Slippers and Pictures

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Did a little crocheting yesterday for my upstairs project. I'm using the Ribbed Slippers pattern from Marlo Cairns. It's easy to memorize and works up very quickly.

Didn't get much done on Joansie's mitten as I spent a good portion of the day learning how to use the camera. It does one of the things I wanted...taking good close ups of knitting!Isn't the detail great? Click on it to enlarge! WOW! I know this is old hat for all you camera buffs, but this is the first time I've ever had a camera that did this kind of stuff! And this kind of stuff!!!! This is Youngest Daughter, Eldest Granddaughter and Youngest Granddaughter, all of whom you've heard me "speak" of often.

What do you think of the new Knit Kit? It's nifty looking, and may be good for traveling, but wouldn't you end up throwing it into your knitting bag with the rest of your knitting stuff, which is probably everything that is in the Knit Kit?

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Keeping the "We" in "Yes, We Can!"

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President Obama's Saturday Report

Socks!

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I finished up the second sock for the last of the Heet the Feet project. They'll be mailed out next week! That makes a total of seven pairs of slippers/socks!


I wanted to use up my left over Mickey Mouse yarn and I really liked the way the yellow baby socks turned out with two strands of sock yarn, so I thought I'd make me a pair of double socks, too. I developed my own stitch pattern with them, too! I'm so proud! Make sure your CO is a multiple of 4: 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 68, etc. Round 1: K2, YO, Sl 1, K, PSSO. Round 2: K around. Repeat. It creates a spiral eyelet pattern. I'm playing with YO, Sl 1, K, PSSO, K2 to reverse the direction of the spiral. My plan at this point is to continue till I finish a total of sixteen rounds of pattern and then change back to black and white to begin the heel and foot. It's fun to experiment!

Yesterday was a nice sit at home day. We had baked chicken a couple nights ago, so I put the leftovers in the crock pot and boiled it down for most of the day. Mid afternoon, I took out the chicken carcass and let it cool while chopping up and adding veggies (carrots, celery, onion) to the broth. Deboned the chicken and added the meat back in. Let it simmer till dinner time. Cooked up noodles and we had home made chicken noodle soup for dinner. Yum. Turned out really good.

Knitting, listening to my current book (Cold Fire by Dean Koontz) with the fragrance of chicken soup.... Can't ask for much more!

So I was over at Diana Gabaldon's site and found this video. An author by the name of Sara Donati (a friend of Diana's) wrote an historical fiction book that had the main characters of Diana's books as mentioned in passing as characters in her book. Let's see if I can make that clearer, Sara wrote a book, Into the Wilderness, that used Diana's Jame & Claire Fraiser and Jamie's nephew, Ian, as "historical" characters. How much fun is that? So of course I had to put the book on reserve and I believe it will be the printed book I'll take with me on vacation. And no, not just cuz there is one sentence about Jamie & Claire, it's Rev War historical fiction which I enjoy. It just has the added draw of finding characters from one author mentioned by another author. (Yes, I'm obsessed with Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series....)

Warm Feet and Meatballs

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I got one more Heet the Feet sock done and it's partner half done. It'll get finished up this morning and I can go back to regularly scheduled knitting!

And that's all the knitting I did yesterday. Wednesdays are always a short day for me as Eldest Granddaughter gets out of school an hour early. I'm programmed to catch up on housework, start dinner, etc., when she gets home from school. I channeled that programming into Peanut Butter Cookies! And encouraging Youngest Son to make dinner. He did a great job! Homemade Meatballs and Homemade Spaghetti sauce for Spaghetti and Meatballs! Both were totally excellent!

