April Roundup

Where did April go? Wow, that was fast.

Let's see what I knit in April:

1. I "fimished" 3 pairs of charity socks. (That typo is what I get for not wearing reading glasses when I proofread.) The red/white/blue pair have been blocked and are now approximately the same size. Next time I'll try to grab all needles of the same size.

2. A somewhat secret project for my new niece. A picture should be coming soon. (It's ready for the mail, so as soon as I think it got there then I can post.)

3. Spring Thaw socks for me. As beautiful as they are, they made me not want to do twisted ribbing for a very long time.

4. Walking in the Maize short socks. For me, again. The real test will be if they can stay on my feet properly when I'm at work. I'll test them out this week.

5. The Lucy bag. It's been felted and dried. Look at the size difference:



I tried to get more pictures, but I guess I need to wait for daytime. I can't tell you how much this design tickles me.

This must've been a "for me" month. That's okay. But I'm ready to do some "for others" next month.

Off work

Today I'm off work. Meaning, my real job, but also I'm not doing a lot at home. The work I've been doing at home consists of laundry and catching up on emails.

For those of you with kids that do sports, you know how challenging it is to have a clean uniform. (Well, that's true for my job too. I guess the statement should read: keeping up with my laundry is a challenge.) This season, DS#2 is playing baseball and soccer, and DD#2 is playing softball. Not only do I have to get the uniform clean, but also the socks. And, the biggest challenge is finding the socks. I need to wash a red PAIR, a green PAIR, and a black PAIR.

I should point out here that DS and DD do help at times, but when it's game day (3 hours countdown), I can't wait for them to get home from school to start the laundry.

In between the laundry, I've been trying to freecycle a bunkbed. Freecycling a great tool to get rid of stuff, especially stuff that's bigger than you want to haul yourself. I'm having trouble today, though, connecting with people who want it and can come when I'm home. I've been contacting them and then hovering around the computer waiting for a reply. It's like waiting for water to boil: it never seems to happpen soon enough.

In between laundry loads (since the washing machine has a shorter cycle than the dryer I could sneak this in), I felted my Lucy bag. It's now drying, but here a picture as the way it was pre-felting.



There is a long strap and a short strap and the long strap is 40" long. I felt (haha) like I was making a whole scarf just to do the one strap.

Then, I thought you'd like to see DS#1's recent craft.



I needed to borrow his car (round robin car problems at our house. Good thing DS is home with an extra car and only allowed to do local driving.) I went to bed before he got home, so he actually made this pompom as a keychain and hung it over his doorknob for me to find the next morning.

Really. He made the pompom just so I could find his key. (He wanted to prove he was paying attention when I showed him how when I made his ski hat pompom a few months ago.)

Well, better get back to my laundry. I have to focus on finishing two loads as a lonely red sock didn't make it into the first one.

At long last

At long last I have a knitting post.

Such as it is.

Here are the socks that I finished in Cincinnati. I had most of one sock done last year before it went into time out. It took maybe 4 days to finish them. (Maybe 3 since I wore them one day before coming home.)

Specifics:
Walking in the Maize pattern
size 1 dpns
Brown Sheep Cotton Fine yarn. (One skein would've just barely done it. Or not. I don't know since I wanted the two toned effect anyway. All I know is that it would've been close.)

I'm not sure I'm going to like them. First, I have to handwash them (which I don't do for hardly any of my other socks.) The result is wrinkly since I can't be bothered to block them nicely.



Second, the cuff doesn't cling to my foot. I've worn them for a day in my Mary Janes and they didn't cause any problems. The test will really be to wear them inside my sneakers at work all day. If they still don't fall down then they should be fine.



However, I have a shirt to match, so I might wear them either way.

Just last night I finished my leaf socks. They're actually called Spring Thaw Socks by Cat Bordhi from Knitter's Magazine Summer 2008. I used size 2 dpns and 2 skeins of KnitPicks Essential Grasshopper Kettle Hand-Dyed sock yarn. I didn't really change any directions. (How could I? The pattern is way too complicated for me to do that.)



