Has anyone knitted the Malin sweater from Herself's _In the Hebrides_? Gauge is given in non-stockinette, instead over something called "sand stitch" which on the other side is merely (knit 1, seed stitch 1) ribbing. I'm knitting a little more tightly than gauge so I'm making the size up from the one I would have made for myself.
I'm almost 4" into the body and the sweater seems to be running small on the needle. Yes, I should put it onto a string and measure it. Howsomever with luck someone out there has made the sweater and can comment on the sizing.
My make-up Kathmandu came in the mail a couple of days ago. I really ought to finish *that* sweater. Perhaps I'll need to rip Malin, which will give me an excuse to work on Kathmandu...
I'm still spinning froghair for 3-ply for the sweater. The sheep from which this particular wool was shorn has died of heat stroke last week (nine consecutive days over 100f, I'd die too in a 6" wool coat) so what I have is all there is. That's a goodly sum, enough for at least four or five sweaters, but I'll miss this wool when it's gone.
+++++++Following is OT. Feel free to skip.
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We have new neighbors in the rental next door. This is a good thing as I no longer need to do even minimal maintenance on the yard and the owner isn't mooching my cleaning supplies any more while he does make-ready.
The downside is that the new occupants have dogs. This normally wouldn't be a problem, except the *other* dogs with yards bordering the new dogs' yard charge the fence in the morning yapping their fool heads off (bad enough, they're mostly spaniel-based mutts with moderately inoffensive barks) when the "new" dogs are put out for their morning constitutionals.
But.
The new neighbors have two Danes. Fabulous dogs, I've met them, they'll lick a body to death before the thought of baring teeth enters their heads.
But.
Danes have BIG BIG barks. And they tell off their neighbors much the same way teen girls bicker.
So I'm awake at least two hours earlier than I'd like to be.
Eventually the dogs will all figure out the Danes belong there (make it soon, please?) and there will be no more oh-dark-thirty property line squabbles. In the meantime I'm feeling quite sleep-deprived.
School started last week, which compounds our scheduling issues. My son hasn't *quite* got his wake-sleep pattern tweaked back to a bedtime hour that's good for school, so he spent three days dragging a$$. He's always had trouble sleeping, so the occupational therapist recommended us to a Chinese herabalist, who concocted some valerian-free, kava-free bugjuice we're to administer 30 minutes before we'd like the child to be asleep.
Per the herbalist it may take a week to exhibit any effects, and we've got a prescribed bedtime routine to follow as well. Funny how, if necessary, I can swing my entire schedule to that of a third-shift worker in about a week with no chemical or herbal aids, but I'm willing to try most things until they prove themselves useless...
In other animal-related news, it appears as if my mysterious cat donor is at it again. A boy cat that is the spitting image of a black cat that adopted us several years ago has turned up four mornings running on my back patio. He's skinny so I've started feeding him. He's a bit skittish but has obviously been somebody's cat, so I'm working on his trust issues with an eye to stuffing him in a carrier and taking him to the cheap speuter clinic. I need more cats...
+++++++++++++Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...