YarnKettle

My Mom is crafty too

2012-02-11T12:09:00.000-05:00

Since I come from a crafty line of women I should show off Mom's skills too. A few years ago I noticed the stores stopped selling pretty and interesting pillow cases. They had just plain blah ones. You may be shocked but I like funky and fun pillow cases. When I told Mom this she remedied the situation.

Yep knitting pillow cases with a stitched in heart for reinforcement. Darn you can not see it but trust me it is there.

Now these are pre-made pillowcases but with embroidery fun. Our bedroom is lilac colored but since I am extremely eclectic everything matches by not matching anything but my personality.

I will show you more in the future. We have his and hers pillow cases too but not the way you think. Mine have kitties and D's have Navy things on them.

Mom found it surprising that embroidery helps her arthritic hands feel better. I am a bit surprised too but exercise and use usually makes things better, except Gus the thinks naps make him better.

Well I think I need to get some things done. D made reservations for us tonight at a nice restaurant, he's not telling me where. So I should really be out buying something to wear, since I am a rather relaxed clothing person. I've even recycled my Christmas party dress a couple of times now. Hey why spend $60 to $100 every year when I can spend that money on yarn for accent shawls?

Fashion sense, I don't have any. I was thrilled to get out of jury duty so I did not need to buy new "court appropriate" clothing. What does that even mean?

And yes I choose my Church by the ability to wear jeans to service. I don't think I am a bad person just one who hates to buy clothes.

Wish me luck!

Instinct

2012-02-08T17:49:00.001-05:00

We had quite the hubub here the other morning. You know how sometimes in the morning you're just not quite with it? You don't have your glasses on and everything is out of focus? Yesterday morning was one of those mornings for me and D.

Part of the reason for me was that Gus was yowling and carrying on in the early morning. That boy sure has some lungs. Jack was tucked in with me. D got up and he likes to sit for a bit in the morning and gather his thoughts usually in the dark. You don't want to gather those thoughts too quickly or you'll be placed in charge of making breakfast.

As I walked into the living room D was saying to Gus; why are you looking at the curtains? I look up to see a fist sized, dark shape move across the top of the curtains. Before you get too freaked out remember I have smaller fists. I grabbed my glasses so I could see and sure enough a mouse was up on our curtains. Freaky!

We both go into What-can-we-use-to-get-it mode. Jack however went into his Mine! mode. D grabs a dishcloth as his weapon and I decide a pep talk to Jack is my most effective thing. My track record is not so good when it comes to mice in the house. Who knows it may even be the same mouse. I tell Jack this time he needs to kill the mouse! D-E-D, dead this time. (Bonus points if you know what movie that is from.)

I start tapping and shaking the curtain to send the mouse D's way and after much scurrying it ends up on the couch. All we saw was a blurr going over the arm of the couch followed by Jacks butt and tail. It all happened so fast! Jack emerged a moment later with something in his mouth and proceeded to the dining room. What? Where do you kill your mice? He dropped the mouse and then sprinted after it and caught it again. I ran to get a paper towel, shouting encouragement all the way.

I returned to find the mouse laying motionless in front of Jack, and my husband with a look of awe on his face. Jack was praised. The mouse was given a paper towel coffin and placed in the outside trash bin.

As D says he was all instinct, a pure killing machine.

Greenies treats and many fur strokes were given in praise to our boys. Gus for pointing him out and Jack for doing the deed. I must tell you I think the mouse was twice the size of a normal sized mouse.

Later in the day I came across this article. Which talks about what would happen if all the cats on the earth died. Other than my heart being completely broken, the rodent population would increase. I refer you to this line from the article: A study in New Zealand in 1979 found that, when cats were nearly eradicated from a small island, the local rat population quickly quadrupled.

Can you imagine a quadrupled rat population? Even if I can I don't want to!

Well done boys, well done.

Fence me in

2012-01-31T19:01:00.000-05:00

As you all know I was raised on a farm. Where there are several miles between neighbors. This is no longer the case, I live in town and am one street removed from a mall. I've gotten used to having neighbors, but I gotta tell ya that in my heart I still long for the space of the farm.

Yesterday was one of those days because I drove home after work and found this sight waiting for me. My neighbor removed part of my fence to put up a totally different kind and style.

This is the second time he has taken down my fence. I've been told that the "ugly" side of the fence faces the owners view so I am pretty sure it is mine. If nothing else I believe it should be discussed between the people it separates before it is removed.

Worse than that, I know they were on my property cause that is where the fence was propped. Now I am a territorial person and I don't like people traipsing all over my property. I don't like other people driving my car either but that is another post.

Worse than that is finding nails sticking out that could be harmful.

My poor loving husband took the brunt of my frustration with a few telephone calls. I believe I used the term "JackWagon" as an euphemism for an unpleasant neighbor. I tend to makeup words when I don't want to swear but the meaning is ever so clear.

After venting some to the Hubby I stormed outside with a nasty note and a claw hammer. You see I am a farm girl I know a bit about removing nails.

Since I could not get one of the nails out I was forced to place my nasty note. I know I can be a bit of a pill at times and always try to remember that sometimes you can not take words back no matter how bad you want to.

Now those are some nasty nails to be impaled upon. Did I mention that I am the only one in my family that had not stepped on a nail on the farm? I know what those wounds look like and I don't want any, or for anyone else to have any either.

I had however worked myself up into such a tissy that my body retaliated with an aura migraine. See what happens when you walk around spitting fire and vinegar? Your brain slaps you down hard for being a pill, and then you have to take some pills.

Hubby came home to a much more subdued wife than the one on the phone.

Today I realize that may be my husband should have been a diplomat. After I left for work he saw our neighbor out in the yard and talked with him.

See? His sweet somethings work on other people too. The neighbor apologized and had his fence people put our wooden bit back up too. Good thing I married a city boy to handle the neighbors for me.

Here's hoping all your fences are intact today!

My sister

2012-01-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

I was going through my linen closet the other day and found some treasures. Treasures that had been safely stowed away, without even an inaugural use. This is a clear Yarnkettle rule violation. I firmly believe that things should be used, not just saved for a special occasion that never seems to come. Normally on Thanksgiving and Christmas I pull out the fine china and serve dinner on it, even if it is just the two of us.

Anyways back to my treasures that I need to use. My sister claims to not be crafty. Mom taught us to embroider, knit and sew. I did cross stitch for many years before I took up my knitting needles again. On one visit home I showed my sister how to knit again, since we had both forgotten what Mom taught us. The repetition drove my sister crazy and she now allows me to be the knitter sister.

She on the other hand has taken up the sewing side of the needle arts. As witnessed by the following works.

Cross stitched kitties with milk and cookies on dish towels.

A fuzzy punch embroidered teapot on a tea towel.

Cross stitched poinsettia place mats and napkins.

Not pictured floral embroidered pillow cases, as they were in the wash.

Now seriously how can she say she is not crafty. The super impressive item that I did not get a picture of (pre-blog days) resides in her house. She embroidered the each of the 12 days of Christmas on a quilt block then actually made the quilt. Now that is dedication. I've seen it, it was beyond impressive!

So the women in my family are indeed crafty. I can say that because it takes one to know one. My sister does the fine needle arts, I do the yarny needle arts and Mom sews, the machine needle arts. I think that makes us a trifecta. Plus we get and give really cool Christmas presents.

Yarn Club Spoiler

2012-01-25T17:27:00.000-05:00

I received my first yarn club shipment, and I love it. D's first comment was that I would never have picked this yarn myself. I admit I bristled a bit at the comment but then started to remember most of my yarn purchases tend to be red and green. He is totally right as he was the first time he said I am a control freak. (I bristled at that statement too.) Why else do I always drive when I could be knitting in the passenger seat instead?

Anyways back to the yarn it is a lovely mix of turquoise, grey and teal. Well at least that is what I see in it. It is on a BFL (Blue Face Leicester) yarn base. Which is a breed of sheep that is becoming more and more popular for sock yarn. It is said to be more durable than Merino wool. I have a couple of BFL socks, but they are not old enough to testify yet.

Can you believe this was not enough to stop me from answering the call from Kisknit to help her hit the $50 minimum needed to get free shipping from Knit Picks. What can I say I am just that kind of friend. We will not talk about how much I contributed to that amount. Nope we will not talk about that at all!

One of the things that always held me back from joining a club was the chance of it all. What if I don't like the color? Why would I let someone else choose my yarn for me? Many of the clubs I researched send yarn and a pattern, I always thought it was a bit silly to know that a hundred knitters were all making the same socks. Now I know in my heart that there is enough variance from knitter to knitter that not all the socks would look exactly the same but two hundred fraternal socks out there? Weird man.

So based on one shipment I am calling this one a success. I like the yarn and I will be able to make my own kind of sock, a plain sock, who am I kidding? I don't know if I will be signing up for more yarn clubs in the future but I must say anticipating the package was quite a bit of fun.

Thrums - I'm doing it wrong

2012-01-22T08:47:00.000-05:00

Well at least I lost the troll doll, now I may be knitting a troll mushroom.

Hey I know what I can do, rip it, rip it, rip it. I am pretty good at that portion of the project now. Based on Adriene's comment a few posts ago and direction to this video, I have learned even more. I suspect my thrums are too big. Nope, I am past the suspicion stage I am sure my thrums are too big.

On the left are my new thrums, on the right are my monster thrums. Notice how dense my monster thrums are.

I mean really, do my thrums come from Texas? And if they do who needs thrums in Texas?

The thought that kept occurring to me was how is my hand going to fit in here? Turns out it fits quite festively.

No really if I continued on with the mitten where was my hand going to go?

I am off to rip it, rip it, again. Well at least I am learning.

Thrumming back and forth

2012-01-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

Last time we talked about them I was not knitting thrummed mittens but a troll doll instead. See those wispy ends? I know now that they are not intended to look like that. I have ripped back and started that section over.

What a difference some research can make. On the left is the original thrums or what I thought was thrums. On the right is the correct thrum shape, the roving folded back on itself making a bow tie shape. I am still quite iffy on the size, but hey I am learning! How many times am I going to have to learn?

Playing with the roving certainly has triggered spinning urges in me. Dyed roving calls to me at all the festivals and yarn stores I go to. But honestly I've never seen the point. I am a product knitter, while I enjoy knitting I am really doing it to get something out of it. While spinning would give me yarn, I know I can buy yarn anytime I want. Then again based on that argument I should not even be a knitter, I can buy socks at anytime too.

It just seems to me that spinning has such a steep learning curve. You all know of course that in six months I'm going to have roving coming out my wazoo and three spindles. Any advice ya'll want to give me before I end up taking the plunge?

Wild Apple Farm Sweater

2012-01-19T19:40:00.000-05:00

I could not take it anymore, I need a new sweater. I know I know I should be working on my Central Park Hoodie sweater from, oh almost a year ago. I am all kerfluffled by the pattern and am too lazy and scared to sit down and write it out so I will understand the steps and order involved. Why do all that work on a half knit sweater when I can just start fresh?

I swatched a bit of yarn to see if I can add cables to the sleeves of one of my standard top down sweaters. I hate how my purl stitches are wonky when I knit cables but the swatch don't lie, not that you can see it in this picture. Purl stitches make cables pop. I tried to rewrite the laws of the knitting world but nope, I need the purls to pop a cable. The good new is that I found a nice cable that is not currently kicking my butt. I am about half way through a skein of my Wild Apple Hill Farm yarn and it seems to be working pleasantly.

Gus is a big proponent of rustic yarns. You know the not quite as smooth and soft yarns. They tend to be the ones he brings in to me at night. Gus loves the nighttime yarn game. And so do I, what can I say we were meant for one another.

Word games

2012-01-17T17:01:00.000-05:00

Over the Christmas break, Hubby and I played some word games. He loves Scrabble but I am severely deficient in that game so he has learned to make allowances for me. You know he has to entice me to play one way or another and I'm usually the one that makes dinner so withholding food is not really a threat.

So how can you get a non Scrabbler to Scrabble? 1) Don't keep score. There is nothing quite as disheartening as losing by hundreds at Scrabble. 2) Let me use the dictionary. I get so focused on a possible word that I can not see any others unless I look them up, and really that does not help as much as I would like it to. 3) Let me make up words as I need them. Who cares that the dictionary does not recognize Huggers? It would have been an awesome score for me. Alas D could not get behind new rule 3 as I would have liked. So poor Huggers will go unrecognized.

I think we should get extra points for using most of the board space. D tells me that many really good players will not play with novices because they tend to use smaller words and clog the board up. See what he has to put up with to get me to play with him? Lots of small words on that board, alas.

D received the game Bananagrams from me this year. We found it amusing to make up our own rules and make a giant word puzzle. I can not tell you how fun it is to play with letter tiles. Yes, I do know that I amuse easily. Have you see what I can do with a couple of sticks and string?

So we found word games to be quite amusing while trapped inside. I hear there is some weather coming our way I should make sure we have the tiles easily accessible.

New goodies

2012-01-14T16:58:00.001-05:00

I think a part of me really loves Christmas because I can ask for books. I love books; knitting books, cookbooks, mysteries and romance. Books hold all the power in the world, they give us knowledge. But only if you use them. I tend to check out many books from the library, proceed to flip through them, renew them once or twice and finally return them without learning all that I could from them. Maybe that is why I love receiving books for Christmas, I never have to give them back all that potential stays with me.

This year I received a two cookbooks, two knitting books and two mysteries. Three of which did not make it into the photo because I forgot to get them from the bedroom. What? Where do you read your cookbooks? In the kitchen? How odd!

I've drooled over both the patterns and the recipes in these books. I look forward to making things from all of them. See what I mean by potential?

At D's suggestion I took some of my Christmas bonus and went on a mini yarn crawl. I confirmed that not only could I look at yarn I could indeed buy yarn too. I left the Hubby home sleeping after a nice long run and took myself off to a couple of local yarn stores. I of course found a few things to purchase. Yay!

First up I bought a new bag by Crippenworks. A nice little sturdy sock bag, or mitten bag if I so choose. If you ever have the opportunity to get something made by her take it. I have a DPN case from my second Rhinebeck trip that I dearly love. The fabric she uses is nice and hefty, it may even be an upholstery type of fabric. Trumpet Hill had a few bags in stock and I hemmed and hawed quite a bit till I remembered my personality and taste; dark fabric to hide any dirt and one that stands upright without a helping hand. Isn't it lovely?

Second I found the stitch markers I needed and made my first ever Noro purchase. Noro yarn was very hip when I first started knitting. I did not have an appreciation for any yarn that was not perfectly soft. By the time I found I could knit things that I would not need to wear like a tea pot cozy, the yarn was disappearing from my local shelves. Well on this visit it was back so I will have a crazy colored cozy, one of these days.

See how nice the yarn fits in my new bag? My yarn pusher, I mean the storenclerk tried to put my bag in a store bag but not for me. I wanted to show it off to the world right away.

At the second yarn store I followed my own personal rule. Wait let me tell you how I shop then you will understand better. I like to go in and absorb it all first. I notice colors and yarn brands, I touch what needs to be touched and make a few rounds around the store. Then I usually circle back to the things that caught my eye initially. If after all that I realize that I've picked up the same yarn three or more times, it needs to come home with me. I mean really if I can walk away from it three times and it keeps calling me back, I know that I really like the color.

This skein told me it wants to be mittens. Lovely fall colored, soft, merino wool/alpaca/silk blend mittens. I think my persnickety wrists should not have issues with that blend right?

Oh as you can see I found new needles to try also. I do so love wooden sock needles. And you know I am no where near being a monogamous knitter. Sometimes I think I have all my 2.25mm needles in use and still want to cast another sock on. Not right now mind you but on any other given day.

My first sock club yarn from Sweet Georgia is in the mail, maybe I need to keep my new needles free so I can cast on when it gets here? No one heard that maniacal laugh just then did they? Oh good, carry on!

Ya think?

2012-01-13T17:44:00.001-05:00

Does anyone else think that I may be knitting a Troll doll and just not know it?

This is my first thrummed mitten and I am pretty sure that I am doing it wrong. Actually I have taken it back to the cuff and started over with the thrums after doing just a bit more research. I may be on the right track now but I'm still not sure. I'll show what I've changed in another post. We'll see if you agree or if I need to do more. I'm using the recommended 3.75mm needles but I may need to change that too.

Radio Silence

2012-01-08T18:20:00.000-05:00

Is that even a used term anymore? Well it looks like once I hit a year long goal, I tend to take some time off. I have many things to tell you but I have no photos to show you so I've been talking my Hubby's ear off instead.

Gus is doing pretty good now. He is still mad when I wake him up at night to check on him, so he decided that I should be up feeding him at 5:30 this morning. Hey if he can not get breakfast in bed anymore he should at least be able to request it at any time he wants, right?

I already have two knitting firsts this year, joined a knit along (KAL) and started knitting my thrummed mittens. I must admit we had a cold snap and my little fingerless mitts are not cutting it. I need to find my Norwegian mittens but I really would like to have more mittens too. I've been fighting the urge for a while and made a split second decision to join in since I had the kit at home. I'm not sure I am doing it right, as what I have now resembles a wacky troll doll. Wait till you see it then tell me I am wrong, nope.

D experienced a knitting first too, although he probably does not realize it. The last two projects that came off my needles were for him. I've never done back to back projects for him. He is happily wearing his new socks, both pairs.

Well that is all I have for now, I'll look into taking some pictures to liven up the blog soon. Happy knitting.

Goooaaallll!

2011-12-31T19:16:00.000-05:00

Yes, you need to read that headline with the proper Spanish soccer announcer accent.

