Happy Merry!

Hope everyone has a Blessed Christmas!

Fall is Finished!

Yay! We have reached the last turning point of the year. Fall is my favorite season, but I am glad that it is finished now for the colors have faded and it seems the past few days have been rather dark and gloomy. Tomorrow the Sun will be lighting the sky just a titch earlier, and with it's light increasing every day perhaps new changes will come. Only 1o days left in this year, and 4 till Christmas morn... so just where did all the days go?

We had an awful lot happen around the Thanksgiving Holiday, so that was our big celebration this year and Christmas will be pale in comparasion, but that is fine. All the family was together at TG. and that was what made it special. K3's first birthday party was celebrated on the Saturday following TG. and the third Family Celebration of that weekend occured on Sunday, and that was the wedding of our eldest son and his sweetie. Awesome! I have two of the best Daughter in law's ever! I am blessed!

Knitting... I know I did plenty, but blogged about little. Heck, I have rarely blogged at all since October. I doubt that I have any readers left. Finished 4 hats just before Thanksgiving for some of the kidlets and am working on a 5th, for my grandsons' cousin. Hers is going to be a pink beret with a flower. Almost halfway finished with the hat and still have to look for "flower"patterns. This will mean moving "Bella" (the CPW) out of the Wool Room as she is parked right in front of the bookshelf. How inconvenient. ;-/

New Year's Resolutions...
1. Knit More!
2. Try to blog more consistantly.
I have others as well, but those are the ones I am sharing for now. Who knows, if I keep up with #2, then you may find out.

Have a Wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year Celebration!

Cell phones and Cats

Cell phones are such useful little things. We don't tend to think much about them unless they aren't working properly or we can't find them. Mine isn't working properly... well it isn't working at all. Ichabod vomited on my phone the other evening, sometime after I had gone to bed and the phone sat in a puddle of cat sick all night. Lovely sight first thing in the morning I can tell you that. So... cleaned the outside, opened it up and cleaned out the inside removing battery and sim chip, cleaned them up and left them out to dry. Two days later and still doesn't work. Purchased a new phone today as soon as I got off of work and they tried to copy data from my old sim chip. Nothing... absolutely nothing on the chip. ARGH! So I am with out my contacts. Family will be easy to replace... as they are all on the hubby's phone too, but I had plenty of numbers that aren't in his contact list and they are all gone now. ::::pout:::: So, if I am in your phone contact list... give me a call... my number is the same. (or shoot me off an email) Those of you who know me well know that I don't use my phone that often, but being without it for the past few days has made me realize that I was still quite attached to the thing.

I went with the Motorola Karma as it is hearing aid compatible and was one of the VERY few phones that didn't insist that you added a data or text package to your phone service. I've spent the past half hour or so figuring the thing out, and except for the fact that the actual keys are tiny (and I do mean TINY) I like it.

I lost more than phone numbers tho... also missing the photos of the grandbabies and my ring tone. Hoping that son #1 still has access to the ringtone. (he downloaded it to my phone in the first place) The photos can be replaced with a phone call as well. (probably easier than the ringtone to replace) Can also download photos from the computer if I can find my halfsized USB that is around here somewheres.

Knitting... Yes, still doing that. ;-) Nothing to report from the last knitting update however. Slower than molasses here.

Spinning... more than normal

I am really loving my CPW "Bella" she spins so nicely and quietly that I have found myself spinning much more than normal. Have been sitting down with her for at least 30 mins per day this past week. I think that my spinning may be improving with the practice. ;-)

Plied up the bit of Crown Mountain Farms singles that I spun on Bella, and Navajo plied it on the Babe. Looks like it will be a fairly balanced yarn. I was really, really worried as I had a kinky mass of yarn. Couldn't hardly get it on the swift to wind it into a ball. Of course that might have helped take some of the twist out of the singles as well. hmmmm. Next time I ply the yarn that I have spun on Bella, I am going to release the tension on the drive band and ply it directly on the Babe instead of winding off Bella's bobbin to a niddynoddy then to the swift and then a ball and finally plying. Too many steps in that mess there. There is half a bobbin spun up from this evenings work of the dark chocolate brown Romney (cross?... can't find the information, thought it was in the bag with the fiber.) Feels like Romney, a bit coarse, will see if I get a decent yarn and yardage and may attempt a pair of socks. They should be warm even if they may be a bit itchy.

Knitting news... same old stuff on the needles. A few stitches here and there on the Helmet Liner. A few rows here and there on the DIL Socks, a few rows on the sock yarn afghan... like I said... same old shit. Haven't fixed the stitches on the Ninja Mask yet... I did a rip back and just threaded a smaller needle through. Still have stitches that are mounted incorrectly and a few that I missed in the pick up. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon I will get around to some of that. ;-)

Also have to repair a commercially knit hat for a friend. She brought it to me to work on in late spring early summer and I have just started to isolate the stitches that need repair work. What? It has been too hot to wear a wool hat anyhow... shush! Have run a sewing thread through the rows where there are stitches to pick up. Will duplicate stitch over the "missing stitches" using the sewing thread as a base. Found this neat tutorial quite awhile back and refer to it when ever I have to do fix up work like this. (my mind requires refreshing with stuff I don't do often) It relates to sock darning, but stitches are stitches. It is Judy Becker's blog, Persistent Illusion... check it out. I linked to the tutorial, but do take the time to browse her blog if you are unfamiliar with it.

Gosh... here it is an hour past my bedtime. Yikes! Morning comes far too early!

Happy Knitting!

Been Awhile

I need to get a regular posting schedule going I think. Seems like I've only posted once or twice a month for awhile.

Just a recap here of what I have been up to. Left for a week in Hawaii on Saturday the 12th of September. Had an interesting morning at the airport. The fun started at the security checkpoint when they scanned and re-scanned and then sat staring at the x-ray photo of one of my carry on bags. Poor TSA lady had a confused look on her face. I knew what she was seeing and I started to smile... she looked over at me with a puzzled look on her face and said, "It looks like you have pick up sticks in here." "Circular knitting needles and a hell of a lot of yarn" I replied. A smile replaced her quizzical look and she said, "Oh"... scan over.

Stopped at *bucks and got my coffee and then sat down at my gate pulled out my knitting and knit while I waited. A fellow and his wife, probably just a few years older than myself, sat down in the seats next to mine. After getting settled, he went and got his wife a coffee and himself a big bottle of juice. Now I wasn't really watching them, but did notice when he bent down and pulled out his quart baggie of liquids... he was sitting right next to me... pulled out a mouthwash bottle, opened it and dumped the 3.5oz of "Mouth Wash" into his OJ. I could smell that it wasn't mouthwash, LOL, and I also noticed that he had another 4 bottles of the same "mouthwash" in his baggie. He proceeded to drink a total of three more bottles before the plane landed in Maui. They were sitting one row in front of me and on the other side of the aisle. I suppose that is one way to get your "liquids" past the TSA and have an adult drink on board the plane and not have to pay the fee for the alcohol. Luckily he didn't turn into a noisy drunk. He did talk quite a bit more as the flight went on, but he kept his voice down and spoke only with his wife, and was just a bit wobbly in the aisles as we were disembarking after the flight.

Finished up the Babies and Bears cardigan in a 0 - 6 month size. Ends woven in, just needs buttons. Heads up to anyone wanting to knit this pattern, there are a bunch of ends to weave in, one section to kitchner up, but nothing to actually seam up. Knits up fairly quickly and is an easy straight forward knit, all sizes have the same amount of stitches... so gauge in this pattern really does matter.

The Orange Ninja Mask was frogged part way back. Going to base it on the Helmet Liner pattern especially for the face opening area. It was a sagging and a bagging and trying to curl up on me the way I was attempting. Riiiiiiippppiiiiiittttt!

Need to sit down with pad and paper and figure out what all needs to be knit before Thanksgiving and what can wait till after Christmas. Thinking that I need to do this real soon. (I don't do actual Christmas knitting, I don't need the stress that would cause!)

