Loves to Bike and Knit

December Catch-up

2008-12-26T11:12:00.007-05:00

I have three, yes three, projects to post today as FOs! Hurrah, especially since I have since cast on two more projects, for a net of one less project on the needles.

Christmas Shawl
Details:
Pattern: Wool Peddler's Shawl
Yarn: Colrain in burgundy (7.75 balls)
Needles: Size 8
For: Meribeth as a surprise Christmas gift from her dh
Mods: Added one more repeat of the lace pattern
Size: Blocked 6 ft x 34 in from the mid-back to point

Hemlock Ring for me
Details:
Pattern: Hemlock Ring adapted by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool in Latte (3.34 skeins)
Needles: size 10 and 10.5
Size: approx. 6 ft in diameter
Mods: Did many more rows than did Jared, and added an additional stockinette row for a total of 5 between each pattern row.
Thoughts: Yes, it is a bit puckery, but I love it. The size is perfect for snuggling under~~I want more than a lap blanket for snuggling weather. I may try to block the puckers out when I wash it, but otherwise it's perfect.

More Plain Socks~~at least the pattern is plain
Details:
Pattern: toe-up, afterthought heel, 3 x 2 ribbing~~my old standby pattern. Nothing fits like a pair of socks made this way.
Yarn: Opal Harry Potter in the Tonks colorway (saw the yarn and fell in love with the color even though I am not an HP fan.)
Needles: size 0
Start: one Saturday in December
Finish: the following Friday~~six days for a pair of socks! Gotta love that!
Thoughts: You know how much I love Trekking yarn, and this seems to be a comparable yarn~~maybe a tad heavier. I really like the way the yarn knits up, but will withhold complete elation until I see how they wear.

They are about as identical as you can get with socks, and while I am usually not so OCD about my socks matching, this pattern screams to make identical twins. It took some doing, and quite a few ends to weave in, but it worked.

November Baby Sweater

2008-11-28T09:04:00.007-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting the FBS I made for a family at church who just adopted their second child. She's a beauty and was so tiny when they brought her home~~just over 6 lbs, and is weighing in at a whopping 7 lbs at one month. My kids were never that small.

Details:
Pattern: February Baby Sweater by our beloved EZ
Yarn: Plymouth Dreambaby DK (50% acrylic, 50% microfiber)
Needle: sz 4 KP Options
Start Date: November 3rd-ish
Finish Date: November 21, 2008

Thoughts: I can't say enough good about this pattern. Just love it. It's my go to pattern now when I hear of a baby girl being born anywhere in the vicinity. I went with a lighter yarn this time in hopes of getting a smaller sweater than the one I made this summer (although they were both knit on the same size needle. I still find it hard to believe that KP Comfy is a worsted weight yarn.) I did have a bit of trouble with the increase row. I couldn't get them to look nice, and to be honest, I can't recall what I did to finally get a pleasing look. I'll give my usual warning for this pattern~~read it the whole way through first, or you may miss the buttonholes. Speaking of buttonholes, I wound up closing one of mine up, as the buttons were too big to cram three into the space in the yoke. I think two look fine. BTW: Aren't the buttons cute? Got them at Knitting Sisters. They had a ton of really cute buttons the last time I was there.

In other knitting news, my Hemlock Ring Blanket is finished, blocked, and has already been snuggled in. Photos when the clouds clear away. I have a Christmas present to finish, and then it's back to my selfish knitting.

Oh, and Beau said to tell you that he hopes you had as great a Thanksgiving as he did!

Autumn Maple Socks

2008-11-17T08:42:00.010-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was taking some kids from our homeschool bowling league home and rode past a gorgeous maple in it's full autumnal glory. It was so breathtaking that I had to get a photo of it. So the next day after dropping The Teen at her piano lesson I went and grabbed a quick couple of shots. All the foliage this year has been fantastic, and it seems as though many of the trees reached peak at the same time which made for New England-like rides about town.

In the midst of enjoying our autumn I finally finished another pair of socks. Just my second of the year. Pitiful, particularly when compared with my output in previous years.

In honor of autumn, I give you:

Autumn Maple Socks (Thusly named for their resemblance to the tree at right)

Pattern: my basic toe-up pattern~~turkish cast-on, stockinette foot, 3 x 2 ribbing, Abigail's short row heel (which I still just love! Thanks so much for passing it along Abigail!)

Yarn: Trekking 110: I had this mislabeled as 105 until 11/24 (This workhorse of a sock yarn is my absolute favorite)

Needle: Size 1 Addi turbo

Start date: July 2008 (original incarnation was in another pattern which just didn't satisfy me.)
Finish date: November 06, 2008

Thoughts: Love handknit socks. Love Trekking. They've been worn and washed several times in the last 10 days already. On my feet as I type.

In other knitting news~~I've finished a February Baby Sweater for a shower this week~~just need to add the buttons. I'll remember to get photos before I gift this one, I promise. Also nearing completion is my Hemlock Ring Blanket. Hopefully by Thanksgiving there will be a couple more FOs to report.

Beau, 12 weeks

2008-11-06T11:39:00.007-05:00

If you live in Virginia, you know that the weather has been lousy this week, so I had to take the opportunity this morning to get out and get some photos of Beau before the next round of rain set in. He was 12 weeks yesterday. When he came home at 7.5 weeks, he weighed right at 7 lbs. On Sunday he tipped the scales at 15 lbs, so he's more than doubled his weight in 4 weeks. Obviously, he's eating well. Training is continuing to go well~~he passed/completed Level 1 over the weekend, and we started working on Level 2 on Monday. His 'go to the mat' is fantastic! I started with the decided advantage that any time you put his blankie on the floor, he'll go and lie down on it. Click, treat! Good dog! Have added the cue, 'Go to your spot.' We also started working on Loose Leash, Down with just one signal, early sit-stay, as well as reviewing his Level 1 work. The 'come game' continues to be his favorite. He's really starting to be part of the family. I've noticed that he's wagging his tail a lot now whenever he sees us and gets very excited when someone comes home. He still loves to curl up in The Teen's or my lap, which should be interesting once he's about 70 + lbs.

Anyway, here's the weekly update.

Sorry about the blurry shots. He's either lying/sitting down or moving at blur speed.

Mom told me to tell you that she promises to have some knitting photos soon. I let her finish a pair of socks and start a new project this week. The socks just need to be photographed. At least they stay still better than I do!

The Delinquent Blogger

2008-10-31T08:07:00.018-04:00

So the girls informed me at SnB last night that I am a delinquent blogger. Yep, already knew that. Could even tell them the date of my last post. But in the world of knitting, sadly, there has been nothing to post. That's right, nothing, nada, zilch. In the last three months I have finished the grand total of two projects~~one of which was sent off on Monday unphotographed, and the second, which is a surprise and cannot make its appearance until after Thanksgiving. So, there has been a reason for the lack of posting.

However, there has been another significant change in our household, and the real reason the girls wanted a blog update. We've added a family member...a four-legger. We found that we couldn't bear life without a lab wandering the house, so on October, 4, 2oo8 we brought home our first puppy in almost 14 years.

Meet Piney Creek's General Rochambeau, or as he is affectionately called, Beau.
He's a purebred chocolate lab and was 7.5 weeks old in this photo from the day we brought him home. Our first lab came home with us back in 1986~~Jessie was a black lab who made the move with us to our present home in '90, but she died in '93 or so. Shadow, whom you've met, was our yellow lab. Mr Fix-it and I decided we wanted to get a chocolate lab this time.

Here are some more photos from the past 4 weeks with Beau. He's been a handful at times, but he is a real cuddlebug. We're now getting a full night's sleep (hurrah!) and things are going very well on the housetraining front. I've been clicker training him using Sue Ailsby's Training Levels
and he has been doing tremendously! Already has passed several tests in Level 1, and I hope to have us into Level 2 by the end of the weekend.

The day he came home:

At 8 weeks:

10 weeks~~ready for some football:

Yesterday~~11 weeks and worn out after breakfast and playtime. I woke him while setting up the photo.

And last, my favorite shot of him so far. Taken the day we brought him home. I just love the way the sun lights him in this one.

I hope to update the blog more often with knitting and photos of our Beau. I am almost finished with a pair of socks, which should hit the blog over the weekend or next week.

February in July

2008-07-25T04:44:00.011-04:00

This project grabbed me by the needles the beginning of July and didn't let go until it was finished!

Details:
Pattern: February Lady Sweater (Ravelry link) by Pamela Wynne (flintknits)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Oceanic Mix (4.5 skeins~~about 970 yds)
Needle: Size 6 KnitPicks Option on 60" cable (after both my 40" cables broke~~replacements on the way)
Size: Medium
Start Date: July 3, 2008
Finish Date: July 24, 2008

Mods: Didn't do the eyelet increase row, I used kfb instead (check out this increase calculator to figure how many stitches to knit between increases~~use the balanced option. Tremendous help!). I did the raglan a little further than she called for, but wish I had carried it further into the underarm as I do not like the poochiness that happens at the end of the raglan increases. Same thing happened on my Everyday Tweed. I did 24 lace repeats on the body and 20 (?) on the sleeves. I think that is all the mods. Just remembered another mod~~I went down to a size 3 on the sleeve cuffs to keep them from being too bell-like.

Thoughts: I LOVE this sweater! Great pattern, awesome yarn, cool buttons~~what more could a girl want?!?

Buttons~~gotta tell you about the buttons. I knew I wanted vintage buttons for this sweater, so I raided the button box my m-i-l gave me eons ago. Found some possibilities, but most were too small, or I only had one or two of the same style. I visited a friend (same friend who was the recepient of Leda in 2006) to get some help in choosing the perfect ones. We settled on some black plastic, blah ones rather reluctantly, but right before I left I asked if she had a button box. She dumped her grandmother's button box out on the table, and my eye was immediately caught by these square mother of pearl buttons. In swooped my hand, we placed them on the sweater, looked at each other and said that they were perfect. While they don't photograph well, the buttons are the initial attention grabber with this project, then comes the oohing and aahing over the garter stitch and lace~~lots of stroking of the sweater, too.

Texture~~love the juxtaposition of the garter and lace. I think that's part of the beauty of this sweater, and the genius of the creator of the original sweater upon which this one is based, Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Color~~Usually teal is not one of the colors I gravitate toward, but while surfing the WEBS site, after realizing the Skye Tweed was a bust for this pattern, I came across Ultra Alpaca and just fell in love with the color of oceanic mix. I'm thinking I made a good choice.

Reaction~~I don't think I can overstate how much I am in love with this sweater. Based on the reaction of friends, I think it is one of my more successful projects. I've already had one friend (of the buttons) request the sweater in the same color, and one threaten to steal it at SnB last night (yeah, Christine, I'm talking about you!) I had to make sure I sat across the room from her with the sweater hidden from view, although she did try to enlist the help of a conspirator, but I was too vigilant, and the sweater made it safely home. I hate to pack it away until fall, but rest assured, it will get plenty of wear once the weather cools off.

Goodbye, Girlie............

2008-07-15T17:03:00.003-04:00

You came home with us on Valentine's Day, 1995, just a wee little thing we could hold in one hand,

barely able to stand while you ate your first meal with us,

and at first you were afraid,.................................................... but soon you knew you were home.

You were our constant companion wherever we went.

Always up for one more hike,

or swim,

or romp in the yard.

You've been all that we could have wished for in a friend

and more.

You will always be loved.

Our Shadow

January 14, 1995 - July 15, 2008

Pi shawl progress and other updates

2008-06-26T09:30:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd better update you on a project I have yet to unveil on my blog. This is the Orkney Pi designed by Liz Lovick for the EZ as Pi yahoogroup, and which is now available for purchase. Check out the photos on Ravelry~~it's a gorgeous piece of lace. I'm using Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in autumn and Shadow in the now discontinued redwood forest held together to knit this beauty. The color at left is pretty close to the actual shade. I'm using Knit Picks Options in size 3 and have just switched to a 60" cable. At this point in the pattern, I am 2/3 of the way through my second cake of yarn~~I have three more waiting. My goal with this is to make a sofa sized throw to snuggle under in the winter. The inspiration behind me picking up a shawl of this magnitude was, of course, Jared Flood's gorgeous pi shawl. I had hoped to finish this one in time for the county fair this past weekend, but obviously, I didn't make it. If all goes well, I will enter it in the state fair in September.

After looking through my Ravelry notebook, I see that there are a couple of projects there that I haven't posted about here. The first is a stranded stocking designed by Meg Swansen. I started this back in the winter sometime at SnB one night. It took me three hours to knit one row. Never have I twisted a join so many times. This one is on hold as I am unsure what I want to personalize it with~~likely just the year.

The second is a pair of socks for Mr Fix-it. He requested another pair, but I was short on yarn, so he's getting one with contrast toes and heels. This has been languishing since my bout with hand trouble. I found the yarn hurt my hands.

I also have another Hemlock Ring Blanket on the needles~~for this one I'm using EcoWool as called for in the adaptation by Jared. It's getting pretty big, so I should probably switch to 60" cables soon. It's too heavy to knit on during the summer. Come September, I'll fit it back into the rotation at SnB on Thursday nights.

Today I purchased some yarn for the February Lady Sweater. After finishing the baby sized version I began to pine for one for myself. Lo and behold, not even a week later one pops up on Ravelry! I love Ravelry. I had planned on using some Classic Elite Skye Tweed for my sweater since the statistics for the yarn would appear to be a perfect sub for the yarn used in the original, but that was not to be. I swatched and got gauge on the first try. However, the yarn just seems too heavy~~not drapey enough for the pretty little lacy pattern. So, I'll save the Skye Tweed for a nice tweedy sweater for using as outwear, and use the Berroco Ultra Alpaca I ordered from WEBS today. My choice was the oceanic mix~~a lovely shade of teal blue.

I imagine I'll be casting on another pair of socks today since I need a project I can work on while chatting and laughing with the ladies at knitting night tonight (although now it looks like I won't be able to go!!! Wah!). Lace just won't cut it, and the yarn for the sweater isn't here yet, so socks it is. Just can't decide if I want to give the new Noro Kureyon sock yarn I bought a try.......or maybe some Trekking........or another pair from the Felici. Ah, sock love is again in the air!

Rainbow Sherbet Socks

2008-06-25T09:45:00.013-04:00

See, I told you there'd be a finished project soon! Behold, my Rainbow Sherbet Jaywalkers. Aren't the colors great? They remind me of a bowl of rainbow sherbet.
Details:
Pattern: Toe-up Jaywalkers (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Coney Island (Don't let the muted colors on the KP site fool you, check out the Ravelry stashes for more accurate colorway photos. Of my two photos, the one at right is bang on for closeness to the actual color.) 2 balls

Needle: Size 1 Addi

Modifications: Afterthought heel (Edited to add link for the directions I used for the afterthought heel. That's for you, Natalie! I love the cool bullseye heel it gives, and it cups very nicely around my heel. Easy peasy, too.)

Start Date: beginning of June, 2008

Finish Date: June 20, 2008

Thoughts:
I've tried this pattern before with meh results. But it seems as if Felici and Jaywalker were destined for each other. I. Love. Them.

The Felici is incredibly soft, but has a touch of nylon, so I hope it holds up well. A true joy to knit with. And yes, it does produce identical twin socks. Knit two at a time on magic loop. My love for this method of knitting socks continues.

Finally, my first pair of socks for 2008 is off the needles. I can't believe it's taken me six months to knit my first pair of the year. They won't be my last however, as I seem to have found my love for self-striping yarn again. I have two more colorways of the Felici in the stash, as well as some newly purchased Trekking and *cough*3 pairs worth*cough* of Kureyon sock yarn.

Summer Reading

2008-06-19T08:36:00.004-04:00

In honor of the rapidly approaching first day of summer, I thought I'd talk about my summer reading, which, btw, has already commenced. As soon as we finish schooling for the year, my book consumption always spikes!

Back in 2006 I participated in an online Summer Reading Challenge run by someone in the knitting community, but thus far I have been unable to find a similar animal this summer. If you know of one, please pass the info along.

Also, for the first time in forever, my local library is not running Goodies for Grown-ups~~the adult sized version of a summer reading program. Sigh. I miss that! I love going and reading the reviews of books by other adults. The library would tack them to the wall for all to see, and I came across a number of books I was interested in that I may never have stumbled over on my own. In addition to posting the reviews by patrons, the library would also provide weekly prizes (you could only win one weekly prize~~last year I won a mug celebrating the 400th anniversary of settlers arriving at Jamestown, a commemorative Jamestown pen, and a bar of chocolate) as well as some grand prizes at the end of the summer (I won a gift certificate to a local restaurant.) I'm unclear about why the program has been discontinued~~I believe the giveaways were donated by local merchants/restaurants, so I'm not sure about expense being an issue. Maybe there was low patron participation. I just know I will miss it. So you guys get to read my ramblings about the books I read this summer.

First off, let me give you an idea about my plan. I keep a book in which I write the titles of books I'd like to read, but that my library doesn't own. I intend to read these by requesting that the library a) order them for its own collection, or b) acquire it through interlibrary loan~~a great service that my library provides free of charge to patrons in my county. So, I have a list in my book, as well as a list on my page at my library's website. Right now that list stands at over 40 books. It's an old list put together by running across books I thought I might like in various places, such as blogs or the Bas Bleu catalog (one of my favorite sources for books to add to my list.) Since my old list is quite lengthy I thought I would start culling it by starting at the top of the list and either reading the next one or removing it from the list altogether. I'm interspersing these books with others that have caught my interest recently.

Whew, onward to the actual books! We'll start with mid-May since that is when school officially ended for us. Prior to May I was on a huge Jane Austen kick~~coincided with the Complete Jane Austen on PBS this winter/spring. I read Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, am reading Emma aloud with The Teen, and am still working my way through Sense and Sensibility. In addition to these I read a bunch of Austen sequels or retellings, some good, some bad. Maybe I'll post about those later during the summer. But as you can see, the Austen-mania did continue into the first part of the summer.

May, 2008
Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange
Ms. Grange has done adaptations of several of Jane Austen's books by retelling the story in diary form through the eyes of the hero of the tale. In this case, Persuasion is retold from Captain Wentworth's point of view. I must admit that the story of Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot is my favorite of Austen's books. Don't get me wrong~~I love Darcy and Elizabeth~~but there is just something so compelling about this story of love lost and found again after a period of years that touches me more than any other of her books. Anyway, Ms. Grange again does an excellent job of giving us insight into the life of the man behind the story. I've also read her Mr. Darcy's Diary and Mr. Knightley's Diary. The above is her most recent release of this type.

Jane Austen: A Companion by Josephine Ross
I loved this book! Lots of background information about the life of Jane Austen and the times in which she lived. The Teen was writing a research paper on Pride and Prejudice, and this book came home as one of her sources. I learned lots!

The Friendly Jane Austen: A Well-Mannered Introduction to a Lady of Sense and Sensibility by Natalie Tyler
A fun book with lots of great information about Miss Austen, as well as a chapter devoted to each of her novels. A different feel than the book above, but both are worth reading. There is not excessive overlap between the two.

June, 2008
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
This is a reprint of a book released in the late 1990s following the resurgence in popularity of Austen due to the A&E Pride and Prejudice from 1995. While it does not garner high marks in reviews at Amazon.com, I found the book a great read. It isn't as quick as some, although The Teen finished it in less than two days, due to the fact that there is great historical detail included. I loved this part and am investing in my own copies of the series for just that reason. Some of you may know that I am a former classroom history teacher, so the intertwining of the story of Darcy, Elizabeth, and their families with the history of the day~~the Enclosure Act, for instance~~was captivating for me. This is lengthy series~~I believe the original printing ran to ten volumes. I received the 2nd as a Mother's Day gift, purchased the 1st with a gift card, and am anxiously awaiting the next two volumes to be released in September and October of this year.

