Knitting Lace, Quinn and Quinn...

No, the title's not a typo. You'll see.

So I did frog the Lettuce scarf. First off, I think there's an error in the pattern, which will frustrate me. Second, the scarf is BEAUTIFUL. In a variegated or hand-painted yarn. I think in a solid, it'll be just blah. Not blah as in ugly, but more, "Ok. Nice." Just not "Wow, you MADE this for ME??" kind of knitting. 

Chandelier Lace Scarf

To that end, I started the Chandelier Lace in the Cascade Heritage Silk, which is 85% merino superwash and 15% Mulberry silk. I purchased the yarn at Le Mouton Rouge, a very adorable LYS in Morris, IL. A little farther than I'd like to drive, but I am currently "out of like" with my more local LYS for a couple of reasons. 

Lovely, lovely, lovely yarn to work with so far. That hint of silk is what's going to transform this project. Here's what it looks like so far. Not much, but it's a super-easy pattern to memorize, at least row-by-row. It's a 26-row repeat, but not really. What I mean is, the pattern total is 26 rows, but you are actually repeating rows 1 - 9 after row 10. 

There's a new variety of stitch here. It's called S2KP. Let me explain - or let Vogue explain: Slip 2 sts tog, K1, pass 2 sl sts over. It's kind of like what I've done before, but not slipping 2 stitches together. We'll see. Can't be all that hard.

I switched from Addi Turbo aluminum to bamboo. I really should use lace needles, which I don't have. The only gripe I have is that this yarn has the potential to split easily, if you're not paying attention. Sharper points would help, but the only thing I have in really sharp points is a set of DPNs and this is a flat project. Anyway, the longest DPNs I have are only 7" and this scarf is at least 8 - 9" wide. 

The picture, of course, doesn't do it justice, because the yarn is just a lovely color. Even with the crappy-camera on my phone. I think when I take a progress picture, it'll show up better. More fabric will equal a better picture.


Today is sooooooooo humid!! It's humid when, in a building where you can't open windows, and the A/C is working, you still have condensation on your water cooler bottle. Yuck. But for some reason, I'm chilled, so I don't necessarily want to turn on the fan. Though I probably will, just to move some air around. 

New project, new bag. Well, not "new" -- one I got when I purchased some dog things at Fun Time Dog Shop. Fun Time is an online store where 100% of the profits goes to rescue groups. They have a list of partners and at checkout, you can pick where you'd like your profit portion to go. They were giving the bags away as a promotional and I was lucky enough to be sent a lilac one. So you can click here to check them out. They source as many products as they can from the USA; they test all their products. They take input from their customers. I'm just tickled to be able to have a nice place to get good stuff for my dogs. The treats, leashes, puzzles and other items have all been first-rate. And it's good to support rescue. 

The bag is plain and nothing special other than a great way for me to spread the word about a female-owned small business that does wonderful work. In fact, to use this as a knitting bag, I have to use point-protectors because sharp enough needles will puncture it! 

Quinn ready for her nap

So, you're wondering: Quinn and Quinn?? Well, I realized that I hadn't posted a picture of Tippi's daughter, Quinn. In a while, or ever... Here she is, being a goofball on the couch. She gets up there and paces back and forth trying to figure out her most favorite spot. Then she nests. Usually upside-down. And twisted. On you or right next to you, if you happen to be there and she needs a pillow. Or between me and Hubby. Always. Always - even sitting there staring a hole in us till one of us moves slightly, then she jumps up and jams herself in  between us. We always wonder who'll get the butt-end. It's usually an even split. She's fair in that regard. 

We're worried about her this 4th of July. She doesn't like fireworks or t-storms. The doc has suggested melatonin (3 mg) - taking 6 mg twice a day. We'll get it into her system and see how she does. We can layer a Benadryl on top of that, but we have a 50/5o chance that the Benadryl will either mellow her out or cause her to be more hyper. More hyper, we don't need. She already has a Thundershirt, which only worked a couple of times. We have a cave for her; she goes into our bathroom. I have ordered an Anxiety Wrap which is supposed to be more focused on accupressure points and covers a little more of the dog's area. There's also an Ace bandage wrap technique that's a figure-8 that is supposed to work. 

This is all to keep her from freaking out and potentially hurting herself. I hate 4th of July. 

