Knitting Fumes

It started before Christmas. I "needed" a needle to knit the cowl/neck warmers. I went to Knit Picks and ordered one of their pretty green wood needles in a 16" length. I also am always on the lookout for solid color non-shrink sock yarn.  I bought enough for 5 pairs. That should last me for a while!

Then my LYS got in a new line of guess what, non-shrink solid color sock yarn. 5 1/2 pairs worth joined the sock yarn stash. The library knitting group had a yarn swap/party.  Some partial balls joined the stash. I'll use them for color work socks. That's what the extra ball from the yarn store became. I agreed to design a mystery sock for a Ravelry group. I needed yarns with a good contrast. Back to the yarn store for 2 more balls.

On New Years Eve, I got am e-mail about a sock yarn sale at WEBS. 10 pairs worth, trying to concentrate on lighter colors. 

Then to top it off, my guild had its annual yarn swap/sale. Yarn for 12 more pairs followed me home. 

This is where the recent purchases live. The top shelf is the 50 gm bits that will show up in color work socks later. Some of it is leftover from other socks.

Meanwhile I keep knitting on my Fledermaus socks. 

I'm now nearing the toe. The patterning is going slowly, complicated by the fact that I'm knitting other things too. I finished the cowl/neck warmer for my grandson's birthday.

I've started a commission sweater. It's a simple pattern that I can take with me. The socks can only go to a limited number of situations, due to their complexity. The same for the grey sweater that I work on every morning. 

Weather continues to frustrate my dog walking, so I have more knitting time. We have started walking in a cemetery. The roads are clear, the traffic light, and it's not near enough to our house that she thinks she's allowed in the road. Walking the neighborhood twice a day will commence when the sidewalks are ice free.

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.

Seasonal thoughts

Is this an air guitar, or a ghost one? Seen in the window of a local guitar shop, while walking the dog.

Actually, it's plastic. I really like the photo.

It's winter here in NE Ohio. I had dinner with my son on Christmas Eve and the went to Midnight Mass. Cold, but no snow, except a little left over, mostly on the grass.

Christmas morning was quiet. The family planned to get together Wednesday evening. Santa snuck in while I was out and filled my stocking. It seems my daughters think I should have something to open Christmas morning. I got candy. cookie mix and other little things. My dog got a huge rawhide bone that she hasn't started chewing yet.

A blizzard was predicted, resulting in a parking ban where my son lives. He was the host for the family Christmas. WEe held it Friday night. I made quilts from fleece and flannel that were a big hit. The smaller boy has dinosaurs on his quilt (a big interest).
I got more food stuff, flavored coffee, box mixes for baking, more candy, and the loan of an iPad. I want to buy one, but DD wants to make sure I'll use it before spending the money. She has one that she's not using much at the moment, since her phone does a lot of what she wants. I was looking for a bigger screen that a phone has. I expect to download things for use, but not store them on the iPad

Knitting has happened. I tore out my sweater. It was too small. I've started again, but concentrated on finishing a pair of socks needed by year end for a Ravelry group. The pattern is written, but I need better light for a good photo. What I'm using is acceptable, but I want a better photo as part of the pattern.

I also can show the mystery sock now that all the clues are out. I called it Winter Berries. I was thinking of mistletoe, but there were too many projects with that name. Right now, it's a free pattern, but eventually I'll reformat it and sell it.

I'm enjoying my time off from work, catching up on household things and cooking a little. I have a tendency to cook instead of clean, but I'm fighting it. There's only one of me and I can fill the freezer faster than I can empty it. I have a rule that I can't cook  a main dish if I don't have enough plastic boxes to pack up the left overs. I could buy more boxes, but have decided not to. These work well for taking lunch to work. I often full them with salad. They hold about 3 cups.

Today I made Oxtail Stew in my Crock Pot. It cooked all day until the meat fell off the bones. I used a recipe from Joy of Cooking and it is supposed to be served over noodles. Tonight I microwaved a couple of small potatoes and put stew over them.The white in the photo is reflection from the overhead lights

Time to let the dog out one last time, pack up the stew, and head to bed.

My Dog is on Vacation

She doesn't know it, but she's avoiding the waterproofing men and the noise and disruption going on this week. Monday I went to work after dropping her at the kennel. I avoided a day of jack hammering to dig up the floor around the basement walls.Today there is piping in the trench. The white is a waterproof coating for the inside walls.

This is the new sump pump. The picture shows the original "flower pot" walls which are over 90 years old and the original water proofing has failed. The blocks are made of clay similar to a flower pot and were originally sealed on the outside. The copper pipe is the cold water return to the boiler.