Hawke by Ted Bell
Now for something totally different. I found this an easy, quick read, which is what I was looking for. I found a later book of his, Spy, on the library shelf and read the first couple of chapters before deciding that I really needed to go back and learn the history of the main character, Alex Hawke. I consider it a good beach~~or hammock~~read. Similar to Cussler in my mind. Another series~~I have the second out, but am holding off in favor of more variety in my reading schedule.

Murder on the Lusitania by Conrad Allen
Again, another book captures me due to the history that swirls around it. We are introduced to George Porter Dillman seemingly a first class passenger on the maiden voyage of the Cunard ocean liner, Lusitania. But there is more to Mr. Dillman than there appears, as there is to many of the passengers on board the ship. Mr. Dillman has in fact hired by Cunard to act as incognito security aboard the ship. He gets more than he bargained for as the voyage progresses. Another light mystery~~quick read. 1st in series~~again, I have the next one, Murder on the Mauretania out already.

The Loch by Steve Alten
This is the first book by Alten that I've read, and I was hooked from the moment I saw the cover. The Loch Ness monster has always fascinated me, so this book was a given when I saw it on the 'Beach Read' shelf at the library. A Scottish marine biologist has demons (or dragons) in his past~~his father, and the monster in the Loch that nearly killed him. He returns to Scotland after 17 years for his father's murder trial after losing his job and his reputation following a failed expedition in the Sargasso Sea. He ends up slaying more than one dragon in the novel and finds himself happy in the process. I finished this 470 page book in less than a day.

The Big House by George Howe Colt
This is one of those books that has been residing on my to-be-read list for far too long. History again :o) It was a great look into the past. A memoir of a Cape Cod beach house that has witnessed over 100 summers come and go. Even though my family was from a far different economic class, the book still stirred happy memories of my childhood. Very enjoyable.

Congrats if you made it this far!

There is knitting in progress, just nothing finished right now, but soon, I promise, soon!

EZ's Baby Sweater

2008-05-23T07:45:00.005-04:00

Details:
Pattern: February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann found in Knitter's Almanac

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in Honey Dew (The picture is really close to the color. Think of the color of the inside of a nicely ripe honeydew and you've got it.) 2.5 balls

Needle: size 4 bamboo circular (I hate bamboo~~not slippery enough, but it was the only size 4 I had free)

Start Date: May 8, 2008
Finish Date: May 22, 2008

Mods: ;o) Sleeves and body longer; knit the body to armholes, sleeve stitches on holder, provisional cast-on (thanks for the reminder, Christine! Hope you're feeling better!) for underarm stitches, continued knitting body; came back and picked up provisional cast-on stitches and knit the sleeves in the round.

Thoughts:
This was a quick project for our next door neighbor's daughter who is having her first child. After finding out the baby is a girl, I knew I had to make one of EZ's February Baby Sweaters. I've seen them on Ravelry and have been itching to make one. Now I had an excuse!

Next decision was the yarn~~I had seen the new Comfy yarn at Knit Picks and the yummy colors it came in and wanted to give it a try, even though cotton and I usually don't mix. I had heard that Comfy was one of the softest cottons out there and a dream to knit with. In that regard I wasn't disappointed. I loved working with the yarn, but I think the 'worsted' designation for this yarn is a bit of a stretch. I started the sweater out on size 6 needles which is at the small end of the size needed to get 5 spi, since I tend to knit a bit loosely. But on a 6 it was huge and loose and floppy and messy. I pulled out a new ball and restarted on 4s. Perfect! The sweater is just the size I was hoping for~~not newborn size, although wearable by a newborn with the sleeves rolled up. I was shooting for 3-6 month size and increased the length of the sleeves and body to get more grow-into-room.

Pattern~~First my words of warning~~Read the pattern the whole way through before you start. As we all know, EZ's patterns are always a bit pithy, and this one is no exception. Although here her pithiness was almost too concise. I was forewarned, so I knew to read first, or I likely would have missed the first buttonhole. Also, the directions for casting on the stitches for the underarm are odd, but I knew what I was doing here since I've done it before. I can see where this one would leave some newbies to EZ scratching their heads. I'd definitely make this one again, and hope that the gal will like it for her babe. Almost makes me want.........gotcha.

Clapotis Redux

2008-04-28T00:07:00.002-04:00

Finally! My Clapotis is off the needles. I'm afraid to mention how many times I tried to get this yarn and pattern to play nice. The first go round I tried twice~~once on 8s and once on 10s~~blech! Then I decided that the yarn and pattern just didn't get along, so I tried Lace Leaf shawl~~no go. Next on the list was the Obstacles stole~~again, I just didn't like it, let alone love it. I really, really wanted to love what I made with the yarn because it was so gorgeous! Then after going through the Ravelry Clapotis database of photos, I decided to give it one last try. This time I went with 7s, and it was magic!
Details:
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert

Yarn: Brooks Farm Fourplay in Ginger 6 (3.5 skeins)

Needle: Addi Turbo 7

Start Date: January, 2008

Finish Date: Late March, 2008

Size: HUGE! Must be a good 7.5 feet long and at least 22 inches deep. I love it! I can throw one side over my shoulder, and it stays, while the other side hangs down well past my hips. It's great to wrap up in, for which I am so grateful~~especially as it is damp and chilly this evening.

Mods: You know me well enough by now.......I did at least one extra repeat of increase rows, as well as some extra straight rows, but unfortunately, I pitched my working copy of the pattern because it was in pretty bad shape by the time I was finished.

Thoughts: Love. It. It's long enough, it's deep enough, it's warm and snuggly. The perfect wrap. I've had lots of compliments from my friends......and from their daughters. Both groups seem to like to touch it. Can't say as I blame them.

The Teen was trying to get some decent photos of me wrapped in my new favorite FO, but the weather is grumpy today. We've had lots of rain for the month of April, so this may be as good as you're gonna get.Sorry, I can't resist giving you a bunch of photos of the color~~it' s different everywhere you look and just keeps me mesmerized.

College Dude's Gloves

2008-04-27T08:45:00.004-04:00

Back in January I made the mistake of asking CD if he were warm enough at school. He's in the midwest, while we reside on the not so cold SE coast of Virginia (sort of--inland 40 miles or so, but still, balmy compared to where he is.) He said that he was okay, except his hands were always cold. We sent ski gloves with him, but he doesn't like them because they are cumbersome~~can't blame him really, they are huge and his fingers barely make them bend. I suggested he head off to WallyWorld to get a pair of fleece gloves. His reply, 'You mean you're not going to make me a pair of wool ones,' said in that guilt inducing voice that only a child away at college can employ. Of course, oh child of mine, I will whip thee up some gloves to keep thy fingers toasty. Within the hour I had made a quick sweep of the interwebs and Ravelry and came up with these (I'm pretty sure MaryAnne helped me track down some patterns. Thanks!) and cast them on using some leftover yarn from his hat of earlier in the month. They knit up very quickly and went in the care package that included the hat I also finished in January. Could it be that all that hat and glove knitting in December/January led to my carpal tunnel flare~~maybe!

Details:
Pattern: Cable Glove Pattern (made w/out the cable) by Kelly at Hedgehog Knits

Yarn: Plymouth Galway leftover from his hat (1 ball)

Needles: Size 3 and 5 Addi Turbos

Start/finish date: last Friday in January

Mods: Always! No cable. Did take some tinkering to get the fingers the right length. Fortunately, Mr. Fix-it and CD are very similar in build, so I just used his as the model.

Updated: Rectangular Shawl Patterns

2008-04-26T14:27:00.003-04:00

I've gotten a number of stole links over the past 6 months or so, and I finally took a minute to update the list of Rectangular Shawl Patterns. There are four free patterns and fourteen for purchase. Again, I can't keep track of all the stole patterns available online, so if you run across any stole patterns, please send them my way either through comments or by email. I want this list to be links that will take a knitter directly to a pattern file to download or a place to purchase the pattern directly--preferably by email download, but that isn't a deal breaker. So no links to patterns in books or magazines please. Also, if you run across a link that is dead, please let me know that too. I'll do my best to update, if I can track down a working link.

Thanks to all who sent links--I tried to give you a shout out.

On a personal note~~there has been a bit of a knitting drought going on here. At least an FO drought. Since I last posted I think I've finished just a couple of projects~~one being my Clapotis, which I simply adore. I hope to have photos up soon~~need to wrestle my camera away from The Teen, who is taking a photography class.

My hands are much better, thanks to all who sent comments asking. I wear the brace most nights and have been knitting, just not as much. I'll update soon, I promise, I see the light at the end of the tunnel of school almost being finished. Just a few more weeks!

I'm Still Here............

2008-01-29T16:43:00.001-05:00

I'm just having a problem with my right wrist (possible Carpral tunnel flare) that has severely cut back my computer time and totally done away with knitting for the time being. I haven't knit since Friday night--I'm getting the shakes, ......... seriously. My computer time is just fly by in order to check my email. My wrist was the worst on Saturday and caused me to resort to buying a brace that evening. I wore it all day Sunday, and most of the day yesterday, and have slept in it every night. It's feeling world's better today--I've been brace free all day--no tingling/burning. The problem may be the position my hands are in when I sleep, so I will continue to wear the brace at night. I'm hoping I've caught the problem before damage was done. If I'm still having problems on Monday, the 4th, I'll be making a dr's appt.

Hope to see you guys soon--with some knitting news to report!

First Two of '08

2008-01-09T11:36:00.000-05:00

The year is only 9 days old, and I've already completed two projects! W00t! Bettter than I was doing this time last year.

Hemlock Ring Blanket
Christine mentioned this at knitting one evening in November. I'd been stalking the pattern, but hadn't yet added it to my queue. We got to talking about one day getting leather sofas, and wouldn't Hemlock be a perfect blanket for a rich brown leather sofa. Absolutely. Well, to make a long story longer, I hopped over to WEBS to check out the colors available in EcoWool. At that time they didn't have the color I wanted in stock, so that meant a trip by Knit Picks. I couldn't decide which color I wanted, as the one that would look perfect on a brown sofa wouldn't go with my decor now, and I'm not getting the leather stuff until The Terror is a bit older. (We've had a little incident with him involving permanent marker, my walls, carpet, and current furniture. All my furniture is now sporting slipcovers. Nuff said.) I started wandering through the stash and came upon the recycled yarn I salvaged from my very first project~~Mr Fix-it's sweater. Perfect! I contemplated the blanket the entire time I was finishing up the kids' Christmas sweaters, and cast on pretty much as soon as The Teen's sweater was complete. After a couple weeks of non-monogamous knitting, The Ring is complete and blocking.

Details:
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket modified and popularized by, who else, Jared Flood
Yarn: unknown heavy worsted yarn recycled from my first handknit project~~used approximately 460 gms
Needles: size 10 Inox express
Start Date: sometime after Christmas Day, I think. I knit the Striped Scarf, Red Light Special Hat, and two hats for CD while working on The Ring.
Finish Date: January 9, 2008 (Much of the knitting took place while CD and I were rewatching the first two seasons of LOST.)
Mods: None, other than using a different yarn. I did knit a couple more repeats than Jared did. Oh yeah, for the knit 9 stitches into one stitch, I used the crochet method.
Size: 51 inches pinned out
For: started out as a present to myself, but my mom ooohhed, and ahhhhed over it when she saw it while it still looked like a misshapen jellyfish, so I figured if she could see the beauty of it then, then she deserves it once it really is a beauty. It will look perfect folded over the back of her leather chair.
Thoughts: LACE! On big needles! Love it! Fun, fast knit. Not too difficult. I plan on making one for myself in the near future, but I'd like it to be a little bigger, so I'll buy more yarn. I probably could have gotten away with using a larger needle on this one, but didn't have one with a long enough cable in a size larger than 10.

The Boy Hat
Another hat for CD, unfortunately the first hitched a ride to college before I got a photo. This one was still on the needles when CD pulled out on Monday morning. I would have finished before he left but for the rather intense headache I had all Sunday afternoon and evening.
Details:
Pattern: The Boy Hat by Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
Yarn: Galway Highland Heather in charcoal grey
Needle: size 6 Addi Turbo for extra springiness
Start Date: January 4, 2008
Finish Date: January 7, 2008
Mods: None, take it back~~I knit to 7 inches before working the decreases~~perfect.
Thoughts: Nice hat and pattern. Love the way the decreases form the arrow with the ribbing. The Teen wants one now. I need to modify this one to work with a bulky yarn. She modeled the hat for me.

Next up: I have a couple of things in the works, and some that have been requested.

Mr Fix-it wants another pair of socks, so that means a trip (via the interwebs) to Tongue River Farms for more yarn (a Valentine's present like last year?)
The Teen wants a hat (another one--I just finished the stranded one for her. This one may have to wait.)
I saw this stocking by Meg Swansen on Rav a week or so ago and immediately fell in love. Yarn was purchased on sale at Knitting Sisters, pattern has been printed, and I'm all geared up to start. Don't know who it will be for, but will need to decide quickly as the personalization is near the top of the stocking. Hope to start this week.
Also, on Rav, I've been going through the Clapotis photos again, and really want to give it a try with the Fourplay again~~just on a smaller needle. I have 4 skeins, so running out won't be a worry.
I need to wash the yarn for Jarrett so I can start on that.
Also on tap is a Cobblestone for me.
Potential Christmas gifts for '08: Ice Queen (at least 2)

It looks like between requests and things I want to knit for myself or as gifts that I will be plenty busy over the coming months. Thank goodness for good TV to knit by~~The Complete Jane Austen starts this Sunday, January 13th, and I have 4 more disks of LOST season 3 to watch, too. With the writers' strike continuing, we may be watching a bunch of dvds for the foreseeable future.

What do you have planned for '08?

2007 Wrap-up

2008-01-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

Wow, another year has flown by. When I compare my knitting output (18 19) with 2006 (27 projects--mainly socks) I find that I haven't been nearly as productive according to the numbers, nevertheless, it has been a good year for knitting/crocheting, and I'm still learning and expanding my horizons, which is good thing when it comes to a hobby. I did have several fairly substantial projects that took all my knitting time for weeks, if not months, at a time. What's interesting to me~~not one completed lace project. Several were started: Hidcote Garden shawl, Clapotis, Mystery Stole, Obstacles, Kiri, Flower Basket~~but not one grabbed me. I love knitting lace, but none of these projects scratched that itch. Hope this will change in the coming year.

Wow, I thought I was a selfish knitter with most of my completed projects being for me. Turns out this is not the case. Of the 19 finished projects, 12 were gifts (marked with *) for someone near and dear to me. Not bad. However, the projects I have planned for early'08 are purely selfish.

Socks
Mr Fix-it's Valentine's Socks *
Socks for The Teen *
The Girlfriend's Socks *
Rose Petal Socks
Monkey Socks
Serpentine Socks
Sock Monkey Socks for Meribeth *
River Rapids Socks

Sweaters
Everyday Tweed
Dad's Cambridge Jacket *
CD's Cobblestone *
The Teen's Hoodie *

Scarves
Mom's One Row Scarf *
Noro Striped Scarf

Misc
French Market Bag
Red Light Special Hat (first stranded project) *
College Dude Hat * (I cast off the last stitch just as the ball dropped. Already a request for a similar hat for The Teen. I think I'll do another one for CD to keep in his car......just in case.)

Crochet
CD's Soft Wave Blanket *
The Girlfriend's Soft Wave Blanket *

Red Light Special Hat

2007-12-31T12:55:00.000-05:00

What started out as a hat for CD was quickly adopted by The Teen when CD decided it just wasn't 'his type of hat'~~read, 'Mom, there's no way I'm gonna wear a girly hat like that!' Nevermind that I had previously run the pattern by him. Of course, there was the little color snafu~~I mixed the green and grey up so everywhere you see green on the hat, it should have been grey. That was my intent when I started and would have resulted in a much more sedate man-type hat. Anyhow, The Teen had already declared her love for the hat before CD even had a chance to nix it for himself, and has requested another in colors to match her new sweater. Teengage girl loves hat knit by her mom~~SCORE!!!!

Keep in mind as you look at the photos that this is my first stranded project, and if I'm in your friends on Rav, you know from my activity this morning that it won't be my last :o)

Details:
Pattern: Red Light Special by Jared Flood
Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark in black, grey heather, cilantro heather, garnet heather
Needles: Knit Picks Options in size 4
Start Date: December 27, 2007
Finish Date: December 29, 2007
Mods: None~~my first stranded project
Thoughts: Love colorwork! It's fiddly, but rewarding. It was mesmerizing to watch the color pattern emerge. Before I blocked it was a bit puckery, but seems to have blocked out nicely. I'll be doing more in the future.
I cast on a college ~~man~~ dude approved hat for CD today. Should be finished by midnight so I can pad my 2007 project list.

(Couldn't resist using the Redskins flag as background for the modeled shot of the hat. Apologies to Number Guy and Opal)

A Fresh Start

2007-12-30T22:07:00.000-05:00

In honor of the impending New Year I decided to take a good hard look at my WIPs and stash. I feel the need for a fresh start in the knitting realm of my life, so this afternoon I went through my knitting box and pulled out all the projects that have been in hibernation~~my Mom's scarf in DB alpaca/silk dk, Obstacles stole in Brooks Farm Fourplay, various half done swatches that would give meaningless results, and socks for me in Sock Hop yarn~~in the light of a cold and rainy December 30th the projects were less than appealing. I questioned why I had started almost all of them. In one case, I like the pattern, but hate the yarn, in another I love the yarn, but cannot find a pattern that speaks to me, in the case of the socks~~they were just too big. So out came the ball winder and all three projects, as well as the swatches, were rewound and put back into the stash for future use or sale.

I had not planned on starting anything new until January 1st~~Christine, you are just too good! But I couldn't resist casting on the Hemlock Ring Blanket this afternoon after finding a suitable yarn with enough yardage in my stash. It is currently the only project I have on the needles, but it won't be alone for very long come the 1st.

One more FO will be added to my list for the year tomorrow. I knit my first stranded project~~in two days mind you. It was a bit puckery before I washed and blocked it, but it looks much better now. I'll have details and photos up tomorrow provided the weather cooperates.

Oh yeah, a little cause for celebration at Chez Jenny Raye~~The 'Skins beat the Cowpokes and are in the playoffs! Whooo Hooooooo! Mr Fix-it and CD went up to the game today, and despite the torrential rain and cold temps, they are warm to the tips of their toes as they bask in today's victory! Hail to the Redskins!!!!!

Stripey Goodness

2007-12-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

Post-Christmas ~~relaxing~~ knitting has already yielded one complete project~~a yummy striped scarf for me!

Details:
Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf popularized by Jared Flood
Yarn:
1.90 balls of Noro Silk Garden 201 as the main color stripes~~the dark ones in the photos
1 ball of Noro Silk Garden 84~~the warm color end of the scarf
1 ball of Noro Kuryeon 92~~the cool color end
The latter two colors actually overlap with a pink near the middle
Needle: Size 6 Inox grey
Start Date: December 25, 2007
Finish Date: December 28, 2007
Mods: Followed the pattern as written except I slipped the first stitch of every row purlwise with the yarn in back on the first row and in front on the second. Lather, rinse, repeat ad infinitum.
Size: 6 feet pre-blocking. I plan on washing and blocking this afternoon, since the weather seems to be under the misconception that it is September today.

Thoughts: Love. It.

Edited to add: While the Kuryeon felt much better while knitting, the all-Silk-Garden end of the scarf turned fabulously soft after a soak in Kookabura. Wow.

Mr Fix-it stood in as model for me today. Thanks, honey!

The Teen's Hoodie

2007-12-26T09:13:00.001-05:00

Unlike CD, The Teen prefers her sweaters, at least this one, to be oversized--like a favorite sweatshirt. Her wish was my command. This knit had few, if any, bumps in the road. I'm very pleased with the outcome, as is she.

Details:
Pattern: Neck down Hooded Tunic for Women from Knitting Pure and Simple
Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire in Ming Blue (or Blue Ming) the photo is very accurate--a gorgeous shade of blue; 8.5 balls
Needles: Size 10 Inox Express and size 8 Addis for cuffs and hem
Start Date: October 12, 2007
Finish Date: December 24, 2007

Mods: None, oh no, that's wrong. I did modify a bit. She didn't want a string on the hood, so I eliminated the casing and didn't knit an i-cord. Just continued the garter stitch from the neck opening up around the hood. Finished with a purl row, kitchenered and voila!

