Saturday, March 31, 2007

CIC box

You have seen all these items before, but I thought I'd show them altogether before mailing them off.



These were fun knits for Children In Common. The deadline for big kids sweaters and socks was today--think I was cutting it close?

Thursday, March 29, 2007

New socks and CIC vest

The socks are done. It's a good thing, too, since I'm totally out of socks and need to do laundry in the worst way. It's gotten to the point of "Which really dirty jeans should I wear today?" and... "Which ones are the loosest?"



My kids saw them and gave the helpful comment, "don't you already have ones like that?"

NO, they're totally different! See?



(My old ones, in fact the second pair of socks I've ever made, are on the right.)

My CIC vest is also done. And huge. But done. Since it's for a big kid, I'm assuming the big kid will be as big as me, since it fits me pretty well.



The pattern is What's in my Pocket Vest using size 8 (kid size) with bulky White Buffalo yarn and size 15 needles which results in a size large in ladies (medium in mens).

The teal at the top is called a design element. That's a fancy term for "I ran out of yarn right before the bind off, so I hope this looks good.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Weekend results

The last time I posted, I asked: "I'm thinking about taking 4 projects. Is that too much?"

The answer is: Yes.

First, let me say that while my plans were organized, the execution was lacking. I knit the blue stripes on my CIC vest to avoid taking the blue with me, but after that I fell asleep. Therefore, I didn't start the second vest or the other pair of socks. That was okay, though, since I didn't need them.

I forgot that we were travelling on local roads the whole trip, so no interstate driving. While I have (for the most part) mastered my motion sickness on super highways, I have not done so on windy Virginia roads. The car project selected was to be the CIC vest. A few rows were knitted in the car, but the rest were done at the hotel.



I thought about bringing it to the games, but it became monstrous. So it seems, anyway. At least big enough for me (which is still small enough, but after the other items I've been making, it seems huge.)

It was a good thing it didn't go in with me, since the stadium was really crowded, so not much elbow room. I did take my sock, though, even though I had to turn the finish the heel and the gusset. (They were on my to-do list the last night before I fell asleep.)



I managed okay with the hard stuff, and knit away on the foot.

Baseball notes: The game went really well and we won--the only one of the series. DS pitched 5 innings and came out due to pitch count. As an added bonus, his high school baseball team (30 of them!) came for the weekend. (They do a trip like that once a year, and chose this game in hopes of seeing my son. And they did!)

Click on the photo to see some more pictures:

#31 garcia 01

Here's a better picture of the sock. Almost done!



Side note: Bought a skein of yarn on the way home.



DH wondered what I was going to do with only one skein. He was not implying not to get any, he was implying to get more! He's a keeper!

Friday, March 23, 2007

Planning a trip

This weekend we're going to see DS#1 play baseball in Virginia. There's lots to do to get ready, even for an overnight.

DH's jobs are to print the maps, charge the camera batteries, and buy the snacks.

My jobs are to do the laundry, line up the wonderful dog sitter, and hustle the kids along.

"Do it now. Really--now. Right now, not later." That kind of thing.

But also, I have to plan my knitting projects.

We were orginally going to see only one game, but now we can make it for two.

This requires some thought.

It has to be easy enough that I can mostly knit without looking, that I won't be done before the game is over, and that I won't run out of yarn.

I'm thinking about taking 4 projects. Is that too much? There's 3-4 hours driving time each way, and two 3 hour baseball games. That adds up to 12-14 hours of knitting time. While some of it will be biting-my-nails time and some will be sleeping time and some will be eating time, that still leaves plenty of knitting time.

Here's my four projects:

This is a CIC vest out of bulky (6 ply) White Buffalo yarn. I'm going through the yarn at an alarming rate, so will need some stripes to stretch out the orange. This yarn is easy to rip, so not the best at the ballpark, but may be okay for the car.




This is my second sock of the pair for me. I'm at the heel, so if I can get as far as starting the gusset I can do this either at the car or the field.




This is tapestry wool that was forgotten about until I looked through my acrylic stash. I balled it up and it's planned for a CIC vest. I've made a couple out of this yarn before. If I remember correctly, I need most of 4 skeins of yarn to complete the vest. Again, stripes will be necessary.




I might also do another pair of CIC socks. (Do you sense a theme? The deadline for the big kids challenge is March 31st, and I'm hoping to get something else done.) These need to be cast on before leaving, though, as I don't do well at that in the car.



I'd better get knitting. And finish the laundry.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

I dare you

Just to prove I'm not above showing an ugly picture or two, here's my ugly afghan.



It's folded in half, so the stripes actually run vertically. (Or it's a very BIG blanket).

Somebody say it's not ugly. I dare you.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

How not to get rid of acrylic yarn

A couple of weeks ago a person posted on Freecycle looking for worsted weight yarn.

Good opportunity, I thought, to get rid of most of my acrylic yarn (which is what she wanted). It was for a charity group making infant hats and adult slippers to be sent to a hospital in South America. Even better, I thought.