This post signifies one of my goals accomplished this year. In January, I set out to post ten times a month. It was relatively easy the first couple of months then it became harder and harder. I did not want to post without having anything meaningful to say but alas I'm sure I did it at least a few times.

Having a posting goal forced me to be more creative. I had to think of things to talk about, I could not just take the easy road out and not post anything. For the most part I enjoyed it. I'm sure now, that you'll realize why the end of some months seemed a bit heavy.

I'm not sure I will set the same goal in the coming year, but I do think I will have some sort of goal that forces me to get creative. I don't want to have a formula that I must stick to, I'm not that straight laced.

Anyways on to other goals accomplished this year. I found and tried many new-to-me yarns. I enjoyed two festivals and stayed within budget. I found a couple of stores while on vacation and bought some yarn, not too much yarn. I found them using knitmap, a nice little push in the yarny direction.

I met some famous knitters. I took classes from Cookie A and Anne Hanson along with my best yarn buddy Kisknit. I also got my books signed by Clara Parkes and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at Rhinebeck. Quite a joy to be able to meet them all. I just hope I was not totally start struck most of the time.

I donated to Heifer International for the first time. Thanks to Clara Parkes at Knitter's Review for pointing a bunch of knitters to a worthy cause. I bought my first sheep in quite a while. I hope that it thrives and helps an entire community. Makes this farmer's daughter's heart glad.

I tried to make a sock in four days but could not, since I decided to live my life at the same time and not withdraw into the crazy knitting lady. It was still cool to know that I came so close and did not hurt myself either. Knitting benders can be harmful too.

I knit up the yarn that D gifted me with this summer so he will bring me more when he travels. I did not want him to think it goes into the stash and never comes out. If he brings it to me I will knit it.

Speaking of D, I watched him complete his first half marathon. I can not tell you how proud I was when he crossed the finish line. Way to go Hubs! And he was kind enough to walk with me in my first Turkey Trot. I am proud of that goal too!

And lest we forget we celebrated a royal wedding with a tea party breakfast. What a fun day to do what we wanted, together.

So there were a few goals accomplished this year in the Tea Cottage. Yes we have also finally found a fitting name for any house we're in. Happy New Year!

Plugging Away

2011-12-29T20:13:00.000-05:00

Well let's see where did I leave you last?

Photo from about a year ago

Gus is still fighting his pancreatitis. He lost about a pound in one week and had his Mommy pretty darn scared. D and I figure that would be equivalent to 200 lb human losing 20 pounds in one week. Dr B said the most important thing we could do was convince him to eat. So over the Christmas break he was spoon fed every few hours. He was not eating a lot but I was dang happy to see him eat anything. This included a few 2 am feedings and at least one 4 am feeding. I was thrilled when he started eating a tablespoon at a time. Dr B also earned a few points back from Gus when he said he could have tuna and boiled chicken if he wanted it. He started off eating just bits of that too, but now we're up to whole chunks.

I had to learn another new skill, I've been giving him subcutaneous fluids at home. It did not bode too well in the vet's office when I had to lie down while we were talking because I was feeling light headed. Sometimes the smallest things can throw me off. While it is not something that I want to do all the time, it is not that difficult and it does seem to be helping his appetite. Tonight was not a stellar night because when he moved the needle came out and fluid went all over. Nothing says I'm finished like the turkey timer popping out.

So while it is not a cake walk, we're managing. Poor Jack does not really understand why Gus is getting all the extra attention, but he is enjoying the extra tuna.

We had a lovely relaxed Christmas. We played a few games, opened some great gifts and enjoyed a nice dinner. I managed to get D's socks finished the day after Christmas but that's OK since they were never intended as a Christmas gift.

Many thanks to Kisknit for pointing D to a local yarn shop for a couple of my Christmas gifts, sock yarn and a sock shaped stitch marker. D did not intend the yarn for himself but it is such a nice manly color that he may just be the eventual recipient. And the bonus is that it is new to me yarn, I've not worked with this brand yet, and it comes with reinforcing thread too, so I get to figure out how that works too.

Last night, we went to our last holiday party of the year. D had fun showing off his new socks to everybody and anybody that would look at them. I enjoyed people oooing and aahing over my work. They had lots of questions and comments. I even heard the standard saying of knit one purl two (K1 P2). Why is that the comment most non-knitters make to knitters? The odd thing is I don't think I've ever used the stitch K1 P2. 2x2 ribbing of K2 P2, I've done a bunch of times but the classic knitters utterance, never. Does that mean I'm really not a knitter? Do my socks know?

Work is still crazy but slowly getting better. I keep telling myself that it is like starting a new job but I keep my excellent pay and vacation time.

Well that is all that I can think of to talk about right now and I've got to turn a heel in a sock so I am off. Happy Knitting All!

Merry Christmas Hubby!

2011-12-25T08:05:00.003-05:00

A Christmas post for you! As you know I've been a bit distracted and running ragged lately. I know you understand the reasons but I'm sure I can be frustrating at times. This year I decided to take a page from your book and spend time with you rather than spending a lot of money on you. I hope you like our time together.

We already finished a couple of things I wanted to do for you to show you some Christmas love. We played Scrabble as I suggested, and I of course allowed you to win. See how much I love you? See how God made me a bad Scrabble person so you could have that pleasure most of the time? He is cool like that you know.

I spent an afternoon with you making your Mom's Monster Cookies. I even let you bow out early when I saw your exhaustion after your run. I am so proud that you became a runner, I can sacrifice a bit of your time to have you better rested.

Today I hope to spend a nice laid back fun day with you. Christmas means spending time with you. I wanted to give you some tangible gifts and also wanted to give you some intangible ones too. Intangible but symbolic, time spent with you enjoying each other, memories created together and learning new things together (who knew Monster Cookies have three kinds of sugar in them?) I may even finish those socks I've been working on too.

This Christmas is going to be just for us. I know it sounds a bit greedy but I love you and want to have some time with you.

Merry Christmas, now come help me make dinner, please.

I have an idea

2011-12-22T20:22:00.001-05:00

Meet my Wisteria socks, they are from my pre-blogging days. You may have seen them in passing when I talked about all my socks and took a photo. Yep I am pretty sure they're in that photo, top left about four pairs in.

They were one of my first fancy sock pairs. I think I was the most proud of them because they just seemed to work. I liked the combination of the yarn, color and patterning.

They are also among the first of my pairs to thin out and get pulled from the rotation. I keep thinking I am going to duplicate stitch over the thin/weak spots and keep merrily wearing them.

I have only darned one sock and since it was not a favorite or well fitting sock it has not seen much of the rotation again. So I am not sure about darning or even duplicate stitching. And since I can not throw out one of my favorite socks, I have a plan. A plan that is half done and half successful.

I'll give you a hint.

Half Marathon stockings

2011-12-21T19:01:00.001-05:00

I did not get very far in my half marathon before I had to turn around and start again. I don't think you see too many real marathoners restarting.

I measured my leg and at the widest point I am 17 to 17 1/2 inches around. I cast on using 17 for corresponding number in the pattern even after it recommended using a number one to two inches less than your measured circumference.

Let me tell you that you do need that bit of negative ease to create a nice calf hugging stocking. This one fell down my leg which is not something I like in a stocking.

So I ripped back and am at about the same point again. I can tell you that I am loving the yarn and especially the color. But I am hoping this measurement works cause I don't want to restart another marathon till the other stocking is ready.

On Fire

2011-12-19T19:29:00.000-05:00

Now what can I show you on the knitting front. I'm working on another pair of socks. Yeah I am not surprised either.

The thing I am surprised about is, who these socks wanted to belong to. I thought they were mine but alas the more I worked on them, the more I knew they were not meant for me. D loves the color and really, I never know what color to buy for him, so when I find one he likes I try to go with it.

I now have one sock done and I must admit that I am worried about running out of yarn. Well thats what happens when you add two inches to each sock. I did weigh the yarn and sock I am reasonably sure that I will have just enough yarn. Hey! Stop lugging, it could happen.

I went to knit night at one of the local yarn shops recently and was delighted to find she had more of my favorite needles in stock, Pony wool needles. I little part of me wishes I had gotten another pack since it has been a couple of years since I found my first set.

The eye of the needle is a soft plastic loop that flattens when pulling the yarn through the fabric. They are great when weaving in ends, much easier to pull through than a bulging hard plastic eyes of needles.

So that is my cheap treat for myself. I do so love finding great working tools. They make my knitting time more enjoyable!

Well that was a dozy!

2011-12-17T16:27:00.000-05:00

This last week was quite a tough one. Work was difficult because we're doing some software and hardware upgrades. So it was moments of flurry while testing something followed by trying to do things without the computers and waiting. I hate waiting, especially when I can not amuse myself with yarn. Felt like I was a car revving my engine, going flat out for 10 feet, slamming on the brakes. I guzzled fuel all the time and did not really get anywhere.

I started off the week battling with myself over giving Gus insulin. Not sure if I could give an injection. I've never liked needles, I was not sure I could put one in another living being. It was way easier than I ever thought it could be and I will be doing it if the situation warrants it.

Then I made the choice and it did not work out well. I checked on Gus and found him unresponsive in the closet. I found out I can keep a somewhat clear head in an emergency, but I would like to be better. The vet told me I did everything I was supposed to do.

Gus seems to have no lasting effects from the trauma but I'm not sure that I have dealt with it yet. I keep feeling like I should be falling apart more than I am. I worry a bit that I am just sucking it all up and will just break down at an inconvenient time. Then again I don't regret any of my decisions or actions so maybe I have already made peace with everything. Bad things happen, it does not mean I need blame myself or anyone else.

I can warn you that there will probably be more kitty pictures appearing here on the blog, for at least a little while. What can I say it makes me happy.

Things I have learned

2011-12-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This will be a raw post about what can go wrong after a vet visit with a cat. We think everything is OK now but I live under no illusions that everything is fine and dandy. We are now trying to maintain the status quo. If you can not deal with it for any reason please stop reading and come back another day.

Mom, you should not read this not because I don't think you can handle it but because you don't need to. I love you now go away. Really go away now. Thanks!

Things I have learned in the past 24 hours.

I can give insulin injections to my cat. I never thought I could give an injection to anyone.

Giving an injection is much easier to do than I ever thought, especially when I know I'm making someone better.

Once we get home I need to trust my instincts. Even if 95% of me says I have seen similar things before. If 5% of me is flashing a warning light call someone. Even if I have to be the crazy cat lady it has never stopped me before.

Sitting across the desk from a diabetic does not make me any more likely to understand and see the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Even when the vet talked specifically about them.

It is just as easy to think that a tough day at the vet's could be the reason why Gus looks wiped out, not low blood sugar.

Gus gets really glassy eyed when his blood sugar is dropping.

Gus' blood sugar can drop 220 points in 5 hours. Far into the danger area.

I thank God that something woke me up and made me check on him. And that the tired little voice in my head started screaming something is wrong.

Cats can have seizures when their blood sugar gets too low. In Gus it starts off with leg twitches and move into full body rigidness that scare the Holy living day lights out of me!

Non-responsive is my least favorite word, ever.

One way to raise blood sugar in a cat is to give them karo syrup or maple syrup. Doing this while Gus is non-responsive is so very hard/impossible. Rub the syrup on his gums.

Always know who and where the emergency vet is BEFORE you need to know it at midnight with a seizing cat.

Thank God that my husband can stay level headed and drive while I talk to Gus and tell him, he is a fighter he can beat this.

I can pray and pep talk at the same time. God knows what is on my heart!

It is an awful thing to watch him seize and not be able to do anything about it. And alternately when he was not twitching, to be wondering if he is still with me. If we're going to make it in time.

I don't cry when I'm trying to save Gus, I do shake. Boy do I shake.

I am going to break down soon and cry, till I can not cry anymore.

If you counter act low blood sugar with the proper treatment Gus will come out of everything amazingly quickly. I am talking 5 to 15 minutes of treatment and he stopped having seizures, was up walking and recognizing us.

Once D and I have that much adrenaline pumped through us it is very difficult to get back to sleep for the remaining four hours. We will both be awake three to four times during that time. We're exhausted and elated that he is alright.

My vet will call me on his day off to make sure everything is alright. I still love my vet.

I do want to say I don't blame my vet, diabetes is an amazingly complicated disease. We had one awful night but it is not my vet's fault. (If you disagree with me I ask that you kindly keep it to yourself for the time being.)

Gus is like me when he gets home, walks around to make sure everything is Ok, eat, pee, then finally go to bed exhausted.

This is an old picture not from tonight.

You will excuse me I have a cat to check in on.

Lookie Loo

2011-12-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

My fall socks are done and even worn a couple of times, or as I like to think of them slightly broken in. I was not sure about the pooling but sometimes if you just keep going you end up liking the result. As I did in this case.

Don't they remind you of pumpkins somehow? Or is it just me?

This is Decadent Fibers Savory Sock yarn. I bought this skein at the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival a bit over a year ago.

I am going back through my old socks and starting to thin out the herd since I am adding new socks all the time. It is so hard to take socks from the drawer knowing they may not make it back in there. Ideally I would like to catch holes when they are just thinning and duplicate stitch over the thin area. Since I like knitting my yarn and have a nice selection I may just end up getting rid of some of the just not working anymore pairs.

I so hate to throw out even socks full of holes, maybe I can stuff them with cat nip and stitch them closed? Think my boys would like to play with Mom's old socks? Especially if they smell like that awesome herb?

I do have another plan for one pair but that will require a whole other blog post. I can admit to being half way done, but without the pictures to tell the story. I will see if I can remedy the situation and inspire someone.

doppelgänger

2011-12-07T21:18:00.000-05:00

According to my computer's dictionary a doppelgänger is:

In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune. In the vernacular, the word has come to refer to any double or look-alike of a person.

The word also is used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. Doppelgängers often are perceived as a sinister form of bilocation and are regarded by some to be harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death.

Whew I had no idea it would be so ominous! I have met mine, I just don't really see it. But I was trying to take some photos of my new scarf and I got these photos.

I know they don't really show off the scarf very well, I will take others. But back to my story. I was amazed when I looked at the photos because I did not see myself, I saw my sister. The lower one especially. If I had not just taken the photos you could have convinced me they were her.

People have always said we look alike but I don't think either one of us really sees it. We have held jobs together at the same time, three times now. (She is a good sister and I am able to get jobs on my own now.) Once I was asked if we were twins, when I responded "No", the reply was, Are you sure? There are a few years difference in our ages so yeah I am sure! (Why do people ask such silly questions? I think I would know if I was a twin!)

So now what am I to do with the knowledge that we are each other's doppelgänger? And what about the last line of that definition? We share the same relatives are we continually predicting each other's deaths? Freaky!!

I will tell you that the last time we went home for Christmas one of our nephews mistook me for my sister and said You changed your hair. Yeah kid I've changed my hair since the last time I saw you two years ago. Then it hit me. (I am a bit slow on the uptake at times, clearly it runs in the family.)

You could see him look back and forth between us. Then he looked at me and said I thought you were dead!? Nope, I am just the aunt that gets you underwear for Christmas from now on! Wow looks like maybe we should go home more often.

Dream to reality

2011-11-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

Let's see what is going on at my house? After Jack's early morning wake up call the other day I have Terminix scheduled to do a service. All I can say is that dude better have a truck full of traps cause I am catching some mice.

I've finished a couple of knitting projects but I don't have any pictures so I don't want to talk about them yet. I can tell you that I am feeling less self inflicted pressure. I guess I did have a bout of finish-it-upitis. As I was starting the toe on the pair of socks that I am wearing now I realized that I only had one other sock on the needles. I started worrying about what I would knit. I had a couple of sets of needles free, my project bag was empty and I started thinking about winding up some new festival yarn. What to knit, what to knit?

I started playing with this yarn in my recently acquired Rhinebeck yarn stash. You'll remember I bought it to make a very special set of stockings. Stockings that I have been in love with since I rediscovered knitting, Cookie A's German Stocking. My very own ultimate knitting endeavor.

Here are the sample socks from Cookie's book knit. sock. love. I still cannot believe I was in the same room with them. Yes I am a bit of a fangirl.

I cast them on Sunday night. As I was telling D what this project meant to me, he questioned how long I've wanted to do them. I've been thinking about these stockings for years. Wouldn't it be cool if I could really knit those? What color would I make them? What if I did it?

D's reply to my going on and on about really starting my pinnacle knitting project was Oh they're your half marathon! Yes Honey they are. Something I've dreamed about doing but was not sure I would ever accomplish or even start. They are my half marathon. I think I have trained enough now, time to head to the event.

See you at the finish line! (One way or another)

Jack's Tale

2011-11-29T18:00:00.001-05:00

I was awakened sometime between three and four this morning. You know how sometimes you awake gradually to a noise and you're not sure if it is real or something from your dreams? Today was one of those days. My noise was something between a squeak, a chirp and a click. You see where I am going with this don't you?

Well because I was still groggy I did not. I flipped on the light in the hallway and saw Jack. You remember my cat Jack don't you. Sweet lovable Jack.

Well this morning's Jack was not sweet, lovable Jack, at least not to the mouse he was holding in his mouth. To the mouse Jack looked a bit crazy, like a cat that would wear a hat. See what the mouse means?

No wait he looks Amish in that hat. The mouse saw him more in a predatory pose. Closer to this one.

Jack proceeded to take the mouse to the dining room and play with his food. He was performing acrobatic maneuvers that would put the Blue Angels to shame, catching the perkier and perkier mouse each time.

I told Jack he needed to kill the mouse and he disagreed with my moral code. Eventually he got bored, tired and laid down watching the mouse. He would pop up to catch it but you could tell his heart was no longer in the game.

