Knitting update

Christmas gifts can now be shown. There was a pair of leg warmers. I had told DD that they were "a nose warmer for an elephant". She had to ask!!


There were dishcloths/facecloths.

And more dishcloths/facecloths.









And a new hat for running in cold weather, made at the last minute.




I also have finished those crazy socks, but they won't be gifted until some time in January.

Empty

Empty is what I was feeling on Christmas Eve. I had plenty to do. I went to a %:00 church service where grand children played Christmas carols as part of the service. I went to my son's house for a gathering of his wife's family. I came home and walked the dog. She was very enthusiastic and made me smile. I ended the day/started the new day by going to Midnight Mass at our church, something I haven't done for years. At 2:00 I fell into bed. I missed having a certain special someone to share it with. Together we wouldn't have done so much, but we had each other. I relish the new freedom, but it's lonely sometimes.

Christmas morning I opened the stocking Santa left me. I hadn't hung stockings because my living room was full of boxes of books that belonged in my bedroom. This was the view earlier in the week while the ceiling was being textured and painted.

Saturday night while I was out, the family moving crew came and dug out the living room and moved many boxes upstairs to the room the contents belonged in. My bedroom is finished for now, and all furniture is in place. The blinds are back on the windows. The TV is back on the wall. The bed is against the wall where it belongs. I've started emptying boxes and putting books away. Many books will be donated to our library book sale.There is much work still to be done, but the remodeling part is finished.

Later in the day I went to daughter Jen's house for Christmas dinner and associated festivities with her husband's relatives. Today all my available children gather at son John's house for our family Christmas. Holding  the family get together on a separate day lets everyone see each other. It's also pajama day at that house, so there will be some of those in evidence.

It was a fairly subdued gathering. with fewer gifts than some years. Part of that was due to fewer available people. I got a number of odd food things like carrot and spinach chips, and chocolate covered pretzels. All this can be saved and eaten over time. Even the dog got a gift of a toy, which was made with the help of the grandkids, It is a tennis ball with poly fleece handles for tugging and chewing on. She seems to like it.

A Construction Zone

That's my bedroom at the moment. Usually, my DD Jan puts everything back together at the end of each work day. Today started a little late and continued until completion, after dinner. She was priming walls and ceilings. The walls in the closet area had been wall papered and soaked up the primer.Everything took longer than she had figured on.

I was having a blah day. I suggested grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, with bacon and tomato. I'd pick up the tomato on my way home from the gym. I got off to a slow start, slow getting out of bed, slow getting breakfast made. And so it went. I couldn't decide what I wanted for breakfast, so i kept knitting on the sock. The heel got finished, which was good. Finally I went off to the gym, my usual Tuesday morning activity.

Most days, I have meals planned ahead. I know today what I'm eating tomorrow. Today I finally decided to make a pancake. With  a just add water mix, I can get the batter quantity down so there are no leftovers. Dinner was Tuna Helper, and we ate enough so that what is left will be part of tomorrows lunch. We'll have Scotch Broth soup from Kristin Nicholas's recipe. It comes out of the freezer tonight.

My Holiday break from work begins at 5:00 tomorrow. There is a Mass being said for my husband at 5:30 pm. We'll both go, come home to a quick dinner, and she'll be off to spend the night with a friend.

There are a couple of small gifts still to be knit, and a pair of felted slippers, which may not be delivered until February. If I get them done quickly, I'll mail the gifts to that family, but they'll be here in February.

'Tis the Season

I've finished all the gifts for next weekend. Out of town people are coming in later. I still need to wrap gifts and mail a package to Illinois. They'll open it as soon as it comes, so I don't send it too early.

Festivities started today with grandchildren in a children's service at their church. Dad is a tuba player, usually playing unseen in the balcony behind us. He has a snowflake on the tuba bell that lights up (battery maybe?)

Then the children came in and sang carols.


Then came the explanation of the history and meaning of Christmas. My favorite letters were:

M is for Manger, and






A is for Angels. At the end, the letters spelled out CHRISTMAS.









I've knit some dishcloths for a gift.

And more dishcloths for another gift. Each one is a different stitch pattern, so they're really like large swatches. I think I'll do some more of them for future gifts.

I do have socks on the needles. The entrelac socks are proceeding apace. They'll be a January birthday gift. The blue socks are a little bigger, but they mostly sit unknit. Their turn will come.

We have snow on the ground, so it looks like it will be a white Christmas. I wish everyone Happy Holidays.

