April Socks Completed

Still no digital camera - so I had to fold the top [bottom in real life] sock to show the second one.

Almost identical except for the last few rows of the toes. The 2nd one has more "tan" - and less "raspberry" at the very end.

Details were posted on March 29.

My Past Week - Part C

Oh, yeah. The dryer quit working a few days ago. Need to contact the landlord. Don't know if they are back from Florida yet or not. [If they Are, I bet they wish they weren't. Windchill this a.m.: 6 degrees.]

My Past Week - Part B

Earlier this week...Monday to be exact... we had a lot of rain. The ground was already saturated, and now the rivers are up. I live on high ground, so I was really surprised on Tuesday morning when I went downstairs to do laundry. Standing water! [I rent, by the way. And for some strange reason, the landlord had raised the floor around the drain. The center of the basement floor is several inches lower.]

I got a mop & pushed water uphill to the drain for nearly an hour & a half. I sent a text message to DD1 saying HELP! - she came straight home from work. Most of the wet stuff belonged to DD3 who's [90 miles] away at college. I left a voice message on her phone saying that it looked like most of it would have to be pitched.

DD3 called after class and said she would come home to help and arrived around 5 pm-ish. DD1 helped her haul wet stuff out to the garage. I stood around and tried to be supportive. Her boyfriend came over when he got off work & they hauled all the wet mess away.

We turned on a couple fans and by bedtime that evening the floor was completely dry.

I was SO thankful that DD3 was able to come home to help. Thanks again, Honey Bunch!

Things That Go

[Grandson content]


These photos were taken at Christmas time. My grandsons are a treat! I have 3 lovely daughters - but had no idea how much fun grandsons would be. They are fascinated by all things motorized & with wheels. Sport wants a motorcycle and Buster wants a "digger." Poor Buster thought this one was his to take home. :-)

My Past Week - Part A

[Genealogy content]

I have been knitting...some. But, I spent a lot of hours working on genealogy stuff. A year ago I bought a new database program and decided I wanted the data to be as "perfect" as possible. So, I started transfering each individual manually - each ancestor, ancestors' siblings, in-laws, known nieces & nephews, etc.

That works well, but takes forever. There are 2998 individuals in my old database. When I got to my paternal grandfather's line, I decided to do a data download for those individuals. That did NOT work well. I have no idea how it happened, but during the download random individuals were given burial dates ranging from 2002 and 2007. Really random. Not everyone. But, some of the people are still living. Some died in the 1700s. Some of the "notes" sections were duplicated, but not all. ARGH.

I started to clean up the records for those in my paternal grandfather's line and learned some new tricks for using this new database. And then, I decided to look at the data for every single person. I went alphabetically through the entire new database -- 1527 records -- and fixed what needed to be fixed. It was *very* time consuming, but I'm glad I did it.

Now for the remaining 1471 records -- I'm going to enter the data manually. It might take me a year, but I'll end up with a "clean" database.

yDNA Update: A few days ago I got word of a new project participant who matches our results perfectly. Our Most Recent Common Ancestor was born about 1750 in Pennsylvania. And here's another who matches very closely - but we don't have a proven connection, yet. Most likely it's several generations farther back. Now - if I could just talk a couple of my mother's male cousins into doing a yDNA test I think we might be able to prove or disprove a certain family oral tradition. The test itself is a bit pricey, but the two cousins I would ask could easily afford it.

April Socks update

I knew it would be slow going with these. That's why I got a head start on the April socks. But, I'm making good progress. Love the feel of this yarn. [I've read a few blogs or socknitters' posts from people who have not liked it. But, I'd definitely use Step again!]

Sock #1 nearly completed - need to finish toe and deal with the cast on tail. I left the tail long to help me match up the start point of the second sock. Yippee. The second sock, now OTN, is looking like the stripes match up well :-)

Yarn: Austermann Step #10 Melba
Needles: No. 2 [US] aluminum, 5 dpns
Pattern: rather basic pattern - top down, k4, p1 rib that I saw at Michelle's Basic Socks - but then the rest is my modification with a heel flap instead of a short row heel. Maybe one of these days I'll actually use Michelle's entire pattern.

Online Shopping Fun

WooHoo! I'm just back from shopping at amazon. My dear friend from across the pond, JCS, gave me a gift certificate! I browsed the site for ideas: there was a book about the War of 1812, several on genealogy, and then I looked at knitting [related] books. Being a practical sort, I decided that the book on the War of 1812 & the ones on genealogy I would probably read through once and only once. And they could be easily borrowed from a library. But the knitting books...I would read and refer to over & over.

Then, I had to decide which knitting book[s] to choose. I read the amazon blurbs and found online reviews and finally settled on:

Wolcott, Jill. "YNotKnit"
Pearl-McPhee, Stephanie. "Knitting Rules: the Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks"

Several reviews called "YNotKnit" basic and perhaps it is. It describes how to knit the Continental Method and that's all I've ever done, but I'm thinking I could use some advice and tips from the pros. DD3 has started knitting, and DD2 wants to, so the book would be a good reference for them as well.

It appears that "YNotKnit" is not currently in stock, but usually ships in 4 to 6 weeks. Darn. But I'll be happy to get it when it does arrive!

Thanks, JCS!!!!

Cheesecake and a sick Buster

I drove to work today for the March birthday cheesecake event. Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake. Yummy! Chocolate & Peanuts/Peanut butter are my favorite foods! :-) I need to talk with the surgeon [or his nurse] to get a return to work release. I'm thinking about starting back half-time on Easter Monday.

