August 8, 2007

Have You Ever....

Picked out a grafted toe? Talk about more fun than anyone can handle! NOT!!! The sock was indeed too small. So I picked it all out and frogged down to before the decreases and started again. It's okay--Keeps me off the streets and out of the bars. :::heavy sigh:::

Actually, I'm going to have to put it aside and work on the baby blanket anyway. I'm on a deadline for it. I'd like to have it done in two weeks so we can take it on the first day of school to the teacher who's daughter it is for.

Here's where I am so far. I need about 14 more rows of the top pattern and then another pattern and another color needs to be added.

On one of the Yahoo groups I'm on, Bits n Bobs, the original list owner is sick. A group is making a comfortghan for her. This is my square.

No rain yesterday, but heat and humidity. It was uncomfortable in the house unless a fan was blowing directly on you.

Check out here if you are interested in other hostess gifts. These are supposed to help prevent bruising of fruit in your purse or lunch bag.... What a useless piece of.....marketing.

June 6, 2007

Sock and three-quarters

Baby socks are so much fun. My DIL requested some MN Vikings socks for newest grandson's six month pictures. I finally put down the manly socks for my youngest son with huge feet in order to find a feeling of accomplishment for being able to finish a pair of socks! They'll be done today, washed, blocked and off in the mail in the morning to wing their way to Tennessee.

So that's how I spent most of my day yesterday, between fixing meals for grands, cleaning up the house and all that stuff!

We had chicken for dinner on Monday, so decided fresh rolls would be good with it. My grand daughter decided to help.

She managed to eat the small amount of dough that was supposed to be part of our dinner! It's a good thing I made too much as two of my sons made short work of half a pan of rolls! But, hot bread fresh from the oven is too good to pass up!

Here's the basic formulas <--click for all different kinds of heels. The last time I saw this chart, I didn't have a clue what it all meant. Now I do! Scroll down to see the final results of someone's self imposed challenge to click--> make a swift from materials at hand! Grey Panthers--it IS your grandmother's knitting! <--click If I had $1000 here's where I'd start spending it! <--click Sheer madness <--click that appears to be contagious. <--click A new sideways sock pattern. Looking for some good summer reading? Here's click--> books that include knitting in them. Gorgeous dyeing. Here's a tour of Ravelry.

June 4, 2007

Hats and Pirates

Again, as I sat and caught up on my evening TV the crochet hook and stray balls of yarn were transformed into a baby hat.

When I found a Meez on someone's blog, I had to go look. This one's for you Amy!

I got quite a bit done on my second manly sock. About half way through the heel flap now.

Not too much else went on over the weekend. My son took me grocery shopping. It's really a pain when there is never a car around for me to use.... But it's really expensive to maintain two cars and if I had one, I'd go out much more, spending more money, etc. Anyway, he and my grandson came over and we had a pleasant time doing the shopping. And I got to see my grandson!

Again, wasn't too much on the net today. Must be that summer has finally hit all over and people are out and about more.

Here's a neat sock pattern. And a no gauge mitten pattern for children. Black Purl socks using the Dublin Bay pattern.

June 2, 2007

Bitty Hat

I had a bit more "upstairs" time yesterday and managed to finish a whole baby hat. It's nice to complete a project in one sitting.

We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End <--click yesterday! Wow! It was great. Good story, gorgeous pirates (well some of them, anyway--however all of them were really dirty) and a surprise ending! I started watching Curse of the Black Pearl (Purl???) Last night. Cap'n Jack was comparatively well washed and groomed in that one.

Consequently, not much sock knitting got done. I did CO on the second sock and have about half the ribbing done while the kidlets were gone with their mom in the morning. Knitting while catching up on my click--> Netflix recordings of click--> Carnivale. I'm glad I'm able to watch them pretty much one episode after another. If I had had to wait a week between them, I don't think I could have followed the story as well. It's really creepy, so if you enjoy the supernatural, this is something to put on your list of things to watch.

Had a really bad reading day with my grand daughter on Thursday. Super frustration and all that on her part. We pretty much took the day off yesterday, too, in celebration of mom having a day off work and all. Will try to do some more today. However, on the upside, she's starting to puzzle things out in the "real world." While watching TV she just said, "I know how to spell way...w-a-y!" So that part of her brain is definitely picking on up on the connection and expanding her reading awareness to more than her word cards and readers.