Family Cookie Fest

I forgot to say that I also had a birthday party, thrown by my knitting friends at our regular Thursday night get together. They bought cupcakes and candles and sang Happy Birthday to me. A very nice surprise!

Saturday night my neighbor held a Christmas party for the neighborhood. It was scheduled for 4-6 pm, so I left work a little early to give me more time at the party. I usually work until 5:00. I met a few new people. One was the fiancee of a woman down the street. I just hadn't met him yet. The other was a newcomer to the street. She's single, retired, and new to the area. She's looking for women to do things with when she gets back from Florida. Her children now live here, so she moved from Atlanta. We exchanged phone numbers, I'll hear from her when she comes back.


Sunday afternoon was our family cookie baking party. It was at my daughter Jen's house. It's a good thing that her house absorbs people well. It was pretty full! She invited extended family and friends. There were about 12 children under the age of 10. They were too busy to cookie bake, or the kitchen was too full of adults! Extended family included my sister with her husband and adult daughter, my husband's cousin with three of his daughters and a granddaughter. Jen's sister-in-law with 3 daughters and assorted friends, my son with wife and two children, my daughter Jan and her SO.

Supplies were stacked on the counter one foot high. The table was covered. There was a spare table in the living room for processing things like no-bake cookies, which need to be formed before they cool and harden. The area to the right is the stove, where many of the no-bake cookies were put together. The oven and microwave out out of the picture to the right.

She had loads of food to eat. As college teachers with many grad students, they know how to feed a crowd and buy much of what they need from the local grocery store catered sandwiches section.

Cookies are shared with all present and I came home with some frozen lasagna and some chili.I still have to make a pot of chili for Jan's lunch tomorrow, so I will have lots in the freezer when I'm done.

Knitting progresses. I'm making dishcloths for gifts and am working on the third one. The entrelac sock has a heel and the foot is growing. The blue sock is a little bigger. My sister brought her knitting because she had a problem with her sock. I helped her turn the heel. The heel flap was already knit. Her daughter wants to knit a hat like one she owns. I'll send her info about Ravelry and Knitty. She lives a couple of hours from me, so in person help is hard to do. Grandchild knitting will happen on a quieter day. DGD Erin stopped while getting dressed one day to inspect a sweater I had knit her and try to figure out how I had done the stitches. I think we will have a real knitter in a few years.

A very nice birthday

Wednesday was my birthday, the first that I have celebrated alone in my life. By alone, I mean no mother or husband to orchestrate a celebration. DH always remembered, but never did a big celebration, so quiet was to be expected. Actually, this one was more festive than many. I worked all day, then was taken out for dinner. Some of my children decided that I needed to experience Ethiopian cooking. DH was a meat and potatoes guy, but I'm more adventurous. We had a great meal, a meat and veggie sampler, eaten with what someone called rubber bread, tasty rubber bread. I got some phone calls and even had a gift to open. One of my Florida daughters sent me a gorilla tripod for my camera.

I have finished the socks for DGS and will deliver them tomorrow. It is family cookie day and his parents will be there, even if he has to work. The family gets together and does lots of cookies and them divides up the results. The sock pattern is from an old Stahl Socka book. It's fairly simple, but the dark yarn and user brain cramps made for some mistakes and ripping. All is well now!

I have started two more pairs of socks. The blue ones are for me. They fulfill a requirement for the Socktopia group on Ravelry and are my own design. I'll write up the pattern soon. I've called them Techtonic because they look like an earthquake has hit them.

The other pair is for Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry and will be a gift. They fulfill both the entrelac technique category and the left over yarn category. I'm using six different yarns left over from other socks.

I have decided to knit dishcloths for Christmas presents  and have finished two of them. No pictures yet.

We have had snow, but today, we actually have a little left on the ground at the end of the day. You almost can see it on the grass. The wool socks, hat, and mittens come in handy. I made new mittens last year and really love them. They replaced a worn out pair and coordinate with my hat and scarf.

Yes, There Has Been Knitting Recently

A few posts ago, I showed the start of a pair of socks. they will be a Christmas present for DD#1. The yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, a bamboo/cotton/elastic blend. The pattern is called Hypnosis by Janel Laidman from her Eclectic Sole book. I made them longer than she made hers. I do like a longer leg and ether was plenty of yarn.

