Camp and stuff

Here's my LYS sale purchases. I spent about an hour in the store going back and forth, what to buy....what to buy....


The sock yarn was an easy decision. So was the red fluff. That wasn't even my decision--that's DD#2's yarn--a reward for going with me. As you can see, she's started on a scarf already.


The baby alpaca was my splurge. It's gorgeous yarn, so soft and warm. It's not at all feminine, but I'm still hoping it will make a nice shawl for the winter (or the summer air conditioning!)






We worked madly on the quilts for the past week, and here they are in their completed state.

I've decided that I can never be a quilter--it takes way too much patience. Even this simple pattern: 4" blocks, sewn in strips, and the strips offset so points didn't need to match was too much for me. Both DD's worked on theirs a lot, and DD#1 did almost all of the work herself. Up to the tieing it together that was done late last night, when she pleaded with me to do it until I gave in. She had to have it today to go to a sports camp.

I tried "It's summer! It's HOT! Why do you need a heavy quilt?" But it didn't work. She seems to think that the air conditioning will be enough to need this quilt. Who am I to argue, though, when my thoughts are all about shawls, and scarves, and sweaters, and wool socks?




Off she went this morning armed with her quilt and this pile of flip flops and yarn (yes, we have a red fluff theme going on here.)

This is another project that was supposed to get done, but didn't. (No matter how much pleading was done, I wasn't about to start making fuzzy flip flops at 11:30 at night!)

She plans on doing these in her spare moments.

HA!





Besides quilting, if you can call it that, I've also done a bit of knitting: two soakers and a pair of CIC socks, and dyed some yarn.





Now if only someone would clean my house!

Sale distractions

This arrived at my house late last week.

A sale. A BIG sale. At my LYS.

I had big plans, but they got slightly hampered by this.


This is the beginnings of flannel quilt that will be DD#2's, although DD#1's is coming next. We're doing the simplest of patterns: 4" blocks, sewn in a row, then offset with the next row to hid any uneven-ness.

This quilt, while fun, has been taking up time and money that was to be spent at the sale. (especially money :) I'm hoping to get there soon, with some $$, and in the meantime have been researching my "want-to-make" list for yarn requirements. Never hurts to be prepared.

I've done barely any knitting lately--just a couple of inches on my Saxon braid scarf, which looks just like the last couple of inches, so I'll skip the picture.

While the sewing machine was out, I also fixed the zipper of a pair of shorts of DS#1.

Please mom? They're my favorites!

But honey, you understand that I can never make it look as good. Getting it closed will be the best that you can hope for.

Please, mom?

How can one say no? So I did it. Broke my last good needle, and ended up sewing with a needle used for silk or something fine like that. The eye of the needle was so fine I had to take the needle out of the sewing machine to thread it, then replace it without twisting the thread. All of this was under a time constrant. (Self-imposed. If I put it off, maybe he will forget. Nope.)

Turned out ok....better than expected, actually.

Back to planning for new yarn!

Monster feet!

It's monster feet!


Oh, wait, it's felted clogs, my mistake. The variegated yarn (knit 2 strands together), turned out a nice speckled effect, didn't it?


Can you guess what this is?




scroll down









scroll down








(how annoying is this?)










That's right, it's a short toed socklet, knit from this pattern, the English version.

I've knit the 2nd one also, but now my feet are dirty, so a pic of one will have to do.

DD#1 said, "You're....not...going....to actually...wear that....in PUBLIC......are you?"
DD#2 said, "I can't believe you're actually going to wear that!" (meaning I'm way too old and un-hip.)

Ah....I've found another way to embarass my children!

Didn't get much knitting done over the weekend, but I did go to 2 reunions and do some hiking. I say "hiking" because....I'm a wimp. It was only 2 miles long, but for over half the time it was rocky like this. Can't enjoy the view when you're looking down at every step.