So....I dragged out my container of acrylic yarn. In it are many skeins, plus several unfinished projects.

Unfortunately, I did it when DD#2 was around.

Once she found out what I was doing, she completely nixed my plans.

"Don't throw that away," she said about the r....e.....a....l.....l....y ugly half-finished afghan. (it's so ugly that I'm not even linking to a previous post about it.)

"You can make another strip blanket out of that," she said. (err....I think I said that. Ok, so I'm not good at throwing away either. Plus, it was purple, so you can understand my problem. I love purple.)

"Finish that for a doll blanket for me," she said.

Alright, I suppose so.

So that's what I've been doing, and tonight it's done.

Granny Squares with teeny tiny crochet.



Compare it to this worsted weight square. What was I thinking when I started this?



I just crocheted from the yellow to the outside, though.



Now it's done.

This is proof of how not to get rid of acrylic yarn. (I might still throw away that really ugly afghan, though. I just won't do it when DD is around.)

Time to knit some wool socks.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Knitting!

Check out my newest CIC sweater which just got finished tonight.



I followed the basic directions from Marguerite's pattern for the 36" size, but knit it plain instead of using the cable pattern.

The yarn:
White Buffalo 3 ply for the brown
WB 6 ply for the yellow that I split in half
Left over Lamb's Pride worsted (double strand) for the red

The needles: Size 10.5 (Because that the only size that I have 5 large dpns.)

I like the stripes, except if I were to do it again I'd make the red 2 rows tall. The sleeves seem short, but when I measure them they're 18". That should be plenty long enough.



I actually bound off the neck edge as the pattern directed, then added the yellow and red rolled collar afterwards. White Buffalo doesn't rip out well, so I just left the bound off stitches.

I'm not sure I'd buy White Buffalo again. (By the way, White Buffalo is the brand, there is no buffalo fiber in the yarn--it's 100% wool.) It rips too easy. Also, I tend to tug at my yarn at times which doesn't work with this yarn. (My teal cardie is also WB, so I'm sure I'll be knitting it again. Just not buying a new supply.) It seems incredibly warm and thick, though, which is the goal, after all.

(As always, the wonders of blocking will completely fix any imperfections in the knitting.) (Hanging on to hope....)

(This is quite a boring post. Congrats on making it to the end!)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Random Tuesday

I've seen "Random Tuesday" on other blogs so thought it would be a good idea for today's post. (It may be Random Wednesday, but today is Tuesday hence the "Tuesday".) (Nothing like explaining the obvious.)

1. Ready-to-eat cheesecake filling that you buy in the grocery store next to the cream cheese is not as good as the real thing, no matter how much I want it to be.

2. Injuring one's shoulder in a mysterious way (meaning "I have no idea how I did it") can be greatly helped by using an Icy Hot patch. (It's like Ben Gay on a huge bandaid.) However, touching the patch, then touching your eye will bring a burning sensation for the rest of the night.

3. Time for a random picture. This is for Project Spectrum: blue and white, but not much grey.




4. DS#2 still allows hugs, but he avoids kisses at all costs. So much so, he gave me a black eye last week with his elbow. And at Christmas time he head-butted my nose. (Neither time on purpose, but it hurt just the same.)

5. Nope, no pictures of my bruise, just another one like this:




5. The Pez containers go back to when DS#1 was little. I collect them when I can and store them together.

6. No gum was found on that last dryer load, just the 2 wrappers. Plus, I lost a sock (never fear--it wasn't handknit.)



7. Even though the stuffed panda Pez is cute, it doesn't seem like a real Pez.

8. The CIC White Buffalo sweater is nearing the end of the first sleeve. (Don't blink or you'll miss the knitting content.)

9. I played basketball (H-O-R-S-E) with the kids and I won!

10. Removing the Icy Hot patch feels just like ripping off a huge bandaid.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Double digits

My youngest turned the big 1-0 today. (When I said that in my mind I said "ten-oh. Wait, that's not right." One-oh just sounds kinda silly.) Anyway, he's ten.

What better way to celebrate a birthday than to have trick candles?



That don't go out.



Until you blow, and blow, and blow, and maybe spit a little.



And the wax melts all over the cake.



Happy Birthday!

---------------------

In case you figure that a knitting blog should talk about knitting, here's my White Buffalo CIC sweater.


Bring on the sleeves!

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Diamond Scarf



Diamond Scarf

Gauge:
US #8 needles and heavy worsted weight 4.5 sts/inch, 6.5 rows/inch
Paton's SWS yarn (70% wool, 30% soy) was used for this scarf.

Abbreviations:
K: Knit
P: Purl
K2tog – Knit 2 stitches together.
yo: Yarn over needle, wrapping from bottom over.

The diamond pattern has been adapted from Nicky Epstein’s book Knitting on the Edge.

Cast on 25 sts. K for 1 row.

Garter stitch for 4 rows doing:
Right side: K2, yo, K2tog, K until 4 from end, K2tog, yo, K2.
Wrong side: Knit.