Wednesday nights is our weekly write to the grandsons in Hawaii night. So we dutifully wrote out letters. Youngest Granddaughter uses crayons and does a great job for a two year old. She says letter names (learned from Word World and Sesame Street on PBS) while she "writes." Eldest Granddaughter writes several sentances (not being too adept at punctuation). I'm glad I'm not the one that has decipher them. :) And I forgot to tell you the latest saga. Eldest Daughter is moving to Hawaii, too, now. She left on Tuesday for Texas to drive a U-Haul for the friends she used to live with here, and then next week will fly to Hilo to live with her boys and their father. I'm hoping it remains a friendly co-parenting lifestyle and she not one that failing memory would forget to remind her what a jerk he was to her. Not my life, but oh, how I worry.

Anyway, she'll be with the boys to temper the extreme disciplinarian the boys' father is. His own father was mentally abusive, so that's what he thinks a father should do, even though he hates his own dad for the way he was treated. Such a mess.... But I feel better that my daughter will be there to keep things at an even keel. AND, when Youngest Daughter complained to her sister that we'd been writing weekly to the boys and hadn't heard a thing from them, Eldest Daughter called the boys' dad and insisted he have them call us! So I finally got to talk to my grandsons! I was thrilled!

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Here's another new-to-me knitting e-zine. And a brand new one for weavers.

One more for Heet the Feet

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I got caught in the Second Slipper Syndrome awhile back. I managed to overcome the malaise yesterday and finished up one more pair of slippers for Heet the Feet. That makes a measly total of five pair. They need to be mailed off by the end of the month. That gives me nine days. I wonder if I can get another pair or two done....

I did finish up the Roundabout baby socks. They bloomed so nicely once washed. Because I used two strands of yarn, the fabric was pretty stiff, but once washed, was perfect!

And that was pretty much the end of my accomplishments yesterday. We went to the library to get some questions answered about my taxes but found we couldn't get an appointment till next Tuesday. It's free, I can wait.

Youngest Son, Youngest Granddaughter and Youngest Daughter picked lemons and made fresh lemon aid. It was yum! We've been looking for a used juicer but ended up with the old fashioned non-electrical one that fits over a bowl.

And that was our uneventful day. Oh, and I cast on another pair of Mickey Mouse socks...using up the leftovers along with some white and black odds and ends..... Don't have a real plan in mind, we'll see what the yarn says.

Knitting and Potato Soup

I spent the day with F yesterday. We knit and talked and knit and had his wonderful home made Potato Leek Soup (Cock-a-Leekie). Everything was wonderful! :) I finished one more Heet the Feet slipper and got the sole done on a second. We struggled to figure out how to add the collar/placket to his Kyle sweater. The placket is too short and we can't figure out how to sew it in...where to keep the seam straight and where to start easing it. There is so much to ease I'm thinking it'll bunch on such a stretchy fabric. Or he could just the knit a couple more inches and we don't bother easing it... It's supposed to lie flat according to the picture....

And we tackled the shawl question I posed yesterday...how to lengthen my shawl without adding any more width. The pattern has a increase on each end of the shawl width and two increases at the tip. So we decided if I quit increasing at each end and just did the increases at the tip, it should lengthen without adding width. We'll see....

I'm getting the urge to start a new project. Hmmm I could spin today and that would keep me from having one project OTN.I have some gorgeous Black and White Ramboullet I bought quite awhile ago that I've been meaning to work on. I have 16 ounces which is enough for a pair of mittens and a hat..... or maybe something else if I combine the spun yarn with another yarn.... Don't need to worry about that now, it'll take awhile to spin it all.

Another Slipper

I was wandering through the web looking for a slipper pattern (for Heet the Feet) and stumbled upon this one. Of course I changed it immediately upon knitting the first one.

To make a toddler size, using bulky yarn and size 8 needles, I CO 18 and knit for 8 ridges. Then picked up the sts all around and just knit for 8 rows. I used the suggested method for the top of the slipper but knit each row instead of purling back. Then I did several rounds of st st to make the cuff, adding the eyelets and a crochet chained drawstring. It didn't take very long to make them, and of course more time and more sts if using ww yarn. They look a little like moccasins.

