Knit, knit, knit

I've about caught up on the computer re-build. Just waiting on a replacement disk for one program. There is evidence that I had the disk. I have the installation manual, but the computer is one of many things that got moved during the" great house remodel." The disk should have been in the drawer with all the other program disks, but it isn't there.

I've never done anything like this before, and I feel so empowered. I have, of course, installed programs. All of the important programs have been restored. If something is missing now, I can download it for free. The expensive software is working.

I'm still getting used to a Microsoft Office update, long needed. The disks were in the house, but not on my machine before its stroke. There are things I like about the newer version (2007), and others I'm not sure about. I had to put together a handout for a class I'm teaching Saturday on reversible cables. I had done the research and knit the samples. I hope the patterns I wrote for the swatches make sense.

A lot of other knitting has happened. I knit up the vest "kit" I bought in Tallahassee. I knew that project would be done quickly so that I could wear it. DD Joyce and I split a bag of yarn, thinking we both would make the same pattern. She changed her mind! I have this comfy vest made form Austermann Murano, a bulky yarn. It's hard for me to say if it is flattering on me, but I love it anyway. I just don't like that I look like an old lady. Self timer on the camera may not be the best way to go here.

Last summer I started a baby blanket. A group at my church was doing them for charity. The group stopped meeting for knitting and the blanket sat. It is now done and will go to some baby at some time. It is too small for the charities my knitting guild supports, but would be fine for a stroller or car seat. I used some cone yarn that was in my stash.

In the "Oh No" department, I decided to knit a hat for great granddaughter Rayven. She turned four. Got some stash yarn and cast on. I realized that the hat would fit me, but I finished it up anyway. There was enough yarn for a proper size hat.The larger hat went to my DDIL Peg, who had her head shaved for charity. I took a picture with my phone iof her wearing the hat, but It is upside down when viewed on the pc. So frustrating.

DD Joyce had a birthday this week, and is a big Dr. Who fan. I had to knit the scarf from Knitty.com called Bigger on the Inside.

It's hard to see, but there are fifteen iterations of the TARDIS on the lower border. I called them "Tardi" although there is no plural for something that is unique. I even used the yarn suggested in the pattern, Lorna's Laces Solemate. I have enough left over for a pair of socks, a bonus I hadn't counted on. The first 100 gm knit all the lace and all the Tardi. It's back in the stash until it tells me what it wants to be.

Since DDIL Peg got a fuzzy hat to keep her bald head warm, her daughter needed one too. She also got bald for St. Baldrick's to support children's cancer. Her favorite color is black for clothes.There was some WoolEase and fun fur in my stash. the result is very soft, but I had to buy more fun fur to finish the hat.

I also knit a bulky sweater. You won't see a picture or it, as it went in the trash. There were some problems with the free pattern, and problems with the yarn. The final straw was when the yarn relaxed considerably when washed. It went from a size medium to a XL tall. It just wasn't worth trying to fix. At least I have the yarn out of stash. All of it was inherited from my mom, so I didn't pay for it. It's getting a little easier to get rid of things that aren't working, but I grew up saving everything, because you might need it some day. I'm trying to leave less for my kids to dispose of when I'm gone, but it's a struggle! It doesn't help that there's so much that I'm actually using.

Sometimes I Hate Technology!

The hard drive died on my pc! It is in the hospital getting a brain transplant. We hope to retrieve data and reload. Not everything was backed up, but the most important stuff should be. The fix-it guys talked about backing up and retrieving things I hadn't thought about. Wish me luck! I hope to be back in business in a few days, although I'll be reloading lots of programs so I can retrieve the data.

Update - I'm back in business! Still have lots of programs to update. My email has problems. My scanner and printer aren't talking to the computer. My son will be here tomorrow to try to fix.

What have I knit? I finished the socks. They're called Mad Hatter, and are a pattern I sold to a sock club. When the pattern came out, I was given the whole month's package. It took me a while to knit them up.

Another kit that went on vacation with me was a baby sweater. I was given the kit as a door prize when I taught for the Roof Garden{?}Knitting guild in New York near the 9/11 plane crash site. The pattern is a Kristin Nicholas design done in cotton yarn. I don't have a bay in mind, but I'm glad to have the kit done, and babies get born all the time. I'll be ready the next time someone holds a shower with little notice.

The last project that went to Florida and came home unknit is a scarf from Knitty.com called Caireen.. I happened to have the correct Alpaca yarn, won as a door prize again, this time from Knitter's Fantasy held in Youngstown Ohio.The yarn is local, but I don't remember who it came from. It's handspun and sure is soft!

I have more knitting to show you, but I'll save it for another day.

