Sun Dogs

We had Monday and Tuesday off school because of blowing and drifting snow and frigid temperatures. You'd think that I'd sleep in, but I didn't. One advantage to getting up early is watching the sun rise. Yesterday's was spectacular! I admit, I didn't notice at first. Dave called me to the window to see. I might have missed seeing this if he had left for work on time.

I had read about sun dogs and I've seen pictures before, but until yesterday I had never seen them myself. Aren't they amazing? Dave took the picture for me... it was way too cold and windy for me to be outside!

Increase section with eyelets... unintentional!

I've been doing some knitting. I figured that a little different hand and arm motion might help out with my wrist and elbow, and I was right. This is a Saroyan scarf, pattern by Liz Abinante. You can find it on Ravelry if you're interested. My sister-in-law gave me some yarn for Christmas, and I was very excited, because it appeared that I'd be able to make the scarf with one skein... wrong!

Sometimes I just don't read carefully. I actually needed two skeins, nearly 400 yards, to complete this scarf, but by the time I realized it, I was nearly halfway through knitting it. I decided to only knit three pattern repeats for the center section instead of the ten shown on the pattern, making it a shorter scarf. By the time I finished, I realized that I probably had enough yarn to knit four pattern repeats in the center. Oh, well!

The pattern is divided into three sections. The first section is increasing to the desired depth. Six pattern repeats were used for the sample. Even though I haven't followed a knitting pattern for ages, I thought I remembered everything I needed to know. Oh, how I wish I'd refreshed my memory! About three pattern repeats into the decrease section, I noticed that there was no eyelet next to the leaves. There was on the increase section.

Decrease section without eyelets, as it is supposed to be. Oops! I made a big mistake at the end!

As I neared the end of the scarf, I realized that I wasn't going to have enough stitches to complete the decrease pattern at the end. I know I made a mistake somewhere, I'm just not sure where! The scarf won't go to waste. I have a friend whose daughter loves to dress up. I'm going to offer the scarf to her for dress-up. That way someone will love it, and I won't have to see it! ;-)

Now that I know where I made my mistakes, I've started another. So far, so good! I think this will be my sister-in-law's Christmas present next year. Since she chose the yarn, I'm sure she'll love it!

I'm slowly easing back in to tatting. Yesterday morning I took out my Minitats by Patti Duff. Lelia at Stitches of Life II has been working her way through this book, and she has tatted some beautiful samples! I didn't think I had enough thread left on the shuttle for another motif, so I decided to turn it into a bookmark. I don't think this is especially appealing, but I had fun.

I'm way behind on Jane's T.I.A.S., because I was having trouble with my split rings. As you can see, I did manage three here. They were torturous! I just can't seem to develop the correct rhythm for split rings, and I certainly struggle when picots have to be added, especially when they're on the second half. I'm not giving up yet, but it may be summer before I manage to finish!

Mom's dark green Spinning Wheel is coming along slowly but surely. With any luck, I'll have it to her in time for Valentine's Day!