I take that back. I was supposed to do another leaf repeat for both sides. (These have mirroring leaves, but the other side has two leaves each.) They were plenty long enough.

Twisted ribbing for the whole pair of socks about killed me, though. And either the yarn was splitty or the ribbing made it extra hard but it was a test in endurance for me.



By the end, I had the leaf pattern memorized and I've gotten comfortable enough with the sewn bindoff that I did that at DS#2's baseball game. (Where he pitched for the first time. One really good inning and one bad. But then he hit an over-the-fence homerun to tie the game and the next kid hit a double and reached home on errors so we won. And he came home with a good feeling.)

This is a toe up sock where the gusset increases are done underneath leading up to the heel.



I haven't wore them yet, but they seem very comfortable (but maybe not in 90 degree weather.)

Having a slight reaction to all that twisted ribbing, I cast on for a quick project on Thursday night.

It looks like a blob, but it will be a felted bag. (A soccer mom asked me what I was going to use it for. I said "because it's cute" which totally doesn't answer the question from her point of view, but totally did from mine (even though it's not grammatically correct). I can find a use for it later--who doesn't need an extra bag--but for now it's just cute.)



I'm using the Lucy bag pattern with Paton's classic wool in grey and pink that I got on clearance. So far only 2 skeins of yarn have been used but I will need a third for the straps.

It's been nice to have some mindless knitting, and nice to have some new socks!

The annual flower show

Here's my annual flowers post. This is the sum of the flowers that grow in my yard. So, Janice, don't be jealous, but enjoy them. They'll only last for a week and then my yard will be back to the drab nothingness.

Pictures are by DD#2, as is becoming a tradition. They've been downsized, but otherwise completely unretouched. She's just that good as a photographer. (Now if only she was that good at cleaning her room!)

The azalea bush has about one more day before it's at its peak. I never trimmed it last year so it's big and bushy.



(We almost got a picture of a big black snake that was in it today. It was shoed from the back yard and it slithered around to the front and climbed into the bush. Good thing DH was home to deal with it, or I might've had to call on my snake-killer neighbor!)





The lilac bush peaked a couple of days ago.










And a little violet was found.

Finished

I'm back from the Ohio adventure. DS was a good patient and is recovering well. I spent way too much time eating and watching TV. However, I didn't seem to knit more than normal which doesn't make sense.

I do have two finished items, though. A pair of socks (that will be shown later after I've had a chance to wash them), and a baby thing.

Here's a bit of a picture of the finished item that I made my new niece. I'll post a better picture after I've mailed it, in case I spoil the surprise. (Hopefully I can mail this one before it gets too small.)


The other thing we brought home is DS's new elbow. Check it out in his new "RoboCop" brace. (Everything's fair game for a blog--but I promised to cut out his head.)



One week down, three more weeks to go and then it comes off. It'll be a year of recovery, but so far, so good.

One lost needle

While I spent yesterday switching back and forth between 3 projects, today was spent with only one. They're the UFO socks that are very short, cotton summer socks. I spent most of the day knitting them at the surgery center where DS had his Tommy John surgery. The surgery went very well and I actually watched it live on a monitor. He has a DVD of it so when he's well enough he can see exactly what was done. It was very weird in an interesting way. OR Very interesting in a weird sort of way. I wasn't sure I wanted to see anything about it, but I guess I'm glad I did. However, I won't be cooking roast beef anytime in the near future. 'Nuf said.

I was shuffled back and forth between the different waiting rooms and at one point I realized I had lost a knitting needle. (A new Knitpicks shiny metal dpn needle.) I asked the nurse if she could go back and look at the last place I'd been.

Excuse me, I know you're taking care of people who've just had operations on their elbow/knee/shoulder and are doing really important work right now, but....could you look for my knitting needle for me?

It was found down the side of the couch. (That would hurt if sat on. I'm glad I didn't just let it go as I was tempted.)

