Five Random Things

Since all I've been knitting is my Katrina Rib sweater, and I'm only a couple of inches further (i.e. no interesting pictures), let me entertain you with five random things.

1. I have a slow, dial-up modem which makes for a very slow internet usage. While waiting for a page to load I do one of the two following things:
a) knit (a good idea)
b) load another page at the same time (bad idea). Why do I think that if the page is loading slowly, that starting another slowly loading page will give me something to do? Well, I guess it does if waiting twice as long is something to do.

Today while blogging I decided to order this t shirt from Cafepress.com.



The description reads: “knit is the mirrored image of purl”

Cool, huh?


2. Whenever I sit down at the computer, the dog has to go out. This happens whether I sit down four times a day, or ten.

3. Sometimes the dog will bark at me if I'm spending too long at the computer and he thinks I need to sit down on the couch. (That is, if he's already been out.)

4. Why is it that if you NEED to eat chocolate, only certain chocoates will satisfy? I'm not really a chocolate connoisseur. (Yes, I did start Word to check the spelling of connoisseur. Thanks for asking.) But....sometimes only certain chocolates will do. My Ghiradelli chocolate chips were not it. I think that's all the chocolate in the house, though. Unless I make brownies. And I still have time.... Well, there's always time for brownies.

5. The younger kids are done with school for the summer. In the first hour of DS#1 being home I heard, "I'm bored. There's nothing to do. I need a friend to play with." Yep, it's going to be a long summer.

Worrisome

I've been working on my Katrina Rib sweater this week. Almost continuously I've been worrying that it'll be too small.

See what I mean?



Worrisome, isn't it? (is that a word, and is that how you spell it?)

I finally got it long enough to be worth trying on, so I put it on some scrap yarn, and I did. (Yea, that sentence has problems. Sometimes I wonder why I write a blog and can anyone even understand what I mean with so many grammar and spelling errors. Sorry, grammar avengers!)

Well, surprisingly enough, it actually fits quite comfortably. (Other than the arms, which I can blame on the scrap yarn stitch holders that I didn't loosen up.) I'm going to continue on. I also have most of two skeins left so there's hope there also.

----------------------
Baseball news:

In case you want some baseball news, DS#1 got drafted today in the 34th round to the Cubs. It's exciting, but at the same time a bit disappointing. It was much lower than he expected this year. He has another year of college to go (with a scholarship), so he has a decision to make.

In the meantime, he's coming home to visit. That means I'll be cleaning his room this weekend. And cooking. maybe I'll do some of that.

Time will tell

I'm nearing the end of this season's baseball knitting. DS#1's season is over--losing in the Regionals this past weekend, and DS#2 will be starting the playoffs next week. However, DS#2 had a game tonight, so this is what I was working on.


It's the Katrina Rib sweater written by Cookie A. I'm using Cascade Sierra that a worsted weight 80% pima cotton, 20% wool blend.

This was started on June 1, so this is how far I've gotten in 5 days. Not bad for me. It's a top down pattern, using 3x3 ribbing, with a section of 2x2 ribbing that travels sideways as the sweater is knit. You can see the sleeve spots that are on scrap yarn. They're patiently waiting for me to finish the body first.

Yes, it really is a deep purple color.

Yes, it does match my folding chair almost exactly.

Yes, I do keep going back to the purple shades.



Not only do I have the ever present fear: "Will I run out of yarn?",

but it's joined by: "I know this is supposed to be stretchy, and I took time to do the gauge, but will it fit?"

Time will tell.

Weekend Update

As promised, I finally got around to posting some finished objects.

Here's my Lillehammer Fair Isle hat. It's made with Cascade 220 on size 5 needles using a free pattern from Cider Moon.



(Background plants provided by DD#1 in the room that holds everything until she moves out.)

Next is the CIC finished vest in U of Miami colors.



While goofing around, I stuck the vest on my head one day. Hey, this looks good as a hat! So I knit one.



This one has a nice big pompom and folds over for....extra warmth?....to look cute? Whatever....

There's also the finished hat that I worked on on the plane ride home. Chaco yarn, size 5 needles, made up eyelet pattern.

(My hats all ended up x-large. Probably because I have a large head and figure that since my head is big, then others must be too.)

Another pair of CIC socks. Had to be creative because.....


drum roll please.....






I ran out of yarn. (You knew that was coming, didn't you?)




This ticker from Ticker Factory is really cute, but it's hard to edit. (And remember my password, but that's another story.)

Then, for moving-out DD#1, a pair of oven mitts (I did an extra green one since I was on a roll). The pink was yarn dyed right before the Jacksonville trip.



See what they did to my needles?



You should've seen my hands!

Hours in a car

We took a trip to Jacksonville, FL and back this weekend. Crazy? Yes, we are.

