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.

Happy Holiday

I've been working too hard. I have one employee, and she has been ill, so I have to do everything myself. Good news/bad news I had a lot of work come in for delivery in early July. Today is the 4th and I'm NOT working.

Thursday was yard day. I had pulled out some Tiger Lilies and wanted to fill in the space. We now have another iris and some cone flowers. Our son wants Tiger Lilies when more get pulled out. We just have too many! Variety is the spice of life and I'm slowly getting some in our yard.

This jacket was started last summer. It's 3 color seed stitch from dishcloth cotton. It will have lace borders. The pattern is adapted from a Vogue sewing pattern. The variegated yarn was bought about 20 years ago. Finally most of it is gone. The rest will become part of a baby sweater.

The orange socks are nearing completion. Translating the pattern from 1944 has proved interesting. It's a fairly simple pattern with cabled "clocks" down each side of the leg. The cable pattern was written out; Rnd 1, rnd 2, rnd 3, rnd 4 like rnd 2, rnd 5 like rnd 1... for 12 rounds. I charted it so that I could see how many rounds between cable crossings. There are no ssk decreases, but the gusset does have skp decreases, so the same thing essentially. The heel flap is short for all sizes. Did I say that the pattern was for men? I downsized it, shortening the ribbing from 5" to 1 1/2". I needed to do more cables that written to make them the length I like. The toes are a typical wedge toe, but all decreases are k2tog. The yarn is from Lana Grossa.

When I went to TNNA in Columbus, OH, I made contact with Cascade Yarn Co. They want me to design a shawl and sent me some yarn. They have a new sport yarn coming out and was the shawl from sport weight.

First I have to finish some socks for Plymouth. They also want a shawl. More stealth knitting for money.

Our knitting guild has a Knit Along of a scarf. The chosen pattern is a free one called the Swiss Cheese Scarf. Mine looks like this, but now it is twice as long. The pattern consists of garter stitch and buttonholes, lots of buttonholes. I'm using cone yarn. which has a gray base and the second ply has lots of other colors.

I'm Back!

In addition to life getting in the way, my computer had a nervous breakdown. It was only 1 1/2 years old, but it appears that the mother board went crazy. We'd been having trouble getting online after rebooting. Then the keyboard started recording gibberish, I lost my sound, the computer started shutting down on its own. Two days later and much work by my live-in computer expert and things are much better.

Landscaping
The front yard looks good and will look better when plants mature.
The bushes on the upper level are blooming. Intersector Socks in progress recline by the Wintercreeper bush. This bush will top out at 2 feet high. These socks are now finished, in spite of pattern problems.

The orange socks are from a Vintage pattern, copyright 1944. SKA has a vintage sock challenge this month. I'm ready for something easy after the "bark" socks. Cabled clocks translated from an old pattern still makes for easy knitting. The flowers are Stella D"Oro day lilies.

Baby knitting
Girls are popular this year! Two neighbors had girls recently. I had two girl sweaters put aside, but I need one more, and I need to finish it in time to give before July 1, when the mother leaves town. The pattern is Elizabeth Zimmermann's Tomten Jacket, using cone yarn and a selection of odd balls. I'm using pattern instructions from both Knitting Without Tears and Knitting Workshop. Knitting Workshop has great instructions and a diagram for grafting garter stitch. Find the join. Time to knit sleeves.

Current secret project is some socks for South West Trading Company in their new solid TOFUtsies. The flowers are part of my "Little Henry" Sweetspire bush.

Illusion Knitting
I tried illusion design again, following instructions by Woolly Thoughts. The idea was to start simple, and maybe it could be a class sample. It worked! Something like this could also be a scarf.

Sewing business has been crazy. Prom dress alterations are finished, but bridesmaid dresses and wedding dresses are still rolling in and out.

I made a dress for a customer's daughter, who designed the dress. Here's the sketch. The proportions changed from sketch to dress, but the eighth grade designer is happy. The photo sure shows the tilt of the dress form. Many years ago, it had a collision with the floor, and has walked with a limp ever since.

