Sock Woes and other things

The Zinnias socks are finished, photographed, and have been mailed to Illinois. the pattern is written and up in my Ravelry store. Just need to do Pattrnfish.

The main color is Regia Jacquard and the flowers are Schaeffer Anne yarns. The iPad shown in the last blog post has been returned to my daughter. She loaned it to me, because she wanted to be sure that I would use it before I spent the money.

I got some money int he mail that paid for more than half the cost, so I went out and bought my own. I had heard about used iPads, but none were available. Mine is verison 2 with no phone card. It doesn't make sense to pay for another data plan that I wouldn't use much. The wifi connection is fine.

So far I have put knitting patterns, books and recipes on my Pad. I'm leaving for Florida in a week, so portable books will be handy.

Sock woes

Periodically, some socks that I have knit come home for repair. DSIL sent these with his wife on her last trip to Cleveland,

I had used a small patch on a previous pair and they then wore out at the edges of the patch. Size 14 socks which are otherwise in good shape get new toes, and the first pair did. I'm trying a big patch this time. I still can replace the toes.

Another sorry pair of socks has been in my house for a few years. I misplaced one sock, didn't find it until the house renovation last year. It's time to get these fixed.

When I made them, I ran out of yarn before the toes. I guess the stitch pattern was yarn hungry. The light colored spots are worn very thin. DD wore through the ball of the foot and the toe. I cut off the damage, picked up stitches and knit new toes. They look much the same as the old ones, but this time they are Patons Kroy, I think the rest of the sock is Regia Jacquard. They both wear forever.

I've been working on this sweater. I got the body finished and most of one sleeve before trying it on. I went back and forth,but finally decided that it really was too small. My yarn is a thinner version of worsted. It's Berroco Cotton Twist.

I now am nearing the end of the lace on the body. I'm also using all 5 buttons left from the original garment. I'm hoping to wear the sweater to Florida. It's going with me finished or not!

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.

We Have Heat

It's been a struggle. First the gas valve needed replacing, then a couple of sensors. The boiler would run until it brought the house up to temperature, but wouldn't restart as it cooled down. The chimney man was able to clear the chimney from the inside. Now all we need is a new damper motor. What we have works, but not correctly. At least the boiler doesn't need tending anymore.

It was almost a much trouble as the old coal boiler we used to have. The house was built with both a coal boiler and a gas boiler. Gas pressure wasn't reliable in cold weather in the early 1920's. The system worked for about 80 years. The new one is more efficient and has more moving parts to fail.

I'm home from work today because of the ice left from the freezing rain. some melting has occurred, but that means there is water on the ice, making it more slippery. Schools are closed and I'm enjoying staying home.

Monday, yarn arrived for my blue scarf. I now have both tails the same length. I love Ravelry! A knitter in Michigan sent me yarn left over from a project of hers.

Another problem knitting project is my latest pair of socks. I'm knitting them with left over yarn and as I neared the top of the first sock, I realized that I didn't have enough white yarn. I've added lilac to the mix, but had to frog the first sock almost to the toe. The scoks are now being knit in tandem. No more ripping. The pattern is only on the op of the foot, with the soul in stockinette. I should have enough yarn now, and if not, I'll be looking for another color.

There is another jacket in my closet. I've not worn it yet, since I finished it yesterday and am not working today. The border fabric is closer in color to the body fabric than the photo shows. I've made the jacket twice before, so this may be the last time for this pattern. I have it in wool, "linen", and knit of dishcloth cotton. Next sewing project is a summer blouse.

I'll also make a couple of pairs of winter slacks after I refine my pattern. I had a pattern almost perfect and now it is hiding. I'm using another pattern and my most perfect pair of slacks and this time it will be put on file folders taped together for a more durable pattern. This will be hung up, so no more hiding!