All That Glitters

Here's my progress on my sparkly Moonlight Ice. In looking at the ball band on my Rowan Kid Silk Night I saw the color was called Moonlight, which is coincidentally the name of the color for the Swaroski crystals I'm knitting in. Hmmm, meant to be? So I'm calling this project Moonlight Ice. You can see one of the crystals in the picture, but obviously it's way more sparkly in real life than the picture shows. I'm not thrilled with the needle I'm using, it's a regular Addi. I'd prefer the point on the lace Addis, but don't feel like forking over the $18 for one for this one project. I'm sure I have an Inox 16" circ floating around here somewhere....

Here's my Noro sock. As you can see, I've ripped back and reacquired my dropped stitch. I've even managed to reknit a few rounds.

In other news, it was pretty cold here this morning. Younger Son's school was delayed. Funny story about school delays. Several years ago I would get up and go for a 4 mile walk every morning. So one morning it was pretty cold, but I didn't think it was too bad and I got Older Son up for school. He asked if there was a delay and I said "No, I was out and it wasn't that cold." So I made the poor kid walk to school in the sub-freezing weather where he found out that school was delayed so he had to walk all the way back home, wait 2 1/2 hours and then walk to school again. After the second time I did it to him he wouldn't believe me anymore when I said there was no delay, and he would get up every school day and check for himself.

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

This morning I had an early appointment with my chiropractor and so I was up and out the door by 7:30. There was snow on the ground (surprisingly, because it hadn't been snowing when I got home from knitting after midnight) and it was still snowing and grey. After my chiropractor appointment I met Heather and her boys for breakfast. As we stood outside talking afterwards it started snowing and raining, and it was cold, foggy, and miserable.
I left the restaurant and drove to Celtic Queen's which was less than 15 minutes away. I got there, and chatted with the Celtings while she put on her shoes and coat. We walked out the door and the sun was shining! The fog was all golden and beautiful. As we drove to the Yarn Store to do some shopping (we decided not to go to the local yarn festival that was going on today because the entry fee ($15!) was too much, but we wanted to get our share of some yarny goodness, too) the sun kept shining, the sky turned blue, and the temperature soared. We shopped for yarn, had some coffee and knitted at the Starbucks up the road, and the sun continued to beam down while the temperature soared into the 50s. I started seeing people walking around in sunglasses and some teenagers even opted to sit outside at the Starbucks. Then as we started home, I noted, "Oh, I see some clouds." I dropped CQ off at her house, and as I was driving up the road from her house it started Raining. By the time I was home, it was starting to rain/snow again! Spooky.
Anyways, what did I get at the yarn store? Mmmmm. You can't tell in this picture, but that's Rowan's Kid Silk Night and it sparkles. I got some Swaroski crystals too because I'm going to make this. Say it with me -- "Ooooh, sparkly." Also pictured is my secret weapon, a size 14 crochet hook, which is small enough enough to fit through a size 4mm crystal bead. Bwaaaaa haaaa haaaa!
I also got more Noro for another pair of socks. This pair will be for Older Son, since he admired the one I'm making for myself so much. And because he was so irate about his brother's supposed theft of his hand knit socks. Rewarding him for fighting with his brother...Probably not my most shining parenting moment, but what can I say? I'm weak when it comes to the knitting. Besides, I didn't tell him I got it for him, so I can always change my mind. Speaking of my Noro sock, it's in Time Out because A) It's not sparkly, B) I lost one of the needles I was knitting it with (it was a wild night at knitting last night), and C) When I decided this afternoon I was ready to knit the ribbing at the cuff I found this dropped stitch. If I had found it after the cast-off I would have just sighed and sewed it in. But I didn't so I'm going to rip back and reknit. I'm just not up to it yet.

Sock Wars

As I was driving home from work this evening (at 8:00 PM!), talking to CQ and trying to get her to go to Bloomin Yarns and buy me some yarn (she wouldn't), I fielded a call from Older Son.

OS: snarling Thanks for giving Younger Son my socks.
Me: I didn't give him your socks, he's wearing his own socks!
OS: No he's not, they're mine.
Me: No, I knit those for him, I knit you socks that had blue and brown stripes at the same time. I can show it to you on the blog.
OS: I don't believe you. When will you be home so you can verify this?
Me: I'll be home before 8:30...