The other Quinn is our beloved (?) governor here in IL. He's rewritten our newly crafted concealed carry law. Now, you all know that the only thing I think Illinois did right was to have a law against concealed carry. Well, the NRA fixed that. They bought a couple of politicians, like they've been doing nationwide, and we now have a "compromise" bill. I'll admit it's restrictive. But he wanted stuff like magazine capacities and the limit on only carrying one gun. And obviously, the Powers that Be (which aren't him, apparently) say that they'll veto his veto. Gotta love government that works. Trouble is that lately, we wouldn't recognize government that works because nobody's government seems to work at all. 

I mean seriously... you really WANT to carry ALL your guns? Let's just ask for trouble, eh? And carrying guns where alcohol is sold? Yeah, that's just a totally cool thing. No problems there, right? I don't like the idea of concealed or open carry. I don't think - and a number of cops agree with me, because I asked them - that the average citizen needs to carry a gun. And large capacity magazines are idiotic. If you want to beat me over the head with the Second Amendment, let's parse that.

I believe they say something about a "well-regulated" militia... And that's only for starters. You want to go all Founders on me? Ok. Have your weapon. The average Colonist had one gun. One. Usually a rifle. Usually a lead ball and gunpowder. And he made his own bullets. 

Fine. You can have that kind of gun. Not an automatic weapon with a 30-round clip. Go for it.  Otherwise, please -- if  you feel like it's that dangerous to go out, then stay in. Your "right" to arm yourself infringes totally on my right to not be your collateral damage. 

Anyway, those are the Quinns we were talking about. I'm in one of those "I don't want to be here" moods and I think I'll just knit a few rows on the scarf to take my mind away from here. No yoga class tonight; we cancelled it because 9 times out of 10, right before a holiday, nobody shows up. So save some gas and aggravation, right?

Maybe a walk when I get home, if it's not raining. Have a safe 4th of July! Quiet, too, if you're lucky. 

On to the Dark Side...

OK, so you all know that I kind of like DPNs. I learned socks on them; I've finished hats on them. I did EIGHTEEN small Easter Eggs and 3 "chocolate" bunnies on DPNs.

And let's face it -- how cool is it to have FIVE needles in your hands and actually look like you know what you're doing, while not dropping stitches or stabbing yourself? Really, I work in higher ed. I'm surrounded by PhDs who are humbled. HUMBLED, I tell you - when they see me weilding my 5 DPNs on a sock or a hat.

It's really hard to humble your average PhD. Trust me on this.

So. Today, at my friend Joan's house, I was dragged, kicking and screaming, to the Dark Side. To the land of the Magic Loop. (sigh)

I was just minding my own business, sitting there with Spikette, the MinPin who was determined that since I smelled of Elkhound and dog treats, I was probably an "ok human" -- and I was ambushed!! I had directions coming from both of the knitters there, simultaneously, with one of them saying, "OK, take that yarn off those DPNs and put it on this circular." Wow -- mental overload. I started out with a size 3 (32" circular) bamboo, but when I got home, I transferred everything (and didn't drop a stitch, by the way!) onto the Kollage 40" - it does give me more room to manipulate.

I know it's just another notch in my needles as a knitter to be able to do this. And I know that 2/3 of my knitterly friends do Magic Loop for everything up to and probably including hats, sweaters, scarves and gloves. But I was the one who liked "old school." I was (and frankly - still am) the one who liked the challenge of doing a sock or the top of a hat without any "runners" (which are those "holes" or spaces you can get if you don't tighten up the first 2 stitches as you transition from needle to needle.

Behold. My sock on Magic Loop. It's done on size 3 Kollage square needle (40" circular) and in Cascade 200 Heathers, which is 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. The yarn band says "needle size 7 - 8" (US size, sorry).

But the book I'm using is "Knit Socks!" by Betsy Lee McCarthy (publisher is Storey Publishing), and it's the Starter Stockinette. Her theory is that if you go down several needle sizes, the sock is heftier and wears better. These little stinkers will be lovely! The yarn's hand is gorgeous, and the weight of the sock will do well since I wear a lot of shoes that can kindly be called "hiking boots." She states in her book, "I generally need a needle 3 to 5 sizes smaller than the size recommended ... for general knitting" and states that this provides a "long-lasting sock fabric." I'm cool with that.

