Haapsalu Sall book

Hi there,

This morning I had to sign for a package from Estonia! In it was the long awaited Haapsalu Sall book everyone on the KBTH list has been drooling over. I ordered mine almost exactly 2 weeks ago - so the wait was not as long as I feared. (I ordered it from Hobipunkt.ee - Ms. Helen Idarand was very responsive with answers to email.)

For those of you still waiting for their copy, here are some pictures to tide you over:

Explanation of stitches

My pictures have a blue tint to them, but the book is very elegant looking in beige/off-white tones. Some patterns that caught my eye:

And a few borders: I know what I'll be doing for the next hour(s)!

Take care.

Indiski milestone reached!

Hello,

I just finished both outside borders of the Indiski shawl. Those short rows DO become a bit boring after repeat number x. And I still had to pay attention, because several times I forgot to mark my row and knit pattern rows in the return rows, only to look at the knitted part later and realizing that it didn't look quite right. But it's all good now.

2 outer borders of the Indiski shawl

The inner border should go faster, because there are fewer, but longer rows. I so want this shawl done! My first Orenburg shawl!! WooHoo!!!

Washer trouble, Animation BBQ, Project Update

Our only a year-and-a-half old washer had been acting up for quite a while, and the weekend before last it decided to quit altogether. The earliest customer "service" appointment is two weeks away ... what to do? What to do? (I hate laundromats!) So I remembered that as part of my Y2K preparations (I know, I know!) I bought a cute little Super Wash Pressure Washing Machine ... see:

This is the deluxe model ... it has a drain pipe!!!

I had used it once after I bought it just to try it out, and remembered that it worked very well. So I dragged it out of its (almost) forgotten storage place in the shed and started washing a few loads. It still works fine! I might just keep it around for really small, quickie washs. It's certainly faster than handwashing, even though you still have to spend quite a bit of time rinsing.

My husband decided to do the more manly thing - he threw a bunch of clothes in the bathtub, jumped in and then hand ... er ... footwashed them.

Btw, one of the features advertised for the little Super Wash is that it is suitable for washing delicates and handknits - has anyone ever washed their handknits in one of these? How did it turn out?

Last Sunday (Jul 12th) we went to Crissy Field, because the animation school my husband attends hosted their annual BBQ there. The day started out like this:

A typical San Francisco summer morning

... but once the cloud cover burned off it became really nice and warm. (That by itself is a miracle for San Francisco.)


The audience was treated to live enactments of the "12 Principles of Animation". Here is one:

"Straight Ahead Action" and "Pose by Pose"

Projects:

Olga's Indiski Shawl: 5 repeats of the second outside border done. I really have to pay attention, because the rows are so short! Sometimes I forget to move my chart marker, sometimes I try to do a pattern row on the return row - luckily I'm a firm believer in lifelines!

Caffe Latte Scarf: It's coming along slowly - it's my morning knit while drinking my coffee, so I only knit a few rows (or none) per day - now about 2 feet long.

Since I just had an itch to finish *something* I did this little dishcloth Friday and Saturday evening:

Dishcloth 1 - Diagonals

Take care!