Son doing well, knitting needle found, and lots of knitting time for me. A good day.

Good knitting week

This week should be a good knitting week. I'm away on a trip for 5 days with not much to do but sit around. However, I only brought 3 knitting projects. I'm a bit worried. Will that be enough?

I'm away on a trip with DS#1 for his elbow surgery. (edited to note: I had originally wrote DH#1 which is totally wrong. I only have one Husband while I have 2 Sons. And it's the son with the surgery.) We shared a suitcase since I'll have to manage it by myself on the way back. We were going to use a smaller suitcase, but I really needed to bring a second pair of shoes. You know, the ones that show off my socks. I could've gotten by with just tennis shoes, but that's just not as much fun. (I also needed to fit in a couple of boxes of Pop Tarts and some pumpkin bread. Plus the knitting projects that took the most time to decide on. Also, sharing the suitcase means giving him a small spot for his stuff.)

The main project that I need to finish is for my new niece. It's actually the second project that I've made since the first one got too small while I procrastinated on mailing it. It was really cute, too. But I'll save it and instead make something that might actually be big enough.

The other two projects are both socks. I'm still working on the second sock of the leaf socks and have reached the first leaf. This is my project when I need something to do besides st st.

I also brought a pair of UFO socks that I started last spring.

All three projects have been worked on today. It's a good way to keep the boredom from striking. (For me, not for you. I realize that this is a boring post. Somehow the lack of pictures is throwing me off. That, and the fact that I'm using a laptop with the built-in mouse. It's the minor things that get to me. So, sorry.)

So, we'll see how much I can get done this week.

Nuttin' but socks

Lately, I've been knitting nuttin' but socks.

First, I fimished this pair, which is almost big enough for me.


Red worsted and variegated sock yarn held together, size 7 (or 6?) needles, 36 sts, 36 rows.


Then this pair.



Three colors of worsted knitted using a spiral stripe. Size 4 dpns, 28 sts. (At one point of time, or maybe the whole way through, I mixed in a size 5 needle. See how much bigger the right sock is than the left one? I'm hoping that blocking will fix that problem....)

I then made this pair as I continued to use up my stash. (Though this pair is pushing the edge of acceptable almost into the "just-too-ugly" realm. )



Again, several colors of worsted weight, size 4 dpns (all four of them), 28 sts, 28 rows.)

I stopped with the charity socks and moved on to mine.

My first leaf sock, which is not the real name but I'm still too lazy to look it up, is now complete and the second one is started.



See the leaves spiraliing around the sock? I had to pay enough attention to the knitting that I didn't have to do a massive frogging. Let's see if that'll be true for the second one.

March roundup

(Here's my March roundup that's late as usual. I'll change the date and put it where it belongs in a bit....)

1. I finished a hoodie sweater and then ripped it out and made it longer and with a collar. That plus 2 other sweaters, a pair of socks (done this month), and a vest were mailed en route to Kazakakhstan.

2. We got snow! (Not exactly knitting, but still exciting.)

3. DH and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary. (Ditto).

4. Three more warm gifting sock pairs. They'll be waiting for the next mailing.

5. Hedera socks for me! This is only the second pair I've made for me this winter. As I've been wearing them I've been loving the color but wishing the length was about 4 rows longer.

25 Years

I walked into work today, which is at a retail store, and was greeted by 3-4 co-workers all exclaiming, "Ruth! You got flowers!"

"Are they from my husband?" I asked.

"I don't know, I didn't read the card."

Oh, ok. Good for you. (In this same conversation I also got a "can you work late today?" Back to the real world.)

Well, they were. From my husband. On the occasion of our 25th anniversary of our wedding.

Beautiful flowers.



The real kind that actually smell like roses (and not like the silk kind that we sell that might smell vaguely of dust.)



They sat in the office while I worked and I visited them a couple of times. I felt special all day long (and remembered to bring them home. Yeah, me!)