There has always seemed to be this mild to nasty unease between crocheters and knitters. A recent post on a knitting list was entitled: Going to the dark side. The author was apologizing for learning and worse yet, liking crochet. Other authors have said things like: "Can I ask a crochet question? If not feel free to delete this." A few years ago, when a local bead store my daughter worked at was adding yarn to their inventory, the owner asked me about making stuff for display. When she learned I crocheted, she said, "Well, that's your first problem." I've often idly wondered why this is so. And the 1950s, 60s, and 70s had a great deal to do with it. Like this 50s click--> pattern. Don't these 2007 patterns <--click look a bit better? This is a bag I did for above mentioned store display.

It took the store owner several weeks to notice it was crocheted and fulled, not knitted and fulled. The yarn was Cascade 220 in case you're interested.

For any other TV addicts out there...miss any of your favorite shows? Here's the place to find them <--click and watch them again. I did break down and order the Trekking color 100 because of these socks. <--click I ordered from click--> The Knitter as they have free shipping. Have no idea how their service is, but if it's bad, you'll be sure to find out. (Funny how that works, isn't it?) Here is an interesting cable variation. <--click Neat photos <--click from an avid canner turned dyer. Still need almost 500 squares for the Rebuilding Greensburg <--click project. And for the gardeners. <--click

June 1, 2007

Hatz!

I finished the hat, and did another one!

I can crochet so much faster than knit! But that's pretty normal. It's a little bonnet type hat. Am finally finished with all my heel decreases and got quite a bit of the foot done on my man sock. Boy goes to his dad's house today, so will probably stop on this one and CO the next one so I can size them properly with try ons rather than guessing how long the foot should be!

Isn't this one funny!

And this is why I want to move back east! I'm so tired of the dessert!

I remember driving through Tennessee and Maryland and thinking how wonderful it would be to be in the cool greenness! (Yeah, I know there is humidity, heat and bugs....but let me have my fantasy!)

And for some Harry Potter content: A theme park is coming! This pic is from Harry and the Potters. They are a group that sings about books. I'm so excited to find they'll be here this month. I'm hoping I can get tickets for us all to go! You can go here <--click to listen to some of their music! I want a click--> Hagrid! And a pattern for House gloves! <--click

Don't these cookies <--click look good? I've been wanting to bake lately.... These socks <--click are just unbelievable! And here's some more gorgeous knitting <--click not to mention so fantastic photography! click--> Pretty yarn! The importance of checking errata! <--click Recycling yarn <--click can be beautiful!

May 31, 2007

Reading is FUNdamental

Reading is coming along very well. I think she got past the decoding hump and is pretty much able to read. Need to work through a few more basic short vowel sounds and then move on to long vowels, blends, diphthongs, etc. I went to the library and picked up a dozen or so easy readers for her. We read all the ones pictured above, one right after another.

I'd say she averaged about 90% of all the words without too much help. Those she didn't know were multi-syllabic or had long vowel sounds, silent letters, etc. Some she remembered do to repetition, some just were too much. But she puzzled her way through many of them and that's the key, as far as I'm concerned. When I told her to go to sleep last night, she said, "Yup! Cuz I have reading to do tomorrow!"

Consequently, not too much to report on the knitting front. I have about 8 more heel decreasing rounds to do. click--> Renate asked what kind of yarn I'm using: click--> KnitPicks Essentials Tweed; Flint. Did a couple rows on my log cabin scrapghan, too, while catching up on TV last night.

And we've completed day three of no TV during the day!

I'm gonna have to break down and order this sock yarn. It knits up so nicely with subtle color changes....

Not much else on the net today.... just another blog contest.

May 29, 2007

Sock Progress!!!!

Finally! I can report my normal progress in my sock knitting! I am about half way through the heel flap. If my day is slow today, maybe I'll get it done!

Started "home summer school" with my oldest grand daughter. We really want her to be able to read. She's so used to watch TV to fill her hours and I did really good on keeping it off most of the day. Turned it off by 10 am and it didn't come on again till around 4 pm. I think it was rougher on me than her!

We spent a couple hours working on words with the short a sound. Starfire <--click is probably the most fantastic site for teaching a child to read. I personally think phonetics is the way to learn to read. I know there are other different schools of thought, but this makes the most sense to me.