Spent 8 days in Hawaii visiting with my DIL and the grandkids. Had a blast. Didn't want to return home, but alas, work must be done if I want money for yarn and fiber. ::::pout::::

Didn't get as much knitting done in Hawaii as I would have at home, but did managed to knit the Hat for Hat Wars and send it out to my target the morning after the pattern was released. My own Hat "bomb" arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Was fun but short lived, ah well, I wouldn't have had time to keep up really anyhow as I was back to work the day after I got home.

Spinning at the Fair on Sunday, tomorrow, I signed up for all three shifts so 10 - 10. Should be fun. Taking my babe wheel and a spindle and also a small knitting project. Just a bit more fiber to be spun up on this bobbin and then will need to navajo ply. That should go fairly quickly. The fiber is a Merino X in grey. Purchased this fleece last year at the Black Sheep Fiber Festival in OR. It's a nice grey color. Intending to spin up enough for a sweater, hat, scarf, and wrist warmer/gloves. It's a big, big, fleece... ~8 pounds of it after cleanning so no worries about running out.

11 Sept - A day of Remembrance.

We shall never forget that day in 2001; the memories we have of where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news will always be vivid and sad ones.

Today on my drive to work I noticed that there was a distinct lack of Flags flying. Unlike in years past very few people had their flags flying outside their homes. Yes, there were the usual few that I pass by on a daily basis that had theirs out, but it just wasn't as prevelant as in the past. In fact I counted them today and including the 2 at the local Firestation I only counted 9. Granted I don't have a very long commute, but still... In the years past I could count past 20 before I drove the 2 blocks out of my own neighborhood.

This I find very sad and dissapointing, and I wonder why the lack of flags this year? Are we as a Nation forgetting those that lost their lives that day? Those in the Towers, in the Pentagon, those on the Planes, the Firemen, are they being forgotten?

Garlic Fest and the Wheel's progress.

Saturday morning we went to the Garlic Festival, had to buy some for planting as well as eating. We still have some left from our harvest here at the house, but those are for eating not planting. Don't have enough to do that. Watched a fellow making a garlic braid. Interesting. Going to have to try it out.

You can't go to a festival without a trip to the beer tent. We sat there and listened to music and the guys had a beer. The one that belongs to me is in the blue shirt, the other fellow is our neighbor.

Saturday afternoon on the way home from the Garlic Festival we stopped in at The Olympic Pub for a drink... and a knit. Lighting wasn't the best, but it was good enough to knit on the sock. Lots of beer... but I don't drink beer... had a Martini instead. Yummy!

Here are the guys at the pub.

Thanks to my friend Jeanie who mentioned last night... to check into a ravelry group that focused on the wheel type that I have. She figured out what I had before I did. I was still trying to dig up info based on the info on the Makers Mark. I got that it was made in St. Hyacinthe Quebec, and I had stumbled across a few other's web sites that mentioned this maker but nothing with much information. So, as I said, she points me towards this group; CPW Lovers (That's Canadian Production Wheel... for those of you, like me, who were/are totally clueless) Yes, I knew that I had a Canadian wheel... figured that since St. Hyacnithe is in Quebec...and that the years they were in production ranged from 1860-1920... and there ended my knowledge. But that there was a compiling of information about such wheels? and On Ravelry no less? Huh. I don't spend enough time on ravelry me thinks. Now, I think my yard sale purchase is just getting better and better every minute.

So after 3 hours or so of reading on the site (and probably that many more hours to read, there is a lot of stuff) I find something that helps me with one of the obvious problems I was having. How to remove the whorl because someone put it together with out the flyer on the shaft. And It Was On Good and Tight! Needed a session with WD-40 this am and to have the shaft clamped in a vise, I put on a leather glove for grip and padding. Said the Lefty Loosy Righty Tighty rhyme and because this one is REVERSE Threaded that means it's backwards so which direction is Right. Yes I am directionally challenged. I can do North South East and West... but NOT left and right. Figured it out and off she came. Cruddy sticky on the shaft, and whorl so Murphy's Oil Soap to the rescue. Got it all cleaned and left it out to dry for a bit then rubbed it all down with Lemon Oil.

Notice the treadle is wrapped in a sock, I have a wire coat hanger acting as the footman and it is wrapped around the sock (don't want to scratch her) and up to the wheel arm there. Just a temporary fix. Going to see if I can find me a black smith or other iron worker who can make me a new one. From what I understand, these wheels had a rod instead of a wooden footman. So... will need to gather photographic evidence so that I can show the fellow what I want. The hanger works pretty well, but I have to shift it every so often.

Used # 10 cotton crochet thread for the drive band. Need to be a flipping octopus for this maneuver if you do it alone. Took four tries but I got it. I ended up putting in a slip knot, fastened that around the far maiden and then wound my way around and back to that point. Then carefully loosened that puppy, slid it up and off the maiden and tied a square knot. Tugged to make sure it was secure and then trimmed my ends up.... .... and she worked!

This pretty lady can spin!

She is definitely not at all like the babe! She spins far, far better, and quieter. I think that we are becoming friends quickly,... maybe. (grin) I fully expected to be spinning troll hair at first, and granted the first few yards are pretty rough looking, not as bad as my rank beginning days but still not something I would care to show off as a finished product. As I got a few more yards spun we seemed to be coming to an understanding of how she spins and takes up. Also, she seems to be demanding attention. I MUST pay attention to her, or she's a bit of a trickster because as soon as I feel I have the treadling - floating thing down pretty good and I am "zoning", she snaps the bloody yarn. ;-) Have to pay more attention this evening and see if I can "catch" what's going on when that is happening. {perhaps too much twist cause I wasn't fast enough?}

The stuff on the far back is pretty rough looking... but the front stuff is looking better.

The Maiden... she did not split

My neighbor lady, she that plays with wood... she is quite talented... was able to fix the maiden. She evened up the rough bits, drilled a hole in both pieces of the maiden, inserted a hard wood dowel aproximately one inch deep in both pieces added glue and put the puppy back together once again. Today, she sanded off any rough bits and even stained and "antiqued" the surgery site to closely match the original color. If you didn't know before hand that it had needed surgery you would have to search to find the surgery site. Wow! Gotta love a master craftsman/woman.

I noticed Wednesday that the flyer wasn't on the bobbin shaft and also even worse it wasn't in my possession and I became very nervous. I know that would be the hardest part to replace. The woman I purchased from had said that she had a few items that belonged with the wheel, but they were in a can in the back of her shed and would I be able to swing by on Friday to pick them up? "Of Course!" Guess what was on the top of the can... The Flyer. Woo Hoo! I had even taken a photo of the one on my babe so that I could show her what it looked like if it wasn't in the can. The other items... some wool roving (that went in the compost... it didn't look too healthy and I didn't want it in my wool room) A set of older hand carders ( I vacuumed these out really really good with the shop vac) Oiled them up and am going to put them in a large zip lock bag for a bit to make sure that if there are critters that they don't infest my stash. Also inside the can was a shuttle for weaving.

So... Now how to get the flyer back on the bobbin shaft with out breaking anything... nothing wants to come off the shaft. The drive band wheel and the bobbin I would think should slide off the narrow end of the shaft but they won't. Don't know if there is a fancy trick that I am ignorant of or what I don't want to resort to brute force. Still need a footman... (what I was calling the "treadle arm" as I couldn't recall the term) Some of my hubby's friends are bending their brains around the problem. I will be visiting some of the antique shops in the area and seeing if they have any or know where to find one. (otherwise the guys will cobble me together one and knowing them it could be interesting) I am going to measure the space between points A and B at various angles so I will have some idea as to what I am looking for sizewise. Any one out there who has more info please clue me in. :-) Can't wait to get the "Old Lady" spinning once again. Have to name her pretty soon, or she is going to be Old Lady and that so lacks respect. ;-) Also want to go talk to the woman I purchased her from and see if she has any information at all on the previous owner. I know she was using it... as the bobbin came with some wool spun up. (That too went to the compost bin tho... it had been sitting a long while and looked iffy). Can't afford to take chances on infecting my stash... not enough freezer space in this house!