We went to see DS pitch in the ACC Tournament, which they lost, but we enjoyed going anyway. I'm too tired for a big post, but here are a couple of misc. pictures.

To prove that Miami doesn't have a corner on rain clouds, here's the Jax stadium just before the game.



No rain came down, but the threat was sure there.

I did lots of knitting (pics sometime soon, I promise), but in the meantime, here's a soon-to-be-felted oven mitt:



This was done by inning 4, so I started the second sock of my Horcrux socks.

To my amazement, they were finished tonight:



I had no idea I could get them done so fast. That's what hours in a car will do!

Miami: Day 2 and 3

Day two was DS's game day, but it was just too hot to knit.

The beginnings of a hat:



This is all I got done (and even this I ripped out and made bigger when I got home).

It was so hot I actually used SPF30 sunscreen all day long and avoided my normal burnt face. (I know it's the sun and not the heat that burns the skin. It's just that the heat reminds me to put on the sunscreen. Boy, was I reminded.)

The team had an autograph session afterwards (everything goes more pleasantly after a nice win). Here's DS's cousin (#31) getting his cousin's autograph.



His team was there for a Baseball Buddy program where their names get announced and they got out on the field with Miami's team. His cousin got special recognition for being related to the starting pitcher. He had to think about that for a bit, but decided that was a good thing.

I'm so used to DH taking all the pictures, that I came home without any family pictures. Our system is that I take knitting pictures, and he takes pictures of everything else. That's the way I like it. Sometimes he also takes the knitting pictures if I'm too lazy to bring my camera. But, when I don't bring my DH, the pictures suffer.

The next day we took a tour of his apartment (not as messy as I was expecting--even after he said he had cleaned up). We went to the mall (I found all the items I wanted to get--DS really missed shopping with me, I'm sure. Especially the way we went back to each store a second time.)

Then we toured the campus since I had never been. School wasn't in session, so the campus was empty, but beautiful. It was even more tropical then I was expecting.



Three people said he looks like me. That's more than I've heard in the last four years. (I've always said that the kids all look alike, but nothing like me. DH has strong enough genes that anyone could be the mom.)



I didn't pack any hair gel--normally my hair looks better than that (at least that's my excuse. :)

I did lots of knitting on this trip, including both plane rides. No problems anywhere, not even many second looks. The pictures will have to wait for another day.

You know what that means!

No time to blog tonight, I'm busy dyeing yarn.

You know what that means!

Miami: Day One

I'm back from my trip and slowly starting to blog about it. (I'm distracted a bit by DD#1 who came home today. "Wait, WHEN are you coming home? Tomorrow? Oh, okay. Have a safe trip." How did I not know it was this soon? I thought it was Thursday. It's all good, though.)

When last you heard, I was dyeing green yarn for my trip to Miami over the weekend to see DS#1 play on his home field.

The night before I got to bed around midnight. At 10:00 pm, DH was encouraging me to hit the sack. I couldn't since I wasn't done packing (read: picking out yarn). Then he thought I should put the suitcase in the car that night so I'd have less to do the next morning.

Does anyone other than my husband do this? How can I put the suitcase in the car before I'm entirely ready to go? What if I forget something...then what will I do with it? My excuse of "I need to brush my teeth in the morning" is met by "buy a travel toothbrush". I had him foiled, though, with "I need my contact stuff" since I can't buy a travel set of contacts. (Hard lenses, not exactly cheap.)

He also does this on driving trips. If our departure time is 7:00, he's packing the trunk at 6:15 with the suitcases. Except mine. And mine is the one that fits on the bottom the best. Mine is done at 7:00. (Well, really at 7:05, but who's keeping track?) This makes for a fun first 15 minutes.

Anyway, I digress...

I finished packing around midnight, went to bed, then got up at 3:00 am for my trip. Drove myself to the airport, parked in long term parking, got on the shuttle, got my ticket and got through security all without completely messing up! I've never flown by myself, and only once since 9/11, so this seemed like quite an adventure.

While in the plane I had a panicky thought, "the last time I flew I took Dramamine so I wouldn't throw up." Too late now, though. Fortunately, I didn't seem to need it (until the landing on the way home where I was thinking, "hurry and land, hurry, hurry, hurry...I'm losing it. Which I didn't, but it was close.)

I took size 11 circ knitting needles, and started a kid's vest. No problems with knitting on the plane.

The vest was continued that night at the game. (DS wasn't pitching until the next day.)

Check out the school colors:



I had a knot to unravel since the "dog that thinks he's a cat" got into my yarn. He had taken my yarn down the stairs and was rolling on it before we caught on. (I stayed with my lovely Sister-In-Law and Brother-In-Law while my other Brother-In-Law drove me back and forth to the airport. Everyone shared in taking care of me for the weekend, of which I'm very grateful.)