Oh, and the colorway is 9454, which is a nice purple-y tweed with hints of tan, yellow and blue in it. Here's a close-up of what the yarn looks like. Double-click on the picture to see a detailed photo.  It's coming along great.

As for turning the heel, I also have "Sonda's Basic Sock on Magic Loop," a pattern copyrighted by my friend Sonda Lee, who died this past May of melanoma. She taught me the "Sonda's Basic Sock" on size 7 DPNs with the theory being that if you started out on "fairly large" DPNs, you could (a) manipulate them better; and (b) see more clearly the construction so that you made "3 pairs right away" - on a size 7, they do move along quickly - and you put all the pieces together in your head and hands. Muscle memory and brain memory. It works. And as she often said: "You're only knitting on 2 needles at a time, one stitch at a time -- and that's what you're doing whether it's a sock, a shawl or an afghan."

I would tell you where to get Sonda's pattern, except that you can't anymore. But if you want to see some of her designs, take a peek at the One Skein Wonders books, both "Luxury Yarns" and "Sock Yarns." Her designs are in there.

So I'll tell you how it goes.

If nothing else, because I'll be stretching my body in yoga teacher training, perhaps it's good that I'm also stretching my mind trying to anticipate turning a heel on a circular needle!

The Hat is DONE!! First project of 2012...

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! The hat is DONE! And in time to meet Sonda for lunch! Hope she likes what I've done since it's her sock yarn.

Here's my version of the Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure of Bohoknits.  I call it the "Not-So- Slouchy-Sock-Hat."

Mind you, Kelly's pattern is lovely. I've seen it done by some of the knitters in our shop, and they've done it exactly to her specs, and it's adorable.

I just like hats that fit closer to my head. So I altered this a bit. It's got a 4" 2x2 rib, and then you do a 9" body before you do the decreases.

I did a 7" body and then did the decreases. It fits closer to my head, and I can adjust the ribbing to pull down nicely over my ears. The size 2 circs and then DPNs were small!! I know - there are knitters out there that think those size needles are "logs." But I don't knit socks (yet) on anything smaller than a size 5. I'm working on it!

Here's a shot of the decreases. It just tickles me. Just the mechanics of doing the decreases, coupled with the self-striping yarn - it just fascinates me that we do that with string and 5 sticks (at that point, you're working on the DPNs).

Frankly, this pattern was much more clearly written than the pattern I used for the (temporarily misplaced) periwinkle alpaca hat. Those decreases were all over the place, and Kelly's pattern lays them out for you so neatly that it's a breeze to do this and make it look spectacular. And really, I had been working steadily at it, but also - it knitted up kind of quickly - for me.

I'm looking forward to wearing this today, since we got our last blow of snow (till Saturday, at least) and I've got a couple places to go.

The yarn is 40% alpaca (see, I still snuck it in there), 40% superwash merino, and 20% nylon. It feels very light, but as many of you know, alpaca is really, really warm without a lot of bulk.

So, next, I warm my hands up (its 17* here...brrrrrrrrrrrrr) and then relax a bit before I pick up the March Baby Blanket. Heck, that's on size 9 needles - THOSE will feel like I'm knitting with logs.

Go visit Kelly's etsy site. She's also bohoknits on Ravelry so if you want to post what you've done with her pattern, or just look at what others have done, I think that'd be great.

I've completed my first project of 2012! That bodes well for the rest of my WIPs and all those things that I'm sure will scramble the project list for the year.

I haven't bothered to figure out how many stitches it is. After all, I don't want to lose my knitting mojo!

Order out of chaos...

Lots of things are coming together, and some things have ended. Our LYS has closed. That's the sad news; the owner has an inoperable cancer and she's decided that while knitting has been a huge part of her life, she'd rather spend her time with kids, spouse, and grandkids. And I'm actually happy about that.

I love it when people have the ability to determine - inasmuch as any cancer lets you have any control - how they want to spend their days. I appreciate her making a very tough decision, and making it with grace.

So the yarn shop is being sold and will be re-opening with a new owner sometime in early 2012. It will be interesting to see how this works, and what the new owner will do. I hope that the community that was established (a) comes back; and (b) lets her make HER mark on the shop. It would be sad if the knitters had 'founder's disease' and never let this gal make her shop her own.

'Founder's Disease' is an ailment known by its chief symptom: "We've ALWAYS done it this way." So we'll see what this new person makes of the shop and life will go on.