Knitting News!
*Finished up the Lucy bag. It needs a date with the washer for shrinkage. Then delivery to it's recipient.
*Only 30 more rows on the pattern insert on my Nieces RED birthday sweater. Then just a whole lot of seed stitch. That will be much easier than a cable pattern that changes every other row. Can't do the insert pattern unless I can sit in a quiet space.
*My Braids Cardi is out of the bottom of the basket and is now being worked upon once again. Only 4 more decreases at the armpit and then joining. Have to find my notes on the previous sleeves decreases. I am going to try to make this my airplane knitting when I head for Hawaii. (If it isn't finished before then) That way I don't have to pack a jacket for my return. I'll be able to wear my sweater. Which means of course that when I get back to SeaTac it will be 85 degrees at 6:30 am... unlike the blizzard when I returned last time with just a light jacket.

Knit Happy!

It Followed me home....

That's my story and I'm sticking with it...

She's pretty, and in fairly good condition, I believe, for her age. I currently spin on my Babe or on one of my many drop spindles and I will be the first to tell you that I know next to nothing about an older wheel. I don't however, think that she will be too difficult to restore to prime old lady condition. If you know otherwise... please let me know gently. :-)

The arm connecting the treadle to the wheel is MIA. I have looked at a few photos online and plan to look at more, but I think that this should be a fairly easy fix.
This next fix will be a bit more tricky. There will need to be holes drilled in the center of the two pieces, a hardwood dowel inserted and glue applied. If the drilling goes well, then the prospects are good. If the maiden splits... (hmmm that sounds rather vulgar) if she splits... then I will require the services of a woodworker to duplicate the piece. And possibly an ironmonger/blacksmith type of person to re-set or duplicate the metal portion.

This is just a shot of the Mother of all and the one surviving maiden. you can see how the hole is plugged with the remains of the broken maiden. I did slip that piece out of the Mother tho and so the maiden is now ready for surgery. I don't know if I am going to attempt it on my own or have someone else attempt the surgery. Most likely someone else... I do know a few people that play with wood and major wood tools on a regular basis. I have a wood lathe in the garage and a drill press and some other fun toys that belonged to my dad, but I haven't spent much time using any of them since I was a teenager. That was long and long ago...

Makers Mark? There is writing on the bottom of this piece as well. One of the inscriptions reads to Mr and Mrs. (and then the rest is illegible to my eyes) also writing in another area of the bottom in what looks like pencil and I can't read that either. I am going to claim poor lighting and faint writing but it is probably just my eyes. Hopefully it will imbiggen when you click.

Here she is in all her glory. Yes she does still need a drive band. I was on the phone ordering that before I got home. The bobbin was not photographed. And yes, I know that the wheel is on backwards in this photo. The little arm crank looking thingy is where the treadle arm shoud be attached. I realized that the wheel was set in bassackwards after the photo op... as I was looking at the photos actually. It has now been turned. :-)Oh? Howmuch did she set me back? Fifty ($50) dollars. Figured if I couldn't fix her up myself, I could afford to have her fixed up as the purchase price was so reasonable. I think she's gorgeous.

Happy Knitting!

Baby SeaHawks Sweater

Finished!

Music and Knitting

Went out with a few Knitterly Friends this evening to the Northern Pacific Coffee Company (I linked to their My Space page), for an evening of music and knitting. We had a great time! M. and her friend Mo opened the music for the younger set... one of which was Mo's daughter. The younger two each played and sang separately. Awesome guitar and lyrics from all of the ladies. I enjoyed getting out for an evening and doing something a bit different.

Worked on the Lucy Bag while listening to the music. Perfect knitting for being out, round and round and round and round. :-) Only about 10 more rounds on the body of Lucy then working on the handle/strap. The "muggles" didn't look too freaked out to see a group of ladies knitting whilst listening. Tho the people from the table nearest ours did stop to talk to us on their way out. One of the ladies wanted to know if what we were knitting was all going to be joined together with what the others were knitting. (This struck me as funny as there were two or three pairs of socks, a square for an afghan, a sweater, and a felted purse... did I miss any? And all were being knit with obviously different yarns and were extremely different sizes) Makes me wonder what knitting looks like to the "muggles" as just glancing at the table I would have thought the diversity would be blatently apparant. Maybe only a knitter could see it? I don't know. :-) Hee hee... Told her that "No, we were all knitting on our own projects". She did seemed relieved to see that we weren't all using the same yarn. Which made me think that it might be funny if when we all get together out and about again to all have the same color yarn.... mess with their minds a bit.

Last night and this morning I worked on the Seahawks baby sweater and it is now finished except for weaving in the ends and button shopping. Plan on doing that tomorrow morning and delivering it on Monday. Nothing like getting something done before it is due. Yes!
Well, here it is almost midnight so I had better wrap this up and hit the sack.

Knit Happy!

The Sock Summit Marketplace

Wow! Wool fume overload. Looked to me like there was quite the turn out. I was one of the first in the Convention Center parking garage Friday morning and I chose a spot near where I entered the parking area so that I would be able to re locate my vehicle when it was time to leave. Meant that I had a bit further to walk, but hey, I need the exercise anyhow. When I left a bit before 1 pm, the parking garage on the level where I was parked was completely full

There were plenty of vendors and I spent hours looking at all of their wares. Spent some $$ too. Didn't buy too much yarn, did buy a few other items tho. One vendor and darn it I don't recall their shop name. Have to check through my receipts real quick... ah ... Sassafras Creations. Have to see if they have an Internet presence. They had jewelery made from knitting needles. I bought a bangle bracelet made from a size 3 needle. (They do have a presence... I linked to their Etsy site). Also one vendor was selling vintage knitting tools. (can't locate that receipt) Bought a sock darning tool. Can't call it an egg... looks more like a mushroom. The handle unscrews for a needle storage area. Also picked up some vintage crochet hooks made from bone, they have hooks on both ends. Oh, and an orifice hook. I lost the one that I had, and I have been using a paper clip partially stretched out. Took a few photos, but the camera battery was dying. Haven't looked at them yet. Will try to get them loaded to the computer and post them later if they turned out.

Was tired today from all the driving and shopping yesterday, tho I went to the Ryan House in Sumner to spin with my spinning buddies. I was only there a few hours. There is a Street Fair Arts and Crafts type of thing going on. I can't really tell you much more about it except that there were lots of vendors selling their wares and what I saw of it was interesting. I tried not to look so closely as I spent plenty down in Portland at the Sock Summit yesterday. I did make one purchase of fiber. Bought 5 small balls of roving all Shetland and in different shades. Haven't weighed them, so don't know how many ounces I have, but there will most likely be enough after spinning to make a pair of gloves/mittens.

Will probably be mittens. And don't hold your breath waiting to see it spun up and knitted. I organized my "need to finish" stuff and got it sorted through. There is enough stuff on the needles there to keep me busy through the end of the year. Also I need to free up a spindle before I can spin anything else. The baby sweater is first... Deadline is first of September. Only 2 1/2 more inches on the body and then the sleeves to do. Oh have to buy buttons as well. Then my sweater has just one sleeve left to knit. I have the stitches picked up. Thinking that this will be good plane knitting for the trip to and from Hawaii. Will have to wind one more skein of yarn tho. This way I also don't have to take a jacket... as I will have one when I finish the sleeve. Incentive for getting it done. Right? My Neices red sweater will not be going to Hawaii. There is too much focus that needs to happen during the trees pattern. I don't want to have to pull that back out. I will get on that as soon as I get back from Hawaii. Due date for that Nov. 30. (her b-day is 1 Dec.) The Giganticus socks fit my soon to be Daughter-in-Law perfectly, so I will keep working on those when I have time. Socks usually live in my purse... so ... and then there are the other things on needles that need finishing too. Not going to list all of them.

Well, it is after 8pm and I am making many spelling errors. I am off to bed.

Happy Knitting!

Sweaters and beans

Working on the baby sweater a bit today. Wanted to be farther along than I am but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Slow knitting in this heat. Have to keep getting up to fill my water glass and then have to get up to pee. :-( Ah well. Have till the first week of September to finish it and I am almost at the half way point. Soon, soon.

Had to buy another pressure cooker. I believe that my mom has the one that she gave me. I used two of hers a few years ago, and she gave me one... I thought that she loaned it to me so I returned them both to her. I have been over every spot in the house where it could conceivably be, including the attic. Now I believe that it is in her storage. We shall see one of these days. If it is... then I will have 2.

