Home again

Returned late yesterday afternoon from this month's trip to the state capital. The roads were fine and the countryside was white, white, white. We stayed at a swanky hotel. It was beautiful. The suite was about the size of my house. But, I don't think I'd ever stay there again. The noise from outside my door was very annoying. I got back to my suite [about 10 p.m.] after dinner [at a brew pub - where I lived dangerously and ordered Jambalaya -- and survived.] I thought I'd watch TV in the sitting room for awhile & knit to relax. [With my ankle iced, of course.]

But, it sounded like I was next to the [swimming] pool room. The hotel is one of those open atrium types where all the halls look down to the center court yard. There are several corner waterfalls cascading down the levels - what a din! 300 insurance agents [all in black suits] were having drinks in the courtyard below. My room was on the 3rd floor - perhaps if I had been on the 8th floor, it would not have been as loud. Perhaps.

So, I gathered up my knitting and retreated to watch TV in the bedroom. Couldn't hear the insurance agents or the waterfalls back there.

Worked on the same Trekking XXL that I've been on all month. No, I did not get it finished in time to wear at the meeting. But, I will be able to Next Time! :-)

Since October [when I got the knitting bug again and took up sock knitting] I've stopped at LYSs when I've been on-the-road. This time on the drive back I stopped at one in a town a few miles off the interstate. [Extra mileage incurred will not be reported on my expense form.] Oooh, another very small shop with limited range of yarns. Just two brands of sock weight yarn. Regia and Online. None of the Regia spoke to me, but several of the Online balls did.

Being the practical sort, I selected a 100 g. ball of Online Supersocke 100 - Sierra #896. See below. This colorway will go great with my work attire!

LYS vs Crafters' Big Box

I'm not looking forward to my trip to the CBB tomorrow...my 3rd in a week. But, I'm not willing to wait for those short 5s & 7s. Maybe they are all laid out the same, but the yarn dept. at the one nearby is in the farthest corner from the door. My ankle will be ready for the recliner by the time I get home!

Saturday I went to the other CBB in town since I was going to be up that way anyway. Whoa! I've only been in that one a couple times since moving here...and not at all recently. I was amazed at how much larger it is than the one that's a mile from my house. [And my local CBB used to be a Super KMart, so it's a Big building.]

They are Big stores, but the yarn depts. are very small and there's NO sock yarn at either. What??? Lots of super chunky yarns, and feathery, fluffy yarns, but no sock yarn.

Which brings me to the LYS [Local Yarn Shop] issue. There's the small one in the next town. The LYSOwner is a very nice lady. But, the shop is quite small and the array of yarn and knitting supplies are limited. I bet I'm not the only person in this town of over 50,000 people who would like to see [and who would use] a well stocked LYS here.

I could order online, and I suspect I will do that for some yarns. But, buying online [and waiting for a shipment to arrive] is not as fulfilling as driving over to the shop, browsing, touching [squeezing], chatting with the LYSO....

OTN [On the Needles]: 2nd Trekking sock. Didn't get much done yesterday or today. Don't think I'll meet that Wednesday evening goal.
OTN: mitten #1 for Sport - in the same Bernat Camouflage "Mash" yarn as the cap.

First completed 2007 project, 2nd ed.

I finished the second Seaman's cap for Sport He likes it and I'm pleased I took the time to knit a second one - following a real [not imagined] pattern! Sport was very cooperative when I explained to him that I thought the first one was too big & when I finished the new one we would trade. I also explained that I would take the old cap apart & use the yarn to knit mittens for him.

So, it's done. We traded caps and I have started the thumb increase on the first mitten.

And, I cannot believe that I do not have short, straight #5s or #7s. I have a big collection of needles [even after passing some on to my daughters.] I have all the needles I bought BK [before kids], GG's needles and Mother's needles. But no short, straight 5s or 7s.

I have several pairs of longs in those sizes, so that's what I'm using now. But, I keep whacking the arms of my recliner with the ends of the long needles. So...guess that means ANOTHER trip to the Crafters' Big Box after work tomorrow.

One Done, One-Half to Go!

[Still fuming - see earlier post]

I got online to share my good news! I finished Trekking XXL - #90 Kiefer Sock One last night. More correctly, this morning. We watched movies until 1:30 a.m. I finished the first of the pair, tried it on. Perfect fit! I am so pleased with the way it looks & feels on my foot. YIPPEE! This is the first pair for myself using the finer sock yarn.