D and I tried to catch the mouse but we are no cats, the mouse ran under a piece of furniture. (Dang you misplaced ottoman.) And it got away with one heck of a story to tell. I am hoping that the fear of Cat was sufficiently placed in him so that when he made it home he packed up and left Yarnkettle land.

I did learn an interesting fact about myself this morning. In spite of being a "Tough Farm Girl" I will squeal like a little girl when the mouse is running my way. The reaction was repeated enough times to remove any doubt from my husband's mind that it was a one time thing, I am officially a squeal when the mouse comes at you kind of person. Sigh.

So the mouse is still running around the house and Jack? He slept like he was coming off an 18 hour shift.

Cat you better kill it next time or else...No Tuna!

Mistakes I've made a few

2011-11-27T16:24:00.000-05:00

In the arena of being a new knitter and not understanding how to properly match yarn and patterns I give you this story. You know how it is when you're new to anything, you don't know the rules, why the rules are there in the first place, or how and when to break the rules.

There are some rules in knitting that I did not learn right away, cables show up best on light colored items, fuzzy yarn causes a halo effect so you lose stitch definition, and so on. I was making a pair of Fetching Mitts for my sister as a beginner and broke way too many rules. I blame ignorance.

Luckily I am a reasonably smart sister and realized when they were done that I had made a huge yarn choice mistake. So they became my practice mitts and I went back to the store and found some appropriate yarn to make a gift. Then my dog niece decided that one of the mitts should be dissected with her mouth and that was the end of that. Dog nieces what are you going to do? It is rumored that she really enjoyed taking the mitt apart.

Anyways I kept the practice mitts, let's call them the mistake mitts and used them from time to time myself. Last winter I realized they are the perfect transitional hand warmers for me. My issue? I made most of my mistakes on the first mitt and that was back when I would not rip anything back to fix it. I can not rip back do you know how long it took me? OK fine a couple of hours but that is the way I knit it that must be the way it remains. Who knew I could be so rigid?

Let me show you the problem. The mitt pulls away from my hand.

The mistake riddled one

The reasonable one

Good - hugs my hand

Bad - rolls away from my hand - cold

I could fit a car in there!

So now instead of just complaining about it, I vow to fix it! See the pile of yarn in the upper left corner? My weapon of change. The left mitt should look like the right mitt when I am done. Well except I have more cables on the left mitt, how did I make that mistake? Oh right new knitter!

And so I can report to you that the surgery was a success. I now have two reasonable mitts. One even has extra cables. Mistakes are not so bad, I like to think of them as learning experiences.

Poor Neglected Socks

2011-11-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

You know how it is when you finish a project? You're so excited to show it off to the world. You think to yourself Dang I am super cool I made that. You're walking around thinking you're cool cause you have spiffy new socks in just the right shade of blue. Yay new socks.

Then you go home take off your socks, send them through the wash and promptly forget about them till a couple of weeks later. You think Hey where did my new socks go I only wore them once. You find them in the laundry room and think Hey I get to wear new socks today! Then you remember you never managed to get pictures of the new socks for the blog and oh yeah you wanted to get a picture of how different ribbed socks look from your regular socks. So you put them down and choose another pair to wear.

Yeah I have those days too. Introducing my Araucania Ranco Multi socks. This yarn charmed me from the get go. I loved how plump it is. I loved the color variegations. How thick the socks feel, nice and sturdy. I will definitely be getting some more of this yarn for some socks for D. You know once I knit up some of the yarn acquired at the recent festivals.

See what I mean about the color? Somehow it reminds me of stained glass. I am looking forward to wearing them again and for a long time.

Turkey Trotting

2011-11-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

Well folks I am officially a Turkey Trotter! If you don't know a turkey trot is a 5K race/walk held Thanksgiving morning here in the US. D did his third straight one this year although he sacrificed for me and chose to walk with me instead of running like in years past. Thanks D!!

It was a nice crisp November day and luckily the previous day's rain had moved out of the area so it was dry but coldish. As a knitter I chose my warmest layering creations and suited up, all mismatched and whatnot.

D thinks I look like Rocky Balboa and I agree somewhat. Adriene!! Sorry Adriene it had to be done. Watch now that is probably not even how you say your name. Anyways back to the trotting.

We took a pre-walk picture while I was still smiling. D has on his Iowa hoodie and he got cheered on a few times. Go Iowa! I think we have some closet Iowa fans out in this neck of the woods. I know two years ago I wore my Iowa hoodie as a spectator and got free coffee at Starbucks. The barista (if it is a man do you still call him a barista?) told my friend and I that he loved us as we walked in the door. Then we had a pleasant time talking about home in the midwest. Nice thing to do on a day that we tend to miss our homes and family the most.

D walked around and got some shots of the festivities. He takes nice pictures.

We started off and I was working my hardest to walk slow enough to not cramp my legs, which I managed to do, mostly. At one point in time I realized we were dead last but I figured doing it was more important than going faster and hobbling. I was a bit frustrated with myself and was trying to talk myself out of the funk when we were passed by the race leader going the opposite direction. This guy.

I don't know it that encouraged or discourage me but I kept on going, D at my side helping me along.

You may notice here how my technique differs from the race winner above.

I can tell you my knitwear was way more unique and plentiful than his. So ha ha I win that race.

This was the best sign of the day! Made me laugh and laugh and only partially because it was on the final home stretch.

I don't know if you can tell but I was picking up the pace here. See how my arms are pumping a bit more. OK fine you can not see, trust me I was warmed up and headed for home. See how I don't even pause for D.

Know why I don't pause? Because I know this sign is in the distance .

My first 5K and first active Turkey Trot. I can report that I feel good and sore today. D is laughing because I say Owww every time I stand up. But it is the good kind of Oww.

Oh and I have also picked up the green sweater to knit on again. Happy Thanksgiving!

Wine and Dark Chocolate for Everybody!

2011-11-20T17:36:00.000-05:00

I finally finished something. Whew, I was starting to worry about my ability to finish anything after that one post. Wine and Dark Chocolate for Everybody! Did I say for everybody? I meant Wine and Dark Chocolate socks for me!

Adriene this heel shot is for you. Since I now know someone likes them as much as I do, I think you may see more heels on this blog.

This is from The Sassy Sheep from a farmer's market in Idaho Falls, Idaho. You remember D brought it home from a business trip. It is always fun for me to try new yarns, especially ones I can not find locally. I love to see the colors that D picks. Keeps me from going into a green rut. And I must admit to liking the color and the name (Wine and Dark Chocolate) of these especially.

These just might be my Thanksgiving Day socks this year. Oh speaking of Thanksgiving, I am participating in my first ever Turkey Trot 5K walk/run. D will be running and I will be walking. If my legs do not cramp I will even try to trot the final stretch. The other day I managed to do an 11:45 minute mile on my elliptical machine. I've been walking on it for 15 minutes in the morning at least 4-5 times a week. I know it is not much but it is a start. Who knows maybe I will be ready for some 5Ks next year.

Well I'm off to knit on something else that needs finishing. I hope I don't get struck by startitis till I get a few more things done.

Poor Hubby

2011-11-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

Poor D he requested vegetarian chili tonight. Not a problem, I have several vegetarian cookbooks including a recipe called Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili. I've made it before and really like it but then again I really like sweet potatoes in any form.

Only after I had made the recipe did I realize that he meant my normal chili recipe without meat. Did I mention that D has no great love for sweet potatoes. Poor D

And this after he made me lasagna last Friday. His first ever lasagna and it was a solo event. I am so proud. I called him from the car to get the oven started and he was oddly blunt and seemed to want off the phone. The reason why? The oven timer was going off and he was afraid I would hear it. Do you know how good unexpected lasagna smells? I do! And I can report it smells heavenly after a tough day at work.

Nice job D! You can go ahead and keep it up if you would like.

I may have fallen and I can not get up?

2011-11-16T19:16:00.001-05:00

Since I am still feeling like I am getting nowhere fast in my knitting, it is time to do a WIP (Work In Progress) report. And since the weather is turning towards winter I will be showing you all recycled pictures.

This is my current purse and non purse project. I think it is because I am more than halfway done now and I really want a flashy new scarf to show off. Well that and it is garter stitch so it is mostly mindless knitting, which we all know is good for the brain occasionally.

My wine and chocolate socks are more than 75% done too. But they got bumped out of the purse by the scarf and are waiting patiently for me to come back. Poor socks.

I finally sucked it up and decided to just finish these up as socks and not worry about colors pooling. It is very liberating to make a decision sometimes. They are my go to couch knitting, if I sit down and forget to bring my purse over, I pick these up. They are around the 60% marker. A couple of good bursts and I will have new fall colored socks, just in time for winter.

I am proud to report the guilt, I mean green sweater got some love in the form of a cast on front side, that made it almost to the end of the ribbing of the bottom hem. I am sad to report that it has been tucked away since that time so that Gus does not drag all over the house. That cat loves my yarn. The only thing I can not figure out is why he keeps trying to deliver it to D. Do you think he is trying to rat me out to my own husband? Look Dad, Mom is playing with more yarn, do you know how much she has? It is a lot I can tell you that! Let me go get another one or two. I'm sure she will share.

Now I do blame Big G for my loss of motivation on D's socks. He carried it into his Dad in the middle of the night and Dad stepped on and broke two needles. Totally not his fault and luckily he did not embed any pieces in his feet. Now I am waiting for some needles to arrive. Poor me.

This one got the holding needle ripped out of it to make a hat that has not even been photographed for the blog yet. Just make some button holes and knit the other side to finish it and I will have a new cowl. I don't even think there is three more hours work. I just need to sit down and do it. Arrgh!

Really? Another thing on the needles? When was the last time I knit on this? I even had to return the book to the library. Just make a heel and get on with the rest of the knitting! It is not rocket science. Which I am pretty sure consists of "what goes up must come down" theory.

Don't even get me started how far my knitting journal is behind. I don't think I ever finished my Rhinebeck entry. Well at least I am keeping better notes on Ravelry and here, well sort of.

I think I may need someone to give me a good talking to. What is that you say? Go knit on the scarf and finish something before I go crazy. Well if you insist.

Happy Knitting Y'all!

Round One

2011-11-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year again the the blog suffers for its pictures. I will have to talk my professional...something guy into taking a couple more since I have a new hat but I think the photos are doomed to be a weekend only activity again this winter.

So what does Round One have to do with anything? I am fighting myself again. Sometimes knitting will make us do strange things. I want to knit a sweater since it is turning cold here. The problem? I've been "knitting" a sweater since early this year. In this case "knitting" means it has had parts that have been done for a bit while the rest of the sweater is still yarn. I have not touched it in months. Bad knitter.

Remember what it looked like? Yeah me neither. Well that is not true since I've been walking around with a mental image of it since I started it. And I have been continually taunted by Kisknit's various progress posts, including one that roughly said "I can't wait for the weather to cool down so I can wear my new perfectly fitting, beautiful, gorgeous, awesome sweater."

OK she really did not say that but it sounded a lot like that through my guilt ridden ears. Self applied guilt is so much more stupid. Somewhere along the line I convinced myself it is hard to make a sweater in pieces. It may be harder for me since I am a project knitter that only sees the pieces not the finished sweater. Be honest does this even look like a sweater?

It doesn't to me either. But it will be if I ever get myself to knit on it. I still even have the back blocked and put away in the closet so I can not mess it up.

Now that looks like it could be part of a sweater at least. The worst thing is once I finish it (yes that really is going to happen) I know I will love it and never want to take it off. If that is true why am I dreaming about this yarn?

It keeps telling me that I could have a new, no problems, no guilt sweater, in a month. It has read my blog, it knows I am capable. If only I wound it up and put aside the socks for a bit. If only.

But I am a good girl, I already pulled out the guilt, I mean green sweater and am planning my attack. I think instead of working on something I've been knitting on, I should just start a new area like one of the front sides. You know something fresh that I have not already dwelt on a few times.

So all you knitters out there give your yarn a bit of a pat for me to have some good luck, this sweater may just need a bit of it.

For Mom

2011-11-05T22:44:00.000-04:00

A summer or so ago I was home in South Dakota visiting my family and our flight was delayed so we got to spend and extra day at home. Mom and I used the bonus time to visit a yarn store and pick out some yarn.

Mom chose purple Jaggerspun wool silk blend. A fine choice if I do say so myself. It marinated in my stash for a bit and Gus may have even brought it in to D and me while we were sleeping. He is quite the yarn snob. "What? Grandma picks nice yarn, we have similar taste. Except I am the only one that really tastes the yarn."

Anyways, you know the tale of Mom's hat, well her mitts did not have the same pitfalls. Now that could be because I have knit this pattern five or six times now. What? They are quick easy and really useful in my opinion. Oh and did I mention I think they look lovely too?

And just to let you know I test my knitting before I give it away. I was nice and toasty. No, I don't really test my knitting before I give it away, we were headed out for a walk and oddly this was the only hat I had. Time for me to make some hats.

I don't know how a lace pattern hat is going to hold up to SD wind but maybe she will wear it for light duty.

So my knitting is pretty much like me, a bit eclectic. I choose cables for one thing and lace for another and call them a "matched" set. At least the yarn matches itself.

Blah

2011-10-30T14:08:00.000-04:00

Well I think winter is here. D and I both have colds. I am wanting to make casseroles and soup every time I set foot in the kitchen. Our colds are not really bad, no muscle aches or exhaustion, just blah. And because we feel so blah the grocery run was not done this week. So we're out of milk, bread, broth, just about anything I want to cook with. Hence today's experiment.

It is not quite this orange but that is what blah colds do to my photography skills. I was going to make curried squash soup but found I was missing at least half of the ingredients. So what to do? The squash was already in the pan defrosting. Frozen butternut squash from the last time I was at the store and thought Hey I should make squash soup, at least a year ago.

I found some dry vegetable soup packets and tossed them in with some water and let it simmer for a bit. Since it looked a bit watery and limp I added a splash or two of half and half to make it cream of vegetable squash soup. Just what we need on a chilly day.

And you know since I am not getting anywhere fast on my projects adding another one in should totally distract me. This is the yarn that D brought me while he was away for ASL camp this summer.

While it would have made great socks I got to thinking that I don't really have that many shawls or scarves. Really as a knitter I should have more. And I really need a bright cheerful one to go with my plain black coat. So I started Baktus Scarf by Strikkelise, an all purpose pattern that works with any yarn. You weigh your yarn before you start and increase along the way till you have used half of the yarn then you decrease along the way till you run out of yarn. Garter stitch is great at showing off the colors. So soon I should have a nice toasty neck and a splash of color to set off my smile.

So I guess that is how we spend a laid back, cold recovery weekend. I just hope Monday is not planing to body slam me.

Wee bit closer

2011-10-25T20:36:00.000-04:00

Well I am still in the land of haven't finish a gosh darn thing. I must not be knitting as fast as I am in my head. It is a lovely wooly place in that knitting corner of my brain and there are lots of books too.

So while I was out doing the Rhinebeck loot photo shoot, I let the WIPs (Work in Progress) come out and bask in the autumn sun. The turquoise socks have rounded the second heel and are fighting for my attention. It is always like that when I have new yarn in the house.

See what I mean about the little blips of color in this yarn? I live vicariously through my hair stylist. She always has odd colored bangs, which look great on her but on would look so far past weird on me. This time she had a bit of black surrounded by a bright turquoise. I think it was the best look yet. I happened to be working on this sock when I had my hair appointment, coincidence?

I never know when Hubby will be off on some trip so I should not give him any excuses to not buy me yarn right? You know like, You haven't knit up the last skeins of yarn I bought you, why would I get more? Anyone else shudder just a bit there? Not buy yarn because you have some at home? That is just crazy talk!

The sun may have been a bit bright and toned down some of the color. The pooling on these socks have been forgiven and is now admired. It is always difficult to imagine what a certain color combo will turn out like, and even more difficult to let go of the imagined picture to substitute the real one.

In this case it was easy, once I saw the rippling; purple, brown and deep red all swirling next to each other. You never know what is going to capture your attention while you knit.

Rhinebeck Loot!

2011-10-23T16:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, it is that time of year again on the Yarnkettle blog, pictures of yarn in my grass and fallen leaves. For some reason I love the way my yarn looks on grass, wait that sounds like my yarn is getting high, not what I mean I assure you! The grass seems to be my perfect light box, I don't know why I think that.

Anyways on to the loot, I mean yarny goodness. Continuing with the trend I noticed at my last festival, I bought only new-to-me yarns or yarns that I really love to use already. Nothing that has a friend from previous years still sitting in my basket.

So first up we have MissBabs Windsor sock yarn in the Maple Surrender colorway. This was Miss Babs first year at Rhinebeck so I've never seen the yarn before but hear that it is a favorite of many people. I must say that she does the best job of packaging it. You know how the skein will sometimes work its way loose and become a big untwisted loop of yarn that if left alone will form a tangled mess? Instead of tucking one end in the other end she puts the tag through the loops at both ends to make a perfect twirled yarn skein. It was one of those moments when you see it you're like "Wow that is brilliant." I know it is not like negotiating world peace but untangled yarn is pretty important in the knitting world.

I've never had a book signed at Rhinebeck before and was jazzed to see both the Yarn Harlot and Clara Parkes would be there at the same time. I took my favorite book of the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules and bought Clara's book because I kept waffling on pre-ordering it from Amazon. Do I really need another sock book? Hell yes I do, thank you very much.