Obviously the boys were locked in a titanic struggle over the handknit socks. (They never call me until they're literally at each others throats.) So I had to come home and verify that the socks in question (pictured here) were indeed knit for Younger Son. Thank goodness for the blog! You never know when it will come in handy.

My Noro yarn has disgorged a ginormous yarn burp. CQ warned me of this, and I'd had a few minor ones before this. Another downside of the yarn being an single.

Knit Knight tomorrow!! I'm going, even if I have to leave stuff undone and go in to work on Saturday. I need me some "me" time! (And good friends who will pat me reassuringly and tell me they still like me.)

You Make My Day

Ok, Ashley says I made her day (I'm very honored!) and I'm home at a reasonable time (I only had to work 11 hours today. And no one has had to go to the ER -- yet. If Younger Son doesn't get his homework done soon I make no guarantees) I'm going post the rules with this. The object is this:
“Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.”

And now I get to tell 10 people they made my day!!

1)Heather, who always makes my day. She's pretty and charming, warm and kind. I'm always amazed that she chose me for a friend! And she's an amazing knitter and great cook. Her family is lucky to have her.

2)Julia. Check out her shop! I love her yarn and fiber, (I'm hoping she'll sell me some) but she's also a truly great person and I'm fortunate to know her. She's made some kick-butt sweaters recently too!

3)Celtic Queen (Good thing she updated her blog today!) Who makes my day most of the time with her e-mails. She does have some good looking kids, though. (And they love the hand knits!)

4)Carly Her youth and enthusiasm make me feel almost young again. She's an amazing knitter, and she's beautiful enough to wear handknits everywhere and carry it off!

5)Elizabeth Perry. Check out the drawing for today -- It's a Chibi! Her drawings make my day every day. I've mentioned her here before, but it bears repeating.

6)Be*Mused She's working on some amazing mittens right now.

7)Holly Who like me prefers plain knit socks. And knitting for babies! What could be more fun than that?

8)Taniwa This blog is everything I look for in a blog. Tanya updates frequently and she includes lots of juicy details about life in Japan.

9)Steel City Knitter Knitting, crochet, the occasional quick recipe.

10)Krafty1 She's dealing with alot of snow right now, but has warm cookies and knitwear to keep her warm.

I would have included Ashley because she really did make my day by giving me the award, but she already did it and I didn't want to make her think of 10 more bloggers. The same with DPUTiger.

It's Me

It's 10:45 PM and I just got home from work. I'd been there since 8:50 this morning. And the stuff that I had to get done today -- didn't get done. The day started off with Younger Son son stepped on a piece of glass in the basement which we couldn't get out, so he had to go to the ER. I should have gone with him. But no, off to work I went (Dave had already made arrangements to take the morning off to take my dad to a doctor's appointment). Twice in as many days, while trying to run an long and complicated process which I'm not entirely familiar with, a file I use has mysteriously been cut in half. For no real reason. Nothing I did, nobody knows why. I'm suspecting a virus or corrupted software somewhere. Then, to top everything off, when I got home my door broke as I was coming in. Everything I touch is breaking! YS, all my stuff at work, the door. Older Son won't let me touch him. I feel like there should be a dark cloud over my head. I'm having packzi for dinner and going to sleep. Tomorrow has to be better, right?

Big Things

Big news! Ashley says I made her day! I'm thrilled and amazed. One does try [blushes modestly]. I'm posting late today, so I will give the rules and tag my 10 "Make my day" blogs tomorrow!

Here's where I am on my Noro sock. Viewing it I think, as I always do when I knit myself socks, "Good Lord, I have big feet!" But even with my big feet, I'm through the foot, turned the heel, started up the leg and am only just completing a color sequence. That's a pretty long color change. This pair of socks will definately not be identical. But I'm all about the mismatched socks anyway. I'm hoping to get another couple of skeins of this yarn this week, on in a manly colorway to make socks for Older Son (for his birthday, maybe) and another fun colorway to make some gloves for myself.
Other big news, my friend Zeeppo was on local television, teaching men's knitting. (Dave and Dave, on OnQ on WQED.) I liked the piece, Zeeppo did a pretty good job teaching them, even though Dave and Dave can be a little wild at times. The host said one of the Daves stuck with it and knitted himself a scarf while watching the Super Bowl yesterday.
I have big knitting plans, too. As I've been knitting my socks I've been thinking that it would be nice to knit everyone some socks this year. Maybe three or four pairs. And then there's the birthday sweaters, and I really would like to knit more bears, and at least one sweater for me. Too much knitting, too little time. So far my plan of winning the lottery so I can knit full time hasn't been working out too well for me. I may need to regroup.

