August Socks, or Where DOES the time go?

I last posted a week ago? Seems like a few days ago...or a few months ago. Too darned busy these days. But the little bit of knitting I have time for is such a respite!

My "August socks" will not be done this month. They'll be my October socks, with luck. However I do have official August sock contributions for SAM4! Earlier in the month I knit 3 pair of little kids socks for CIC (and a pair in July.) Here's the photo. KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (worsted) and size 5 (i think) dpns.
I still have to pack for my vacation -- leaving dark & early tomorrow and driving straight through. Can't wait to get back to the mountains. These cornfields leave a lot to be desired :-)

I'm taking the Baby Surprise Jacket along, but not setting any goals about finishing it while I'm gone. I'll be staying at my sister's (just 3 miles from my old place) - and I plan to visit my previous workplace on Friday. Fun! I recently discovered, by accident that a former co-worker is on staff with Interweave Press. Now That's exciting!!!

DD1 is going along -- and the ortho surgeon said today -- NO weight on that leg - it's not healed yet! Bad bones due to her life long lactose intolerance. So he's got her on 1500 mg Calcium a day and now 50,000 IU of Vit D twice a week!!!!!!! She can drive though, thank goodness!

Surprise!

...as in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket! I kept looking at yarn in the tote I keep in my bedroom. Kept thinking, "This would be great for a BSJ. One of these days. If I ever get around to it." Then I got EZ's Knitting Workshop from the library. I studied the page with the pattern....there HAS to be more to it than this. Right?

Couldn't help it. I had to cast on. I'm nearly down to the 90 stitches. I'm thinking maybe the pattern in the book IS all there is to it.

I've been warned before to just follow the pattern and don't analyze it. I'm trying! Here's a look at the project - took the photo just minutes ago....

Move Your F@nny update

One almost done - just need to kitchener. The second sock is OTN, but I started another project. Couldn't help it. Here's a photo of the first MYF sock.

Sport's 4 years old!

He's getting to be such a big little man! The party was last weekend and I took loads of photos, but I'll only post a few :-)

And here's Buster the little brother

Note to Self

I knit the "Move Your F@nny" socks for Mother. Before beginning the toe section, I tried one of the socks on to see how they fit. A bit too snug for my wider feet. So, when I started the pair I'm currently working on for myself, I decided to cast on four extra stitches. That sounded reasonable. I just needed a little more width to the sock.

The original pattern says to CO 62 - an even number.

I added four stitches to make 66 - also an even number.

I didn't find it odd to be knitting 33 instep and 33 sole stitches until I started working on the short row toes. Major DUH moment. I'm doing short row toes - I really should have an even number of stitches. No wonder I had such a #%@* time with the heel...my stitch count was always [what I thought] off. Very odd that I didn't realized WHY I was having a problem. [Can't blame drugs or alcohol. Maybe listening to Harry Potter on cd? Yeah, that's my excuse.]

So last night [while listening to HP6 on cd -- and occassionally nodding off] I got to the end of the toe & turned the corner. Might be able to finish the first sock today. Maybe not. I've got to go shopping - It's Sport's 4th bd today and I haven't bought anything for him yet. I know what I'm going to get - just have to go.... His party isn't till supper time - so I've got plenty of time. I'm trying to wait out the monsoon rains we're getting this morning!

The note to myself: do 2nd sock the same as the first, this time. BUT...make a big notation on the pattern to, if I ever do this one again for myself, CO68 stitches -- or use size 2 needles instead of 1.5???

Pre-K

As mentioned previously - I've been sidetracked. When I've been knitting, it's been on little kid's socks. Here's proof. I'll kitchener the toes on the weekend and post a new photo & specs.

Now I'm back to MY Move Your F@nny socks (still on first sock...but nearing the toe part.) Also trying to finish up the last six audio-cds of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince.

16850 - 0

I did it. I got on the Ravelry list & I checked immediately to see my status. Ha! 16850 ahead of me and 0 behind. Good Lord.

Oh, well. I'm really hoping I'll get my invite sometime in December when I'll have a couple weeks off work (or is that wishful thinking - to think it will be that soon?)

F@nny's not Moving & Knitting with Black

I laid my "Move Your F@nny" [in TOFUtsies] down over the weekend to work on CIC socks for little kids. I'm only in the middle of the instep/arch ribbing on the first one - and this is my August sock -- so I need to get back to it. The pattern is a quick knit, tho. , so I should be OK. My sudden panic came from looking at the calendar and realizing that I want to finish them BEFORE I head West on vacation in a couple weeks.

I'm side-tracked by CIC socks. They're so much fun -- and really quick done in worsted yarn. But, what-was-I-thinking when I CO with black? I wanted to use up a bit of left-over cranberry colored yarn - and I thought "Stripes! White-cranberry-white - hmmm... guess the main color will be black."

My eyes are too old [and too tired after work] to deal with black yarn. Maybe a black stripe or two sometime, but not the whole sock -- no matter how small it is!

Weekend Update - OTN

After I finished Mom's "Move Your F@nny" socks, I started a pair for me using that ball of TOFUtsies I bought a few months ago. The heel [and toe] drive me nuts. No. Wrong. How do I do that strike through feature?

It's my perfectionism that drives me nuts. I frogged the first sock [heel] I don't know HOW many times before I got it to suit me. First time the slipped stitches were much too loose. Last evening I missed a sl st or two. Can't watch Monk and do knitting that I have to pay attention to!

August Socks

Pattern: Move Your F@nny (from Socktopia)
Yarn: TOFUtsies #790
Needles: Crystal Palace bamboo size 2.5 mm [1.5 US]
Knit for: Me!
Modifications: To accommodate my wide feet -- CO 66 st, instead of 62. Worked heel on 33 st, thus a couple more rows needed to get to the turn. But that should work out fine for my feet. I'll have to see when I get to the toe if I want to do extra rows or have the toe a few stitches wider than the pattern calls for.

Meanwhile, I'm also working on some CIC little kids socks. No photos yet, I'll do another pair or two and then get a group shot.

Weekend Update - Grandsons

They're so much fun! And growing quickly! On Thursday evening I went for a walk with DDs 2&3 & my grandsons. Well, the boys actually rode their bikes [with training wheels.] Buster does very well on his little bike and only tipped over twice [off the sidewalk & onto grass.] Sport stopped at the end of each block and waited for us to catch up.

While the daughters walked 6 laps at the Junior High track, I took the boys to a park at the elementary school "next door." Here are a few photos:

Buster with a chocolate mug

Sport demonstrating how tuff he is

Weekend Update - Genealogy

During the past week I transferred data on a few more individuals from my old database to the new one. Slow going. But...I'm glad I'm doing it this way -- cleaner database in the end.

Also [while doing work related research online] came across reference to a gen. journal published in Maryland. I only know of one family of ancestors who lived in Colonial Maryland, but thought - what the heck, I'll check the index. Lo & Behold, I found a citation to an article that looks promising, so I requested the article and I'm waiting for it to arrive. Not holding my breath, tho, that there will be any new revelation [or new ancestors]...but, I keep hoping!

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!