Canned 5 pints of green beans from the garden this afternoon. This is the first I have canned anything other than Jelly/Jam on my own. Helped mom out quite a bit when I was younger, (in the late 70's and early 80's) so has been quite awhile. My production level isn't any where near hers. My folks would drive over to Yakima ( I never went with on those trips... I was home mindng the younger two) and they would come home with all kinds of produce and we would then prep and can till it was done. Wonder where they went to get all their produce. Will have to ask my mom. Just in case I ever want to can up more than my garden can produce.

Waiting for it to cool off again and then I will knit some more on the baby sweater.

Knit Happy!

Giganticus!

As you can see in the following photo, there is absolutely no negative ease. There is positive ease however. Plenty of it. Instead of frogging at this point, I am going to have my son's fiance come over so that I can see if it fits her foot. She is about 2 shoe sizes larger than me.... so I think it might fit her. If it doesn't... then the frog pond.Try to stay cool! Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter.

Knit Happy!

Temps are up!

Wishing I had a swimming pool right about now. The thermometer outside says it's 98 in the shade. Yikes! Too hot for cooking inside this evening. Have some meat marinating for the grill. Will have to wait for it to cool off a bit before I go raid the garden for veggies.

The knitting will have to rest on the table as I knit. Can't hold it in my lap today. Luckily I have socks to work on. So not used to doing my socks toe up... have another inch to go before starting the arch expansion stitches. Following a pattern in Cat Bordhi's book. Seems to be coming out alright tho I am slightly concerned about the socks being just a bit too big. Using my standard of 72 sts. and my standard gauge of 9 sts to the inch ... in stocking stitch... and that should result in a sock that is 8 inches around; my foot is 9 1/2 inches at the mid point. That should mean that there is some negative ease. Which is good. But these socks have a very simple lace pattern. Lace is different than stocking stitch, more open... which means that I don't think that I am going to have any negative ease. So... they may or may not fit me. I might have to look for someone with a slightly larger foot than myself. Or rip it. Not sure which option I am going for at the moment.

The yarn I ordered for the baby sweater is on it's way. Should be here some time this week. Then it will be baby sweater all the time till done. It is a commissioned item. Must be done before the first week of September. Then I will be back to my Neice's December Birthday sweater and whatever else I happen to have going still. (lots... no worries there)

Knit Happy!

Back home

This is one of the views that we had on our drive. We stopped at this viewpoint somewhere on the northern Oregon Coast. No I do not know exactly where we were at. I was more interested in being outside and in the glorious sunshine than anything else. I also learned that it is not advisable to be looking at the ocean while walking back to the vehicle. Tripped over the stinking curb and did a prat fall in the parking area. Skinned knee, hurts more than when I was 12, and of course we were not the only people at the viewpoint. Nothing like an audience when you make a fool out of yourself. We continued south on 101 until we reached Hebo and then headed east towards my SIL's place. Lovely drive, we also stopped in at the Tillimook Cheese Factory and bought cheese curds and ice cream cones. Yummy! Absolutely no internet access during our weekend... sure I could have driven into town and stopped at a cafe or something but I didn't.

Sample socks were finished this weekend, cast on for the "oatmeal" socks on Sunday. Toes are done, and have started on the "pattern". Have located some Seahawks yarn. Found some at my LYS and also in Shelton at Fancy Image Yarns . So plenty of options for the "commissioned" sweater. Now to locate buttons... footballs or helmets I am thinking. Going to re-use a pattern that I already have. Save me a bit of time since I have done the pattern before, tho am doing a different version. Not knitting a hood, will make a separate hat instead. (possibly socks too if I have enough left over yarn).

Knit Happy!

Things to take into consideration.

Thanks for the comments on the ninja mask.

The first made me realize that I did indeed remember what a ninja mask looked like and also explained the comment that K2 made about "make a hole for my mouth too." And the second... Yes I will have to discuss with K2 what his thoughts are on a ninja mask. Little boys can indeed be very very oppinionated, thanks for reminding me. I think that pictures would be in order. (When he first made the request I was thinking more of a lone ranger style thing) Now then, will he die from heat stroke if he wears it in Hawaii? I think I will make a "lone ranger" one as well. Just in case... Please... no one show him the Saumari hat in Folk Hats. :-) I am sure that he would love it and I think that I would even enjoy making it... just not on a "scheduled request".

Well, this is short. Have to go shower and get ready to go. We are heading out for the weekend. I will be taking the laptop, but have no idea as to internet availability. I am not ready at all. I don't even have my knitting ready yet. (tho I do know what I am taking with.

Knit happy

Ummmm... Hi....

Hello there... remember me? I see that it has been awhile since I last posted... almost 2 weeks to be exact. I have photos to share today. Here is the Pi Shawl laid out on the kitchen table.

Oh... this post is longer than normal... to make up for my lack? Who knows? Enjoy... or not. ;-)

Below is a close up of the border. Barbara Abbey's #1 Very Narrow Edging

Here is the shawl again, but outside. Yes I know my grass is brown.

Ok... now that you have the yarn po*n... I'll try to catch you up on all we've done. This is the time to click out of here unless you are truely interested. ;-)

Hope everyone had a safe and happy fourth of July. We were camping with some friends over in Belfair (near Shelton, WA). We were on lake front property that belonged to friends, so limited resources. H2O but no electricity. Just our propane and the battery back up. Awesome fireworks! The residents around the lake took turns shooting off their explosives.. first one, then clockwise around the lake round and round and round etc... until well after 2:30am.

Knitting while camping did happen, lots of it. I also showed my little friend Jess (she's 10) and the recipient of my chemo caps, how to knit. Unfortunately, she is a bit out of the way for us to pop over for a knitting lesson. I did leave her with yarn and needles. I was working primarily on the sock that lives in my purse. The yellow one (what?) for my husband. Hubby socks are always mostly yellow. It is now finished and I have informed him that the next sock set is NOT his and NOT yellow. The next sock is MINE!

It will be in an oatmeal (kinda boring after the yellows and oranges in his sock) I will be doing a pattern from New Pathways for Sock Knitters book one, by Cat Bordhi. I am thinking that the patterning will make up for the lack of color. :-) I'm doing a baby sock (single) in the pattern I will be using to check it out and make sure I understand the directions. It appears that I do as it is turning out correctly. I am using leftovers from the hubby's sock to do this and I am glad that I am using a solid color for MY sock. I will be casting this on tonight or tomorrow. It will be travel knitting and will live in my purse until done.

Currently trying to finish up more than a few projects. Some of which have been shoved aside and put on hold because of other stuff. My Braids Cardi will be on hold until further notice, as well as the afghan for the KAL. I am still loving them but they are for me and I have stuff to complete on dead lines at the moment. (I am sure there are more... but I don't want to depress my self by looking for them... out of sight out of mind)

The Red Sweater for the Niece needs to be done before 1 December 09 (just over 3 months) Whew! Maybe 6-7 inches into the sweater, so quite a bit to go but still do-able I believe.

I need to procure some yarn in Sea Hawks Colors (worsted weight) for a baby sweater and a seperate hat for my office manager's grand son. 12- 18 month size (commissioned project) Need yarn, Buttons and a Pattern This needs to be done by the second week of September. (Just about 2 months) Small... Baby sweaters are Small. Breathe! Roxie ... I need YARN!

Request from Grandson #2 last night. "Could you knit me a Ninja Mask. In Orange? (he is 5)Please Nanna?" and from Grandson#2's cousin Miss I.... "could you knit me a pair of socks? and a hat with flowers?" (she is 7) Umm... sure... As they chose the yarn from my stash for their prezzies. Always wanted to check out some of the designs in Nicky Epsteins book Knitting over the edge. that will be the pattern source of the flowery stuffs. I am thinking a "flapper" style hat. Hmmm. dunno. Oh... anybody know any Ninja's?? I need to do a bit of research I think as I haven't a clue. The only thing that comes to my mind are the Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles. And I don't remember what they looked like... other than being green. I will have to do some internet surfing/free pattern site searching etc in order to fulfill the wishes of this kiddo.

