Lately everything seems topsy-turvy. My calendar tells me it is autumn but the weather is screaming summer and the family is recovering from “winter” colds and I have more flowers blooming now than I did this spring. I am so confused.

This is a variety of hibiscus called the Confederate Rose. I got the plant from my friend Rose so we call it the Rose Rose. I was afraid with all the dry weather that it wouldn’t bloom this year but is has pleasantly surprised me.

I finally made it to the ruffle and bind off for Indigo Ruffles. I have been knitting on this thing for half a century months. I know that part of it is my own fault for deciding to lengthen it. And then there was the problem with the pattern that resulted in my reknitting the first third of the lace panel three times before I realized that the mistake was in the pattern. So it has been a long process. I have been thinking that if I can only get to the ruffle, I would be home free. It’s only 11 rows and then you bind off – simple, right!? Here is the catch. On the last row of the lace, you have between 250 and 300 stitches on the needle, but on the second row of the ruffle you double that number to a whopping 600 stitches. Suddenly, your 11 row ruffle becomes the equivalent of 22 rows. At my knitting pace on this project, it is taking at least 30 minutes per round usually more because the yarn wants to split. And then there is the bind off. I am certain that the designer has a very good reason for using this particular bind off but it is eternal. This silly skirt would be off the needles if I had used EZ’s sewn bind off. For every stitch you bind off, you cast on a new stitch so you are in essence binding off twice as many stitches – or 1200 stitches. I started the bind off yesterday afternoon with the idea that I could get it finished so it could be blocked today. Ha! I still have a least third of the distance of the hem to go – argh. My family is calling it the Bind Off That Never Ends. Someone remind me why I wanted to knit this particular skirt.

Okay I am done whining now. Here are the results of the latest Stash Enhancement. No, I didn’t take the No New Yarn in 2007 Vow.

The first one is Cascade 220 Heathers destined to become Fetching gloves. The photo doesn’t show the color very well. In real life the color is a dark royal with a fuschia and green thread working through it. Quite pretty. I think I have enough yarn to make a matching skinny scarf but that remains to be seen.

This one is Jagger Spun Zephyr laceweight in Sage. The beads are an earthy coppery color with a green overtone. They are for Secret of the Stole for which I have yet to cast on. The first hint was released Friday and I am still not cast on. I was hoping to finish a couple of other projects before I started it but I really need to get started.

This one is my latest sock yarn to try. It is Dream in Color Spring Tickle colorway. I am still deciding if I like the color. It looks different in every light. In one light I adore it and in another, not so much. I have no clue what pattern this yarn will want to be but I am looking forward to seeing how this knits up. Any pattern suggestions??

I am curious to see whether the yarn lives up to its non-pooling, non-patterning promise. I sure hope so. It is very, very soft yarn. At first glance, it looks larger than fingering. I think it might lean more toward the sport size. I haven’t actually compared it to any of my other sock yarn but my gut instinct is telling me it is on the large side of fingering. I will have to remember to pay attention to the gauge on this yarn.