August Updates 3

Warm Hands (for me!)

1. Knucks
Pattern: Knucks by Pamela Grossman from Knitty, Summer 2006
Yarn: Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends in Coal for the hands & I Love This Wool in Winter White for the ribbed wrists and fingers
Needles: 4 [US]
Knit for: Me :-)

2. Jared Flood's Almeara Gloves - I think the "natural" color would probably show the pattern better, but I'm knitting them in Knit Picks new City Tweed DK in the Habanero colorway. I'm nearly finished with the hand of the first glove.

I'm using dpns and started out with metal ones - but size 8 metal dpns are just TOO heavy and too slidey. So, I set this project aside and ordered bamboos dpns from Knit Picks. Wow! what a difference! I recently got a digital "kitchen" scale (but have only weighed yarn -- why didn't I have one of these before now?) One of the metal size 8 dpns weighs 8 gms, but one of the bamboo size 8s only weighs 3 gms. And not so slidey either. Photos will follow eventually. And so will a blog about the project I'll do with the yarn I ordered at the same time as the size 8 bamboos. :-)

August Updates 4

A. CIC Socks
I had leftover yarn from the Dune Twist socks (see previous post), but I didn't think there was enough for a pair of smaller kids' socks, so I ordered a ball of Chocolate Wool of the Andes. As it turned out there was enough of the Dune Twist added to the Chocolate to get two more pairs of socks for CIC. The earlier "Magic 36" socks have a 7" foot, these two smaller pairs have a 5" and a 6" foot. And yes that's the end of the Dune Twist and Chocolate.

B. Stash busting for a good cause
CIC knitters are encouraged to Go Local (sort of.) I have a bin of red heart worsted on the shelf in my closet and keep thinking, "I really ought to do something with this." In the past I've knit a bunch of hats, but this time decided on something for the Cheyenne River Rez Elders. I found a Red Heart pattern: Knit Sampler Afghan and it will work wonderfully. Smallish squares, variety of patterns, etc. The yarn is in dark (forest) green, off white, blue, and burgundy.

I've Been Censored - and FOs

I learned recently that this blog *does* have readers who don't leave comments. Hi, y'all.

D, a teacher from England, said that she'd tried to show my blog to a co-worker (on a school computer), but this blog was blocked because it contains "Malicious Content." My blog? Malicious Content?

The school's content censoring software probably didn't like the name of a pair of socks I referred to in the July 5th post. So I've edited. Wonder if I have to find every instance of that naughty word?

[ETA: I think I found every post with that word in it & swapped the "a" for "@" - except the tag/label won't allow an "@", so I just left that vowel out: Move Your Fnny. Hope this helps!]

On the FO front - yippee! - I got 'em:

* A cap for the group that CIC knitters are helping. Just one, but one is more than Zero
Pattern: generic watch cap, knit flat

Yarn: Left over bulky Wool of the Andes, with the white strips being double stranded worsted WofA

Needles: 10 [US] straight needles

Knit for: Hand of Help [via CIC group]


* The bigger kid's socks (the "Magic 36" pair) - thanks to my recently received Knit Picks order

Pattern: based on the "Magic 28", but for a larger foot -- this is a "magic 36" variation.

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes [worsted] in Dune.

Needles: size 5 [US] bamboo from Crystal Palace, I think.

Knit for: CIC

* Mom's OPAL Cotton "2009 July Socks"

Pattern: generic rib on leg and borrowed the K1, P1 for the instep from the Move Your F@nny pattern.

Yarn: OPAL Cotton #2095. Bought at Knots & Bolts in Traer, IA.

Needles: Legs: 2.50 mm, 24" circs, and for the feet: 2.25 mm, 24" circs.

Knit for: Mom

I LUV Caramel Macchiato!

I'm so tickled! I never win anything. Well, OK, I've won a few things [like last year], but not many.

But, I'm the lucky winner of Jen's quiz prize!

So, J & D - if you check this blog before flying across the Big Pond - we're going to Starbucks on Friday! :-)

Baby Surprise Jacket #2

Yarn: Louet Gems Topaz in French Blue, Mustard, and Eggplant

Needles: Circular, US 8

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter / Newsletter Leaflet 21 (Fall '68)

Knit for: The soon-to-be born Baby B, if said Baby B is a male. [If Baby B is female, she'll get the February Baby Sweater and another baby-on-the-way will get this one.]

