Knitting Daily

I've been receiving the Knitting Daily newsletters via email for several months. It's an Interweave Press publication and I know they produce a Lot of great books & magazines. What intrigues me about Interweave Press is that I never heard of it when I lived out there. Well, to be honest, I wasn't into knitting back then. But still....

While reading today's Knitting Daily, I poked around the links and found out that one of the people who put the newsletter together was a former co-worker of mine. Small world, eh?

I'm about ready to do my daily knitting -- It's been a long day with the boys here since yesterday afternoon.

It's been a frustrating day for their folks...they had the truck loaded and were ready to drive the 30 miles to their new apt. But before they got on the road, their new landlady called and said, Oops - the woman who was vacating the apt. wasn't completely moved out yet. DD2 & SiL had paid the deposit a couple weeks ago, so they were expecting to be able to move in today. Another issue was that they had to have the truck back down there by 5 p.m. They got the call from the landlady at 7 p.m. to say that the apt carpet has been cleaned and they can move in. So, they're going to load the beds on a pick up truck and get them set up in their apt. and then they'd be over to pick up the boys. They'll have to get a truck again tomorrow [hopefully] to move the rest of their belongings. The other grandma will watch the boys tomorrow.

Today, though, we went to a park, to the petting zoo, and to the airport. The boys also helped water the plants out front, chalked up the sidewalks and driveway, played with new neighbor kids, and spent over a half hour playing with GOOP [mix together baking soda, cornstarch, and water.] Both Buster & Sport have been asleep for several hours now. And I had a nice nap!

Now off to my current OTN project: another pair of little kids socks for CIC.

July Socks done!

I finished the Move Your F@nny pair officially last night. WooHoo! If I do say so myself, the Kitchener closings look great! I also finished [Kitchenered] a pair of CIC socks. I used these to practice the Kitchener technique before working on the F@nnies.

Pattern: Move Your F@nny [pattern at http://www.socktopia.net/]
Yarn: Knit Picks Memories in Redwood Forest [100% Merino]
Needles: 1.5 [US]/2.5mm dpns
Knit for: my Mother
Modifications: just the needles. Pattern calls for 2 circs. I only have a set of dpns in the size I needed.

Pattern: Top down, ribbed leg [k2, P2] 4 1/4" foot

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes [worsted] in Winter Night with a Fog stripe

Needles: Size 6 [US] dpns

Knit for: current CIC challenge for Little Kids

"Good job!"

That's what the EMR doctor told DD1 when he saw her ankle. The orthopedic surgeon got her on the schedule and she had surgery yet Thursday evening. She's home, but frustrated, overwhelmed and a bit depressed. She'd be bored, too, if it weren't for the Harry Potter 7 book that I picked up for her yesterday morning.

Knitting bags are marvelous. I keep necessary supplies, photocopies of the pattern I'm working on, extra yarn, etc. in mine. So when we had to take off for the hospital, all I had to do was just pop in my current OTN project and take off. I finished the 2nd Move your F@nny sock. Just need to graft them shut. Also nearly finished a little kid's pair for CIC. Photos available in a day or two.

Move Your F@nny update

Really quickly 'cos I've been catching up on blog reading and I'll be late for work....

Except for weaving/closing after the toe turn, I'm finished with the first Move Your F@nny Sock. I'll do the finishing on both socks at the same time. And, since I only have one set of size 1.5 [US] needles, I've moved the stitches to holders so I can cast on this evening for the second sock. No photo, yet.

The heel and toe turns went very smoothly, after encouragement & advice from Kathy. (Thanks again!) In fact the toe went perfectly. After fiddling and frogging a bit on the heel a couple times because I'd set it down and when I picked it up again, didn't get on the right row...was confused about where the slipped stitch was, etc. On the toe, tho, I used stitch markers to set the slipped stitch apart. Saved me much time and irritation!

Back to Socks

After several weeks' break, I've started a pair of socks - another pair for Mother. I'm using the "Move Your F@nny" pattern from the Socktopia blog as first seen [by me] on Kathy's blog. These will count as my July Socks for SAM3.

I like to read the patterns through first and was puzzled by the instructions for the heel that read: "sskWSL...." The explanation that followed probably would have been OK... IF I had read them At the Point of Need. But, I was reading ahead. Trying to get it all figured out before I got there. Probably not such a good idea.

I sent a "need HELP" email to Kathy and continued to knit the stst leg/ankle part. And by the time I was At the Point of Need, she had replied :-) Thank you, Kathy, for the advice! You're a life saver again! Here's a photo - with sock at the ready to work on the instep sts again. I got about an inch through the K1,P1 arch ribbing before calling it a night.

The yarn is KnitPicks Memories, 100% Merino in Redwood Forest. The pattern calls for 2 circs. Your eyes aren't fooling you, I'm not using 2 circs. When I ordered the yarn [which I meant for a different pattern], I also ordered 2 circs [size 2US/3mm] This pattern calls for a 8 sts/inch gauge. Not gonna happen with this yarn on 3mm needles. So I switched to my bamboo 1.5 [US]/2.5mm dpns and I'm getting the prescribed gauge.

No modifications to the pattern [other than the needles.]

Also in my last KnitPicks order, 2 hanks of Memories - Cape Cod [also from the clearance rack]:
Hmmm. Colors are a bit washed out. And now you know that I don't have a yarn winder system. Do it by hand. Fairly respectable little cake. And it pulls out nicely from the center. My Gran [GG] taught me how to do that early on. She was such a pro that her cakes were flat on the bottom. Mine are almost flat - flat enough they don't roll away.

7+1=8 Caps

I finished eight caps for the Cheyenne River project for CIC. Seven were finished in June and the other last evening. In the photo of the seven, there are two tweedy hats. They were knit with white worsted and a strand of [fingering weight] sock yarn - one with leftover KnitPicks Essentials "Dusk" [used for Mother's Embossed Leaves] and the other with leftover Opal Feelings #1703 - the blue stripes [used for the pair for my sister in SC.]

Various sizes - children through "small adult."

Two of the caps were knit using the rolled brim cap pattern from Knitting for Peace, and the rest are Seaman's Caps - several inches of K2, P2 rib for the cuff and then st st.

I tried to get Annie to model the 8th cap, but she said that it's too hot & humid today, but if I can wait till November....
She's going to spend the day on the shelf - watching Wimbledon.

Happy 4th!

Other than going to fireworks tonight with DD2 and the boys, I'm planning a stay-at-home day. The grass needs a mow, the carpets need a vacuum, a book needs to be finished [I'm only half through and it's due on Friday...I could finish it, IF I didn't do anything else.] Title? The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest by Alec R. Gilpin, published in 1958. I told you I was/am a history major, right?

Have I been knitting, you ask? Yes, some. I'm on the 7th cap for the Cheyenne River project [CIC] When I finish this one, I'll do photos of all the caps. I probably will do one or two more to use up the yarn I bought specifically for this project.

Buster stayed all last weekend while his important people went camping across The River with the daddy's extended/extensive family. Buster and I had a a good time. I was even able to knit a bit on the cap. I put it away, tho., after he grabbed it from me and pulled out the circ needle. ARGH~ Being worsted weight, the stitches were easily recovered, so no real damage done. But, I'll wait a few more months before knitting in his presence again!

What else have I been up to since last post? Besides working: a little napping [I'm still so tired after work...], and a little data entry on my genealogy project -- manually adding data to my new software from the old. [After a Big Mess when I tried an export/import, I decided to do it the Slow-but-accurate way.]

After sharing a computer with DD1 for the past term in which she had an online class with mandatory real-time online seminars in the evenings, I've 'bought' her a computer. Now don't go thinking what a wonderful mom I am. She's paying me back for it. AND it was at the IT department's garage sale at work. They were selling oldish Pentium 4 Dells for $100. Loaded with XPpro and an anti-virus product, but nothing else. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, cables came with. She's happy, and can transfer her music download subscription and files to her computer. :-) It came without speakers, but she's getting rid of an old, non-working, cd player and salvaged the speakers from it.