Thoughts:
Nice easy relaxing knit. On size 10 needles this project just flew off the needles when I actually sat down to work on it. The floors and knitting on two other sweaters at the same time slowed this project's completion considerably. Ah yes, and I taught myself to read while knitting during this project. The Teen gave me a book weight for Christmas, so I'm all set for post-holiday mindless knitting!

Cobblestone

2007-12-26T08:25:00.000-05:00

With days to spare Cobblestone came off the needles as the intended Christmas gift for CD. Anxiety struck when I tried it on, and it fit me perfectly. I thought there would be no way it would fit him. I had done some modifications to the yoke which was way too big the first time I tried, and my fear was that the mods had now resulted in a too small yoke. I threw it in to soak with a lot of prayer, pulled it out several hours and a good spin later, and blocked. To just the right size. CD doesn't like his sweaters too loose, and this one seems to be just right.

Details:
Pattern: Cobblestone by Jared Flood, Interweave Knits Summer 2007
Yarn: Valley Yarns English Tweed in Lichen~~1200-1300 yards (I may have just enough left to make a Terror sized version.)
Needles: Addi Turbo size 7 for the body, size 6 for the hem, cuffs, and yoke
Size: ? Not sure which I finally wound up doing--see below
Start Date: November 1, 2007 (originally intended as my NaKniSweMo, but the floors got in the way. At least I finished!)
Finish Date: December 20, 2007
Mods: I started out knitting the sleeves as my 2nd gauge swatches. The first I did showed me I needed to be using size 7 needles rather than the 8s, but my gauge was too small, so I had to go up to the size 47.5 sweater. The sleeves reconfirmed this decision. I started on the body, but felt like it was too big--ripped back to the hem and started over. Seems to me I then came up too small and did this again knitting the 47.5 size body.

When I got to the yoke, I took it off the needles after two decrease sections and the neck hole was so huge that there was no way that it was going to look decent decreasing so drastically in a couple of inches, so I ripped back again--just to the underarms. I started the yoke again on size 6 needles, but decreased down to the size 44 number of stitches for the yoke. I think going down the needle size would have been enough--didn't need to decrease the number of stitches I started the yoke with. I'll have to keep this in mind when I make mine.

I did more decreases for the neck because I thought the ones I've seen have been too large. I think this neck opening is just about perfect.

Thoughts:
Love the finished product. CD wore it last night to The Girlfriend's house, and there was a couple from church there. They couldn't get over that I had made the sweater. The husband deemed it the perfect man sweater--olive drab--former Air Force officer.

I admit my mods made this one a little more difficult than it should have been--throw in the pressure of Christmas knitting, and you get a recipe for disaster or knitter meltdown. I learned quite a bit about the pattern and should do better with the next version which will be for me in some wonderful Beaverslide yarn.

CD seems to be pleased with the sweater. I told him that if he didn't like it, I'd be happy to take it off his hands, but he seems determined to keep it.

Silent Night and Joy to the World

2007-12-25T00:08:00.000-05:00

These are two of my very favorite Christmas hymns because when I listen, really listen to the words, or even read them aloud, there is no way I can miss the reason we celebrate today.

Merry Christmas to all!

Silent Night

Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
'Round yon virgin mother and child,
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in Heavenly peace!
Sleep in Heavenly peace!

Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glory streams from Heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ, the Saviour, is born!
Christ, the Saviour, is born!

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, Love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy Holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

Joy to the World

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
while fields and floods,
rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sin and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessing flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of His righteousness,
and wonders of His love,
and wonders of His love,
and wonders, wonders of His love.

(Text of the hymns was taken from Trek's blog. Thanks, Trek!!!)

Merry Christmas!!!!

2007-12-24T06:19:00.000-05:00

One sweater down, one with 2 inches of hood left and approximately 18 hours left until Christmas Day~~I think I may be good. (Edited to add: The hoodie is finished, ends woven in, washed, and blocking. Boy, I hope it dries! Have a fan running full bore right over it.) We're in the midst of the holiday insanity here: baking, shopping, visiting friends, and being visited. Such fun, but it really cramps the ol' knitting style.

We have our Christmas Eve open house this evening (it's 6 am Christmas Eve~~taking a break from finishing the hood of The Teen's hoodie). Then tomorrow we have Christmas breakfast and the usual Christmas morning festivities here with my parents, then it's off to the in-laws for Christmas dinner. Usually we visit Mr Fix-it's aunt and uncle before we head back to this side of the water, but I don't know that we'll do that this year. Tomorrow evening we will likely visit The Girlfriend's family.

The 26th brings a huge sigh of relief and a drastic increase in my knitting time. I've already cast on the Noro Striped scarf, but I think my needles are too large, so I'm going to rip out what I have and start again smaller.

Also on the knitting front, I taught The Girlfriend how to knit on Friday (at her request--I'm not pushy about the craft, but once I know someone wants to learn, I am more than willing to teach!), and she seems to be a natural. She spent last evening here.......knitting. So cool! I need some suggestions for good books for beginning knitters. No fluff--something she will use over and over. I learned to knit from EZ, so that is always a possiblity. I'll teach her to purl, get her to practice that a bit, and then maybe get her started on a ribbed scarf or something. Suggestions for good first projects? My first was a sweater, but I don't want to do that to her.

Well, the battery power is about to go on CD's laptop. So I want to take the time I have left to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I will update the blog on the 26th with photos of the two sweaters and notes on what is on.........and off my needles. Yep, there's been more frogging, but more on that on Wednesday!

Merry Christmas!

Catch-up with Jenny Raye!

2007-12-11T13:33:00.000-05:00

Last time I had a real post I said I would let you know what we did in November that kept me from completing my sweater for NaKniSweMo. Well, here it is, finally. We spent three weekends and almost all of my November knitting time installing hardwood floors in our downstairs. 29 boxes of hardwood floors. 638 sq ft of hardwood floors. The living room alone took 24 hours. I will readily admit that I have never been as sore in my life as I was that first weekend. But it is finished now and all dressed up for the holidays. Unbelievable how much difference shiny hardwood floors make after 17 years of wall-to-wall carpeting. We had new carpeting put in before The Terror was born (over 5 years ago now--yikes.), and it looked horrible, even after steam cleaning. I couldn't face throwing more money down the drain by buying more carpeting, so wood floors it was. We're very pleased. Now to get that nasty no-wax floor pulled up and some tile put in. Yeah, I'm dreaming.

On the knitting front in November I did finish my Dad's Cambridge Jacket, which he apparently loves, although I have yet to see him in it. Work continues on The Teen's hoodie--body is complete, as well as one sleeve (at least it will be by the end of the day)--just have the second sleeve and hood left. The Cobblestone is crawling along. This is how it stood at the end of November--since then I have completed the second sleeve and 1/2 of the body. But it is slow moving. See those pretty floors in the background--natural ash purchased from Lumber Liquidators--on sale! Love. Them. I know, I've gushed about them enough.

In the contemplation stage of knitting is the Red Light Special Hat for CD (who will be home on Saturday with one semester of college behind him. Yippeeeeeee!!!! Let the holidays begin!) As soon as The Teen's sweater is finished I will cast on the hat. CD has already had snow at school with temperatures much colder for more extended periods of time than he is used to in VA, so I need to get the hat (and sweater) finished before he heads back to school.

Also in the contemplation stage is a Noro Striped Scarf--another Jared Flood pattern. I wish he'd write a book, I'd be first in line for it. I already have a line on the colorway I want to use for the main color--trade on Ravelry. I have messages out to two other Ravelers to see if they would be willing to work a trade of Silk Garden or Kureyon. In a holding pattern for now. This scarf will be for me. I just love having a nice wool scarf around the neck of my pea coat.

And now, let us bid a fond farewell to my bike.

I have had virtually no time to ride anymore now that The Terror is 'doing school' everyday. In fact I haven't ridden since the spring. I finally decided that it would be best to sell her. So, she got spruced up and was listed on Craigslist.com on a Sunday and was sold the following Saturday. She and I covered over 2000 miles together and I miss her already. One day I'll have the time to enjoy riding again. For now, I have my elliptical for exercise. I'm okay.......sort of.

Cool Contest

2007-11-25T18:43:00.000-05:00

Check out this cool contest on Fine Martial Fiber's blog, but be forewarned--I had to get Mr Fix-it's help on this one, although one or two I knew right off on my own.

Sorry about the drive-by posting. I hope to have a full-blown one up tomorrow with photos of what I've been doing in the month of November instead of knitting the Cobblestone sweater.

Cambridge Jacket #2

2007-11-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

It is finished. Finally. This sweater has caused more angst than any other pattern I have knit. From the gauge issues in November, 2006 to the zipper issues of November, 2007 it has been one long not-fun knit. But it is finished, it fits, and it was well-received. My work is done here.

Details: (modeled by CD home on break for Thanksgiving)

Pattern: Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd from IK Summer 2006

Yarn: Galway by Plymouth in some now unknown shade of red

Needles: Addi Turbo size 7 ( I think)

Start date: November, 2006

Finish date: November 20, 2007

Recipient: Dad for his 77th birthday (totally ignoring the fact that it was initially knit as his Christmas gift for 2006)

Modifications and thoughts:

I knit the sleeves from the top down (twice) using Barbara Walker's directions in Knitting from the Top, with further help from Jared Flood's Jarrett (since added to my Ravelry queue. I may just knit this sweater for myself in the second cone of English Tweed I scored from WEBS.) Check out that shoulder--pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Blocked the size 44 to a size 46 or so because my dad has increased in girth since I started this project a year ago.
I took the zipper and sweater to a local tailor to be sewn in due to the issues I had with the last zipper I put in, and also because of the time that has been consumed around here by the installation of hardwood floors in the downstairs of our home. When I went to pick up the sweater on the date and time promised it was not ready. Only one part of the zipper had been sewn in, and even that was done incorrectly. With just 4 hours until the birthday party I had to put the zipper in myself--never mind that I was supposed to be getting the house ready for Thanksgiving visitors. Sigh. I came as close to crying over a knitting project as I ever have on the drive home from the tailor's. I got home, sat down at the computer and did some quick surfing through some of my old zipper links, when I recalled that Grumperina had a good entry on zippers after my first attempt on the CJ #1. I followed her lead and have a much better zipper on this go round than I did on the first.
Shorter collar because I think that tall collar is just plain annoying for the wearer.
My knit and purl gauge are way different, so I have to do a modified purl to shorten up the amount of yarn consumed in that stitch and then knit into the back of the knit stitch on the next row. I'd like to tidy up my ribbing a bit, and to that end, I'm considering embarking on the TKGA's Master Knitter program. I said considering.
Edited to add: I also modified the cuffs by knitting a k3p2 rib to match the ribbing on the rest of the sweater. Thanks for the reminder, Dorothy!

NaKniSweMo

2007-11-01T07:52:00.000-04:00

Whooo Hoooo! November 1st and time to cast on for the 2nd Annual National Knit a Sweater Month (not to be confused with National Novel Writing Month--although I've heard rumblings on Rav of some people doing both! Yikes!) My project for the month is Cobblestone for CD. Since we last met, I've swatched in Forest Heather Wool of the Andes with no luck. I hated the fabric at the suggested gauge. Prior to Stephanie mentioning her love for Valley Yarns English Tweed, I had been keeping my eye on cones in a couple of colorways. Once she talked about the yarn on her blog last month, the number of lbs available of the yarn began to drop rapidly. I moved quickly and got 2 lbs each of Lichen and Dark Gold. All the lichen has been skeined, washed, rinsed, and balled--that's over 2000 yds. I swatched last weekend and came close to gauge with a size 8 addi, but I really didn't like the fabric that produced either. I also had swatched with a 7 and loved the tightish fabric it produced. Knowing I had more than enough yarn to make a larger size with the smaller gauge I've decided to knit the smaller gauge on 7s to get a nice warm sweater for CD. I didn't have enough yarn of the WOA to do this and couldn't justify another yarn purchase after the English Tweed, which was all originally planned to be used for me. I really thought that I would have gotten the Cambridge Jacket finished before today, but I still have 2/3 of a sleeve left. Instead of casting on Cobblestone with the other hanging over my head, I'll finish the sleeve first--should have that done by this evening. That will leave the rest of the month to concentrate on Cobblestone with occasional forays into The Teen's hoodie.

About the Cambridge Jacket, you may recall that the sleeve caps were rather puffy after my initial attempt at Barbara Walkers inset sleeve knit from the top down. I went with the numbers provided in the pattern, but that was the mistake. After reading about Brooklyn Tweed employing BW's method on his Jarrett (and yes, I did add this sweater to my queue, because it would be oh, so perfect for my dad, even more perfect than the Cambridge Jacket. So, if for some reason, this one doesn't work out, Jarrett is waiting in the wings for him. But I digress......), I tried to find the tutorial mentioned in his post. Sadly, the author had removed her blog in July. Christine being the great friend and 'net guru she is, told me about web archive at SnB last week, and then sent me the link to the very tutorial I needed! Thanks Christine! After doing a bit of math, I used 80 stitches rather than the 96 called for in the pattern and the sleeve caps look perfect now; they fit in nice and flat, no bunching at all. No more sewing in those nasty sleeves, although I don't mind seaming the body anymore, after trying mattress stitch.

Pressure.......

2007-10-16T08:26:00.000-04:00

Can you feel it? C'mon, you know what I'm talking about......Christmas knitting pressure. Yep, mid-October, and I'm feeling it already. I know, I know, it's mainly self-imposed. After all, I'm the one who promised not one, but two sweaters for Christmas~~one for The Teen and one for CD. I'm also the one who told my mom to pick something she liked out of Victorian Lace Today thankfully, she is not a shawl kind of woman, so it's just a scarf, but again, self-imposed. Then there is (at right) the-forever-hanging-over-my-head Cambridge Jacket for my Dad. All I have left is the zipper facing, blocking, and installing the zipper (after I find one that matches). Problem is, I'm not thrilled with the sleeve caps~~the fabric seems to bunch a bit there, like there is too much of it (which is, btw, the same problem the original set in sleeves had on the first version I made. I'm thinking there is just too much sleeve called for in the pattern.) I'm hoping that it will block out nicely. I'm not sure that it will. If it doesn't block out, I may have to rip both sleeves out and try again with fewer stitches. Shudder. I hate to think about that, so I've dropped this one for the moment in favor of fresher projects.

As Mary Poppins would say, 'Well begun is half done,' and I'm pretty well begun on The Teen's hoodie, which is now past the armholes~~I just put the sleeves on scrap yarn and rejoined the body after knitting night last night. The yarn is Valley Yarns Berkshire and is oh so soft.....and thick. This will keep my always cold daughter toasty all winter.

I also started Mom's scarf from VLT and have almost finished the first wide border. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK which I scored at lys on sale, goodness, back in the spring, I guess. It's almost sinful how soft this yarn is. I'm already worried about whether the yarn will hold out for both these projects. Knitting needles (and crochet hooks, if you have them) crossed for luck, please.

I had started CD's Cobblestone, but stopped an inch into the thing because I just couldn't stand the yarn~~Bartlett yarn fisherman aran in dark heather. Too rough. No way could I knit an entire man's sweater in that yarn. Now I have 12 skeins of the stuff in the stash. Anyone interested? CD and I talked by AIM on Friday, and I got him to narrow his choices down to some Beaverslide and Wool of the Andes colors. I was pulling for the Beaverslide, which is what I will be using for my Cobblestone, but he went with WOA forest heather. Gave me a chance to pick up some other Knit Picks yarn I'd been wanting~~including some Telemark for Jared's Red Light Special hat (I'm planning this for CD in more sedate colors, but he still may not go for the fair isle, so we'll see who actually ends up with it.) Looks like Jared Flood has become my favorite designer now that I have 3 projects of his planned for the immediate future.

In the midst of all this gift knitting I do have some socks on the needles for myself, but rarely work on them these days. The other stuff is just more pressing, therefore I don't think I'll make the end of the month deadline for these for the Sock of the Month KAL or Sockdown on Ravelry. Sigh. Priorities........and pressure. Ain't Christmas knitting grand?

Such Great Stories.....

2007-10-16T07:59:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all the stories about your first knitting projects; I had a great time reading them. We've all come a long way since that awkward beginning, haven't we?

So I made use of the random number generator at knitting night last night (Thanks Lindsey and MaryAnne!) and the winning numbers were 8 and 22.

The winner of Knitting Rules is Opal!

The winner of the Vesper Aquamelon is Chelsea!

Congratulations, ladies (please email me your pertinent info, so I can get your loot in the mail.) And again, my thanks to all who entered the contest, and most especially to all my regular readers, commenters, and lurkers! Onward into our third year!

A Contest

2007-10-09T09:29:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again......the leaves are starting to change......the air temp is a cool 95 degrees (I kid you not!) .......and Loves to Bike and Knit is rapidly approaching its second birthday. So in honor of the occasion I figured there would be no better way to celebrate than to give away some loot.

I had thought about just asking you to leave a short comment and then let the random number generator pull a winner, but while I still want you to leave a little comment, I'd also like to learn a bit more about my readers (and lurkers). In order to achieve that goal I'd like you to leave a comment with a link to your first completed knit project and tell me a little about its current status. If you don't have a link to a photo, just tell me what the project was, when it was completed, for whom it was made, and in what state it now exists~~if at all. Then I'll use the number generator to pick the two winners. That's it! Easey-peasey!

I'll get the ball rolling with my first completed project. Must have been back in the summer/fall of '98. I, for whatever reason, don't even remember now, decided I wanted to learn to knit. I searched through the library and found EZ's Knitting Workshop and the rest is history. My first project was a sweater for Mr Fix-it using EZ's percentage recipe from KW. The photo is a bit frightening due to an ice storm that left us without power for a week. This was taken on Christmas Day~~two days into the ordeal~~no heat, no hot water, no Christmas dinner. The cold apparently even did in the film in my camera. The percentage recipe worked, but I didn't do a gauge swatch~~signs of things to come. The yarn was a lovely New Zealand wool that I paid an arm and a leg for at my former lys (long since closed). Because I didn't do a swatch my gauge was way off (hadn't yet learned that I am an extremely loose knitter, and that I can't pay any attention to the needle suggested on the ball band of a skein of yarn) the sweater grew and grew every time he wore it (all two times). After that it resided on the shelf in his closet~~I didn't even pull it out to wear~~that's how awful it was. Finally, after I picked knitting up again in '05, I frogged the whole sweater (ah yes, the advantage of knitting in the round) and was able to salvage almost all of the yarn. So this project's current state is all this great yarn~~rolled into lovely cakes. Some was used for a scarf for my brother back in '05, but I may have enough to make a raglan for The Terror.

There you have it. If I have the nerve to put my horrendous first project out there for all to see, so can you. C'mon, fess up! There are prizes.

Yep, knew that would get your attention! First up, a copy of Harlot's Knitting Rules; and second, a skein of Vesper Aquamelon because I want to share my love for this yarn with one of you guys! Hurry and get your comments in. Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm et on October 14, 2007 (the day of my second blogiversary.)

And thanks for two great years!

Barbara Walker Rocks!