Knitting For Two

I was going to post some details from BMOC, my latest design, but Older Son has misplaced it so I can't take photos. (I'm not sure which of us that speaks more poorly of, he for losing it, or me and my housekeeping.) While I was waiting for him to find it I started thinking of knitting for two, and in particular of knitting for a boy and a girl. Being a twin myself, I'm very keen on twin knits.
Here a couple of twin sweaters I knit for my friends daughters (who are identical twins). This is an easy one. The sweaters are just a basic seamless raglan. I started with the variegated I used for the colors, and just added odd balls that I could match to colors in the variegated. I had two skeins each of the the pink and yellow, so they became the main colors on each sweater. Then it was just figure out the number of rows until I decreased for the neckband and dividing that up by the number of colors I had (in this case 4). Another idea was a couple of Wonderful Wallabies I made for Celtic Queen and the Elder Celting when he was about 3. You know how hard it is to find mother/son matching outfits. You see those cute mother/daughter sets in the catalogs, but as a mother of sons you feel left out. I can relate. I wanted to give CQ that "matching" feeling so I knit them coordinating sweaters. CQ's sweater was in maroon with a navy stripe on the chest (very J Crew) and the Celting's in the same navy with a maroon stripe. Matching but not over the top. CQ still wears her sweater, but alas! both Celtings have grown out of the matching one. Either of these will work for brother/sister combos too. And finally, take a sweater idea (I like the Cottage creations designs here, because they have a wide variety of sizes) and make one a dress for a girl. I did this with the Wonderful Wallaby for the girls pictured above (sorry, no pics!) and the little hoodie dresses were too cute!! I did a folded hem (which is how I finished the edges on BMOC, which got me thinking of this) for the bottom. Just knit a hem, and then knit to the waist and continue on as the pattern specifies. I got my measurements from a dress in a store, and just added however many inches to all my measurements for the Wallaby. Once you're past the underarms, everything else is the same. The same could be done with the Big Sven pattern too. Or just make them each a sweater and coordinate the colors. (Actually, CQ did this for her niece and nephew in boy colors for him and girl colors for her as Christmas gifts one year.)

The Thick and Thin of It

I have to say up front here that there's not much new on the knitting front. I'm just working my way back on the gusset of the Noro socks. Speaking of which, here's my blurry (apparently after all this time I haven't figured out how to use my dang camera)pictures of the thick/thin nature of the yarn.Here's a thick part, and here's a thin part. (The second is more accurate color-wise too.) I took these while waiting at the chiropractor's this evening, and no one even asked why I was taking pictures, or of what. I think they were just being polite, kind of in the same way that no one mentions that people on the bus are talking to themselves.

In other knitting news, a good friend who I work with just announced yesterday that he and his wife are expecting. We went to school together and he recommended me for both of my jobs. Break out the baby yarn! I have a ton of white yarn so I think I'll start there and move on to colors if we find out a gender further down the road. Did I mention that my cube-mate is expecting too? I'm surrounded by fertility.

And finally, I'm feeling better about being at the depth of lifelong unhappiness. I'm thinking if this is as bad as it gets, well it's not that bad. It's all uphill from here, eh? (But you can still send me gifts. ;)

This Explains It All!

Have you seen this? This explains everything. Everybody is unhappy in their 40's and the lowest point for lifetime unhappiness is...you guessed it, at 44. So that's what wrong with me. The news stories I've seen say I just have to hold out for eight to ten years and I'll be ok. Somehow this doesn't make me feel any better. Feel free to send me some colorful yarn to cheer me up, though. Speaking of colorful yarn, my Noro socks and I have had a slight falling out. I've had to rip back my first attempt at a gusset. An evening of struggle and I'm about back to where I was when the picture was taken yesterday. Again, feel free to send me gifts to cheer me up. Key lime pie, or orange scones would do the trick too...
Now here's a picture of some colorful yarny goodness. I have finally managed to amass at least one skein of all the colors of Alpaca With a Twist's Highlander. That's about 20 skeins of tweedy yumminess. My plans are for a randomly striped sweater mixing the colors randomly as well as the stripe widths. I keep envisioning the sweater as a cardigan, despite the fact that I can't imagine when I'm going to be anywhere that it's cold enough for an alpaca sweater worn over another top. But everytime I picture this striped sweater it's a cardigan, so I'm thinking a cardigan it will be. And I may have enough yarn left to do a little fairisle number as well.