One dishcloth finished for T.A.P. Trying to get the next one done today. I will continue to have hope that this will occur. There is a benefit being held... an auction and as I understand it, the knitters are putting together a "goody basket" of knitterly household products (towels, cloths etc... ) that will serve not only as a center piece but an auctioned item as well. Check out their link and read it!

Alright... enough already!

Knit Happy

God Bless the USA

Thanks to our Men and Women in Uniform who are keeping our nation safe. Freedom isn't Free. We should all take time to remember that during the festivities on our Nation's birthday.

Hope that every one's holiday weekend is safe and happy, and where ever you are hopefully the weather is gorgeous.

We are going camping this weekend, the first time this year. Usually we do our first trip in late May. Knitting is packed and ready to go.

Happy Knitting!

For those of you with Little Girls....

Go check out this site... http://www.itzybitzybellabows.com/

The items for sale... and the model... are beautiful. There are a lot of photos so her site does load a bit slow... or maybe that's just my computer.

Check it out! Oh... if you are local to her, she will work to get your stuff to you directly so ... no shipping... Contact her before ordering if you are local to her. Oh? Where is she located?(She's in the Puyallup, WA area)

Now... all I need is a grand-daughter! hmm....

Knit Happy!

Washed and Blocking

Well... the Pi Shawl is blocking. I love the way it looks laying on my bedroom floor with 144 pins stuck in the edging. That only took an hour and a half or so. Don't know if I did it correctly or not. Started placing pins at the 12, 3, 6, & 9 positions, then went between each of those, then between each of those, then went between each of those, etc and etc and etc until the bloody points were all pinned. Then went around the outer rim twice pulling them just a wee bit more, and probably could do that again except that my knees said "Hell NO". It was very hard to stand back up.

Photos MAY be forthcomming, and then again maybe not. It seems I did indeed knit a bulls-eye to cover my ass. I saw the bulls-eye forming as it was knit. I knew this... it should not have surprised me in the mirror. When or if I get the urge to do this again it will be in a SOLID yarn. This shawl will ALWAYS be folded in half while in use... at least when I am wearing it.

Speaking of the camera... it should be here in a few days give or take. Currently my camera is in Singapore and by later this evening may even be in Yokota, Japan. Don't know yet if the camera will fly into Seattle or make a detour through Hawaii as it is being escorted by the husband and he is not sure of which route he will take to get home. Hawaii will take longer to get him home, but there is a bonus of seeing the grandbabies. (I know which route I would take if it became an option) :-)

Stiff Neck

Woke with a horrid stiff neck this morning, it has been bugging me off and on (mostly on) for a few weeks now, but really bad when I woke today. Have been able to look over my left shoulder barely in the last few weeks since it started acting up, but not today at all. Have to turn in the seat to merge into traffic, can't just look over my shoulder. :-( Spent the day in the recliner with my hot tea and my knitting. That probably wasn't the best place for me to be, but warmth and comfort were what I needed most of all and that is one of my favorite knitting places. So wrapped up in wool and knitting on wool soothed the nerves if not the muscles in my neck.

Progress was perhaps slower than normal, but the second sleeve stitches were picked up on the Braids cardi and then I worked on the Pi shawl, and now have only 24 more pattern repeats to go. I will be working on it again this evening until bed time. Needed to eat and make more tea before sitting back down. Oh, Fishy says he wants his supper too. Can't forget him!

Knit Happy!

Catching up

Well, the weekend went by far too quickly. Spent Knit in Public Day, or rather the morning, knitting at Wright Park in Tacoma. First time I had been there, seems like it is a nice little park. Might want to go again and walk around it a bit more. The morning started out a bit cool, but once the clouds burned off it was nice. Left there about 1:30 to head back home. Glad that I did. Didn't put quite enough liquid in my lentil soup and I got home just in time. Yummy for lunch and supper!

Finished the first sleeve of the Braids Cardi while knitting in the park. Still have to pickup stitches for the second sleeve. Worked a bit on the Lucy bag Saturday afternoon as well as yesterday. Still too many rows to go. Down to 40 repeats on the pi shawl. Soon, soon, soon.

Going to try out a different dish tomorrow and if it turns out I will let you know. Well, bath and bed are calling my name.

Knit Happy!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Only 53 repeats remaining on the Pi shawl border. That's about 4.5-5 hours of knitting as each repeat takes ~5 mins. I can see the light at the end of this tunnel. Have been picking it up first each time I have the chance to knit and doing at least a few repeats before setting it down to work on something else. This approach seems to be working better than looking at it sit on the desk and not touching it. Today was a good shawl day and 19 repeats were completed.

Almost finished with the first sleeve on the Braids Cardi. Probably another 20 - 25 rows. I know I have 12 more decrease rows yet to finish and then will need just a titch more to make it long enough. Will have to try it on frequently that last little bit so that I don' t end up with sleeves that are just a tad short or an inch too long. Then there will be the second sleeve and sewing on the buttons. Light can be seen at the end of this here tunnel too. Yea!

Started reading "The Vampire Lestat" this morning, quite good so far. Been working on the Lucy Bag while reading. Still quite a few rows to go since I am making the "tall" version. Having to turn pages makes you knit slower. Ah well... As much as I love reading, I won't give up knitting in order to read. Audio books are ok, but I still like the printed page. At times I think one of those Kindle readers would be nice... I wonder how the page feed/turn works on that? ... But still that isn't ink and paper and the smell of a new (or old) book. And for me, that is part of the love of reading. Tho the idea of a small extremely portable library in just a small hand held device certainly has it's own appeal.

Well, now for supper and then knitting before bed!

Knit Happy

Almost too Hot...

Wanting some rain to help me water the garden, and to fill up the rain barrels again. Days like today it seems we've just got too much planted. :-) Can't complain too loudly tho I guess, as it means that we will have plenty of fruit and veggies this summer. Probably have enough water in the last rain barrel to water the garden one more time. Then will have to get the hose out, unless we get rain soon. The wind picked up on my drive home from Tacoma this evening, lots of smaller limbs in the roadway, hope that it means rain and not hail. Hail would be a bad thing about now. Don't know if the garden would survive a wicked hail storm.

Still working on the first sleeve of the cardi. I think I have hit a black hole. *Knit, knit, knit... try it on. Still seems like the sleeve is the same length. * repeat from * .

Parked my car this evening in the shade outside the bank across from the Tacoma Art Place. Walked across the street, started up the sidewalk, turned my head to check on my dog (he rode with me in the car) and noticed that I had yarn hanging from my basket. Followed it with my eyes to see where it went and saw it sitting quietly beside the car door. ::::oops:::: Quickly crossed back over picked up the ball and started re-winding. :-) Haven't done that one before. I am just glad I turned to look at the dog. I could have gone a lot further before I noticed I'd dropped the yarn cake. Anyone done anything similar?

World Wide Knit in Public Day is fast approaching. (June 13th) What is everyone planning on doing? I'm going to stay local, that's for sure. I don't want to take Fisher, or I won't be able to knit unless I give him plenty of doggy downers... he will totally stress out if he is in a park like area. (Takes him a good 24 hours to settle when we go camping in the trailer.) Fisher also knows when it is the weekend, and he sort of expects to be my constant and ever present shadow (yes I know that is redundant) so I will only be out for a few hours at most.

Knit happy!

This and That

Finished up two more books. "Gone" was a good read, enjoyed it thouroughly. It has some graphic murder descriptions... just a heads up for anyone squeemish... it's a murder, kidnapping sort of tale. Also finished "Interview with a Vampire" and my eldest is supposed to be dropping the DVD by one of these days so that I can watch it.

Still plugging away at all my WIPs. Nothing any where near being finished. I really want to cast on for a few more things tho. Must resist this impulse! Too much already started that needs to be finished already.