2007-09-30T13:26:00.000-04:00

I've had an albatross around my neck for almost a year now--10 months--that's close enough to a year for this knitter. The aforementioned albatross would be the Cambridge Jacket I started in December for my dad as his 2006 Christmas gift. Some of you longsuffering readers may recall the debacle that was Cambridge Jacket #2. I haven't picked it up since February.....until Friday. All I had left to knit was the sleeves, but I was reluctant to start, not because I hate knitting sleeves, but because I stink at fitting inset sleeves into a sweater. Stinko! Several months ago I got the idea of seaming the sides and shoulders of the sweater together and picking the stitches up around the armhole, and knitting the sleeves in the round. Problem was that the the armholes have all that shaping for a pieced sleeve. What to do what to do? I knew it should work to pick up and work short rows for a while to form the sleeve cap, and then join the stitches at the underarm and knit in the round, but I wasn't sure of the math involved. Enter Barbara Walker and Knitting from the Top. I checked the book out almost 6 weeks ago and have just avoided looking at it, afraid that what worked in my mind would not work in real life. With the kids being gone I knew there was no better time to give it a try than now. So I sat down on Friday morning and seamed the sides and shoulders of the sweater (yes, in that order. Note to self--do the shoulders first!) And might I just digress and add that mattress stitch rocks in its own right!?!?! I've never done mattress stitch before, but my goodness, what a piece of cake and what a great--read virtually invisible--seam! Friday evening Barbara and I settled down after a good meal and picked up the stitches around the first armhole and proceeded to the short-rowing. Short-rowing continued yesterday morning, and now I am well into the arm decreases--flying away, in the round! I love it when a plan comes together!!!!! So, by the last day of September all of my summer goals have been accomplished! Not too bad--just 7 days over the end of summer deadline. Pictures to follow.

Destashing!

2007-09-28T08:30:00.002-04:00

I decided to go ahead and make a new post for my current destashing. I have a variety of yarns and books, so take a look and contact me at my email in the sidebar if you are interested in anything.

In order to avoid overloading this post with photos, I have provided links to the items for sale/swap on my Flickr page.

Books:

At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee in excellent condition, $6 including media rate postage in the US only.
Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee in excellent condition; $8 including media rate postage in the US only.
Mason-Dixon Knitting in very good condition--cover shows wear on corners. $15 including media rate postage in the US only.
Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee in very good condition. $7 including media rate postage in the US only.

Yarns:

~~Blackberry Ridge silk/wool blend in sportweight approx 650 yds; Used to make Lacy Prairie Shawl One skein still in original condition with band. 198 gms total. $15 including postage in the US only.~~
Briggs & Little Regal Used to make FLAK cardigan Two skeins that have been washed, but not knit. Still in original skein, but no band. Approx 740 yards. Purchased same time--same dyelot. The color appears a bit washed out here, check the link for the cardigan for a more accurate representation of the color. Total grams is 317. $9 including postage in the US only.
Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in Cranberry $4 including postage in the US. 2 balls~~approx 218 yds
Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran $1.50 plus shipping in the US. 1 ball~~approx 91 yds
Handpaintedyarn.com wool laceweight 190 g/approx 1610 yds; Autumn colors--Stonechat. One skein still in original bag from handpaintedyarn.com, the second has been balled and partially knit. Purchased at the same time, so same dyelot. $8 including postage in the US only.
Ilse Wolle Marathon (sock yarn) 230 yds; Colorway 330; Only one ball of this. $5 including postage in the US only.
Ilse Wolle Marathon (sock yarn) 230 yds; Colorway 1332; Only one ball of this. $5 including postage in the US only.
Knit Picks Dancing 2 balls~~approx 506 yds; Sorry, can't remember the name. In original balls with bands. $5 including postage in the US only.
Opal sock yarn; Approx 465 yds; This is one of the rare, one-of-a-kind colorways. Just the very start of two toe up socks started. Divided into two same size/weight yarn cakes. Do have the ballband. $10 including postage in the US only.
Queensland Kathmandu DK--6 balls--wool/silk/cashmere--247 yds per ball. Picture shows a yarn cake wound from a frogging session on Everyday Tweed, but all 6 balls are in original condition with tag. $20 including postage in the US only.
Tivoli Celtic Aran 2 full balls plus a bit more--approx. 340+ yards; superwash; $10 including postage in the US only.
Wolle Rödel Sport & Strumpfwolle Streifen-Jacquard sock yarn; 420 yds; $10 including postage in the US only.

Needles: All are circulars. All prices include shipping within the US only.

Inox grey 3.75 (US 5) 24 in $4
Inox grey 4.o (US 6) 32 (?) in $4.25
Inox grey 4.5 (US 7) 16 in $4.25
Inox grey 5.0 (US 8) 16 in $4.25
Inox grey 5.0 (US 8) 24 in $4.25
Addi Natura 5.0 (US 8) 40 in $9
Inox grey 6.0 (US 10) 24 in $4.50
Inox grey 6.0 (US 10) 16 in $4.50
Inox grey 6.5 (US 10.5) 16 in $4.50
Inox grey 6.5 (US 10.5) 24 in $4.50

Payment by funded paypal please!

If you would like to swap rather than buy, I am interested in solid/semi-solid sock yarns, as well as Trekking and Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

A Swatching We Will Go!

2007-09-27T11:19:00.000-04:00

An update on my swatches for the Cobblestone and Neckdown Hooded tunic sweaters......plus a look at my former Clapotis in its present incarnation.

First, the swatches for the Cobblestone sweaters I have planned. On the left is the yarn from my stash for CD's Cobblestone. It is cold where he goes to college~~much colder than it is here. The yarn is Bartlett Yarns Fisherman and is quite rustic and warm. I'm intending his version as almost an outer layer for him or a very warm inner layer on those really cold, windy days. On the right is a smallish swatch using the Beaverslide in Prairie Aster that arrived on my doorstep yesterday. This version is for me and will be quite warm and snuggly. This yarn feels rustic, but there is definitely an underlying softness that I could feel trying to come out as I worked up this swatch this morning. I'm very interested to see how it washes up. Both swatches were done on size 8 needles and are exactly the same width~~18 stitches = 4 inches as called for in the pattern. So for now I am bang on gauge. Final gauge to be determined after I wash them today.

Next up is the swatch for The Teen's Neckdown Hooded Tunic in Valley Yarns Berkshire. Now this is an interesting yarn. Take a look at the end of the yarn~~it's almost like roving. I had to knit this on a size 10 needle to get the required gauge of 16 stitches = 4 inches. The Teen loves the yarn and the feel of the swatch. Again, this is going to make a thick sweater which will be almost outer wear for her. She pretty much lives in hoodies in the winter anyway, so this is a good fit for her. I'm concerned about how much this yarn will pill, also, it is not a superwash, so I will have to care for it and emphasize that it does not get thrown in the wash.

If you notice knots in the ends of yarn on my swatches, this is my way of keeping track of the size needle used for the swatch. Ten knots for a size 10 needle, for example.

Last night I ripped out the Clapotis and cast on Obstacles (Hypoteneuse will likely be knit up in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Watercolor I have). This is the result through the first 16 row repeat. I like the way the pattern breaks up the tendency of the colors to pool a bit on this size needle. I'm using a size 9 needle for this yarn after trying an 8 and finding it too tight for a wrap. So, that's where I stand right now. I may post some items on my Destashing page, but will post here if /when I do so.

Not Feelin' It

2007-09-26T17:03:00.000-04:00

I admit it. I've been working on my Clapotis in Brooks Farm Fourplay, and I'm just not feelin' it. I really liked the way it looked, and then started to drop the stitches. The love stopped dead in its tracks. I've dropped just three sets of stitches and don't want to proceed.

However, all is not lost, I do have in mind an alternative pattern or two for this yarn. How about Cozy, or my personal favorite, Obstacles? Hey Hypoteneuse would work, too! Fortunately, I have more than enough yarn (1080 yds or so) so if you have any other suggestions I'm more than happy to hear them. I do prefer a stole rather than a shawl for this yarn. So send me your ideas!

Meanwhile, the kids are away with their grandparents, and I am all alone during the day. The housework is done, and dinner is planned. Podcasts have been downloaded, and I've been spending a few hours this afternoon knitting. That came to a screaming halt when I made the above decision, but the needles will not remain idle for long. Already in my knitting bag is my Sock Hop Yarn in American Pie, divided into two equal balls for sock knitting. Nothing elaborate on tap for these~~the yarn is the star here, so they will just be stockinette with a 3 x 2 ribbing.

I did have some yarn arrive in the mail this afternoon from Beaverslide Dry Goods in Prairie Aster~~eventually it will become a Cobblestone with some feminine modifications for me. Now that Clapotis has fallen by the wayside, I have a couple of swatches that I need to get those washed and blocked so I can get to work on the sweaters.

Sorry for the photoless post. I haven't pulled the camera out in a few days. If all goes as planned tomorrow will be the day!

Thanks for the replies to my Sunday rant. For now, I won't be posting the name of the pattern or the designer, although if you've been reading my blog long, you may have already figured it out.

Have I mentioned here that The Terror read his first sentences the other day? I never get over the wide-eyed look kids get when they realize they are reading. Granted, it was just, 'Nat is a cat,' but it's the first step to a lifelong love of books. I sent a book with the kiddos for Grandma to use with him so he can practice his reading. As a former grammar school librarian, she was thrilled!

A Bone to Pick

2007-09-23T08:56:00.000-04:00

Just as a warning, this ~~may~~ will turn into a bit of a rant, so if you'd like to avoid seeing me rant, just move along.

You're a knitter who wants to knit a sweater for your daughter (insert any other person here you'd like) and find the perfect pattern in a new issue of your favorite magazine (or book, whatever). The kids loves it, but you put off knitting it, because the sweater has a strange construction, and you'd like to see how other knitters handle it before diving in. You even watch a friend struggle through it at SnB every week (Hi Christine, yes, I am going there.) You read on blogland about knitters of all stripes having problems modifying the pattern for length, because not all of us want to show our midriff to the world, as well as dealing with sleeves that are so narrow, even after modifications, they would never work with a t-shirt under them, let alone a turtleneck. So you decide against the pattern for your daughter. She's disappointed, but chooses another, less problematic pattern. Meanwhile your SnB friend continues to struggle until you (and others) finally convince her to give up after the umpteenth try at making those sleeves work. Next thing you know, the designer of the pattern has released a modified version of the pattern addressing all the issues knitters around the world have been having with the original. 'Cool,' you say, 'Now maybe I can make the sweater.' You surf happily to the designer's website only to find that she is not giving this information away for free to those who already own the pattern, no sireeebob, you have to pay AGAIN for a pattern that should have worked the first time. Excuse me? Isn't this what we call errata? And the designer wants you to pay for the fixes for the mistakes in the first pattern? I don't think so. Sorry dear daughter of mine, you will NEVER be getting this sweater from me, no matter how cute it is. NEVER! Because I call this dirty pool.

Okay, rant over. I feel much better, sort of. Started a new project last night and swatched for not one, not two, but three sweaters. Info to follow.

River Rapids Socks

2007-09-21T16:19:00.000-04:00

Two finished projects in a week, how 'bout that!?

It's hot up here in the computer room, so I'll be brief.

Pattern: River Rapids by Sockbug

Yarn: Trekking 108 (Love me some Trekking!)

Needles: Size 1 Addi Turbo (two at a time, of course)

For: Undecided~~started out for me, then I thought they'd make a great Christmas gift, now I don't want to give them away. You know how it is, don't ya?

Start date: August 2007

Finish date: September 21, 2007

Modifications: Only one~~shocker, I know~~changed the Eye of Partridge heel to regular sl1 k1 heel.

This pair of socks is my entry for September in Sock of the Month 4 for September, and my August entry in Sockdown on Ravelry.

Please note my summer goals over in the sidebar~~all but casting on the sleeves for Cambridge Jacket have been accomplished. A rather profitable summer if I do say so myself.

Everyday Tweed

2007-09-16T15:57:00.000-04:00

While I wait for the camera batteries to charge so Mr Fix-it can get a few shots on this beautiful early fall afternoon, I thought I'd go ahead and update the blog with my latest FO. Everyday Tweed is off the needles and currently being worn by yours truly until the above mentioned photo shoot is over. (It is cool today for early fall in Virginia, but not cool enough to wear wool/silk/cashmere for the rest of the afternoon. I do, however, have wool socks on my feet. Fall is coming!)

Vital statistics:

Pattern: Everyday Tweed by Marie Grace Smith

Yarn: Queensland Kathmandu DK purchased from Quality Fibers on Ebay (8 whole skeins and part of a ninth. 10 called for.)

Needle: Size 7 Addi Turbo

Size: M (for a chest size 38--finished size right around 40-41")

Start Date: August 20, 2007 (or thereabouts)

Finish Date: September 12, 2007
Modifications:

Knit the body longer than called for.
In the original the neck was scoopier than I would like, or would look good on me, so I fudged after getting to the underarms on my first attempt. The neckline dropped below my bustline--don't care who you are, not a good look. So I ripped and started over only doing half the number of rows/increases before casting on the front stitches and joining to knit in the round. It was easy to come up with the number needed by finding the total I had for the back, them subtracting how many I already had on the front. The total left was how many I cast on for the front. I then continued to do the raglan increases as called for in the pattern. In my version, as well as the original, the raglan increases were complete well before the underarm was reached.
Because I had fewer stitches than called for for the neck, I didn't need all the number of stitches the pattern called for when picking up to knit the ribbing at the neck. I just went with the tried and true pick-up 3 stitches for every 4 already in existence. I also dropped down to a size 6 needle for the neck ribbing. Wish I had gone down to a 5.
Did not do the last decrease for the waist shaping~~one of the benefits of neckdown knitting in the round is the ability to try the garment on. My waist couldn't take another decrease, so I just knit straight for that decrease until I reached the row for second increase and carried on from there.
My sleeves may be a little longer. I held both sleeves paritally finished on waste yarn until I was well past the bust area--almost finished with the body really~~so I could try the sleeves on for fit as I went. I think they are a little longer~~again, the advantage of knitting top down in the round.
Mistake mod: knit too long from cast on to the underarm~~I have a little too much length in that area, but not overwhelmingly so.

Thoughts: Love the pattern. Made a very snuggly sweater. Quick knit even though this is supposedly a DK weight yarn. Totally enjoyed it and am very pleased with the outcome. Top down in the round is my favorite kind of sweater~~I have three more pullovers in the queue that are of similar construction. Also top down but knit back and forth is the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I even like the picot edge to the body and sleeves. Wish the neck could have had it as well. Great experience. Great sweater. I'm happy.

PS: Anyone interested in buying/swapping for 6 full skeins of Queensland Kathmandu DK in rust colorway dyelot 643? Same dyelot is still available at the ebay store from which I purchased it.

Help!!!!! Now Whew!

2007-09-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

I am in need of one skein of Brooks Farm Fourplay Ginger 6, if anyone has a skein they'd be willing to swap or sell, please let me know, I would sooooo appreciate it!

To offer in trade I have Mason Dixon Knitting, a skein of Vesper Sock Yarn in Aquamelon, Knitting Rules, Yarn Harlot, At Knit's End, or good ol' cash. Let me know if anything strikes your fancy! Thanks!!!

ETA: Found!!! The Brooks Farm gals are on a weekend getaway, but were kind enough to activate the Ginger 6 link on their website! So all is well. You may return to your regularly scheduled weekend knitting and/or other activities! Hmmmm.......I may just start that Clapotis now. No, I must finish those socks first!

Life has been Flying By.......

2007-09-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

and the time has, too. Since I last posted a LOT has been going on here. We drove College Dude (CD from now on) to school in mid-August--just a few days after my previous post. He is settling in well, and we all miss him tremendously. Just this past weekend, The Terror, who is almost 5 and has no concept of time or college yet, got very serious, looked me in the eye, and said, 'Mom, it's time for college to be over.' He misses his brother.....his pal. I'm right there with ya, bud! But we look forward to seeing CD soon--we'll be making a trip out in the next month to take him his car and give The Teen and The Terror, as well as the grandparents, a chance to see CD and his school.

Upon our return from the college run, the two younger kids and I launched into school. We're going full throttle right now (well, most days), which explains why I haven't posted to the blog in, gulp, almost a month.

Nevertheless, knitting has been occurring, so let's start with an update on my active WIPs.

First up are my River Rapid socks in Trekking #108. I'm making these as a gift for a friend who lives in Birks in the winter, so I think these will be perfect for Christmas. Of course, she won't be able to make it through the winter on just one pair of handknit socks, so I may have to make her another pair. They are also part of two sock KAL--Sockdown on Ravelry and Sock a Month 4

(The Teen just came in to see me as I quickly update the blog--we're moving in slow motion this morning. Guess what she said, 'Mom, do you have any yarn?' Hmmmmm, let me see. I must have some somewhere. If only I could put my hands on some. LOL)

Next up is Mystery Stole 3. I am so far behind, it isn't even funny--about halfway through Clue 3 right now. But my relaxed schedule for knitting this has allowed me to see the finished projects of many knitters. And while the finished stole is quite beautiful on, I am a symmetrical kind of gal, therefore I will be knitting through Clue 4 twice and then joining the two halves together.

The project garnering the most knitting attention is Everyday Tweed in some yummy Queensland Kathmandu DK I scored (with birthday loot) for $5/ball on ebay. The yarn is a bit rough to knit with but washes up so soft! The sweater is knit from the top down (obviously) in the round on one circ--no seams! Yeah, baby! My first attempt wound up in the frog pond as the scoop neck was a bit too scoopy, if you know what I mean. I ripped it out and started over on different needles, and only did half the number of called for rows before joining the two sides to knit in the round. Neither sleeve is finished as I wanted to try the sweater on for fit before settling on a length for the sleeves. I am currently 5.5 inches down the body from the underarm and have done the first decrease for the waist shaping. Looking forward to getting back to this tonight after dinner.

Now, on to yarn acquisitions. As August is my birthday month there is always much stash enhancement going on in that month. This time all yarn was purchased with a project in mind. In addition to the Kathmandu DK being used above the following yarns helped me celebrate my birthday in knitterly style!

Long on my coveting list has been Brooks Farm Fourplay for a Clapotis--yeah, that is so 3 years ago, but I want one in this yarn, so there! This is the colorway Ginger, which I expected to be much more intense in the red and black departments, but apparently the colors on the website are not a good representation of what the colorways actually look like. So be aware of that when ordering. This is my second try at the Ginger and while it is closer than the first they sent, it is nowhere near what they show on the site, or what I've seen on Ravelry. That said, the yarn feels wonderful and will make a Clapotis that will go well with jeans, which is what I was after, so even though the colorway didn't meet my expectations, I kept this batch.

Another birthday acquisition was 13 skeins of Classic Elite Skye Tweed from the fantastic closeout sale WEBS was having on this discontinued yarn several weeks ago. I had planned on using this to make myself the Split Neck T-Shirt for Women from Knitting Pure and Simple (scroll down to see the pattern). But after seeing the Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing (sorry, Ravelry link) in Fitted Knits, I may be changing the destiny of this gorgeous yarn.

As a gift to myself I purchased some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed, also from the incredible WEBS sale for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan in the most recent IK. It's a pale green, and I hope will show off the pattern very nicely. I could have gotten a chocolate brown, but I thought the pattern would get lost in the color of the yarn, so I went with lighter rather than darker.

Knitting plans:
In addition to the sweater already on the needles and the ones planned above, I have two other sweaters planned as Christmas gifts. CD will be getting a Cobblestone, also from IK Fall 2007. For this I will be doing some stashbusting and using some Bartlett Yarns Two Ply Fisherman.

The Teen is getting a hooded sweater from Knitting Pure and Simple in a yet to be determined yarn.

The Terror asked for a sweater yesterday, and a Wallaby would be the perfect pattern for him. Unless I get the other two finished fairly quickly, his will have to wait until after Christmas.

Oh yeah, and I still need to finish my Dad's sweater. His will be for his birthday in early December. All I have left is the sleeves and finishing. I checked out BW's Knitting from the Top and have figured out how to knit the sleeves in the round to be able to forgo the seaming of those babies, which caused so much angst on the last Cambridge Jacket I made. First I need to get the body blocked and seamed, and then on with the sleeves.

One more thing and you will be up-to-date. I participated in the tea swap on Ravelry and had a great swap pal--Heidi. She sent me this timely package as I was quite sick the day it arrived on my doorstep. Chai and yarn, yeah, I felt tons better after opening it:This was not a secret swap-- you swapped with your pal--so my package went to her. She's currently on vacation, so it will be waiting for her when she returns. Thanks, Heidi!