Don't worry Clara, they always do. The cutest thing was the way she flipped through the book like she had not already seen it. Part of me was like, "Uhm, you wrote that, you already know what the pictures look like." The other part of me was screaming "Shut up she's touching our book and talking to us!" Why does the "sane" part of me sound like Smeagol? My Precious

Back to more pictures of the Precious. I wore my socks made from Fiber Optic's Kashmir down to the festival. When two ladies were talking about the yarn I asked if they wanted to feel what it feels like knit up, offering up my foot at the same time. Since this is Rhinebeck they were not offended or weirded out at all, they just touched the sock and oohed and awed and picked up another skein or two.

This one is called Blackbird, but I was sorely tested to buy the colorway "It's not rocket science" but color won the fight over clever naming that time.

So by now my thought is running along the lines of Oh crap I am doing it again, I wore a green shirt and here I am buying only green yarn again. Luckily I came across the Autumn House Farm booth at that time and this gem caught my eye.

It is a really lovely color with shades of brown and purple. It called out to me and after verifying that I could indeed use it for socks I bought it. When I got home I discovered this problem.

About 5 or 6 strands are severed. I don't know if it got too close to a box cutter during unpacking or if I accidentally caught it in my bag's zipper but I am will figure out a way to work around it. I am really hoping since it is on the outside that it will be near the end of the yarn and I can just discard it without guilt but either way I'm sure my socks will be lovely.

Now we come to the time when I made a somewhat frantic call to Kisknit. We both want to make Cookie A's German Stocking. Kisknit bought her yarn at last month's festival and I wanted to buy mine at Rhinebeck. Guess what I forgot? Yep I forgot to check the pattern and see how much I needed. Poor Kisknit was not around to give me the data but the lady in the booth was very helpful and said she thought it was 600 to 800 yards. I bought six skeins and was debating buying eight but held off. Thank goodness I did because six skeins is 1110 yards, I should have plenty. (Oh Crap I just doomed that project didn't I?)

Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Heather in leaf colorway. It was in this booth that I overheard a very intimate and uplifting conversation. The woman in the booth and a customer were both without much hair, fairly obviously from some sort of cancer treatment. They were discussing how odd it feels to have new hair growing in. The wind going through such new hair is quite thrilling and odd feeling apparently. It was very touching to see these two survivors connect joyfully. It is my favorite memory of the festival.

Then I was off to the Ravelry meet up and saw a couple of friends from my old Friday night knit night. They both do amazing work. And it was at the suggestion of one that I took that Kinneared shot of the blog sweater and knitter I recognized.

After that I was thinking about dropping things off in the car but thought I needed to pick up the big items first. My souvenir sweatshirt from the festival.

And a sweater's worth of yarn from Wild Apple Farm. Good thing I ran into my knitting friend wearing her purple shawl or I would have bought yarn for another green sweater. Seems like that is the only color sweater I want to knit. But no not this year, this sweater will be purple, or blackberry like the tag says. It is a nice crunchy crisp yarn so I looking forward to knitting it.

After my tea break in the car and dropping off all that yarn....insert huge smile here. I went back into the fray for more. Now when I started knitting I hated the colors orange and yellow. But since living through a few spectacular autumns here and finding some amazing yarn colors I am converted. The only problem is that I admire the colors but have not bought many. I'm trying to change that.

I went into the Fold's booth which usually is quite a mad house but turned out to be not so bad in the afternoon. I found this rare gem colorway that reminded me of autumn here in the Northeast.

And how could I turn down a colorway named Raspberry Moose? If I am a Moose shouldn't I have Moose socks? I think Socks that Rock are my favorite socks in the winter time. They are always my first choice when it is cold out because the make a nice dense fabric.

I even got to explain to a couple of STR newbies what millend and rare gems mean in that context. I hope I helped. One lady even had the my same choice method, if you pick up the same colorway five times you may as well buy it. You really do like it.

...into the whirled had a booth at last month's fair but this one jumped on the fall colors band wagon that assaulted me. Sage green, mustard yellow, burnt orange and rust red all in one skein called Curry in a Hurry. Yes you can come home with me.

My final purchase is not as eye searing as the camera would make it. Honest I swear it is less acid colored and more fallish than the camera makes it. Now this one is a bit of a rule breaker but I did not realize I was following rules till I got home. I still have a skein of Bugga in my basket that I have not knit up yet. However this one is a different yarn base and in a completely different color. I even put back a skein of Bugga that I had in my hand when I thought of the other skein still sitting at home. I almost skipped the booth since I thought it would be cleaned out and/or have a horrendous line. Luckily it was not awful in the afternoon. Now I even have more autumn colored goodness.

Wow what a haul, I am blessed to have a good job, great husband and the yarn love to truly appreciate knitting all this in the coming year.

Letters

2011-10-18T21:46:00.000-04:00

OK so I know I promised Rhinebeck yarn for this post but dog gone it I have been too busy to take pictures yet. It does not help that the light is fading so early in the day. But I have been mulling over this story I found the other day.

I must be honest it made me a bit sad. Letters really are a wonderful thing, why have we given up on them? I know I revert to my 10 year old self when I write. Hi how are you? I am fine. I am very busy with things. The weather is.... Somehow I have always felt deficient when writing in spite of being a very happy reader. It still amazes me that I am still blogging, but mostly I do this for myself. I always figure that if you don't like me you don't have to read further.

Still here? Thanks! I am going to try something. I am going to try to send more letters or cards. I am planning to send them out randomly so there is no guilt or pressure. Just when I think of it I will write something and send it out. It does not have to be a thesis on getting the Nobel Peace Prize, it just has to bring a smile to my face and hopefully the recipient's too. Mostly I see it as a hey I thought of you today, type of thing.

A few years back I did another social experiment on myself. Instead of wishing that I kept in contact with people I made plans to visit with someone once a month. I figured once a month would not harm this little introvert too much. You know the amazing thing that happened? After the first 3-4 actively planned "hey let's get together" I no longer had to seek people out. I only had to make the decision to accept invitations.

Amazing how easy somethings can be when you open yourself to them. Hey if you liked my idea feel free to send someone a note today or soon. You don't even have to turn into your 10 year old self either. I do believe that at least one of mine will start our with, remember that one time when we.....

Send a letter, Please?

Rhinebeck

2011-10-16T16:12:00.000-04:00

Well I do believe that ways the most fun I've had at a festival ever. Traffic was awful this year, due to the normal parking area being grass and extremely wet. 2/3 of the parking was unusable and we could tell. I now know how lucky I was to be able to park on the fairgrounds.

I can say that every line I was in was filled with pleasant chatty people. I hope people could say that about me. I really worked hard on chatting people up! I asked questions and was able to give directions a few times.

I did not come away with a lot of pictures but I did try to capture things that made me laugh a few times. Such as.

I now have two signed knitterly books in my possession. One by the Yarn Harlot and the other by the wooly wonder that is Clara Parkes. I was debating about the book signing but was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. A bit time consuming but easy. I brought my favorite Harlot book with me but bought Clara's new sock book there. So once again (till the next book comes out) I have a full set of Knitters Book of ...... by CP. As with all things useful my camera crapped out when I needed it most, it just means I can smile over the books more, right. Did I mention those books were touched directly by the authors. Yippie!

After the first round of yarn purchases it was time for the Ravelry meet up on the hill. As we were standing there I recognized a new Rhinebeck sweater I had seen on someone's blog just this week. You see that lovely lady in the blue sweater? If you go here you will see it when it was just pieces. I still can not believe I noticed the sweater then the wearer. Beautiful job I wish I had the courage to say hi but I was a chicken.

I acquired my mandatory NY Sheep and Wool sweatshirt and bought yarn for a sweater then I was off to the car for a mini break. Along the way I saw this.

The left sticker says "Must knit faster" and the right one says "Aww, let Pluto be a planet." You guessed it they put a smile on my face.

I stashed my lovelies in the trunk and sat down for a cup of tea or two and my new book. Thanks D for making my thermos of goodness. He is a good hubby.

Now this picture does not give the magnitude of people that are all around. I should have taken one in the barns but I get all claustrophobic and just want out, unless my brain went OOO wool, maybe just a little longer.

Even the sheep needed a break in the action. She didn't even flinch with all the noise going on around us.

Hubby is lucky that I did not come home with this guy. We were bonding quite nicely. You could tell when I hit a good scratching spot he stopped chewing and got a dreamy look in his eye. My fingers may be short but they know how to scratch all the itchy places. Just ask Gus

See what I mean about the parking? We're looking directly at the 4H gate there under the trees. Normally all the grass would be where the cars would be parked. Isn't my blue car pretty? Now she needs to go to the car wash and have some mud removed.

Next time I will show you what I bought. It's too overcast to take pictures today. Right now they're lined up on the couch arm so I can pet them anytime I want. It is good to be the Yarn Queen in this house.

Tomorrow

2011-10-14T18:38:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I will be going to the NY Sheep and Wool Festival, commonly know as Rhinebeck in the knitterly world. It is know as Rhinebeck because that is the town it is held in. We knitters we're a crafty group, in more ways than one.

I am so excited for this one for some reason even I don't understand. It is not like this is the only time I but yarn all year. I do tend to buy most of my yarn at festivals, and this one is the mack daddy festival locally. I think part of my excitement is coming from feeling rushed at SADK festival a couple of weeks ago. I was hosting my knitting group that same day and I needed to be home at a specific time. I am hoping to relax a bit more at Rhinebeck this year. I am planning on taking some snacks and people watching more. I also vow to myself to go and rest in the car if I need to this year. When D went with me a couple of years ago we found it a nice break from the action and a great way to enjoy some tea.

I am making my list and packing up some things tonight since tomorrow will be an early morning for me, not terribly early but still. I am taking some books to get signed if I can but am trying to think realistically how much yarn time I am willing to sacrifice to that particular line. (Not a whole heck of a lot.)

After SADK this year I had a dream that I had missed Shelridge Farms booth. I'm planning to make my German Stockings out of their yarn. I was so disappointed till I remembered which festival. I know I am odd but at least I am happy.

No where - Fast

2011-10-12T21:15:00.000-04:00

I am in love! The colors in my new blue grey socks are enchanting me. You can not see it here but they vary in very short repeats between steel grey, turquoise blue to almost pastel blue. No odd pooling of colors, just blip of blue, blip of grey and blip of turquoise.

I am so enchanted with the sock that I am rounding towards home on the toe of the first sock. Maybe since none of the colors are fighting each other for dominance that I feel I have a harmonious sock.

Then there is this guy. He is pooling all the place trying to figure out what to do. I've cast it on in two different color change spots on the yarn and keep getting the same areas of like colors matching up. Maybe the third time is the charm. Off to the frogging pond with you!

Maybe, Wine and Dark Chocolate is not the colorway name, maybe it is what is required to get the cast on in the right place.

Now this sock has been sweet talking me all over the place. It was my on-the-go purse project and was with me when the dentist told me no root canal needed at this time. But it was demoted on Tuesday after I pulled out my trusty scale. My scale says I have less yarn in the ball than I have on the needles for a first sock with a toe still needed. That means I will run out of yarn. I was not worried because I had bought two skeins. But I made socks for myself first and did not make sure I had the left over yarn I was counting on. So what do I do now rip it back and make a shorter cuff or just find another yarn in my stash to make funky toes?

And as if that was not enough, my latest bout of startitis lead to casting on another Multnomah Shawl. This time in the sage green alpaca. My rhythm was off that night too and I ended up casting it on eight times over two nights. Luckily I never got far before the stitch count was wrong. I was a bit worried that I would wear the yarn out, casting on so much.

So a whole bunch of false starts with not a lot to show for my effort. Well other than and entertained knitter. Which as we all know is really the point of my endeavors. Entertainment and socks that is why I am a knitter.

Sock problems

2011-10-11T18:44:00.000-04:00

I am working on a sock. Well that is not really true I was working on a sock till I saw an issue with it, then I stopped working on it and started thinking about what to do.

Do you see the problem? My colors are all pooling together and I worry the sock will look funny. No wait it does look funny. If I continue I know that the odds are that the other sock will pool completely different and look like two mismatched fraternal twins.

So the question becomes how weird is too weird for me? Do you think these would make better mittens? I fell in love with the fall colors but now they just look muddy to me. What if I made gloves?

I don't know so I am amusing myself by ignoring them and knitting on the other four socks on the needles all still first socks. I am starting to think I am hopeless. Well at least I finish my projects eventually.

Did you ever have a knitting project just not come out the way it looked in your head during the dreaming stages? Maybe I just need to frog a bit then restart with nice stitch pattern.

What's that you say Hubby socks, knit on you instead? You only have a bit more than a toe to do, then I will have a nice finished first sock of a pair. My, my you sure are tempting. Well maybe just a row or two...

My Squirrel

2011-10-10T18:41:00.000-04:00

So the other night I walked into our bedroom and saw a very important sign attached to a T-shirt.

Can you read it? Yeah, I know you can read the number but can you read the word Marathon? I spent a very special Sunday waiting for my husband. You know why? He ran 13.1 miles for his first half marathon. I do think I may have been more excited than him but you know he is more low key than me.

I saw these people go by.

And these people go by too.

But I think that is my favorite view. He was going strong and looking happy.

Then I drove down to the finish area. No I did not check my odometer to see if it was 13.1 miles I was on a different route and got lost looking for the parking garage.

I did get to walk across that bridge, which connects downtown and a really lovely park. As you could guess I preferred the park. I need trees so I can breathe.

A kayaker was out on the river and I could not resist a shot. Doesn't he look so small?

First I saw the police bike, then I saw the 1/2 marathon winner.

D said his form is great. Yep, these are the things he thinks about now.

There is my man coming home to the barn. Unfortunately he experienced his first leg cramp that he could not walk out and had to finish the run at a walk. But you know what he finished and now he has more sympathy for my leg issues. I'm just trying to put a positive spin on it. I know he was frustrated. It is a hard thing when the mind and rest of your body is willing but one part of you just can not go.

Some days it is hard being married to a visionary and other days he leaves the cap off the toothpaste.

I would not want to go through life with anyone else.

Congratulations Squirrel!

You kicked the road's butt! I am so proud!

Lookie

2011-10-04T20:55:00.000-04:00

It's spring! Well at least my socks are spring socks. I finally finished my Spring Forward socks. Yeah I know it took me long enough. Maybe now I can restart my Central Park Hoodie sweater and finish that with just enough time left in winter to block it but not wear it. Anyways back to my lovelies.

The yarn is from Ellen's 1/2 pint Farm, bought at Rhinebeck last year. So it did not marinate in the stash for too long. Probably long enough to pick up cat hairs from both of my boys though. It is a merino/bamboo blend yarn. I was trying to pick up different blends last year and I don't think I need to do it again for a while. Bamboo has a lovely shimmer to it but it also has less give than wool and I missed the give. Somehow it just makes things more cozy to me.

Do you see how the toes zap towards each other? You know what that means? I put in half of an extra repeat so the right sock is slightly longer than the left. I will tell you if it bothers me when I wear them for real one day, not just for a photo shoot. I do think it looks rather nifty!

And while the heel many not be the most exciting part of a sock I know someone else that likes them almost as much as I do. So this shot is for you. Not my most impressive heels but still cool in my opinion.

So now that I have freed up another set of knitting needles I have cast on two more projects in as many days. I'm telling you startitis can whip me around like a wet noodle. Yeah I have no idea what that means either, but it sure was fun to type.

I also have a root canal scheduled for tomorrow. Is it wrong to think of it as knitting time? Surely if I am a good little girl and don't bite the dentist they will let me knit right? If I drop a stitch, is it wrong to make the dentist wait while I pick it up again? Hey I am just trying to get the ground rules set out.

Happy Knitting Y'all!

Taco Bake

2011-09-30T19:28:00.000-04:00

Did you ever notice that food sometimes has a story? I made Taco Bake tonight, I can not tell you the last time I made it, but I'm going to tell you the stories behind it.

First of all what is Taco Bake? It is what I will call Midwest cultural fusion food. We like to take food from other cultures and turn them into a casserole. The recipe comes from D's Grandma's church's cookbook, that I acquired on marrying my man. Grandma had given it to D as a graduation present. Which served two purposes, it raised funds for her church and gave the boy something to aspire to. I don't think he ever cooked from it but early in our marriage I most of what made came from my midwest memories. I love church cookbooks they are a interesting look into any community. In the midwest it is all about the casserole and the jello salad in all their variations. Trust me we can take most any food and change it to our tastes. (I don't eat jello with any kind of vegetable in it, carrots I'm looking at you.)

Wait let me back up to the original question, Taco Bake is layered in a cake pan: crescent roll crust, refried beans, taco meat (ground beef, sautéed onions and taco seasoning) and finally a layer of an egg, carton of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese all mixed together. Bake that at 350F for about a half hour. Serve it, cut into a square (cause nothing says twisted Mexican food like a square) topped with lettuce and diced tomatoes. You could add shredded cheese but really why?

Tonight I forgot the lettuce and tomatoes but for some reason I served beets on the side. You need a vegetable in there somewhere. You already knew I was weird.

I think the reason casseroles are so popular in the midwest is the fact that having the oven on heats up the house nicely. I know now that the weather has cooled down I am fighting the urge to make chili, bake bread and make a roast simultaneously. Must be something in my DNA.

I will tell you the first time I brought it in for lunch where I worked in Charleston, all the ladies looked at me weird. One of them asked me to bring in my cookbooks so she could look through them. I am not sure she was impressed with what she saw. Different regions different food. South Carolina, I still miss your BBQ. One of the versions of manna from heaven that resides in my head is SC BBQ and corn bread, but really do you want that dropping on your head from heaven? Seems a bit messy to me.

The funny thing is somethings I will only make for other midwesterners. I think if you grow up with a type of food it becomes your comfort food. And I don't want any New Yorkers or Southerners turning up their noses at my good honest farm food, so I keep it for me and D. Selfish maybe so I like to think of it as family time.