However, I did finish 2 pairs of CIC socks using the 6 Sox KAL pattern: Chutes and Ladders. The teal pair was the white pair from before that I finally dyed. The marroon pair is from gifted yarn. The marroon pair is what I worked on over the weekend. I didn't knit at either reunion, although taking it to my High School Reunion might have calmed me down.


This is my thrift store find for today. A bunch of knitting needles, some plastic that I don't care for, but some metal circulars that I'm really excited about, plus a set of 5 metal sock needles. Not too bad for $1.58!

Updates

I had a whole, long post going, but my mouse double clicked and closed the window--losing a most wonderful entry! (Well, it was really just normal, but you'd never know....)

I hate hearing about a story, but not hearing the ending, so here's the some recent updates (If this is boring to you, then just look at the pics):

My car is fixed and running smoothly. We now have another vehicle in the shop--the third since May! If only they would offer frequent flier miles, like "Fix five times, the sixth is free!" Now THAT is something we could use.

DS#1 has not signed with the White Sox yet, and unless anything dramatic happens he'll go back to college for at least one more year.

DS#2's baseball team won a championship for their coach-pitch division, starting from 8th seed and working their way to the top. He's following in his brother's footsteps. No knitting went with me since it was supposed to be one short game. 6 hours later, we were done. They forgot to mention that IT WAS A TOURNAMENT!!! Good thing the ice cream truck was there--our team would've starved!

I still the Solitaire game "Gaps", winning a dismal 4.8% of the time. Worse than before, but that doesn't stop me from playing. (Or learning from my mistakes.)

I've started the birthday clogs for my personal chauffeur. She requested variegated yarn and I'm using a matching (yes, it really does) yarn for the soles.

It will be interesting how it felts up.

Here's my green silk noil tank, sewn together, re-dyed, and drying. Hopefully this will be it.

The green dye from before didn't "stick", so I redid the dye today using "more" of everything: more vinegar, more soaking, more dye, more heat, more time. And, of course, I overdid the dye so it's not chartreuse anymore, but rather it's closer to a kelly green. It fits okay (I sewed it together first before redyeing. No reason to take the time to redye if it doesn't fit anyway.)

Here's some free 100% wool yarn that I received today. It's from a friend's MIL who was clearing out, and boy was she organized!

It will be great for some charity knitting.

This is a card that lists brand, amount, color, how much is left, what was made from it and what year, and a yarn sample of each color. A little bag contained this card and any yarn labels and had a number that matched the big yarn bag's number. Must've been used to cross reference.

Someday I'll be that organized!!!!

Scarf

I wish I could say that my lack of blogging is just because I've been too busy knitting. But it's not the case. However, I've been working on a couple of things.

Here are CIC slippers. They're fast to do, and use up odd bits of yarn.


Here are my 6 Sox KAL Chutes and Ladders Socks for CIC. They're done with 30 sts on sz 6US needles, with sz 4 for the cuffs. I'm still debating how to dye them.

I've had exciting new accomplishment with these socks--I learned how to cable without a cable needle. It's not nearly as hard as it sounds, and I haven't had any missing/dropped stitches yet. I followed these instructions. They worked fine for me as a leftie, as long as I ignored what way the cables were supposed to be twisted. I mean, I followed the instructions for a right twist cable whenever it said, and ignored the fact that it actually twists left for me. But since the whole thing is backwards anyway, it works.

After practicing awhile on the socks, I was finally ready to start my Saxon Braid Scarf. (This is with my blue, no wait--it's PURPLE! yarn). The first few rows were torture. How many types of 2/2 RPC, 2/1LPC, 4LC are there? I had to look up each stitch, one at a time, before attempting it.

To my surprise, however, it becomes like a rhythm, and I can almost feel what's coming next. (I'll never be without the pattern, though, but it's nice to anticipate what's next on the list.) I also can "almost" do the cables without checking.

I learned two more things while doing this scarf.

1. There's errata for this scarf on the web. I found it on the knittersreview forums, but it may be other places. I would never have thought about errata if it weren't for the knitlist. There are things that I think I ignore, but get lodged in my brain anyway, and for that I'm grateful.

