Yes, We Have Snow

It almost buried the bird bath.

It blanketed the bench. We have bright sunshine, but it's still hard to get around!

Knitting

I spent Sunday knitting a hat. It was slow going because the lilac yarn is mostly cotton and not elastic. It does make a cute thick hat!

The sweater sleeve doesn't show much progress. I thought that I needed to knit 18 more rows to the under arm. Did that and a little more. The cables didn't match sleeve #1. Retreated and started 2 rows later. Wrong! This morning I took another look at sleeve #1, and started the underarm 4 rows earlier, 16 rows from last posting. I could have finished it by now if I'd had my head together. It looks right now.

Sock the second nears completion.

The Library Challenge

Thanks to Ravelry I have joined The Library Challenge.The idea is to use that pile of books and patterns that you have collected over the years, using at least one pattern per month. I'm doing well this month.

Erin's Elephant is from Knitted Wild Animals. She'll be getting that on Thursday January 15.
I have a gift for my daughter in law, where I used my Best of Lopi book. No photos yet, she reads the blog.
The Socks I'm knitting came from a free pattern that was in my Ravelry library.

I'm reknitting a sweater that I designed in 1999. That one's from my personal library. I have a lot done on the first sleeve.The photo story is on Ravelry.

My charity knitting continues. Socks for Wool-Aid, a pair nears completion. Mittens for our knitting guild. Other knitting this month: a neck warmer for a grandson with a Feb.1 birthday, a mystery sock design for a Ravelry group to be released in July/August.

I have a basket of yarn to be used this year, some new, some very old. I'll add to it as I knit up projects.

I'm getting more knitting done these days. The weather is not safe for me to walk the dog, so that time is being put to knitting.

Well That was Interesting!

I did run out of yarn for the socks, and finished with some black. After all the angst about size and yardage, I remembered that I had used the brown yarn to decorate another pair of socks. with I had put a note with the yarn. anyway they are done and will be given some time in December 2014, either birthday or Christmas.

It keeps on snowing here. I'm ready for spring!

My knitting guild has decided to decorate a Christmas tree for charity next year. They need about 200 hats and mittens, which will be donated after serving as ornaments. I knit a pair of mittens. It seems I can't count. The first mitten was knit on 40 sts. The second on 52. Since this was for charity and I had plenty of yarn, I knit another pair like this. I also finished a smaller pair.

While I was on a mitten kick, I knit two pairs for great grandkids.

I also sneaked in a pair of fingerless mitts for ME before starting my Olympic challenges.

This is a pattern that I designed a year or so ago. I used the same yarn for me, since I had given away the originals. They'll be ready when the weather decides to cooperate.

I'm working on four Olympic challenges. Early in the day I have my Lady Macbeth sweater. I may not finish this, but and hour or so a day makes progress. It would qualify for the Ravelry event WIP Dancing, but I won't enter it unless it is finished.

Secondly, I have a pair of socks: event Sock Hockey. It's a Cookie A pattern which will also qualify for SKA and Solid Socks, I'm working with Knit Companion, which is great for a pattern with a 38 row repeat. It's the socks shown on the cover of her Sock Innovation book. I've done 48 of 63 rows on the first leg.

Thirdly is my Aerial Unwind event. I'm reclaiming the yarn from my TKGA Masters sweater. Lovely yarn. A great sweater! Too big for the body I have now. I found the pattern and will reknit and publish the pattern after rewriting in a smaller size etc.

Fourth challenge is another WIP dancing event. I started a skirt from leftover yarn. This is a Gwen Bortner idea, which I am probably going to have finished by the end of the games. I'm using up lots of odd balls of worsted weight yarn.

I've recorded the games and plan to do a lot of sitting and knitting in the next two weeks.

Knit, knit, knit

I've about caught up on the computer re-build. Just waiting on a replacement disk for one program. There is evidence that I had the disk. I have the installation manual, but the computer is one of many things that got moved during the" great house remodel." The disk should have been in the drawer with all the other program disks, but it isn't there.

I've never done anything like this before, and I feel so empowered. I have, of course, installed programs. All of the important programs have been restored. If something is missing now, I can download it for free. The expensive software is working.

I'm still getting used to a Microsoft Office update, long needed. The disks were in the house, but not on my machine before its stroke. There are things I like about the newer version (2007), and others I'm not sure about. I had to put together a handout for a class I'm teaching Saturday on reversible cables. I had done the research and knit the samples. I hope the patterns I wrote for the swatches make sense.

A lot of other knitting has happened. I knit up the vest "kit" I bought in Tallahassee. I knew that project would be done quickly so that I could wear it. DD Joyce and I split a bag of yarn, thinking we both would make the same pattern. She changed her mind! I have this comfy vest made form Austermann Murano, a bulky yarn. It's hard for me to say if it is flattering on me, but I love it anyway. I just don't like that I look like an old lady. Self timer on the camera may not be the best way to go here.

Last summer I started a baby blanket. A group at my church was doing them for charity. The group stopped meeting for knitting and the blanket sat. It is now done and will go to some baby at some time. It is too small for the charities my knitting guild supports, but would be fine for a stroller or car seat. I used some cone yarn that was in my stash.

In the "Oh No" department, I decided to knit a hat for great granddaughter Rayven. She turned four. Got some stash yarn and cast on. I realized that the hat would fit me, but I finished it up anyway. There was enough yarn for a proper size hat.The larger hat went to my DDIL Peg, who had her head shaved for charity. I took a picture with my phone iof her wearing the hat, but It is upside down when viewed on the pc. So frustrating.