What I did not get

2011-09-28T20:29:00.001-04:00

And now we turn to the sad part of the festival day. I fell in love but I did not come home with a fleece. And it is not because the mill has it either, I did not buy one.

I fell in love with "Tinkerbell", he was so deep and dark and shiny. So so beautiful.

You see the sheen on this fleece? It was even big enough for me, over 5 pounds. Oh I desired it so much, but I really need to do more reconnaissance first. I looked in the fleece show and sale. Wow that seems like a great way to pick a fleece. They look at them and judge based on a point system. Some even had notes on them telling why they did not get more points.

I was able to see a range of fleece sizes, prices and producers. I don't know if this festival had a featured breed but all the fleeces I saw were Romney. The price per pound varied from $8 to $20. The size ranged four to almost eight pounds that I saw. There was a silvery grey one that charmed me quite a bit also but it was $120. Not what I want in my first purchase. Well no I wanted it but common sense rules my life.

I have the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook on loan from the library. So I may be spending some time looking up different breeds and dreaming.

Festival

2011-09-27T20:55:00.001-04:00

Can you guess what this weekend was? Well that shot does not really help but you can see it is much less crowded than Rhinebeck.

I have more yarn and yarny related goodness.

Yep, it was Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival time again. I carefully picked out my socks so I could show them to their dyer. She took a picture and offered me 10% off the day's purchase but I was on the hunt for something and forgot to go back to the booth. I ended up buying from all new vendors.

First up we have Deathly Hallows from Forbidden Woolery. It is 100% Blue Faced Leicester (a sheep breed) and lovely. I was drawn into the booth by an amazing green skein but decided my last few purchases have been green, I will go with something different this time. (You're going to laugh at that comment later.) The shop owner pointed out to me that we tend to buy colors similar to what we're wearing and since I had on a green T-shirt it was certainly true in my case.

Oh here is what I was looking for, my I gotta see that in real life item. A new project bag by Jessalu. She put up some pictures on Ravelry and I fell in love. I thought I was going for the TARDIS bag but this one with its glasses wearing knitting sheep, ah love at first sight. If you're looking for a new project bag I can tell you these are sturdy. We chatted for quite a while and I enjoyed it. Hey I may be coming out of my shell after all.

Now this is a color scheme I don't see every day. Predominatly shades of green with browns and burnt red. This smooshy Merino/Nylon blend is from Bittersweet Woolery.

I ran into some of my knitting group sisters. After the festival I was hosting knitting at my house so we could show off all our goodies to each other. Well as we are know to do we started showing a bit early and I am just a tad glad because I was reminded that I had skipped the first building in search of my Jessalu bag. I went back and found these.

Red Maple, Super Sock 416 a Merino/Nylon blend and Forest, Sophia a Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend from Ball and Skein. I saw this booth last year and wished I would have picked up a copy of the Ishbel pattern but I did not see any this year, but I got yarn!!

Oh look at that loveliness from Moonlight and Laughter. Why would I buy fiber and yarn packaged together? Thrum mittens of course. What is a Thrum mitten? Go look what the Yarn Harlot has to say about it, since she is the one that first introduced me to the idea. OK if you're too shy I will tell you what I know, some of which may be incorrect. They are a method of creating a lined mitten that was developed on the east coast of Canada. Instead of knitting the mitten with only yarn every so often you knit in a 3 inch piece of unspun fiber. The ends of the fiber are on the inside of the mitten and make it fuzzy. This will eventually felt and provide a wind proof and water proof mitten. Sounds toasty doesn't it? Well if I want to be warm I usually look to Canada or Norway for their innovations. They know warm.

Let me introduce you to Splendor Sock Yarn in Dark Roast by Jill Draper Makes Stuff. See what I mean about buying green yarn? Anyway this is a Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend also. You sensing a theme in my buying this year? I make one set of Cashmere blend socks this year and now I am digging it! This is a manly color maybe I should introduce D to the softness that is Cashmere. You want me to say Cashmere one more time? Cashmere!

Who can turn down a T-shirt with ewes on it? Not this girl this year. And frolicking ewes also, I think I will wear this shirt on my birthday!

So that is what my festival yielded. Is it wrong to pet them all the time? Yeah, I did not think so either. Happy Knitting

Camping

2011-09-23T22:37:00.000-04:00

D overhauled a bike for a friend and she in turn loaned us her new camp for a weekend. We are tent campers and usually it rains when we camp. It's not a big issue as D and I are from South Dakota farming people, we love rain. This time however since we had a firm roof over our heads, Mother Nature laughed at us and did not make it rain but added a nip to the air. That too did not bother us too much since the primary reason we go camping is to enjoy the campfire.

D in his preferred natural state

One of the things I love about beach houses and camp houses is naming of these houses. The Dog House was a neighbor. (There you go Big H that is for you.) The Nut House was close by too.

Our temporary home was sadly unnamed. As we sat basking in the glow of the campfire we pondered names for a camp of our own one day. D thought mine should be the Yarn House/Tea House. We threw Cat House out of the running very early on. If we named it Bacon House for D, I think we would receive too many visitors.

Inside it was a cozy little place just enough room for two. We did bring the electric kettle from home. Some traditions are not to be messed with. Hot tea sure was welcome the next morning before the fire was going. I think the thermometer read in the 40s. It sure is tough to pull yourself out from under the sleeping bag.

I'm not sure how I feel about camping with a TV but hey who am I to judge. I am not proud to tell you we watched Super Troopers and 40 Year Old Virgin, but I did laugh, so that is what camping is all about.

We even had a neighbor join us to bask in the warmth of the fire. This little guy would get close to the flames then back off just enough not to bake himself.

I think Daddy Long Legs are super cool spiders, mostly because they eat other spiders, or so I am told.

I'm telling you the mornings were quite brisk! And by brisk I mean three layers in front of the fire brisk. I used my time to finish my socks, finish a book and start Mom's mitts you saw last time. I even found a spot of sunshine to doze off in. It is really nice to do a quick get away and recharge the batteries.

Feeling Less Sheepish

2011-09-20T19:20:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling less sheepish but more fleecish. Let me define fleecish for you since it does not seem to be a real word. Fleecish, a state of excitement in which a person is preparing to buy their first sheep fleece.

I've done some research with nudges in the correct direction from friends and then I've mulled it over for a bit. First let me say I may not buy a fleece at all, when it comes down to it I want to be comfortable with what I get and don't want to look back and say if I had only waited till I knew a bit more. I am not a terribly spontaneous person, but I usually know what I like and when to get it.

So what have I learned? Many things. Starting with the paperwork for Battenkill Fiber Mill, it costs $31.75/lb to process raw wool into undyed yarn. Now for some reason I assumed 10 pounds of fleece maybe because it was a nice even number or because the form said any amount under 10 pounds increases the price by 25%.

So assuming 10x31.75 = $317.50 for processing alone. I almost dropped the idea right then but decided to forge on as I still did not know if any assumptions were correct yet.

Now assuming my 10 pounds is way too much and I buy less my processing fee goes to about $40/lb. Now I know I grew up in a buy-in-bulk society, if I buy a five pound fleece 5x40 = $200. That is better but still not what I am looking for. I'm still thinking the cost will out weigh the adventure.

Then I read somewhere. (I tried to take good notes but I got caught up in the search.) The price is per finished product weight. That has to lower the cost some, is it enough?

Ok now how much weight do you lose in the processing? Sounds like it ranges depending on the breed of sheep (lanolin production) and how dirty the fleece is. Most estimates said something like a third of the fleece weight is lost. So my five pounds of fleece is reduced to 3.35 pounds. 3.35x40 = $134. Yep I am getting closer.

So how much yarn do I need for my sweater? Normally this number resides in my head as a function of yardage, not pounds. I did not want to weigh a sweater but I saved that as a last resort option. Thanks for the idea Adriene! I don't think my scale would give as accurate a number as I was hoping to get. Thanks to Kisknit's suggested site I thought about some sweaters I've knit that may have some data for me. My go-to sweater yarn is Cascade 220 and I keep reasonably good notes so I know how many balls of Cascade 220 it takes to make a sweater for me. A skein of that weighs 3.53oz. Let's say it took 8 skeins. (I think it was closer to 6 or 7 but let's play it safe.) 8x3.53 = 28.24oz which leads us to 1.77lbs of Cascade 220. Now (1.77x.66)+1.77 = 3 pounds of raw wool that I need. (Did you check my math for me? See any incorrect assumptions?)

I am looking for a minimum of three pounds of raw fleece. Which brings me to about a $70 wool processing price. Not bad at all, much better than the $300 that I started off with.

Last year I took this picture because the fleece was calling to me even then. What can I learn about reading tags in this one photo? Well I can tell Leo is not a big enough fleece for me. He's only 2 and a half pounds. I don't want to fun out of yarn! Plus Leo bumps up my sweater cost to $120. I have no idea where the cost per pound hits the scale; high, low, in the middle.

Now assuming it is what I will have to spend, am I willing to pay $120 for the experience? I mean I know it would be fun to say I chose the yarn right from the fleece but is it practical for me. I am at my heart a frugal practical person. Except that one spontaneous trip to Montreal, I am who I am and proud of it.

Are raw wool fumes stronger than yarn fumes? What about the two of them mixed together?

Cooling down

2011-09-19T18:50:00.000-04:00

Well look here another pair of socks. Are you surprised?

Now the only small bit of surprise from you should be that they are not the Pink Spring socks. Plain socks, I can churn them out with my eyes someplace else. Socks that are started in the spring are only finished in the fall (or winter) with me. Yeah I don't know why either.

Oh wait I do know why, I went on a camping trip and these sat in front of the fire with me. Round and round staring at the flames. Now that is what I call relaxing. I found the pocket on a hoodie makes an excellent place to stash a knitting project when you need your hands free to poke at the fire or make dinner or take a sip of tea.

And pretty too. I must say this yarn did not knit up the way I thought it would. No problems knitting it just the color seems a bit mushed together. I guess they don't pop for me, but I still love them don't worry. They are Malabrigo sock yarn in the Candombe colorway. This is said to be a more delicate sock yarn than others but my socks in the Stonechat colorway are still working for me. I was tentative washing them for the first time in my usual method, as people warned that they had felted and worn through if they were not hand washed. But no problems with me yet....

I started another project with Mom's yarn. I am making her some fingerless mitts to go along with her hat. I really like the way Fetching mitts look so this will be my fifth pair. I hope she likes them.

My toe up sock is progressing but it was left home since I did not want to drag a library book out into the woods camping with us. I will soon be at the gusset increases and am just a tad nervous about the whole plan. Which of course means the project will go into unofficial time-out while I 'think things through' you may read 'get mesmerized by some other pretty yarn' in that quote portion there. I would like to get Mom's mitts done and sent off to SD before winter gets too cold there.

Oh and this weekend is the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival so you know new yarn will be making its way home with me. New yarn, I will pet it and love it and name it George. (Sorry Adriene but I think that all the time too.)

Toe-Up?

2011-09-12T18:14:00.001-04:00

I found something new at my library.

This book has a few different cast ons, three different increases, two heels and a few bind offs. Now I have learned that I am a strict heel flap girl. My feet don't fit in short row heels more than a few sock washings. I am really curious how a reverse heel flap works.

I brought it home just to look through. In theory I would like to learn different ways to make socks but in my heart I know I am top down kind of girl. No not my top, the sock's cuff down to the toe. I have tried a cast on suitable for a toe up sock but as with all things new I found it awkward and it did not work so I gave up and knit several socks the way I know how, the way I like.

But this time I thought, pull out some yarn and give it a go, just practice that is all you need to do. Suddenly the pressure was off and I was able to cast on, just to practice you know? I knit about 20 rounds then realized I did not like the increase I was using because it caused holes on my right leaning increase. Off it went to the frogging pond to start over .

A couple of weeks later I decided I needed more practice. While the cast on is still not fun, I did not want to poke my eyes out with my needles, so that is a good thing. I kept going and now I have this little toe hat.

The colors are pretty, no?

Ahh, as with all the hats I make it is too big. What is it with me and hats? We just don't seem to get along. Don't worry I'm just going to rip it back a little bit, eliminate a couple of stitches, four or eight do you think? I am leaning towards eight but who knows.

Since it is a big skein of yarn 500 or so yards I planned on trying toe up knee highs so I can use most of the skein. When knitting top down socks it is difficult to know how long to make the leg so you still have enough for the foot. Usually I err on the side of caution and knit my socks about six inches tall. Typical knee highs are double that around 12 to 13 inches tall and since I am short I believe my leg will be shorter than average too. That reminds me I still need to ask the Hubby to help me measure my leg. Ahh the things he will do for love, and more hand knit sweaters.

Hey look what the squirrel left for me on my deck. You think he likes me?

New Stuff

2011-09-08T20:07:00.000-04:00

I am lucky enough to have some new stuff to show you. First up you know how I love Norwegian knitting. This book has a the Norwegian style sweater I've been dreaming about, not in the colors that would look good on me, but a true honest to goodness dream sweater.

This was one of the last remaining knitting books at my local Borders book store, my going out of business store. Hey someone had to give those books a permanent home. I adopted a Norwegian one.

D was gone for another trip. He was away at a deaf camp for silent week to learn more American Sign Language (ASL). In keeping with recent tradition he found a local yarn store and bought me yarn again.

I'm not saying I want him gone but it sure is nice when he brings me yarn and wine. What I forgot to tell you about the wine? We enjoyed a bottle last weekend. Tasty!

This is the other side of the skein showing off a bit of the purple patch. This is ella rae lace merino. I was worried because I don't knit with lace weight yarn, this turned out to be sock weight not lace weight. I have no idea why lace is in the name. I just know that it is beautiful fall colors and I love it. Keep them coming honey.

My Spring Forward socks are woking towards being Fall Back socks. I just need to keep going on them, slow and steady wins my patterned sock race.

Here is Mom's new Foliage hat all finished and looking lovely. Hey maybe I am a hat knitter too, after all. Naw, I am a sock knitter that occasionally can be talked into knitting a hat for the woman that gave birth to her.

Surprise I did finish my plain Green Tea socks. Oddly enough I have not yet tried these out. If they don't migrate to the sock drawer they don't make it to the rotation. I'm looking forward to some cashmere goodness wrapped around my feet.

Well that about sums it up for this home front. We have flooding in the area again. I hope everyone is high and dry, unless you live in Texas. I'm trying to convince Mother Nature that Texas would be glad to see this side of her. Seems like she is unwilling to budge right now.

SAG (Support and Gear)

2011-09-05T11:27:00.000-04:00

Hubby asked me if I wanted to go with him on his first 12 mile run. I am proud to say I managed stunned silence rather than hysterical laughter. He meant I could be his SAG. He started off and about an hour 20 minutes later I met him at our arranged area. After a water bottle refill and a sweaty wet kiss, not as romantic as it sounds in books, he was off again.

He is the figure on the left of the road. His route took him down a road the had been flooded by Irene. It took me a minute to realize the brown is not dried out crispy branches but rather muddy leaves. You can tell right where the water crested.

And have you seen such muddy dirty water? I kept hearing the words 'Chocolate Milk' used in reference to our rivers. I prefer my chocolate milk to be actual chocolate and milk, not dirty water.

See my little purple flower I found in the muddy bushes? Do you think it opened after the water receded, that's why it is not brown too?

I think fall is sneaking up on us too. I noticed some trees well above the water line had a different tint too. You can really see how hazy it was that day. Hot and sticky.

I could tell even the road had been submerged at some time. Mud, mud everywhere.

Our area faired pretty well from hurricane Irene. Trees were downed and power was lost (not ours) but considering what could have been...

Rhinebeck and surrounding areas were flooded, and may still be. Crews are woking to restore normal. I just hope people can get the help that they need.

New Yarn

2011-09-03T21:09:00.001-04:00

As you can tell by my title Labor Day Weekend has kicked-in in the US and I am feeling oh so clever. Hey at least it is truth in advertising if not clever. I while back, I hit one of my Local Yarn Stores (LYS), Common Thread in Saratoga Springs. I had not been there in a while and thought I was over due for a visit. Support the yarn economy and whatnot.

I was thrilled to find two new (to me) sock yarns for my basket and eventually my feet. First up we have Araucania Ranco Multy. I don't think I've ever seen a sock yarn in this color of turquoise before, or else this color has never called to me before. Congratulations on being the first turquoise yarn to the basket. Maybe it is the touch of grey, grey has my number and uses it frequently.

Second we have MadelineTosh Merino Light in the Malachite colorway. This yarn was on its way to becoming mythical to me. I read about it, I see pictures on the internet, I've never seen it in real life till now.

The one thing I am worried about is its single ply. I promised myself I would not buy single ply sock yarn ever again. In my defense, do you see that color? That color is my favorite in the whole wide world. Deep emerald, forest, malachite what ever name you want to use it says Yarnkettle to me! Now does it want to be socks or fingerless mitts or socks or......

I also cast on a hat for my Mom too. We had picked this yarn on last trip home a year or so ago. Hubby and I were delayed due to a thunderstorm/tornado so I got to spend a extra day at home rather than making it to a hub and spending the night in a hotel and arriving home about the same time.

So what do you do when you're stranded? You go to the yarn store too? I thought as much.

Mom has very good taste since she picked out a yarn I had been looking for, in this gorgeous purple colorway. It is Jaggerspun Zephyr 50/50 Merino/Silk blend KD weight. Such a joy to work with, felt like butter running through my fingers.