Our yarn community is not "dissolving." It's actually "reconstituting" as people make plans to find other places to knit, gather in different groups, and keep in touch; I'm hoping we do keep in touch, because several of us have become good friends, bound by fiber and love of creating.

"Chocolate" Bunnies

On a good note: The bunnies are DONE!! Here's a shot of them. I took a suggestion from one of my knitter buddies and visited the local Fannie May candy store. I plopped them on the counter and said, "White chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate. Think I could buy some ribbon?" They loved them. They gave me the ribbon. What do you think?

I ended up with pearlized heart buttons for their fluffy tails, and then shirt buttons for eyes. Since these are not toys, the buttons are only secured enough to stay on when they're sitting on a display. If I had created them for toys, they'd have no eyes - I'd have embroidered them using duplicate stitch.

So, on the last day the shop was open, I asked for a smidgen of yarn that she'd dyed herself for an egg. Yep, I'm on egg #9 and working toward a baker's dozen. This is what I got handed. "If you can find the end, take what you want."

Hand-dyed sock yarn

This is what we'd classify in knitting as a "total disaster" - and it would only be a "total and COMPLETE disaster" if the yarn was a mohair or eyelash or something like roving.

This is about 500 yards of superwash merino sock yarn. Now, the shop hours were 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. I got handed this hot mess at about 1 p.m. I worked on it, since I'm a pig-headed person, from 1 p.m. till 10 p.m. that evening, and then was back at it the next day.

I spent about 16 hours unraveling this mess. I have lived with this ball of yarn. I have grown attached to it. Even though it was handed to me, I will mail my friend a check for the yarn. I believe they thought I wasn't going to do it. It's only because she'll never dye any more yarn that I spent that kind of time with it. It's not even a color that looks good on me. However, I see some sort of shawl or shrug or something in its future. It's too pretty to make into socks that might wear out, though I may do that, too.

Order from chaos

This is what it looked like after I got done with it. Plus the egg.

Once I get the eggs done, Kid #1 is finishing up the tree for the eggs. The bunnies are done. I have to figure out how to display this whole thing; and then I'm done in time to photograph and enter it into our contest.

Along with the order from chaos that was this yarn, I also completed the 2011 Ornaments. As you may remember, I do ornaments for the kids each year. Each kid in the family gets 18 ornaments. This year is the smallest year in decades! Here are those ornaments. Of course, OUR kids still get the ornaments. What? I can't play favorites with my own kids? Be serious!

2011 Ornaments

So it's harder and harder to find these plaster ornaments. I'm going to have to suss out a new supplier, since the local big box craft stores don't have much of a selection. Someone suggested I knit them. Thanks. No.

What I could do is take the remnants from the sock yarn eggs and do little granny squares or small swatches and use those as ornaments! Or knit a verrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy long I-cord for a garland. OK. I'll calm down.

Just to top off our Christmas, I am again having surgery. I have a very deviated septum - which would explain over 5 years of allergy shots that still leave me unable to breathe through one side of my nose! At any rate, I can now be around your cats without a "croup-like" cough. If you're not old enough to know what "croup" is - please look it up. Hard to explain until you have had one.

Surgery is December 23. My mother says I'll do anything to avoid the crazy relatives on Christmas. Hmmmmmmmmmm. She may have a point!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Solstice! And I'll hold off on Kwanzaa, since it starts after Christmas, and I may be back to the keyboard by then!

Bunnies!

Bunnies, you say? What???

Ok, so there's this contest we have at work. If you create something (music, art, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.) you can enter it to have it judged and if they like it, you get published in the Magazine. The BIG PRIZES get money.

I won last year, but I got a certificate. So this year, I wracked my brain and I came up with something unique.

Y'all know I knit. So I figured that since the theme this year was "food" I could knit food! But not just any food. No cupcakes, no lobsters, no wedding cakes, no hamburgers. And if you think I'm kidding, just go search for "knitted lobster" or any of the other things I just mentioned. Knitted pizza? Seriously. But no thanks.

I found a "chocolate bunny" to knit. Here's where I found him:  Blah, Blah, Blahhhg: Knitted Chocolate Easter Bunny Pattern. http://ax174.blogspot.com/2006/04/chococlate-bunny-pattern.html  - and yes, I spelled it exactly how the link looks on my paper.