Progressing

I'm making progress on my Noro socks. These are very addictive (I can't wait to see what the next color out of the ball will be, and how it will look with all the other colors!) and just what I need for this dreary time of year. Every year from about the middle of January until the first week of April when Spring is finally here I crave bright colors. And citrus. I'm all about the orange scones and key lime pie. Somehow citrus flavors just taste like sunshine to me. These socks are going to be just what the doctor ordered. Even Older Son was admiring (but that was before I started on the pink section at the top). For what it's worth, here's my review of the Noro sock yarn. I love the colors and how they blend. The yarn knitted up has a little better hand than in the ball. However, it's a bit thick and thin. Overall, it's very fine for a sock yarn. So when it gets thin...It's very thin. Which happened a little too often for my taste. I like to knit socks at a pretty firm tension (it improves their wear). Add that to that the fact that it's a single so I wanted a firm tension even for me, and I had to crank down to a size 0 needle for me to feel comfortable with it. For me, these negatives are outweighed by the colors. You can make your own choice. That's my 2 cents, take it or leave it.

Meanwhile, on the "What in the World Is Going On Here When I'm Not Home" front, I came home early from work today and found this in the living room. A chair (from the dining room) tied up and with peanut butter sitting on it. I don't think I want to know.

Back to Back

Here I am. What kept me away so long? Well it turns out that the fall I took (see my last post back in November) did way more damage than I thought at first. My pain kept getting worse and within a few days my leg went numb, then a day or two after that apparently went on strike and stopped supporting me. Which led to a couple of (fortunately?) only embarrassing falls (I have a fair amount of padding, unfortunately) and one trip to the emergency room. Much discussion with doctors and testing ensued, and the outcome is that I am seeing a chiropractor (recommended by Heather) instead of the neurosurgeon my PCP referred me to. After two visits the numbness in my leg was gone, and my pain is definately lessening. So now that I don't think I'm going to die or be a cripple for the rest of my life, I'm slowly getting back to my routines. One of the many downsides of all these back issues was that I spent alot of time laying flat on my back. I got some knitting done, but mostly small projects. In the midst of all of that, Christmas, New Years, and my anniversary came and went.
Dave performed a solo at church on Christmas Eve,and the boys were part of the live nativity during the service. (Older Son was Joseph and Younger Son was a Wise Man. Or Joe and a Wise Guy as we put it here.) December was rough. I'm truly not a bawler (the only time I'd cried as an adult was at my mother's funeral in 2001) but the pressure and worry and maybe some hormones just got to me, and I was in tears every other day practically the whole month. So not really the best of company. (I did remark to Celtic Queen at one point when I was feeling sorry for myself and worrying over test results that the upside of having a terminal illness would be that Extreme Makeover Home Edition would come and redo my house.)
So what knitting did I accomplish during my break? Not as much as you'd expect, it's a bit hard to knit laying on your back. I did more reading than knitting. Nevertheless, I completed Irreversible on the left for YS and a new design BMOC for OS for Christmas (well, OS's was delayed a bit). I made the guys stand outside in the frigid temps to get a good picture. YS looks like a natural model, though, doesn't he?
And I've been knitting these little bears (pattern here). These are the cutest things! And so easy to make (mine needs a face yet). Size 5 needles and worsted weight yarn makes a perfect size for a toddler to drag around. This one was made with Red Heart's Amore which is my fave yarn for these so far. It looks and feels like a chenille blanket.
But it's all good now. Rock Day at Heather's was fabulous and we all brought our wheels (see pics here and here). I carded up these batts for spinning and have been trying to work out ever since how I can quit my day job and support myself making colorful batts...
And a new project. I was gifted some wonderfully colorful Noro sock yarn by Julia for Christmas and I could resist its siren song no longer. I feel happier already.