(And I have to tell this story since DH knew I would. I took a couple of flower pictures but they weren't that great. When DH got home, I asked him to take a photo or two. Two hours and 80 pictures later, he had two pictures for me. Well, he did have 78 more, but I picked two.)

We went out to dinner over the weekend at Red Lobster, which is the same place we've been going to for years and years. (I'm big on tradition. We even found a Red Lobster one year when we were away at one of DS's baseball games.)

I also got a ring. DH wanted to get me a new set, but I didn't want to trade up. I love my originals and they have such sentimental value. The new band matches well and I can wear it to work without worrying about it. (Too much.)




Here we were 25 years ago. (Everybody together now, "Awww, they look so young!")



Twenty-five years ago I never would've been able to predict my life. It's been wonderful and more than I could've imagined. I love him, and am looking forward to the next 25!

Knitting for Others

For this week's knitting for others, I finished my bee socks.



I even walked to the other room, you know, WAY OVER THERE, to look up the mosaic pattern. It's #10: "Chain" from Barbara Walker's Mosaic Knitting done on sz. 4 dpns. The socks are 28 sts 1x1 ribbing, increase to 30 sts and do 3 repeats of "Chain", garter st short row heel and toe with the instep in stripes of garter stitch in the round. Next time I would decrease back down to 28 sts for the instep--the garter st is strechier than the mosaic.

Then, I started a plain pair on sz. 5 dpns, using a wt wt and a sock yarn combined which make them nice and thick and warm.

Hedera

I'm continuing in my quest to catch up on things ("things" mean "knitting things" and not "cleaning things" or "laundry things". Those things will never get caught up.)

Here's a picture of my finished Hedera socks. I didn't make any changes to the pattern. Well, other than that "knitting a yo so that it closes up instead of leaving a hole the entire way thru the pair". Other than that mistake every 4th row on every repeat around, no changes.



The yarn is from Spirit Trail Fiberworks in an almost solid teal. The color is so vibrant and has such depth. The pictures don't quite do it justice.

I love the little details. This pair has a twisted rib that works down into the gusset decreases.



Lovely, even on unblocked socks.

Is it an obsession when I start making socks just to match my shirts?

Socks, just like potato chips

Continuing my recent fixation of knitting little socks (yep, Lynn, just like potato chips), I immediately cast on another pair.

I got this far and all of a sudden, I was done.



Which, of course, is not actually done like a bag of chips gets done, I just got stopped. Not able to knit another stitch on them. Rather weird, but I went with it.

And... I switched over to this sock (Started at some previous time so it's not like I did all this at once. But maybe within the last week.) This time it's for me, and is a Cat Bordhi pattern that not called "Leaf" or "Leaves" but that's what I'll call it right now (the pattern is far, far away in another room, too far for me to walk right now.)



Anyway, it's been a fun knit so far, even if the whole sock is in twisted ribbing which is not my favorite. But, it's pretty.

Then, I had a renewed interest in the little sock so I started a second one.



Size 4 dpns, ww yarn, 28 sts in a 1x1 ribbing, increasing to 30 sts for the mosaic pattern. 3 repeats of mosaic pattern and waiting for the heels. The rest of this pair should go rather quickly.

That is, if I can refrain from casting on for a new pair.

Happenings

First I'd just like to complain a bit. I had to work extra early this morning (7am which is o'dark am for any Irish out there.) Not having time to come home after the bus stop I arrived at work 27 minutes early. Without any knitting. Or a book. (Which wouldn't have been very useful as it was o'dark.) I'm never early. Especially that early. Where are the red lights when you need them? They're out in full force whenever I'm running late. But when I 'm too early? Oh, no. Then it's green all the way. (Maybe for St. Pat's Day?) Okay, I feel better. Complaining is over. Moving on...

Today I'll ignore any catching up that needs to be done and just discuss what's been done in the past couple of days.

I made a pillow.

To be more accurate, I re-covered a pillow. I've had this pillow for more than 20 years and have re-covered it at least 3 times. It's nice and soft and cushy.