I had plenty of time to unravel the knot since the game was in a lightning delay. Check out the clouds above the parking garage:



Even with clouds like that we didn't get rained on. I knit for the whole game. Here I'm binding off the shoulder seams. A pencil is a valuable tool to carry around--it operates like a third needle when needed.



We won the game, I finished the vest, DS and I got some cheesecake, and I didn't throw up on the plane.

A good day.

Green

DH checked the crockpot tonight.

"You're not dyeing yarn for tomorrow, are you?"


A look from me.


"Never mind...."

He should know better, right? The night before a trip is when I ALWAYS dye yarn.

Last time it was a maroon/purple color. This time it's green.

Nope, I didn't check my stash to see if I already had that color. I'll do that when I get back.

Weekend baseball knitting

What else do I do on my weekends but baseball and knitting? We listened/watched DS#1's game from the comfort of our air conditioned house, while DS#2's game wasn't hot as much as it was buggy.

This weekend's baseball knitting involved a hat. Surprised?

Not just an ordinary hat, though. I decided to try knitting fair isle by holding one color of yarn in each hand. It was somwhat successful. My hands cramped up from holding the yarn differently, but I could get it going a little bit faster than my "drop one color, pick up the other" method.

The main thing I have to work on is tension. I'm pulling the black too tightly, so the pink puckers.



This is a cool pattern called Lillehammer from Cider Moon. Check out their patterns here.

(Yes, my sons ARE adorable.)

Camera

If you've noticed that I've posted a couple of new photos....you're right. I got a new camera.

It's hard to take a picture of a camera....with the camera....but I think DD#2 succeeded.

Check out the reflective part of my cell phone:



See the camera?

It's nice and small and takes good pictures. I had to immediately sit down and make a cover.



Here it is in the "wrestling porcupine" stage. I'm using leftover sock yarn from Ellen's Halfpint Farm in a stitch that was on "Knitty Gritty" lately. I think it's a faux cable stitch. (What you really see there is the garter stitch bottom.)

Here it is complete (again, the camera is NOT in the bag, just something the approximate size.)(Sorry--I always feel the need to explain the obvious.)



It's about the size of a pack of cards.

CIC box mailed

I mailed a CIC box on Saturday, getting in line about 10 minutes before the post office closed. I had plenty of company, though, as lots of other people were doing the same thing--mailing things before the rates go up on Monday.



This box has 5 toddler vests and 2 pairs of toddler socks.

The exact moment

To my children, so that in future generations you can pinpoint the exact moment that I went crazy, this is it.

Stark raving mad. Crazy.

"Grandma went mad while knitting a sock for the 20 millioneth time and just went right over the edge. We found her twitching and muttering in the corner. Something about stitches and needles and mixing up 2 different patterns in a bad way. That's why all skinny pointed objects have been removed from the house, along with anything closely resembling yarn. Package string, phone cords, cooked spaghetti--these must all be used at your own risk."




It was going so well. I had worked the kinks out of the first sock, and was power knitting through the second sock in an ambitious attempt to get them in the mail tomorrow before the rates go up.

20 rows left to do. 18 rows left to do.

6 rows to do and then the ribbing. How did I do the ribbing, anyway?



Let me look at the last sock.

Arrgggh! The last sock has 66 sts around, while this one HAS ONLY 60!

Stark raving mad--the exact moment.

Finished projects

My guest photographer took these photos also, which I'm just getting around to posting. (Thank you, thank you!)

Here's some finished items:

First, a CIC vest. This was done with one strand WW natural yarn, and 2 strands of sock yarn. (Note to self: this took less than 200 yds. of sock yarn of each color for the smallest size.)



Next, a pair of CIC socks in the chain link pattern from 6SoxKAL. This makes 2 of 28.



Next, a couple of hats for the new CIC challenge to knit for the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.



This was the favorite. (I don't even remember what I did now. It was 1x1 ribbing in the "hey I ran out of yarn" pattern....maybe 80 sts? Enough to fit on a circ.)



The bruise? It's a lovely shade of plum with hints of green. No photo forthcoming.

The hazards of knitting

Today I was at DS#2's baseball game working on my "knit it, rip it, knit it, rip it" sock project. I was in between the rip it and knit it stages where I was picking up stitches. I had sunglasses on, so I didn't want to put on my reading glasses, so I had to pay extra close attention when

WHACK!

I got hit by a foul ball.

I felt just like a player when asked if I was okay:

"Yep, fine." Although, not really....this really hurts!

By the way, where were all the "heads up" calls when the ball comes into the crowd??? Usually that's heard loud and often. This makes me wonder.... do they only say that when kids are close by? Do they consider a lady sitting by herself will be paying attention to the game and not to her knitting?

I now have a nice red, round bruise on my thigh. (There's sometimes advantages to not having a camera----no picture today!)