Bright Lights

I was going to start off this post with a picture of my neighbor's light display. They have a front yard the size of a postage stamp and have as many large light up inflatable Christmas things in it as they can fit. I grabbed my camera and struggled downstairs to take the pic. I looked out the front door and saw the giant snowman glowing away. Then Dave started talking to me as I put on my coat (over my pajamas, I'm such a dork). I swear I was only talking to him for a few minutes (like 3!) and when I went outside (in my pajamas!) they had turned all their lights off! So, do you have your holiday decorations up? We still have our dead Santa on the front porch, but that's it.
In other news, I'm a little stiff and sore today. I fell yesterday in the basement while carrying down the laundry. (Tripped over the clutter.) At least I didn't fall down the stairs. So I was sitting there on the floor, bawling (it was the end of a rough evening) and the guys come down and just stand around looking at me. Then they started pulling on my arms. I finally managed to pull myself to my feet (sniffling) and they left. No "let me help you with that laundry", nothing. Hmmph. I'm thinking their Christmas gifts will be me buying toys for needy children in their name. (They have this gift tree with kids' names on it at work, and I keep taking another name because I think that these poor kids aren't going to get anything for Christmas. I'm on my third kid and I'm not telling Dave about it.)

Trying To Be Thankful

In this week after Thanksgiving I'm trying to be thankful. Truly. But I'm not having my best week. Anyways, I'm going to list some nice things here and try to focus on the positive.
My friend recently finished her first sock. I'd like to think I encouraged and helped a bit. She was inspired and immediately cast on the second. She does have a bit of a dilemma, in that she had promised this pair as a gift, but now wants to keep them for herself. Such is the life of a knitter.
I also recently had the chance to teach a couple of eager young boys to spin on a drop spindle. I'm not sure how much they retained, but I left some wool and materials for them each to make their own spindles. If nothing else, I'll spin a couple of yards every time I visit until we use up the wool and then their mom can knit them something.
And my super power is still working. These mitts were mostly knit on Thanksgiving day. (Then the second was ripped and re-knit when I discovered it was waay shorter than its mate. I debated on redoing it, but then I was awake at 4:00 AM so I figured, why not? It's still a bit shorter, but I can live with it.) They're from a kit and the yarn is a hemp/cashmere blend. Not really two fibers I would have combined, but the yarn is yummy and they really do keep my hands warm.
So what did I knit during the ten hours of my trip to North Carolina and back? Well, first of all I found out that it takes all your three hours of daylight to wind two center pull balls of Socks That Rock without the benefit of swift or ball winder. Then it's too dark to start the dang socks. Other than that, I worked on this:

Irreversible. A few false starts in the dark, but then I got the rhythm down and I was ok.

Fixed Up

I fixed up my spinning wheel this evening, at the cost of eight dollars and change for supplies and one broken finger nail. The plastic band(?) whatever attaching the footmen to the treadles had broken (Apparently by a home invader who entered, broke my spinning wheel, and then fled without disturbing anything else in the house. At least according to the boys who all swear they had nothing to do with it.) and needed to be replaced with something. The connection was made by some round solid plastic pieces which were held in place with screws. I was able to replace them with some nylon cord which I'm hoping will do the trick. But in gathering up all my spinning paraphenalia I found that my bottle of spinning oil had leaked and was just about empty..
So I decided to consult Alden Amos on what the proper spinning oil should be. But I couldn't find the book! I could have sworn it was on the top of the bookcase in my bedroom. Nope, not there. Then I remembered reading it in bed recently so I looked under the bed. Nope. Upstairs in the attic where I'd taken a bunch of spinning supplies lately. Uh-uh. How could I have lost it? It's not like it's a small book. (There's a reason it's titled "The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning.") I had given up hope and was about to blog about how I couldn't find it (and was debating calling Celtic Queen and asking her if I'd lent it to her and forgotten about it) when I spotted it on Dave's dresser. Success! (And I can't find a reference to spinning wheel oil, but Ashford recommends 30 weight motor oil, so I'm going with that.)

I'm Hanging On (Barely)

I'm still hanging in there. I feel terrible, which wouldn't be too bad, except I suspect I look worse.
I'm still plodding along on the Pomatomus socks, taking two steps forward and one step back. I finished one Cotton Sock, The Grey, and have yet to cast on its mate, and I'm debating Christmas knitting.

