New Sock Designs

I've finished another pair of socks and still need to write the pattern, although the charts are done which is the hardest part. The yarn is from Knit Picks and the Solid socks group color was orange. SKA had a write your own pattern challenge this month, so I did. They also have a self-striping challenge, but I don't seem to have any yarn that qualifies. I do tend to buy solids and semi-solids because I like texture.

I have some yarn that I thought would stripe, but the color lengths are too short. I'm working on a pattern for that one that would have worked with stripes. The hitch is that they are supposed to move up and down by in creases and decreases, rather than just be straight.

Last weekend was busy. On Saturday, I had to work, but SKA had a photo scavenger hunt. All photos had to have a sock in progress in the photo. This is the first year I've participated. I asked lots of friends to help me. A neighbor provided the child under 12 on a bicycle. He was supposed to hold the sock, but he'd only had the bike about 5 days and was busy. Another friend in uniform held the sock, but I didn't realize he should have been on his bicycle. There was a limit of 10 photos. I think I posted 9. Some of my best ideas didn't work, but there's always next year. I went to see a world famous politician, but his monument was closed about 1/2 hour before I got there. There were hundreds of non-knitters in the cemetery too, but I needed to be knitting in front of them. DH will be put to work on more photos next year.

Sunday I went to Columbus, OH for the TNNA trade show. My LYS owner drove, so I got a lot of knitting done. Talked to many people about designing and got a few good handouts. I also had Jeni's ice cream for lunch ( a must if I'm in the area)

I'm growing tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in my garden this year as well as a few herbs and the usual flowers. Last year I tried tomatoes, but planted them under two trees. The area used to have lots of sunshine. I did get some tomatoes, but this year should be better.

TNNA and travel

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Sunday, June 8 I went to Columbus, OH for the TNNA show. I'm not a yarn store owner, but when it's a couple of hours away, it's a good time to meet and greet suppliers, yarn suppliers, and other bloggers. I saw Lucy Neatby, the rainbow lady. I talked with Lily Chin, Margaret Fisher, Lynn H. Franklin Habit, Annie Modesitt, Chrissy Gardiner, Joan McGowan-Michael, Helene Rush. Shannon Okey, Kristin Nichols, Jackie E-S, Beth Brown-Reinsel, and Sheila Ernst.

I also talked with Chris Blysma of Knitting at Knoon, Katerine Cade of South West Trading Company, Joe Antal of Oasis Yarns, Interweave Press and XRX. It is a trade show after all. I'm hoping to do more designing and teaching in the coming year.

I got home around dinner time, and late that night, got on Amtrak for Chicago and then San Francisco. We have traveled by train before. We start at dark-o-clock in the morning, after staying up half the night, because that's when the train comes through. We then go to sleep and wake up in the Chicago area, where we change trains. We take the sleeper from Chicago, so have a nice lounge to wait in and a couple of hours to go outside and see the area near Union Station. Here's a picture of the Chicago River from last trip.

It was gray and overcast this time. There had been a lot of rain in the area. Here's the Mississippi as we passed over it. We didn't come back this way becasue of the flooding, but that's a story for another day.

We passed lots of farmland .(no pictures) When we got into Denver, we were told that we were going to miss the most spectacular part of the Rockies with the Moffet tunnel because of track work being done. We've seen it before, but still... The scenery can still be boring, but a lot different from home. There is bleak desert in Nevada. In the Denver station was a piece of railroad history. These cars are called "private varnish." We saw a different private cart last time through.






When we got into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, there was still snow.



The Reno station has is now finished. The trains were blocking traffic, so they dug a ditch and ran them under the streets. The work had started when we stopped in 2005. Now it is finished. This is a
"smoking stop," where you can get off the train, but not leave the platform.



We saw a spectacular sunset in Utah and an equally awesome one in Nevada.




The train portion of the trip ended in Emeryville, CA. We then took a bus across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.


The entire trip took 3 days. We got off the train late Wednesday afternoon. We had a wedding to attend and family to spend time with. Much knitting was done on a purple sweater. It wasn't finished until the trip home. and still needs a good bath before its formal portrait.

I actually packed 5 projects, including 2 pairs of socks. This is excessive for the amount of time available, but actually was a good thing. Just before we left, DH decided to have the 3rd floor of the house insulated. When you hire a professional, he has his idea of the right way to do things. This meant that all plaster and lathe needed to be removed and the "living space" insulated, rather than the roof. We will have plaster board for the walls, damaged plaster will be gone. Unbelievably, 1/4 of all our belongings were moved in a little over 24 hours. A teenage grandson and daughter with strong husband did the work. DH couldn't help because of medical problems and I was at work and TNNA. We have stuff piled in much of the house and in the garage. There is a dumpster in the driveway, so we are a 1 car family for now. My yarn stash is not available! Even many of my summer clothes are buried. The ideal time to tear apart the house is when we aren't there, but even without construction debris it's a mess. Even the dog was a dog camp for the duration.

Lazy? Weekend

I got much knitting done. I really needed to decompress after the prom dresses. I finished the swatches for the TNNA (wholesale trade show) Great Wall of Yarn. It's in Columbus, OH the first weekend in June. This is where yarn store owners and other needlework store owners go to see the new yarns and place orders. I swatched 4 yarns this time. The yarn in the upper left is made of Bamboo and Bison down. The white swatch is silk boucle. The multicolor swatch is crocheted from a Prism ribbon yarn with metallic sparkle. The mutant sock is Acquerello form Aurora yarns.

Memorial Day celebrations consisted of a picnic at the home of DD the artist. She has a small home, so hosts an outdoor party. Now that the kids are adults, my contribution to a family party is small. This time we were asked to bring ice and chairs. I have only 2 pictures. This is littlest grandchild and his mom.

I also got a good picture of my dogwalking companion Bronte. She's still learning how to behave in a crowd of people. It's hard when you live in a small pack with only 2 people.

First Post - Gulp!

I've been reading blogs and joined Ravelry. I'm on a break from work right now, so the time has come to join the blog community. I'm also a professional dressmaker, so will post about that on occasion.

Good news on Ravelry. I finished the S.W.A.K 12 Days of Christmas sweater last October. I got a request today to use the photo on the Ravelry site connected with thepattern. This sweater took forever. It was a gift from DH for Christmas 1999. I seemed to only work on it after Christmas each year. I finally worked out a box and lid arrangement that made it easy to pick up where I left off. The deadline this year was our local guild member's competition in October. I've been wearing it a lot.

Today is a lazy day. I'm not feeling well. DH John is snoozing and watching football on TV. I'm knitting on swatches for the TNNA (needlework trade group) Great Wall of Yarn. This is a display just outside the show, displaying the new yarns and swatches of most of them. I belong to the Association of Knitwear Designers, who knit most of the swatches.

The Lilac hat is knit from Magic Gardens Buttons from Naturally Hand Knit Yarns. It is DK weight washable wool with polyester. This appears to be new color in this yarn.

The poncho is knit from Puffin, a polyester fleece yarn from Crystal Palace. The Puffin is white with flecks of traditional baby colors. It is soft and easy to work with.