[The earlier pair was in OPAL Petticoat for Mother. I usually visit her once or twice a week. I think she's had the OPAL socks on every time I've seen her since Christmas. She assures me that she washes them [by hand] - so she must take them off occasionally! Looks like I'll need to do another pair for her soon, but not before the Mountain Colors Bearfoot Flathead Cherry for myself!]

When I finished Kiefer #1, I switched to Kiefer #2 immediately and picked up the gusset stitches. Now I'm ready to work on said gusset and foot, and then I'll be done! The goal is to have Sock Two finished by Wednesday night. Yikes! As slow as I've been on this pair, don't know if that's do-able. We'll see. Staying in this a.m. - too much snow to shovel to try to make it to church. Got a big container of yesterday's White Chili in the fridge & lots of multigrain tortillas on hand. I'm all set to sit and knit all day!

Go Bears! Go Pats! Oh, oh. What if they both win? Hmmm...Go Bears!

Most [but not all] Comments Welcome

It's Sunday. I shouldn't swear. So, I'll leave it up to your imagination. Fill in the blank. ____________________!

The very first comment anyone has left on this blog happened to be something that is NOT appropriate on any G or even PG rated site. ____________!

I scrambled to find How to Delete Offensive Comments help. Yea! Not so difficult.

Hopefully, that will be the last. I would love to see comments, but not the XXX sort.

Blogging about blogs

I'm not doing very well with jotting down my ideas for posts. I know I have discussed several topics with myself in the past few days, but can't think of them now.

However, I would like to comment on blogs - knitting and genealogy. I've been reading a lot of them. What fun! What a clever, talented, intelligent bunch of people! And to think I've spent [several] years thinking I didn't have time for blogs, didn't need to read blogs, etc. I've missed a lot. I'm not even going to try to read everyone's archives! I'll just start from now and "keep in touch" as time goes on.

I'll be adding a few blog links to this blog. Not all of them, but ones that I look at fairly regularly, or think I will be doing so in the future.

4-Hour Work Day

I could *so* get used to this. Back to work this morning after a 3 day weekend, but a co-worker [the only 2nd shifter] is ill. So I volunteered to work 4-8 p.m. and now have the whole afternoon off.

However, I'm not looking forward to facing the subzero temps to go back to work AND then come home at 8 p.m. Brrrr.

So, it's time to fix a big mug of Yorkshire Tea [with enough milk to produce a camel coloured brew, of course], prop my ankle [and the rest of me] in the recliner, and knit away on those Trekking XXL-Kiefer socks.

OTN 1 & 2

OTN 1- Sport's camo cap, 2nd ed.
OTN 2- Plodding along with the Trekking XXL - Kiefer socks. Man, these teeny, tiny needles and skinny yarn take forever! If I had a digital camera, I'd show you my progress. [But, there's 12 shots left on my 35 mm and by the time I get that roll developed the socks will be done. [They will, they will!]

I'm getting anxious to start the Mountain Colors Bearfoot - Flathead Cherry that I got from DD3 for Christmas. I found the pattern I'll use for that pair of socks: Slip Up Socks at Poshyarn. The instructions state that it knits up fairly loose. So, I'm thinking perhaps I should use the 1.5 bamboo dpns...that I'm using for the Trekking/Kiefer pair. As long as I keep to that plan, I'll have to finish the Kiefer's first. [Saving them from the fate of being set aside.]

Let This Be a Lesson to You!

I know better. Now.

I was more than a bit too-sure-of-my-knitting-skills when I decided to start the camo cap for Sport: Have yarn, have needles, have knitted a "seaman's" cap before.

What I didn't have was a pattern. Just an idea of what I wanted it to look like when it was finished. The problem is that the finished product and the idea in my head aren't exactly the same. Solution: find a pattern and start over.

Last night I cast on & knit a few rows using Needlebeetle's Seaman's Cap. When I finish this one, I'll switch caps with Sport [probably without his knowledge...3 year olds seem to be rather possessive about their belongings.] And I'll recycle the old one into that blanket I'll eventually do for him.

(Genealogy content) Y-DNA & Haplogroups

I need to contact others in my patrilineal family who are interested [or have invested in] that Y-DNA project. Got the word today that Brother's [therefore my] Y-DNA Haplogroup looks as if it is I1c.

See paragraph 10 in the body of the Rootsi article for "Subhaplogroup I1c."

Time to ice the ankle and knit. Later.