I thought about the bunnies I have received. And I always liked the white chocolate bunnies the best. But I know there are 3 kinds of chocolate: dark, milk, and white. The foodies will tell you that "white chocolate" isn't really chocolate since there's no cocoa in it. But that's ok. Here are the yarns I picked:

Bunny yarn

At about 11 o'clock, the "milk" chocolate is Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends, color 16013, "Earth." It's leftover from a prayer shawl we did for a friend, and it's a blend. It's 65% acrylic, 30% nylon and a mere 5% cashmere. Not sure how they get "Cashmere" right up there at the front of the name, but it doesn't matter. The yarn will make a nice "milk chocolate" bunny.

At about 2 o'clock, the "dark" chocolate is Bernat Satin, color 04013, Mocha. This is a lovely 100% acrylic, and right below the hank, you see the bottom of the dark chocolate bunny. Size 6 DPNs.

At about 8 o'clock, you will see Stitch Nation (Debbie Stoller) "Full O' Sheep" which is a gorgeous 100% Peruvian wool that is almost "roving" in texture. The color, coincidentally, is "Little Lamb." I bought this just because it was on sale. But it's really a stunning yarn. It's so soft that it makes Cascade feel rough. Take a look at these shots. You'll see that there's barely any twist to this.

The pattern calls for using needles smaller than the yarn label indicates, so that it's a tight fiber. Look at this close-up shot; you'll see that this white bunny will be plenty tight!

Check out the ply here!

I've just started the white one; and I have to tell you that though I am no speed-knitter, this little stinker works up quite quickly. I did the dark chocolate one in just a few days. With the texture of this yarn, though, I may go a little slower so I don't pierce the fiber with the needles. Once you get the stitches picked up, you just knit. You're in the round so it's all a lovely Stockinette Stitch without even having to think.

There's some shaping in the form of making the body and then tapering the ears, but seriously, there is NO SEAM on this bunny after you graft the ears. I used a Kitchener stitch for that, but if you've got a better grafting technique, by all means: go for it! The instructions just say: graft ears together.

So. The accessories. If you check out the pattern (and no, I don't know if the link is still alive), you will see that the creator recommends embroidering the eyes. I could certainly see this if you were going to give this as a baby toy.

Since I'm using it as a strictly decorative item, here's what my bunny looks like. Isn't he cute?? I used some old shirt buttons I had, and then some lilac sheer ribbon, since I remember my bunnies coming with a bow. 

Here's a hint: Start stuffing WELL before the pattern tells you because the neck is really, really  narrow. I started right about his belly button.

And here's another hint: I used about 1/2" of pony beads at the very bottom. That gives him a little stability, because you bounce him lightly to make sure his bottom is flat, and with the beads, he stands right up.

So for the white chocolate bunny, I might just use regular snaps...no sewing! The eyes don't need to be embroidered or tightened down, because the bunnies will be sitting on a doily.

The other thing I'm thinking of adding: about 7 pysanky, Ukrainian Easter Eggs. See here for more information on those lovelies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka

For the record,  no. Mine aren't that pretty. And if I can't make them look like I've done them actually with HANDS instead of FEET, then I may skip that part. Heck, I can always KNIT Easter eggs!

Plain Brown Socks...

So if you read Yarn Harlot, http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ you will see that SHE has finished her brown socks.

So have I. Of course, hers are quite a bit more complex, and they're done in a lovely yarn. I like the bark color, and I believe Hubby would wear those.

Worsted weight socks

Mine, however are still the "simple sock" pattern. And I'm ok with that. I've decided to purchase DPNs in the smaller sizes, and I do have stashed sock yarn. One of these days, I'll look up a simple sock pattern - maybe out of my "Visual" book - and get working on them.

You really do need to do several pairs of socks. I still have 2 balls of the worsted: in black and in tan. I can still take care of making those up before I start on the next few projects, and finish at least 2 WIPs.

To finish: The yellow shell... I think we miscalculated and I need another skein of the Sierra. I don't know why I'm freaking out about doing the neck and shoulder shaping. This isn't my first rodeo. (OK, it's actually my SECOND garment, but I'm trying to be calm about it.)

Oh joy. Just glanced out the window and it's snowing again. You have to understand today: I got to work about 7:10 a.m. (did I mention how much I dislike working all day Saturdays???) and I saw almost a dozen robins pigging out on the worms in the field next to me. "Ahhhh, spring is coming!" Bah!!!  Next thing, I get a "flood warning" over the computer for the 2 rivers close to me.