Tried to burn down the house Saturday morning. I wiped down the stove top after breakfast dishes were done, and then showered and changed and took the dog to the store with me. Just popped over to the Safeway 2 miles from here and only needed a few items. (thankfully)! Arrived back home and noticed that there was a hot smell as soon as I opened the garage door. Immediately went to check the stove, thinking that I had left the burner on under the teapot. Nope! I must have snagged the oven dial when I was wiping down. Oven door was closed... broiler was on! I didn't use the broiler that morning. I had made omlets. Opened all the windows in the kitchen/dining area, turned on fans and left the oven door wide till it cooled off. I have yet to turn it back on to make sure that it works. So glad that it was just a quicky trip and not like a work day. Yikes! Shhh... don't tell my honey.

Thanks again to "TheMiddleDaughter" for a wonderful supper and knitty get together this evening. Every thing was wonderful ate way more than I should have, and I am going to need the details on the pizza sauce you made. I know, you told me, but I forgot them before returning home.

Knit Happy!

Wooden Needles...

I am beginning to hates them. Circular ones that is. I WILL NOT purchase anymore of them. I tend to snap the smaller varieties, snapped off approximately an inch or so of the tip on a size 4 Ebony circular awhile back. This morning I decided I needed to cast on for the felted bag/purse that I purchased the yarn for last evening... so went through the needle stash to find the appropriate size; 10.5 US. Well, the only set of those I have free at the moment is a bamboo pair of circs. Not my favorite, this pair is blunt and non slippy. But they are workable, (or so I thought).

So I cast on, and proceeded to start work on the bottom of the bag. Have ~80ish stitches on the needle when the needle disconnects from the wire leaving a fair bit of stitches flapping in the breeze, literally as I was outside. Shove the needle back together, give it a bit of a tug, it holds, so I scoop the stitches back on and then try to resume my knitting when the bastard pops off again. Stitches are secured, and I am going to go look in the stash again and see where the other 10.5 needle is. I suspect that it (an Addi -Turbo) is in a half formed felted slipper.... which will shortly be on a yarn holder. I love the addi's as they are slippy but wish they had pointier ends. The lace ones do.. I know, and I will be purchasing more of them in the future as I need more needles. No more Wooden Circs for me!

Growl! This is cutting into my sunshine time.

More Sunshine

Glad that the wonderful weather stuck around for the weekend, better chance to enjoy it, tho it also brings work in the form of weeding and mowing. Ah well. I will manage to sneek some knitting into the day somewhere. Taking a break from the "housework" at the moment. Got the laundry hung outside to dry before 7 am. Took some of my indoor plants out, watered them and put them in an area where they will get lots more light than being inside. Mostly Jade and succlulents. Might take the orchids out for a bit too. Need to finish the vaccumming and then the house will be in order. Oh wait. There are a few dishes left from breakfast, gotta do those too. Then Knitting time for an hour at least! Need to run out to the store and get some crackers and meats and cheeses this morning. My Mom is comming over for a bit today and I don't have any snacky stuff other than pop corn.

Purchased some yarn for a "Lucy Bag" for my brother's girlfriend and I want to cast that on in the worst way. But I also need to work on finishing up some of the other things that are already on needles. Anyone know a sure way to contract a severe case of Finish-itis? :-) I needs it!

Knit Happy!

A bit of excitement.

Knitting at TAP this evening, when the fire alarms started going off. Of course everyone excited the building. We did all grab our yarn as it was obvious that there wasn't any real emergency right where we were. Fire department was called of course, they had to check out the building and reset/shut off the alarm system. There are apartments above the TAP and Subway in this particular building. As far as we know, there wasn't a fire, but the Firemen did take an exhaust(?)fan (that's what it looked like to me) up to the second floor. People on the second floor did have to wait to return to their apartments, but everyone else was allowed to return to the building after stuff was checked out. We were all standing out on the corner waiting and most of us knitting. Wish I would have had the camera. Got to have a "practice knit in public day." You know I Never do That.... :-) hee hee hee.

Worked on the afghan last night, just wasn't in to sleeves. Finished the 3rd square and started on the fourth. This particular pattern is flying right along, and is perfect knitting for reading. I decided to start "Gone" as it is just a single book as opposed to the Anne Rice books.

Well, it is after my bed time and need to get to bed. Yea! Tomorrow's Friday!

Knit Happy!

Reading

Just finished re reading a few books, last read them in Jr. High I think. George Orwell's 1984, finished it this afternoon, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, which I finished up last night. I'm wanting to re read some more of the ones I read umpteen years ago. Not sure what is up next, tbo will probably be Anne Rice's Vampire series (haven't read these yet, but they look good and I do like some of her other books). Just purchased them a few weeks ago but they have been sitting. Also have Gone, by Lisa Gardner to read, it was in a "help yourself" stack at work.

Still working my way down the first sleeve of the Braid's Cardigan.

Had to rip out the other sweater, the one that I started for my niece. You know those instructions that say "join, being careful not to twist"? Yeah. I wasn't careful. Six rows into it I reailzed that it looked a bit funny. Colorful words were said. Grrr. Haven't done that one in awhile! Sweater will basicly be a simple seed stitch with a touch of ribbing at the sides and I'm going to stick a pair of cabled trees in one of the lower front quadrants. (sweater pattern pretty much using EZ's percentage system tho I'm not doing raglan sleeves, and the tree pattern is from Barbara G. Walker's Thrid Treasury of Kniting Designs pg 101) Anyway, have to cast it back on again. Must be done before Dec. Yeah there is plenty of time, but Procrastination seems to be my middle name.

Happy Knitting!

A bit bummed...

There were a few (4) classes that I wanted to take at the Sock Summit, (I had made up my mind to just choose one tho) but the sign up was at 10am PDT today at which time I was at work. And while we do have computers at work, and some of them even have internet access, it was not possible for me to even have the time to think about registering for classes at that time. We are just slammed with clients around the holidays. I just logged on the Sock Summit web site @3:20pm (as I just got home from work) and of course all the classes that I wanted were full, I knew that they would be but of course I had to check. There were only a very few classes that still had openings. Ah well! Maybe one of these days the sign ups will be at the stroke of Midnight. :-) At least then all I would have missed would have been a bit of sleep and I would have at least had a chance. And I am so glad that I didn't reserve a hotel room prior to registration, as I think that they were filling up fast and furious.

Reached virgin yarn on the sweater sleeve around 2pm yesterday. The K3P1 ribbing is working great. The decreases are coming nicely and I need to check for fit today before I pick it back up to work on. Might want to increase the frequency of the decreases. Jessica's hat just needs the button sewed on and one yarn end to weave in. Then I have to contact her granny to get her address.

Garden is doing well, 45 baby corn stalks (the ones from seed) and another 7 that are about 3 weeks ahead (starts). More corn should be coming up the rest of this week. Based on the "pattern" my husband planted by, should be roughly 30 more. Tomato plants are still bitty but there are 5 flowers between the 3 plants. We should have a bumper crop of strawberries. Tons of flowers and baby berries coming on and the plants are quite tall as well, in fact they are almost as tall at the moment as our artichoke plants. Wish that I had a camera here. The strawberries 2 years ago that were in planters,(and still in those planters and doing well) 2 strawberry pots and 2 wooden "flower box" type planters, all sent out runners and now the back section is carpeted in strawberry plants. Blueberry bushes are loaded with flowers and baby berries, we have several different kinds, some early, mid-season and some lates. Potato plants are popping up everywhere. found 4 in the garlic beds and 6 or 7 under the newest cherry trees. I think that we must have had some potatoes in the compost that we added to the garden beds. hmm. Squash, zuccini, eggplant, beans and peas all doing well so far. May need to learn to can. :-) Have already had some lettuce for sandwiches the other day. yummy!

Happy Knitting!

Thank You...

To all our men and women in our Armed Forces that have served and continue to serve, and to all those who have lost their lives in service to and defense of our country. We know that Freedom isn't Free, and we have you to thank for our country's freedom. We will always have you in our thoughts and wishes and prayers.

Yesterday I managed to spend outside, mowed the lawn as soon as I heard one of the other neighbors fire up a lawn mower. Didn't want to be the first to break the silence of a Saturday morning. Finished by 11ish (only had the back yard to do thanks to my neighbor, he mowed my front yard on Thursday) and spent the next several hours parked in a lawn chair knitting.

