Stuff that needs to be finished...

So I poked around a bit in the wool room and found a few unfinished projects but; Ah geez... I really want to start knitting something NEW. Like the baby leggings found here. What? I was taking a break... and look... OMG they are just too cute! I don't think I will be able to resist long.

To Finish... so far I have found...
The Red Sweater...
An Afghan (little over a third done)
Socks for the new DIL (about 1/2 way) two socks one circular needle.

Found.... Two baby sweater kits that I have had in the stash for awhile... they jumped off the shelves screaming "Cast me on!"... So, they are now both on the desk, waiting for me to search for the proper needles.

Wait, wasn't I supposed to be finishing stuff? Ah well....

Knit Happy!

Hello 2010!

Hope that everyone had a safe New Year's Celebration. We had a rather quiet one here. Out for a nice supper, then back home where hubby played on the computer and I knit until I couldn't see my stitches any longer. Unfortunately that meant that I didn't "knit-in" the New Year as I was in bed and fast asleep by 10pm. Also quiet as there weren't a lot of fireworks either. I assumed there would be more noise, being the end of a decade and all, but no.

I will be taking stock this weekend of the projects still on the needles from last year and getting them organized for either completion or a trip to the frog pond, whichever seems appropriate. The red sweater for the niece is moving along nicely, working on that all this weekend as it is overdue for it's delivery. No, it won't be finished this weekend... but it will be farther along.

Happy Knitting!

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