I am so glad to have my computer back. I took it back to the store where I bought it. They were able to save all my data, but not the programs. Luckily what I use most is Microsoft Office. I got the computer back with a limited usage version of it (19 times). I have the disks for the 2007 version and on the second try was able to successfully enter the product key. Why do they write them so small? The "B" looked like an "8". I've downloaded iTunes and Blogger.

How did I survive a week without my baby? I get mail on my iPhone and iPad. I could read blogs and Ravelry. I was lucky it only took a week. Actually, I "stalked" the store. I called when I thought the work would be done, only to find out that it hadn't been started. The phone call bumped me up in line. A second call three days later was more encouraging. I'm having to relearn how to type. Autospell on the phone has spoiled me. You don't have to put in apostrophes, or even spell correctly. It will autocorrect. If you're not careful, it may say something you didn't mean, but generally it's a help, especially on the smaller phone screen.

Another scarf finished

Thursday
Planting happened. I moved a number of plants before my sister arrived. She brought 7 hostas from her yard. I had some dusty-miller/ plants that made a nice border last year. They didn't die over the winter, and this year they grew and grew. looking on Google, I still don't know if they are annuals or perennials. Last winter was mild. They might die off this year. At any rate I want to plant something else in that border next year. I'm thinking a combination of flowers and lettuce.

Friday
Busy day at work, finally! It's been so slow that it'll be hard to pay bills. I'm afraid to look at the bank account. today I had a couple of alterations jobs quick quick, because of the Jewish holidays. Easy hems as waist adjustments, and same day money. It works for me!

I finished a charity scarf made from off bits of yarn. there is a lot of Wool Ease in it, as well as some mystery yarns. I started with a chunky yarn and 20 sts. I doubled most of the rest of the yarns. Each square is 20 ridges, and is offset by 10 sts.

Tonight I cooked up the rest of my green beans and turned them into my favorite green bean salad. I found this salad in the heat of the summer when a neighbor gave me some fresh green beans. It  has lettuce and feta cheese. Dressing is olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and orange juice. Fennel seeds and dried cranberries are added. YUM!

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.

What to eat?

This is my first summer alone. I've been trying to figure out what I want to eat in the hot weather we had been having. It's cooler now, but easy recipes are always good.. If anyone has any good suggestions, let me know.

So far I've discovered quesadiillas, pasta salad where I make the dressing, pizza whith my choice of ingredients and salmon salad wraps.I found a quesadilla recipe in a weight watchers cookbook, filled with chicken and salsa, topped with cheddar cheese. It was accompanied by a corn and tomato salad, yum! I had not cared for pasta salad , but talked to daughter #5 and found a WW recipe with a yogurt based dressing. I ate part of it with tuna added. Daughter #1 suggested that pizza can be made with any topping. I had some ready made crusts and topped them with spaghetti sauce, chicken and mozzarella cheese. Pizza shop pizza is too salty for me. I also had a quesadilla filled with spinach and goat cheese, topped with parmesan for breakfast the other day.

I sewed myself a knit dress the other day and I think I like it. It's comfortable, but maxi length. the pattern showed it to be shorter. I got lots of compliments, so i guess it looks good.

Most of my knitting has been on the charity scarf I'll be donating a guild meeting tonight. Here's an in progress photo. I actually have no socks on the needles at present. I must be sick!

Ah, Winter in NE Ohio

 The runners in the family have had some chances to run outdoors on days when the snow is cleared or melted. There has been a demand for the headbands. I've now knit 5 of them, using up a number of small balls of yarn.

Others in the family have gotten scarves. When I planned to knit 12 accessories for 2012, I didn't plan to knit hem all in January. I've now done 7 and still have a hat for a grandson to make in the next week or so.








I've started writing patterns again, adding two sock patterns to Ravelry and one to Patternfish. My Tree Bark sweater is growng a sleeve. Two different socks are being knit.

Work is proceeding on my bedroom closet.  To the left is stage one. There is a small closet to the left of the photo, which will have all the long items like dresses and slacks. I used to have a rod where the rack is now. but always had trouble with the sliding doors. As you can see it is gone completely.

We are building a modular closet. We had brackets for the shelves/racks on the back wall. It seems there is broken lath just where we needed stability. We'll hang those shelves from vertical strips like on the left. Of course it has already taken 2 trips to Home Depot and will take at least one more.

I've upgraded my winter wardrobe. This morning I bought a new jacket on line from Lands End.to replace the one that is too big and is starting to have zipper issues. I also replaced my boots for dog walking. The new ones are sooooo comfy and say that they will keep me warm to -25 degrees. I won't be testing that. The leather boots may stay around for a while. I do hate to throw things out, but if I don't wear them again this winter, they are leaving the house!!!