I also got quite a bit done on the tee shirt for my grandson. The back is done up to the neck shaping. If I have some relative peace and quiet today, so I can follow the pattern line by line, I'll get the back done and start on the front.
And I did some spinning. This was about half full when I started and is getting close to being full. It's just plain what used to be Brown Sheep American Top and is now South American Top. :::sigh::: Ray at Knitivity has made me aware of "buying American" which sometimes I really can't afford, but, his yarn is from American spinners.... I wonder where the wool comes from? Anyway, I have some pretty dyed rovings to spin as well as all that alpaca and llama I got last year. So I'm going to try and spin for awhile every day. Yesterday I spun for 30 minutes, then knit for 30 minutes and accomplished alot on both projects.

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If you steal something from someone who stole it from someone else, is it still stealing?

...but I know what I like

Jason explains what this is....


I finished my third pair of foot coverings for Heet the Feet. They look square, but the garter stitch really does stretch out nicely.

And the was all the knitting I did yesterday. While waiting for my TV programs to start last night after supper, I watched Mrs Henderson Presents. It was great fun! If you've got some easy knitting to do, rent it and enjoy! Judi Dench is great as usual, but I really like Bob Hoskins. I'm not much of BH fan, but he was really good in this.

Today is the first mailing for the Log Cabin Charity Round Robin. We started out at Knittinghelp.com and have expanded to Ravelry, too. If you're looking for a really easy way to contribute some knitting time and inexpensive yarn....let me know. Each one of us in the group starts out knitting or crocheting a square for the center of a log cabin blanket. It's then mailed on to the next person, who adds a block and mails on. Round and round it goes and at the end we have a finished blanket to send to whatever charity we're sending to. The first round, at least, will go to the Cheyenne River Reservation, Eagle Butte, SD.

Heet the Feet

I finished up my pair of slippers from the tutorial on Sheep Shots. It's really easy to do and Ann shares how to measure feet in order to make them fit!

Old and New

This is the Baby Surprise Jacket I made last fall for Youngest Granddaughter, who promptly refused to wear it--until yesterday. Somehow, because it was cold outside, she decided it was okay to wear. I'm not questioning her thought processes, only thankful she'd wear it!

Here is my first step on the Heet the Feet booties Ann is teaching us to knit. Sometime today I'll do the next step which involves joining this and knitting in the round. The rectangle I've knitted is the back and bottom of the heel.

Got several inches done on the Tank Top I'm making for Hawaii living grandson's 7th birthday in February. I'm pleased with how it's coming along and if all goes will it'll be finished in plenty of time to be shipped over the other big pond. I've discovered it' isn't necessarily big needles I don't like to knit with, but needles too big for the yarn I'm using. This is deliberate for this shirt as I want it to be airy. But it sure doesn't lend itself to the nice rhythm of knitting I'm used to.

F and I went out for lunch/coffee. French Onion soup at Mimi's! Yum! We chatted about everything and just generally enjoyed a break from out regular lives.

Youngest Daughter and Youngest Son spent good money to go see I Am Legend. I told them it wasn't worth it and after $13 for tickets, plus snacks, they agreed with me. Too bad....the story had potential.

I'm waiting anxiously for Stardust to arrive in my mail box today from Netflix. I really enjoyed it on the screen and can't wait to see it again. I borrowed Hollywoodland and Dream Girls from the library. DG was good, haven't had time to watch the other yet.

When stressed, CO!

Jolly Roger is in Davey Jones' Locker for now. He'll be rescued later for another grandson's October birthday. This is a tank top made of Gong, a nice cotton yarn. I'm using needles a bit bigger than necessary so it's nice and airy to be cool in the Hawaiian humidity. Youngest Son picked the sea and sand colors.

I CO another relatively mindless project. An arm cover for Eldest Son's wheel chair. His right arm is pretty useless and rests on the plastic arm of his chair, which results in a rash. This cotton cover should eliminate that for him. I'll make another MN Vikings color one for him in the fall when football season is in full bloom.