Then, about mid-morning, it starts to snow. We have a 40% chance of drizzle/snow and it's back to snowing. I'll put the Icy Melt away in April.

Back to the WIPs. I have that tee shirt in Sunapee. I may rip that out and start again, since I know a bit more about actually building a knitted garment. I started that tee shirt in sheer ignorance, so I'm sure the waist decreases will now look totally inappropriate.

Oh, and the boys have asked for more hats.  "Not that we've LOST the ones you made...we just want a few in reserve." So I've got about 4 to 5-ish balls of the superwash wool. I'm just about done with a lovely tan with red & brown stripes. I can probably do at least 3 hats out of what I have, because I altered the pattern because, "We'd like them a little longer, so they cover our ears." OK, the pattern really is for more of a beanie - it does cover the top of your ears, but when, as Kid #2 says, you park "in Siberia" at the campus, you really do need a little more coverage.

And in the new issue of PieceWork there's a pattern for simple mens socks. Hubby likes them, "as long as they're not too thick." (siiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhhh)

Let's see:

Einstein Coat
Mohair Scarf
"Lace" wrap (WIP)
Pink vest
White shrug
Black Booga Bag
Prayer Shawl (WIP)
Sock yarn scarf (WIP)
Juggling balls
Christmas tree skirt
Bandanas for dogs
---Not to mention about 6 dozen counted-cross stitch patterns....Including my mother's angel. Which she'd like "before I turn into an angel myself and you display it at my funeral." No pressure there.

I did buy the Einstein yarn. It's purple "tweed." I determined, after thinking about it for a while that, in this climate, I'd realistically wear the Einstein in Spring, Fall and maybe early Winter. So I didn't need to make it a "formal" coat color. I could have some fun with it. I'll have to post some pictures of that as it progresses. If it progresses in this lifetime!

We have an election coming up in April, and I'm an election judge. We aren't sure of the turnout but it's a great place to bring mindless knitting. Maybe I should set the hats aside for now and leave that for election day...

When I sit back and think about it, I do have enough projects to keep me busy till I'm 500 years old. Maybe I'd better stop thinking and start knitting!

Take a Look!!!

Wooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooo!!! Sock number ONE is FINISHED! DONE! Completed!!!

I'm so inordinately excited that I can just hear the Seasoned Sock Sisters saying, "Oh yeah - wait till she tries it on REAL sock yarn! She'll get Second Sock Syndrome in no time!!"

Well, maybe. Right now, I'm thinking that we're snowed in for 2 days, everything's closed, and I have the yarn for one more sock. After that, I'll have to see if I have either some wool superwash in worsted or bust into the 100% wool....

Sock #1

Here's the first picture:  I really like how the colors lay out. And I did the Kitchener Stitch all by myself!

I'd forgotten that I purchased one of the "Visual" books, this one Teach Yourself Visually: Sock Knitting by Laura Chau, who's had patterns in Knitty, had help from our favorite Yarn Harlot, and is a teacher at a shop in Toronto called Lettuce Knit. She can be found on her website and blog at http://www.cosmicpluto.com/ if you want to look her up.

The book is what I used for Kitchener since I didn't want to knit in front of my computer. The directions, since I'd already looked at http://www.knittinghelp.com/ were pretty straightforward. My only screw-up was that instead of having 12 sts at the end, I had 10. Probably because I kept decreasing in the foot till I had 34 sts instead of the 36 it called for. Oh well. Winging it worked.



The top view



And here's another shot of the sock on-foot, as it were.  I love the way the colors swirl on the instep, though in a clog, nobody will see that, and I'm sorry - I don't do those "jelly clogs" so you can see your sock. Those just look nasty - I'd rather wear my Birkenstocks or just take off my clog if someone wants to see the pattern!

Actually, that toe kinda fits my foot!

So we're on a Snowpalooza here south of Chicago. The wind is howling, but no where near where it's supposed to get. Right now, the temps are about 21*F with wind-chill of 3* (sorry, my "degree symbol" won't work) and the wind is blowing about 27 mph. It may get up to 50 mph in gusts and we may have "Thunder Snow" - a relatively rare phenomenon where it thunders like a traditional T-storm, but it dumps BUCKETS of snow - like 4" per hour - while that's all going on. We've had brief rumbles before but nothing like what they were calling for.