I'm almost finished with  a birthday pair of socks for a grandson. The pattern is from an old Socka book. I was looking for something simple. The dark yarn offers enough challenges. It's Knit Picks Stroll, and I don't like the yarn. It's very splitty. I've used their yarn before, but the last couple of times have not been fun.I won't be buying it again.

I finished the front of my tree bark sweater and started the collar. It's in time out right now, while I finish the sleeves. A large collar is called for, and will be smaller if I run short on yarn. I should be all right, but I inherited this batch from my other, who died in 1988. She probably got it on sale as discontinued. It's a nice sport weight wool called Pomfret from Brunswick.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I had a field trip with my daughter and her kids to our Natural History Museum. They showed me how woefully inadequate is my dinosaur knowledge. This is the newest exhibit, an Allosaurus from the Jurassic period. We looked at the bones to see which ones were real, and which were replacements for missing bones. To the right of this one is a Haplocanthosaurus, which is twice as tall.

The kids showed off their knowledge of astronomy at the planetarium show. We were lucky to be there when they feed the wild animals they have rescued, so we learned about the bobcats, foxes and otters. As museum members, they had seen the animals, but had missed the feeding and talks about different behaviors.We had to see the beetle display and find the anomaly. One of these things is not like the others.

The trip ended with climbing on the Stegasaurus, a real favorite activity.

A Day to Give Thanks

With two deaths in the family this fall, it's been hard emotionally. Today is a day to look at the good in my life.

• For over 50 years, I had a good partner in my life, (almost 50 of them we were married.).
• My wonderfully supportive and loving children, who have gathered around for family support.
• My sister Carol, who had a rough start at married life, but she and her two children found a good man and a good life.
• My sister Beth who found her man on a blind date and they're still together.
• Family gatherings like Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's house.
• My house is paid for and remodeling continues, with most of the work being done by family members.
• My friends, mostly knitting ones.
• My weight loss. I started after Easter, and am reaching the end. I've dreamed of this for years, and finally found something that works for the rest of my life.
• Not to forget my dog. I am never alone in my house.
• My yarn stash. I can knit for a long time without spending money on yarn. Buying yarn is optional.
• A freezer full of good food that I have cooked over time. Cooking is optional, although I've done a lot of it recently.
• My new iPhone acquired when my last phone went swimming and drowned. I'm still learning about all that it can do.

What can I say?

Another death in the family

Last month it was my husband: 9/8/1941-10/13/2011. He had been among the walking wounded for years. Then he caught pneumonia and was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was too much.

At the same time, my sister was also fighting cancer. She went in the hospital for her final treatment, and got pneumonia. Her body struggled with it from the end of September and finally lost the battle.

My sister Carol: 3/31/1945-11/18/2011.

 We lived at opposite sides of the country, and weren't as close as we would have liked to be.

Thankfully, there are no more known illnesses in the family. I have my children, their spouses, and my one remaining sister to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I really don't know what to say!
word seem so inadequate.

Random Thoughts

Both soups were yummy, and I have more Scotch Broth in the freezer. Today, DD and I had tuna fish salad sandwiches. My next cooking project will be meatloaf patties. Cook as needed!I think my solution to cooking for one, is don't. Just cook as usual and package for one. Some things can be cooked to a certain point, put aside, and finished when ready to eat.

I'm getting used to my new computer room, across the hall from my bedroom. It was handy when I woke up the other night and couldn't get back to sleep. Things like the printer don't work like they used to, but they work. The family computer gurus will be in again soon, to do more work like replacing cables with new ones.

I'm getting used to my new iPhone. Did I say that my last phone drowned? There have been some problems with installing e-mail and with my contact list, but they seem to be straightened out now. It helps to have family with iPhone knowledge. I find it interesting that my Bluetooth now has customized ring tomes, so I know who is calling. That is a new to me feature.

I lost my weight/food tracking program when I lost my phone, so went with My Fitness Pal on the recommendation of my daughters. The phone version has a bar code reader, which may come in handy. Since Easter, I have been losing weight by eating smaller portions and exercising more. Tracking shows me progress and helps with nutrition.

Knitting progress - I have a few photos.

The tree bark sweater progresses. I hope I have enough yarn. If not, I'll knit it again on larger needles. I might be able to make it smaller too.

I have a secret project I call a nose warmer for an elephant. It is my purse knitting, being a stockinette tube, just knit round and round.




These socks are from Crystal Yarn Palace Panda Cotton. The pattern is called Hypnosis by Janel Laidman.

I also have a pair of men's socks in Burgundy, but not much progress yet.