2. I have lifelines--the red pieces of crochet cotton periodically threaded thru the stitches. That way, if I need to rip out, I'll have a place to go back to. Another thank you to the knitlist.

Paper and pencil WERE worthwhile!

Try this test--it must've caught me on a good day. I think I've used up all my IQ for the whole week!

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Exceptional Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

I have a personal chauffeur

I have a personal chauffeur. (And yes, it's spelled right, although I had to start up MS Word to use the spell checker. Nope, the dictionary is way too far away from my computer. At least, I assume it is, I'm not real sure WHERE it is right now...)

As I was saying, I have a personal chauffeur. (I just doubted myself, and MS Word, so I found the dictionary and looked it up.)

Anyway, I have a personal chauffer. She's at my beck and call.

"Can you take this kid there while I take that kid here?"

"Can you go with me here? Or there? Or here and there?"

"Can you pick up this kid? But she will hard to reach, so can you drive around until you find her?"

"Can you pick up my kids from the bus stop, break into my house, let out the dog, keep one kid overnight, take her to her soccer game, lend her socks since she can't find hers (W-A-Y in the bottom of the bookbag)?"

This week, however, it's been all about the car.

"Can you take me today to get my car? It should be fixed by bus time. It's not fixed today, how about tomorrow morning. Not fixed, how about tonight? The original problem came back, so it won't be fixed until Monday. Can you drive me then?"

I've been so obsessed by this car business (10 days and counting!) that I totally forgot to tell her (on my blog),

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Yes, we even had plans, TWICE on her birthday, to get my car. What a friend!!!!!!

I did give her a present: a card for a knitted item. I suggested socks, but I told her she could pick, and she picked felted clogs! I love that felted clogs pattern. Yeah! It's been awhile since I've made them, so I'm quite excited to start them.

The only problem is....what will I now make for Christmas?

Good news/bad news

The good news: I tried out a new technique today, which worked better than I thought.
The bad news: It takes longer to do.

The good news: It's a seaming technique that makes the seams stretchier.
The bad news: It takes more yarn, making the seaming yarn V-E-R-Y long.

The good news: When pulled apart, it looks much better than using the mattress stitch on the inside.
The bad news: It takes longer to do.

The good news: It's not hard, just a sewing together from the outside (is it Kitchnering when it's vertical?)
The bad news: I put off trying it for months (it'll take too long--which it does. :)

The good news: It looks better.
The bad news: I might have to continue doing it, even though IT TAKES LONGER TO DO!


Here's a picture. I know you can still see where it's done, but the point is that it's BETTER!

A good knitting day

Forgot to post these--I love it when I find finished items that I forgot about! Makes me feel like I'm getting something done! They're another pair of basketweave socks for CIC. I had different amounts of orange, but not enough of any one shade. Tried to talk myself into making fraternal socks instead of identical, but couldn't do it. Now I'm glad I took the extra time.


To be daring, I decided to join the 6 Socks Knit-ALong. This month's socks are 2 pair for CIC--how about that? Here's my beginning.

I decided to make them white, then dye them later when a color calls to me. May redo them, however--not caring for the way the ribbing looks. Gonna try to learn cabling without a cable needle, since my toothpick keeps getting stuck on the yarn.

Wound up some more balls of yarn. These are all Cascade 220, and they were full skeins--must've had different tension since some are larger. Got my lampshade going again--this time it spun in the right direction so it didn't keep tightening up the screw on top.


I've had 3 soakers halfway done, waiting for some inspiration to strike me. Here's a glimpse of the first finished one.


It was a good knitting day!

Exciting times are ahead

Here you see 2 finished pieces of my chevron rib tank, using the silk noil that I hand-dyed. I have spared you (forgot to take) all the in-between pictures, especially the 4-5 times I restarted the front. Once I really got going, it was hard to stop and post. I was going on the old wives' tale that if you knit faster, you won't run out of yarn. (I don't think that's actually an old wives' tale, but it sure floats around my head a lot.)