On the outside wall, the sump pump looks like this, with the downspout from the roof on the left.

The outside walls now have piping like this. The walls were covered with tar and plastic, which forms a trough in which the pipe is laid. The pipe connects to the downspout drain. This is where work has stopped for now.

The back yard is a storage area. Buckets were used
as a bucket brigade for removing broken concrete from the floor. I hear it weighed about 2 tons. They
are also used to bring gravel into the house to fill part of the trenches. So far only the sump pump has gravel around it.


 Everything in the basement was disrupted. I can't wash or dry clothes until this is over. It even disrupted my kitchen, because they unscrewed a small breaker box from the wall and shut it off.to do that No light over the sink, no dishwasher, no disposal. I fixed that for now, by turning on the breaker.

Dear grandson Vitor is home from college. He's now 20 years old and we celebrated his birthday. Of course, I knit him more socks. My Mystery Sock patter is doing well on Ravelry, with over 500 people downloading it so far. The only problem was a bad symbol definition. I had found the error, but not put the corrected version into the pattern. All is fixed now. I had anticipated more problems, because of the unusual stitches I used. So far, so good. 

I ended the day by cooking some Poblano Chicken Chowder. I failed to correctly read the instructions and only added 3 cups of chicken broth instead of 3 quarts! A trip to the grocery store was made and it now looks like soup. I thought that chowder contained potatoes, but this one doesn't.

This is not pea soup

Plan A was to make Split Pea Soup on Sunday. I ran out of time. I'd like to make it in the Crock Pot, and cook it for a really long time.

I thought about cooking it today, but decided to delay it again. Sunday, I made beef stew and I still have some. That was tonight's dinner.

The mystery sock seems to be going well. There have been 347 unique downloads so far. That makes me happy and gets my name out. I'm busily knitting the second sock, trying to stay one clue ahead. The second clue gets published late Friday night, and I think the pattern is ready to go.

Ugh!

This has been a weekend of things breaking at my house.

Friday I was in a cooking mood after work. I had planned on a dinner of fish in foil, a recipe from a knitting friend. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Take apiece of foil and put your fish on it, cover the fish with pesto, tomatoes (or mushrooms), yes i used tomatoes from my garden, spinach leaves and Parmesan cheese. Bake about 15 minutes. While that was cooking I cooked up another piece of chicken breast to use in salads and sandwiches for lunch. I had a taste for baked beans. Put some pinto beans in the crockpot on low overnight. I didn't have any white beans in the house. I'll have to get some. So far, so good.

The next morning, I put more ingredients in the crockpot and turned it up to high. I went to work thinking about lovely beans for dinner, made with my own tomato sauce. I came home to a cold pot and uncooked beans. The poor thing had died. It was old, with a cracked lid. Does the fact that the outside was orange give you a clue as to how old the poor slow cooker was? A couple of years ago I was able to pick up a new pot on sale with discounts. I planned to put it  into use when the lid cracked on the old one. The lid is still holding together. Both pots are the same brand and the ceramic insert from the old pot fits the new one. Last night, I transferred the beans to the new base and cooked them some more, turning it off at bedtime, thinking they were finished. This morning, I decided more cooking was needed. I ate beans for lunch after church and a trip to the gym. I now have little packages of baked beans in my freezer.

After lunch, I came upstairs to watch the football game while working on the computer. That television won't turn on. This is not a real tragedy, as I have two more working HD tvs. My husband was a real tv watcher as his health failed. He didn't have energy for much else. I will have to get the thing out on the curb, and it will take 2 men to move it. I'm not decided on whether I'll move the tv from the kitchen, or just leave it there.

As the day went on I felt chilly. I finally checked the thermostat, and it said the house was 5 degrees colder than the set temperature.I just had the furnace man here on Thursday, fixing radiators and servicing the boiler. The boiler isn't working! We think the pilot light went out. He'll be here bright and early in the morning. In the meantime, I'll wear more clothes. At least I have a heated mattress pad on my bed. It was still in the closet this morning. I don't think any of these problems will cost me money, but still it's frustrating.

Sewing - I finished a dress for myself. I found the fabric, pattern, and cut out skirt on a shelf at work. (I own the shop) I must have bought the fabric 20+ years ago. It's a rayon crepe with a print of different buttons all over it. I bought contrast fabric for the collar, which was enough for the bodice facing and the inside of the sleeve cuffs. The dress is a long sleeve shirtwaist dress with full skirt and buttons all down the front. I had picked 12 buttons, in 6 colors, each of them different. The store sold buttons loose, in the quantity you needed. I haven't decided if I really like the dress, but it was fun to make.