Cooking for One

and one, and one. This afternoon was spent in the kitchen. DD Jan missed out on a delicious soup for two that took longer to cook than I had planned for. I hadn't read the part where it said to cook for one hour before adding the last ingredients. It's a vegetable and pasta soup. The trouble with meals for two is that instead of leftover meal, you have left over ingredients. I have made the soup again, through the cook for one hour part. She'll be here on Tuesday, and I will heat it up and add the last pieces.

I also made a big pot of Scotch Broth Soup, with lamb, veggies, and barley. The taste reminds me of Campbell's Scotch Broth, which I hear is discontinued. It made enough for 8 meals, 6 of which will go in the freezer. DD Jan was talking about how I'm eating a lot of lamb. "Did Dad not like lamb?" He liked it, but it seems to be more of a winter food, in addition to being more expensive than some other meats. I recently ordered lamb curry in an Indian restaurant and also bought and ate some lamb chops, which prompted the question.

Before the gym, this morning, I went to my son's house for breakfast. We were in the habit of going out for breakfast once a month, but when he took a look at his current finances, he suggested eating at home. He and his wife made pancakes, bacon, and a scrambled egg casserole. Last month they came to our house, and his Dad enjoyed it thoroughly. It made more sense for me to do the traveling this time. No need to try to keep things warm in transit.

I'll be reading/listening to King Lear in the near future. DGD Luci will be studying it in school this year. It is one of those things I know a lot about, but don't think I every read it and know I never saw it. I remember that the library has a section of audio books of Shakespeare plays. I think the audio will be closer to a staged version. I'll look for a video also. This is a case where the printed page has limitations. I may also read the play from the book I inherited from my mother.

This morning, Luci was deep into a copy of  Les Miserables that I gave her last week for her birthday.. It seems she loves old books. The first thing she did with my gift was to open it up and smell it. She loves the smell of books. The one I gave her, I had bought as a teenager and just read recently.

Moving On

I feel like a lump in the middle of a whirlwind. So much has happened and so much is happening. I'm somewhat numb, while things whirl around me.

This last week was a little hectic. Saturday I worked and had nothing scheduled in the evening except peace and quiet. Sunday morning I had breakfast with our son and his wife's family at the Gunny Hall. Then I went to the gym and came home and baked cornbread for a neighborhood chili cook off. Monday was work and DSon came over to look at wine making supplies. His father in law has a friend who is interested. Also on Mondya morning, my cell phone jumped out of my pocket into the toilet. It drowned. Phone calls to DD Julie, whose plan I am now on resulted, ultimately in a new phone. Tuesday was gym time again, then off to the phone store to get a new iPhone, a big upgrade from what I had! Then I had to get DH's car title changed to my name so I could give it to DGS Craig. He needs to get the title in his name and then I will take the car off my insurance. He's been driving it for about 3 weeks now, since before DH died. Wednesday was a calm day, just work. Thursday was gym and then to the bank to add a signature to my business account now that I had all the paperwork. We tried to add e-mail to my new phone, and messed up my e-mail account. That took a while to straighten out. It's still not on my phone, we plan to try gmail and forward all other mail to that, knowing that gmail will work on the phone. Thursday night, a huge amount of wine making supplies left the house. The wine bottles are on the front porch and will be recycled. The large jugs were sold. I went to the knitting group at my LYS, DSon handled the wine stuff. Whew!


DD Jan is still working on patching walls and painting, causing movement of things that belong in the various rooms. She finished one small, but important room. The furniture from that room was blocking movement in the hall, so other rooms couldn't be put together. My knitting books are slowly being put back on shelves. There are new shelves for the magazines. I've had to move DH's clothes out of his closet in order to patch and paint it. They have left the house and may fit some of the men in the family. Mostly they will be donated to charity.

Today the computers are to be moved from the basement where the family room used to be. They will go in an upstairs bedroom. Eventually, one computer will be eliminated since there is only one of me.

DD Julie is the family finance expert, and has been making phone calls to various people on my behalf. Everyone in the family is rethinking insurance coverage, car, house, health etc. What worked before may not be the best for my future.

Knitting continues, mostly on my tree bark sweater. I have a couple of small projects also, including 2 pairs of socks, and something I'm calling a nose warmer for an elephant.

The weather is getting colder. At early morning dog walk time, it was 37 degrees, and there are lots of leaves on the ground. High temps are in the 50's. Tonight I think I will be home alone. Tomorrow I'll go to DSon's for breakfast, go to the gym and come home to make soup. I have 2 varieties planned. Chop, chop, stir, stir, and knit while it cooks.