Younger Son's birthday was yesterday and he made me feel guilty about not giving him a hand-knit sweater. To compound the matter, he's grown out of several of his previous sweaters, so now he only had three hand knit sweaters that fit him
(four, if you count the one I knit for his brother that he's absconded with -- pictured on him here.) That would be, let me think...exactly four more sweaters than I've made for myself. Also, Older Son wore his Irreversible Sweater out Saturday night (I think it was a double date, but he's not saying.) Gosh, it's a great looking sweater. And it really does look fantastic on him. But anyways, I feel appropriately guilty so I've ordered yarn for two sweaters for him. I might even get yarn for a third. The jury's still out. I really did want to make him a sweater, the birthday just snuck up on me. Kinda like Christmas is doing right now.

I Have Nothing to Say

I'm writing to say I have nothing to say. I am finally feeling better from my cold. Sounding a bit better too. (If you could hear me.) Last week was pretty bad. I was worn out, and suddenly work became huge and I ended up working overtime, which didn't exactly help with the worn out thing. Friday I didn't even go to knitting. I worked late and by the time I got home it was after 7:00 and I just staggered upstairs and went to bed. Saturday I had to run errands and then Dave wanted to go out. I had to take a nap. And I was so tired I couldn't knit! But the good news is that I've been sleeping better since the time change. Although everyone who sees me says I look tired. I told Dave I think I need to get some industrial strength Oil of Olay or something. Ok, ok, an update on the knitting I've been too tired to do. Sunday all I was capable of was mindless knitting, so I worked on my current Cotton Socks (Cotton Socks, the Grey). I'm past the heel and gusset and working on the foot. Pomatomus are still struggling along, a few rounds at a time. And everyone at work wants fingerless mitts.

Dia de los Muertos

Kind of appropriate that I'd be thinking about my mom all day today. I really miss her alot. Maybe I just need someone to tell me that everything's going to be okay. My best memories of my mom are from when Older Son was an infant and she would come to watch him. First of all, you need to understand that my mom was a Class AAAA neat freak. When I was little I truly believed she was Mrs. Clean (reinforced, no doubt, by the fact that my dad looked alot like Mr. Clean.) So when she came over and my house was a disaster, she could have taken me to task about it (her house was always immaculate and she had 6 kids) but she never did. In fact, she told me that I was trying to do too much and that I needed to take care of myself and just went through the house and cleaned a bit here and there for me. Anyways, this picture sits on my mantle. My sisters say Mom looks alot like me in this picture. Younger Son thought so too, when I got it down this evening. I'm not sure when this was taken, but I think she's in her early 20's here. I made her an afghan for her queen-size bed that she slept under every winter for about 5 years (I have it now, I'll be getting it out for my bed soon) and I knit her a warm fair isle scarf (she had emphysema and had to wear a scarf when she went out in the winter) and a lace afghan which was one of the first projects I ever completed that's still draped on the back of the recliner at my dad's.

Happy Halloween!

I've been saving this picture especially for today! I feel like Yarnstorm, finding the perfect picture out and about. We're going to let the neighbors hand out candy for us this year and we're about to head out for a celebratory birthday dinner for my Scary Guy. We're going to the O for "fries as big as your head!" as I always say to the boys. Dave and Younger Son are downstairs trying to find the candy Dave bought. (Dave's accusing me of having eaten it.) Not much knitting going here, but we knitters are always ready for whatever the season brings.

Cold

I have one. And I'm miserable with it too. My sister came to visit from North Carolina this weekend and she put me to work cleaning my dad's apartment. I thought my sneezing and scratchy throat were just from all that dust we threw up. But then yesterday it became apparent that I was coming down with a cold, and I've been getting steadily worse all day. I can barely breath now. Dave won't even come into the same room I'm in, let alone touch me or anything else I've handled. I sent him off to the drugstore to get me some decongestants. I wish I had some mulled cider or even some hot chocolate, but no go until Older Son gets home from class at about 10.

So I spent the weekend cleaning and got very little knitting done. We took a break on Saturday to watch the Breeder's Cup. I bet on Hard Spun (of course!) who placed. My sister picked the winner.