I have enough yarn left over to seam the sides, plus doing a single crochet edging. How about that! I never thought the yarn would actually make it to the end. I kept thinking....if only I was younger, I could make a halter top--that way no upper back was needed. (I wouldn't need to be younger to make it, just to wear it. :)

I really got going on it while listening to the 1st day of the MLB draft over the internet. It was painfully slow--especially the first five rounds where they had to discuss each draft pick in 30 seconds or less before the next pick. After the 1st five rounds they just drafted without discussion, so things picked up.

I was listening for DS's name from 2-3 teams that had expressed an interest. In between I would knit, wander around, and finally I started to cook supper. I had just walked back into the room when I heard his name, being drafted in the 17th round by the White Sox! Not at all the teams I was watching, but I still managed to be in the room at the right time! Here's a link to his stats and a picture.

I don't really know what this means, but exciting times are ahead!

Linguistic Profile

Just had to try this out. This is me. What are you?

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Knitting the silk

Last night I did baseball knitting from a distance. Usually I'm doing it at the actual games, but this game was in Colorado. DS#1 plays for Potomac State College, a Junior College (JUCO) in West Virginia, and their team made it to the JUCO World Series! (Check out this article where he pitched a no-hitter a couple of weeks ago.) His team played for the first time last night, and won 12-6. We were able to listen to the radio over the computer (how odd that sounds), and so this is what I knitted last night. (Check out the previous day's entry to see where I had left off.)


I've been worrying about the yarn running out, and it turns out to be a very real worry. The balls didn't seem really big to make a whole top, especially this Chevron Rib Tank. If you notice from the picture, I've used up the first ball, and the back is only up to the armpits. (I did save the larger ball for the front, though.)

I started thinking about the yardage. When I started, I thought the yardage was 998 yds, plenty to do this pattern. Then I looked at the pattern again--oh, that was the price. Well, 680 yds is still enough since it calls for 600.

But it seems to knit up so quickly. Hmmm.... Well, that's because it's a bulky weight, not worsted like the pattern calls for. So a bulky weight shouldn't need as much yardage since it's thicker. Hmmm...Let's look at the label again.

Arrgghhh! Why did I never notice this before? It's 680 yds PER POUND, and I only have half a pound. That's 340 yds!!!! What'll I do?

A sane person would stop right there, maybe rip out the yarn and find a new project. Not me. I just picked it right back up and continued to knit. Maybe a solution will present itself soon.

I'm even considering stopping the back, putting it on spare needles, and starting on the front--just to see how far I can get. Is that persistance? Or just craziness? (That second ball IS bigger, afterall.)

While we're on the subject of this yarn, what's with all the chaff? I have to stop every now and then just to pick out a piece. I understand how bits of hay/straw/vegetable matter gets caught into a sheep's fleece, but what about the silk? Is the silk worm rolling around the hay before spinning its cocoon?

And finally, here is a picture of me wearing my blue cotton tank (that I crocheted an edge around the neckline/armholes and like much better.)

I asked DH to take this picture, which he very readily complied. After about 10 pics, I commented that it didn't really matter what my face looked like since I was going to crop it off anyway--I just wanted the sweater to look good.

"Oh, you want a picture of the sweater?" he asked. Turns out he thought I just wanted a picture of me, and while I never want pictures of me, in fact I am usually yelling "Don't get me in that picture", he figured he'd seize the opportunity. So he took a few more and I posted one with me AND the sweater, and a promise not to delete the others...

Green?

Finally getting around to working with my silk noil yarn that I got at MDSW. It took a long time to get up the courage to dye it, but finally I took the plunge. Bought a couple new shades of blue Wilton's, did a test piece, set my silk to soak in vinegar water, and loaded up the crockpot with blue dye.

So far, so good, right? Nice and methodical and planned out....

Looked down at my shirt, which was green, dumped out the dye without a second thought, and proceeded to dye the yarn a yellow-green (chartreuse, to be exact.)