I was looking for fabric that would match both of my new slipcovers. One is brown and one is rust. It seemed like I could find some nice decorator fabric that would tie them both together.

What I found is this.




That's right. They're turtles.



Not exactly what I had in mind, but it's cute and it matches and that's what matters.



I've also knitted two pairs of CIC socks. Both are knitted with one strand of rust yarn (sport weight?) and one strand of sock weight. The left pair uses 28 sts and the right uses 32 sts, both on size 5 dpns.



They seem nice and sturdy and warm and are a good way to use up leftover sock yarn.

Once I get going on little socks I can't seem to stop. I might just make another pair or two...

Pressure

When I get an email from a friend, I feel like if I respond right away I can say something short. "Thanks!" or "It was good hearing from you. Gotta run!" or even "great" can do.

However, if I put off responding, then I feel like I need to add a note. What's new in my life (which almost always includes what sports my kids are currently playing or--if I'm talking to a knitter--what I'm currently knitting.)

The longer I put off writing, the more pressure I put on myself to say something worthwhile (or at least wordy).

It's like that with my blog.

If I have something to show, I can usually do it right away without too much effort. Daily progress can be shown easily (as long as there was progress). The more I put it off, though, the more I feel the need to actually have a good picture and a little story.

Sometimes things get put off so much that there's nothing left to say, so before that happens, let me show you this:




A lovely purple shawl, knitted by my friend Janice and mailed to me about a month ago. It's my favorite color and it's warm--just the perfect thing for downstairs. It looks lovely draped over a couple of different chairs.... just waiting for me.

I've finally given up, though, on getting a picture of me wearing it. It's just not going to happen. (Doesn't match my clothes at the moment--especially my green and blue plaid pjs. It's rainy outside so I can't get good outdoor pictures. There's no one around to take the picture. You name the excuse and I've said it.)

But I know that only a knitter knows how much another knitter loves to receive a handknit gift. So, thank you. I love it and will think of you whenever I wear it.

(I may get a picture of me wearing it. But don't hold your breath.)

P.S.

Just a mere 7 days ago we had 11 inches of snow. We had on snowpants and sweatshirts and winter coats and hats and gloves and scarves and boots. We spent 2 days sledding (we means not me) and bundling up. On Weds. morning it was 8 degrees. By the afternoon it was in the 30s. Every day after that it rose at least 10 degrees.

Today we had on t shirts and shorts.

Crazy weather.

Now you see it, now you don't (the hood, that is)

When last you saw my cabled hoodie, it was completed and ready to go. I blocked it and let it dry. Then, as DS#2 owed my one more try on, he tried it on. (But no picture even though I had the camera in my hand).

The next day, the hoodie became this:



I tried reasoning with it, but no matter how much I tried, it just wasn't going to fit a real person.

Of any shape.

The sleeves were nice and long but the body was short and loose. (It was supposed to be a shorter waisted sweater but it just wasn't working right.) The worst part was that the shoulders were too snug for anyone. Especially someone with really long arms and a short waist. Also, the hood was a bit loose so this person had to have a neck like a giraffe.

In the meantime, I used the leftover yarn to make a pair of socks. (Doublestranding Patons Classic Merino Denim Marl with a sock weight light blue yarn. 36 sts, 36 rows.)



They turned out great, but used up the rest of the yarn.

So. Considering that I wanted to make the body longer I had to lose the hood.

The body became 3-4 inches longer and the ribbed collar looks nice. (I did not try it on either child, but I did get it over my head so it should be good. And done. And good and done.)



The sweater and socks were joined with 2 other sweaters and a vest--all that you've seen before but just waiting for a place to go.

And they're going to children in Akkol, Kazakakhstan.




Packed up and in the mail today. Now, to cast on for some socks!

Snow day

Even though neither kid got up for pretend school, it still seems liked Christmas morning.

Wow, snow! Look at that! I'm not sure I've ever seen it this high! (Sad, but it might be true.)