Now I have a confession to make, which I have already made to Mom. I had already knit this hat in this yarn once this summer. And I gave the other one away. Gasp, I know! I have not made many hats so I bought more yarn than I thought I would need. Three skeins, each hat took one skein. The first one was done in a weekend which was great because I had struggled with it once before this year, I kept messing up the pattern, somehow.

The next day was my coworker's birthday and while I don't usually give my knitting away, that hat really wanted to go with her on an Alaskan cruise. She was leaving later that week and had not yet pulled out her winter gear to evaluate. I knew Mom did not need a wool/silk hat in July, especially during that heat wave the US was having. So Mom's hat turned into Laura's hat and got to see a glacier.

Now Mom's hat is done too waiting for pictures to show it off on the blog. And the last skein of Jaggerspun? I think Mom could use a pair of matching fingerless gloves too. I just hope they don't want to see Alaska, because that ship has sailed.

Feeling Sheepish

2011-08-30T20:30:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about my knitting. What I have done, what I would still like to learn. One of D's coworkers put a bug in my ear this summer. She was asking me about my knitting and if I ever planned to spin. My answer was a quick no, I don't plan to be a spinner. I like making things (clothes) too much to use part of that time making yarn to make into things. (No offense to any spinners out there, I just know what I enjoy about my knitting.)

I did tell her the thing that I could see myself doing eventually is buying a fleece and having it processed in a mill. I would get all the fun of selecting a fleece without stealing my knitting time. I said this in a way that lead her (and me) to believe that it would happen in the distant future. "Oh, in a few years I could see myself buying a fleece eventually."

Well, ever since then the idea has been throwing itself onto any part of my brain that will listen. Buy a fleece! Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival is sponsored by a mill go talk to them. Their name is Battenkill Fibers go look at their website. You should see how much it costs, then you would know. See how easy it could be? We could buy a fleece and be a real knitter. And on and on.

It does not help that I am prepping papers to be scanned at work. It requires very little of my active mind, which is more than happy to think about owning a fleece.

So finally I gave into myself this week and started doing research. I have some questions that must be answered before I make this decision.

How do I identify a good fleece?
What should I avoid in a fleece?
How much raw fleece would I need to make a sweater?
Do I have to buy a whole fleece for one sweater?
How are fleeces sold? Whole, half, by the pound?
If a fleece is enough to make two sweaters, would matching sweaters look silly on D and me?
Does the cost outweigh the idea?
How much am I willing to spend?

For question one and two I am looking online and in a couple of spinning books from the library. The advice seems to be similar for all the sources I've looked at so far. I found an article on Knitty and a couple of other places. I'm reading through and starting to take notes so I can really understand what I'm looking for and what to avoid.

Three, four and five are not answered in any of my research yet. Other than the basic non-answer, it depends. I'm not sure six can be answered by research.

I think seven and eight will get answered closer to the festival. I am willing to spend a bit more for this yarn than something I can find in a store. I really like the idea of having my very own unique yarn but I'm not willing to go without food to get it.

So if any of you have advice or suggestions to give, I am more than willing to listen. Even if you tell me I am crazy. I do as always reserve the right to ignore any and all advice, and to therefore be very wrong so you can tell me 'I told you so.' That would of course remove you from my knitworthy list. Hey we can not live in a world where 'I told you so' is cast about with no repercussions. My blog my rules.

Come on Irene!

2011-08-28T18:16:00.002-04:00

Yep I have Dexys Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen" running through my head with slightly different words. (Thank you Husband for putting that song in there.) The rain and wind from Irene have started here in upstate NY. Not bad yet but there are a lot of leaves and dead branches scattered in the road. Every time I hear a wind swell I brace up a bit and hope it passes with nothing more than knocking off more leaves.

So now I should tell you my Hurricane Floyd story. We were living in Charleston SC. Floyd was set to come straight over Charleston on the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Hugo. Now Hugo was a humdinger. When you live with hurricanes you get used to them, well really when you live with any type of weather condition you get used to it and think 'oh I can handle this.' Hugo was a deal breaker for many people who had rode out many storms.

Now I am going to tell you this without any actual fact checking since I absorbed the rumors and innuendo that day you will get mine. So as Floyd was bearing down on us my office mates took great delight in sharing with me what it was like after Hugo hit. 'All you could hear for months was the sound of generators and chain saws.' 'Fed my family of three and my neighbor's because she did not stock up her freezer like she should have.' 'I'll show you the pictures of the boat sitting out on Rutledge Avenue. Yes a yacht sitting there on the land.' 'The town north of here had swells so big they pulled out the ceiling tiles and put the kids in the rafters. Not to keep them dry but to keep them alive.'

I could go on but I won't. We packed up the office up off the floor. And headed home to pack up our own stuff. Let me tell you it is a revealing moment when you pack up a car with essentials. Things you would still like to have if your home was not there when you get back. When I tell the story now I start off with; we had 2 cars, 3 drivers and 2 cats. My car was packed with; our computer but not monitor, my grandmother's quilts, our picture albums, financial records, clothes, cat food and litter, and toilet paper. Yep a whole bag of toilet paper. Hey if you run out that stuff is like gold to me, but easier on your bum. So what does my packing say about me? I am nostalgic yet terribly practical.

Now you know I think of myself as a midwesterner. I was called yankee a bit when we lived in the South. I always thought of yankee as being a New Englander. Well to people in the South, it is anyone that was not raised in the South. I have never felt more like a yankee than when we drove out of Charleston. D had relatives living in Florida so we planned on staying with them. We were two of three autos heading south that day. Everyone and I mean everyone was heading north. Our trip took 14 hours more than twice the time it should have. The station playing on my radio was just people calling in to tell everyone which gas stations still had gas.

It was a scary trip. But on the flip side once we took naps after driving all night, we went to Busch Gardens and there were no lines because everyone had been there the day before when Disney World had closed down.

We made it back to Charleston safe and sound with no damage to our apartment. There were tree branches all over the place, and they took a couple of weeks to clean up. But all in all not as bad as the forecast. I hope Irene plays the same song today.

Monday edit: Thankfully Irene just blew down branches and leaves where we are. Surrounding communities are dealing with flooding. All in all she could have been much meaner to us.

Oh and for those people complaining about the storm was overhyped, Shut Up! It is far better to be overhyped and alive than someone dying trying to help you.

Running for the Roses

2011-08-25T19:14:00.000-04:00

I decided if I can not run some races yet I can walk some. D decided to walk this one with me. He was our photographer for this event barring a couple I took myself.

Kisknit took this one. She was participating in the race portion of the event along with her fast Hubby.

And we're walking. There was some beautiful scenery!

I think the table was being consumed by moss. Ah the dreaded Moss Monster!

We just made it back in time for the start of the race.

Kisknit had such a look of concentration and focus on her face, then when I take a photo the Drama Llama pops up complete with Jazz hands! I know that is not the proper usage of Drama Llama but it is my blog and I will use it for comedic purposes when I like!!

Here is the fast man coming in for a landing!

And here is the not quite as fast woman coming in for her landing too.

That is an excellent time for a 5K in my opinion! She shaved off minutes from last year's time too. Did I mention it was a hilly course too?

D took pictures of the back of my very sweaty head but I don't think the world needs to that.

What to do

2011-08-22T19:00:00.001-04:00

So I was writing up our schedule for the coming months and discovered an issue. Granted of all the issues in the world this one is not bad.

I have two local fiber festivals that I like to go to. The newer one is in September (Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival - SADK) and the mack daddy one (New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck) is in October. This year they are 3 weeks apart! Have I not noticed the timing the last two years? This barely gives me yarn fume recovery time. I will still be slightly woolly. The September acquisitions will not even have made it into the regular yarn wall stash. Gus will still be bringing them one by one into our bedroom at night. (It's a weird Momma cat thing that I totally adore. Yes, he knows he is not a Momma cat he just has the urge to treat yarn a certain way.)

Oh speaking of Gus's yarn obsession, he is a yarn snob too. I received some inexpensive acrylic yarn, you know the kind most of us buy when we're starting out knitting because it is cheap and soft, therefore it must be yarn for learning on? Well we woke up the next day and Gus had clearly investigated the bag and may even have tried to pick it up in his mouth, but it did not make it very far. It is either yarn snobbery or the skein was too big for him to carry.

Anyways back to my fiber festival issue. I'm already saving up for the festivals so I don't have to worry about my budget. It is not like an extra week would allow me to replenish the coffers. I guess I am just a wee bit surprised they would choose to put the festivals so close together.

Of course Rhinebeck is becoming quite a large and cumbersome festival, so some people may not choose to go to that one. SADK is newer and less intense. If I know a vendor is going to be at both festivals, I choose to go to SADK booth instead.

Last year SADK was my heads up that sock yarn prices had increased over the past year in 2009 most of the sock yarn skeins I bought ran about $20. In 2010 there seemed to be a $2 bump for almost every vendor, which proved true at Rhinebeck also. Also at SADK I did not seemed to be overwhelmed by either the crowds or the volume of yarns and was able to find and try out some new (to me) dyers. I know I knit up the untried ones first because I was so excited. I cast on socks for D between the festivals because I felt a wee bit guilty buying more yarn. Of course last year I had three yarn buying excursions. The two festivals and in August I was at Twisted in Portland OR with a boat load of Socks that Rock and a couple of dyers I had not seen in this area.

While now I see the intelligence of acquiring a stash while the prices are lower I still don't want to let my stash get out of hand. In that spirit I did a bit of research into last year's big three purchases. At Twisted I bought 7 skeins of sock yarn, 5 of which have been knit up. SADK scored me 4 skeins of sock yarn and 2 of those have been sockified. Rhinebeck landed me 6 sock yarn skeins with 3 of them now wearable, and another 2 on the needles. Therefore I've only added 5 skeins to the stash. That is much better than buying the 17 skeins and leaving them all as stash. Hey I am doing much better than even I thought! Maybe I should go buy more yarn. Oh wait I just did. I'll show you pictures another day, don't worry it was only 2 skeins and the way I'm going one of them should be knit up by the end of this post.

Well at least I make me laugh.

Wooly and whimsical

2011-08-21T14:15:00.000-04:00

You know how I love to wrap things in wool around here. Sometime about a year or so ago I stumbled across a pattern on Knitty for a tea cozy. This one. I thought it would be a great use for some yarn left over from a few other projects. I started it and got the wild idea that since it was felted it would be a great way to work on my colorwork knitting, and I found a cute kitty face pattern I had long admired on a sweater in Interweave Knits magazine. Now I know this was quite a while ago because I had not even knit my Norwegian mittens yet. I knit on it till I got to the decrease section and put it away for some reason. It sat in a bag for months.

As I was looking back at my knitting and blogging I realized I never finished it so I pulled it out. Yep you guessed it I had finished it later that weekend. It was not even hard, I just don't know why I put it down.

As with many things that are felted it started out huge and floppy.

I sent it through the washer in a pillow case and it went down in size a tad. Enough that it could stand on its own but not enough for me. See how you can still see the vertical lines of the stitches?

Because I was still learning to do colorwork, my stitches pulled in on the fabric. I went in and cut some threads to give it some room to loosen up before the second dunking. I figured it had felted enough that no holes would form and if they did I would have make one of them handle sized and let it hang out.

See how we lost the stitch definition and now it is fuzzy and blurry? That is what I was going for. Now I have a backup teapot cozy that is wooly and whimsical.

Wooly and whimsical that describes me and my cozy now too. It seems to be keeping the tea hot. I've not had a complaint yet. Then again who would complain when they have tea and scones in front of them? I mean really.

Still amazed

2011-08-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

So last week I made myself do something out of character. I put a knitting limitation on myself. Since the plain socks are so easy to work with and I don't have to carry and mark a pattern I made them only On-The-Go knitting. I was not allowed to knit on them while I was sitting pleasantly at home.

You know what happened? I finished a sock I've (not) been working on since May. My first Spring Forward sock is done and I have cast on the second one too. It is amazing to me that some things take so long because I simply don't spend any time on them. All you monogamous knitters out there can stop laughing any time now.

I have also finished my first plain sock too but that's ok because I followed the self imposed rules. OK I knit on it a bit tonight at home because I was casting on and that requires attention and focus for a few rounds. I'm not going to beat myself up.

I took my car in for its first oil change this weekend. As I walked by the waiting area I noticed a lady knitting. So I used my time in the restroom constructively, trying to figure out how I would approach the situation. You know it is tough being a shy knitter that wants to meet other knitters. I decided I would sit near her but not next to her and pull out my knitting to see if she noticed. Which she did!

Yay, for the purse sock doing its job and getting the conversation started. She was very nice and was working on a wrap sweater out of Noro Silk Garden yarn. When she asked about local yarn stores, I recommended a few that I know. I eventually asked if she is on Ravelry and was a bit dismayed to find out she is not. I tried to explain the concept which is quite difficult given my descriptive skills. You know how hard it is to describe something when you don't know the person and have no idea what their internet usage is? I tried the 'it's a bit like Facebook' line but she is not on Facebook so no frame of reference there. You can look up yarns, books, designers and see what people have made, was my best description. But as with explaining why a cell phone is useful to someone who has never had a cell phone, you don't really get it till you see it. I was able to tell her the most enticing bit, Ravelry is free! So maybe she will get in and have a look around to see what kind of a tool it can be

That was my knitting week in a nut shell, how was yours?

Lookie

2011-08-10T17:57:00.001-04:00

Today here on the blog is Work In Progress(WIP) Wednesday. I finally remembered to get a couple of pictures. First up we have my slow and unsteady Pink Spring Forward socks.

I would probably have a second sock or even a first if I actually worked on these instead of letting them sit next to me on the couch when I mock them with other things I am knitting. It never ceases to amaze me how much a project jumps ahead when I work on it instead of thinking about it.

I really like not having to think about what to do next and having something to carry around in my purse. Only plain socks fit this bill. I can carry more complicated ones with me but I don't. There must be a huge WHEE factor in it for me, whee, round and round, whee! Yes carousels amuse me quite a bit too. They have fancy horses and go round and round, whee.

Anyways, I did not even bother to fight my case of startitis. The same night I blogged about it I cast on three, yes three things *ahem* socks. One did not make it past around when I knew it was not what I was looking for, another had around two inches knit before I realized I am not digging how it is turning out. The last one has cashmere in it so it won.

I am calling it my Green Tea sock. The yarn is Fiber Optic's Kashmir in the Sage colorway, I believe. I should have know the stash would attack with another green yarn, it worked so well for them last time. I was having a hard time deciding if this should be socks or mittens. I thought the color would remind me of spring all winter long. Then I realized I can never keep light colored things looking clean enough. Spots and stains find me when I am not looking, and sometimes when I am looking. So now my feet will know what cashmere feels like. Is it wrong that I am jealous of my feet now? I know it is odd but is it wrong?

Hubby Love

2011-08-08T18:13:00.000-04:00

D was away for work and I am not the only one that missed him. Since I was the one that took him to the airport Gus decided to punish me by ignoring me. He skulked under the office chair most of the time Daddy was gone. He did come out for tuna at night, well he was punishing me not himself. He make allowances for his own needs but definitely not for my comfort. He would hop up on the bed but ten minutes later be gone. Once I even thought I heard an evil laugh followed by "That should teach her!"

And for my suffering D thought I deserved yarn. Well, he told the sales lady that I would not let him back in the house without yarn. (Not true but I don't want to nitpick him.)

What does any woman need? Red Wine and Dark Chocolate from The Sassy Sheep. Socky Sheep is 80% superwash Merino and 20% Nylon. It weighs in at 4 ounces and has 420 yards of wooly goodness to play with.

You know how somedays the colors are just not quite right? This is one of them. It photographs a bit on the hot pink end when in real life it is just under brick red, and the purple is more brown and deep. It is really quite lovely and something I would have picked out myself.

He found it at a farmer's market in Idaho Falls. Which is lucky because the yarn store he went to was by appointment only on the day he was there. He thought about calling the number but decided it would not really have been worth their time. He was not there to get a sweater's worth of yarn. He did say it was a nice shop from the outside, with a nice window display.

He explained to the lady at the farmer's market that his wife is a knitter and showed his socks that I had knit. (Another reason he gets more socks.) He knew she was a knitter when she pulled out a skein and offered it to him, saying "feel this." He was even smart enough to ask if the skein was enough for a pair of socks. (The wool fumes must not affect him like me. I can only think of things like Oooo and pretty when I am around yarn.)

I had forgotten that he does not know how much yarn is needed to make a pair of socks. When did this become basic knowledge to me? If I can look at a skein of yarn and know if I need one or two to make a pair, does that officially make me a sock knitter? Is that when they hand out the knitting badges?

He even gave me his little notebook from the conference too. Because he knows I love notebooks almost as much as him and yarn. It has a loop for a pen, awww, such a cute little notebook.

It is nice to be loved...even if the cat does not.

Jealousy green?

2011-08-06T14:36:00.001-04:00

Well let's see what I have to show you today. Oh look another pair of socks. I am so surprised.

Gus totally tried to photo bomb me. Oh was that a picture of your socks you was trying to get? So sorry, have you seen how silky my fur is? Yes, it is very nice.

This is Dye Dreams Luster socks in Pine. It is a Blue Faced Leister (BFL) yarn, my first from that sheep. I bought this yarn a couple of years ago. Guess where? Yes, you're right Rhinebeck, NY Sheep and Wool festival. I do so love finding new yarns there. Sadly some months after Rhinebeck the partnership dissolved, so they are no more. I think I held on the yarn because of that. But I am trying to get over it.