My family social life continues. Last Sunday there was a large breakfast gathering. Yesterday my son joined me for an orchestra concert. The Cleveland Orchestra played Brahms Piano concerto No. 2 with Yefim Bronfman soloist, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6. Tonight there is birthday cake and ice cream for my DIL Prg.

OK that's finished, now what?

Friday June 24, 2011

Depression?

I finished the Plymouth Zino scarf yesterday and it is blocked and probably dry. It doesn’t take long. I washed it and put in the blocking wires this morning. I’m feeling that sinking feeling that I get almost every time I finish a project.

I’ve been playing with shawl ideas and swatching, but I’m not ready to start one yet. Left over sock yarn in a similar colorway was used for the swatch. I think I need fewer holes. The color seems to fight with the lace.

I have some birthday socks to knit. This is the pair that I knit the swatches for, and decided to change patterns. The new pattern is going well, but I’m not feeling the joy. I expect it will get better as I get farther into the project.. Right now, it keeps my fingers busy, and will result in a gift for my son whose birthday is July 5.

I also need to make an animal for our guild toy competition/give away. I have a rabbit pattern picked out. I need that by July 11. Then I can start the shawl, maybe. I need a gift for son-in-law’s 50^th birthday. I’m thinking socks again. Then there are the socks for big-foot., who has a birthday in early August.. He is soooo appreciative, as what I knit are the only socks that really fit.

Saturday June 26

I'm liking the Zino shawlette. A large shawl would have a sort of granny square effect. I'll keep that thought.

The swatch was knit with Plymouth Sockotta, left over from socks. The new yarn is also by Plymouth, and I expect the same sort of random colors. The next swatch will have fewer holes. I think the needle size is good for this yarn.

The rabbit is started. It's a Fiona McTague pattern from Knitted Toys. I've started with a smaller needle than recommended, but the pattern is written in stitches and rows, not inches, so I'll continue. I'm using WoolEase sprinkles.

Rain, rain go away

Graduation (PhD style)
It rained on my son's graduation party! He had reserved a pavilion in a local park, so it wasn't a total washout, but at about 50 degrees and misting, it was RAW and uncomfortable. Hamburgers and Hot dogs were served, along with chips and cupcakes.

Winter coats were the fashion of the day. The setting was beautiful, but we didn't stay long. It was just too cold.

We have grown a large crop of mushrooms, due to the continual rain. They are starting to die off with a day or so of dry weather. Here's a close up.

We had breakfast with son's family this morning, and DH was asked if he had thawed out yet. It was the last breakfast of the season at the Marine Corps Gunny Hall (his father-in-law is a long time member).

Socks
The blue socks are finished. Beads show up better in real life. The didn't qualify for Ravelry's Solid Socks group although the color reads as semi-solid. It also reads as blue and green. The do count for the Crystal Palace Knit With the Palace challenge. They also count as a sock/yarn combo that has been in the pipeline for a couple of years. I'm glad to get them finished. They also are part of the Spring Stash Dash. That finished 2 of 6 original projects for that challenge.

The next pair of socks is a SKA mystery project by Janel Laidman, in an earth color for Solid Socks. I actually have clue #3 done on one sock and am waiting for clue #4. This is a fun pattern, partly because Janel included lots of interactive links. the pattern was originally titled 5-22-24-13-7-12-19-15-9. If you followed the key on the pattern (literally a key picture) you were led to a clue that said A=5. The title translates to Artichoke. There have been a number of artichoke links as well as links for her cast on and the wrapping technique.

Work
It's been rhinestone week and my fingers are glue covered. This year I'm adding rhinestones to prom dresses. Glue on stones gets on to my fingers, even though I actually apply the glue with a toothpick. I'll try to get a photo or two when I go to work tomorrow.

Problem?
We got a photo from our neighbors as well as a request. Could we feed their dogs? It seems they've been raptured! The rest of us are still here and have to do laundry and mow lawns as usual, at least until the Mayan end of the world next year.
How God is Managing the Rapture.

Scarves
I'm up to 12 scarves and I still have bulky yarn odd balls. I'll keep going. The September guild meeting is the collection deadline. I don't do a lot of charity knitting but this one appealed to me and the timing was right. I used up about 650 yards of yarn and finished 9 balls. I'm also donating 10 balls to another guild project, freeing up much space in my yarn drawers.

Missing sock and other stash reduction

Sock Mystery
The missing sock mystery is still not solved. I bought more yarn and knit a 3rd sock.There is enough leftover to knit another pair. I keep waiting for the missing sock to turn up. The pattern is Knotty or Knice by Chrissy Gardiner. The yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Silk.

