Roomba don't knit

I have a robot! My robot cleans for me while I am at work and if I want it to, it will go on another cleaning mission when I get home.

I bought a iRobot Roomba model 580. It is awesome and I love it (I have no affiliation to iRobot).

Here is Roomba vacuuming around my knit bag.

This is a technology gadget that provides real value to me. The last gadget I bought was a Garmin and I can't say enough good things about it. I was in Orlando at a conference recently and I just happened to leave at the beginning of a fierce thunderstorm. Visibility was just a few yards and I was driving in unfamiliar territory. The Garmin guided me flawlessly through many turns to get to the turnpike. I love my Garmin. It found a brew pub in suburban Chicago when we only knew that the pub had the word Rock in the name.

Back to Roomba. It really works just like the web site says. You can guide it around your house, deny it entry to areas, or just turn it on and let it go. It goes under couches, tables, beds, chairs. Who knew there was so much cat fur under my couch? Ewh! But Roomba doesn't care. It doesn't judge me for not vacuuming under my couch for a year. It just does its job and then goes home to its little pod to recharge. Thank you, Roomba.

Ridged Rib Washcloth

I completed the Ridged Rib Washcloth while I was on my vacation to Michigan and Ohio. I was in the Detroit area to visit my mom and siblings and then I was in Ohio to visit old friends. The friends aren't old - but our friendship is.

I wish I would have taken a few pictures of the Ohio ladies knitting to show you. This is a very strong and wonderful group of women who gather almost weekly to knit and socialize. I am most envious of their camaraderie. I soak in the friendship while I am visiting. I so much enjoy and appreciate Joanie, Kit, Shirley, Vickie, Toni, and my 2 best buds Dianna and Kay.

These are very special ladies who contribute to the collective in their own wonderful ways.

And not to slight my 85-year-old mom - she learned to knit after a slight stroke a few years ago. She could no longer crochet so she decided to learn to knit. My mom is an exceptional woman who is independent, strong, determined, and full of the spirit of life and God. I aspire to be as nice a person as my mom is. I'll probably not make it cause I'm kind of cantankerous.

Anyway, the washcloth pattern is the Ridged Rib from the Harmony Guide: Knit and Purl. The yarn is Euroflax linen. I made up the washcloth pattern by casting on 77 stitches, knitting the first 5 rows in garter, knitting the 4 row repeat for the ridged rib until I thought it was big enough, and ending with another 5 rows of knit stitch.

It turned out great.

Progress report

I have 3 projects going now.
The Rambling Rows afghan is a little over half done. It's my go-to project when I'm tired or just have a few minutes. It doesn't take much thinking and is soothingly repetitive.

The Ridged Rib Washcloth is about 1/4 complete. I'm using Euroflax and a pattern from the Harmony Guide: Knit and Purl. I love the Harmony Guides. The pictures are great and they provide inspiration when I want to try something different.

And finally, I am knitting the Henry scarf from Knitty.com. This is a very unusual (for me) pattern that makes a woven kind of knit. It is knit along the length instead of top to bottom so I really have more done than it looks. The stitch pattern seems complicated but it really isn't. And I got to try a new cast on with waste yarn.

Practical knitting

How can knitting something that you will use for work make you feel better? That's what happened to me when I was in a knitting slump a couple of weeks ago.

I knitted 2 dishcloths - one just a big mitered square, the second 4 small mitered squares hooked together.

I feel kind of silly telling you that I enjoyed making the dishcloths. But it was very relaxing. No pressure to make anything that fit. No pressure to make anything big or fancy. Just practical, satifying knitting.