Betsy Meet Icarus

Welcome to the Betsy Ross house, and my just past the halfway mark! Icarus was definitely a sweat. Between the hole, and the running out of yarn, I suffered through my first major panting, wheezing, running out of gas attack. But, all is well, and Icarus is, if I do say so myself, lovely.

For those of you who haven't been to the Betsy Ross House, I suggest you try to run down there before Labor Day because all summer long professional spinners have been doing demonstrations on their wheels in and outside the house (I think inside, I'm not sure). While I have only "virtually" been to the House this summer, I met this woman at Dmitri's after knitting circle one night, who had first been an apprentice spinner, and now is a full-fledged spinner - she invited me to find her in the park, and she would show off her favorite wheel(I think a Lendrum, but it's a bit of a wine haze around my brain from that night). There's still a bit of time left before Labor Day and I head to the Cape, so I may just get down there yet.

Also in the area, as Martha pointed out in a comment to the Guess a Ben post, Ben Franklin's grave site is around the corner - so bring your pennies, make a wish - and toss it on Ben's grave. Yes, we Philadelphians are a strange bunch, throwing pennies on graves and making a wish. The penny is big in Philly - I can't tell you how many penny wishes I made after rubbing the nose of the boar statute in the now closed Strawbridges. The boar never failed me. And, if you're curious to see how pennies are made, you can go a few blocks south and visit the Franklin Mint. There's a quicky walkthrough, self-guided tour, and you can stay and watch pennies being pressed all day long. And, of course, there's the statue of Ben's head, cast in pennies.

And, to make your homage to Ben complete, you can also visit, steps away from the Betsy Ross House, Ben's former residence - well what's left of it. You can look into a gravelike pit and see the original foundation of the house, and of course, there's a museum of Ben memorabilia. It was at this museum that as I child I discovered my love of the telephone. There's a room filled with telephones, and you dial a number, and the next thing you know, a signer of the Declaration of Independence is chatting your ear off, and giving you a little soundbite of history.

So, after the mad dash that was Icarus, and the fact that I have finished four, count 'em 4 projects in 20 days, I decided to slow things down a bit, toss aside my nearly complete niece's cardigan (uch, it's cotton, I just don't want to knit it, I know, I know, there's only a sleeve to go, and I knit the rest in, as my clients would say, like a minute), and resume Eunny Jang's Print o' the Wave Stole, in the oh so yummy Handmaiden Sea Silk.
You can't really tell from this picture how long it is, but it's definitely getting there. I've abandoned any idea of grafting, and have just decided to knit straight through - I'm 24 repeats into the 34 repeat pattern. Then, there's the edging. I'm knitting at the rate of one repeat (12 rows) per hour long t.v. show, so if it rains this weekend, I'm in good shape.
I have a wedding September 9, and I would love to wrap myself in Sea Silk at the Society Hill Hotel.

And after Print o' the Wave? Well, the Koigu Socks are basically done now - I have perhaps 8 decrease rounds left. I'm not a big fan of how the yarn pooled, what I've been calling the lightening bolt, but they are comfy, and will be a treat in front of the t.v. this winter while I have my heart broken by the Eagles again.

Having made an executive decision to finish the stole as opposed to the 90% done caridgan, there's no way I'm going to finish Jaywalkers by the end of August. Which is, frankly, ok, because I'm inclined to rip it out even though I'm already half way through the first heel flap. I making them for someone with a skinny leg/small foot, but I think they're just too small. I'm knitting them, as you may recall, in Anne on zero's. I love the fabric, but I should have cast on for the larger size. Sigh. I think they're coming out. But, that's ok, its not just finishing the race that matters - but how the race was run.

And what's next . . . what will I cast on once the freeze is over, and the race is run . . . THIS!!!!! . Sarcelle, written by Kristen Geraci , co-blogger with Cookie, authoress of Pomatomos, is knit on the bias, much like the Clap, with a charted repeat involving dropped yarnovers and something that goes like this, picking up the dropped yarnovers from below, and knitting into them. Well, I've never done that before - and I can't wait to try it. The original Sarcelle was knit in cobweb weight Filati Orghati Merino Oro, the seemlingly preferred yarn of choice over at See Eunny Knit. While I do want to try this light as a feather stuff, I'm going to go with, what else, Anne - and there are suggestions in the pattern if you choose to pick a laceweight or a fingering weight yarn.

And, of course, not to be forgotten - I'll be casting on in Black Bunny, Knitty D and the City's Black Bunny Hop ... more on that tomorrow!