I'm still plugging away on Malin and enjoying the Cascade 220. I may look into doing her Grapevine sweater from Stillwater with this yarn, perhaps in a dark red color. Lately all my sweaters seem to be either green or purple so red would be a nice change.



It looks like I'll have enough Santa Fe photos to get us through next week and by then I should have enough progress to show some new knitting photos. Sorry about the lack of fiber content but I have knitting ennui lately. There is actually fiber content in the first photo - there is a weaving gallery there. The second photo is a building near the railyard. There used to be a neat made in NM foods store there in conjunction with the farmer's market held nearby but it looks empty now.

I'm amazed to admit I like some of the sweaters in the fall issue of Knitters as shown online at the Knitting Universe web site - I'm fond of the Elsebeth Lavold vest of course along with Soft Shoulders. That sweater is done in a really gorgeous color.



I got both a Herrschner's Yarn Shoppe and a Webs yarn catalog today. I see that Webs has Cascade 220 for $7 a skein and you get 20% off if you order more than $60 worth. I will have to look at their colors again because I'd love to do another sweater in this yarn.



Santa Fe is a wealth of art galleries. Here's one with some outdoor sculptures for your perusal.

Check out the fun metal gates at this store.



Today I decided to discontinue most of my knitting mailing lists. They take up too much time and I'm sick of receiving emails that have attachments/viruses. The only list I hung onto was Knitting Beyond the Hebrides because the projects these knitters are working on interest me. In general these days I'd rather read blogs than mailing lists. That way I can pick and choose blogs by talented knitters that inspire me to get more knitting done.



With blogs you can really tailor your online time to reading only about knitting projects that interest you and you don't have to read the other stuff. Blogs are better also because you can see what the knitters are up to with photos rather than just reading about it. I'm always curious about what yarns and colors other knitters choose for their projects.



I'll be back Tuesday with more photos of Santa Fe and some actual knitting content. Perhaps the tagboards will be back by then also. I'm such a dreamer...

I ordered some more Norwegian sport weight superwash wool from Elann. I'm going to make THIS Dale of Norway baby cardigan for a pregnant friend along with the matching hat. The baby size uses about 12 different colors one skein each so I ordered all the other colors I didn't already have. I really like the colors this yarn comes in and I should be able to match the original Dale colors pretty well.



I seem to be blocked on the rabbit knitting. I'm going to send them what I have at the end of the month and then take some time off. Okay I'm already taking time off. I could keep pumping out the bunnies & carrots hats but I get the sense they want different stuff. I'll see what they say when I send the two more hats I have.



I've been trying to put it off but I have a serious and full-blown case of knitting ennui. I just can't stand hot weather (and I live in the desert!) and summer sucks the life out of me. It seems like it is getting a bit cooler but I cannot wait until fall is here and I get re-energized.











Santa Fe is full of fun little courtyards and tucked away shops. This courtyard is near the Shed, a very popular inexpensive lunch spot. Apparently our governor took some Korean diplomats there a few months ago for what the newspapers call "green chile diplomacy."

Here's a pretty building - not sure but we think it was possibly a restaurant on a side street off Guadalupe. Santa Fe is rich in some of the best restaurants in the world. I recommend Geronimo on Canyon Road which is mighty pricy but the food is world class. DH said it was the single best meal he ever had in his life.



Back to fiber, I've been really remiss in reading my usual blogs. I miss hearing about everyone else's knitting projects and I hope to get back to them later this week. And I've also been remiss in listing my weekly fiber goals.



My big three goals are - Malin, Trondheim, and CO HRS rabbit-themed knitting.



1. Malin is coming along actually. I probably did 3 inches in the past week on both front and back. Goal for this week - two more inches.



2. Trondheim - what Trondheim? Does anyone know what is going on with Trondheim? I actually touched it once in the knitting basket searching for something else. Does that count? Goal for this week - finish it up past the bottom patterning



3. Rabbit knitting - I have two hats finished and am contemplating starting some slippers. I finished one mitten but am not sure I like them. Goal for this week - another item of any kind.

Architecture and history are great, but let's face it. Santa Fe's raison d'etre is the amazing shopping. Here are some photos of fun places to lighten your wallet.