Blue socks
Once upon a time, I knit a pair of wonderful socks that shrunk when I washed them for blocking. Crystal Palace replaced the yarn and I've finally knitting the replacements. The pattern is Moonchild by Adrienne Fong. The new yarn is Crystal Palace Panda Superwash. I've used 8/0 clear AB beads.

These socks actually don't qualify for any prizes. I had hoped that they'd work for Solid Socks, but was denied. The Crystal Palace blog has a contest using their yarn. It was time to stop petting it and start knitting with their yarn.

Both pairs of socks are part of my Spring Stash Dash challenge. I'm also working on the gray sweater.

Mother's Day was celebrated with all available family. Thirteen of us invaded BobEvans at 8:00 in the morning. The rest of the day was quiet.

Guild project
Monday night our guild had a speaker as part of our charity knitting. She represented women2women-knitting4peace. Among other projects distributed in third world countries, she talked about skinny scarves given as rewards to kids who do things like show up for medical exams. I was looking in my stash for bulky yarn for another project. I found many single balls not suitable for beginning knitters. With big needles and bulky yarn, I can knit a scarf in a couple of hours. so far I have 6 of them. I'm aiming for 10 scarves. I may do more if I have the yarn.

Tomorrow, our son receives his PhD. This is the third PhD in our overeducated family. We're not going to the ceremony, but will gather at a local park for burgers etc. I din't ask him, but I'm presuming that he is marching and making his teenagers watch.

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.

Socks and More Socks

The fireworks socks are finished. They go to knitting guild tonight for show and share and then I can wear them. Even though I went forward on the second sock, not back and forth, it seemed to take a long time.

The socks went to the ballet Wednesday night. I was at the heel flap, and worked before the show and at the two intermissions. I saw Don Quixote with music by Ludwig Minkus. Although the ticket was more expensive than I expected, I'd do it again. All seats were like being in the front row. Before the ballet started, we had 1/2 hour or more of scenes of Moscow. This was the Bolshoi Ballet, of course. During intermissions, we saw lobby shots and back stage shots. There was commentary before each segment of the dancing started, giving the story (not much of one), history of the ballet company, the composer, evolution of this production,and more. This may be normal for this type of show, but I'd never been to one before.

I found it interesting that the Bolshoi has apparently one of the few schools that teach character dancing. Don Quixote is an example. He really didn't dance, even Sancho Panza only danced a little. It was more acting in pantomime.

I've started a scarf from the Sausalito yarn from CPY. It's a drop stitch pattern and quite fun. The yarn is dark and the scarf is short, so no photos yet.

Then there is the next sock. I've adapted a Cookie A pattern from her first book. Because I have a limited amount of yarn, I'm doing it toe up. It may have a short leg. There was some back and forth knitting because the first toe was too wide. More back and forth while I decided what to do with the increases before the heel.

I have the yarn divided in half by weight and will proceed. I'm thinking of reversing the pattern for the second sock. I just need to start the pattern in the middle of the chart to make the waves mirror the first foot.

I had help when taking the picture of the finished sock. I don't often show her, because I don't take her picture. Here Bronte is, keeping watch on her world.

Happy, happy

The leftover biscotti socks are finished and on their way to the birthday recipient. Two more sock leftovers are completely used up.

This baby hat pattern showed up on my 2011 Knitting Calendar. I felt the itch to make one. The pattern doesn't show up on the variegated one, so I did it again. The pattern is leaves and the hat starts at the crown of the head and works down. These will go in my gift drawer for future use.

The purple scarf is finished and will also go in the gift drawer. It is knit in double brioche stitch and each side is a slightly different color.

Next up, a neck cozy. I had one skein of yarn that was calling to me, and went with my coat. I started at the top and worked down until I ran out of yarn. It's based on Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern in Knitting Around. It looks a little different now. I reknit it, so that there is less ribbing and more of a flap in front. It's bulky yarn and when worn folded over, was too thick. I don't need my hat down to my eyebrows. Another one evening project.

The blue Niagara socks were a huge hit with my hairdresser. She's not allergic to wool, (a concern) and they were just her color. I didn't think of the allergy problem until the middle of the second sock.

My new bathroom is another step closer to perfection. I finished the new rug. It is crocheted from almost 2 pounds of dishcloth cotton. One end is narrower because I ran out of the thicker yarn. It really isn't noticeable, except when it doesn't line up with the floor tiles. No more store bought rugs where the binding comes loose all too soon.

We're off to have breakfast with the kids, well one family of them. Later today will be a birthday bash for two grand kids.