Chat Back for June 7

Answering questions from comments and email.

Dani asked . . .

Hey, did i miss you modeling the She Said sweater? I love that bright purple & would love to see it modeled .... of course, with how hot is right now, I'm sure you want to wait..

Thanks for providing a ready made excuse for me. Truth is we've just been busy doing other things, even on the cooler days. The day we took Lilac Mist pictures, it was too hot and humid to even think about putting on heavy wool.

DH and I both know there need to be pictures before the project is officially complete. The sweater is done - really done with all the seams sewn and all the ends woven in. There will be modeled pictures eventually.


Pattern: She Said Aran by Barbara Venishnick in Knitters Winter 1999, #57

Yarn: Cascade 220, 100% wool worsted weight

Color: 7808 Violet

Needles: Options #5

Gauge: 28 stitches/29.5 rows in 4 inches on lower sweater. 26 stitches/33 rows in 4 inches for upper sweater.

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Jenny Raye asked . . .

What kind of feathers are those lining the tree swallow's nest? They look huge!

Thanks for the question - a good excuse to post an update picture. This was taken today and you can see the hatchlings are not naked anymore, but still very well behaved when the nest box is opened.

In just a few days I won't be able to open the nest box for fear they'll jump out before their time.

The feathers are probably chicken feathers. The nest box is only 5 or 6 inches wide, so the feathers aren't as large as they appear.

Studies have proven that the number of white feathers in a Tree Swallow nest is directly proportional to the number of successful fledglings. Makes sense. The feathers are great insulation for the naked hatchlings.

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Christy H asked . . .

Do you have Birds of Michigan by Stan Tekiela? It is a smallish red book but very helpful for our state.

I've seen the Tekiela book. It's very nice, but I don't own it.

These two twenty-five year old books, Kitchen Table Bird Book and Coat Pocket Bird Book, are my favorites. They only have birds of the Great Lakes Region which greatly simplifies identification.

The Kitchen Table Book is birds one might see out their window. The Coat Pocket Book is birds once might see out in nature.


The birds are arranged by size. If I see a bird about the size of a Robin, I can go to the Robin page and flip forward and back until I find it.

The paintings are wonderful and full of detail, as is the text.

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Snowbird asked . . .

What's next on the needles?

I've never been one to collect a large stash, so I'm a little concerned about the growing pile of yarn I'm accumulating as tempted by Elann Sample Skeins.

There's yarn for four more short sleeve summer sweaters sitting in the back room. One bolero is started, another sweater is swatched, and Mom's birthday socks need to be finished in the next week.

Blog post with detailed report coming soon.