Once I get past the first pattern repeat on Malin it should speed things up considerably. I am greatly enjoying knitting this, both for the pattern and for the beautiful purple Cascade 220.



Today I received my most beautiful ever knitting gift. Jeanette the 16 year old knitting wunderkind made me a beautiful pair of Norwegian socks from the Folk Socks book in Nature Spun worsted. They are just so gorgeous. I'm very lucky! Thanks again Jeanette.

It's a miracle.



I actually went to the Herrschner's Thursday sale, saw Nature Spun sport weight on sale for $1.99 and didn't buy any. Amazing as that is probably my number 1 most used yarn. (I did buy a bunch there several weeks ago so it isn't like I'm lacking.) Anyway, I may have to see a physician to make sure I'm still normal. And for those of you who know me and my already questionable levels of normalness, stop laughing.



If they continue to have Nature Spun sport weight on sale I may just pick another Dale ski sweater and figure out yarn amounts and buy some. I've always wanted to do Lillehammer but Mt. Rose is another possibility.



Here's a photo of the skyline of Santa Fe so you can see the Sangre de Cristo mountains. And the large adobe building is the Eldorado hotel.

I am suffering from a strange knitting disease - everything I knit seems to take forever for some reason. I worked on one stupid rabbit mitten for about a week (DK weight, pattern I've already done) and I used to finish a pair of fingering weight socks in 3 days. I have no clue why this is happening - I have the same amount of time to knit each day.



I've decided to get back to Malin and forget the HRS knitting for a while. I'm not sure I'm going to do the other rabbit mitten. I need to get motivated here and actually finish a few projects!



Here's a building (I think it is condos) near the railyard and Borders in Santa Fe.

We'll start our Santa Fe travelogue with two photos of the Romanesque-style St. Francis Cathedral. No downtown building may be built higher than the cathedral's bell towers. The cathedral is the mother church for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe which covers all of northern New Mexico including Albuquerque. I'm always amazed they still manage to have services there with all the tourists wandering through at all hours of the day.









Archbishop Lamy completed the church in 1884 and is buried under the sanctuary - he was the subject of Willa Cather's Pulitzer-prize winning novel Death Comes for the Archbishop. St. Francis is the patron saint of Santa Fe and the complete name of the city is the La Villa de la Santa Fe San Francisco de Assisi (Royal City of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi). Since 1610 Santa Fe has been under four different flags: Spain, Mexico, the U.S. Confederacy and the United States.







Enough with the history. For some reason the rabbit mitten is taking forever so I'm not going to make more than 1 pair for the HRS. Next I think I'm going to come up with a pair of bunny slippers. I was thinking of using Cascade 220, doing a simple pair of roll-top socks, and then adding embroidery eyes and some separately knit ears. Oh yes, and a pom pom tail on the heel. Too silly? Does anyone know how well Cascade 220 would hold up for slippers or socks?

Not much going on in the knitting department lately.



I've been having trouble finding enough fiber things to photograph for this blog so this week I'll start showing some photos I took around Santa Fe. It is an intensely visual city that should transcend even my awful photography skills. I hope Snapfish will get the photos online by tomorrow.



To further prove my awfulness at photography, I like to call this one Still Life: Persian Cat with Watermelon.

Today was a wonderful mail day. Stasia kindly sent me the most beautiful bunny stitch markers in memory of Flip. I had been whining about how much I wanted some rabbit stitch markers and Stasia went to the trouble to find the raw materials and then make such a wonderful design. They have blue beads and some terrific silver bunnies at the bottom. I love them and am going to use them for Malin immediately. I will get another disposable camera tomorrow to take a photo so you can all be jealous. Thanks Stasia! Now I have to find something fun to send back to her for her generosity.



I also received my Nature Spun worsted for Na Craga from Herrschners. It is in an unusual color called Meadow Green but it is more of a teal. Actually the color looks completely different in daytime and nighttime. But really when can you buy wool yarn for an Alice Starmore sweater in a size large for under $30 anyway?



I went back to Herrschners today for their new weekly sale like a lemming. When will the madness stop? I have so much yarn and I keep buying it. sigh Well at least I buy it for a specific purpose. I used to just buy yarn because I liked it. I bought some fingering weight Nature Spun to make itty bitty socks for Christmas decorations. The Colorado HRS is having a Bunny Boutique Christmas sale so I wanted to come up with something small they can sell. If you're wondering why I'm in NM knitting for a Colorado rabbit rescue, it is because my sweet rabbit Flip was adopted from them. And they helped me quite a bit with his health problems over the years. I'm glad I can knit for them as a tribute to my very-much-missed black bunny.