I finished up the second sock for my first pair of Heet the Feet. See those cute little slippers over to the right? Ann is have a KAL to make them. They are rather neat, don't you think? Oh, and there is a contest for the, well, here's what Ann said: Send me a photo of your Very Best Pair of Foot Covers. They can be hand made or purchased, but only one entry per person, so photograph the cutest, or wildest, or funniest, or funnest. (Send to the photo to amcmanus@ptd.net with Heet The Feet Entry in the subject line.) It'll be a People's Choice award.

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Flat Feet Sock Yarn! <-- be careful of this link. It takes loads of time to load and then doesn't work well. SpinOff (I think.. or was it Piecework?) a few years ago and I thought it would be so much fun. However, alas, I don't have a knitting machine and there isn't one in my future, either. And I'm certainly NOT going to hand knit 200+ yards of sock yarn only to re-knit it into socks after I dye it.

Check out this crocheted donut pin cushion. I think it's cute than the cupcake ones I've seen!

And how about these really cool strawberries!

Worked Hard!

I finished up the first Waterloose sock as far as I'm willing to knit until it gets tried on (which won't be until I go to TN in March). In fact, I'll probably have to unknit a bit from this sock onto the other. I weighed the remaining yarn and I've used 6 gms too much on the first sock. I have no idea how long six grams are, :) but we'll see if it's enough to make a difference once the second sock, which is CO and the cuff is finished gets down towards the toe.


What a sense of accomplishment!


I also finished up sock #1 for Heet the Feet (link for more info over there ----> ) The next step on the second sock is turning the heel, so that one should be finished up in short order. Then on to the next pair!


And I'm proud to announce, the front of the Jolly Roger is finished. This pic is right before I did the neck shaping. Arggggggg! Will CO and start the back today. I think....

I feel much better about my progress on accomplishing my goals for the Gift-Along. (More info over there -----> )

Another adorable baby sweater! If I had lots of money....or even some money.... Someday I'm going to make a sock monkey. And a Dalek! Extermiknit! Extermiknit! What a cute Skull Sweater!

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

Miscellaneous Miscellania

We cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs.... These are the after pics. The before pics were just six inches of everything but the kitchen sink. The only thing we didn't find in there was old food. Dishes, garbage, more garbage.... But now it's clean. For maybe another three hours. But the amount of stuff we got rid of will help keep it clean. That and two new huge storage containers. Oh... and I inherited/snagged several bags to keep knitting projects in. Shopping bag type purses, little clear back packs... very nice!

Knitting was minimal. Got a few more rounds done on the Waterloose socks, and got quite a bit done on the first Heet the Feet socks. Worked on those while watching The Bourne Ultimatum. It was good...and some of the chase scenes had me knitting "really fast!" But it's more of the same as the other Bourne movies. Guess someday I should read the books.

On my list of things to knit this year....I'm letting everything sit in favor of knitting the socks. I think that's why I had to put my Bamboo Walking Socks (Mickey Mouse - The Sequel) on hold. I'll just knit socks if given the opportunity. Have to be more disciplined about this!

Isn't this Fairytale Dress cute? I'd love to make it for my littlest granddaughter but she's so picky about clothes...there is more than a 85% chance she'd never wear it longer than for me to take her picture.

Isn't this a gorgeous Baby Surprise Jacket? For those that enjoyed the knits in The Golden Compass...here's a pattern for Lyra's most famous hat. This has to be the cutest cupcake hat I've ever seen! And a black cat hat!

Take a look at Colin's puppies! Can you imagine anything cuter?

Lynn has some gorgeous fraternal socks...Monstersocks! I wanna make a pair like those. Guess I need to make more regular ones so I have leftovers to work with! Or one could make an afghan out of sock yarn--NOT! But it's gorgeous! What a cute idea for a teapot cozy! I've been playing with the idea of special buttons on fulled items for awhile now.