Anyway, she's running into the typical over achiever frustration. "Everyone else can do it without any effort, I should be able to do it, too." "I can't do it and I'm going to make everyone's lives as miserable as mine is cuz I can't do it." (This is actually a photo of her sleeping, not being frustrated!)

I remember going through the same kind of frustration learning to tie my shoes. I just couldn't understand why I couldn't do it. I'd been shown how and I still couldn't do it. Everyone else could do it.... (See why not being able to make fancy socks is such a drain on me? Everyone else can do it! Accepting shortcomings, even if only temporary, is very hard for me. I used to bulldoze my way through ______ and that generally ruined ______ for me. I never found the enjoyment in doing _____ after learning it that way. Learning to sit down, take a deep breath and try again is not my forte!) Knitting has taught me to do it, but I don't have to like it!

Let's see what I found skipping through the computer cable today:

Here's another click---> Cap'n Jack for Amy! Some of the click--> cutest knitted toys I've every seen! These have to be the click--> definitive Dobby socks if there ever were some! And more socks! Rainbow ones! <--click This is one of the most click-->gorgeous shawls I've ever seen. I have a similar crocheted one

I know the style "stays on" due to the way the front drapes. What's nice about this knitted pattern is it has it's own generator, so you can use any yarn, needles, etc. I can't visualize how it's done, so it may be I need to play with it. (Always looking for an excuse to start something new!)

May 28, 2007

Sock revival

I frogged the sock back to the cuff and started over again. And I got more done yesterday than I'd accomplished in all of it's previous incarnations! As this is for "the boy"

they have to be longer than I like my socks. So these, regardless of giving up the pattern will still take longer.

I worked on the newest hat for Michelle, and I'd say it's just about half done. May finish it tonight, tomorrow night for sure.

There was a plea on one of the knitting boards for help on how to control UFOs. Here's what I said:

Make a list of your UFOs. Get rid of any you really don't want to finish. Now, decide on a arbitrary length of time: one hour, ten hours, a week, whatever. Pick up the first UFO on your list and work on it for that amount of time. Put it aside, and go to the second one. Continue down the list in that manner.

You'll feel better as each one is in line to be worked on and you know you'll do it. Once you get your list down to a manageable number, allow yourself the option of starting a new project every time you finish a UFO.

That way you keep finishing things, and know you'll be able to start something new soon. If at any time during the process you decide you don't want to finish an item, frog and rewind the yarn. No guilt. Just do it so you have yarn for another project.

For some people the joy is in tackling a new project. To learn a new technique, use a new yarn, etc., and they are really not interested in finishing the item. If this is you, accept it. Know that any large projects are probably not going to get finished and adjust your expectations accordingly. No guilt.

And from around the web:

Scroll down to the bumper sticker. Smoking Socks! Sweet Teddy Bear. Really neat idea for a purse handle. Lots and lots of sock porn! I couldn't have made it up! A Harry Potter Read-a-Long. For Kimba: Have you tried dyeing your own fabrics?

And why we have children!

May 27, 2007

Hookin'

I put down my needles yesterday and picked up my hook. These are squares for Rebuilding Greensboro.<--click Crocheting is sooooooooooo much faster than knitting and I wanted to get as many done as I could while watching -->click Carnivale. I've watched four episodes and it's getting weirder and weirder (in a good way).

Not much knitting done, although I finished up another block on my log cabin scrap ghan. I also cast on another hat for Michelle. Just a simple one, bigger size. Right now it's bright yellow, but I'll probably stripe it or something!

I'm trying to decide if I should frog the RPM Sock <---click and just do a plain vanilla sock. I keep finding excuses for not knitting. I think I've discovered that complicated sock knitting (which is anything beyond plain click---> vanilla socks) is just not going to be my forte. Or....it could be a stress producing situation that is coming up in mid-June for me. I obsess on things for a long time before they happen. I think the stress thing is a contributing factor. That's why all the brain dead knitting, i.e., log cabin scrap ghan is working so well for me right now. Let you know tomorrow what I decide.

I found out my daughter is again working seven days a week, so I'm not sure when we'll get to see the new Pirates! :::whine::::

This may have to just hold me over! (You're welcome, Amy!)