Anyone who knows me can attest to how unusual this was. Not the changing-my-mind part, that's pretty usual, it was the wasting-the-whole-pot-of-dye part that's so strange. I didn't even go get some other yarn to dye THAT blue, so as not to waste it (although, since I just thought about it, that would've been a good idea....)

Dyeing and drying silk noil yarn gives off a very distinct odor (with the added aroma of white vinegar) which I don't want to experience again any time soon. Add to that the fact that I dunked my MDSW basket in water to shape it while drying which gave off ANOTHER awful odor, and I almost wished I had a cold.

This yarn took forever to dry, but finally I was ready to wind it into balls. Here's my lampshade all ready to go.

The lampshade worked as a swift, and did a great job. I spun it around while DD#2 operated the ball winder.

Here's what I have done. Well, I've gotten this far about 3 times now, but I think this time's a keeper.

I swatched on bamboo 8's, but couldn't stand the squeakiness, so switched to metal 9's. Much better, but the gauge is off. Now I'm making the smallest size, and the measurements seem to be good for the largest size, so I hope that's good. At least I measured BEFORE I finished, so that's an improvement.

More socks

Blogging two days in a row--just to show that I got these socks done! Continued with the dpns which was nice and relaxing.


Here's another item I worked on over the weekend. I had lots of "waiting room" time, so took this tank and the denim socks with me, and both are finished! It was nice to be able to switch back and forth between projects.

This cotton tank was knit from the repurposed yarn, and I was glad to see that after it was washed and blocked, it's the right size. I skipped the crochet edging, but might put it on after all.

Here's my leftover yarn that will be used for the edging, but there will still be some left over. Hmmm...gotta be something I can do with it!

Practical Jokers

Stupid computer. I've written this post twice now, but can't get it saved. Arggh!
So, I'll try again tomorrow, but in the meantime, fill in the words:
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Here now, are the words to go with the pics, and hopefully they are more interesting than blah, blah, blah.

I had lots of time for sitting around and knitting this weekend, so here's what I worked on. These are cute little
basketweave baby socks knit from Paton's Classic denim marl. The basketweave would show up better using a solid color, but they still worked up nicely, due to a very nice pattern.

I did these using dpns, even though the pattern is for 2 circs.

I decided for my next pair I would try using 2 circs, and also knitting both socks at the same time. Here's as far as I got.

Now, what I want to know is, Is this just one big practical joke that everyone's in on except me? How can this be easier than 2 circs? How???

Now given, I didn't read the directions for this method before diving in, but still, what's with all these curvy pointy things flying around, anyway? Even if I got the tangled yarn mess straightened out, I still would have 2 circs that would never go away.

Not giving up (or rather, giving up quickly but not totally) I decided to try one sock on 2 circs, and here again is how far I got.

Again--why? Why is this easier than dpns? I got the tangled mess straightened out, but those curvy pointy things are still flying around. I mean, I hate when I'm changing needle sizes, say for going from ribbing to stockinette, and have 2 sets of circs for one row. I try to knit the row as fast as possible to get it over with. Why would I want to continue the torture for the whole sock?

So, I transferred the sock to dpns. See how much neater it looks? Just a cute triangle plus an extra one.

This was the way I knit the denim ones, and is the way I will continue with the purple ones. (We won't discuss how many times I dropped one on Friday, or how many people looked up as it clattered to the floor. If I ignore them, then it didn't really happen.)

If it works for me, it works!

Taking the risk

I've been a blogging slacker lately. I mean to post, really I do. But something prevents me from taking the actual picture then actually posting it. (I know, it's called laziness.)

I've been doing a bit of knitting, but first a picture of my lilacs. This was taken one week ago (or maybe two), and represents my favorite yard flower.


I'm actually attempting a sweater for ME! It's a summer tank, so no sleeves, but still it's an accomplishment. This is being knit out of yarn that was a different sweater in the mid-80's. It's a cotton blue/green mix with some white slubs that I think was made by Phildar. I remember buying it in a shop that has long ago ceased to exist. It fit, and I wore it for years, but the short waist, big boxy top was best left in the 80's.