I have 2 days off, the kids have 2 days off. Hubby has to work... He works from home anyway, so as long as we have power, he's working.

The dogs have already been to the park. We've already done one shovel-swoop to get the worst of the drifts, but will probably only do the back part of the yard for now, since we're not going anywhere.

Let It Snow!

Here's a shot out the front door, showing what's left of my Dusty Miller, and you can see some of the snow blowing around. I can hear the chorus of snow blowers starting now, as people filter out of their houses. I'm making a bet with Hubby that the lunkhead next door will not move his humongous truck out of the way of the snow plows. This is a small town - the snow plow drivers get really irritated, and aren't above plowing you in! The city will ticket if he's dumb enough to leave his truck out in the narrow street. We do have an alley-access driveway space. You'd think a big old Dodge truck would have enough ommpfh to get into the back alley, since Kid #2's Ford Focus makes the journey easily!

Just heard a few loud whomps from the tarp in the kennel, so I'm now wondering whether the tarp will stay on the kennel! It's all fastened with elastic bungees, so there shouldn't be a problem. And our lovely neighbor's big trees are on one side as a semi-wind break. Hubby over-engineers, so I know logically it will...but to quote Bette Davis, "Fasten your seat belts; it's gonna be a bumpy night."

I'm knitting SOCKS!!!

Oh my. I'm all a-flutter.

One of my goals as a knitter was to learn to knit socks. With any luck, THIS YEAR. Everyone in my Friday Knitting Group (yeah, original...) knits socks. Lots of them. My LYS owner is even knitting them for her hubby using the Conjoined Creations "Flat Feet" yarn. The website for the yarn folks is http://www.conjoinedcreations.com/ but I couldn't find a direct link to Flat Feet. They've updated their website, however, so it might take a little hunting.

Basically, if I can digress for a moment, Flat Feet is yarn that does NOT come hanked or skeined. It's flat. In fact, it's hand-dyed, yummy yarn that you could take out of the package and wear as a scarf. You knit whatever you're knitting out of it by unraveling the pre-knitted yarn.

However, I'm not knitting with that yet. My LYS owner has hit upon a great system. You learn to knit on DPNs first. On worsted weight yarn. So I'm now in possession of size 7 DPNs and a ball of Encore Worsted in a lovely autumn colorway. And I'm tellin' ya. This is THE way to learn to knit socks.

First off, you can see what you're doing. I like small. I love counted cross-stitch, and for me, it's 18-count or smaller. But knitting is different. I want to see what I'm doing before I start knitting on toothpicks! And yes, I'd love to learn Magic Loop, but my LYS owner rightly says you have to "understand" the sock before you run right to Magic Loop.

My FIRST Sock!!

Here's a picture of my FIRST SOCK (I'm soooooooooooo excited) - I'm done turning the heel (which wasn't nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be) and I'm working on the instep.

I love the color. They have another theory at the LYS. You do two pairs. Immediately. That way, you imprint the process on your brain. And hey - if you're knitting on size 7 DPNs, not only (a) are you  impressing the heck out of people (don't tell them you only actually use TWO needles at a time - let 'em think it's really a skill!); but (b) you aren't going to poke your eyeballs out if you mess up. I actually re-started this one all by myself; I had "magically" inserted some yarn-overs...sometimes the DPNs will accidentally pick up a stitch. Anyway, I had 3 of them and I thought that even I couldn't live with that. But jeeze - with the larger needles and yarn, I was back to my starting point before I could even amaze myself with re-starting!

So I've already planned to do a brown pair - I need a brown pair to match some snow boots I have, and for the life of me, I can't find thick brown socks. The Encore is mostly wool, but some polyester. Lots of loft; you could wear these for booties around the house or very easily in clogs.

Someone now please tell me that Kitchener isn't all that hard!!!

So I've Been a Little Busy...

IT'S ALMOST HERE!!! No, not Christmas (though it's causing me no little angst), but COMMENCEMENT.

I finished my final paper; the book is due on Monday from the publisher. Our presentation is Tuesday. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I can smell the diploma cover. This weekend, I'm taking the cap and gown out of the box and hanging it up to "unwrinkle."