While I was eating cheesecake, DD2 called to say that she was taking Sport to pre-school for the afternoon, but Buster had a fever. So he's here, asleep on the couch. Poor little fella. I need a nap - too tired to knit. And I'll have to pick up Sport in an hour. The mama works till 9:30 or so tonight & the daddy is out of town.

Short Row Heel

...ala "Simple Socks: Plain & Fancy" by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts. When the book came home to me, I read through it & thought: Yippee - I'll practice on that blue striped OPAL.

[I'll skip the part about the 3 total and 2 partial frogs...]

I finally got through a heel that I thought was "OK" and started down the foot. But, I kept seeing the two mistakes [one on each side of the heel] and they drove me nuts. *IF* these socks were going to be for me, I would have given a shrug and kept on going. But, this yarn is going to be used for socks for someone else. And while the [non-knitter] person who will eventually wear them probably wouldn't have noticed, I just couldn't bear to continue.

So...frogged again and now working on my standard heel flap.

While I was struggling with the short row technique, I thought that perhaps I should wait & try it on a pair of socks from heavier weight yarn. Then a few days ago Kathy mentioned that, too. [Thanks, Kathy.] That's what I'll do. I *think* have have mastered the technique - just need a bit more practice.

I have a yarn order hopefully in transit from KnitPicks. When I saw the mail truck at the corner, I thought, "Maybe the package will come today." Oh, no! It kept on going down the road. Maybe tomorrow.

Favorite Socks!

Yippee! Gift from DD1: the new Interweave publication: "Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs." I'm SO tickled! [And she gets to pick out a pattern & yarn and I'll gift her back with a pair of mom-made socks :-)

Self Striping Yarn

Looking at old photos recently with Sport and came across this one taken in September 1974. Groovy, eh? My first encounter with "self striping yarn." The design that emerged was Totally Accidental. I was amazed - and pleased - at what happened :-)

This morning I dug out my box of knitting [etc.] patterns and found the one I used.

The yarn was Red Heart Wintuk Clansman sport weight. The pattern was from a 3-pattern folder: "Clansman Sweaters - Coats & Clark's Studio Card No. 8"

Copyright: 1973 - Price: 35 cents

Good lord!

When I saw the kids' sweater photos on the pattern card, I remembered knitting several for First Nephew and First Niece. And now I know what pattern I'll use for pullovers for Sport & Buster :-)

Today's BD Girls

Happy BD, Mom!











Here's the other one:

EZ

I’ve been reading posts by various bloggers that refer to Elizabeth Zimmermann. But, I was totally unfamiliar with the name. I turned to my local public library’s online catalog and found that they have one of her books, “Knitting Without Tears.” It was checked out, but I’ve placed a hold on it for when it’s returned.

Then I phoned the nice lady at the PL’s Interlibrary Loan office and requested the rest of EZ’s books. In just a few days, I had two of them in my hands! ILL is such a wonderful FREE service!

1) “Knitter’s Almanac” - Good grief! An Aran sweater is the first project? [Well, why not. I knit a rather complex Aran cardy early on in my teens.] And knitting directions that talk us/me through a pattern. Yippee!!

Being a visual learner, I sometimes have difficulty wrapping my head around some normally written patterns. For instance: at the end of last summer I was looking for a sock pattern. I’d never knit socks before, so wanted an “easy” pattern. Reading the “heel turn” part on a few normally written patterns confused the heck out of me and I wasn’t brave enough to Just Do It. Then I found instructions [see Reference below] written in what I now know as the EZ style. Chatty. The author encourages the knitter several times during the heel turn: “Don’t worry…” – much like EZ’s “Keep Calm.”

2) “Knitting Around: or Knitting Without a License” – OK. Maybe I *will* try a Moebius. DD1 picked up the ILL books late Tuesday afternoon. I browsed through both. Knit a few rows, picked up “Knitting Around” again, started reading from the front, put it down, knit, picked up the book, read some more, put it down, knit. Etc. Finished the book about midnight.

What an amazing lady! Why am I just now discovering her?

What was I doing knit- and purl-wise in the mid 1970s? I was knitting hats, scarves, mittens, sweaters [both pullover & cardy], [but not socks], for my niece, nephew, sisters, myself, and baby outfits for niece, nephew, and friends’ babies. The sources for patterns were mainly Patons, Mon Tricot, and Marshall Cavendish publications, but not Elizabeth Zimmermann.

REFERENCE
Ramsey, Patricia. “Knit a Pair of Socks.” Countryside & Small Stock Journal. v. 86, no. 1. Jan/Feb 2002, pp. 94-96.

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday, Dear Daughter 3!!!

On this day, -- years ago, I had the joy of holding you in my arms for the first time. What a precious little bundle, then & now!

Luv ya,
Mom

PS - glad to have you as a 'fellow knitter,' too :-)

[side note: and I thought that would be the last time I'd have my tummy cut open. who knew?]

The Grandkids

Haven't posted much about the Grandkids. What can I say, other than they're the Best?!! Buster on the left & Sport on the right. Haven't seen a lot of them in the past two weeks. [No grandkid sitting.] I can't lift anything more than 15 lbs for now, and Buster's at least 32. As a busy 21 mo. old, he just won't lie still for diaper changing. So that means I can't be left alone with him for long!