Now for the rest of my life

I dropped off the face of the earth earlier this month. My husband died October 13.

He had been in poor health for years with heart and lung problems. He got pneumonia and we thought we had that beat when he came home the end of September. We were wrong! He went back to the hospital 3 days later. All of our out of town children were able to get here in time and stayed through the funeral. We are now picking up the pieces.

I have a wonderful family for support. They all are doing things, sometimes with a speed that surprises me. Home remodeling continues and rooms are actually being finished.

I will be working on the cooking for one problem. I don't mind leftovers, especially on the days that I work. I'm glad I still have my dressmaking shop. I can't imagine sitting home alone every day. So far, my days off have been filled with things to do. Today I went to the gym, saw a doctor for a problem thumb, installed a new cd player at the shop with DD Jan's help, and picked up my husband's ashes. He is sitting on my dining room table, waiting for the thank you note party Friday night. We'll be eating Chinese, writing thank yous, and moving things into newly painted rooms. I'm not sure what else will happen when the people gather.

Knitting
I finished the purple socks, The yarn is from Crystal Palace. Blue beads bought locally. Pattern from Knitty.com, it's Rolling Thunder by Sivia Harding.

Bad and good

Well, I finished the chartreuse socks. A large portion was knit while sitting in the hospital with DH.
He went into the hospital on September 21 with pneumonia and a broken wrist suffered a few days before. We thought that the wrist was only sprained. He got out Sept. 30 and came home wiith oxygen tank in tow. That was Friday. He was slowly getting better.

On Monday, I got a call at work, that his breathing was worse and to come home immediately to watch the dog. He'd called 911. TheEMTs arrived shortly after I got home and did not get attacked by the dog defending her master.

Back at the hospital, he ended up on a breathing machine. That helped take the stress off his heart.

He was sedated, so he was not in pain and was asleep all the time. By Friday, they reduced the sedation and he began to wake up. He's now awake and frustrated that he can't talk due to the tubes down his throat. They're trying to wean him from the machine, but it's a slow process.

Luckily, our son works at a different hospital complex in the heart department, so is a little more knowledgeable about heart/lung issues. Also, his MIL died of heart problems a year or so ago. He sometimes asks better questions and he is the one to track down doctors to get answers.

Back to knitting
The green socks are a mystery pattern for SKA last month, called Watercress. The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Spring Tickle color. This pattern had to be knit in chartreuse to count for prizes this month.


I'm on to the October challenge. I'm doing beads and texture other than knit purl rib. The pattern is called Rolling Thunder by Sivia Harding, published in Knitty.com. The beads don't show well in this photo, they're light blue clear. The cuff has rows of thunderbirds and the rest of the sock is a garter rib. Yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Soyin Positive Purple color.

I'm still working on the feed only one person problem. Two of my daughters are alone much of the time, so I've asked them for advice. Today we have one solution to the problem of how to make one slice of french toast. DD is coming to paint bedrooms today. (One might actually be finished) She wants to eat french toast for lunch. I use raisin bread and top it with cinnamon. She lives alone and hasn't had french toast in a long time. I'll make 3-4 slices.

Last night when I got home, I made hamburger helper. The meat had been defrosted when DH was home, so needed to be used. I'll get 4 more meals from that, so won't have to think about cooking for a while. I don't mind leftovers and often freeze portions of large recipes, but most of that is winter food, and the weather is not winter like here right now. By the time I get it worked out, DH will be home.

Life got in the Way

A number of things happened since I last posted.

DH turned 70 and a party was held. Family friends, out of town relatives. it was great! The kids organized it and brought the cake, with 70 candles. He needed help to blow them out.

After that, he managed to get pneumonia and is now in the hospital. He also broke a wrist, which we thought was only sprained. Stubborn guy didn't want to go to get it checked out. The wrist happened a few days before his breathing got bad, so it was a week until someone declared it broken.


I've joined a gym! Our city has a fitness center with a track and Nautilus machines as well as the usual cardio machines. I am only working 4 days a week (M, W, F, Sat), so I can go to the gym the other 3 days. It's working out well and I feel more energetic.



I seem to have finished two pairs of socks that didn't make the blog. DGD Ana has very small feet and a September birthday.. Her socks are knit mainly form Patons Kroy. The contrast yarn isn't as contrasty as I would like. It's left over from the socks I knit for DD.

