Sunday, October 24, 2010

Too Little Time...

And too much to do. The green socks are finished. They are for a December birthday. The Mystery socks are stalled. There still are 2 Christmas stockings to be knit. I realized that there is a family birthday on Tuesday 10/26 and I had no gift. Although I won't see her until later, I should be finished by then.

The pattern is being written. There was great frustration with the chart making program I've been using for ages. I have a couple of other options, but they either wouldn't handle a 6 stitch cable or mis-behaved in other ways. Credit card was pulled out and a new program was purchased. I've been thinking about this one for quite a while and finally caved. It makes nice charts and automatically has the legend for the symbols. There are a couple of things I don't like about the printed images, but I think that's part of the learning curve.

The remodelers have finished one room and boxes of cone yarn are being moved in. I'm not in a hurry for the other 2 rooms, as long as progress continues.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Knit, knit, knit, frog, frog, knit

Remodeling is almost finished. The bathroom is back together and everything works! At one time it looked like this. The tub is full of insulation. The medicine cabinet has a hole in the back.

Insulation was applied to the walls, and drywall replaced plaster. The contractor left and DH was to finish the job. They did replace the toilet before they left.

Dry wall in progress. The yellow part is the chimney. I don't seem to have a more current picture of that room, but it has the same blue walls and tile floor as the rest.

Last week the bath looked like this. The plumber disassembled everything and replaced the drum trap in the floor. I may have said that we had to replace some floor boards because of old damage and this was the time to replace the trap and put new floor over all. It also let us (DD doing the work) tile under the tub. It's all together now. Baseboards are in. It just needs 1/4 round pieces at the bottom of the baseboards.

You may notice the faucets changed on the tub. During reinstallation, the overflow piece was replaced and the new faucets on the tub didn't fit any more. Does anyone want a new faucet set with 7" centers?

We tiled the whole floor and the stairs with the same tile. I'll get more pictures as we move back in.

Back to the knitting

The white socks took 2nd place in the accessories category of the guild competition. My friend Ginny wore her socks (from the same mystery pattern) to the meeting and entered something else. My other 2 entries did not win prizes. I expected this as my best designs live elsewhere.

The fairisle socks for DH have been frogged and reknitting commenced. They were a little tight and a lot short, so I went up one size and am making a longer length. Toe up socks are hard when you don't know how much length the gusset and heel take. I still like how they are working up.

Yesterday was a 3 heel day. Two mystery socks are finished through clue 3 and the 2nd green sock reached the same spot. The sock blockers stand up nicely with their toes in the dirt. I'm anxious to finish the green socks because I have Christmas stockings to knit and remodel. More on that when I start the work.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Guess what, more socks

The white socks were finished on Sept. 30. They will be entered in our knitting guild competition tomorrow.

Last weekend I attended an all day workshop taught by Melissa Leapman. The morning was devoted to edges, from fairly basic hems to fringes knit in one piece with the garment. In the afternoon, we learned about circular cables.

The remodeling continues. A plumber is coming tomorrow to fix a leak in the bathroom and replace the drum trap with an "S" trap. The floor boards need replacing in that area, so the tub will be moved to do the job. We'll need new supply pipes and drain fixed so that the tub will be usable with the luan and tile under it (added thickness). The trap was going to stay, but it will be under the new floor. All it takes is more money.

October sock knitting

Mystery Sock by Kirsten Kapur in Jojoland Melody may not be finished this month. The last clue comes out on Oct. 29. WE have 2 clues, and I have lengthened the leg by one repeat to a more comfortable length. These will likely be a gift.

Green socks for Ravelry Solid Socks and SKA under appreciated pattern, These are from a vintage pattern, knit in Knit Picks Essentials yarn. They will go to a grandson with a December birthday.

The last pair of Ram Club Socks for DH. I may actually have enough yarn. I using the numbers for the smallest size, and they fit his large feet. I'm using the medium length. Oddly enough, my gauge matches the pattern before blocking. These were supposed to be for the SKA group, but the pattern wasn't available to the public by July 1.

We saw quilting daughter for dinner last night at her favorite local restaurant chain. She flew in from Florida to spend some time with her DH, who is in NE Ohio with his truck full of motorcycles. He's off to Delaware in a few days and she'll be going home. We probably won't see her again this trip.