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.

February Roundup

Hmmm.... February....the shortest month....

Let's see what I got done.

1. DS#1 ski hat using fair isle. It was worn once on a skiing trip and then left here when he went back to Florida. (Didn't he want to carry it around with him for sentimental value?)

Ummm.... I guess that's it. You've seen pictures of lots of other things but no other completed projects. I'll have to start finishing some things in March.

A picture is worth a thousand words

ARRRRGGGH!

All I asked you to do....

I wasn't making you clean the bathrooms.

Nor did I call up your teachers and ask for an extra project or two.

We didn't visit the dentist and have 3 extra fillings, just for the fun of it.

I didn't even make you eat liver and onions. Or chocolate covered caterpillars.

All I asked you to do was try on a wool sweater.



And it was just try on, not wear to school or out in public. It's not for you, and you don't have to like it.

I even promised not to take a picture of you in it.

But you'd think I was trying to hang you upside down by your toenails by the amount of complaining you did.

And you means "both of you", DS and DD, who did equal complaining.

"It itches, get it off!" you said of the Patons Classic Merino, in my opinion a very soft wool.

Or, "it's not my turn, it's his turn!" (Which was also wrong as his turn occurred while you were sleeping.)

The torture is about over, as I think the hood is turning out right this time.

However, the "trying on" is uneven, 2 times to 1. For even amounts of torture, I believe I'm still owed one more try on.

Oh, if only I hadn't promised no pictures.

Stop the presses!

It may be a new record, but for this whole week I've only been knitting on one thing--my cabled hoodie.

Here it is in a really bad picture.



I've changed it from knitting it flat to knitting it in the round, which means that the raglan decreases had to be changed, which is changing the neckline.

Most people would figure it out ahead of time to see if the numbers work out. Me? I'm totally winging it.

Will that mean I'll be frogging it? Very possibly.

Do I care? Somewhat, but not enough to figure it out ahead of time.

Hey, it's just knitting after all.

I had nothing to knit

This is my excuse and I'm sticking with it. I had nothing to knit, so I had to cast on for another project.

Here's my proof:

My fish are multiplying. In fact, I've used up all my right-sized oddballs and am not ready to use a bigger skein of yarn, so I couldn't knit fish.




My Cobblestone pullover has almost run out of yarn. This is sad, considering that I'm a way, far away, from even close to being done. I have more roving to spin more yarn, but it's not done yet. I've started to spin, and have spun about 3 little skeins, but they haven't been washed. So, no knitting on the Cobblestone until the skeins are ready.



I have swatched for my Mirepoix vest. However, I can't even start the grey ribbing yet since I don't have a 24" size 3 circular. (The only reason I can come up with that I don't have one is that when would I even be crazy enough to do a sweater on 3s? Apparently that time has come.)




I made a trip to my LYS to get the 3s. They didn't have any. While there, I picked up two more colors for the fairisle portion of the vest. I should have one main color (in my case, grey) plus 6 contrasting colors that are two shades of 3 colors. I have 5 contrasting colors that are 3 shades of one color and 2 of another. This is giving me anxiety trying to figure out where to use each color. I've colored out a chart on graph paper, but really, the best way is just to knit a bit. I'll try again soon, after I recover from my anxiety. Maybe the two additional colors will make it better. Or maybe I'll save them for baby booties.



To start this vest, I have to wait for my 3s which I've ordered from knitpicks. (A couple of extra items may have jumped into my shopping basket also.)


The Hedera socks are also in progress. This is the second sock, but after doing this much lace in one day, I couldn't do any more. (Take a look at my bent needle--I stepped on it a couple of days ago and bent 2 needles and broke a pair of reading glasses. On the upside of things, I didn't get hurt. Just annoyed. Who leaves my knitting on the floor where anyone can step on them? Oh, that would be me.)



These are my reasons, therefore, that I started a new project. It's a cabled hoodie that'll I'll give away somewhere when I'm done. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the simple stitches that come without too much thinking.



Now I have something to knit.

awwww

Valeria gave me this award. Thanks, Valeria!



The official rules are as follows:
1. Copy the award to your site
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers
4. Link to those on your blog
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

I'm going to have to break the chain 'cause I can't narrow it down to seven. But for all those that blog out there in cyberspace, thanks for keeping me entertained on a daily basis!

Daisies

When DD#2 is not hiding behind the daisies, she's busy taking pictures of them. Here are a few shots.











They were totally unretouched. I'm just amazed at how well she can do. I think I need to enlist her to take all my knitting photos. Think bribery would work?

Knitting?

After my last blog (see below), I walked around my house looking for someone to make me the brownies. DH was hiding from me and DS#2 is away at space camp. (Really! A week at space camp! The house is lonely without him. Plus, there's no one to take out the garbage. We debated on whether to let it pile up for the whole week so he could have a welcome home present on Friday, but decided it would get way too smelly. Actually, that's what I decided. DS#1 thought we should just empty it on whoever gives in first, which I'm sure means me.)

DS#1, when asked if he'd read my blog, "Why would I read your blog?" (It's not as though it was even hard, I left it up on the screen that all he had to do was sit down at the computer and he was bound to notice it.)

Feeling that he was a lost cause, I hunted down DD#2 (my best bet anyway.)

Her answer was "maybe....." and she walked away.

I didn't give up so easily, though, and kept at her the next day until she finally gave in. Ah, persistance and a mother's guilt are wonderful things.

Really, though, if you're going to lick the bowl in plain sight, don't think you can hide behind the bouquet of daisies and think I can't see you.



The brownies were good. (I think they were cooled by now, but just barely.)



Knitting? I did a bit of knitting at DD#2's basketball game. (Which they won, oh by the way, beating the number one team.)(You can't see DD in this picture, so don't even try.)



Most of the time I spent tangling my yarn around my purse.



I'm quite talented to do so much tangling in such a small amount of time.

The shirts were made by DD#2 for us to wear as we cheer at her games. (DD#1 and DS#2 both have them too, but we missed the one photo opportunity when we were all in the same place at the same time.)



I'll try to get the back view once DS#2 gets back from space camp. Have I mentioned that he's at space camp?

Somebody needs to make brownies!!!

If you're reading this and you live at my house,

THIS

MEANS

YOU!!!!!!

I see a swatch on the horizon

I've made two more eBay yarn purchases and now I say "stop!" (At least until I get more money in Paypal.)

These two purchases were bought to be used together in making the Mirepoix Bodice from IK Fall '07. This is my first major colorwork project and I'm a little nervous. Plus, I'll be steeking and I've NEVER done steeking.

These five skeins were bought as a set and will be used for the colorwork. I'm not really sure about the two yellows, but I really like the teals.



Here are 10 skeins of steel grey for the ribbing. (I have enough to do the sleeves, but I'm only going to do a vest.)



I just got the grey a couple of days ago (or maybe yesterday), so I haven't got up the nerve to try them out yet. Next up is winding the first 5 into balls and knitting a swatch. (Yes, I can't skip swatching this time.)

They make a nice table

Are your washer and dryer as multifunctional as mine are?



Twelve pieces of stained molding drying on top. (Notice the clear plastic that's protecting my washer/dryer. I'm not staining them also.) (My arms look okay too. Although, my right arm has been through a good scrubbing and two showers and still shows the stain line from the last coat. Think it's permanent? It'll be okay until summer, but once I start wearing short sleeves again I might mind.)

A load of laundry drying on the bottom. (Anything in the washer was just too risky; the stain needs 6 hours of drying time and we need clean clothes in the morning.)

Is K any better?

Lynn thought the R post was funny. Actually, she thought it was ROTFL, which starts with the letter R. (haha, funny girl.) She wondered if the letter K would be any better. I wondered too, so I started to brainstorm with DD#2 yesterday. We came up with a whole bunch of words like Kandy, and Khocolate, Kanoeing and Kamera. However, other than those made-up words we didn't do so good. I'll try again today.

10 Things I like starting with the letter K:
1. Knitting (it would be sad if I missed this word.)
2. Krispy Kreme doughnuts
3. rice Krispies
4. Knick-Knacks (and my house has way too many of them)
5. Keeping the peace
6. Koala bears
7. Kangaroos
8. Kitchnering (notice the title said "like" and not "love". There's definitely a use for Kitchnering and I can do it without stressing out.)

