Flagel Knitting Files

I am in the process of getting ready for a trip to Minneapolis to see Miss M, her parents and one set of her aunts and uncles.  Plus there will be time with Mom in Wisconsin.  I haven´t been in Minneapolis since last November so there are things to take.  One is a lovely Hudson Bay blanket I got for Xmas that will fit into the decor perfectly.  Another is a wooden plate with a red maple leaf on it that I received as a retirement gift from SFU and finally picked up recently.  These sorts of items are easy. My very own Hudson Bay blanket The retirement bowl  What is more challenging for me is gauging what I will need to take with regard to knitting.  Of course there will be yarn for at least a couple pair of socks, that´s a no brainer.  But then, will I be knitting more food?  Will I complete another pair of fingerless gloves?  Will I give a go at my third Bucky toque?   What patterns do I take with me?  What needles size and type?   There is yarn in the condo, but is it

The Pacific Northwest can arguably be a bit bleak during the rainy winter months.  It seems as if the sun will never come out to play.  But now that we are in the midst of Spring, the sun is out and it is wonderful.  The temperatures are still very mild, 40-70 degrees F or 4-19 C, but with the sun shining it seems so much warmer. During my morning walk the crows and Western Jays were having a battle over something or about my being around and there was a cacophony of bird cawing going on.  It was great to have an excuse to be outside.  But the weekend was even more fun. For years it was a challenge to find a weekend when the tulips were out in near perfect display south of here about 1.5 hours and when it was not raining so hard that decent pictures could be taken.  It seems we only managed one weekend in about 13 years.  But this last Easter weekend we hit the jackpot near LaConner, Washington.  This is such eye candy I get excited to reexperience the beauty. Here´s a few pics:

It is that time of year for me when I cannot wait any longer to have Spring become real.  Winters in the Lower Mainland are not brutal; there is virtually no sub-freezing temperatures and little to no blowing snow with the scary driving conditions that always follow.  What we do get is (IMHO) unrelenting grayness with lots of rain and cloudiness.  Generally we get away for a week or two, but this year I stayed during that trip to take care of an ailing Mike, the cat.  So I feel justified in wanting to celebrate Spring with real gusto this year. This morning during my walk I found the following to indicate that, at least to me, Spring is truly on its way. Grape Hyacinth Daffodils Heather A Purple Finch during a light shower Oh and the cherry blossoms are bursting out all over as well.  Since I seem to feature them every year about this time, I will just refer you to the following most recent posts with photos:   Cherry Blossoms  2014, and Cherry Blossoms 2015

I have touched on this topic before , but today I intend to probe it a bit deeper.  There is a lot of repetitive motion in knitting and with that comes the possibility of injuries like tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome as well as a stiff neck and pain or numbness in fingers, wrists and elbows. Although this young woman is making lace and not knitting, note the poor posture Note how this more mature woman is holding the knitting up and using her eyes rather than her neck to look down Here are a set of links that address the potential problems one can develop with too many hours of knitting: http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/knitting-daily/knit-on-in-the-new-year-healthfully/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqn4n_1b8M http://knityorkcity.com/2013/11/12/knitting-pains-handle/ https://sfsportspinephysicaltherapy.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/knitting-tips-from-a-physical-therapist/ http://www.knitandtonic.net/knitandtonic/2013/02/and-to-think-i-thought-knitting-yoga

On this Leap Day where it seems so wonderful to have an extra 24 hours, I will give you a glimpse into the journey that took me from this ornament cover to anticipating making this one. Diagonal Peyote Cover There were a few delays and tangents taken during this journey, but it certainly was one I enjoyed. My journey started in November when Tena and I walked into Strung Out on Beads and found those wonderful, gorgeous ornament covers.  They stuck with me for months and Lisa, the shop owner, assured me anyone could make them.  She was right by the way.  I took the course Lisa offered on February 12 and became mesmerized by the process of taking inexpensive beads and creating something simply breath-taking, at least to me.  During the 13 days between the class dates I made 7 covers and a very simple bracelet.  During that part of the journey I exhausted the variations I could imagine.  When I wasn´t knitting or beading, there were a few almost futile searches for somethi

I have been knitting.  Sock #2 of Chili is at the gusset stage; in fact, the gusset is a couple of rows from being done and then it is a few inches or cms from being done.  Hopefully by the end of this week this pair will be ready for distribution. Chili #2 Much more of my time has been spent perfecting the peyote stitch increases and decreases to make this: Jill Wiseman Diagonal Peyote Ornament Cover I reviewed Jill Wiseman´s YouTube video on how to make this a few time and said to myself, well this should be relatively easy and just plunged forward with the pattern.   After all these years on the planet you might think I know myself and my skill set well enough not to make this type of thinking mistake, but you would be dead wrong.  It was much harder to do than it looked. First I started working on this at the end of a day.  My days are not necessarily stressful anymore, but at 9 or 10 pm I should not be starting on something new.  That evening I started over twice.