Knitting -  I'm at the toe4 of stocking #4. I should finish tomorrow. I'm still putting in at least an hour each day on the project. I have a pair of red birthday socks knit to the middle of the foot. They are a mystery pattern and I wasn't sure if I would run out of knitting before the last clue came out Saturday morning. I was prepared to start the second sock, even  though I have only one ball of yarn and I don't like working from both ends at once. As it happens I don't have to do that. I may be able to start the other sock tomorrow. I'll try to get pictures of the dress. The beginning of the sock looks like this:

I've been going to knit night at the local brewery. There's a nice group of new-to-me knitters, including a local designer, named Hunter Hammersen. Not knowing what the conditions would be, I started a simple project, a scarf called Wingspan. The first night I didn't have any mindless project and the stockings were not in a good place to take. The second night I took a stocking and worked on the heel. White yarn is prefect for semi-low light conditions. Actually the lighting is not bad. One of the knitters is very close to an owner, and makes sure we can see. This project sits in my purse until I need concentrated mindless knitting. The yarn is Crystal Palace Mini Mochi.

Time to crawl into my nice warm bed.

The Tomatoes are Ripe

Tomatoes
They have been ripe for a month. I have bags of frozen tomatoes. I've eaten salads and wrap sandwiches. I made tomato soup. I've roasted tomatoes. The variety is endless. I have lots of new recipes that I like. One of my favorites is chicken tomato pizza. I use preformed pizza dough, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, cooked chicken (a staple in my house), basil, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Stick in the oven until brown.

So far, all the extra tomatoes have gone in the freezer. I still might can some, but right now, I can't put my hands on my jar lifter. I really need it if I'm going to get jars our of boiling water. I can buy a new one for not much money, but I still have one more place to look. Also, if I don't actually get to canning, I won't need it.

Overnight oatmeal
A new discovery that one of my daughters found. It's made in a jar and eaten cold. So far I have tried blueberry, peach and apple. I may have tried more flavors, but they're not at the top of my mind. One daughter thinks the chocolate ones might make a good snack. Another daughter has made up large batches of pumpkin flavored jars. In looking for the link, I found a number of other recipes on Google. The one I've used combines the oats with yogurt, some of the others just use milk.

Sock Knitting

These were a birthday gift for oldest daughter. I thought of them as butterflies, but she's a quilter and saw them as bow ties. The technique is Mosaic, using only one color per row, and slipping the other color.


Daughter number three has a birthday the day after her sister. She got these socks. The dishcloth shows the stitch pattern.

Patterns for both pairs are available on Ravelry and Patternfish

We also have a granddaughter with a September birthday.. She was in town last weekend to celebrate and show off her son, who is 4 months old. She got the last pair of socks. I followed a Ravelry mystery pattern for these.

I also am knitting Christmas stockings. I have 5 identical stockings, except for name, to do for a commission job. Three are finished and I'm working on #4. As it's getting colder, I set myself the task of knitting on them at least one hour a day. I also have two family stockings to do, one for the new great grandson and one for a granddaughter's husband. Should have done that one last year. Every year or so, I knit stockings for other people. It's the same story. Grandma knit stockings until she couldn't any more and the family kept growing. I've knit a version of this pattern before. Most of what I've knit are old Bernat patterns. A few I've had to design myself. The family patterns are all original. I'll talk more about them when I get to that point.

Sunshine sweater
 This sweater looks almost like I wanted it to, but it doesn't work! There is no stability in the neckline, and it slid down as I wore it. Luckily it was just a dog walk of about 20 minutes. I'm now on try #3 of the neckline. I've kept the v-neck, but gone with a more conventional look. I'll wear it for a while before I call it done. I may have to crochet around the neck edge to keep it from stretching. I still love the yarn and stitch pattern, but I sure am ready for this to be really finished.

I finally figured out the time delay on my camera. It's a good thing that I'm not using up film on pictures the crop off part of my body.

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.

A touch of lace

I seem to be on a lace kick at the moment; baby hats, a crocheted bath mat, a shawlette, mitts, and yellow socks so far this year. Then I knit a lace scarf for DD#5. It's a simple drop stitch pattern. I had one ball of yarn and knit until it was gone. The yarn is Crystal Palace Yarn's Sausalito, a superwash wool/nylon blend.

The lime green mystery socks are finished. The yarn is Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy sock. I have a surprising number of lime green clothes, so these will get a lot of wear.