(Pausing here to ask my family. They came up with Kouch, Kubicle, Kandles, and Kook. Maybe I should do the letter C.)
9. Klondike bar (contributed by DS#2).

(Dinner was ready. Using this as a conversation topic, they further came up with
Kites, Klutz, and
10. Kids. I like my kids!

So, was K any better?

Not really, but it provided some dinner conversation!

The painful letter R

A couple of days ago (okay, several), I read Lynn's blog where she did a meme on the letter B. Deciding I wanted to play, I left her my name and she gave me the letter R.

In the couple of days that's passed (okay, several), I should've been at least thinking about it, but I wasn't.

Anyway, here's 10 things I like all starting with the letter R, as typed by thinking off the top of my head.

1. Remodeling. (Not really, I hate remodeling--at least the process of. I just had to pause here to wipe off the excess stain from my quarter round molding that I totally forgot to do.)

Here we go:

1. The letter R. It's one of my favorite letters of the alphabet, mostly because my name starts with that letter. (Just like my favorite number is 12 which is my birthdate.)

(Another pause...I had washed my hands, but apparently missed a spot. Anyone want to see what color I'm staining?)



2. Rhubarb pie. Yum.

3. Raspberry pop tarts.

4. Ravelry. I especially love the pattern searches to see how real people's stuff turned out and what yarn they used.

5. Reading.

6. Random. I like to be random. A lot.

Wow. I have absolutely no knowledge of any words that I like that start with the letter R. I can list more that I don't like: running, Reno, rutabaga, retching, rebel.

Hold on while I consult my dictionary.

7. Right. I like to be right. And even when I'm wrong, I'm right. (It said so right in the dictionary.)

8. Raggedy Ann. (I got this from searching a recipes website where there's a recipe for Raggedy Ann cookies. Mmmm...) She was one of my favorite dolls growing up and I read all the books.

9. Red. Especially red yarn. I like to keep a skein or two of Cascade 220 on hand--you never know when you need a good red. (I didn't find this in the dictionary, I thought of it all by myself. I even thought about if it was really true until I finally decided that it is.)

Hmmm..... recess (any kid's favorite)....rainbows (I like rainbows, but not enough to make this list)... raindrops, oh, I know....

10. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens....these are a few of my favorite things. (I love the Sound of Music!)

Okay, that was painful, but I finally made it to 10. If you want to try, leave me a comment and I'll give you a letter. (Although, I'd also be interested if you can come up with 10 better R things. But I understand if you don't.)

Ski hat

This morning, I thought I worked half an hour earlier than I actually did, so I thought I'd have enough time to blog.

Which I don't. So... the words will be coming later. In the meantime, feel free to fill in your own story. :)
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I'm back. Continuing on...

I reknit DS#1's ski hat pattern is here after finishing most of it the last time. I wanted to see the sizing and I was so close to being done that I just did one of the earflaps. It was too small so I stuck with my plan, ripped it out, and reknit it on 9s, still going from the top down.

This time it turned out okay, so I made a matching pompom.

DS wanted a really big pompom, so I made a cardboard template, then wound the yarn around 330 times.



I very carefully left a double stranded tail to be used for tying.

The yarn was slid off the cardboard and tied tightly together.



The yarn was then cut apart, including two of the ties. Sigh. Nothing comes easy.



I had two pieces of yarn left, and they seemed sturdy so I used them to sew it on (and didn't even hide the ends 'cause I forgot.)

The verdict? It worked well on the skiing trip. The pompom stayed on and the wool made the hat warm but still breathable.

Changes? The two "pigtails" could be thicker. This time I used 6 strands of yarn that were doubled over and braided. Also, the earflaps could still be thicker. I used garter stitch, but next time I might do it with two strands.




The yarn? All worsted weight on size 9 needles. Hunter green Brown Sheep and white Chaco for the main color work, black Cascade 220 for the diamond colorwork band, the pigtails and the pompom. (I finished this Friday so it counts for a January project.)

(And if any of you is wondering....I made it to work on time.)