It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

This was the view out my windshield as I headed to work this morning:


Are we tired of this yet?

Double-size "Tree of Life" Prayer Shawl recipe

Kristi asked for the pattern for the prayer shawl I'm putting together next. It's more of a concept than a pattern at present. Here's what I've got so far:

I'm going to make the prayer shawl in three sections, to make it easier to carry around. I have a friend who is an excellent crocheter, and she's agreed to seam the three panels and add a lacy border around the whole thing.

I'm probably going to use a decent but generic wool blend or acrylic like Simply Soft, Woolease or Vanna's Favorite for cost reasons. I'd love to use one of the gorgeous merinos available at my my favorite alpaca farm & yarn shop, but I'm doing this out of my own pocket so there has to be some limits. Each of the three panels will be about 100 stitches wide, done with two strands of worsted weight held together throughout (for bulk & speed) on about a size 15 needle. The two side panels will be in a basic lace pattern similar to the 9/06 mid-month dishcloth KAL (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MonthlyDishcloths/files/%2A%2AKALs%20-%202006%2A%2A/). The important thing is that it's not boring, doesn't cause a ripple or distort the fabric, and stays more or less in the "growing things" theme.

The center panel will have a strip of the same lace below and above, but will have a center image of a pair of intertwined trees swiped from the "Tree of Life" pattern on lionbrand.com. (Again, I'm hoping the doubled yarn will bulk up the image.)
I may actually swatch and adjust the numbers a bit, since I'm hoping to end up with a shawl big enough to use as a throw - maybe 36" tall by 72" wide. I've talked to the three grown children of the couple, and there will be a point in the service (which will be a surprise to the couple) where the three kids get up and wrap the shawl around their parents, and then participate in the blessing.

That's what I've got just now. Let me know what you think.

Placemats for Dad

So Dad's in his new house now, and I really wanted to send him something to make it feel more like home and less like a furniture showroom. Here's what I came up with:


Dad's table is bigger than mine, so my plan was for six place mats and a table runner. I started out with two 1-lb cones of Peaches & Creme "light blue," a size 11 (or so) circular needle, and a rough idea that I wanted something not too fou-fou. As you can see, they need to be blocked and I ran out of yarn just short of half-way through placemat #5 - but my trust Saukville Wal-Mart special ordered the first two pounds of cotton for me, and still has another pound of the same stuff on their shelf from that order, so they've put my name on it and I can pick it up on my way by on Tuesday. With any luck, it will even be the same dye lot!

Anyway, I'm getting itchy to send the first batch off to Dad so I can get some feedback and the buzz of having gotten them safely into the mail. So I want to crib down the recipe for the placemat, to be sure the last two actually match when I send them off to meet their brothers. Here we go:

Placemats
Hold two strands of yarn together and knit as one throughout.
Cast on 52 stitches
Rows 1-3 (Border): work in seed stitch (k1, p1 for 1 row; p1, k1 the next)
Rows 4-7: work 3 stitches of seed stitch for border, then stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, then switch back to seed stitch for 3 stitch border.
Row 8: work border, knit 2 (yarn over, knit two together, knit 2) until 5 stitches before end of row, knit 2, work border.
Row 9-13: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 14: work border, knit 4 (yarn over, knit two together, knit 2) until 5 stitches before end of row, knit 4, work border.
Row 15-19: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 20: repeat Row 8
Row 21 - 37: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 38: repeat Row 8
Row 39-43: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 44: Repeat Row 14
Row 45-49: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 50: Repeat Row 8
Rows 51-55: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 56-58: work in seed stitch to make final border. Bind off and weave in ends

Table Runner
Hold two strands of yarn together and knit as one throughout.
Cast on 132 stitches.
Rows 1-3 (Border): work in seed stitch (k1, p1 for 1 row; p1, k1 the next)
Rows 4-15: work 3 stitches of seed stitch for border, then stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, then switch back to seed stitch for 3 stitch border.
Row 16: work border, knit 2 (yarn over, knit two together, knit 2) until 5 stitches before end of row, knit 2, work border.
Row 17-21: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 22: work border, knit 4 (yarn over, knit two together, knit 2) until 5 stitches before end of row, knit 4, work border.
Row 23-27: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 28: repeat Row 16
Row 29-40: work border, stockinette stitch to last 3 stitches, work border.
Row 41-43: work in seed stitch to make final border. Bind off and weave in ends.

That's it. Wish me luck on finishing the last two.

Oh, and I finished Austin's new socks. They're MSU Spartan socks, per his request. He says he needs to show them to his Grandpa Deters, who's a UM fan. Maybe I'll get them in the mail this week, too?