Jack the cat wishes I spent less time online buying yarn and missing certain rabbits and more time playing with him. Of course that is a bit difficult with his daily 18 hour naps.

Bunny Mittens

I knit 10 carrots today. Now how often can you really say something like that? I finished two more bunnies & carrots hats and have now decided to try something else. I am making another pair of bunny mittens similar to the ones shown here but this time in Country Garden DK and size 4 needles instead of 3. The ones in the photo are done in Heilo. I will see later if I need to go down a needle size on the hand. I haven't decided what pattern to use on the hand. I also think I need to come up with some sort of a rabbit-related headband in worsted weight yarn.

PRODUCTIVITY



In an effort to become more productive, I am going to start listing my 2-week knitting goals here for my three main goals, similar to how they do it in Productive Spinners. The only reason I'm not joining up there again is that I have no spinning goals, just knitting. But I do feel I'm less productive lately and getting behind with more and more actual projects planned. And you can see how I've suffered dearly from startitis from yesterday's entry.



My 3 knitting goals are:



1. Dale of Norway Trondheim sweater - both sleeves and bottom ribbing are finished. 2 Week Goal - Knit above the bottom colorwork to the dreaded boring plain part.



2. Alice Starmore's Malin from In the Hebrides - both sleeves and up to main pattern on both front and back. 2 Week Goal - 4 more inches on front and back



3. Continue to make items for the rabbit shelter. I'd like about 6 items for them in early September and I currently have 1 1/2. 2 Week Goal - Finish 3 1/2 more items.







Here's another photo of Malin in progress. It really is going to be beautiful and it is a pretty fast knit (size 8 needles) so I hope to finish this soon.

Ginny asked about the Dale of Norway Kashmir sweater. You can purchase the pattern alone at Bea Ellis Knitwear or the entire kit at Allegro Yarns which includes a good photo. If you decide to make it in the Tiur, I recommend purchasing the pattern before getting the actual yarn because there are three colorways and all the colorways are quite similar. You really need to see the actual pattern photo to decide on your colorway. There are also optional beads used in the sweater - I haven't yet decided whether or not to use them.



I have too many projects waiting in the wings. I've put off the Paradoxical Mittens for a while after discovering a mistake I can't live with in the early stages of the mitten and ripping back. My future WIPs include:



1. Lucy Neatby's Paradoxical Mittens

2. The silk/rayon Heartstrings Fiberarts Maple Leaves lace scarf

3. Dale of Norway's Kashmir in Tiur

4. Alice Starmore's Na Craga in Nature Spun

5. Borealis Sweaterscapes' Landscape socks (see photo of patterns below)

6. Two pairs of Sanquhar gloves

7. Cast On Mitered Mittens with handspun yarn

8. Arnhild's Norwegian gloves

9. Norwegian mitten kit from NFA in Istra (I forget the pattern name)

10. Baby sweater

I have to say I still have hope for Interweave Knits. I received my issue on Friday and I still have hope.



I'm especially happy to see the article by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts on intarsia in the round, a technique I'd like to try. The actual design doesn't turn me on but I could make the socks for the learning experience and then give them away. The last IK that had a PGR sock design (the dresser scarf socks) also intrigued me. I like learning new techniques and I learned how to kitchener garter stitch together.



I like the colorwork mittens and hat. The debut of a new column on historical knits by researcher extraordinaire Deborah Pulliam is encouraging. My subscription runs out next issue and at this point I'm aiming to re-subscribe. Because Spin-Off is far and away my favorite knitting magazine, I don't see why Interweave can't do better with IK. So kudos for IK - you are on the right track even if you haven't arrived at the destination yet.









Here's where I am on Trondheim. I practically have to force myself to knit this puppy because I'm having such a bad reaction to the plastic feel of the Emu Superwash DK. But I'm too far gone to stop now and I have the Tiur to make Kashmir waiting in the wings when I finally finish. I've heard such good things about working with Tiur and can't wait to see for myself.