Stitch and Pitch
The annual Knitters Day at the ball park was in late May this year. The Cleveland Indians lost, but it was a beautiful warm spring night and we all had a great time. The silly guy in the photo is our mascot Slider. I guess most mascots are silly, but we love them.

April showers

Blue Socks
These socks were knit from my oldest sock yarn stash. The yarn and pattern were bought on a visit to my sister in 2003. Yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Jeans color. The pattern is Fiber Trends Walking Away Socks. The pattern has 3 designs, all with patterning only on the back. This version is called Reflections.

Secret socks
I'm working on socks for Plymouth Yarns. The yarn is Sockotta Limited, a cotton wool blend.

Skew socks
I seem to be a lemming, following a large group of other knitters and not really knowing where I am going. I saw this interesting pattern in Knitty.com. The SKA challenge for this month on Ravelry is to knit from an online magazine. Now was the time! I heard that the sock was a little tight and hard to pullover the heel, so I chose Kroy yarn, which is a little heavier than some sock yarns, and went up a needle size from 2.25mm to 2.5mm. It has worked well. The first sock goes on easily and fits. The pattern takes more concentration and counting than I gave it. There are a lot of stitch count adjustments in that one. It is finished now, and still looks strange off the foot. Sock #2 is on track through the toe. I'm working with the idea that my problems were user error.

Judy Garland Dress
Hong Kong finished seams were mentioned in the last post. A 1" wide bias strip of lining was used, stitched to the edge of the seam, turned under and stitched again.

To the left is the sleeve edge finish. Chiffon was used for this, bias cut 1 5/8" wide, folded in half and machine stitched to the outside, and turned inside. Hand stitching was used to finish the edge.

A 9" side zipper was called in the instructions. That turned out to be a little short, so I replaced it with a 12" zipper and hand picked it. The sleeve's bottom edge is gathered by hand and stabilized inside with seam tape. The lower sleeves has an outside tuck which is gathered. The sleeve head is organza, which supports the puffiness even better when a real arm is inside. These details were in the pattern instructions.

The belt buckle is a vintage one that I had in the shop. I gave the customer a choice of two buckles, or no belt at all. Working to a tight deadline and having no belt backing, grosgrain ribbon looked like it might work for a backing. This was a good thing as the belt is gathered a little in the buckle. There seems to be enough resistance to make it stay put. This buckle was not meant to have a prong.

The skirt was sewn with the lining separate from the chiffon, so that each could be hemmed by itself. Each layer has a tiny machine stitched hem. The skirt had hung for a couple of days before marking, and is basically cut on the straight grain, so it should not sag. A rolled hem was called for in the pattern.

On to the next "big" thing
This week, I'm putting new linings in winter coats. These have been shoved aside for a while. Two are finished and one still to go. I feel like I'm catching up on my backlog.

Teaching
Saturday was spent at Knitter's Fantasy in Youngstown, OH. I taught basic cables and chart reading. The responsibility for the event rotates around 3 guilds. This year it was my guild's turn to run it. As far as I know everything went smoothly.It's a great one day event! Knitters get 2 classes, lunch and vendors for under $50.00 for the day. Total attendance including walk-ins was almost 600 people.

It's definely Fall

The leaves are changing and falling, as well as the acorns falling, although they've slowed down. The neglected garden has a few interesting plants, not what I chose, but interesting.

The soup pot is in use again. Today I made one of my favorites Pumpkin soup by LynnH. Pumpkin, applesauce and peanut butter. Quick and yummy.

Speaking of interesting, a customer called my dressmaking shop and asked if i could shrink a dress for her sister. It seems the sister had undergone weight loss surgery, loved the dress and couldn't wear it any more.

There's always a problem when shrinking dresses because you can't shrink the neckline. This dress was basically strapless, with a halter tie at the neck. The bodice was pieced and darted strangely, but I had enough fabric to work with and the design lent itself to downsizing.

I keep forgetting that I have an old camera at work, so no before picture. I removed the bodice from the skirt and took out 12 inches, some on either side of the front ruffle and the rest at the sides and back. The ruffle piece was kept ans is and regathered to fit the new size. Four inches were removed from the waist (she must still have a tummy).The skirt was shortened 4 inches from the top, so I had to move the pockets. I hope it fits, but it matches the measurements I was given.