Almost back to virgin yarn after the sleeve rippage. Much nicer with the additional stitches picked up. Decided to go with a K3P1 ribbing down the sleeves, which is what the base pattern is on the sweater itself. The directions for the sleeve call for a K2P1, but we all know that didn't work out well, tho to be truthful, it might have worked with more stitches to start with. Will have to pull out the directions soon, see what the sleeve decreases are and then go stand in front of the mirror and decide if I do the decreases as specified, or modify them somewhat. Am I even capable of following directions as written? hmmm.

Hubby comes home sooner than he had originally planned. So by mid June he should be back instead of at the end of June. Works for me! I don't mind doing the yard work so much, but it does cut into knitting time.

Spent the morning on the computer looking at photos and such. Need to drag the spinning wheel out of the corner sometime to day and practice. Need to fire up the other computer and print out some stuff. Need to go shopping sometime this morning. Store I need to go to should be open in an hour so better get out of my jammies and take a shower. Need to try on the hat for Jessica and decide if it will fit a nine year old, or do I need to rip and restart.

Need to walk away from the computer now.

Happy Knitting!

Long Day

Dislike the days right before and after any holiday. They make for very, very, long, hard and hot work days.

Going out to a friends house for supper tonight, so I will miss my usual knit night. It wasn't an invite I was willing to pass up. She is an awesome chef.

The sleeve stitches have been picked up. Thanks Megan! ... She picked them up for me the other night, she knew I was frustrated with it, and she enjoys picking up stitches. huh.... who'd of thunk it? Well, everyone is different right :-) ; and even I don't hate it as much as I used to so maybe one of these days I may even learn to enjoy that process too. Who knows?

I may even knit some this evening if possible. My arms and hands hurt so bad I right now I can barely type.

Must. Go. Need. Hot. Shower.

Knit Happy~

However....I may be lucky...

I stopped into my local Sheriff's department just a few minutes ago to discuss what I should do about this little situation, and they suggested that I call the RCMP (that's the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) to double check all the information. As soon as I got home however, I received a call back from the ICBC and went over Lic plate#'s, where the accident occured etc.

There was a transposition... in the letters and I just may end up lucking out here people. If the letters are as correct on the RCMP paperwork they are transposed and they are someone's plates from Bellingham and NOT mine. (My local sheriff ran the number/letter combo with and without the transposition.) So... I call the number for the RCMP for the city in which the accident occured and give them my name and the police file number and all the pertinent info and they are double checking to see. They will be calling me back soon.


WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!! The RCMP fellow called me back while I was typing that last sentence! I am sorry for the people in Bellingham who owned the car with the plates... but they aren't mine. Gotta call my husband!

KNIT HAPPY !!!!!!!!!!!

Not a scam....

...Though that might be preferable at this point.

I looked online for the ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) called their toll free phone number on the web page, and confirmed that the phone number that I was given, and the person I spoke with last night was a member of their corporation and that it was indeed a valid number. Just can't be too cautious about some things, and I do feel better now that I have checked.

I am still waiting on a call back from her however, and I am still looking for the plates here... even tho.. (One can always hope right?) I also called my insurance lady and told her the details so that if a claim did come through she would have a heads up. I still need to go to the DOL and the sheriff's department, and let them know about the disapearance; and since it is a knitting guild night I had better get moving.

There will be something knit (is that the right tense?) tonight. (knit, knitted, knat, ...) help me out here people my brain is fuzzy, not much sleep was had last night.

Thankfully I have a simple knit to work on this evening. Hat kit from Fancy Image Yarns I purchased this during the yarn crawl. I don't usually purchase kits for hats... but this seemed perfect for my little friend Jessica that has just finished her six weeks of radiation. She's just now starting to lose her hair. I can only try to imagine how hard that would be for an adult, but she is only 9 and I can only think that it would be so much harder at that age. Any how, it is in girly colors, and has some fun fur and a cute button, friends of mine who have daughters all say it will be a "winner". Can't trust my own judgement in this... I was a die hard tomboy and wouldn't have been caught dead in it.... well maybe for a double dog dare if the stakes were high enough. :-)

No photos. The camera is with the hubby. Knit Happy!

There has been a thief...

Got a phone call today from the Insurance Company of British Coloumbia, Canada. Apparently there was an accident in British Columbia in November of 08 involving a car bearing the plates of one of our vehicles. (It was a newer model car, and not one of ours) The vehicle the plates are registered to is sitting in my drive way. Dead-lined as they say in the military. Head gasket issues for some time now. Because of the engine issues, the new plates were never put on the vehicle, the emissions wasn't done and the tabs were not renewed. The plates WERE somewhere in the house. (I say somewhere... as it was dear hubby who stashed them in the china cabinet he THINKS) I have been looking for them, in places other than the china cabinet as well, but not finding them.

Tomorrow... one more phone call to canada at least... I want the lady that called me to re-tell me the lic. plate number, vin number, and any other numbers/names that she has (I won't be giving her any of my info) . Also phone calls to my insurance company, and a stop by the local sheriff's office. I'd rather do that in person than on the phone.

Don't worry... I did not and will not give out any personal information out to anyone over the phone just in case it happens to be some sort of scam. It is very freaky knowing that some one WAS in the house and I'm wondering when... was it someone who was invited in? ARGH!!
But for the phone call... I would never have known that someone had been in my house.

Rippage...

No... Not on the shawl.

I did finish a few more repeats of the lace edging tho, so I now have a few less than a hundred repeats to go. :-) No, I came inside around 3:30 and switched to easier knitting so that I could watch a movie. And the rippage wasn't due to watching the movie either. Knitting K2, P1 ribbing down the sleeve of my Braids Cardigan was easy peasy all during the movie. Pattern was already established, and there were no increases or decreases to worry about, just chugging around in a circle.

Then I took a break and tried on my sweater to see how long the sleeve was and how much farther I would be knitting. I was about 1/2 way down the sleeve as the live stitches were just above my elbow. Unfortunately, the sleeve was "quite snug" ... over a bare arm ... as I am wearing a tank top today. Snug enough that my fingers would have gone numb in short order had I not removed the cardi. This does not bode well for a cardigan when I will most likely not be wearing it during the summer and over summer weight clothing for only five minutes at a time, but over a regular shirt or even :::gasp::: a long sleeved shirt during the fall and winter and early spring.

I was yankng the needles out as soon as I had it off my arm. Only a few live stitches to worry about, just the ones under arm this time instead of the 80 when I ripped back the button/neck band. :::::RIP::::: They are now all safely picked up and resting on a dpn. Going to give it a day (at least) in time out, then pick up MORE stitches around the arm hole and then will most likely say screw the pattern (K2,P1 ribbing) and just do a stockinette sleeve. I don't like snug sleeves and ribbing does what ribbing does, and THAT is pull in.

Rip it, rip it... it has been a froggy sort of night!
Pass the scotch!
Night night!

Oh Beautiful Day!

Just inside for a brief bit, spending the day outside in shorts and tank top knitting on a lace border for my Pi shawl. It had been in time out, not for being bad, I just needed a break from it. Decided that the edging needed to be finished so that I can block and wear it. Only 100 more pattern repeats to finish this puppy. Eight row repeats so not a whole lot of stitches in each repeat.

Using Barbara Abbey's "Knitting Lace" book and the #1 Very Narrow Lace Edging . I recently obtained a copy of her book, tho this particular edging can be found in several other sources. The pattern as written in her book and the symbols that are used are a bit unfamiliar to the modern knitter. You will most likely need to read over the symbols page :-) in order to work it out. In fact, if you get the book or borrow it from the library, go ahead and read the intro and the first 2 chapters before getting to the Lace patterns in chapter 3 it's interesting reading.

Sunshine and Lace are calling me back outside...
Happy Knitting!