Girlfriend Ripple is Complete!

2007-08-12T17:22:00.000-04:00

Details:

Pattern: Soft Waves from Jan Eaton's Book 200 Ripple Patterns

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Brights and Regular Colors~~12 skeins

Hook: Size H

Start Date: May 2007

Finish Date: August 12, 2007

For: The Girlfriend~~just in time for her to take it to college the week of the 25th

I'm very pleased with the outcome, and apparently, so is The Teen, who is now requesting her own version. Nevermind the sweater I am planning for her for Christmas. Sigh. I'm rippled out for the time being, so hers will have to wait. I'm looking forward to knitting some lace, as well as starting some sweaters (plus finishing my dad's.)

Birthday Sky

2007-08-11T09:28:00.000-04:00

View from the Frisco Woods Campground in Frisco, NC (Outer Banks, near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse) looking across the Pamlico Sound on my birthday last weekend. Shows the change of the sky over a 1-2 hour time frame. It was a beautiful evening.

Sock Monkey Socks

2007-08-06T07:13:00.000-04:00

Another pair of socks off-the-needles and gracing my feet. Well, they will in the fall, as the thermometer is expected to rise into the 100s today. Yuck! So far this summer we've been blessed with fairly mild weather--upper 80s to low 90s, but the bill came due for all that the last few days.

Sock details:

Pattern: Sock Monkey Socks by Socks-for-Mom, aka Rebecca
Yarn: Baby Ull in grey, cream, and red (2 balls of the grey, although I didn't use all of either ball, still, I think it would have taken 1+ balls for these.)
Needles: Addi Turbos #1--knit two at a time after the gusset decreases.
Mods: Only one, shocking, I know. I used red for the toe instead of cream. I just liked the way the red went with the grey and cream, and wanted more of it. Also, the red will show less dirt than the cream.
Thoughts:

Love the yarn! So soft. I thought this yarn would be more economical than the luxury sock yarns, and I suppose it is if you are doing a solid color pair of socks and only need a couple of balls, but with the necessity of purchasing 4 balls of yarn, these socks ran me what two skeins of Sock Hop would. Granted, there is enough of the cream and red to do another pair. I'm seriously thinking of making The Terror a pair with what is leftover.
Cuff down socks. See, there's a reason I prefer toe up. The socks fit me perfectly, perfectly until I put in the toe. They are just a smidge too short. I never know where to start the decreases for a cuff down sock to get the toe to end in the right place. Sigh. As much as I LOVE them they may wind up as a gift for a shorter footed friend or family member.
Great little pattern. Since the fit of these is less than optimal for me, I hope to make another pair for myself down the road. Downsized, I think they're ideal for the little handknit sock wearers, and upsized, they'd make a good mansock.

Spectacular Sky

2007-08-02T07:57:00.001-04:00

These were taken about a week ago. The sky took my breath away when I went out in the yard. Scrambled for my camera before it changed. Just so you know, these are totally unretouched. No photoshopping here~~that's all God's handiwork.

How Can I Have an 18 yo?

2007-07-31T15:24:00.000-04:00

Impossible as it may seem to me, it is all too true!
Today, my firstborn is 18!
Happy Birthday, I love you!!!!

Serpentine Socks for Sockamania

2007-07-30T12:04:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Serpentine for Sockamania July, 2007
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Bitterroot Rainbow
Needles: Addi Turbo 1 and 2
Start date: July 15, 2007
Finish date: July 29, 2007

Details: Loved the pattern, but need to learn to cable without a needle. I tend to use a small crochet hook for cabling, but it's a pain. You'd think with all the cabling I've done I would have learned already. I modified the heel, which calls for a heel flap/gusset for a toe-up sock, but I wasn't sure I'd have enough yarn, so I reverted back to my old standby--the afterthought heel. Toe is also different than called for in the pattern--I just used Turkish cast-on and increased every other row until I had 64 total stitches. I did decrease a bit on the sole side of the foot, as the sock wasn't fitting snug enough for my taste. After I added the scrap yarn for the heel, I knit another repeat and then increased the sole side back up to 32 stitches and started the cable pattern the whole way around the sock. I went up a size needle for the last 1.5-2 inches of cuff just to make sure it had enough give. Bind off, is just a regular bind off--I tried the one I used on the Monkeys, but it was too loose.

Love the yarn too! Very warm due to a tiny bit of mohair. I have one more skein in the stash, but will have to look for other colors that strike my fancy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other fibery news~~I am almost to the final 12 row repeat for The Girlfriend Ripple. Just 14 stripes to go. I'm hoping to have this finished by next week.

No work has been done on MS3--see above.

Neither has any work been accomplished on the Mystery Sock Monkey Socks. Again, see above.

This afternoon I hope to get my 2 stripe goal finished on the ripple and then at knitting night I'll work on the Sock Monkey socks.

August 1 marks the beginning of Sock a Month 4 KAL, as well as the Ravelry based Sockdown: Ravelry. For both KALs I will be knitting the same pair of socks~~ River Rapids by Sockbug in Briggs and Little Sport. At least that is the plan. We'll see how things go.

I'm Honored!

2007-07-22T23:18:00.000-04:00

Twig totally shocked and honored me by bestowing on my little blog the

award!!!!

Thanks Twig!!!!!!!

It is now my pleasure to pass the award along to five worthy recipients:

Trek because she's been with me as a regular reader/commenter from virtually the first day I posted.
Kim of Knotty Purls. A member of our local SnB who keeps all of us in stitches!
Abigail of 1870 Pearl, sock knitter extraordinaire!
Opal of The Akamai Knitter, a fellow lover of socks, lace, and ripples!
Theresa of Knitting Underway because the first time I came across her blog it was in search of this sweater, and she has been inspiring me ever since.

Rock on ladies, rock on!

If I had them to give, all of you in my bloglines subs (all 134 of you) would have received an award for inspiring me to stretch myself beyond what I know I can do.
You all rock in my book!

MS3

2007-07-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

I told you I joined Mystery Stole 3 designed and led by Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist. To say that the KAL has been well-received is an understatement of epic proportions! Last I checked there were over 6500 knitters signed-up to knit this project (sign-ups closed on July 6th, so don't even try to join now.) Some hover around the site waiting for each clue to be released on Friday mornings, so they can have the clue finished by Saturday morning at the latest. Others, like yours truly, are taking their sweet time to knit the stole. Hence the Mystery Stole Slow Bee button on the sidebar. So far three clues have been released. This is the current incarnation of my MS3--at the end of clue #1. I had hoped to work on it this evening when I got home from SnB, but I'm too tired, and I haven't even printed out the next clue yet. So it can wait until tomorrow.

My current foray into lace knitting has not been without its bumps. I've had to rip back several rows twice--the first time after working on the stole while at SnB last week, and the second the next day. Virtually all the ladies I knit with will tell you you can't knit lace at SnB and not expect to rip out half of what you knitted the next day. So yes, that did happen to me, but it wasn't because of working on it at knitting night. I would have made the same mistake(s) no matter where I worked on the stole because seemingly, I cannot count to 3, 4, or 8. I learned last year when working on a shawl/stole with a lot of knit stitches between increases and decreases to count the number of knit stitches and write it in the first knit stitch box of that section. Well, in two places on one row and one place on the next I proved that I cannot count. Sigh. When I sit down to write in the number of knit stitches on the clues to come, I will make sure I double check my count. Every. Time. Lesson learned.

Now, about the pattern. So far it is gorgeous! I fall more in love with it with each clue. I'm using a slightly heavier yarn than Melanie suggested, but I had it in the stash and wanted to use it. It's the remaining cone of Colourmart cashmere leftover from my Sampler Shawl of last summer. I know in the photo the knitting looks rather loose. The reason is that in its present state the coned cashmere most closely resembles string. This is due to the amount of oil in the yarn. Once washed in very, very hot water and Dawn, the yarn blooms and becomes oh, so soft! I'm accounting for that blooming in my choice of knitting this yarn on size 6 Addis. The beads I am using to embellish the stole are 6/0 beads in light amber. Melanie does not call for us to prestring the beads as they are used sparingly. She recommends the use of a crochet hook to attach each bead to its stitch before knitting the stitch. I, however, have listened to the wisdom of the knitters on the yahoogroup and am using Super Floss (Mint flavor optional) leftover (unused, of course) from The Teen's time with braces. This stuff is a real treasure for knitters who want to add beads to their projects. The fuzzy end of the floss holds the beads securely in place on the floss--no errant beads dribbling off the end of the floss with this baby! I preload this end with 10 or so beads and keep it nearby while I work. When I come to the next stitch that needs a bead, I just run the smooth end of the floss through the stitch to which I want to attach the bead, slide the same end of the floss through the bead and move it down the floss. Gently remove the stitch from the left needle, slide the bead down the floss and onto the stitch. Replace the stitch on the left needle and knit as normal. Easy Peasy!

I'm sure you'll be quite tired of my stole updates by the time I finish MS3. I promise (cross my heart) to only show a progress photo at the end of each clue, and then the big reveal at the end, all laundered and soft! Can't wait!!! Trouble is, I have that pesky ripple to finish. Must. Crochet. So. I. Can. Knit. Lace.

Monkey Socks

2007-07-16T14:51:00.000-04:00

My modified monkey socks are finished! Yay! They are my first pair for Summer of Socks 2007. My goal is four pair.

Details:
Pattern: Monkey Socks by Cookie A.; do you really need the link? Oh okay, here ya are.

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Wild Cherries, gifted by Trish in Knitter's Tea Swap 1 last May (The yarn made a super pair of socks! Thanks, Trish!)

Needles: Addi Turbo size 1 40" circ (increased to size 2 for the last two inches)

Start date: June, 2007

Finish date: July 16, 2007

Modifications: Toe-up--but it's me you're reading, so that was a given, right? Knit all purls, changed yo to M1. Short row heel. 15 total repeats of pattern--7 on foot and 8 on the leg.

Thoughts: LOVE them!!!! Nice and snug even though worked over 64 stitches. I love the non-holeyness. Wonderful color and fun pattern. I may have to make more Monkeys, but I have other patterns I'd like to try first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My focus will turn away from socks for the time being because I have another ripple to finish. I'm a little more than 1/3 of the way through the 60 colored stripes on The Girlfriend ripple. My goal is at least two stripes (4 rows) per day. Any time leftover will be spent on MS3 (post to come soon) and a new pair of socks. Likely the latest installment from Sockamania or Socktopia (both of which I have just recently joined. It is the Summer of Socks after all!)

Speaking of socks, check out this kewl sock bag from Knitting Ewe (These are to commemorate Sockapalooza 4, but I am not participating this time. However, I AM working on a Sock Monkey Sock, so I thought the bag would be oh, so appropriate.) Once I saw how cute the bags were, I couldn't resist! And they are reversible!!!! With each you see the main color with the bottom folded up so that you can see that too--side A on left, side B on right. Cute, huh?!? Go get one!

Ripple #1 Complete!

2007-07-08T13:49:00.001-04:00

Here it is in all its rippliness! College Dude's ripple blanket is finished!

Details:

Pattern: Soft Waves from 200 Ripple Patterns by Jan Eaton (#19, I think)

Yarn: 17 balls of Cascade 220 superwash in various colors. Each color was used three times in 3 rows of dc

Hook: Size H

Finished size 55" x 75"

With this yarn and hook size I started with 195 chains, but probably could have gone a bit wider. The photo at left shows the blanket spread out on my full bed, so it should hang down a bit on each side on CD's twin at school. The length is perfect for him. I am very, very pleased with the results, and I think he is too. While I have enjoyed working on it immensely, I am taking a week break from The Girlfriend ripple to focus on socks.......and lace.

Yep, as you can tell from the sidebar over there I caved and joined Mystery Stole 3 (actually I joined way back when it first opened, but had not planned on working on the stole until fall. That is until yesterday......I swatched.......and bought beads. I'm a goner!) The KAL is now closed to new members, but you can follow the progress on lots of MS3 by clicking on the pattern in Ravelry or by checking out the Flickr pool here.

Today, however, is for socks. I hope to have progress photos on Tuesday of the Monkey socks up past the short row heel. I may even work a bit on the second Mystery Sock Monkey sock. It's hot here in Virginia--pushing 100 today. Yet another reason to put off the ripple and work on socks......in the air conditioning!

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes on our anniversary!!!!

22 Years!!!!!

2007-07-05T08:04:00.000-04:00

Wow, look at those two.

Just a couple of kids getting ready to ride off into the sunset together.

A lot has changed since that hot, hot July night, but one thing will never change.

My answer to you then, now, and always, is 'I do.'

Thanks for sharing the last 22 years with me.

Here's to the next 22!

I love you!!!

Jenny Raye

Summer of Socks 2007

2007-06-26T14:33:00.001-04:00

2006 was decidedly the summer of lace here at L2BK, but this summer, besides the ripples, it's all about the socks! Currently two pairs of socks are in progress.

The first is Monkey version 2, since my version 1 just didn't cut it. Instead of the Regia I had thought about using in my last post on the subject, I went with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Wild Cherries. I did some modifications I read about on Ravelry~~changed all the purls to knits, because if a girl doesn't have to purl, why should she? And turned the yo into M1, due to the fact that I didn't want lacy (holey) socks. Oh yeah, and the obvious mod of working the socks toe-up two at a time. I didn't try to reverse the pattern, just working it as written, so the pattern will be upside down from what you are used to seeing on a Monkey sock. I love how they are turning out and am looking forward to getting them finished so I can start another pair~~maybe in the Regia. Or maybe in another pattern altogether.

The second pair in progress is the Mystery Monkey socks being designed by Rebecca at Socks-for-Mum (note the change of blog address~~she's a Wordpress gal, now.) I'm using Baby Ull for these and they are so soft, if a bit splitty. I'm hoping they will hold up well, because if they do, Baby Ull could be my go to yarn for solid color socks.

In addition to knitting socks, I've recently acquired more sock yarn for the stash. I've been stalking A Swell Yarn Shop and the Duet yarn in Army Girl. Seems I can never snag a skein when she updates her shop. Well, recently she announced that Army Girl was one of the colorways that will be discontinued. I couldn't let that happen without getting some for a pair of socks for me. Still, she had none on her site, but did list several shops that would be receiving shipments from her soon. I found some Army Girl at Yarn Grove, and now have a skein of my own! Whew.

That one yarn purchase must have loosed the floodgates, because within the next week 3 more pairs of socks-worth of yarn somehow made it home with me. I guess it is due to the lys having a sale on LL shepherd sock colorways that are being discontinued. I've been looking for some colorways that included a bit of black~~Embers and Safari fit the bill admirably. I also wanted a solid color, and brought home some Poppy which I hope to make into these knit by Pat. You must take a look; they are gorgeous. Go ahead. Go. See that didn't take long. Aren't they great? Now just to track down a copy of Knitter's Fall 2006.

Ripple Progress Update

2007-06-26T11:35:00.000-04:00

As you can see, work has been moving right along on the ripples in my life. CD's is to the left and is a little over 2/3 of the way complete. It stretches from the foot of my full size bed, almost to my pillows at this point. Still should be right at 6'2"or more in length. The Girlfriend ripple is at right. I just completed the second repeat of 12 colors--I'm planning on 5 repeats of each color for a total of 60 rows. This should wind up being a bit longer than CD's--it is already a good 6 or 8 inches wider. The last few times I've worked on CD's, I've tucked it around by feet and with legs stretched out it reaches my chest easily. Plenty of room on the sides for snuggling. Whereas The Girlfriend blanket will be big enough for a bedspread on the twin size bunk she'll have in the dorm. I hope to get CD's finished this weekend, as we have 20+ hours of driving (I don't do the driving, Mr Fix-it will handle that) ahead of us. It takes me an hour or so to do each stripe of three rows of the same color. I'll get a few more stripes done before we leave, so it should be doable to have the crocheting on it finished by the time we get back home.

Don't call out the search and rescue......

2007-06-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

I'm still here. Life is just a bit hectic at the moment. I've been working on both the blankets. Math Guy's is past the halfway point! I'm also working on a pair of Monkey socks. The initial pair was frogged and yarn placed back in the stash. I settled on Cherry Tree Hill in Wild Cherry, I think. This yarn came as a gift in some swap or another. I'd have to look it up. Maybe the tea swap 2006 edition. I've modified the Monkey socks by knitting all the purls and working M1 instead of yarnovers. I didn't want a lacy sock. Loving the way they look--hope to get a photo soon. I've been reading a bit, too.

But the lion's share of my time has been devoted to The Terror. He has been bugging me every day to start school, so I finally gave in. We've been working for 45-60 min per day this week and have already visited the library twice. I'm also in the midst of planning his schoolwork for the coming year. I'm doing things differently with him. I ran across Charlotte Mason style educating with the older two and had actually planned on implementing it with them, but then The Terror came along and threw a wrench in the works, so with him I'm getting to do things the way I had wanted, but didn't have the time or energy to do. I'm trying to get things organized for the coming year--still a couple of books to buy. Right now we're just doing phonics, handwriting, nature walks/journal, and math. We'll add more in August after College Dude (formerly known as Math Guy) leaves for school. CD is actually away at a camp/conference/class these two weeks--he's getting a taste of college life, and I'm getting a taste of life at home without him here. I miss him. That's all I'll say about that or I'll start blubbering :o)

I'm hoping to resume a better blogging schedule. See you guys soon!

No Longer MIA

2007-06-12T13:27:00.000-04:00

I'm back! Actually, I've been back since Saturday evening, but exhaustion and much needed housework kept me from posting until now. The convention was a great success curriculum wise. I was able to pick up just about everything I need for the two kids (The Teen and The Terror) for next year. In fact, I don't think I need anything else. The Teen wants to start Algebra II this summer and has even mentioned that fact several times, so I will strike while that iron is hot and start her off with that when she gets back from camping with her grandparents.

While away I did start a pair of socks. They were much more portable than either of the blankets, and I had some down time to fill, so on the needles they hopped. Cookie A's Monkey pattern has been haunting my dreams, but I'm not loving it in Yarn Pirate Friday Harbor. Is it that the pattern needs a lighter shade of yarn maybe? I bet YP's Rosie would be awesome as Monkeys! Anyway, since I don't have any Rosie I'm thinking they would look much better in this Regia Color from the stash. I've never knit with Regia before, so I don't know what it does--are the stripes wide, narrow, just a variegated look? What do you guys think? Should I continue on with the YP yarn or visit the frog pond and give the Regia a try?

Before I left on Thursday I also was able to crochet a bit on both blankets. Math Guy's just looks longer--I miscalculated last time, btw, I am not close to halfway yet. Sigh.

I love, love, LOVE the colors of The Girlfriend blanket. Still haven't gotten all the colors worked in yet, but I'm close. She loves it, too. After consulting with her we nixed the orange skein of yarn and went with white. I had pretty much decided this on my own, but ran it by her just to be sure we were on the same wavelength. We were. Always nice.

For the last hour or so I've been playing around with my Ravelry account--adding my stash yarn and photos. Really cool. Rest assured that invites for all are on the way. The two owners are still working out the kinks and releasing the invites slowly so that the site is not overwhelmed by all 5000+ people on the waiting list trying to register at once. If you haven't already, check out the screen shots available here. There are several pages worth, so make sure you see them all.

Thank you to one and all for the well wishes and congratulations on MG's graduation. Things have settled back into routine here. He'll be leaving this weekend for a two week class and then home again until the middle of August. Time, it is a flyin'!

Just have to add, I stayed up until 1:45 this morning finishing The Knitting Circle what a great book! Just checked the reviews and found that the story is semi-autobiographical. No wonder it was so well done. Focuses on the healing power of the friendship of women and two little sticks and some string. Highly recommend it. But if you do read it, make sure you have some tissues handy. Next in the queue~~hold on while I rummage through my pile~~oh yeah, have to finish Triple Witch by Sarah Graves, then I think I'll do a serious read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Gotta scoot. The time is going off on my rising bread. Yummmm.....in half an hour I'll have hot, crusty bread coming out of the oven.

