It’s been lonely here at String.  So few posts over such a long period of time.  I apologize for that.  Life has been hectic, with work deadlines, the close of Younger Daughter’s school year, and house projects just getting under way.

For a start, here’s Younger Daughter, decked out for Junior Prom.

No copycat column dress for her, she took inspiration from decades past, and found a bargain repro-1950s dress on line. Much child/parent conspiring took place to round out the outfit. The rhinestones for example are excavated from my jewelry box, and ultimately belonged to my grandmother and great-aunt. Younger Daughter looked great, and had a wonderful time.   And not a bit of envy for dance-able comfort from some of her more elaborately dressed peers.

On the Trifles sampler, I ran into a roadblock.  I tried drafting and tracing meshed gears, which I intend to use as a background, filling each one with a different counted blackwork-style filling.  But I wasn’t finding a great amount of success.  So I caved in and bought a plastic stencil.  I’ll use selected bits of it, tracing the precision cut cams onto the cloth and tiling the thing where needed (it’s calculated to do that!).  More on this once I get going.

I’m also working on a two-person knit-along with Friend Kim – a mesh-knit three-quarter sleeve pullover from a Kate Bellando pattern.  I think we’re both at about the same mid-sleeve point:

For the record, we’re both using SMC Select Reflect, a light DK/heavy sport yarn in rayon/cotton blend.  I can say that both of us have had extreme problems making gauge and have had to adjust needle size and move down in selected garment size to compensate.

And I’ve done a ton of socks as I noodled out the various problems and challenges, above.  This pair was knit up from a hand-painted sock blank – Plymouth Happy Choices, in the Fiesta color. 

In essence, a sock blank is a long scarf-like machine knitted strip that a dyer then paints with her or his chosen colors.  When the scarf is unraveled for use, its patterns knit up in unexpected ways.  I knit mine straight from the blank rather than re-winding, working my standard figure-8 toe, short-rowed heel sock.  The crinkle made no difference in the finished product, and the convenience of working from something that wouldn’t escape and skitter down six rows was perfect for airplane knitting.  The lace pattern on the ankle is from Walker’s fourth treasury.

And on larger, family projects – we start to consider redoing our kitchen.  The floor tiles are worn past their surface color, the cabinets and countertops are sagging beyond simple repair or re-use, and the layout/look is inefficient and dated.  The room was spruced up around 1980, as a peace offering between the warring couple that sold the house to us.  I have detested the shell pink/mint green/faux Colonial cabinet combo from the day we moved in.  Before pix in next post, for sure. Ten years is enough, and it’s time!