Long Time No Post

My perpetual excuse is: I've been busy. There's
* Work
* Housekeeping
* Grandkids (photo below)
* Knitting (photos below)
* Genealogy

WORK - the good news is that I still have a job. For now. There are threats of more layoffs in the New Year.

HOUSEKEEPING - Never ending isn't it? I've been trying to do a few extra "spring" cleaning things, because I have visitors coming soon. But, the older I get the longer it takes for me to do anything.

GRANDKIDS - They're gone to their other grand parents' lake home for the long weekend. They have SO much fun down there...a huge extended family, the lake, the beach, etc. I can't compete with all that. But, I take them to parks, & to a local ice cream shop, I let them help me cook, we read books, and they can get on my computer - their desktop has icons for Dora, Barney, Thomas, Sesame Street, etc. I let them print activities & color sheets, etc.

KNITTING -

1) Sent 3 pairs to CIC at the end of June. I've got another pair almost finished - but ran out of Knit Picks' Dune. I was making a bigger kid's pair and decided instead of Magic 28 I'd do "Magic 36." I didn't understand the geometric proportional difference until too late. Should I frog or buy more yarn? I'll buy more yarn and finish them later.

2) Working on a BSJ - possibly for Baby B, if Baby B is a boy. I still have the same 20 rows or so left as when I blogged on June 14th.


3) Mom's OPAL socks. I luv knitting socks! I've misplaced the ball band, but (-it was difficult to find an image online) I think this is #2095. Legs knit on US 1.5, foot on US 1. Mom requested that the instep be knit in K1, P1 (like the "Move Your F@nny" pattern.) The color changes make the knitting seem to go quickly. " Oh..! A new color!" I'm hoping I can get a matching 2nd sock, but mom said she'd be OK if the stripes don't match.

GENEALOGY - I've been working on collecting evidence to submit to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Yippee! Got it! Except for my marriage license. Thought I had a copy, but can't find it anywhere. Maybe I tossed it out when I got a divorce? Now, I'll have to take time off work to go to the court house.

Belated Birthday Photo

Buster turned 4 [yeah, four!] on June 4th. I've downloaded the photos, but haven't tweaked the size/cropped etc. Actually, there are photos from as far back as April to deal with. Ugh.

Anyway, Buster's 4! Seems like he was just a baby ... wasn't it only a few months ago? He's talking in big sentences that if written out would include commas or maybe even semi-colons. He's all action, all risk-taking, all imp. Just like his mama was/is!

In photo: Sport [nearly 6] and Buster at his bd picnic..

Blog Browsing and other musings

Buster and Sport stayed overnight, and B. was awake before 7 a.m. as usual - even though they were up until 11 p.m. [Shhh...don't tell their mama!] He's content to watch a DVD so I can have my first cuppa and check my emails and my Internets.

Among this morning's browsings, I stopped over at Stitches of Violet and saw that her mom is doing better [looking good, actually.] She also mentioned, a few days ago, that Jean at Knitting Garden is having a Blogoversary [and a contest!] I never win anything, but left a "Happy day" message anyway. :-)

It's Charity Knitting Sunday here at the Mitch digs. I hope to finish another pair of CIC socks today. That will make 3 pairs for this challenge. Kathy has already sent in 12!! Way to go Kathy!!

Other OTN:

1) About 20 rows, or so, left on the BSJ...that I haven't blogged about yet. I will when it's finished. Promise.

2) Socks for my mother (2009 June). She picked out a ball of OPAL Cotton when we stopped at Knots & Bolts in April. I'll blog later with a photo and details. The ball band is in my room and Sport is still sleeping. The colorway is gorgeous - I think she'll like the way it is striping...I sure do. I was skeptical about how it would knit up - being part cotton and all. But it's met with my approval - Yay! For my next pair of big-people socks, I think I'll use the denim & white OPAL cotton that I bought last year at Knots & Bolts.

Gotta get ready for the day. Have a good one - whatever day it is for you :-)

Socks finally!

I started this pair in late March, I think. Finished them May 30th, took the photo May 31st, downloaded the photo this morning. I mentioned these earlier here. I'll call them my May 2009 socks.

Pattern: Generic ribbed
Yarn: Steinbach Wolle Sockenwolle in "brown" (think tan) #014 and a green/gray/brown twist#180
Needles: Size 2 [US]
Knit for: Me!