I've been trying to design a scarf from variegated yarn for Plymouth Yarn. This one is 3 triangles, sort of like a sailor collar. I'm not really happy with the edging, but I'm tired of working with the yarn and I give up. I do have another color of the same yarn and will try a different idea with that. The yarn is Zino, a wool/nylon blend designed for socks. The repeats are long. I've seen nice mitts from it also.
I thought I was casting on enough stitches for 2 triangles plus edges, but it worked out to be 3 triangles. I think it is long enough, but I haven't written the pattern, because I am unhappy with the final product.

This scarf has had a cultural education. In addition to going to the opera, it went to the theater. We saw "The Complete Works of Shakespeare - abridged" It was great fun! Three men, one of whom took all the female parts, all in pumpkin breeches, tights, and Converse High tops. They said they knew Hamlet forwards and backwards, and did it both ways. "Be to not or, be to" etc...

This week's project is an oddly constructed lace sock designed by Stephanie van der Linden. It starts with the square lace motif, continues down the short row toe off one side of the square. The sole is attached to live stitches on the sides of the square and a short row heel worked when foot length reaches the right point. From that point, the leg is stockinette. I added a lace ribbing tot he top. I'm using recycled yarn, so want to wash the sock before final photos.

The yarn is Oasis Yarns Aussi Sock, which used to be a sweater. It's along story. I didn't design or knit the sweater, but I was supposed to redesign it. Not possible from where I started.

Mud season with a touch of green.

Progress continued on the yellow socks. One was finished. I have also started another mystery sock. Do i need more socks??? NO! Do I want more socks??? Yes! Why, because they're pretty, and fun to knit. The yarn for this one is really interesting. I bought it on the guild yarn hop last fall. I was at YarnMarket and it called to me. It's Ty-Dy Sock from Knit One Crochet Too.

The weekend cultural adventure did not see the sock. It was time to work on the shawl I keep in my purse. I probably showed this before, but not recently. The yarn is Zino from Plymouth Yarns. They asked me to make a shawl from it, but I'm getting no response to e-mails, so think they don't like what I've done. Therefore, I have little movitation to work on it.

What was the cultural adventure? Last time was ballet. This time it was opera. This is the third time that the Cleveland Orchestra has presented fully staged opera at Severance Hall. Our director imports the production from the Zurich Opera, which must have a similar stage, not build for theater with wings and fly loft, etc. Scenery is minimal, but effective. So far, all the operas have been by Mozart. This time it was Don Giovanni. We've seen another production of this in the past. This was very different. It also helps that we have seats in the fourth row, so we are right on top of the stage. I hope to see more operas live with the Cleveland Orchestra, but no plans have been announced.

Spring has come to NE Ohio. Warm weather, warm enough to wear my Birkenstocks. Cold weather, like today with a hint of snow. Lots of rain, causing mud. Green things poking out of the ground. So far, I've seen crocuses and snow drops on our dog walks. Nothing blooms in my yard yet, except mud, especially where the snow plow tore up the lawn.

I have been alternating the yellow socks with a one ball scarf. It's much longer now. I'll probably have to spread it out to see the pattern. The yarn is CPY Sausilito, which has color variation. The yellow socks are finished and the sun came out. Here's a view of the socks, some day lilies, and mud covered by dark mulch.

I now have all the clues for the mystery sock, so I'm working on that.

I also made myself a pair of slacks. I found some nice plaid fabric at a very good price. I used it as a muslin for a new pattern. Can't find the one I used last time, so I traced from the last pair of slacks. I like the new pattern better, but it needs a little more tweaking. I'm wearing the plaid slacks now. Nothing like wearing something to know if the fit is right. All it need now is a little taking in at the back waist. Next up is a knit top and then another version of the slacks.

It's almost Christmas

Luckily, I won't celebrate with family until a week later. Out of town presents are mailed, except for the one that the post office couldn't find to pick up. I've rescheduled and will call the post office early in the morning to complain.

The second pair of mittens is finished. No more Christmas knitting. I do have some sewing to do. Saturday was an 18th birthday party and I asked my DIL for gift ideas. She wants jammy pants. I had forgotten about that idea. Sunday saw me at the fabric store buying flannel for most of the rest of the giftees. Some young men are getting $$. This is the pile that I still need to sew up. One pair is finished and I should get a couple more done tomorrow. They take about 1 hour each.

I finished the Advent socks. they are knit from Knit Picks yarn. I'll see how they wear. They sure are soft and the yarn is not expensive. Even at noon, we don't have much sun these days. The detail shows if you embiggen the picture. The foot has decreases on the top and increases on the sole. the heel is very interesting too. I may make these socks again.

I finally started the December sock challenge. I chose the left overs option, designing my own socks. Unlike my previous left overs socks, these are very subtle. I should be able to finish the leg with the colors shown. I planned for the foot to be plain. These are for a January birthday, so I have plenty of time.