Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Hummingbirds and humming through EZ's BSJs

Recently I had the luck of picking up Melissa Bergland-Burnham's Garden Dishcloths to Knit. I've been a fan of her work for awhile. I wonder if she's a Michigan girl (Michigan waterfalls, cherries, etc...) but back to the point. She has a web site at: http://home.earthlink.net/~oscarsdotter/id2.html in case you'd like to see her other patterns-AND A NEW BOOK! AHHHHH...a new quest! hehehehhehe

Last year my parents decided to sell our family cottage at the lake after being 'up north' there for 40 years. Give or take. One of the things my mom loved was to see her hummingbirds from her front bay window. I easily suspect that they were much more calming and satisifying to watch than the time eight tornadoes came flying across the lake. (Not much of a leap there. Right?) They had a place a few cottages down and across the street from my aunt and uncle, too. All four of them are back living in town these days.
Now, growing up in town, I don't remember seeing hummingbirds around. But then being a teenager, I'm sure, scratch that, I know I wasn't watching birds. Robins I do remember, but not hummingbirds. Anyway, after hearing great things about this booklet, I have been looking for it for several months now. And I'm glad it finally showed up...well...ok...I found it. I finished the first of most of the patterns I want to complete from this book for Mom and her sister. I'm only disappointed that today's just not a good day for the MINT green color to show up on the cloth. It looks more olive-leaf green to me. Oh, the towel under it was white, too! Maybe they'll show up better in a couple of days. Grrrrrr...

In other news, BSJ #3 is now off the needles! I can see many, many, many of these sweaters along the way! However, I'm not totally sold on this particular one. Maybe it's the difference between being so happy with the feel of the Hobby Lobby Sweet Delights Prints yarn compared to this one and maybe it's the size (US) 3 (3.25mm) needles that I used. I know I'm very unhappy with the I-chord edging around the bottom and front of the sweater. It's to 'wobbly' for my taste. Picky I have turned out to be. Who'd have guessed?
Here are the stats on this little number:
Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Lion Brand's Babysoft in Twinkle Print
Needles: Addi Turbos in (US)3, (3.25mm) 24" (60cm) length
Gauge: 25 1/2 sts = 4"/10 cm
Chest size: 14 1/4"
Buttons: generic pink buttons for 80cents presale discount from Hanncock's Closing sale. (*sniff, sniff, let's have a moment of silence for the closing...)

Onto things of preemie blankets and hats, baby blankets, hats, and Michigan cherries, cardinals, and birdhouses! Oh, and another baby in my extended family is on the way ... What is in the water these days? I'm not drinking it! I'll knit and celebrate, but I'M.NOT.DRINKING.THE.WATER!