I don't think I am an oh no there is no more of this particular yarn kind of person. I have yet to buy yarn because it is being discontinued, but I did put this one off because I wanted it to be used for something special. But then I thought how will I know if I like BFL yarn if I don't use it. I am trying to plan ahead and try some yarns so I will know more of my likes and dislikes so I can make an informed purchases at Rhinebeck and other festivals/stores. I like trying new yarns, but if I can find yarns that really work well for me and I enjoy knitting, I would like to keep them in business too.

You can just make out the bands of coloring at the toes. They have a nice banding of lighter and darker greens. I had a bit of trouble with the yarn, the way I wound it and knit with it added more twist. I had to stop and let it unwind every so often. It is a thinner yarn than most that I am familiar with. I do like a plump bouncy yarn, but with the added twisting I lost bounce.

Well, all's well that ends well and I have a nice new pair of socks. And really what more could a sock knitter ask?

Summitless

2011-08-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

Turns out I like a bit of a challenge once in a while. I don't want my knitting to be a source of stress for me but it is nice to know what I can accomplish every once in a while.

Introducing my socks named Summitless. I did not go to Sock Summit so I joined in on Ravelry to knit these. I chose to knit A Good Plain Sock from Knitting Rules. I figured these would give me a fighting chance to finish them.

I wore them for the first time today. I did not wash or block them first, I never do. Somedays I can barely get the ends sewn in before they are on my feet. I figure they ride around in a plastic bag in my purse and get knit by my hands, how dirty could they be that they could not go on my feet? I would have a bit more cause for concern if I still lived on the farm, but here? No, I am not worried.

On Saturday after I finished the first sock I cast on the second sock and started to knit when I found my sock had finished in just the right place.

I had cast on, joined and just started to knit when my hands told me something was off in the yarn. You see right where the two strands cross? The upper strand has a one inch-ish area of unspun/oddly spun funkiness. I cut it off and started anew.

I must admit it was odd to focus on only one project for a few days. I am such a project wanderer. Normally I like working on different things. I find each one fills a certain slot in my brain. Sometimes I like to switch between texture and color. Some times I like to go on auto pilot and others I like to need to think about what I am doing.

I know that I am currently down to two different socks on the needles and that feels really odd. I am feeling a bout of startitis coming on. I also have a hair appointment tomorrow and feel I would be letting them down if I came in with no knitting.

So what to cast on? Fiber Optic's cashmere blend in lovely soft sage green or Socks That Rock in blacks and reds? Or I could go yarn basket diving and see what else is out there.

Of course I could always knit some on what is on the needles...but what is the fun in that, I know what that looks like.

Missed it by that much

2011-07-31T19:47:00.000-04:00

Turns out I can not knit a pair of socks in four days. Alright who called the knitting police? You can't have my needles, Coppers! I'm going to finish these socks, I tells you! (My pathetic attempt at 30s gangster talk.)

I did get much farther than I thought I would. I have a finished sock and another sock with the gusset decreases done. It just needs the foot finished and a toe. Not bad when you consider that I went on a picnic, worked, did laundry, changed the bedding, had a non-knitting evening out with friends and managed to provide a few meals in that time too.

I finished the first one on Saturday and was thrilled to post a picture on Ravelry. I thought a day and a half is not enough to knit a sock. Well I could have been wrong so I kept on knitting.

I would have thought about knitting on our evening out Saturday night but it turns out you need your hands to do sign language and play Uno, so I sacrificed a bit of time to simply having fun.

Did you know that laundry is a great way to take knitting breaks? I set the buzzer on the drier to go off and trotted downstairs every time it went off. The buzzer on my washer is way too annoying to be turned on. The first time I set it I thought I was under attack when it went off for 2-3 minutes, just a very loud sustained buzzer. Then I had to coax the cats out from under the beds. No one likes that buzzer. Usually I am a bit more lack about swapping laundry in the machines, but this time I needed a schedule to keep me up and moving at regular intervals.

I'll proudly show off my new socks when they're finished. It was a fun challenge and I wish I could have made it. But I am so happy to have tried. I may just need to join a knit along on Ravelry sometime in the future. It was nice to see people connecting.

A bit of fun on the side

2011-07-28T19:19:00.000-04:00

Sock Summit(SS) starts today in Portland Oregon. Alas, I am not there. D said I could go but all I could think of was the time and expense and how I am really not a solo social person. I'd be the one off in a corner looking longingly around. Well not really I would probably be burning up a credit card at the marketplace but still. And I have a couple of really good festivals around here. Just cause I don't go to Sock Summit does not mean I can't work with yarn.

There was a thread started on Ravelry called "Can't foot it." Those of us that could not go to SS are attempting to knit a pair of socks in the four days that SS will be held. We cast on at the time SS's doors opened in Portland, which means that I cast on at noon, East coast time, and should be done by the time the doors close on Sunday.

The patterns we're allowed to pick from were all patterns the Yarn Harlot (Co-founder of SS) knit. There was quite a few to choose from, I'd say 20 to 30. They range from A Good Plain Sock, color work, lace and whatever else you could wish for. So far I've knit five from that list, some a few more times than once.

I figured if I wanted to give myself the best chance I needed to do A Good Plain Sock. Plus I think a plain sock shows off the colors so much better in my hand painted yarn. For yarn I chose one of my new acquisitions that has been calling to me, Blue Ridge Yarns Kaleidoscope in the Crimson Redbud colorway.

I started on my way to D's company picnic, I did not get very far but I'm sure I will be able to add some stitches in the next few days. Who knows I may even have a new pair to wear into work on Monday.

When I saw the thread I thought it was a cool idea but I don't really like to place deadlines and stress on my knitting. I finally caved this morning when I thought about the spirit of this endeavor. It is such a neat way to come together as a group of knitters. I don't think the knitting police will show up on my doorstep if I don't finish them in time. I think the worst thing that could happen is that I don't get put into the prize pool, if that is the worst thing that happens to me...I think I can live with it.

I'll see you on Sunday night to let you know how it turned out.

Bad Hubby Socks

2011-07-26T20:18:00.000-04:00

Don't worry I'm not punishing the Hubby by making him wear bad socks. I have another sock tale for you.

You all know my passion for socks started with my hard to fit foot. People raved about how wonderful hand knit socks are. Once you wear hand knit socks you will not want to go back. I don't know if that is 100% true, but I know I no longer wear "normal people" socks.

I decided to test the theory and make socks for D. I was still a relatively new sock knitter and honestly still a new knitter. I had been knitting for less than a year and D's first socks were also my 7th pair of socks...ever. Seems like such a long time ago!

I used my most useful sock book at that time, Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I measured D's foot in 4 or 5 key areas and knit a gauge swatch. I do believe that since his foot is so much bigger than my foot his sock needed to be much bigger too.

I was wrong. I did not understand negative ease and why it is desirable in a sock. D even likes a much closer fitting sock than me. But back to the story. I cast on a whole bunch of stitches and knit for a while. Even I realized it was too big and ripped it back. Then I cast on 102 stitches and figured it must be right, it simply must be!

I knit two socks, almost. I knit one and 3/4 socks and ran out of yarn. Now this was still the days when ripping back and starting over was like ripping out my heart, cooking it up and serving it to you on a nice platter. I had put in so much work...a whole month of my time!

Then I remembered that I had a bit of yarn left over from the same manufacturer. (Oddly enough I still have a hard time mixing yarns from different makers.) The only difference was the color.

So that is how D got Bad Hubby Socks. He even wore them when he was flying one business the next week. You know you have to take your shoes off to go through security. Everyone was going to see that "design element." He still wore them with pride.

They are his least favorite socks because I was still getting my sock knitting mojo working. They are big and baggy not exactly the makings of a favorite sock. I have tweaked my knitting numbers and can now make him acceptable socks. Oddly enough I use the same number of stitches for his socks as I do mine.

So that is my not quite a fail, but close story. Poor Hubby looks like he dipped one toe in ink.

Sock 'n foot

2011-07-24T17:05:00.000-04:00

I finally got D to put on his new socks and hold still long enough to take a picture. Well a picture of one of them. I changed up my standard sock formula for the Hubby on this one, slightly. Normally I make a 4 inch 2x2 ribbed cuff and a plain "oh good Lord when will the foot end" foot. This time I added a baby cable to the ribbing, just cause I could.

I am calling them random cables because I did not want to have to keep track of where I was in the pattern. I tried to do a twist every 7 rows but sometimes I went a bit too far. Now if anyone stops him on the road when he is running or biking and says the cables are not exact, he knows to say it is a design element! Yeah I meant to do that, no really I sort of did, sorta.

And because I think it is cute here is a picture of my cat napping on his cat. Everyone needs someone to snuggle with sometimes.

Don't you just love kitty feet?

Glossing over things?

2011-07-22T21:18:00.003-04:00

So here is the deal today, I finished by socks the other day and wore them to work so I could take pictures and post them as my FO (finished object) Friday post.

The plan went ahead as it should till I got inside and looked at my photos. (I'm still not happy with them.) While I don't think they are 'bad' pictures I don't think they show off the sock very well. So I decided to take different pictures, but it is so very hot outside and we planned on going to a friend's house to watch the Tour of France. I did not have it in me.

Today I decided that it was better to get something done rather than obsess over it and then never do it. So I give you my green gloss socks.

They are made from Knitpicks Gloss fingering weight yarn in the Jade colorway. This yarn is a merino wool and silk blend. I've never worked with it before and I found it quite a pleasure for me to knit. It is a plump springy yarn, that made a slightly thicker sock than I expected. I like plump thick socks so I was very happy with the feel of these. I must admit I was so happy I wore them without washing them first.

A nice plain sock almost a boot sock. I was thinking of using this yarn to make knee highs and wanted time to test it out, see how it would wear. I was a bit worried since the Knitpicks website does not list this as a sock yarn. Why not? It is the same weight as many sock yarns come in? Hmm I wonder? Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Do you see the color change where the wear is? Do you think it has something to do with the silk?

Here's a different view. I can see on the top sock that I wore it on my right foot because that light line is where it rubbed against my big toe nail.

So do you think the color change wear spots will change once these are washed? I mean it is not bad, they're socks, I don't expect them to look like I've never worn them. I really wonder how they are going to hold up for me. Good thing I enjoyed knitting them so much if they wear out too quickly I will have enjoyed the knitting.

A fine how do you do!

2011-07-19T20:47:00.002-04:00

"Pierre, a scrappy city of 14,000 that sits smack in the rural center of South Dakota."

This quote was taken from an article on Yahoo about small towns losing their Delta Airlines service. I really don't know if I should feel honored or offended by the NY Times description of my state capital. Well my home state capital not my current state capital.

First, I had no idea Pierre was that big. Second, I will be looking this weekend to see if it truly is smack in the rural center. East to West sounds about right but I quibble over the North to South center. Who knows maybe I don't know my home state as well as I like to think I do.

Lastly if you're from SD you will know the correct pronunciation of Pierre is not the French one but instead "Pier", rhymes with dear. There is your useless trivia of the day. Who knows it may get you noticed at a concert by your favorite recording artist. It happened to Kisknit because of me.

Yum

2011-07-18T17:45:00.000-04:00

Friday nights are made for food experimentation right? Well, this last Friday I decided to try something new to us.

Can you guess from this shot? Well yes I am grilling something, hmm I wonder?

I wonder what grilled pizza tastes like? My coworker's wife makes pizza whenever they take the RV out for a spin. I sometimes think that RV has been to more places than I have. So I asked him how his wife makes the pizza and it sounded simple enough. I bought pizza dough at the store and thought what the heck.

I did look online for a bit more detailed directions. First your grill needs to be quite hot, mine was not hot enough but that was fixed with a longer cooking time. You use olive oil to prep the grill surface. Then you toss on the dough. They said each side should take around 2 minutes but mine took closer to 5 minutes.

When the dough puffs up like this you flip it with a spatula. Oops looks like I was too eager to top it and did not manage to get a picture of the plain cooked side.

I threw on some toppings and closed her back down. I also think I left the lid open a bit too long and lost heat that way too, but no harm, no foul.

When the cheese was melted and the crust looked crusty not doughy, I pulled it off and plated it. One thing to note here is that a crispy pizza will try to slide off the plate when you're not looking. Bad Pizza.

Did you know that the only 2 letter word that begins with Z in Scrabble is Za? It is short for Pizza. Did you also know that I have never in my life heard anyone call it za? Hey even my computer's spell check does not like the uncapitalized word, take that Scrabble. Now it is my life's goal to play Za. This will be quite difficult because I don't play Scrabble.

Hey look the tomatoes are growing!

Should I pick the one that is deformed, so the plant does not waste its energy on it?

Look at that huge one hiding under the leaf! I would call it as mine but I think D will soon start coming home from work early just to hit the tomato plant. He does love his tomatoes.

Biker Chick?

2011-07-13T18:34:00.000-04:00

So I'm still not a runner yet. I started off walking before I started the Couch to 5k program and I've yet to be able to start the running. Since the beginning I've had painful cramping in my leg. It used to be that I could walk out the cramp fairly quickly and continue on, not anymore. I would tough it out and hobble my way home.

Then we went away on out trip and I took a week off. When I restarted my other leg, that I had considered my "good" leg started cramping and going numb after the cramp would finally release. I tried walking through that and still a couple of weeks later it is not better. I took more time off and searched the internet, hoping to find a stretching routine that would help. I swear the internet is only there to scare you when you're looking up health related things. One list had 260 item where leg cramps and pain were a symptom. I'm pretty sure that I don't have all 260 of them. I know what I really need to do is call my doctor and get myself checked out.

But in the mean time I have discovered that I really enjoy riding my bike and my legs will not scream at me when I do. Maybe I should give up the idea of running and take up biking instead? One of the truly cool sounds on this Earth is the sound of a bike tire whooshing against the road.

Oh and all four of our tomato plants are "in the family way" as my father would say.

My Yarn Bowl

2011-07-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

Gasp I forgot to show you my yarn bowl that I received for Christmas. My coworkers and I exchange gifts in the office. I received this last year.

My very own bowl for yarn! The other two ladies that I work with laughed when I had it partially opened and asked if it was a yarn bowl. Ha ha ha what do you do with a yarn bowl? Do you put your yarn in it? Ha ha? They thought they had misheard what I said. Apparently everything I say sounds like yarn this, yarn that. Well actually I do sound like it a lot of the time.

They had no idea why anyone would want a yarn bowl. Dude, you put your yarn in there! Then you string your yarn through the hole and you knit away without your yarn getting all tangly. It is beautiful and great because I could never buy one. That would cut into my actual yarn budget. You know that is how my husband refers to savings and bonuses in our house now, $20, that is a skein of yarn for you, $100, you could buy a lot of yarn with that....Is it enough for a sweater?

He is planning a business trip this summer and asked me if I could find out if there are any yarn shops in the area he will be staying. The answer was yes (insert excited giggle here.) I asked what yarn would he ask for? Uhm, point me to the $20 skeins? That should get me to your area of the store right? I was going to advise him to ask for sock yarn as you can rarely go wrong with sock yarn for me but then I thought maybe I would get lucky and get a bit of cashmere instead? Or ooh cashmere sock yarn? Nah that runs closer to the $30/skein mark.

Next week's yarn buying prep question....What are my preferred colors? Anyone want to guess on that one?

Sock knitting

2011-07-03T07:25:00.000-04:00

My stash is now attacking me and casting itself on in color coordinated ways. I cast on two new socks this week.

Should I be eating more veggies? Do you think my body has found a round about way of asking for salads? I don't think it is that because I've been eating salads like they are in season. Oh they are in season? Good to know.

I've got four (first) socks on the needles and two of them are green and cast on within days of each other. The first one was spurred on by my need to know what Knit Picks gloss yarn feels like in sock form. I had some in my stash but I had not knit with it yet. I am looking forward to knitting some knee highs and am interested in using this yarn. I decided I better get busy and get a pair knit so I can start test driving them. See how they wear and if they pill. I was told they do, but I like to see how I affect things. A friend and I knit socks from the same type of yarn and her's felted quite a bit and mine did not. On the other hand I know I can not use alpaca sock yarn the way I use regular wool sock yarn. Alpaca socks felt on my feet and I need to take that into account before and knit bigger socks. It has happened twice now, I am unwilling to lose another pair of socks to it.

The second green sock was actually cast on first. I tried it with a pattern and had to rip back because the pattern was lost in the deepness of the green. Well that and the cable pattern I chose had all the stretch of chain mail. I decided these could be plain stockinette socks too. It would be OK with me. Sometimes I feel bad for making plain simple socks, but I love having a project like that in my purse. It is amazing how much faster I churn out simple socks. Unless it is a sock for D, who knew 2 more inches could take so much longer?

My spring fling socks are moving along as well. I get to start a heel any day now. The pattern does not have any complicated stitches but it still requires my attention for each round. I think I know how to read my knitting but I think it takes as long to read it and figure out where I am in the pattern as it takes me to just keep track of where I am in the pattern while I knit it. I do like the way it looks so far, like little garden paths meandering back and forth.

I went to the farmer's market today too. Unfortunately I found out where sheep retire.

I only like my sheep on the hoof producing fiber, I don't eat them. I did when we lived on the farm, but now I make the decisions and no sheep eating for me.

If you want to know a bit about how sheep are raised watch the movie Sweet Grass it was filmed in Montana. It brought back memories for me. I found it interesting but odd without narration. I knew what was going on most of the time but your random viewer would most likely not.

I can not say I enjoyed the film, interesting, but not enjoyable. I found the end quite off-putting and sad. One man has quite a tirade in which you learn quite a few swear words and insults. So if that kind of thing bothers you I recommend turning off the movie when he starts shouting at the sheep in the mountains. He is in pain, depressed and alone, not a good combination. He does not commit suicide but it is not fun to watch a guy fall apart at the seams.