Yarn Crawl 09

It was a fun trip this year. I went with friends, and we split it up into 2 days so there wasn't such a rush as last year when I went at it alone. I drove on Friday along with one other lady, but today we were all able to fit in one vehicle. We had some who weren't able to do both days. Yesterday I had a bit of "excitement" after dropping every one back to their vehicles, we decided to do Fiber's etc. & Lamb's Ear as well, and follow each other there in our own cars, then each heading for our homes afterwards. We all found parking on the street above Fibers, which was nice since there is construction in that area. When we came out, my Left rear tire was flat. :::grrrr:::: Hubby had just had that tire fixed on Tuesday, as he had punctured it on his way home from friends. Anyhow, out with the spare and got it changed. Did have a bit of help from a fellow passing. He was wearing a suit... but didn't want to "not help", lol, so I went ahead and let him. The tire could have gone out in Paulsbo or elsewhere on our trip which would have been so not fun. So for all the frustration it was at the best spot possible really. Only had to remember to drive slowly home and not hit any potholes and such. Yes, I did stop at Lamb's Ear after putting on the spare ... it was on my way home anyway. :-)

Hubby has the camera.... so no photos of purchases. There weren't many anyway. Just a bit of lace weight, in Cranberry... I am not a red person but this called my name in a bad way. also 3 balls of sock yarn 2 in earth and grey tones and one in a green and yellow. (have to look in the stash and see if I have bought duplicates of stuff I already have, that has happened before) Cookie A's new book. Oh, and 4 ounces of spinning fiber. The colors in the roving aren't what I would normally choose, they have a strong teal cast, but when spun on the fold... the resulting yarn looks darker. I wouldn't have thunk it but the lady I purchased from showed me what she had done with it spun straight off the roving then off the fold. The color change was dramatic.

Happy Knitting!

Photos

Here is one load of the Romney drying. I was spinning a bit while outside. This is a shot of my "help" They can't let the shawl blow away you know. I gave up on keeping them off. I'd remove them and they would hop back up within moments. Ah well, they kept they kept me company outside.

Knit happy!

Sometimes you just don't see it...

Until you start to bind the F*&^%er off. Frog pond baby. Just look at the ripples.

The button holes turned out nice tho. Elizabeth Z's Knitters Almanac pg 80. Excellent button hole and extreemly easy.

Live stitches... 80 of them that I had forgotten were on 3 yarn holders were all successfully re-captured, Yarn cake rewound. One day's worth of knitting is history. Whisky poured.

Cheers!

What?

Yes, this is all you get today folks. This is K3, just shy of 5 months old. Sure do miss him. Can't wait for June when they will be here to visit.

Knit Happy!

Washing Fleece

Surprisingly I am enjoying the fleece washing process. It is going to take forever tho, I am surely not going to win any speed prizes. I'm on the third batch of the day and I will have maybe 1/2 of a pillowcase (standard size) full when today's last batch is done. That's with the clean stuff lightly placed inside. Of course I am doing smaller batches in the kitchen sink and not the bath tub. Trying to preserve the lock structure (and have no desire to be on my knees... getting back up is a bitch). Drying photos were taken and will upload them later (love the hot tub cover... I don't have to bend over much). The final batch is still in a tub in the kitchen sink in hopefully it's final rinse water. The big bag of dirty stuff dosen't look any smaller. hmmm...

Spinning on a spindle while out watching the fleece dry. More interesting than watching paint dry... the grey and black colors just seem to shine while out in the sun. I don't think the photos did justice to the beauty of the color.

Spring Fair

So, I was just supposed to be volunteering at the Shepherd's Extravaganza, but I was followed home by a Romney Fleece. A beautiful dark charcoal grey in color. I seem to have my eyes caught by the darker colors. Next year my pusher ...um friend... is supposed to steer me towards the lighter colors. I am thinking blending with some of my darker fleeces as well as some for dyeing.

I am going to attempt to process this one myself. Yes, I said that last time too. But I really, really mean it this time. I even started on it this evening. Got a double handful of the wonderful sheepy stuff and washed it up. Had it outside on a towel for the last 30 mins of today's sunshine and plan on doing up a bit more tomorrow. Supposed to be close to 70 degrees tomorrow, I can sit outside and spin or knit while I guard the stuff.

I washed my cream shawl as well this evening. I swear that it was dirtier than the unprocessed fleece. Three Soapy water baths to get that rat bastard clean. The water was so dirty that I am surprised that I haven't ruined any clothes by wearing that filthy thing. Oh... and it is also no longer cream. It had a date with a full bottle of Spruce dye when it was fresh out of its final rinse. It is still outside in the wind laying on the hot tub cover. Had to lock all the animals inside as I came back past the window to see Ichabod our Black cat rolling around on his back in the middle of my still wet shawl. This is why I have to guard the fleece. They won't steal it, but the cats, all three, will roll on wet wool like it is primo cat weed!

Happy Knitting!

Happy Easter

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter no matter how you celebrate, and a terriffic day even if you didn't celebrate in any way.

We had a quiet rainy day around here. A bit of Knitting a bit of cleaning and a bit of laundry and a bit of messing around on the computer. Didn't cook anything but breakfast, oh wait, I didn't even do that... hubby did, and just had a peanut butter sandwich for supper. Bed time in just a few minutes. Maybe enough time for one more row.

Have Knitty Dreams!

Don't know how to read a calendar

No spinning guild tonight. It is next week. I just looked at the calendar and realized that tho it is indeed the second week of April, it is NOT the second Tuesday... yet. ARGH!

Oh beautiful sunshine.

So happy to get off from work earlier than normal. Spent 3 hours outside knitting and reading. Love days where it is possible to just sit back and relax for a bit and not have to do anything for anyone other than yourself. I did let the neighbor's dog come over and play with Fisher tho. She heard us in the back yard and begged at the gate till I let her in. They didn't play too long, they decided that naps in the sun were better than chase.

Spinning tonight!

Back to Work...

On the grey fleece as of today. I am spinning this batch up much thinner than the last. My aim is for a light worsted weight when navajo 3 plyed. I really want a sweater out of this fleece. My first attempt yeilded a bulky weight that I just wasn't happy with, at least not for the purpose for which I intend. That result was made into fingerless mits that now belong to my mom. She saw them and asked if I would make her a pair. Told her they were hers if they fit her. :-) They did, so she's got something to keep her mits warm when she sits on the back porch with her coffee in the mornings.

I am also not going to spend the better part of the day on the weekends (yes, there will be several weekends needed to get enough yarn for a sweater as slow as I go) camped in front of the spinning wheel as I did last weekend. That was a bit of a mistake. Once I had stopped treadling, and was just sitting there prior to getting up, I realized that I couldn't feel anything below my knees. Felt like I had been traveling all day with the buzzy legs afterwards. Probably spent a total of 3 hours spinning so far today, and will do a bit more later on before bed time. Thanks Rachel for having the group of us over to your house again for spinning and social time. I really enjoied myself. Loved getting in some baby snuggles with your little sweetie too!

Don't have a pattern in mind for the fleece-wanna-be-yarn as yet, but do think that a cardigan will be more useful than an actual pullover. It would definately get more use. I have plenty of time to decide on a pattern. Just so all my bases are covered I will spin till I have about 1,500 yards. (should be about 300 yards more than I need.) The cardigan I am working on now will use approx 1,100 yards.

Still working on the edging of the pi shawl. Did a few repeats of the lace edging this morning and realized that I am finally at the 1/4 mark. Only 108 pattern repeats to go... lol.. that's 432 stitches left to bind off. I am using Barbara Abbey's #1 very narrow lace edging, 8 rows to the pattern, and 4 stitches bound off per each pattern repeat.

The Braids Cardigan is one row shy of splitting up for the yoke. Have to finish up the last wrong side row before I can continue. Need to get that part done after supper tonight so that I will have some easy car knitting for tomorrow morning. If I can't get it ready tonight, there is always the sock that lives in my purse to work on. These are hubby socks. I dyed the yarn special just for him. They are at the heel flaps so won't be long before they will go to live in the sock drawer.

Off to deliver the socks for Grammy Emm and Grampy Pete tomorrow morning. They are our next door neighbor's grandparents. We purchased our truck and 5th wheel from them when they moved into an assisted living facility. We pop in and visit with them every few weeks usually, tho it has been awhile since our last visit due to our own travels and visiting family.

Knit Happy!

Happy April Fools Day

Today all you get is a Grandbaby photo of K1, K2, & K3.

Now off to Knit a bit.

Happy knitting!