Knitting to Classical Music - Reprised

Sometimes when I listen to my "Rachmaninoff for a Rainy Day" cd I get a dejavu feeling... I'm a young girl [maybe about 8 years old]...I'm visiting an old lady [but not any of my grandmothers]...I'm sitting on the floor playing with dolls [paper dolls?]...the record player [victrola!?] or radio is on and classical music is playing...and the old lady is knitting [or crocheting.]

Was this a *real* memory or is it a subconscious contruction of a variety of past experiences?

Oh, well. Listening to "Rachmaninoff for a Rainy Day" and knitting is a very enjoyable experience. But, who was that old lady?

In which I explain why I haven't added a post lately

Work, grandkids, kids... and trying to keep my ankle elevated & iced. Decided a wireless laptop actually would be a handy thing to have.

Had a revelation today as I was carefully walking across the icy, snowy parking lot to the PT office. I was thinking of several topics I *could* write posts about...if I could only remember them when I got home. The Ah Ha moment was when I remembered the small notebook in my purse. So...while I was having the ultrasound and the ion....whatever treatments on my ankle I made 3 pages of notes! Posts to follow....

Knitting to Classical Music

I like to knit while watching TV or movies. Or more accurately, I can't just sit and watch TV or a movie, so I knit, crochet, cross stitch, etc. During the past few months, it's been knitting...socks!

I also like to do those needlework crafts when listening to music, too. Especially classical music. One cd more than others: "Rachmanioff for a Rainy Day."

Dang - gotta get ready for work. I'll finish this later...

Doctor's Orders

Actually it was the physical therapist's, but that just doesn't sound the same....

I'm to:

1. Put ice on my swollen ankle for 20 mins, 4 x a day
2. Take ibuprophen 4 x a day
3. Do four different ankle/foot exercises 4 x a day
4. Stay off my feet as much as possible for the next few days.

Yippee!!! I have orders to sit in my recliner, watch movies (or hockey), and knit all weekend!

(At least that's MY interpretation of #4.)

Sport's New Cap

Sport has a new winter coat. [Just in case it decides to be winter in this part of The Midwest!] It's olive green [what we used to call khaki until people started calling Tan "khaki"]- with "camouflage" trim/lining. I recently bought some yarn in two varieties of "camo" thinking I'd crochet blankets for the boys.

Bernat Camouflage "#10482 Mash" for Sport - and "#10481 Outback" for Buster.

I bought plenty. So when I saw Sport's new coat, a 75 watt soft white light bulb went on over my head...a knit cap in Mash Camouflage is what the boy needs! Row 2 is OTN, but I really need a short 16 inch-ish circular needle. Using 4 dpn that are long [must have been GG's] and not quite large barrelled enough.

Knitting at the Dr's office

After nearly 3 weeks of pain, I took the afternoon off & went to the Dr. on Wednesday [1/3/07]...long story... Diagnosed with tendonitis in my left ankle.

I was *really* glad that I'd taken my knitting along. Had to sit in the waiting room for quite a while. And then had to wait about 20 mins. after getting to the exam room. I was knitting along, happily oblivious to the passage of time, when the Dr. came in. Hadn't seen this one before. [My primary Dr & the other one I've seen a few times were either booked solid or out for the week.] Nice, personable young man.

What *really* impressed me was his reaction to my knitting. He walked in & spotted my work in progress and exclaimed, "I've Never seen knitting needles THAT small before!" He pulled up a chair and held the completed cuff/leg [on stitch holders]...felt the yarn, examined the mini cable and said, "I didn't know people knit socks anymore."

I replied, "You'd be surprised how many people knit socks!... Guys knit, too!"

I nearly mentioned a book I saw recently, "Knitting with Balls," but since I *just* met him, decide to save that for another time.

It's all in the Lights

My OTN continues to be Socks - Trekking XXL "Kiefer." I usually knit with light from my chair side lamp - using a 75 watt soft white bulb. In that light the Kiefer is a sort of non-descript mottled brownish color.

But, in the past few days I've had the opportunity to knit under florescent lights [first being in the Dr's office, second being at Physical Therapy.]I'm amazed at how nice and colorful the Kiefer looks with florescent light!! I'm impressed! There's an olive green, pumpkin, charcoal gray, something that looks almost dark lavender, and more. [Well, I do have tinted spectacles....]

Bottom line: I'm happy with the Kiefer! I've finished the cuffs/legs. And have started heel flap #1 [row 1: s1, k1; row 2: s1, purl across.] I knit on dpns and go by sections: cuff 1, cuff 2, leg 1, leg 2, heel flap 1, heel flap 2, etc.

Happy New Year

I just added photos of several pair of socks that I knit during the autumn to a Dec 13th post