I know some of you may find it hard to believe, but 350+ days of blue sky and sunshine can get really boring. Here's some pics of click---> WEATHER! It's gorgeous and I'd love to see it here. We need moisture, but it's so dark. Our worse storms never look that good!

On that same vein.... there has to be something really wrong when one has to wear winter clothes <--click because it's too cold at work in the summer!

You just can't beat click---> good photography--especially when it includes yarn!

Twisted Sisters <---click has a new book coming out. I love their sock book. Now if I only knit sweaters!

Cute socks! <--click Spinners may want to check out click---> this blog! And here's some wonderful eye candy <---click for spinners.

Crocheters! Here's a ton of books and mags <---click for sale or trade!

And here's a bunch of miscellaneous Harry Potter stuff. More than you can shake a wand at!

May 26, 2007

I ran away from home

F called me early in the morning inviting me to run away from home for the day! As it was, I was free and accepted the invitation. We had a delightful day of sittin', knittin' and solving the problems of the world! And one quick trip to a yarn sale! At this time, the proposed use for this is slipper stockings for Christmas presents to be dyed after being knitted. Who knows for sure what it'll really be used for! "Why was I free?" you ask? It was my oldest son's 27th birthday. He's disabled and lives with is dad. And for many of the understandable reasons created by divorce, I don't go to his dad's house. But the birthday boy had fun... As did the grand daughters:

Yesterday was also my granddaughter's last day of kindergarten. So, the long summer begins..... I'm going to have to come up with some kind of loose schedule to help keep her doing more than watching TV.... And I really am going to try to follow my resolve of not having the TV on during the day. Of course that'll only work on the days her mother isn't home....

I worked some on my log cabin blanket yesterday while visiting with F. But it wasn't a big knitting day for me. I hope to get more done on the sock, but am finding having to do the counting to keep the spiral pattern is something I need to do when not too distracted.

So, I picked up a few interesting things today:

Diva Knitting is having a contest with yarn as the prize!

And check out this "Jumper Board" (sweater blocker to those of us not "down under")!

Over 800 squares are still needed to for the Rebuilding Greensburg project! I mailed mine in this week, but may make a few more. And remember crochet squares are welcome.

An answer to the often asked question: How do I count rows?

Today is the last day to sign up for the Summer of Socks KAL! I did. Did you?

This Teddy Bear Sweater pattern is really cute!

Look at this gorgeous yarn....then scroll down to the beautiful stole!

New sock patterns on the market...pay and download! How's that for instant gratification?

May 23, 2007

Playing Catch-Up

Jules B tagged me, but I have this:

I didn't get much knitting done yesterday. We ran a lot of errands, starting at 8:00 AM which is why I didn't blog yesterday. Ran to the courthouse to get some copies of documents, ran to the library to get Diana Gabaldon's Outlander on CD. I adore this series of books. I especially love the narrator, Davina Porter. If you've not read/listened to these historical romances, I strongly recommend them. The first one is kind of a bodice ripper romance, but after that they get really good. Great summer reading/listening! To be perfectly honest, I learned to knit because of these books. In them, the romantic lead, Jamie, knits socks. His wife, Claire, can't knit. Jamie explains that all Scots children learn to knit socks. Now, there isn't a lot of reference to fiber arts in these books, as they are told in first person by Claire who is very deficient in these skills, but they are mentioned.

We also went to see Shrek the Third . I liked it, although the reviews aren't all that hot. If you've got kids, go see it. If you're an adult Shrek fan, you can wait till it come out on video if your movie budget is small.

On the sock front: I did get my son to try on the sock and it looks like a good fit. So I'll be working on that full time now during the days.

Here's some neat things I've found while surfing the net:

There's been discussion again on DPN storage. Some non-knitting sites were suggested which is like a 99 cent store on line, and .

For those that have made the EZ Baby Surprise, is this the basic idea of it?

A nice slip stitch felted bag. Would be great for yarns that tend to pool when knit up.

These socks also address the pooling issue with a slip stitch pattern

Isn't this a gorgeous shawl? Lace knitters get my admiration!

Joe has finished up his color block sweater. Scroll on down for the pics

Here's an almost invisible increase for st st.

A small boy's wonder at a caterpillar

More foot candy!

And from the "I couldn't make it up" category: