Too Little Time...

And too much to do. The green socks are finished. They are for a December birthday. The Mystery socks are stalled. There still are 2 Christmas stockings to be knit. I realized that there is a family birthday on Tuesday 10/26 and I had no gift. Although I won't see her until later, I should be finished by then.

The pattern is being written. There was great frustration with the chart making program I've been using for ages. I have a couple of other options, but they either wouldn't handle a 6 stitch cable or mis-behaved in other ways. Credit card was pulled out and a new program was purchased. I've been thinking about this one for quite a while and finally caved. It makes nice charts and automatically has the legend for the symbols. There are a couple of things I don't like about the printed images, but I think that's part of the learning curve.

The remodelers have finished one room and boxes of cone yarn are being moved in. I'm not in a hurry for the other 2 rooms, as long as progress continues.

Knit, knit, knit, frog, frog, knit

Remodeling is almost finished. The bathroom is back together and everything works! At one time it looked like this. The tub is full of insulation. The medicine cabinet has a hole in the back.

Insulation was applied to the walls, and drywall replaced plaster. The contractor left and DH was to finish the job. They did replace the toilet before they left.

Dry wall in progress. The yellow part is the chimney. I don't seem to have a more current picture of that room, but it has the same blue walls and tile floor as the rest.

Last week the bath looked like this. The plumber disassembled everything and replaced the drum trap in the floor. I may have said that we had to replace some floor boards because of old damage and this was the time to replace the trap and put new floor over all. It also let us (DD doing the work) tile under the tub. It's all together now. Baseboards are in. It just needs 1/4 round pieces at the bottom of the baseboards.

You may notice the faucets changed on the tub. During reinstallation, the overflow piece was replaced and the new faucets on the tub didn't fit any more. Does anyone want a new faucet set with 7" centers?

We tiled the whole floor and the stairs with the same tile. I'll get more pictures as we move back in.

Back to the knitting

The white socks took 2nd place in the accessories category of the guild competition. My friend Ginny wore her socks (from the same mystery pattern) to the meeting and entered something else. My other 2 entries did not win prizes. I expected this as my best designs live elsewhere.

The fairisle socks for DH have been frogged and reknitting commenced. They were a little tight and a lot short, so I went up one size and am making a longer length. Toe up socks are hard when you don't know how much length the gusset and heel take. I still like how they are working up.

Yesterday was a 3 heel day. Two mystery socks are finished through clue 3 and the 2nd green sock reached the same spot. The sock blockers stand up nicely with their toes in the dirt. I'm anxious to finish the green socks because I have Christmas stockings to knit and remodel. More on that when I start the work.

Guess what, more socks

The white socks were finished on Sept. 30. They will be entered in our knitting guild competition tomorrow.

Last weekend I attended an all day workshop taught by Melissa Leapman. The morning was devoted to edges, from fairly basic hems to fringes knit in one piece with the garment. In the afternoon, we learned about circular cables.

The remodeling continues. A plumber is coming tomorrow to fix a leak in the bathroom and replace the drum trap with an "S" trap. The floor boards need replacing in that area, so the tub will be moved to do the job. We'll need new supply pipes and drain fixed so that the tub will be usable with the luan and tile under it (added thickness). The trap was going to stay, but it will be under the new floor. All it takes is more money.

October sock knitting

Mystery Sock by Kirsten Kapur in Jojoland Melody may not be finished this month. The last clue comes out on Oct. 29. WE have 2 clues, and I have lengthened the leg by one repeat to a more comfortable length. These will likely be a gift.

Green socks for Ravelry Solid Socks and SKA under appreciated pattern, These are from a vintage pattern, knit in Knit Picks Essentials yarn. They will go to a grandson with a December birthday.

The last pair of Ram Club Socks for DH. I may actually have enough yarn. I using the numbers for the smallest size, and they fit his large feet. I'm using the medium length. Oddly enough, my gauge matches the pattern before blocking. These were supposed to be for the SKA group, but the pattern wasn't available to the public by July 1.

We saw quilting daughter for dinner last night at her favorite local restaurant chain. She flew in from Florida to spend some time with her DH, who is in NE Ohio with his truck full of motorcycles. He's off to Delaware in a few days and she'll be going home. We probably won't see her again this trip.

Once Upon a Time...

DH decided to remodel/insulate the third floor of our house. Actually he paid for it to be done. All plaster was removed, the walls and ceilings were insulated, new windows installed, plasterboard put up and DH was going to finish the job. View 1 shows step #1 of the reconstruction. There are no windows in the far wall yet.

Step #2 shows plaster board and a new window, looking from the doorway with the blue door.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years, with all the items previously stored on this floor, still in our living room and dining room. One daughter lost her job. She has 2 young adult sons. They were hired to help finish the job. Air force Grandson is now in Germany, but Mom and other grandson have been working. The walls, ceiling, and woodwork have been painted in both rooms. Lauan sub floor has been laid in both rooms, and one room is tiled, including the dormer and closet. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

A plumber came this week to put a new faucet on the bath tub and add shut offs to the pipes. I'll show photos when more happens in that room.

On the sock knitting front there also was progress. I finished the socks for DH, using contrast yarn for the toes. It takes a lot of yarn to cover his feet. The pattern is called Train to Brighton by Janine Le Cras. I tried to enter them in the Ravelry Solid socks group, but the yarn striped, so they don't qualify. The yarn is Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, a lovely yarn.

The black socks are also finished. They will be a birthday present later this fall. Cookie A designed these for her mother in law and they are called Glynis in her Sock Innovations book. Much as I like black socks, they are a pain to knit without good lighting. The Ravelry SKA group challenge was to knit with black or white or both, no gray.

The white socks are almost finished. Maybe later tonight. They are the Mystery Sock for this month, designed by Adreinne Fong.

The weather is changing

The air is crisper. The days are shorter. I'm in the mood for more cooking of big pots of food.

DD Jan and her young men have been working at our house finishing up a remodeling job. She's out of work at the moment, her younger son is home from the Air force, and her older son is about to go into the Army, so there is lots of young strong muscle available. It is useful to make a large pot of something for lunch; chili, beef stew, or whatever can go in a crock pot.

Today, I was looking through the patternworks catalog and was surprised to see three of my designs on p. 60. They are socks that I designed for Plymouth Yarn Co. Happy Feet yarn. The patterns available for download are: Church Windows, Heart Socks, and Diamond Socks.

Of course I have more socks on the needles. The SKA group theme this month is black, or white, or black and white. I have black socks for a granddaughter with an October birthday. They're knit using a Cookie A. pattern called Glynis. The black yarn takes good light for working patterns. I've been doing a lot of the knitting at my shop. Business has been slow and the light is good.

There is a monthly Mystery Sock designed by Adrienne Fong. Like her previous mystery, this one is beaded, but the beads don't show up in the photo.

If that's not enough, there is the birthday sock for DH. I joined the Ram Club last year and received three sock kits. This is one of them, but I'm using different yarn, hoping to knit the toes in the same color. Sock #1 is on stitch holders until the yarn quantity is determined to be enough. It makes the sock look funny.

My gray sweater is growing slowly, ignoring it and working on small needles with thin yarn does not make for fast progress. The baby sweater will be finished in a few days. It has been reserved for intense TV watching, where more pattern knitting is distracting.

September Knitting

It's Labor Day here in NE Ohio, and I'm being lazy. That implies that much knitting is happening, as well as some TV watching. There will be a cookout with family later.

Much knitting has been finished recently. Small projects get done quickly. There were the Fiesta Feet. I doubted my sanity at times during the knitting, but soldiered on and they're done. Both yarns are Kroy 4 ply sock yarn. They were originally designed with a light colored solid. I had some, but used it for some other socks and couldn't find a comparable substitute.

The leftover from these socks went to DGD Ana for her birthday. There was just over 1 ball of the paintbox color. All but 1 yd went into the socks. No leftovers to worry about there. I used a pattern from a book by Janel Laidman, called the Eclectic Sole. We collect books and patterns and don't use them, especially if you're a designer. This year I'm trying to use some of what is on my shelves.

The tomato hat will be mailed with a hat for big sister Rayven. The base hat is a fruit hat, like the tomato, but I put a rose on top from Nicky Epstein's Embellishment book.

I loved the yarn from the Swiss Cheese Scarf and had a lot leftover. A sweater for me is on the needles. It will have short sleeves and is lacy, which doesn't show here. If I can't finish it in the grey tweed, I have a few choices of matching yarn. Green is my first choice, possibly a lace edging and crochet edge on the neck.

A simple project, now that the hats are done, is a baby sweater for the gift drawer. All the girly sweaters were used up this spring. This is a simple one-piece kimono from dish cloth cotton, left over from my jacket. The pattern is in Mason-Dixon Knitting, which calls for this yarn.

Of course, there are socks! There is the Ravelry SKA Mystery Sock; clue #1, sock #1.

The Ravelry Solid Sock group has chosen brown for this month. I have a Ram Club pattern from last year that is for DH. Yarn substitution was required, because the given yarn didn't have enough yardage. Hopefully this Hazel Knits sock yarn will cover both toes without additions from the scrap drawer. I love the depth of the color and the pattern really pops.

The SKA group also has a color of the month for September. It is white, or black, or black/white. A pair of socks for DGD Luci has been started in black. I'm using a Cookie A pattern from her Sock Innovations book.

Last Wednesday i judged needlework at another fair. This time it was Geauga County, the oldest fair in the state. The building I worked in was rebuilt in 1899 after a fire. Lots of good entries. It's harder to choose the best, but I feel better about it. There were only a few items int he wrong class. Sometimes people don't read, and sometimes they may mix up the tags on entry day.

Tomatoes of various types

Tomato Hat

DGD Kat is having another baby in Sept. The sweater I knit for the first one is gender neutral, so I decided to make fruit hats for both kids. The new guy is getting a tomato hat. I bought the pattern on the shop hop last week and came home to find another copy. DD #1 knits and now has a fruit hat pattern. I thought the pattern I had was the flower hat, but can't find that one. Do I need to repurchase to find where it is hiding?

Everyone has red tomatoes in their garden except me! The area where my plants are planted used to be sunny, but when I wasn't looking, trees grew up and the neighbor installed a wooden fence in a corner which also shades the plants. Score on 2 plants; 4 tomatoes on one of them.

I only planted tomatoes and peppers this year, and the pepper section of the garden is doing well. Something ate most of the leaves from the pepper plants early on, but I moved them to our back porch. We have lots of peppers of various sizes and colors. Next year I'll try a couple of other things in addition to tomatoes and peppers. Cutting back a little on work commitments means more time for other pursuits.

Quilter daughter is in town this week. We had dinner with her Wednesday night at her favorite restaurant. Nice long talk about what she's doing and how the new house moving is coming along. She moved July 4th weekend and is mostly unpacked now. Leaving Saturday to be home in Florida on Sunday.

Red sweater

Last March, I knit a sweater for the Cast On Anniversary issue. It is now out and available to the public. I think TKGA picked a model too large for the sweater. My photo shows how I expected it to fit.
The yarn is Classic Elite Classic Silk, a very nice yarn, but TKGA wanted a machine knit pattern and this yarn doesn't work on the machine. I used a more machine friendly yarn for that, and the pattern is on their website. This sweater was knit by hand. It went quickly , especially with no cable needle. The pattern is a four stitch cable, but big enough in gauge to just drop stitches and pick them up again.

My Lucy Neatby Fiesta Feet 2nd sock is mid foot, so it'll be finished by the end of the month to count for the Ravelry SKA challenge for July. Not that I have much chance of winning a prize, but I do like to meet the deadline.