One Down

2007-06-05T07:50:00.000-04:00

Whew! What a great weekend!!! Math Guy is officially a high school graduate, and I am officially exhausted. There was a great turnout of friends, family, and church family for the six home educated students who graduated on Saturday. We were all overwhelmed by the display of love and support for our kids. MG, your dad and I are so very proud of you!

Well done, son, well done!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that the festivities are over I have one last hurdle, a convention this weekend, to overcome before regular posting, knitting, and crocheting will resume. I have been working on the ripple blankets, but scored a new toy over the weekend~~a Ravelry invite. How cool is that site?!?! I've been over there playing around. You will notice in the above photo that I am not wearing Isabella. I could have finished. I had all but the cap sleeves finished on Thursday night. I sewed the shoulders together (knit in the round) and tried it on. 'Nuff said. I can't decide whether to frog it or finish it up for The Teen. I don't think she'd wear it much, and I could make something else (or the next size up) with the frogged yarn plus what was left.

So, I'll see you guys when I get back from the convention! Looking forward to starting some new projects--Summer of Socks is rapidly approaching, and I'm already planning the ones I want to make, and the yarn I want to use. I'd like to have at least one of the ripples finished by then. We'll see.

Happy Birthday to The Teen!

2007-05-28T09:38:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Stinkerbell!!!! I Love You!!!!!!

Whoops, I Did it Again!

2007-05-28T08:12:00.000-04:00

Call me mildly obsessed. Call me crazy. Both would likely be true. I did it. I started another ripple blanket. This one is for The Girlfriend. Math Guy requested I make one for her as her graduation gift. Since I was waffling about what to get her anyway, this sounded like a great idea. Within 24 hrs I had this in the house. A mixture of Caron Simply Soft Brites and regular colors. The only one that will not be used is the orange--they call it mango, I think. I've replaced it with white. It was going to be a surprise gift until yesterday when she spied my stash of yarn with the 6 inches or so of blanket on top--usually she is so ga-ga over MG that she has eyes for little else, but saw it she did and immediately piped up, 'What's this going to be?' My first reaction '......blink, blink,.....ummmm.........uhhhhh.....Don't be so nosey.' Obviously I am not so quick on my feet. Particularly when working on another project that I had just found a huge rip-worthy mistake in. I finally 'fessed up and told her that it was her graduation gift, at the request of MG, in colors he had pre-approved. She is happy. So am I. No pressure now to get it done. Just as long as she has it before she heads off to school in August.

MG's incarnation of the ripple blanket is currently almost halfway finished--three more stripes to reach the halfway point.

Also in progress is the Isabella top from the Spring 2007 Knitty. I'm having trouble with it. Which stinks, because I just bought a white linen skirt to wear to graduation on Saturday, and this top would be most perfect with it. I'm not going to make it. I'll try. But failure in this endeavor is inevitable. First off, my gauge was off like crazy from my swatch. The bottom was 4 inches wider than called for in the pattern. Don't ask me how, I haven't a clue. Then, the glaring mistake that made it possible for me to discover the gauge problem. I decided I'd modify the top and knit it in the round. Super! Less seaming. You guys know I do a lot of socks. I've knit sweaters in the round. Never. NEVER. Have I twisted the cast on edge. Until Saturday night apparently. Discovered yesterday afternoon when I finally had a chance to sit and knit for a bit. Rippage insued. Sigh. I won't make it. Why even try? But you know me, I will try, and get myself all in a bunch over the effort.

Have you seen the latest design by Gabriella at g.bella knits? Catalina Shawl is a rectangular shawl that I quickly added to the list. Just gorgeous. Go check it out!

Lovin' It or Could You Hear the Sigh of Relief?

2007-05-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

C'mon, could ya? That would have been Math Guy, The Teen, and me expressing our immense relief that this school year is ovah baby!!!! (The Teen will tell you that it is technically over because she has finished all her school work that started at the beginning of the year. She does still have the rough and final drafts of her research paper to complete, and Math Guy has a powerpoint presentation to wrap-up.) But my work is done here. (Insert Snoopy Happy Dance)

I must admit that it is a bittersweet time for me. As you know, Math Guy is due to graduate next weekend.....then just a couple of months, and he'll be off to college. He's ready. That's as it should be. I'm not ready to have him stretch his wings and fly away from home. But I know that I must allow him that freedom. It's why we've done what we've done for the last 17 years. He's a good boy, and I pray he will be a good man.

Math Guy Then (circa 1993)

Math Guy Now

Random Things

2007-05-19T10:26:00.001-04:00

A couple of folks have tagged me for this one, so I'll participate.

Rules: Each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blogs seven facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog

I've known my husband since 6th grade, although we didn't date until after high school.
In my opinion, Sean Connery is the best James Bond, but Daniel Craig is a really close second. I can't stand to watch the other ones.
Court TV is my favorite lunchtime viewing. I easily get sucked into the trials they show. Come July the programming is supposed to change, and not for the better to my mind. Looks like they will be pulling all but the bare minimum of trial coverage. I'm pretty bummed.
As a child of the 60s, my family didn't get our first color TV until I was in middle school. My first TV with a remote? After I was married in the mid-80s.
I have no less than eight books by my bed waiting to be read.
I am NOT a girly-girl. Jeans and a 3/4 sleeve white button up shirt is the outfit in which I am most comfortable.
I've lived in the same house for the last 17 years. Two of my children have known no other home, and we moved here when the eldest was 7 months old.

I'm tagging no one, if you want to list 7 random things about yourself~~go for it. It was pretty fun coming up with them. Thanks, Nadine and Laurie for the push.

Ripplin' Along

2007-05-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

Today I finished the first third of the ripple blanket for Math Guy~~that's 17 stripes (3 rows each stripe). It is approximately 55 inches wide and 25 inches long. I should wind up with a blanket about 75 inches in length. I've enjoyed working on it so far and will likely remain fairly monogamous until it is finished. Hopefully it will be all wrapped up and ends woven in by June 21st, which is the first day of the Summer of Socks KAL (sign-ups through May 26th, so don't delay).

Plans for knitting (and crocheting) for the summer include: finishing the ripple blanket, knitting 3 pairs of socks~~one of which will be Cookie A's Monkey socks, finishing the sleeves for the Cambridge Jacket. Oh yeah, I ordered some KP CotLin for a tank, too. That's to start with and as always, plans are subject to change based on my changing whims.

Lovin' It

2007-05-17T19:36:00.001-04:00

This week the love is all about VACATION!

We left Sunday morning for Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We haven't been camping since The Terror was born, so it was time. The kids have been asking. I have been asking. We finally decided to just do it.

Sunday night we went for a hike in the woods and along the beach. Even the dog had a good time splashing in the water.

Monday brought the only day suitable for taking the boat out and fishing, so the kids and Mr. Fix-it hit the high seas of the Chesapeake Bay while I explored the flora and fauna of the park. KSP has a hawk observatory, and while on my walk I saw what I found out later to be an osprey enjoying its breakfast. There are miles of well-groomed trails. I walked for two hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Meanwhile Math Guy was getting seasick out on the boat, so Mr Fix-it dropped all the kids off and headed back out to catch some fish (Fish 1 Mr. Fix-it 0). The kids and I headed to the playground.

On Tuesday we set out to visit Chincoteague and Assateague Wildlife Refuges. We took Shadow with us. Well, it turns out the pets are not allowed on the refuge~~even in a vehicle. We had driven 90 min to get there, and there was on way we were going to turn around and head back without seeing the ponies. So we rented bikes and rode into the refuge (turns out if you ride bikes in there is no entrance fee. )

The Terror thought he was the coolest thing on wheels in his little trailer. Problem was pulling him into the 25 mph headwind.

As it turns out, we didn't see any ponies on the refuge. (If you've ever read Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, these are ponies descended from the same stock.) When we took The Teen and Math Guy back when they were around 8 and 5 the ponies walked right across the road in front of us. A huge group of them. Close enough to touch. Guess that was our one shot at it. We had to settle for pictures of the ponies at the place where we rented the bikes.

We enjoyed time at the beach each day. It was so good to see the kids just enjoying being together. It happens so rarely with two teens living under the same roof. I am so thankful for the great family time we had!

Edited to add: If you left a comment between late in the evening of May 12-May 14 I am unable to respond as Haloscan went through some growing pains during that time and didn't include email addresses along with the comment notification. All seems to be running properly at the moment, and I will strive to respond to your comments in a timely manner! Thanks for all the kind words on my Petal socks and family photo!

We're Back....and a Meme

2007-05-16T15:54:00.000-04:00

We arrived home this morning~~feeling tired, smelling of campfire smoke, and counting among our blessings our wonderful time together the past couple of days! More on our mini-vacation in a special 'Lovin' It' tomorrow.

For today, to fill the void of no knitting (or crocheting) to show I have a knitting meme for you by way of Knitnana

Bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do eventually, and normal for stuff you don't intend to do. Let me know if you do the meme, so I can read it!

Afghan (in crochet)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously I actually did this on one circular simultaneously, but I don't see that as an option, so I'm adding it here.
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

(Rose) Petal Socks

2007-05-11T22:15:00.000-04:00

Details:

Yarn: Julia does it again with another great colorway! Vesper Variegated Sock yarn in Petal (not sure if this colorway is still available)

Pattern: SSS Pattern (August 2006) from Six-Sox Knitalong
Needles: Size 2 Inox 40" circular with the black cable

Techniques: Magic Loop, naturally. Toe-up (increased to 60 stitches, I think, may have been 64. Should have written it down.) , pattern on instep and leg, Abigail's short row heel (still love it!), 2 x 2 ribbing (pattern calls for a picot cuff.)

Start date: Around the first week of April
Finish date: May 10, 2007

For: Me (and I'm keeping them this time!)
Thoughts: Love this yarn! I have two more skeins of Vesper waiting in the wings. You know of my love for Trekking yarn already, and while I'm not abandoning my first love quite yet, I will admit to a bit of two-timing at the moment. The jury is still out, and will be for quite a while due to the rapid approach of summer, on how Vesper holds up with wear. The pattern--great! Makes a nice snug sock, yet has some give. Not sure how much that is due to the yarn. This pattern will eat up more yarn than say a plain stockinette foot and basic ribbing sock, but I still had plenty left over~~even after making the leg 9 inches from the cuff to the end of the pattern on the sole side of the sock.

Other news: still working on the ripple blanket! It's looking great at 9 stripes in! Okay guys, you have to hold me to my goals. I badly want to cast-on another pair of socks, but that is NOT on the list for May. We're heading out on Sunday (Happy Early Mother's Day!) for a 4-5 day mini-vacation. Socks would be PERFECT to take along. But I must resist!

ETA: Bloglines seems to be having some issues today. I posted hours ago, and it still hasn't picked up either of the new posts. Lots of my blogreads have the dreaded red exclamation point next to them. I'll have an avalanche of updates to read tomorrow.

Lovin' It

2007-05-11T22:02:00.000-04:00

Another one word summary of my love focus for the week....................

Family

Ripple Me This

2007-05-07T16:18:00.000-04:00

First, albeit late, my homage to the ripples that already live in my house. Starting on the left is a baby blanket made by my great-grandmother before I was even married. She lived to be a ripe-old 99 years (3 months shy of her 100th birthday). Everyone in the family received at least one of her afghans. She made baby blankets for my brothers and I to wrap our future babies in. However, my brothers are now in their 40s, with no offspring in sight. I hope that they (or my mother) have hung onto the blankets. I have three children--there are 3 of these blankets in the family--sounds like fate, huh? Anyway, all three of my children have snuggled under that blanket. I'd like to think of my grandchildren doing the same. The second blanket was a wonderful doublebed sized one that Granny made for me when I probably 8 or younger (did you notice that it very closely resembles the colors of my blog. I didn't even notice that at the time I chose the colors). It was always on my bed, and I often cuddled up under it while watching TV on a cold winter's evening. Unfortunately, when I married, I assumed that it had been made of the same stuff as the cream colored one next to it, and threw it in the wash and dryer. Well, it wasn't an acrylic blanket, so I'm sure you've guessed the rest of the story. It is narrow now, and thick, but still pretty long, so I can still wrap up in it on the sofa at night. It was one of the rare blankets she made from wool. As I mentioned, she also made the blanket next to it, the cream. It was a gift for Mr Fix-it and me when we wed. Yes, she lived to see that. I am so very thankful that she was able to be there for our wedding. The last blanket is the first that I made. It was for Math Guy when he was no bigger than The Terror is now. It has now been passed down to the latter who enjoys snuggling under it as much as MG did.

Those are the ripples of my past. Onward to the ripples of the future. All the yarn was in the house by Friday afternoon! Talk about fast service. Wow! These are the colors that made the cut. I'm thinking they will make a very cool blanket for soon-to-be College Dude to wrap up in while he's studying. And a shot of the progress so far~~as of just a few minutes ago. I'm picking the colors pretty much at random. Although I do reserve the right to refuse the color picked if it is too close to the previous one in the line-up. Each stripe is three rows of one color. The blanket will be made up of three 3-row repeats of each color. Each stripe is 1.5 inches deep. There are 17 colors, so the resulting length should be right around 76 inches--perfect for my 6'2" son. Stay tuned for further updates on my ripple obsession.

Mark another May goal off the list!

Swatch and Math Done

2007-05-03T17:00:00.000-04:00

Whoo Hooo! Half my yarn arrived just hours after my initial post this morning. I've now crocheted my swatch (check off one of my May to-do items), and I wanted you guys to check my math.

I started with 49 stitches (multiple of 12 + 1) and crocheted 6 rows, not counting the initial chain. My swatch is 13.5 in wide and 3.12 inches deep. So I'm getting 0.28 in per stitch in width and 0.52 inches per row. I took the dimensions of the swatch and multiplied to get sq in= 42.12. Then I frogged all the work, less the chain, and measured~~came up with 35 yds. So, it took 35 yds to get 42.12 sq inches.

Then I did two sets of numbers (I'll just show the figuring I did for the larger set of numbers). For a blanket 60 x 72 I get 4320 sq in. Divide that by 42.12= approx 103. I took that and multiplied by 35 (the number of yds to make the 42.12 sq in) and get 3605 yds. (I ordered 17 skeins of 220 yds each which gives me 3740 yds of yarn.) Then I figured how many yards it would take to get 4 two row stripes from each color.

60 inches wide x 4.16 inches deep= 249.6 sq in
249.6/42.12= approx 5.92
5.92 x 35 yds = need 207 yds per skein.

Each skein is supposed to have 220 yds, so there should be enough to get four 60 inch wide two stripe repeats from each skein.

You guys mind checking my math to see if I'm in the ballpark with this one? I'm cutting it close if I go with the 60 inch wide blanket. I may just work up one whole skein of the yarn to see exactly how many rows I can get out of it.

I don't want to start the actual blanket because all of the yarn isn't here yet, and I want to be able to randomly pull from all of the yarn for each stripe. I don't know how long I'll hold myself to that decision though.

I'm excited to get started, can you tell? ;o)

Tomorrow, an homage to the ripples that already live in my house. One crocheted by yours truly and three by my great-grandmother. They still are busy keeping us warm.

Plans for May

2007-05-03T09:59:00.000-04:00

May is already three days old, and I need to make a plan. The next month is pretty busy for us~~wrapping up school, achievement testing of our group of home educated students at church (I have a teaching degree, so I administer the test to one of the groups. Hope to have the middle school kids this year.), private achievement testing for a friend's high schoolers, our last quickie vacation before Math Guy graduates, graduation preparations to make, and.....well, you get the idea. If there were ever a time that I need some relaxing knitting to do, it is now. So, I'm coming up with a plan for the month, just to help me keep my priorities in order (read: not start anything new, other than the blanket, and work on some lanquishing projects.) I'm trusting you guys to hold me to this plan~~accountability can be a great thing.

Finish Rose Petal socks (so close)
Finish Mystery Monkey Socks
~~Swatch for Math Guy's blanket once yarn arrives~~ Done
Start Math Guy's blanket
Finish one complete chart of the Hidcote Garden shawl
Cast-on sleeves for Cambridge Jacket #2

I'll leave it at that. If I can get those things done, I will be a happy camper.

Edited to add: some of you seem concerned at how much I have planned for this busy month. Notice one item is already done. And when I say cast-on sleeves, I don't mean cast-on and finish. Just cast-on. One complete chart of the Hidcote Garden is like 28 rows or something--not too overwhelming. I expect to get quite a bit of this done while on our vacation in a week and a half. Really the list's purpose is to keep me reined in, so that I don't go starting 3 more pairs of socks before I at least get some of the above ~~finished~~ worked on.

Plans for a blanket

2007-05-01T17:44:00.000-04:00

Many moons ago I promised Math Guy that I would make him a blanket to take to school with him in the fall. The Terror has confiscated his old primary color afghan, and it just wasn't the right colors for a man. (My son, a man?!? Yikes! How old does that make me feel? Nevermind. Don't answer that!) I was thinking of knitting him a blanket, but came across the No-End-In-Sight Ripple Along and just knew I had to make him a ripple afghan. Now, don't worry. It's not going to be in any of the bright colors featured so prominently on the blog. I've picked out some nice, sedate, manly colors from WEBS and Yarn Country. I'm using Cascade 220 Superwash because I wanted something really warm and washable for him. I just couldn't stand to think of my baby wrapped up in an acrylic blanket, so wool it is. And I will be going back to my roots with this one and crochet instead of knit it. I learned to crochet long before I learned to knit, which may explain why I knit continental. It feels more like crocheting--similar motions. I've been practicing the stitch since Friday and think I have it down now. It's the Soft Wave pattern from 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns. So, once the yarn arrives, I'm off to the races. I've picked out 17, yes, 17 colors that I hope will blend well together and can't decide whether to use a random stripe generator or go with a repeating color pattern. When the yarn arrives I'll post a photo of the colors.

In knitting news, progress continues on the Petal Socks. I am about 4 inches up the leg now and will continue knitting until I am out of yarn. No more photos of them until they are finished~~which should be this week. Tonight I'm going to pull out the Mystery Monkey Socks and work on those while watching Id*l. I'd like to finish both pairs of socks before the yarn gets here for the blanket as that will consume much of my time for the foreseeable future.

The weather has turned gorgeous here! I think spring has decided to stick around now. I was able to get in another 15 mile ride today. Loved. It. That plus a walk with Mr Fix-it this morning and time on the swing this afternoon make Jenny Raye one happy camper! Not to mention that school is rapidly drawing to a close. Both kids finished up their math this week. French and science (physical science for The Teen and physics for Math Guy) will be the last to wrap-up around the 3rd week of May.

Graduation invitations finally arrived today. That's a load off my mind. Have I mentioned that we are having a graduation for the 6 home educated kids from church? This is the first time we've had more than one home educated student graduate at the same time, so we thought a graduation ceremony complete with diplomas, caps and gowns, and invitations would be appropriate. We were starting to get a bit worried that the invitations would never arrive. I'll be addressing them and getting them in the mail this weekend as graduation is just four weeks (4 weeks, really, is that all?!?!?!) from Saturday. Time is just zooming by!

Speaking of that, gotta run, Mr Fix-it will be home soon! Ta!

Lovin' It

2007-04-26T18:19:00.000-04:00

The focus of my love can be summed up in one word this week....................

SPRING

Especially appropriate today as the temperature is a good 20+ degrees cooler and the sky is low and grey.

Weekend Update

2007-04-21T09:21:00.000-04:00

Good Morning All! I'm feeling very chipper this morning after my first night of more than 3 hours sleep in oh.....three nights. I've been suffering with a cold and was trying to fight it without drugs, but I was so exhausted last night I had to give in. I purchased some of the good stuff (pseudo-ephedrine~~I have to be careful taking this due to heart palapitations) from over-the-counter at the store and can breathe again! Yay!!! I still had to sleep sitting up, but sleep I did. It's a bright sunny day here in Virginia, with temps to reach the upper 70s and prospects look good for a beautiful week to come.