By 10 am the kids had gotten dressed, went sledding down the hill, and were already back inside.

I stayed inside and periodically got called to the door. "Mom, can you fix my hat/glove/boot?"

Snow angels became "I'm so tired I'm going to lie here for a bit".




I know for some parts of the country you've gotten more snow than you could possibly stand. We, however, are quite enthralled with it.



DH is on a business trip (Don't worry, I don't think he's missing out--the snow is coming where he is, too). Sadly, the food readiness fell to me. DH does a good job purchasing the essentials for a snow storm, plus plenty of snacks. I do not. We managed to make Rice Krispie treats (the kind with peanut butter) using Cheerios instead and making a half recipe. We're now down to no sugar and have one egg and no cocoa.

There are no brownies in my immediate future. Or DD's.

Nor is there any interesting food left. (For the kids, anyway. I can always find something.)




Here's a picture of the down part of the hill. You can see faint tire tracks but those most likely are from last night. I don't think anyone has tried going up today. (It's always part of our snowstorm entertainment to see who can make it up the hill on the first try.)



I might try for the up part of the hill later, but that would require putting on my boots and coat. So far I've been content to stay inside (and do a bit of knitting between running to the door, helping with the Cheerio treats and trying to get the snow gear dried. And blogging.)

Sometime, though, we'll have to dig out the cars.

There's plenty of time later. Maybe after a nap.

Chaos ensues

Hello,
This is DD#2 blogging. I just wanted to say hi and be a guest blogger once again. News of the day is that it snowed. And to my surprise, my mom didn't knit at all, or very little. So she may not have many updates for your pleasure, so you should stop reading before she starts talking (just to save time.)

Mmmmm... I think my mom should make me some brownies. :) What do you think? Considering I made brownies for her 2 DAYS IN A ROW, that she should make some. :) The downside to her making brownies is that she makes them late at night so that in the morning there is little to none left (so no one will know.) Since she decides to leave the pan in the sink for a while, it makes it easy to tell who ate all the brownies the night before, all by process of elimination of course.

Well it's about time for my mom to come down stairs with bowls full of sweet snack, and for her to give me "the-eye-brow-look", and make a "GRRR"ing sound at me. TTFN(Ta Ta For Now)


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

Okaaaaaaaaaay.......

I left the computer just long enough to walk a kid up the hill in the snow in the dark ('cause it's snowing and we have a hill and you can come down with a car but it's questionable whether you can get back up and it was a guest that would like to be back at his house for the snow, especially since I have to work tomorrow but probably won't go. See above discussion about the hill.)
Oh, well, then we ate supper and watched a taped "Survivor" and then I washed the dishes (how long has this pot been sitting around?) and made jello.

But then I got right back to the computer and look what happened? Chaos ensues. (Just for that I should tell her that we got another phone call from the school system and the first one was wrong and that you really do have school tomorrow so go ahead and set your alarm clock for 5:30am. That'll teach her.)

She's right, though, in that I haven't knitted much today. However, I have several hours of the day left and it's prime knitting time. (Especially when I send her to bed to make sure she gets up for pretend school tomorrow.)

Here's two more pictures of my cabled hoodie in the completed state.

I grafted the hoodie together at the top, and managed to graft the purl sts correctly too, I think.



Then, since I've been complaining about the quality of my pictures again, DH decided to build me a soft light photo box. Here's a picture he took in there.



The blue on the sweater sure does change from pic to pic, doesn't it? I hadn't blocked the sweater, but I've done so since. If I can get it on DS#2 I'll try for a picture. If not, just consider it done.

Specs:
Cabled Hoodie pattern, free from Coats and Clark (however, I can't seem to bring up the link. But it's there. Somewhere.)
Did a lot of changes. Made the waist 1" longer, but it's still a short waist so it could actually use a couple more inches. Knitted it in the round which made me improvise the underarms and hoodie pickup. Did a cable around the hoodie that looks nice with the rest.
With all the changes, it still fits a real kid (or two) so I think it will be okay.