Friday, July 31, 2009

July roundoup

July, oh July, where did you go?

This lazy month I completed:

3 pairs of rust charity socks for Mittens for Akkol.

4 completed hat/mittens sets for the current CIC challenge.

1 hat of the wrong size for the matching mittens, but will work good for something else.

So, if I count each item separately ( 2 socks look like more than 1 pair), I made 15 items. There, that looks better.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Typing test

62 words

Typingtest



This isn't a very accurate result since it doesn't include any punctuation or numbers (which I have to totally look for). But, it was fun to try.

How did you do?

Friday this and that

Here's a better picture of the last hat and mitten set, complete with a pompom.



Here's my next set of hat and mittens. This is made with White Buffalo unspun 3-ply. I had already made the hat so I just made the matching mitts.



And hated every stitch. I'm much too hard on the yarn and broke it several times on each mitt. DD says they're fine, but I'm still debating.

At church this week, a friend gave me a bag of knitting stuff. (I remember her when she was a wee one, and now she has a wee one of her own!) Anyway, the bag had belonged to her grandmother who had passed away, and when they were cleaning out some things she found this and thought of me.




Inside, along with some needles and yarn, was an almost completed sweater! I'd say it was around a kid's size 8-10 and all that's left to do is the neckband and the side seaming.



I'm pretty sure there's matching yarn, so...I think I'm going to finish it.

Lucy says, "I've got my eye on you!"

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Matching mittens

We got rain here yesterday but not at the amusement park--how about that? The kids had fun, DS threw in rehab for the 1st time in over 3 months, and I unloaded the truck. Just like planned.

I also continued with my mittens obsession.



I've been knitting bulky mittens on size 7 needles using an I-cord thumb that never cuts the yarn. There's still a gusset increase but there's no cutting of the yarn so less ends to hide! I need to try an adult pair to see how they fit on me, but so far I'm really liking them!

Mittens:
Yarn: Bernat Felting natural Wool bulky in the "Happy Bouquet" colorway that I absolutely couldn't get a good picture of. Maybe I can get one outside that won't show so much yellow.
Needles: size 7 dpns
Pattern: 28 stitches, 9 stitches for the thumb, and making it up as I go.

Then I made a hat. And had DD#2 try it on. It fits. And the mittens aren't even close to being big enough. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but trust me, they're a mismatch. (Hat: 80 sts on size 7s that was also tight to knit in the round).



So then, I had to put that one aside and make another hat.



This one is 3x3 ribbing on 8s with 72 sts and the bottom folds up. It's too small for DD, which means it's the right size.



Going through my hat stash, I found all these hats. They've been previously knitted for charity and I think they're just waiting for some matching mittens.



I don't know if I can match all of them, or not, but I'm going to see how far I can get.

Monday, July 20, 2009

And now....on to mittens!

It's going to be an exciting day. DS#1 is on week #14 of his rehab and today he gets to start throwing. Then, the kids are going to an amusement park, where it's not going to rain even if it looks like that. (We need rain, but not today).

What exciting thing am I doing today? I get to unload the truck at work. Woohoo! Well, at least some of us have an interesting day.

In other news, Lucy, the dog who thinks she's a cat, got a haircut.

See?



DD#1 wanted her to have the traditional cocker spaniel cut. While it's cute, it doesn't really cut down on the rolling tumbleweeds of dog fur that we find everywhere.

This is her favorite position on the floor, and she does none of the typical turning around to get there, she just plops on the floor and stays put.



That means she gets stepped on alot as she's always plopped within a few feet of a human.

In knitting news, I've been working on hat and mitten sets for the new CIC challenge.



They're made with Fisherman's wool in the lovely brown shade. I had a pattern for the mittens (that I can't find a link to). Then, I made a matching hat that will hopefully fit the same kid.

I'm so proud of myself: I actually figured out the gauge of the mittens, figured out the sizing of the mitten to see what size the hat should be, and used a hat calculator to see how many stitches to cast on. (I'll look for the links later. No time now as I have to get ready for the aforementioned truck unloading experience.)

I had some previously knitted hats lying around, so I also made a pair of mittens to match this one:



The yarn was Lion Brand's bulky and not worsted like the hat, but the colors match and so do the sizes (I hope).

This is quite fun to do, and it's amazing at how fast the mittens knit up.

In other news, has anyone tried the KenKen puzzles? They're kinda like Sudoku, but have some math involved. I've just discovered them and it might become a new addiction. Check it out here!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Rust socks (and socks!)

Thanks for the complements on DD#2's new smile. She's still very excited and loves her smooth teeth.

Lack of blogging around here lately can be attributed to either
a) I haven't done anything interesting or
b) When I have, I've forgotten to take my camera.

It's kinda nice to have a calm summer. I'm working evenings during the summer to have time to do things with the kids during the daytime.

So far, we've specialized in "sleeping in". And also, "eating junk food". We did have a nice trip to my dad's over the 4th where we went to a family reunion and hung out with family. On our trip, we went to a county fair where the kids experienced what a REAL fair is like, and not like the little one down here. However, I forgot my camera.

Field hockey and softball have been finished up, with a 3 week break before any sports start up again. I've been knitting at all these events, but don't have a lot to show for it. (See the above mentioned "sleeping in" and "eating junk food" that take up the knitting time.)

When last I mentioned knitting, I was working on a coffee bean sock. Well, I finished that sock and finished the matching one. I was on a roll, so I made 2 more pairs.



All socks used Blarney Killowen 4 ply double stranded with size 5 dpns and 36 sts. These are for charity and each pair is a different pattern. (should've made different colored toes as they still look rather similar.)

Coffee bean socks:



Sixth Sense Socks (from the 6 Sox KAL group):



Mossy Ridge Socks (again from the 6 Sox KAL):



This has almost used up my supply of Blarney Killowen 4 ply, so it's time to move on to a different color.

(Gotto go--gonna be late for work. Surprised?)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Abracadabra!

Abracadabra (and $5000 later....)

Now you see them:




And now you don't!