I made some purple socks for granddaughter AE. She's a short adult with a size 2 shoe. She loves the socks. I love them too and want to sell the pattern, so only a sneak peek.


The white vest is quite old (1996), but I love it and wear it often. I designed it and dug it our of my archives to put for sale on Ravelry. A web site where I can sell patterns is still on my to do list. I called it ZigZag Vest. It knit from worsted weight cotton. I needed new photos for the pattern.

There are more grandchildren socks in the works. Black socks for a July birthday grandson. I sent an IOU in his card.

I also have a pair for a granddaughter with an Oct. birthday. I'll see her Nov. 1, so not much time. Knit faster! I dream about quitting work, but I own the business and I'd have to bring too much stuff home. I have no place here to put it right now. Guess I'll keep juggling sewing and knitting for a while longer.

Mysteries

I'm working on 2 mystery socks and a stealth project. All other knitting has stopped temporarily. Crystal Palace Yarns is hosting a mystery sock. I have not knit the 4th clue, but here's where I am after 3 clues on two socks. Yarn is Panda Wool, a bamboo wool mix in ultramarine.

Sock Knitters Anonymous has a mystery sock this month designed by Nancy Bush. I have only knit one sock worth of this one. Yarn is Patons Kroy Socks 4 ply in Mellow Yellow.

The newspaper article shows some of the public art being created in my neighborhood. It's actually crocheted from macrame cord with big hooks, but we'll take our publicity where we can. In addition to the parking meters I showed in an earlier post, trees and light posts have new coats. I'll have to get more pictures.

I'm also working on a red sock stealth project.

Yesterday was another fair judging. I enjoy the job. This fair had a lot of really nice entries.

I should have a lot done this weekend. in addition to the holiday, I'm not working Friday or Saturday. Another big family party is Sunday afternoon in honor of Labor Day.

Skirts are finished

The Spanish skirts are finished. Skirt #3 took almost 1000 inches of ruffle fabric, edged on both sides. That's 27.5 yards of fabric run through the rolled hem foot. The customer is very happy! Part of the reason for the yardage amount is that the fabric was thinner, so the gathering foot gathered it tighter. The dress form does lean, the result of a fall a long time ago.

I finished my green socks Sunday night. I've been writing about skirts instead of socks. The pattern was interesting. I like entrelac as a technique, but I don't think I'd knit these again. They are too fiddley.

I keep knitting the shawl. Black lace forever.

Today I got a box of sock yarn from Plymouth yarns. I need to contact them to see what they have in mind.

Knit, knit, knit, rinse, repeat

I've been busy, did you guess? I finished 2 stealth projects. The socks for Plymouth Yarn are finished and delivered. Would I like to design another pair of two-color socks? You bet I would!!

I also finished a baby sweater for DRG publishing. It's for a book called Circular Knitting Redefined. Knit back and forth using circular needles. That one is waiting for USPS pick up. The pattern has been submitted electronically. This one has been knit 3 times before. Two of the sweaters were family gifts. The third waits for a baby girl. At first I didn't write the pattern, then when I wrote it, I wanted to revise it. This time was pretty easy, because the yarn gauge was the same as before.

Knitting now on a pair of socks for a birthday later this year. I hope to sell this pattern too! This is a lace pattern. Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous had lace as the March challenge. Finish the socks by the end of April for a chance at prizes. I can do this! Show a picture of the finished socks. Flash photos do well at blurring detail.

This month's challenge is to knit an under appreciated pattern. Look it up on Ravelry and see if less than 15 people have knit it. I have a great Entrelac pattern picked out. If it suddenly becomes popular, I'll go to my book shelf. Don't think that will be needed. This pattern called to me as soon as I saw it. I have the recommended yarn. It's more complex than most knitters want to tackle. I'll check when these red socks are finished. Something needs to be cast on before month's end. This pair will be mine!!

The next few socks will be gifts for guys. No birthdays for a couple of months, but then they come in bunches.