2010 Ornaments

But lest you think I've been "all work and no play," I can tell you what I've gotten done for Christmas. My baking is woefully behind, but here are the ornaments I made for the nieces and nephews.  If you want an up-close view, click on the picture - you should also be able to zoom in a bit.

As you can see, the list is getting a little smaller. I'm still not sure if I'll do ornaments for my nephew's coming baby. The issue isn't necessarily the painting. It's the getting of the ornaments! I had to buy out what I could get my hands on, and it looks like, if I do decide that, I ought to go buy more. Luckily, we know it's a boy, so I could technically pick up 18 of the same thing and just vary the paint schemes. I usually try to do that anyway. See the little angel with the star? That's my niece's - she's gotten an angel in some format since I've been painting them for her. I can't always do that, so the kids get what I can get my hands on.

And of course, there's the knitting. Today I learned a new skill: double-pointed needles, also known as DPNs. It's kind of like wrestling an octopus. And not only that, they were size 3.... like knitting with toothpicks considering that the baby afghan is on a set of size 8s and my "foofy" shawl (still on the needles, by the way) is on size 10s.



Still on DPNs



I was at the LYS today and I needed the respite. I've worked a truckload of hours this week including the homework stuff, and I just needed my "fiber" today. As I was rearranging my office closet, which has once again, despite my best efforts, become Christmas Central, I found the baby alpaca hat I started what? Two years ago? I thought it was lost, but hey, there it was! It was in my "Sisters of St. Benedict" bag. As the pattern progresses, you go from 16" circulars to DPNs when necessary. I figured I needed expert help. I kind of got the hang of it right away. This shot shows the hat still on the DPNs.  You can see that I'm nearing the point where I can just pull the yarn through and quit. When I was at the LYS, we were looking at buttons. It's a lovely yarn, but the hat is plain. I thought a button that I could put off-centered on my head when I wear it would be a nice touch - or maybe 3 buttons in a cluster would be nice. I can bring it in next week and see what looks good. As I progressed, though, I think  something went slightly awry in the pattern. It was supposed to be a flat-topped hat. Well.... It's not. As you can see by this picture, there's a little "nose" on the hat. No phallic jokes, please!! I really don't even like tassels, but I figured this puppy needed some help.





Finished hat matches my snow jacket



Here are the yarn and pattern specs: I bought both from Chix with Stix, located at http://www.chixwithstixknitting.com/ - you should check their website; it's awesome, and they have great specials. Anyway, my friend Sue hooked me up (ba-dum-dum) with them when we went on a little jaunt, so I figured I could get input into the stash. The store is in a lovely historic shopping district; the floors creak invitingly when you come in, and the staff are a friendly bunch. Too far away for me to make it my LYS, but hey - you never know when you'll want to take a drive to go play with yarn.





Well. I'm a "yarn snob" apparently! OK, I earned that.  So here are the details. The pattern is "Whimsical Hats" by Linda Niemeyer, out of Blue Sky Alpacas, http://www.blueskyalpacas.com/ - another great spot to explore on your web wanderings. The yarn? Come on, you can guess.  Blue Sky Alpaca, of course. Sport weight 100% baby alpaca. I was diving for the pale blue, wearing my blue & periwinkle jacket, when one of the Chix said, "Hey, that grape matches your coat." Which it did! In spite of the "grape" moniker, it is more periwinkle. Click on the picture to see it up close.



Baby alpaca, at least this stuff, is hand wash or dry clean only. Since the hat is for me, I'm fine with that. I can take care of my own stuff!! Each ball is about 110 yards, the hats take about 2 balls, and I used size 3 needles. The pattern is a cute one; you have the flat-topped hat that I somehow failed to make, and then 3 "lengths" of stocking cap. I can see myself making the middle-sized one for my Hubby.

 I can tell you that I think I screwed up the decreases. And I need to fiddle with knitting in the round more. I had a mental-pause and couldn't get my markers right. Also, I think I was a "tad" stressed, because as I progressed with the DPNs, the stitches got tighter. I'm not a tight knitter --- I think I was afraid I was going to drop something. As a hint, use bamboo needles your first time out. They "grip" a bit and you won't scare yourself silly.

I don't normally wear hats; I'm an earmuffs kind of gal. But THIS hat matches so well that I think I'll break tradition and use it often.

What's your favorite hat pattern? And how are your holiday plans coming?