St st for 6 rows doing:
Right side: K2, yo, K2tog, K until 4 from end, K2tog, yo, K2.
Wrong side: K2, P until 2 from end, K2.

Diamond pattern:
Row 1: K2, yo, K2tog, K 7, K2 tog, yo, K 8, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 2 and all even Rows: K2, P until 2 from end, K2.

Row 3: K2, yo, K2tog, K 6 [K2 tog, yo] 2 times, K 7, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 5 K2, yo, K2tog, K 5 [K2 tog, yo] 3 times, K 6, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 7: K2, yo, K2tog, K 4, [K2 tog, yo] 4 times, K 5, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 9: K2, yo, K2tog K 3, [K2 tog, yo] 5 times, K 4, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 11: K2, yo, K2tog K 2, [K2 tog, yo] 6 times, K 3, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 13: K2, yo, K2tog K 1, [K2 tog, yo] 7 times, K 2, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 15: K2, yo, K2tog K 2, [K2 tog, yo] 6 times, K 3, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 17: K2, yo, K2tog K 3, [K2 tog, yo], 5 times, K 4, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 19: K2, yo, K2tog K 4, [K2 tog, yo] 4 times, K 5, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 21: K2, yo, K2tog K 5, [K2 tog, yo] 3 times, K 6, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 23: K2, yo, K2tog, K 6, [K2 tog, yo], 2 times, K 7, K2tog, yo, K2.
Row 25: K2, yo, K2tog, K 7, K2 tog, yo, K 8, K2tog, yo, K2.

Repeat Diamond pattern until scarf is as long as desired. Work St st pattern (see above) for 6 rows and garter st pattern (see above) for 4 rows. Bind off.

Gum

If you discover a gum wrapper while transferring clothes to the dryer do you:
a) Assume it's just a wrapper and the gum is all gone
b) Remove only the handknit socks from the dryer and dry the rest
c) Shake out every item of clothing.


And if you shake out every item of clothing and don't find any gum, but another gum wrapper floats to the floor, is that enough checking, or should the clothing be shaken again?

Friday, March 09, 2007

Messy

I got nothin'.

Not doing anything interesting.

Not knitting anything interesting.

Well, I'm knitting on my CIC White Buffalo sweater, but haven't made a whole lot of progress. (I'm in the falling-asleep-on-the-couch habit this week.)

To distract you, I thought I'd take this quiz.

The only way I did so well is that I cleaned out my frig and threw everything yesterday.

You Are a Little Messy

You aren't the cleanest person in the world, but you're definitely not a slob.
You clean up when you have the time, but you're realistic about what you can get done.
Generally, you're pretty organized and tidy - though you may have a few hidden messes.
You eventually get around to making things spotless, but you do it on your own schedule!


How did you do?

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Freecycle

First I have to show you what I got this weekend from Freecycle.

For those who don't already know, Freecycle is an organization/group where you can recycle your stuff for free. There are groups all across the country, and even a few other countries (although I don't know about the Netherlands). You join a yahoo group for your area, and then post messages on stuff you have to get rid of, or stuff you want. Check out their website to learn more: Freecycle.

The best part about freecycle is that they come to pick it up! I've gotten rid of a huge exercise machine (too big to fit in my car), a computer and equipment from the 80's (remember the Commodore 64?), a set of bunk beds, and some old Spanish college books from the 50-60's.

So far I have only gotten rid of stuff, but over the weekend I got my first things.

They are 5(!) boxes of dishes (the joy of the offer is that usually they write "must take all", so that the things don't get picked through and only the good stuff goes. All the junk must go too.)

This is what I actually wanted from the set: a large set of Corelle dishes. They were intended for DD#1, but.....they're so nice.....maybe I'll keep them a secret and keep them for myself.



There was also a big set of china dishes. They have a couple of missing plates, and a couple of chips, but hey, it's free!



Then, there's the mixmatched set of glasses.



So, DD gets to sort through and see what she wants, and I can just freecycle the rest.

In case you wonder if I've been doing some knitting, the answer is yes. Here's a new CIC big kid sweater.



It's knit with White Buffalo yarn, using 10.5 needles. I'm sort of using Marguerite's pattern for shaping, but just using plain stockinette stitch. This is the White Buffalo that pulls apart every time someone trips over it, so I thought I'd avoid a stitch pattern to make my life easier.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

update

This is just a quick post to update you on what I'm working on.

As promised, here's a picture of my WUA afghan. (Acrylic yarn, strips knit on the knitting machine, slip stitched together with crochet.) Now I'm painfully sewing in the ends and then I'll be ready for a single crochet border.



Here's my Big kid sweater, done but not blocked. (I folded the bottom under, but it goes on for several more inches.) It's very dense and should keep a kid nice and warm. I'm very happy the way it turned out.



Here's my yarn that I ordered from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions. I ordered it on 2/14/07 and it got here (from the Netherlands) on 3/3/07. Not bad, considering I chose the slowest shipping that said it would take 2-8 weeks. I'm really anxious to start the red on on the left, so I'd better hurry and knit the second sock from before.