The first part is the most interesting and full of sheep and wool. So take my recommendation with a grain of salt and check it out.

Aren't you glad?

2011-06-30T16:44:00.000-04:00

You know with summer time and the heat, sometimes I forget, till I am rummaging through my pictures trying to come up with a blog post.

While I love the snow and am really glad to have considerate bosses that occasionally tell me the roads are to bad to come into work, I'm glad my yard does not always look like this.

Beautiful, isn't it?

I just made you shiver a bit didn't I?

Enjoy your Fourth of July holiday, I know I will!

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian blog friend too!

Memories

2011-06-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

Last year when we were in Newport OR on vacation I took a similar picture to this year's vacation shot.

D even has beer from the same Oregon brewery. He tried a Chipotle Ale. My interest was peaked, it was not as spicy as I thought it would be. I know D quite enjoyed it and I promised to have one waiting for him when he finishes his half marathon in October. I hope he will be smiling then too.

We were in Mooresville for friend's wedding, as with any wedding we did not plan on spending much time with the bride and groom so we found other ways to amuse ourselves.

We found a car museum. I think my father in law is working on restoring a car similar to this, so I thought I would throw in some eye candy for him.

Along with some pedal tractors too since he is interested in them too. I think he would have loved this museum. I know d said it was one of the best ones he's been to. I liked it but not quite that much. I still love the Smithsonian better.

D pointed out the little Bull Frog Knits on this car. Do you think it was a yarn store at one time? Hold on I will go google it...... Nope it was the name of a race in the 80's. Or atlas that is what I found on it.

Best race car driver name ever! I know it is wrong but I don't want to be right.

Do you think Jesus was his copilot? No sarcasm intended at all. I have Proverbs 3:5-6 inscribed on my ipod. It helps me to remember what is important.

I don't know why this made me giggle but I had to have D stand next to Horses and Mules bought and sold. Maybe I secretly adore the word livery.

Well that pretty much wraps up the NC portion of the trip. I am still working on the Antietam Battlefield post. That one is a hard place to capture in words.

Two socks and a sleeve

2011-06-26T08:51:00.000-04:00

Well let's see what have I been working on so far this summer? Yesterday I had three different socks on the needles but today I only have two. I finished a pair for D and will show them to you on Friday, for Finished Object (FO) Friday. That is assuming I get a picture of them before they go down to the laundry and stay there till next weekend. I think I am worse than a kid in the candy shop, I can not wait for someone to wear the new item including me. I switched my socks at knitting group and wore the wavy cable socks home when I finished them. I guess I just can't wait to get started wearing them out.

I'm knitting Spring Forward socks from Knitty in yarn I bought at Rhinebeck two years ago. Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm, a merino wool, bamboo and nylon blend in a lovely jaunty pink.

This is another one of those patterns I see on all the blogs and tell myself "I need to knit that." I love that Knitty has such beautiful varied patterns and all for free. I do admit that I've looked at patterns there and decided they were not for me, until I rediscover them on a blog, knit with different yarn and fall in love with them. Isn't it amazing that changing the color or sheen in a yarn can make such a difference in how a patten is perceived? No wonder that designers get upset when someone messes with their vision. However, if you put a pattern out into the world you must accept that knitters are incapable of doing it your way all the time. I choose to believe that most designers are happy with that. Still it must be somewhat like having a baby and giving it away to the world.

Speaking of Knitty I found another patten there for this yarn, Malabrigo sock yarn in the Candombe colorway, Nemesis. Clearly I went on a pattern hunt on Knitty and found some pretty ones.

I needed something to knit while we watched a movie and all my current projects required charts so I started a basic 2x2 rib and figured I would find a pattern after. I got this far...

Then I remembered my first pair of Malabrigo socks are a bit loose and I meant to knit them with less than 80 stitches in a round, guess how many are on the needles in that cuff above. Yep 80 of those little suckers, so I frogged back and started again with less stitches as the pattern I'd found required and found the cuff should be shorter than what I have there also. Now I am ready to start the leg portion. With all my mistakes/'I'll figure that out later' things this sock may truly be my Nemesis.

Yeah, I know it is lame but I had to do it, I don't know why but I had to.

I pulled my Central Park Hoodie sweater out of the 'time out' pile and decided to start the other sleeve. I had misunderstood the pattern on the first sleeve and was debating making the second sleeve the same as the first just recreating the error in it or starting over and doing it the right way. I knit four pattern repeats and decided I really wanted to do it the right way. Maybe I just decided not to mess with the designer's baby in this case.

That is the offending sleeve of which we speak. I was going to rip it back this weekend so would not be tempted to use it, but I would like to compare the sleeves to see how they differ. Now I'm moving right along with it and have eight repeats done on it. Shortly I will be starting the sleeve cap and then it will be off to the blocking pile.

So, two socks and a sleeve, that is what I'm working on now. I felt so lost yesterday because I finished that sock for D and now my purse has no knitting in it. It felt so empty and without a higher calling. "What? All I'm carrying is your keys, wallet and cell phone? No Yarn? Where is the wool, woman, the wool?"

Wavy Socks

2011-06-24T17:45:00.002-04:00

Well here it is Friday and I really do have a finished object for Finished Object Friday. I finished my Wavy Cables Socks last Saturday at knitting group. It is a good thing these knit up so quickly because I think I knit top down to the gusset four times with these, on three needle sizes.

I realize they are just a tad large on me but there was no way either of the first two iterations was going to work with my feet. Cables are less stretchy than plain stockinette knitting so I tried something new and it seemed to work well for me. I knit a longer heel flap than I normally would, it gave just enough room to get the sock over my heel. I am planning to do this anytime I have a less stretchy fabric. Now I've forgotten where I learned that so I can't give anyone credit for the idea, all I can say is thank you intelligent knitter!

These are out of Blue Moon - Socks That Rock medium weight yarn. In a colorway that I bought partly because of the name, Spy Say Guacamolay. With a name like that what is not to love, especially when the color is reddish brown and avocado green. I was lucky enough to pick up the yarn on my Portland Oregon trip last summer. The pattern is in Knitter's Book of Yarn or KB of Wool, one of the two. Really you should own both according to my buying habits.

Yes I am a little in love with the way these socks came out! I make cables and I feel like a real knitter too.

Not all knitting

2011-06-20T18:09:00.000-04:00

I've been told that Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend in May, is the time to plant in NY. Well the last couple of years I've missed that date, and the weekends after it too. So the last couple of years our tomatoes have been from the store. Yes, I know I am hanging my farmer's daughter head in shame. Life sometimes it moves way too quickly for me.

This year we were in NC so I knew I would miss it yet again. I hoped I would go get some plants the weekend after we got back but nope that did not happen.

Luckily we decided to go to the farmer's market the weekend after that and we found tomato plants! They were even good sized and healthy looking, yay. We dug up the grass and put in tomatoes.

We bought four different kinds and brought them home to plant while it was misting. Now I love trying different kinds and D just wanted some tomatoes so he let me choose. We have...well shoot now I forgot. There's an Amish one, a purple one, Sweet 100s and another one. I'll have to look again next time I'm out there. We plant them sideways to give them more of a root base.

Look what a difference a week makes.

The all figured out which way was up and started growing. D is so enthused he has been researching how to grow tomatoes and has a couple of sites bookmarked. He's taking out his water bottles to make sure they get the recommended water amount. He's looking into pest control. That reminds me I need to buy some cheep beer to control the slug situation.

I asked him the other day if he was talking to them to make them grow more, but he said he was not. I guess that is better than telling them to grow faster so he can eat their babies. Yikes that would sound scary to a plant!

I need a vote

2011-06-17T17:33:00.000-04:00

I wrestle with some of my knitting ideas for quite a while before I jump into a project. My current opponent is the mossy/olivey green yarn on the top left of this photo. It is sport weight alpaca yarn that is soft and smooshy.

I bought all this yarny goodness at a a fiber festival last September. I already had a skein of it in grey from a year before that so I used it to make my grey Multnomah shawl, which I adore.

The yarn is alpaca and has a halo, fuzziness about it. One of the things I like about the Multnomah shawl is the simplicity of the pattern with the fuzzy yarn. It is just warm, soft and comforting. Not too flashy.

Now my dilemma with the green yarn is that I would like to do something a bit more fancy lace shawlish. There are three main contenders. Sorry I don't know how to get a good link for the first one and I don't want to show someone else's work without permission so I will just list a few and hopefully you will go look to see what I mean then come back to let me know what you think.

Evelyn Clarks' Prairie Rose Shawl from Knitter's Book of Wool

Evelyn Clarks' Swallowtail Lace Shawl from Interweave Press

Miriam Felton's Icarus Shawl from Interweave Press

I really like the idea of the Prairie Rose shawl since I am from the prairie, but I'm not sure this yarn is the best choice for that pattern. Will the fuzz haze the delicate pattern? Will the alpaca not block as well as sheep wool would? Will the alpaca weigh down and stretch out the pattern? I don't know.

Same story for the swallowtail shawl. Are they really a match or just a divorce waiting to happen?

I worry a bit about the weight pulling down Icarus too. And the blocking may be an issue.

Maybe I should just knit another garter stitch shawl and see if I can find a nice lace edging that will play along?

So you can see what I am up against, any suggestions will be considered, but I reserve the right to plunge ahead and make all my own mistakes. Maybe I just need to swatch some and see what I like best. Naw that will never work!

Road Trip day two

2011-06-16T20:13:00.000-04:00

After another 6-7 hours of jamming out to the tunes in the car we arrived in Mooresville NC. Home of Redneck Fries. You can see we decided to go for BBQ. I found out I am living in a mixed marriage, well I always knew it but I never had it so clearly defined as in this restaurant. I drink Southern Sweet Tea and D drinks...Yankee Tea! How will we ever be able to continue live together? Oh wait we live in a Yankee state it is OK.

All that beautiful Southern food was consumed at Lancaster's. We asked the desk clerk at the hotel to recommend a BBQ place and this is what she pointed us to. Yeah, I fell a bit in love with her. Her favorite thing is the fried pickles. I wanted to try them but my stomach overruled me for the Redneck Fries. Oh so tasty!

Since Mooresville, NC is Race City USA we got to eat under all these NASCAR hoods. Directly above me was a Cartoon Network Scooby Doo one. I love Scooby Doo and a whole lot of other cartoons, but Scooby is pretty close to the top of that list.

And on the lower level a bus you can eat in! The cool thing about this restaurant was their policy for the NASCAR drivers you're not allowed to ask for signatures while they are eating.

Since D and I are not big NASCAR fans we could have been sitting next to someone and not even have known it. Nah, the place was fairly empty and I think I could recognize some of them, or at least the driver type. Who am I kidding I was looking longingly into my lover's fries, I mean eyes.

Not a bad way to round out the driving portion of our trip. One thing I miss about not living in the south are the hush puppies. I don't think I've been offered hush puppies once while living in NY. Guess next year's road trip will have to remedy the hush puppy situation?

Road trip day one

2011-06-12T20:39:00.000-04:00

D and I took a bit of a road trip to North Carolina to attend a wedding. We thought about flying and we thought about taking the train. It would have been our first train trip and I was pushing hard for that option till I found out driving would actually take less time. Well theoretically it would, I talked him into splitting the trip into two parts and only driving six to seven hours a day. Yes I know I am a wimp and I am ok with it.

Roughly halfway turned out to be Hagerstown Maryland. I was sold on the idea once I found out Antietam battlefield was a short distance away. But more on that another day, I want to do the place justice and encourage as many people to go as I can.

You know I am a vacation research freak right? I really like to look into things and plan them out. I also like to occasionally try new things. I found a KOA that rented wee cabins! For half the price of a moderate hotel room too. It had electricity, wi-fi and air conditioning. With temperatures in the 90s we had no idea A/C would be so important. We did have to walk to the bathrooms but I choose to think of that as exercise.

We had to supply our own linens but what is a road trip without a couple of sleeping bags, a bar of soap and some towels? Not too much luggage, we did veer off on our own course by bringing our tea basket (kettle, pot, strainer, cups and teaspoon.) Ah tasty tea we cannot go far without you.

Isn't just as cute as the dickens?

Inside were built in twin bunk beds and a large adult bed. Hubby is modeling the big bed in this shot. Well sort of.

They had a pool that D took advantage of right away. I even had to take a tootsies only dip. I'm not much of a pool person but with temps that high even I can be coaxed in.

Then I sat in the shade poolside and pulled out some knitting and made some hard decisions.

To frog or not to frog, that is the question. Whether the yarn tis nobler than the foot it should encase? That is the question.

Yep that pretty much sums it all up there. Rip it Rip it.

I've finished one of these socks now and can confirm that it fits over my heel. I'll show you that one another day too.

Stash enhancement

2011-06-05T07:54:00.000-04:00

On our recent trip to North Carolina I managed to find a couple of yarn shops and enhanced my yarn stash.

The first store was a bit of a disappointment for me. I would call it more of a craft store than yarn shop. Not that there is anything wrong with that just that my tastes obviously run more to the yarny side now. The service was fine but the selection was not the greatest. I'm not going to mention the shop name because I don't want to use this space to hurt someone's business based on my personal preferences. I can tell you it was not my cup of tea and move on from there.

They did have a skein of yarn that I fell in love with when I first started knitting. Mountain Colors Barefoot in the colorway Crazy Woman. There was a time for me when I could not go on an internet site without running across this colorway and I always loved it! Now it is mine, see a shop can not be inherently bad if they have your dream yarn. Oh and they had highlighting tape that I wanted to try out too.

The second shop had a distinctly more yarn shop feel to it. My hopes were raised when I saw this sitting outside their door.

What says knitters gather here more than a big basket of yarn? I'm not that comfortable taking pictures inside someone's shop so this is the only yarny picture I took while we were there. The ladies in a class up front did give D a bit of ribbing when he left to walk down the street while I shopped. Don't worry he is a tough guy he handled it fine.

I can say that if I lived in the area, The Needlecraft Center of Davidson, NC, would be my yarn store of choice. They had plenty of sock yarns. I even saw the elusive Koigu but it was a bit spendy for my tastes so I was able to resist it. Plus I like my sock yarn to be in one skein, I've had yarns from two skeins of the same dyelot not match so I tend to shy away from them more.

These are the lovelies that I brought home. All yarns new to me.

Up first we have two skeins of Blue Ridge Yarns Kaleidoscope superwash merino sock yarn. At 400 yards I know I can easily make socks out of these. The top colorway is Apple Rose and the bottom Crimson Redbud. The colors are a bit more dark than the bright sunshine allowed but they are beautiful. I could not decide which one to get so I walked around the store with both in my hands and did not want to put either back, so I didn't. That is one of my decision making tactics, sometimes I put things back because I don't really love them and other times if I still love both after 15 minutes I get both. It is not a perfect system but it seems to help me.

And this little lovely is Knit One Crochet Too, Crock-O-Dye in color 535. It must be hard to name all your colorways but I gotta say I really don't like it when they just number them. It gives no sense of what the color looks like. Now if this was named veggie time or spring grass, I would know it was green. But then how would you know what the difference is between veggie time and spring grass? But I don't run a yarn company so I don't make the rules.

This yarn is 100 grams of 65% superwash wool, 20% nylon and 15% silk. This will be my first partially silk sock yarn. No wait that is not true I have some Knitpicks Gloss in my stash, now we will see which gets used first.

The silk adds sheen to the yarn and gives it a smooth, silky texture. This was Gus' yarn of choice to bring us in the middle of the night. I really do think he loves my yarn as much as I do.

Now I know you are all worried about D wasting part of his vacation time in yarn shops with me. Have no fear we stopped at a bike shop for him to peruse after my yarn shops. Apparently it is easier to find yarn to buy in a yarn shop than to find bike stuff for him to buy in a bike shop. They did have a great 'Share the Road' jersey but it was in a too small size for him. Bummer.

New Socks

2011-06-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

I know surprise Yarnkettle knit some socks, newsflash! And I finally have an entry and photo for finished object Friday.

These were knit from Fiber Optic yarn that I got at Rhinebeck last October. The colorway is named Midnight, or as I like to think of them as my Black and Blue socks. They are my standard 80 stitches around plain stockinette socks. These seem just a bit baggy in the leg but I would rather have that than socks I can not get on my little 2X4 feet. Slight bagginess does not bother me since they stay on my foot perfectly except for one pair of shoes that I'm planning to get rid of. Somehow those shoes pull the socks down till the heel is bunched up under my heel. And since my feet hurt in the shoes it is time for them to go.

The Fiber Optic booth at Rhinebeck stopped me in my tracks last year with all its amazing colors. I was looking for new yarns to try and boy did I find them. I bought another blue skein called Ink and let D choose between the two.

You've already seen these here once before.

He picked the darker color and I got the more electric blue. I would say that we are both happy but when I showed him my socks he got all hopeful and said "Are those for me?" Nice try bub! I already have that other blue pair on the needles for you. And I know he will love them too. He has started calling all my hand knit socks his running socks.

So that is the tale of my two blue Fiber Optic yarns, one for big feet and one for not big feet. Now I have a skein of Cashmere blend still to play with. What do you think my first cashmere socks or some lovely hand warmers for this winter?

Choices, Choices.

A sock and a couple of starts

2011-05-31T19:38:00.000-04:00

D has a new sock, unfortunately its partner is still on the needles. I can tell you I am digging the non-smoothness of the yarn. It feels so rustic.

I pulled out some seriously pink yarn from Ellen's 1/2 pint farm that I bought at Rhinebeck and started Spring forward from Knitty.

So my sock adventures continue......