Due to the cold/lack of sleep and the general in a fog feeling it induces in me I have not done a whole lot this week. Only hit the gym twice, and had to finish early the second day because I was just whipped. I did do a thorough sift through The Terror's toys and games and carted a bunch of stuff to the consignment store yesterday. While there I caught sight of one of those cool wooden stands with colored bins for storing stuff in a kid's room. Prior to this I've been storing his stuff in a bunch of different bins with lids I've picked up at Walmart. They took up a lot of floor space and didn't look all that nice in the room. As soon as I saw the bin storage system I grabbed it.

Ahhhh, much better! For him and for me. He doesn't like to play in a messy room, but wasn't great about keeping the toys picked up with the other system. I'm hoping this one will make it easier to do a quick clean up before bed each night. (And an added bonus is that it will make a great yarn storage system after he's outgrown it!)

I have done a little knitting, I mention this because I know it's what you come here for, not photos of my kid's room. I've been working on the SSS socks (August 2006 pattern) from Six-Sox-Knitalong in Vesper Petal. I saw the pattern knit up on another blog and fell in love with it immediately. That one was done in a slightly variegated deep red, and I thought my pink Petal would look fantastic using this pattern. I think I may be right. The original was knit up in a yarn that had a definite wide striping pattern, which I think hides the scale-like look of the stitch and competes with the stitch. This yarn and stitch pattern definitely compliment, not compete with, each other.

In other knitterly news, the preview for IK Summer '07 is up and I found two that I'd like to make.

The first, on the left, is the Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt, which is knit in Louet Euroflax Sport Weight (100% wet-spun linen; 270 yd [247 m]/100 g), but I'm thinking of giving the KnitPicks CotLin a try for this top. My budget can handle the top for less than $20, but $60+ not so much. Opinions on this yarn for the project?

The second, on the right, is the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell done in Classic Elite Sundance (50% cotton, 50% microfiber; 83 yd [76 m]/50 g). I don't know anything about the yarn. It seems sort of thick for a summer top, especially for here in the south. With this yarn we again run into cost as a factor. I know, I know. But the smallest size takes 6 balls of the yarn--I see prices online running $5.50 to 6.50 and up, so we're talking $33 minimum, and I am NO size small. For other budget minded folks, what about KnitPicks Shine for this one. Is Shine too heavy for a lightweight summer top?

Some of the other patterns were more difficult to see the details or too heavy for summertime knitting, but I may be interested in them as fall/winter knits sometime in the future. I'll have to check the patterns out when the magazine arrives.

Spring is calling, so what are doing sitting at your computer? Go on, get outside and enjoy!

Sock Knitting Heretic?

2007-04-17T09:12:00.000-04:00

Okay, you guys know I am all about knitting socks. Rare is the time that I don't have at least one pair in progress~~currently there are two pairs on the needles. But recently I've been rethinking what makes a great sock yarn. It all started when I was at my lys purchasing some Baby Ull to use for the Mystery Monkey Socks. The yarn is super soft, btw, and a delight to knit with. Two of the store owners were there when I made the purchase and asked what my favorite sock yarn was. In reply I first asked whether they really wanted to know, since they don't carry it~~said with a laugh. They replied that of course they did. So what do you think popped out of my mouth in answer--Vesper? Socks that Rock? Sock Hop? Sundara? Nope. My immediate answer was..............Trekking. Yes, I said it. Trekking is my favorite sock yarn. I know, I know. I made a huge deal about the Vesper a couple of weeks ago, and currently have a killer pair in Vesper Petal on the needles. I LOVE the stuff. I love the colors. I love the feel of the yarn. I love the way they stripe. But all that being true my first love is still the Trekking. You saw the picture last time; I have enough for five pairs of socks~~the most of any other variety of sock yarn in my stash (Vesper is running a close second with enough for 3 pairs). Why you ask? Why this love for the Trekking?

Well, first, let's revisit the first pair of socks I made for myself. Here they are in all their glory, hot off the needles on January 1, 2006. Since then I have worn them.....LOTS. At least two to three times a week for all but the hottest months of the year. I have them on right now, and ya know they look just as good now as they did then. They wear like iron, like iron, I tell you. (With some of the other more expensive yarns, which haven't been worn nearly as much, I have experienced felting~~from wear, not washing, fading, holes, just to name a few angst inducing situations for a sock knitter.) And the cool variegated striping~~what's not to love?!? Trekking has jacquard, as well more traditional striping yarn, but I am enamoured with this type. Hence the other 5 pairs worth in my stash. Another plus for me is the price. I can get just about two pairs of Trekking socks for the price of one pair made from the luxury sock yarns. Yeah, as the time for Math Guy (soon to be College Dude) to leave for school looms closer and closer, I'm becoming more budget minded. Trekking is definitely not a budget buster. Don't get me wrong, my love for the Trekking isn't going to keep me from the occasional splurge on a great luxury sock yarn. But my go to yarn is definitely the Trekking. Does that make me a sock yarn heretic?

Lovin' It

2007-04-12T13:41:00.000-04:00

Here's what I'm lovin' this week:

Summer sheets
Trekking yarn
Blue skies, dry roads, warmer temperatures, and time to get out on my bike
Knitting night
Project Spectrum colors
Progress on a long set aside project (fronts and back complete)
The rarely-heard-in-the-wild call of a teen saying, 'That was a good meal, Mom!' (Heard over a dinner of pot roast, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans last night.)
Flowering dogwood against a clear blue sky
Naptime :o)
Old Friends and New Fancies: An Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen Fun read.
A cool place to visit: Pemberley There is a group read of Pride and Prejudice starting April 29th!
Yarn cupcakes

He Arose!!!!!

2007-04-08T08:09:00.000-04:00

Alleluia, Christ arose!!!!

Easter Weekend in Virginia: A Photo Essay

2007-04-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

Because who needs words when you wake up to this?

What I'm Lovin' This Week

2007-04-05T19:22:00.000-04:00

I've been reading Love Thursday over at She Knits Shizknits for a few weeks now and just love the idea of really thinking about the things I love. Sometimes it is very easy to focus on the bad or only remember the things that annoy me. Today I want to focus on those moments in time that I otherwise may take for granted.

This week I'm lovin'

The whirring sound of the road under my bike's tires
An eagle's majestic soaring
The voice of a tired 4 year old, 'Mommy, I need to 'nuggle with you.'
Open windows
Frogs singing amongst the cattails at night
Swinging under the maple in my backyard on a warm spring afternoon
The completion of one project and the contemplation of another
The chaos of Lincoln Logs all over my living room floor
The hand of my eldest reaching out to hold the hand of my youngest as they walk ahead of me into the doctor's office
New books to read
Peace and quiet at the end of a long day

French Market Bag

2007-04-04T15:48:00.000-04:00

I added this one to the Projects in Progress section of my sidebar without mentioning it in my blog itself. While blog surfing last week I came across a recently finished version and felt (no pun intended) I needed to make one of my own. I've had the yarn for eons it seems, so it was time to pull it out and get started. My initial plan was to use some recycled yarn from the monstrosity sweater I made Mr Fix-it way back when, but that concept went quickly out the window when I realized I had enough feltable yarn in the red family to do the whole bag. I started out with the bulkiest yarn for the bottom--KnitPicks WOA Bulky, courtesy of Opal as a prize in a contest she held in the fall, I think. The next section up is KnitPicks Sierra in Cranberry, then two skeins of Manos in a wonderfully fall looking variegated, and finally two skeins of KnitPicks WOA in Cranberry. I purposefully used smaller yarn as I went up the bag in the hopes that it would pull the sides in a bit.

Details:

Pattern: French Market Bag by Polly Outhwaite in Knitty

Yarn: Manos, WOA Bulky, WOA, Sierra (approx 510 yds)
Needle: Size 7 Addi
Start Date: March 29, 2007

Finish Date: April 3, 2007

Modifications:

Used yarn of different gauges in an attempt to get the bag to pull in a bit at the top so that items wouldn't just spill out.
Knitted longer handles for easy over the shoulder carrying.
Made the body of the bag deeper to be able to carry more.

The top picture shows more of the shape of the bag~~I have a ton of stuff crammed into it in that photo, so it is very roomy. The photo on the left is more accurate colorwise.

Thoughts: Surprisingly enough this one turned out just as I wanted. This is my first felting project, so I was a bit nervous about it in that respect, otherwise just mindless knitting. Just what I needed the last 4 or 5 days. The body of the bag shrank a lot in depth, but not much in width (23 wide x 15 deep prefelting~~ 20 x 10 postfelting. The 10 inches is just to the top of the dark red I used for the bottom. These measurements were taken when the bag was totally flat on the table.) The straps also drew in a couple of inches, but I had hoped that they would. I'm not sure if this will become my knitting bag or just be used as my everyday hauling the stuff I need around bag. I love it! I have more planned as Christmas gifts. Yes, I know, it is so 2004, but better late than never.

In the works:Guess what arrived on Monday, right before I headed out the door to SnB! My backordered Vesper sock yarn!!! Isn't it wonderful?!?!

Also purchased (with store credit I've been hanging on to) on Monday: On the left we have five skeins of DB Alpaca Silk (35% off, thank you very much! This stuff is unbelievably soft!) for a scarf from Victorian Lace Today for my mom for Christmas, and on the right are 3 balls of Baby Ull for the Mystery Monkey Socks designed by Rebecca. I hope to get these cast on tonight before Lost starts.

It's been a wicked day, I think I'll head out to the swing for some quiet time with Mr Fix-it before it's time to start dinner.

Girlfriend Socks

2007-03-26T17:46:00.000-04:00

Hurrah, they are finished! Math Guy can stop hovering!!!!! Whoo Hooo! I had hoped to finish these yesterday, but took a nap in the afternoon instead.

Project: Girlfriend Socks (modeled by The Teen who begs your forgiveness for the jeans she has on) A gift for her birthday from Mr Fix-it and me

Yarn: Claudia's Handpaint Caribbean Blue in fingering weight

Needle: Size 2 Inox

Pattern: Turkish cast-on, stockinette foot, Abigail's short row heel, Waterfall rib from Sensational Knitted Socks.

Thoughts: Love the color--again, it is much richer than the photo shows. Like the pattern too--lacy, so she should be able to get some wear out of them this spring. The photo doesn't show the pattern too well either.

I tried a close-up, but it still is just 'eh'. I'm looking forward to trying more patterns from the book, as well as getting More Sensational Knitted Socks with my gift card from Valentine's Day.

And Now....The Rest of the Story

2007-03-26T06:01:00.000-04:00

First, thanks so much for all the empathy and commiseration over the loss of the sock yarn to internet issues on Friday evening.

Second, I give you the rest of the story. I will be getting my Vesper yarn in Aquamelon and Astro. Yippeeeee!!!! Just told the shop proprietor right away about the screen I was stuck on and then the sold out yarn. She had some backorders and added me to the list. She didn't have to do that since the problem wasn't hers~~just one of those glitches the 'net will throw our way at times, but she's a kind soul and 'hooked me up'. Thanks, Julia!

Score: Internet 0 Goodness of the human heart 1

I can't believe it......

2007-03-23T17:28:00.000-04:00

I can't. I. Just. Can't.

You remember my favorite socks of all time, don't you? The ones I gave to The Teen just because she asked? The ones she hasn't worn since then? Yeah, those.

Well, I decided that I was going to splurge on my last yarn purchase for myself before we become the parents of a college student with all the financial burden that entails. The splurge.....why Vesper sock yarn, of course. So I can make myself a really cool pair of socks like the ones that were intended for me in the first place. So I pitch my tent over at the shop around 4 pm for the 5 pm update. You know the drill, refreshing the page every 2 minutes so I don't miss the update. Oh no! Not this time. I am Jenny-on-the-Spot! Around 4:15pm I get the all white page that says the shop is being updated, stop back later. Yeah, like I'm gonna leave now. You should have seen me bouncing in my chair. I keep refreshing, each time tensing up, ready to pounce on the Aquamelon and Astro striping sock yarn. Lather, rinse, repeat, every two minutes from 4:15 until 5:05 pm. There has to be something wrong, I say to myself. Surely it doesn't take this long to update the shop. Did I mention that I was all signed in and ready to go with the order. Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, I reentered the shop. The main page pops up, saying the the shop has been updated. Uh oh. Hmmmmm.....click on the sock yarn link..........scroll down. All. Gone. Every single skein of sock yarn. GONE. This is not to be believed.

Is it okay to cry over missed sock yarn? If you think it isn't, just look away. A grown woman crying over sock yarn is not a pretty sight.

Decisions Reached

2007-03-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post I had a couple of projects in limbo since I just wasn't sure they were working out in their current state. The consensus was that my gut feeling was right. Neither was 'Just right'. Hidcote is now moving along on the smaller size needles, and it does look much better in the tighter knit. I was going to lose all stitch definition once the original one was blocked. The Flower Basket Shawl was not working out either. In this case it was the variegated color of the yarn that obliterated the lacework. I'm using the same yarn and needle, but this time I'm using the Kiri pattern. It's better than FBS, but still may not be as just right as I would like. I'll check with the gals again tomorrow night.

A Little Bit of Knitting

2007-03-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

For many reasons my knitting has dropped off in 2007, the major one being that since I started working out at the gym 5 days a week I am just exhausted by the time prime knitting time rolls around in the evening. Most evenings I'm choosing the bed over the needles. Although this is true the majority of time, I have been working on some things.

Hidcote Garden shawl is my project of choice most afternoons. I have dared to knit on it a bit at SnB, to the amazement of some of the other gals (Hi, Christine). I'm using Alpaca Cloud in Iris for this project on size 2 (could be a three) Addis. At this point it's about halfway through the 6th chart (there are 10). The rows seem miles long now, and I had a major bump in the road at the orthodontist on Monday (The Teen got her braces off, a mere 3 years and 9 months after having them put on!) I can't decide if I like the way the shawl is knitting up on the needles I started with, hence the itty-bitty shawl in the lower left corner. That one is being knit on Addis one size down from the original. But, I don't know, it may be too tight. So Hidcote is in a holding pattern until tonight when I get the gals at SnB to take a look at it and give me an honest opinion of which looks better.

Flower Basket Shawl~~I started working on FBS this past weekend using the Kid Merino I bought with my Valentine's gift certificate. I had wavered back and forth between FBS pattern (which I already owned) and Casino shawl which needed to be ordered. I went with what I had. Not so sure I'm liking it. If you check out Robknits she has some similar concerns about this yarn and the way it knits up. She came up with a brilliant idea of carrying it along with some other yarn. I have some Alpaca Cloud in Autumn in the stash, as well as some brown handspun alpaca, but I don't think either of those colors will work. I'm looking at some Shadow and other Alpaca Cloud colors to see if there is anything that would work better. So this one is also in a holding pattern, albeit a more lengthy one. The gals will also be consulted about this one tonight.

Girlfriend Socks~~These are barely started, but Math Guy keeps hovering around my knitting encouraging me to work on them, afterall they are for his girlfriend. I'm almost finished with the toe increases and after getting some housework finished this afternoon I'll work on them for a while. I really do need to concentrate on these since her birthday was almost a month ago.

Not to be photographed or even contemplated at this point are the second Cambridge Jacket~~the back is finished and I'm almost to the armhole shaping on both fronts. Yep, I'm knitting them both at the same time using Magic Loop. Almost out of all memory is the Shenandoah stole. I ran across this the other day in my knitting box and pulled it out. It looks pretty good~~I was going to rip it out, but reconsidered after looking at it again. I'll get back to it eventually.

Pardon the Dust....

2007-03-14T12:05:00.000-04:00

while I rebuild. I'm getting there and think I have the Haloscan figured out.

Just have to run to The Teen's ortho appt. I'm playing around with the colors, so things will be changing here for a few days.

Edited to Add: For those who are interested, I finally figured out why my upgraded Blogger wasn't working with the updated Haloscan the way it should. Even though I had updated to new Blogger, I hadn't switched over the blog template to one of the new layouts. You can tell if your blog is set up with the new layout by going to your Blogger Dashboard and looking on the far right side of each blogs info. If it says Posts, Settings, TEMPLATE you are still working from old Blogger template/layout. If it says Posts, Settings, LAYOUT you are working with the new customizable Blogger template/layout. It really is quite cool--gives you the ability to change the colors of just about everything on your blog. Also supposedly makes it easier to load photos, code, and stuff. I've learned about code since starting with my blog, so this is a bit of a change. I took a look at the template to rebuild with all my buttons and stuff, and just went back to the Add/Arrange Page Elements page. Anyway, all that to say that I had to be using the new Layout of Blogger before I could get Haloscan to work. As you may have noticed, it is now working, and I think I've rebuilt most of my stuff. I was looking for a comment template that would have pink and brown like my current blog theme. I couldn't find one--but there are tons of them to look through. If you happen to know of one, give me a shout so I can change my comment template. Hopefully now it will be easier to respond to your comments since I can zip and email off without having to go search for it in my address book or track you through your blog.

Ugh!

2007-03-13T20:06:00.000-04:00

You know, I should have just left well-enough alone, but I read that you can use Haloscan and contact those who comment directly by email. So I tried it. Lost my template and all the customizations. Stupid me. Didn't save a copy of it first. And I still can't get the screen that Haloscan says should be present in order to get it. Sigh. Frustrated. Headed off to watch Idol.

2007-03-10T08:54:00.001-05:00

Drop what you're doing and go look at this new design by Eunny! It is absolutely gorgeous--modern yet classic! The most beautiful Fair Isle work I've ever seen. She's sending it off to Jamieson's.....JAMIESON'S, you guys!!!!! I tell you I gasped and my hands were itching to knit it as soon as I saw it. Ah, to be so young, and so amazingly talented! Way to go Eunny!

Edited to add on March 12, 2007: Check this out, too! Not only is she a fantastic designer and writer, but Someone has noticed her skills in both areas and is putting them to use in one place. Yes, Eunny is now the editor of Interweave Knits! Congrats, Eunny!

A Mom's Sacrifice

2007-03-07T06:14:00.000-05:00

For the past couple of weeks I've been working on the bright and cheery AquaMelon socks made from yarn dyed by the amazing Julia Vesper. They have been my project of choice when not working on Hidcote. Yesterday I could see the light at the end of the tunnel on the socks, so I kicked it into high gear because I simply couldn't wait to get them on my feet. After what seemed like miles of ribbing and hours worth of afterthought heels they were done. Just as I was weaving in the last few stray pieces of yarn I heard a quiet voice over my shoulder.

"Hey, you're almost finished. Who are they for because they are really cool, and I want them," said The Teen.

Gulp.

I just kept working, though I had resolved that they would indeed become hers when I finished. Now, I admit it wasn't a joyful resolution. I pouted. I whined. I laid on the guilt trip. Hey, I may be a mom, but I still have that resident teen deep inside that leaks out every once in a while. I finished them up last night right before Id*l, and she wore them all evening--and had them on when I got home from the rec center this morning. Pictures had to wait until this morning, but here they are. Aren't they just too cool?

Details:
Yarn: Vesper Self-striping Superwash in Aquamelon--the coolest colorway in the world. (And Sockotta in neon green for toes and heels. It isn't a perfect match, but when I started I wasn't sure I'd have enough of the Vesper for them. Had more than enough.)
Needles: 40" sz 1 Addi
Pattern: my old standby plain jane, Turkish cast-on, stockinette foot, Afterthought heel, 3x2 ribbing two at a time on Magic Loop.
Start date: February 14, 2007
Finish date: March 6, 2007
Thoughts: Love, love, LOVE this yarn. I got it in a swap last fall and would adore another skein in this colorway so I could do a pair for myself. I think they are my favorite socks so far. The color just brightens everything up. Other than the color, the yarn is really soft and great to work with. What's not to love!?!?! Know of anyone willing to swap some Vesper Aquamelon with me? I have some STR in the stash!