Next time, if you're at the game....give me a "Heads up"!

Proof we were there

Here's proof that we were at MDSW. (Like all my loot isn't proof enough?)

This is a picture taken by Trish's friend Steve that's on Trish's blog (and that I might have "borrowed". I hope you don't mind, Trish. Check out her blog for more pictures of the day.

Several of us from the KnitTalk group met together to put a face with our names. I missed several other KnitTalkers that were there, but did meet Barbara.

This is Lori from Nova Scotia, her niece, Trish, me, and DD#2. (That's us two all matchy-matchy. The only time it's acceptable is at a sheep festival.)

MDSW Loot

My guest photographer came over today and took some pictures for me. Thanks for keeping my posts from getting too boring. There's truth in the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" especially if I'm trying to describe a color.

Here's what I bought at MDSW yesterday.

First, this is inexpensive 100% wool yarn (read: long line) that will mostly be used for CIC knitting. I bought some of the white 2 years ago and found it to be the most versitile. It can be used as is, or dyed all sorts of different colors.



It's hard to see from the picture, but the other skeins of yarn all coordinate together--interesting variegated shades.

I bought a felted ball that will become a pincushion since my tomato pincushion is in sad shape. (I may have to cut it open--I know there are several needles hiding in the middle.)

Here's my two skeins of sock yarn. Expensive (read: this is for me), but I consider it worthwhile. The top skein is "Socks That Rock" in the Tonalite colorway. Black, grey, white. I've never tried STR before, so this will be fun.



The bottom skein is from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm. I had gotten a purple skein last year and loved my socks so much that I wanted another pair.

As a reward for DD#2 surviving the day (she has a cold/allergies so I gave her a Benedryl which made her sleepy) I bought her some earrings.



Little handmade glass frogs. Just the thing to buy from a sheep festival!

MDSW 2007

Today DD#2 and I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.



It's only one hour and 45 min. from my house. I'm always quite amazed at the people who come from all over.

Got to meet several people from the KnitTalk group: Trish, Barbara, and Lori from Nova Scotia. It was nice to put faces to the names.

I bought some yarn (duh--do ya think?), saw some sheep and a Border Collie demo, ate some ribbon chips (thought they'd be like shaved french fries and they'd be warm, but they were like potato chips and got cold too quickly.) We got out of there before the rain (if there was any rain--there was plenty down here.)

It was packed, as always. Hard to even get to the yarn, let alone take time to decide.

I got everything on my "must have" list, though, so it was a very successful day.

No pictures because....well, you know why. (Not that I'm bitter--stupid robber!) Hoping to have a guest photographer do a photo shoot soon.

Until then, just imagine what I bought!

Hats

The loss of my camera has really slowed down my blogging. It doesn't seem interesting to just write and not show the progress I've been making.

But, since it's Friday night and I'm baseball knitting, I thought I'd blog a bit.

This week it's been all about hats. The CIC challenge for May/June is knitting for the kids (all ages, up to 18) on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. There's a special call for hats and mittens and there's no restrictions on fiber content.

I've been making the Helix Striped Cap from the 2007 Knitting calendar, from Jan. 9. It uses 3 colors and creates a striped hat without the color change jog. I'm loving to use up my leftovers to create a nice warm hat.

(My dog just pawed my knitting bag to make it fall over. Think he wants some attention?)

The hats are also distracting me while a sock is in time out. I've reknit pieces of it 3 or 4 times, and it's still not right. It's a toe up sock, and I keep getting the size wrong. One of the fascinations of toe up knitting is that you can try it on as you go. I'm not getting the concept, though. A regular top down sock can be tried on, and if it doesn't fit, just the toe needs to be ripped out. A toe up sock needs the heel ripped out and redone--much harder in my opinion. And in the case of my last effort, The bind off is too tight, AND the sock is too big.

Do I rip out half a sock AGAIN? Or rip out the part from the toe down and do a toe down toe? Will it match the other sock? Can I face doing it one more time? Or do I need to knit another hat?

Organized and planned well

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people. Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is low. You're a pretty conservative person, and you favor what's socially acceptable. You think that change for novelty's sake is a very bad idea. While some may see this as boring, many see you as dependable and wise.

The Five Factor Personality Test

That was an interesting test to take. I like the results of most of it, even if I'm not quite there yet. One statement, however, makes me laugh:

"Most things in your life are organized and planned well."

So that means when I lost DS#2's baseball snack list, then found it late last night only to discover that today was our snack day, that that was organized and planned well? And that when I bought a box of 50 bags of chips for a team of 14, that that's planning well? (Actually, it is. More for me.)(Shhhh...the kids think it's for their lunches.)

Or......applying this to knitting.....that when I continuously run out of yarn, that that's well planning?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA