Portraits by Buster

I don't think there is a picture of me on this blog...until now. Buster, age 3 1/2, made this portrait of me a few days ago. I'm not sure if that's arms coming out of the side of my head, or the bows of my glasses.

He also drew one of himself: "That's me with my Rock Star hair," he said.

Grandsons are so much fun!

Breaking Tradition On Superbowl Sunday and CK

It's Superbowl Sunday! But, I'm not going to be participating in my annual Superbowl Event. Instead, I'm taking DD2, Sport & Buster to the 4 p.m. Bob the Builder (live) performance. After the show, the mama is going to the belated Christmas Party at her work and I'll bring the boys back here -- and hope I can see the last half of the game.

Usually my sentiment for the Superbowl is "May the team with the most points win." However, gosh, the Steelers are my third favorite team (after the Broncos and the Bears.) So I *would* be cheering for the Steelers today if it weren't for Kurt Warner. Sigh. Gotta go with Kurt Warner. Go Cardinals!! (Or... Steelers!)

If it's Sunday, I must be knitting for Charity. Today I'm working on another pair of kids' socks for CIC - similar to last week's pair. This one, using Patons' Classic Wool in Winter White along with left over On-Line Supersocke 100/Sierra Color #896 used for this pair of socks.

Sunday (& Monday) Charity Knitting

I started these socks for the current CIC project Sunday morning and would have finished them yesterday morning, if I hadn't had to go to work. But, Hey, I still have a job, so I can't complain!

They were finished last night - finished the 2nd heel flap and got half way through that foot at SnB. And then completed it later at home.

Yarn: One strand Patons Classic Wool in Winter White (worsted weight) and one strand of left over OPAL Petticoat #1295.
Needles: Size 4 [US] dpns
Pattern: based on the Magic 28 pattern found at NowNormaKnits. The leg has a top K1, P1 rib for 6 rows and then I switched to K3, P1. The foot is StSt.
Knit for: CIC

OTN Update

I keep trying to be a project monogamist, but I have a wandering eye and lust after yarn and patterns and FOs. [Sigh]

Project 1: I was given a lovely, dark green, velour top that goes beautifully with a pair of dark green slacks. The only problem is that the top has a wide (and deep) V neckline. I don't feel comfortable with so much of my skin exposed, so I decided it needed a scarf.

Until that point I didn't think I'd ever want to knit lace. Just don't have a need for a shawl - at least a lacy one full of "holes" for cold air to attack through. But, hmmm... didn't want a silk, or silky type scarf. It needed to provide some warmth to my neck and chest. Wool. But, it needed to be light weight to wear all day at work. Lace?

I also wanted a quick knit. No fiddly pattern. I searched blogs, and dang if I can remember where I found the pattern, I found one that works! I had in mind [dangerous, I know] a lace weight yarn of a lovely tweedy mixture of greens, browns, and muted golds. Does anyone produce anything like that? And what would it cost? The project was on hold while I contempted searching the Internet for the perfect yarn. Meanwhile, while on a stash dive, I found the remains of yarn I'd used for a pair of kids socks last year [Reynolds Swizzle.] The ball felt like it had enough yardage for The Scarf. The green is a near perfect match. It has funky yellow, blue, and pink stripes to add "interest" or maybe just "contrast." OK, then. The original pattern is wider, but I CO 23 stitches on a size 10 [6mm] 16" Addi Turbo. One row pattern! I have about 15" completed. I'm hoping for a 48" total. Should have weighed the ball before I started.

Project 2: I *was* going to use the extra Knit Picks Swish (DK) to make a pair of Knucks for myself. But, I wasn't sure if I'd really have enough, I ordered a contrasting color of the yarn. When I got the two together, Nutmeg and Cinnamon, I thought SOCKS - for ME. [I still want Knucks, but I'll have to buy more yarn.]

I looked for a pattern for DK weight socks. Requirement: not an online pattern, but one from my collection of knitting books. I settled on Priscilla's Dream Socks from Favorite Socks. I read through the pattern and decided that I don't want to fiddle with short row heels. Actually, I don't think they fit as well as heel flap heels. I have a high instep and need some extra stitches to start the foot - which I get by picking up 2 or 3 extra stitches on each side of the flap. So modification 1 will be the heel. I haven't committed to the toes, yet. I have knit "quite a few" [it's all relative, I know] socks with the leg entirely in ribbing, but have not previously used this pattern's method of switching from a larger needle [US 3 / 3.25 mm] to a smaller one [US 2 / 2.75mm] half way down the leg.

I could only find one [24"] size 2 circ, so I switched to dpns that are US2/2.75mm. A few days ago I found the other size 2 circ and this morning decided to move the stitches over to the circs. But, WAIT. This doesn't feel right. The circs are larger. Sure enough I could not get the circ through the size 2 /2.75mm hole in my needle gauge. I looked on the package and, naughty word, they are "Size 2/ 3.00mm" Drats. I'll keep using the dpns because I want a firmer fabric for the foot. These will be my February Socks for SAM7.

ETA: Yes, I did use the CO the pattern calls for - "Old Norwegian" - I love it!!

Project 3: The Vest. I have 9" completed on the back.

There and Back Again

After work last evening I drove five hours (round trip) to pick up my DD1 at an airport. (...I just deleted a paragraph ranting about the traffic. The important point is that I got there & we got back safely.)

And, she got THERE and back safely! She went to the Inauguration!! I heard a lot about it on the drive back - I'll hear more in the days to come, I'm sure. Good trip. Awesome experience. She has the day off work today. Good thing as her ankle (the one with the plate and 6 screws) was very swollen last night.

She knew a slew of (young) people who were going. And amazingly, in that sea of people, DD1 and her friend SA were found by a friend from NC. I asked if someone in both groups had GPS on their phones, and she said No - it was just a coincidence - or providential. Amazing!

I personally know at least 7 people who went and I know OF a dozen or so others that people I know know. If there were 2 million people and there are about 300 million Americans, then 1 out of every 150 people were in DC. Amazing.

Snow, the 2009 version

About eleven months ago I posted THIS photo. The new photo here was taken farther back from the front door, but from a similar angle. Click this one for a larger view. So far this winter we've had 10" more snow than we'd had by Jan. 15th last winter. And last winter set a record for total snowfall.

Darned cold here, too. This a.m. the morning local tv weather guy said: "Do the math -- it's -23 F. outside. Add the indoor temp at your house to 23 to see why it's such a shock to go outdoors!"

OK. It was 67 deg. F inside - 67+23= 90 degree difference.

Then he said, "But the windchill is -45 F, so figure out the 'feels like' difference."

67+45= 112 degrees. No wonder I've been saying a lot of naughty words when I go from the house to the car and from the car to my office.

Ravelry Updates

Egad! I've been on the computer for 6 hours: several posts here, blog-browsed (that took about two hours), and I worked on one of the items from my To-Do list mentioned earlier today.

I've added a few books to my Ravelry library and added a bunch of stashed yarn. One of the things, OK the MAIN thing, that kept me from working on my Ravelry pages is that I don't have photos of my stash and didn't want to be bothered doing photos. But, I added the stash without photos, just details. :-)

Another day I'll work on updating projects and wish lists. Hmmm... Maybe that will be on Tuesday, if we Do get that blizzard.

You can find me on Ravelry at jakkimitch.

OTN Update and Mid-January Musings

Last evening, as soon as I finished the earlier-posted-about socks, I swatched for an easy vest to go with my turtle necked tops & slacks [for work.] Requirements for the yarn:

1. Inexpensive

2. Easy Care

3. Chunky

4. Colorway to "go with" my collection of current & proposed turtle necked tops: black, red, white, pink, burgundy, green. dark lavender. [I currently only have the first four colors.]

I had in mind a yarn that was maybe "homespun" and in a white-black-and shades of gray colorway. Keep in mind, that Inexpensive was my first priority and Easy Care was my second, so I headed for H.L. with a Christmas gift card. There was absolutely Nothing that came close to what I wanted. However, what I settled on will work. I was thinking of something with more white and less gray. But, it's OK.

And now I have about 5 rows of the back OTN.

Pattern: Lion Brand free pattern - "Denim Vest"

Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun #312 Edwardian

Needles: Size 10 [6mm] circ

Knit For: Me :-)

Mid-January Musings

* I'm still working on my To-Do list that I wanted to finish during my 17 day Holiday Break. I thought it was a do-able list, but I needed two more weeks [at least] to finish it!!

* It's awfully tempting during Mid-January in the upper midwest to question WHY I live here. Oh, yeah. Grandsons, daughters, mother, and a much better job than the one I left five years ago [in the shadow of The Rock (see photo at top of blog).] But, Dang, winters are long here. The weather.com alert icon is flashing red in my computer's task bar. It's trying to tell me about the blizzard watch for this area. Last winter went into the record books for all-time-record snowfall. This winter, so far, we are more than 10" ahead of last winter. I'm typing "DANG," but you can be confident that I'm saying other things.

* Knit projects on the horizon include a pair of knucks for me, and a secret project that will use some of the same yarn as the knucks. More important to finish the secret project first. And I might have to improvish with my pair of knucks. Or buy more yarn. The yarn is Knit Picks DK. I'm thinking that I could probably use some leftover sock yarn from my stash in a coordinating color [and doubled] to do the ribbed wrists. I'm also smitten with a cardigan [to knit for myself] = Berroco's free Rosebud pattern. And then the day after I mused that I probably would never have to buy another knitting book, I bought: Knitted Jackets by Cheryl Oberle. There are five or six patterns I'd like to do. Decisions, decisions.

January Socks

I finally finished this pair last night while watching the Arizona Cardinals defeat the Carolina Panthers. [Well, I think Carolina helped defeat themselves. But Kurt & the guys took full advantage of the situation.] Editorial comment: the news is full of reports of the "bad eggs" in pro & college sports, but we rarely hear about the good guys. Kurt Warner (and wife Brenda) are Angels in disguise.

I started this pair in October [or was it September], but only worked on it sporatically due to knitting other things, and then there were the holidays, and family time, etc. etc.

As I mentioned in my Tuesday, Sept 16th post, I was concerned there might not be enough yardage to to the pattern I'd originally picked out. Thought I'd better do a toe-up sock - which I did.

Lessons learned:

1. I CAN do respectable looking toe-up short row wraps - eventually. There were numerous froggings.

2. I do NOT like to do short row wraps.

3. I do NOT like the way the toe box fits my feet with the toe up method I followed. [From P G-R's book.] I suppose if I really, really wanted toe up socks, I could use a different approach. I've seen a few others that might work better for my feet. But, the only reason I'd ever do another toe-up sock would be if I had short yardage again. And I sure as heck will try not to ever ever again. I'm completely happy with the fit of the "standard" top-down toe decreases I use.

Pattern: Toe-up, short row wrapped toes & heels; leg: 5" of pattern, then 1" of K2,P2 rib

- leg pattern "Oblique Openwork" an 8 stitch pattern from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks.

Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa - Maxime, Color #16. It's a dark foresty green in real life.

Needles: Size 1 [2.25mm] dpns [my Knit Picks order with two size 2.25mm circs will probably arrive tomorrow]

Knit for: Me!!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Sometime before Christmas I found a recipe for peanut butter fudge over on Tea's blog. Dreamy, creamy, peanut butter goodness! It was a hit on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. :-)

Give Me a "T"

[Genealogy content]

...for "Tara."

I've had my mitochondrial DNA tested and the results are that my maternal line is from "Tara" see also the National Geographic's Genographic Project pages for "T."

While "T" mtDNA is found across Europe, it is a smallish population and IS found in Scotland where the MacNeals are from. [I've always enjoyed bagpipes!]

Christmas FOs

#1. Pattern: Knucks

Yarn: Knit Picks' Swish DK in Nutmeg

Needles: Yikes - I think 4 [US] dpns

Knit for: My dear friend J across the pond

Instructions on Knitty.com call for embroidery on the "knucks," but I left them plain. J can add stitching, if she wants. The pair I will cast on tonight [same yarn, same pattern] for myself will have "DAMN COLD" embroidered on the fingers. These will be my computer gloves - and maybe my knitting gloves too! I prefer the nickle coated Knit Picks needles or Addi Turbos over bamboo, but the bamboo needles don't get cold like the metal ones!!

#2. Pattern: generic. CO 68 stitches. K2, P2 rib for 1" and then K3, p1 for the leg and instep. Top down.

Yarn: Red Heart's Heart & Sole [70% Superwash Wool & 30 % nylon] in 3950 Watercolor Stripe

Needles: 0 [US] bamboo

Knit for: Mother for Christmas

Buster, Sewing, and Sunday Knitting

Buster's preschool Christmas program was last Monday. The kids [and their teachers] did a great job with all of the songs. Buster's been singing lines from the songs for weeks. He's such a ham, I thought he'd be all into the performance. But, he stood in the front row and just smiled. Didn't sing, didn't jingle the bells. Just smiled. Cute smile though!! [We asked why he didn't sing, he said, "I didn't want to."]

I think I could have both sets of PJs finished for the boys by Wednesday afternoon. But, I decided yesterday to lift the stress level and NOT have them be Christmas presents. When the mama and the grandsons stopped by last evening, I had Sport try on the bottoms. I showed him the half finished top... and the sleeve pieces. Showed them both the pattern cover. And showed Buster the material for his PJs. But, I didn't promise that I'd have them finished by Christmas.

Sunday knitting for Charity. Yes I did. A few rows.

December FO - and Winter Storm Warning!

Yippee Skippee!! I have an unbloggable (for now) finished project. However, there is a post about it over at SAM6.

After last year's record setting snows, I was hoping for a milder winter this time. But, we have a winter storm warning for later today & tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about this. When my daughters were young and I was a stay-at-home mom, I wasn't bothered by winter storms. We had a fireplace and I always kept the pantry and refrig full - we could stay in and warm and bake bread & cookies.

But, now we all work. The girls have jobs that don't close for winter storms. So, that means they have to be driving in sometimes hazardous conditions. Me too! I'm not happy about this at all.

The "mixed feelings" -- I'm hoping my work is closed tomorrow. But, that would mean it's reallly bad, and I don't want that either.

Two Years & One Day

My blogoversary was yesterday. When I blogged earlier today, I thought, "Hmmm... must be about blogoversary time." But, didn't check on it.

No, I haven't had to go into work (yet) -- I've called twice. Everything is OK, so I'm probably free for the rest of the evening. Haven't had time to knit yet. It was just one item on a list of 14 things to accomplish today. Watching the boys tonight while their mama and her friend go out for supper was not on my list, but is now #15. Gotta go work on the list before I head up to DD2s.