My Stealth Knitting has been gifted. DD the remodeler got socks. She loves socks. These are knit from Grundl Four Seasons yarn that I got on sale a few years ago. The pattern doesn't show up much, I'll reknit it in a better yarn before releasing to the public.



I finished another SKA challenge. This month it was chartreuse or one of the specified designers. I had no chartreuse yarn, so chose a designer, Janneke Maat. I've been looking at her Aragorn Socks for quite a while.I used some Sushi sock that I got from The Unique Sheep in a man's sock club. The color and yardage wouldn't work for DH, so now it's mine. I had knit the club pattern in another yarn.

A friend offered some chartreuse yarn to me. She had 3 different skeins in sock weight. I chose Dream in Color Smooshy in Spring Tickle. The Dream in Color website is being remodeled, so I hope this works. The SKA Mystery Sock is growing. The patter is called Watercress by Lise Brackbill. I'll finish the first sock today.

Breakfast time! I'm having trouble cooking for one right now. Lack of time contributes. DD will be here later to work on the remodeling. I'm making Roasted Tomato Soup that I found in a Cooking for Two cookbook.

Things are better now

The electrician finished his work and everything works as expected, finally. We have a new kitchen ceiling. It still needs priming and painting. Since this picture, it was textured and a new fan was installed over the stove. The texture picture shows the other end of the kitchen.

Worker damage
The man who did the texture work really seems to know what he is doing on ceilings. However, in other things, not so much. In helping install the fan, he stepped on the top of my stove bending the center and damaging the surface. Luckily our contractor could repair the bend. It took him a couple of hours to dis-assemble the stove top, straighten it, and put it together again, hours which were deducted from texture man's pay. It's not a new stove and chances of getting a new top were slim. We're relatively happy with the repair. At least everything still works.

DH and DD have been running tv cable through the walls of all rooms were we will want a tv. this, of course, has resulted in language I didn't want to hear, multiple trips to Radio Shack for supplies, new tools, and finally, success. We will have connections like this in 3 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, and basement. We don't have that many tvs, but the thinking is to do it now, before insulating the house.

Ideally, all wires should be in place before we get insulation blown into the walls, making the house snug and cozy for winter. That is why the flurry of activity in electricity and tv cables. The electricity needed doing, the tv cable was more optional. Our neighbor insulated a couple of years ago, and cut his heating bill in half. We cut ours in half by installing new windows, now we'll cut it again. Next year we'll put siding on the house, and stop spending money like a drunken sailor. We expect it to pay for itself in about 5 years.

Knitting
I seem to have missed showing off the latest pairs of birthday socks. For my son-in-law with the large feet, I extended the yarn by adding color to the leg. I still need to write the pattern, but I have the charts for the leg done. The pattern will offer a number of options for the leg portion of the sock. This man really loves my socks, because they fit!

In addition, I knit a pair for DD the remodeler. I know I didn't show them there, because she reads the blog. Because of the yarn colors, I used a simple pattern. It still doesn't show up well in the photos. The "in progress" photo shows the pattern, k2, p2 ribbing offset every 6 rows. Unfortunately, this doesn't show well in the later photos.

This is the daughter who shrunk a couple of things earlier this year. The socks were not supposed to shrink, the wrist warmers were wool, but she forgot. I won't be using that yarn for socks again. All gift socks are now being knit with bullet proof yarn. The brown socks are Patons Kroy 4 ply with Regia contrast. The other socks are Grundl Four Seasons. I seem to need 25% nylon for gift socks. Even the careful people occasionally find socks coming out of their dryer. Maybe my sister will get some fancier yarn. I know she hangs sock to dry, and is a sock knitter.

The tree bark sweater is up to the "armholes" in back, there being no armholes, just a square piece. I slowed down on it because I realized that another birthday looms, and the recipient is back in town. She took off for parts unknown (kids!!) but is now back. The socks would be finished now, but I knit the first foot on leg needles, which were too large. Reknitting commences within minutes. Luckily these are the smallest adult feet in the family. Main color is Patons Kroy 4 ply, contrast is left from above socks. There was more dark color in the variegated yarn than I expected, so not the best contrast. I'll choose better colors and knit another pair before I release the pattern.

I will write patterns for both pairs of socks, but will delay release until I have samples that better show the stitch patterns. This may be the winter for reknitting patterns that have been on hold. I also have a number of them where the original socks were black, again not a good choice for photos.