Next Project:
Math Guy's girlfriend shares a birthday with George Washington and my Granny--February 22nd. When she was here for her birthday dinner with us I had her pick out some sock yarn for a pair of socks. Guess what she went for?
That's right, the Claudia's Handpaint Caribbean Blue. I must say, she has excellent taste--in boyfriends and sock yarn. I started on her socks last night. Toe-up, of course, Magic Loop, goes without saying. The foot will be plain stockinette, but the ribbing will come from Sensational Knitted Socks. Likely the Baby Cable or Elongated rib. The color of this yarn is a bit deeper and simply gorgeous!

ACKKKKKK!!!!

2007-03-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

Has it really been over two weeks since I posted?!?! I. Hate. Taxes. Been fighting with them for the past two weekends. They are done. Let's leave it at that.

Okay......the contest. Thanks so much for all your great suggestions! Several people mentioned Kiri, which I really love and is near the top of the list. Also in the running is Wing O' the Moth, but I had already planned to knit this in some yummy cashmere I have in the stash. Hidcote is already on the needles in KP Alpaca Cloud~~Iris. I'm just starting the 6th chart on this one. It's a big blob of alpaca right now, not much to look at. So that one is out. The one I'd really like to do is Anne's suggestion of her Casino shawl. Problem is that she was out of town and didn't leave an entry before the deadline. So, in the interest of fairness to all, I'll put everyone who left a suggestion of a shawl pattern in a hat and draw out a number--there were 15 folks who left pattern suggestions.
Sherie #1
Tonia #2
Chris #3
Kim #4
Carrie #5
Opal #6
Trek #7
Susanne #8
Ambermoggie #9
knit_tgz #10
Eve #11
Heather #12
Stitchy Fingers #13
Somebunny... #14
Anne #15

My random number picker (The Teen) just selected #4, which means KIM is our lucky lace yarn winner!!!! (All numbers were placed on slips of paper and drawn blind from an actual hat by The Teen.) I will make a full discloser and say that Kim is one of my knit peeps~~and the only one who comments on my blog, btw, hint, hint to the rest of you guys. If she's at SnB tonight, I shall deliver the yarn in person.

Actual knitting content....I've been working on my Aquamelon socks--I'm into the ribbing, hope to finish this week. Hidcote, as mentioned above, is into the 6 chart and moving along more slowly now as the rows get wider. Cambridge Jacket is in timeout again. The Teen will no longer be receiving an Arwen cardigan. We've found one she likes better......Rogue. Yikes. The yarn I had set aside for Arwen is not heavy enough for Rogue, so I returned it to lys for store credit and am in search of a suitable one for Rogue. I won't be starting on this anytime soon~~planning on making this for Christmas for her. I'm swatching some yarns I have here, but I fear none will be 'Just right,' as The Terror would say. I have my eye on some Cestari if nothing here makes gauge. Stay tuned.

Sorry again about the extended absence. Now that the taxes are finished, I hope to be a little more consistent in my posting. We have a very busy 3 months coming up as Math Guy graduates June 2nd. He finished his dual enrollment course on Thursday at the local community college and will be back at work next weekend. Time is flying, guys! I feel like I'm barely hanging on!

Two in One Day! And a Contest......

2007-02-16T13:58:00.000-05:00

Sit down, if you aren't already, I'm posting twice in one day!!! Alert the media! I know I haven't been as regular at posting to ye ol' blog as I would like, but it's been in a good cause, really. My time is stretched pretty thin now that I've added the gym to my daily routine. That consumes 2-2.5 hours a day. A huge chunk of time~~once I get home, I shower, eat, and hit the books with the kids or catch up on housework. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for blogging, but I do what I can. I still find time to knit, albeit less than before the first of the year, but progress continues. Let me share what I'm working on now.

Most of this week has been devoted to finishing up the socks in the previous post. I haven't picked up Hidcote or the Cambridge Jacket in days. As soon as I finished the Valentine's socks, what did I do? Dutifully return to the Cambridge Jacket? Print out the next chart (#4) for Hidcote and get back to work on that? Bite the bullet and start the Arwen that The Teen has been bugging me about? Nope, nope, and nope. I started some really fun socks for me. Call me selfish, you wouldn't be the first, nor the last I would imagine.

Aren't they great?!?! I had been coveting this yarn for way longer than I can remember and finally scored a skein during my destashing/swapping of a couple of months ago. It's Vesper sock yarn in the Aquamelon colorway. I used Sockotta for the toes, and will for the heels as well, even though it isn't a perfect match. I just liked the idea of having the toe and heel all one color instead of striping. I LOVE the nice wide stripes~~1st time I've knit with a yarn that gives a widish stripe. When I get to the place for the heel, I'm going to use an afterthought (some call it a forethought) heel~~run in a couple of rows of scrap yarn and just keep getting it with the stripes. I like my socks to fit snug and was planning on using a rib of some sort once I was an inch or so past the scrap yarn for the heel, but I'm really loving the cleanness of the stockinette and stripes, so it may be that once they are as tall as I want I'll just do a couple of inches of ribbing to hold them up, sort of like I did with my Chocolate Raspberry Truffle socks.

On Valentine's Day Mr Fix-it really came through with a gift card to each of three of my favorite store-front businesses: Knitting Sisters (my lys, which has now gone online. You can access the store by clicking on Login and entering the store as a guest. Not everything they carry is online, so give them a call if you're looking for something you can't find on the site.), Starbucks, and Books A Million. What a guy!!!!! The gift certificate for the lys wasn't even in my possession 24 hours before I had used it to purchase this:

Five balls of Crystal Palace Kid Merino in Fall Herbs. I understand that it is close in functionality to Kidsilk Haze. This will become a shawl. Which one? Who knows? I just couldn't resist it once I saw the colors. Even though it may not make its final home with me (my cousin is getting married in June, and I was thinking it would make a great shawl for her as a shower gift--my mom and I are having the shower for her.) I can't wait to get to work.

Suggestions as to the pattern you think would look great in this yarn? Let's have a little fun with this. Leave your suggestion in the comments or by emailing me (addy is in the sidebar). It must be a pattern available online either free or for purchase as a single pattern. PDF or pamphlet format, but nothing from a book please. I'll take them through next Friday night (cut-off is 12 am Saturday, February 24th). I'll pick the pattern I like best and the person who suggested it will get three hanks of KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in the Stream colorway. If more than one person suggests the wining pattern, I'll pick the winner at random from those who suggest it. Sound good? Okay, start suggesting!

Valentine's Socks

2007-02-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

Mr Fix-it has been wearing the socks I made him late in 2005 non-stop in the evenings since around November. He has terribly cold feet, and the alpaca socks I made him then have been just the ticket. They sold him on handknit socks, and he has been requesting a new pair since before the first of the year. Sure, he can only wear one pair at a time, but because his first pair was so well-loved he had already worn through the heel of the 100% alpaca yarn. (Note to self: 100% alpaca doesn't hold up well in socks.) I tried to mend the huge hole that had developed in each heel, but to no avail. It was with much sadness that those socks wound up in the trash can. I kept pulling my hand back, thinking that surely there was something I could do with the rest of the sock. If only I had made them with an afterthought heel. I could have pulled out the holey heel and knit in a new one easy-peasy. Alas, at the time I didn't know about the afterthought heel. So the old pair ended as landfill fodder.

The new pair was cast on around December 31st, but was too large. I ripped them out, knit a swatch (what a concept), and started anew. Here they are, finished the morning of St. Valentine's Day. I wish I had taken a photo of them with his card on his dinner plate. As soon as he saw them he pulled them on his feet. He had requested a taller cuff, and because I knit them toe-up I was able to try them on him several times throughout the process to make sure they were 'just right'. Verdict: two thumbs way up! What a relief.

Details:
Yarn: Tongue River Farms Sock Yarn An icelandic yarn (colors: cream, brown, bluish-grey[shown]) that comes in 8 oz skeins ($17.50)--enough for approximately 2 pairs of socks. This pair to fit Mr Fix-it's size 11 feet, with about a 10.5 inch leg took 110 gms. According to my scale, I have 99 gms left. Surely that would be enough to make a pair for me :o)
Needle: Size 3 Addi Turbo 40"
Pattern: strictly plain jane: Toe-up, two at a time on Magic Loop, Turkish cast-on, increased to 58 stitches, stockinette and 3x2 ribbing after decreasing to 55 stitches. Used the short row heel that Abigail developed. I didn't realize until I had already passed the heel that I should have knit in an afterthought rather than a short row so I could replace it if he wears through these too. The blurb on the site says that the heels are very wear resistant, so I'm hoping that these will hold up better.
Thoughts:
The yarn is rather rough at first, but softened even as I worked with it. He hasn't given me a chance to wash them yet, so I'm sure they will soften up even more after that. Other than that, he loves them. 'Nuff said.

Finally!!!!!!! Ist Mini-goal met!!

2007-02-11T13:16:00.000-05:00

It's taken what seems like forever, but I finally met my first mini-goal for weight loss~~8 lbs. I can now order a ball of sock yarn. I think it will be a ball of Trekking in colorway 110, unless I can track down the numbers of the colors shown in the Spring '07 IK. Next goal is 10 lbs (9.5 really) away. Haven't decided what my reward will be for that milestone. My advice to those of you under 40 who'd like to lose a few~~do it now. It is murder to lose it after that magic age. Just saying.

Boring Knitting

2007-02-06T19:49:00.000-05:00

I have three projects that I'm currently concentrating on~~plain gray socks for Mr. Fix-it, Cambridge Jacket for my dad, and the Hidcote Garden shawl. The first two are simply boring me to tears. So much so that I have had to reinstitute the knitting rotation plan in order to force myself to work on them. The Hidcote Garden does what lace does while it is still on the needles~~looks like one big blob of nothing. I worry that it will still look like a blob of nothing when it is finished since it is the first triangle shawl I've knit out of a true laceweight yarn. But I know that blocking does wonders. I just have to keep telling myself that.

No photos of the ultra-boring knitting that is going on at my house right now. Just know that I am knitting. And soon, hopefully, these projects will be finished.

1st of '07

2007-01-26T11:05:00.000-05:00

Today is my mom's birthday and her scarf is finished, washed, blocked, and oh so wearable! Just in time for the frosty weather (see post below). This is my first finished project of '07. I'm not quite sure why I haven't been more productive, but I'm very pleased with this one. Originally this scarf was part of the Holiday Headstart for Christmas '07, but my mom saw me working on it early on in the process and mentioned how much she admired the color and pattern, and how she doesn't have a scarf of her own. I've heard the subject come up each time she's seen me working on it. I'm not that slow a learner, after the first admiring glance she cast its way I knew the scarf was destined for her.

Details:
Mom's Scarf
Pattern: Harlot's fabulous one row scarf pattern (I used the same number of stitches she called for in the original)
Yarn: Mountain Colors Mountain Goat (wool/mohair blend) in Rosehips colorway~~one skein
Needles: Size 8
Start date: December 30, 2006
Finish date: January 23, 2007
Finished size: approximately 6 inches by 5 feet~~plenty long enough to wrap around the neck with the ends hanging down.

Happy Birthday, MOM!!!!!

What happened here?

2007-01-25T15:23:00.000-05:00

At 2pm this afternoon the sky grew dark and windy. I made myself a cup of hot cocoa--diet only, thank you--and curled up in my Wool Peddler shawl for a cuppa and some reading time. The Teen left for piano at 2:30 and the skies were still threatening, but nothing more than wind was going on. I read for 10 minutes or so with my back to the window, feeling all warm and snuggly in my shawl and from the hot cocoa. My eyes grew heavy ........and I was out! I awoke with a start at 3:05 pm to answer the ringing phone, glanced out the window, and nearly dropped my teeth! This is what I saw........
Now, at 3:30pm the sky has lightened, and the snow squall has passed, although from the looks of the radar we may be in for more. Rarely, rarely does lake affect snow reach us in this part of the state. Usually it runs out of steam passing over the mountains to our west, but by the looks of the radar, this is indeed lake affect. So pretty. I know, it's what half an inch to an inch at most. But you have to understand that here in southeast Virginia it can snow for hours before we see this much accumulation. To wake up to this after a 20 minute catnap is surprising to say the least. I'm so sad that I didn't get to see the brunt of the squall as it dumped this powdered sugar delight all over our neck of the woods.

I'll leave you with this shot through my pine tree, you can already see the sun emerging in the background. The snow will likely be gone in a hour or so. This is my shot for 007 A Dozen Days for January. While a really good snow is a rarity here, I love it, have since I was a kid. Our last really good snow was on this day in 2000--my mom reminded me about it this morning. That day we had 16 inches of the white stuff. I know the kids and I were out having a ball in it. January to me, means snow. Even if it is in my dreams most of the time.

Wool Peddler Shawl Blocked

2007-01-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

I got around to blocking my Wool Peddler over the weekend and just LOVE the way it turned out. The lace really opened up, and surprisingly enough, so did the garter stitch. It measures 78 inches across and 44 inches to the point. Just perfect for snuggling in. Just in time, too. Looks like winter will hit us this evening. About time.

Out of Timeout

2007-01-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned in the past there were, shall we say, some issues with the first incarnation of my dad's Cambridge Jacket. You may recall that this was intended as a Christmas gift for dear ol' dad, but once the issues I was having with gauge finally sunk into my Christmas addled brain, I knew that I had to start the jacket over. Did I hop on it right away so that he would have his jacket before the ~~summer~~ winter was over? Nope. I threw it in the storage box, and let it stew in its juices for almost a month.

After ripping the previous version out using my new ball winder (Can I just say how fantastic that was! Weeks of work back in a ball in less than two minutes. Cool.), I was finally ready to face the miles of stockinette and ribbing and cast on on Saturday. As of last night I had 12+ inches of the back done (this photo is from yesterday morning)~~I'm almost to the place where I can start decreasing for the armholes. This go round is looking much better since I have adjusted the way I purl on those long stretches of stockinette. There are the occasional blips in gauge but nothing like the horrible train tracks I had running horizontally across the back of the sweater before making the adjustment. I'm sure these irregularities will block out. I am much better pleased with it now and hope to get a substantial portion of the remainder of the back done at knitting night tonight. I'll get my knitting peeps' opinions about how it looks now compared to then since they saw the evidence of my inability to maintain gauge between a knit and purl row in person.

While knitting away I was finally able to finish The Pallisers on dvd (only started it a year ago). All 26 episodes. Well, I didn't watch them all this weekend, but I was able to finish off the 3rd volume. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this 1970s BBC series (I think this ran on Masterpiece Theatre, but am not sure.) Excellent show, I find I miss the story and characters. Must read the book. Now I'm in search of a new series to occupy myself while knitting. Of course, American Id*l starts tomorrow, so that will take care of a couple of hours a week, but until L*st starts again (I can't knit while I watch it though) there isn't a whole lot I watch on broadcast or satellite TV--much prefer getting a dvd and popping it in. Suggestions welcome.

That'll be it for today. I have some other updates, but I'll spread them out rather than loading up one post.

For You Photo Bugs

2007-01-04T12:07:00.000-05:00

Stephanie has come up with a faboo idea for a well, not KAL, because it has nothing to do with knitting, anyway. It's called 007 Snap a Dozen Days and you can see the button over there in the sidebar. Head over to the link for details. In a nutshell, once a month you shoot pictures of what the month means to you and post them. There is no official website, however there is a flickr group. So if photography appeals at all to your creative sense, join in!

Happy New Year!!!!!

2007-01-01T09:51:00.000-05:00

First off, Happy New Year everyone!!!

Secondly, I thought I would update you with the new things I've cast-on, as well as those projects that are in the works.

The first project I have started is a pair of socks for Mr Fix-it. He has already come through the heels of the socks I made him at Christmas last year. The yarn is a sport weight sock yarn from Tongue River Farm. The blurb about the yarn says that they are very warm--good, because Mr Fix-it's feet are always cold; and that they are hard-wearing--again, good, see above. So I'm giving this wool a try. It isn't pleasant to knit with, feels a bit rough. But again, it says to expect this, and that the yarn will bloom and soften with washing. I'll let you know.

The next item to actually make it to the needles is a scarf for the Holiday Headstart KAL. If you've been reading me for any length of time you know that I have a tendency to procrastinate. This year I am getting started early. My mom came over yesterday and saw this scarf-in-progress and really admired it. Okie dokie. One holiday present assigned to one family member. It may be that this will become her birthday gift--she's a January baby. Anyway, the yarn is Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, I think. It's a worsted weight combo of wool and mohair. I may have the name wrong. Color is Rose Hips. The pattern is one of Harlot's--the One Row Scarf pattern.

Those are the only two projects I've actually started, but I do have a number in a queue behind them. No, I won't wait until they are finished before I start anything else. You know me, I am NOT a monogamous knitter.

While here Mom picked out a scarf she likes from Victorian Lace Today. She isn't yet a shawl or stole person. I'm trying to convert her. I was planning on making the scarf she picked with the cashmere left over from my Sampler shawl, but I'm not sure it'll be heavy enough. As it is the scarf when finished in the heavier yarn is only 11 inches wide. I'm also in that KAL, so I'll be casting it on soon. That's #1 in the queue.

#2 Dad's Cambridge Jacket which had to be frogged due to gauge issues. You've heard it before, I won't rehash it here.

#3 The Teen's Arwen cardigan. I haven't started this because of the number of modifications that need to be made. In addition, I'm using Encore again, and frankly, I haven't yet recovered from my last encounter with it.

Last but certainly not the least, nor will it be the last to get cast-on. #4 Hidcote Garden shawl for which there is a KAL for those of you who didn't know. I hope to get this one started today.

I think that brings you up-to-date.

2006 Wrap-Up

2006-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd post a wrap-up of all the projects I finished in '06. I do have one to add, but it's cloudy today, so I can't get a good picture.

Here they are, by category:

Shawls/Stoles/Scarves
Wool Peddler's Shawl
Leda's Dream Stole
Lacy Prairie Shawl
Glorianna
Sampler Shawl

Sweaters
Cambridge Jacket
FLAK Cardigan
Baby Cardigan

Socks
Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Socks
Palomino Socks
Summer's Socks
Two pairs of baby socks
Spring Embossed Leaves socks
Fern Embossed Leaves socks
Cycling Socks
Retro Rib socks
Wyvern socks
Torino socks
Blue stripe socks
Swap Pal Socks
Ski Retreat Socks
Jen's Trekking Socks

Misc.
Manos Mitts
2 Chenille washcloths

Twenty-six completed projects.

Frogged:
St Ciaran--yarn will become a sweater for me

Trekking Jaywalkers--didn't like the way they fit

Shenandoah Stole--I designed the pattern and love the way it looks, but I don't like the handpainted yarn laceweight. Some places it is just too thin. I will be knitting this with some Autumn Alpaca Cloud in the near future.

So that leaves me with nothing, technically, on the needles at the end of '06. See next post for the New Year update.

Wool Peddler's Shawl

2006-12-31T23:50:00.000-05:00

It's really cloudy and rainy today, so this isn't the best shot. Plus I haven't blocked it yet. But nevertheless, the Wool Peddler shawl is finished. I'm wrapped up in it as I type.

Details:
Pattern: Wool Peddler's Shawl from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle
Yarn: Galway in a medium red 4 whole skeins and just a bit of #5 for the bottom edge
Needles: Addi Turbos 10 for the garter stitch section and 8 for the pattern
Start date: November 2006
Finish date: December 30, 2006

Modifications: None, can you believe it?!?! I had planned on knitting an extra repeat or two to make the shawl bigger. But I think it's okay as is, even when unblocked. To block it will make it a slight bit longer, but for right now, it's fine.

Notes: I made this shawl for me to cuddle up in while knitting, reading, or working on the computer. Seems to be the perfect size for those purposes. I know I will enjoy it.

Hidcote Garden KAL

2006-12-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

Whoo HOOOOOO!!!! Just read Knitnana's blog, and she has set up the KAL for Mim's beautiful Hidcote Garden Shawl. I've been waiting impatiently for this since she first mentioned it back in like, November. I'm so excited! I get to use my new ball winder and swift to wind the yarn for it. Can you see me bouncing up and down in my chair?

Well, what are you waiting for? Head over there and join up!