Calvin | PDXKnitterati

I finished the body/head/beak this afternoon. Behold the spatchcocked chicken!

That bit of orange yarn is where I started picking apart the tail seam. I had crocheted it at night. Dark purple yarn and low light meant I wandered off my straight line. I started picking it out to fix it, and then realized I was picking from the beginning, not the end. Just like knitting, crochet only ravels in one direction (you have to tediously pick in the other direction). So I yanked the whole seam from the other end, and it’s much better now.

Folded in half, you can see that it really is going to be a chicken! I’ve also knit the comb and the wattle, and I’m halfway through the undersection. After that, it’s just seaming and stuffing, and picking an eye color. I now own enough eyes for dozens of chickens; you can’t just buy a couple sets online. But at least I’ll have a range of colors to choose from.

Calvin is looking forward to meeting Aubergina. You can see he’s quite comfortable with Gromit and Wocket, and the korknisse, too. Yes, my little Christmas tree is still up. Up until this week, Calvin had stopped sitting with/knocking over Gromit. But suddenly the tree doesn’t intimidate him any more, so it’s time to take it down!

While you’re busy choosing yarn for the MinervaKAL2020, I thought I’d show you where I am with my Love Note sweater. I had put it on hold while I finished my Noro Minerva sample, but now I have time to get back to it.

I love the better lace definition on US 9 needles, and I’ve gone back to US 10 for the body because I like the floaty quality of the stockinette that way. Yes, I did knit stockinette on the 9 for an inch or so, and didn’t like the way it felt, so there was a little more frogging.

I still don’t really know what my gauge is, but I put it on 2 circulars and tried it on, and it is a much better size than the first one! I know, do as I say, not as I do as far as gauge swatching for sweaters goes. As long as you’re willing to live with the consequences, you can do whatever you want! You could say that my first two attempts at this sweater were giant gauge swatches, themselves.

The first time I tried to get an update picture, Calvin wanted to help. There’s not enough contrast between rug and sweater, but I love this picture anyway. It was his one year anniversary with us, and he has been very charming since day one.

It’s a rainy day here, after a stretch of glorious sunshine. Today’s to do list:

Learn how to use Instagram Stories (don’t laugh; I’ve been resisting
Learn how to use Zoom on my laptop (for singing and knitting?)
Try sewing some masks using this tutorial (haven’t used my sewing machine in a long time, hope it’s in good form!)

What are you doing during this time of social distancing? Let’s flatten that curve!