Last summer, I ripped the sweater apart, ready to make Brisa from Knitty.com.

I eliminated some of the lace ladders to allow for more coverage, then proceeded to knit it up. Finished it, tried it on, and yep! too small. Put it away for a whole year, then pulled it out last week. Measured the gauge (only a year too late) and instead of 18 st. per 4" I was getting 21! It took me a WHOLE YEAR to realize that I had never checked gauge. (Where's the picture, you ask? Laziness is the answer.)

Last Thursday I ripped it out, did a gauge swatch, and started again. This time I left out ALL the lace ladders, and am just doing the ribbing. (No need to draw extra attention to my waist, anyway. :)

Here's where I was a couple of days ago.


I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but I have another boo-boo going on. My yarn is nice and kinky and should really be wound into hanks, washed, and hung to dry. Can I make myself do it? No. Am I going to regret it? Most likely. The extra kinkiness might certainly throw off my sizing when I wash it, but I just seem to need to take the risk.

A great day!

This may have been the best Mother's Day ever. Lori and I went to the MD Sheep and Wool Festival, spending 2 nights in a hotel and leaving our 9 (combined) children with our darling husbands. We only had to take care of ourselves, stood in line without any impatient family members, didn't have to spending an hour (or two) packing or looking for lost items. Came home and the families were happy to see us, and even cleaned up a bit! Not only that, but DD#1 baked me a cheesecake! What a day!

Feeling pretty good about my purchases. Didn't do much impulse shopping, but at the same time I got most of what I went there for. Here's a pic of my total stash.


Yarn from the Little Barn. Incredible deals. We waited in the longest line for this purchase--1 hour! It was worth it, though. Got 20 skeins of the white to try an Aran sweater.


Lori informed me that I have 2 of her sock yarns. I wondered why I bought 4 skeins of the same yarn.... (thinking....really big feet?)


Merino wool roving. Going to try my drop spindle again.


Gorgeous merino wool from Morehouse Merino.

Started a soaker in the hotel room!

This basket was my impulse buy. Saw the vendor early in the morning while there was still plenty of baskets, but wasn't sure if I needed one, so decided to wait to see if I had money left over. For the next several hours I would see people walking past with these until finally I succumbed. Went back to the building but couldn't find the vendor since he was constantly sold out. Finally, new supplies were brought in and we were like vultures diving over the baskets.

There's also some natural merino and a set of Crystal Place bamboo circs. Also got a hank of silk noil that I'll show once I dye it.

And again I say....it was a great day!!!

4 days and counting

MD Sheep and Wool Festival is 4 days away!

There's going to be a drop box for Children In Common items, so I've been trying to finish up a few.

Here's some pics (minus the caregiver shawl, of which I promised I wouldn't post any more pictures.)

The puppy puppet's pattern (say that ten times fast) came from here. There's actually more than one size that I didn't notice until I was done with the larger (obviously, I don't read thru the entire pattern before beginning. :)

The stuffed fish pattern came from here. The version on the left is knit in baby yarn and followed the directions while the one on the right is in worsted weight and had more shaping added. They've been sitting around my house for a couple of months--finally I got around to stuffing them.

I've also discovered this Orphans for Orphans sweater pattern that is a bunch of fun to knit.

This one used Cascade 220, and can easily be adapted for small balls of yarn.


This used Naturespun sport weight that was doubled, and yes, I ran out of yarn! The middle panel is knit first, and was fun to try a banana tree motif from my "Knitting on the Edge" book by Nicky Epstein. It was harder than I thought to find a motif to fit. The first one I tried had yo's, which left really pretty HOLES in the sweater. NOT a good idea for warmth!

Here's a close up. (Please don't find any mistakes!)


I also dyed several shades of orange yarn today.


Wait! What do you see? Yes! That's a pair of rubber gloves!!! Only took me 2 years and 99 cents to get them!