Busy, expensive week

The green socks are finished! It was a struggle. I ran out of yarn in the last toe. Since I had already re-bought this yarn when I lost a sock last year, I didn't want to buy it again to finish this project. I love the yarn (Crystal Palace Panda Silk), but I'd like another color.

Ravelry to the rescue. I found a couple of Ravelry members who had the same yarn and had used most if it in their projects. One was moving and all her yarn was packed up, but the other sent me the 8 gn she had, which was more than enough.

I'm now finishing socks for my son, but no photos. I first knit these socks for my husband in a semi-solid black. That doesn't photograph well, but he liked black. This time they are beige4, which photographs well, but I've sold the sock pattern. I have a deal where they will go to the August photo shoot and be returned to me so my son can wear them this winter. The pattern won't be published until spring.

The dishcloths for my daughters are done. Now I want to do some for my sister, but they will be a Christmas present. They're such fun to knit. I really make a large swatch of a pattern, using cotton yarn in a color I think appropriate. My sister has crocheted dishcloths. She says when the centers get thin, she uses them between the pans in her cupboard. She cooks with electricity and has non-stick pans which benefit from the protection.

Toimorrow will be a day to drive the dog crazy, not that it's hard to do. The refrigerator fix-it man is coming back. He's fixed my ice maker water valve, so we now have ice, but it still doesn't come through the door. That'll be expensive, but I knew that. In addition roofers will be her early in the morning. It's an expensive week!

It's been a long, long time

For the past month, I've spent much of my free time in the yard. I've learned to operate the lawn mower and the weed whacker. The watering system has been conquered. Weeds have been pulled. Flowers, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs have been planted.I'm getting close to the maintenance phase of the job. I do enjoy it, but so many things this year have had a learning curve attached.

Knitting has occurred, but not as much. I haven't worked much on the yellow sweater, but this is what the yarn looks like. I finished a sleeve, and the back is started.


















I finished a pair of socks for myself. Crystal Palace Mini Mochi is not an indestructible yarn, so not suitable for gifts.


I've knit many dishcloths. This last batch was a wedding present for a kitting friend.



For mother's day we did the traditional family breakfast at Bob Evans, trying a new location near me this time. I received this picture of a group of silly little people and two measuring cups with markings I can read. The white rings can be read from the top.

I'm one of many people who keep using what we have, even when it should be replaced. apparently I said something about not being able to read markings on one of my measuring cups.

I've been in training for Ravelympics. The Stash Knit Down group has a training challenge. Right ow I'm doing endurance training, knit the same project for ten days. I started a pair of socks with a simple pattern last Friday night (June 1). I needed something to knit while my friend drove tot he wedding.  These socks also qualify for the Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge since I am using an under appreciated pattern. This one is from a 1994 Socka book. I can triple dip with the solid socks group since the yarn is semi-solid and green for this month.

In addition, it is a Crystal Palace yarn (Panda Silk) so will count toward the 12 month challenge in that group.

I skipped the sock challenge last month to finish my jacket and get the dishcloths done for the wedding. It's not like I need socks. What I need is to knit a few other things on my list!

'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.

Stealth project finished!

I mailed it yesterday. It joins the growing list of designs that I can't talk about.

I finished a set of dishcloths yesterday. I had been working on them at work while customers changed their clothes. I need something that doesn't require much thought and doesn't have much pattern to follow.

I'm reaching the toe of the first CPY mystery socks, the green one.

Last weekend we had another family party for Labor day and to say goodbye to a grandson who joined the Air Force. He's now in boot camp.

He built a "slip and slide" from 3 tarps and some duct tape. To make it slippery, they used up all their Mom's dish soap and most of a bottle of shampoo that she didn't like anyway. Big kids slid! The bag was supposed to make it more slippery.

Little kids slid. They even tried wrestling. It was good clean fun!