The Grandsons - 2 yr old Buster on the left and nearly 4 yr old Sport on the right:

My Knitting Library

Thanks to Dear Friend Joanne and DD1's discount at her day job, I've got a nice little library of knitting books.Oh, yeah...my newest novel [also thanks to DD's discount] wanted to be included in the photo. I couldn't refuse.

Caps and Harry Potter 5

Finished the audio book - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I knew I'd never get through it before the movie was released. No brain power left after work these days. So I got the audio book from the public library & knit caps for the CIC-Cheyenne River project [and finished the June socks.] I'm nearly finished with cap #4. Here's a sneak peak at one of them.

Knitterish Blogs

You guys & gals Rock! I sat down to add a post [not this one], but first read my usuals. Then I linked from one to another to another.... There are SO many interesting people who knit / so many knitters who are interesting people. Lots of talented crafters. I continue to be awed by your words & handiwork.

Updated previous post

With a photo & a few links. :-)

Buster stayed overnight. He was absolutely distraught this morning when he realized his mama wasn't here. Hopefully he will take it better when he wakes up from his nap - probably shortly. I left my knitting bag in my bedroom, so now I don't have anything to do that won't wake him up...besides dust.

That doesn't sound like fun, but since I'm having visitors this afternoon, I suppose I'd better do it.

OTN: small adult (teen?) sized Seaman's cap for the Cheyenne River project. In black. I have 6 rows on the "cuff" so far. One more row & I'll do two red, two white, and two more red rows before I go back to black.

Road Trip and a not-so-local LYS

At [nearly] the very last minute, my road trip for a work-related conference ended up being a solo excursion. Yippee! On the way back up I-35 I stopped at the Rose Tree Yarn Shop in Ames, IA. Denise had mentioned on her blog that there was a new order of ToFUtsies and I had to see/feel them for myself. Of course I came home with a ball. I'm thinking about using this yarn for my attempt at nona's Sidewinders and can only hope I can do as good a job with them as Kathy has!

Also bought an inexpensive ball of Reynolds Swizzle [75% Merino Superwash-25% nylon] in green. This will do for the [3rd] pair of socks Mother has asked for - and I promised to have done before winter.

While at the Rose Tree, I introduced myself to Denise. [Hope I didn't scare her - I'm NOT a stalker.] She was teaching a class and I was late for another stop, so we didn't chat.

The other stop was to see my grandsons at their new-to-them home. By taking several 2-lane highways and getting into several road construction messes, I ended up being even later. Oh, well. They were happy to see me. I was happy to see them. Etc.

And speaking of being late -- I've got to get to work. I'll add yarn photos and links later.

Buster's 2!

[Grandson content]

Buster and some of his loot.

Sport and Buster on their new Cars chairs. [DD3 in the background]

Buster, er - I mean Spideyman.

He had a personality change when he got the suit on.

We think he thought he really was Spidey!

June Socks

Finished the denim blue Embossed Leaves Socks for Mother.

Yarn: KnitPicks' Essentials "Dusk"

Needles: Size 2 [US]

Pattern: Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs

No modifications.

The pattern looked fussy to me before I began [of course my previous 11 pair of socks were either in st st or ribbing] - but it is Very Easy! I'd use it again.

Quik Update

Lots to write about. No time to write this a.m. Gotta get to work early.

1. Finished radiation on Monday -- and got a certificate of completion (fun!)
2. Buster's 2nd bd was Monday -- a photo or two will be posted later.
3. Finished the blue Embossed Leaves socks for mom -- had her model them -- photos later.
4. Knitting for the Cheyenne River project -- and listening to Harry Potter/Order of the Phoenix on CD the past few evenings.

Have a good day/evening!