DD Joyce had a birthday this week, and is a big Dr. Who fan. I had to knit the scarf from Knitty.com called Bigger on the Inside.

It's hard to see, but there are fifteen iterations of the TARDIS on the lower border. I called them "Tardi" although there is no plural for something that is unique. I even used the yarn suggested in the pattern, Lorna's Laces Solemate. I have enough left over for a pair of socks, a bonus I hadn't counted on. The first 100 gm knit all the lace and all the Tardi. It's back in the stash until it tells me what it wants to be.

Since DDIL Peg got a fuzzy hat to keep her bald head warm, her daughter needed one too. She also got bald for St. Baldrick's to support children's cancer. Her favorite color is black for clothes.There was some WoolEase and fun fur in my stash. the result is very soft, but I had to buy more fun fur to finish the hat.

I also knit a bulky sweater. You won't see a picture or it, as it went in the trash. There were some problems with the free pattern, and problems with the yarn. The final straw was when the yarn relaxed considerably when washed. It went from a size medium to a XL tall. It just wasn't worth trying to fix. At least I have the yarn out of stash. All of it was inherited from my mom, so I didn't pay for it. It's getting a little easier to get rid of things that aren't working, but I grew up saving everything, because you might need it some day. I'm trying to leave less for my kids to dispose of when I'm gone, but it's a struggle! It doesn't help that there's so much that I'm actually using.

More destruction and rebuilding

While I was appreciating the carpet removal, the remodeling gods were planning new challenges.

The carpet was hardly picked up off the curb, when DD started removing pine paneling next to the basement stairs. She was so quick at wood removal that the contractor decided to take out the steps that day. End of the day, we had no access to the basement, where the computers are, as well as part of my rabbit pattern. DD wrote a blog post with photos. I was at work!

The next day was devoted to building a new set of stairs. I worked all morning, deadlines to meet on Friday. She has a blog post about this day too! "How to replace stairs in three easy steps." She now has a few new skills and has decided that her basement stairs don't need replacing right now. The new stairs are much more sturdy than the originals, which lasted 90 years.

This week's knitting challenge is the guild toy competition. Did I say that I'm knitting a rabbit?
I got to the point where I needed the pattern for the inner ears and the pattern was still out of reach. I had scheduled overalls knitting for Saturday and assembly for Sunday. The straps for the overalls were not finished until Sunday afternoon, but assembly went quickly. All I needed was a quick trip to work for the two buttons on the straps.

I won first prize in the guild competition in the completely knitted toy category. We also had categories for bought toy, knitted clothes and a new category for other charity knitting. Usually I end up with an honorable mention. This is the first time I have won.

Next deadline is Saturday of this week, when I need a pair of socks for someone turning 50. I hope DSIL likes black socks. That's the color for Solid socks this month. I've designed these, but kept the pattern simple, black is hard to work in pattern. At this point, one sock is finished and work progresses on the leg of the second.

DGS William is also celebrating his birthday this weekend, but there is no way I'll be able to get his gift done. Discussion with his Mom resulted in a two family get together after the sweater is done. I have a pattern for a cardigan with trucks on it. I've put together the yarn kit, and read and reread the pattern. I might start the ribbing tonight. We watch tv in the bedroom before bed, and the light is not as good up there for patterned sock knitting in black yarn.

Rain, rain go away

Graduation (PhD style)
It rained on my son's graduation party! He had reserved a pavilion in a local park, so it wasn't a total washout, but at about 50 degrees and misting, it was RAW and uncomfortable. Hamburgers and Hot dogs were served, along with chips and cupcakes.

Winter coats were the fashion of the day. The setting was beautiful, but we didn't stay long. It was just too cold.

We have grown a large crop of mushrooms, due to the continual rain. They are starting to die off with a day or so of dry weather. Here's a close up.

We had breakfast with son's family this morning, and DH was asked if he had thawed out yet. It was the last breakfast of the season at the Marine Corps Gunny Hall (his father-in-law is a long time member).

Socks
The blue socks are finished. Beads show up better in real life. The didn't qualify for Ravelry's Solid Socks group although the color reads as semi-solid. It also reads as blue and green. The do count for the Crystal Palace Knit With the Palace challenge. They also count as a sock/yarn combo that has been in the pipeline for a couple of years. I'm glad to get them finished. They also are part of the Spring Stash Dash. That finished 2 of 6 original projects for that challenge.

The next pair of socks is a SKA mystery project by Janel Laidman, in an earth color for Solid Socks. I actually have clue #3 done on one sock and am waiting for clue #4. This is a fun pattern, partly because Janel included lots of interactive links. the pattern was originally titled 5-22-24-13-7-12-19-15-9. If you followed the key on the pattern (literally a key picture) you were led to a clue that said A=5. The title translates to Artichoke. There have been a number of artichoke links as well as links for her cast on and the wrapping technique.

Work
It's been rhinestone week and my fingers are glue covered. This year I'm adding rhinestones to prom dresses. Glue on stones gets on to my fingers, even though I actually apply the glue with a toothpick. I'll try to get a photo or two when I go to work tomorrow.

Problem?
We got a photo from our neighbors as well as a request. Could we feed their dogs? It seems they've been raptured! The rest of us are still here and have to do laundry and mow lawns as usual, at least until the Mayan end of the world next year.
How God is Managing the Rapture.

Scarves
I'm up to 12 scarves and I still have bulky yarn odd balls. I'll keep going. The September guild meeting is the collection deadline. I don't do a lot of charity knitting but this one appealed to me and the timing was right. I used up about 650 yards of yarn and finished 9 balls. I'm also donating 10 balls to another guild project, freeing up much space in my yarn drawers.