.

Finally, this was sewn one year after the gold dress. The top is dark green velvet. I think it would still fit me, although I couldn’t button the top button on my dress form.

I still have material and a pattern for what was supposed to be the next years dress. Almost 10 years have gone by. Someday I might sew it up.

Despite all the clothing photos, the sewing stuff I brought to Missoula is all related to quilting. I expect you’ll be seeing more of that in upcoming months and a little bit less knitting.

The Lace Ribbon Scarf is finished. I knit until I ran out of yarn.

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery. Available free from Knitty.
Yarn: 1 skein of Fleece Artist Basic Merino Sock in Cornflower
Needle: US #4, one size up from the recommended needle

This scarf was an easy and fun way to use a skein of sock yarn. I haven’t lost my love of knitting
socks, but it’s nice to do something different once in a while. I’m still learning how to wear scarves so I was also pleased at how easy this one was to wear for my little photo shoot.

Here’s a quick update on my current works in progress:

1. Sunrise Circle - just hanging out on this list as a reminder. My sewing machine is now available in case I have to do something drastic.

2. Dragon Scale Wrap - need to get back to this one.

3. Riverbed Master Pattern Socks - the next pair of socks. I had taken the yarn and pattern with me to Washington, but never had time to cast on. On Friday night when I was back in Montana I really wanted to knit, but could not manage to get the provisional cast on right even though I tried 3 different methods – 2 of which I’ve used with success before. The next morning, more rested, I finally managed to get started.

Now I’ve got these on hold until I get a foot measurement from the recipient. I thought I’d just wing it on sizing, adjusting from my standard cast on numbers, but the socks look too big.

The last two weeks I was working on site in western Washington and staying at my house there. It was less hectic at the office which gave me the time to dig into stuff at the house. I was rummaging around in the garage every evening that I was home. With all the sorting, tossing, and giving away I made quite a dent in the garage mess.

(Gratuitous house photos included below so as to not have a photo-less post and because I miss my house.)

Given away:
- 1 large box of clothes
- 1 large box of miscellaneous goods
- 3 sets of arm curl type weights
- 1 air conditioning unit
- 1 medium box of horse stuff
- 1 small box of beauty supplies
- 1 large box of new painting supplies
- 4 windows
- 1 exterior door

Tossed (mostly recycled):
- about 10 cardboard boxes that were emptied in the sorting process
- 1 small box of mixed paper
- 4 bags of trash

Then I brought some things back to Montana that I’ve been wanting to use. The most exciting of which was my sewing machine, quilting supplies, and fabric. I also brought back some clothes and shoes, and my bicycle.

I didn’t do much knitting while I was gone, but I do have a finished object to show you in the next post.