I'm not convinced

I've jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Ugh. I'm not convinced I really need this. But...you see, my boss thought we needed a blog for work. So I started this blog to learn how to "do" one, since the work blog would fall under my job description. I think the work blog has been vetoed.

Now the online world is atwitter with Twitter. Same scenario as with the blog...just in case we decide to have a Twitter account for work, I want to be familiar with it. I've got mixed feelings about Twitting / Tweeting.

However, I got a big chuckle over Conan O'Brien's prediction for YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Take a look, if you missed it.

NOTE: knitting or grandson or genealogy content coming soon. Stop by in a few days.

Mother's Day update

I didn't have to cook! And I got flowers and balloons and cards! And Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Free-Range Knitter: the Yarn Harlot Writes Again.

DD1 said she selected the book because, "Every time mom reads Stephanie's blog, she laughs out-loud."

That's right. I do :-)

In which I admit to not having knit much lately

I've been busy. Just with busy-ness.

It's been so long since I've worked on my blog - I didn't remember that I'd changed the layout last time I was on! When the page open, I was startled!

I've knit a few rows on the socks mentioned here. And I started a BSJ -- possibly for the soon-to-be Baby B. More on that on a later date.

One of the things that's kept me busy is working on genealogy. I dabble here and there and don't make much progress. But, once in a while that dabbling yields results. A reply to a letter I sent to a county court house in Pennsylvania ended up giving me more information than I could have dreamed of. DD1 was here when I opened the envelope - I was so excited when I browsed through the contents, I jumped up and down. Believe me, it's been a long time since I'd jumped up & down!!! And of course, after that my spare time was spent on scanning the documents, organizing them in folders, and doing more searching.

But, tonight, I'm going to knit on those two projects. And watch hockey [Go Penguins!] And American Idol [switching back and forth as necessary.]

My DD3's BF is starting a soy candle business. He's test marketing various scents - so I'm a designated tester. Last night I burned the Lilac - very nice scent - lilac-y, but not too over powering. Tonight the scent is Mandarin Orange. I'm not a citrus fan, but this is OK. He has another orange candle - "Fresh Squeezed Oranges" -- that one I think I'll like! I think it would be a good scent for a Saturday morning - perky & peppy. You see, I'm NOT perky or peppy on Saturday mornings. I need some motivation - like smelling fresh squeezed oranges! :-)

April 09 Socks

Started these last Sunday [as a Sunday Charity Knitting project] and finished them on Wednesday. [No knitting on Monday or Tuesday.]

Pattern: based on the Magic 28 pattern

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool, I think, in white; Knit Picks Wools of the Andes in Hollyberry; and On-Line Supersocke 100/Sierra Color #896

Needles: Size 5 [US] dpns - bamboo

Knit for: CIC

These look huge for CIC socks, but the foot length is 5.5"

After several attempts to get the photo closer to the actual color, I went to the room with the best lighting in the house. Yep, the bathroom.

Click on the photo to see the socks better.

Charcoal Vest an FO

I finished this project a few days ago. Nice, easy pattern. Yay! But it took me four months to finish it :-\ Details are in this January post.

OTN Update: I'm about 1/2 finished with a pair of socks - using left over Steinbach Wolle Sockenwolle from this project. Plus another ball of Sockenwolle in green/gray/brown.

I mentioned this pair in the previous post actually.

Baby Sweater on Two Needles (AKA - February Baby Sweater)

Yippee! It's done and I'm happy with it. (My photo taking skills are another matter.)

Pattern: Elizabeth Z.'s

Yarn: Louet Gems Topaz in Eggplant
Needles: 7 [US] / 4.5 mm
Knit for: Baby B (due in mid August) - that is, IF Baby B is a girl. Parents to be are friends of DD1 and live just down the street.

On The Needles Update:

1. I'm about 75% finished with the The Vest.

2. I've started a pair of socks (generic ribbed pattern) for me - using Steinbach Wolle Sockenwolle in "brown" (think tan) and a green/gray/brown twist#180. Not enough of either for a pair, so I'm doing stripes. Not pretty. But, this pair will keep my feet warm. (And that's why I knit socks for myself - to have warm feet!)

I bought wool today for a February Lady Sweater for me! I went to Knots & Bolts with a deep red/burgundy color in mind. But, I decided to live on the edge and came home with Purple! Actually, it's Cascade 220 - #7811 Purple Jewel Heather. Can't find any photo online that show's the true color. They're all much too dark. I'm going to try to finish the vest before I start the FLS. Try.