Wednesday and More Trees

More pictures of trees. Still not much knitting. I need to pick up some beads for my Leafy Heather, I think. It's been colder and rainy here in the 'burgh. I'm up in the air about knitting this week. Actually I'm up in the air about alot of things. But wait! I've been busy at work. I actually had to work an hour and a half over so far this week. I can't decide if I'm going to leave early or go out for lunch. Maybe both. Trader Joe's is within walking distance. I could go down and get a salad. But the cooler weather has me thinking of sweaters, too. There's the The Celting II, and Celting Remix to consider, as well as A Fairisle Vest and hmm, maybe a Chain Mail sweater. I'd also like to revisit Irreversible for Younger Son. I've seen some swatches and scarves in Araucania and I think it may be a good fit for the pattern. If I can only find some in a sufficiently murky man color. And then there is the lace. Leafy Heather is almost a done deal. Heather got the prelim pattern last night. She says she's waiting for the right tools to tackle it. I told her and CQ that I didn't want it to be too simple, but I may have gone too far over to the dark side. But honest, Heather! Stitch markers are your friends! The pattern repeats are logical! No large patterns over the width of the entire shawl (what killed me with MS3) -- these all have a logical progression and once you get started you almost don't need the chart. Really! And besides, it's not everyday you get to knit yourself a cashmere shawl. The pattern should be heirloom quality.

Tuesday and Trees

It's that time of year again, when I post gratuitous pictures of autumn trees for my readers who can't experience this wonderful color. I can see this tree from my front porch, and it shines like a beacon on the hillside, so when I was driving past it on Saturday I stopped and snapped a picture. We were having one of those wonderful autumn days where the sky is a deep clear blue. It's raining and getting colder now, so these leaves will probably be gone soon.

I really don't have much knitting to talk about, so if you're just here for the knitting, my apologies. I'm still working on the charts for Leafy Heather. Heather herself swatched the Heather lace pattern (I wrote it myself) and is raring to go on the shawl. I have some logistics to figure out on the attachment of the final border, but other than that it's just about ready to go. I just have to commit to spending some quality time with my pc doing some polishing. (Kinda like seaming, sewing on buttons and working in the ends on a sweater.)

The Lost Boy

Younger Son had a field trip today to the NASA WVSGC. He left at 7:30 this morning and would return at approximately 4:30 this afternoon. No problem. I had to get Older Son to an appointment at 5:30 and then had to get to my dad's to give him a shot. I figured we'd all go together and we could just grab dinner while we were out. I had to work late today so didn't get home until about 4:45. No YS. Well, at about 5:15 OS and I were getting ready to go. I figured I'd drive to the school (which was on our way) and pick YS up. Got to the school, sent OS in to ask if they knew when the bus would be there. No one was in the school. It's dark, locked up, no one home. So now I'm starting to panic. The kids should have been back an hour ago. Did the kids get back at 4:30 and something happened to YS? Did something happen on the trip? But if the kids weren't back, surely there'd still be someone in the school, right? I called the school and just got voice mail. Left a panicky message asking them where my son was, and drove home, thinking I might have missed him when I drove up to the school. He wasn't home, or anywhere in between. Drove back to the school to look one more time before heading to the police station across the street. Just before getting to the school, saw YS walking down the sidewalk. The kids had just gotten back, over an hour late. So there was my exciting day.

Tinking the Pomatomus sock again. I just can't seem to get this one right. And my CTS is flaring up in my left hand something awful. Bleah.

Swatch Me

I've been busy, knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping this swatch all weekend. I didn't want this shawl to be too simple, but I think I may have gone too far to the dark side. Although I was able to knit the dang thing I'm not entirely certain I'll be able to chart it. It's definately going to need a half dozen or so charts to get it done. But I'm totally hooked on the thing. It's hard to put it down, I keep wanting to do "just one more row". I've knit enough to establish all the patterns at this point, and I really think it's going to work out. (Well, if I can work out the charts, that is.) My last big hurdle is going to be working the border on the two sides. I think I'm going to knit it on, and not try to turn the corner with it, which I think would push me over the edge. The border, by the way, is knit in on the long edge and it's the charting of this border which I'm having trouble with. So I think it's safe to say that I'll be knitting it again, and charting every stitch. Ah, the things we do for our art (and friends.)

On the home front, I saw the dentist today, whom I have been avoiding because I knew what he was going to tell me, which is that I have to have some major dental work done (involving oral surgery) and spend hundreds of dollars. Merry Christmas to him! Dave is travelling out of town this week so I'm having to manage alone. I think I might clean out his dresser and closet while he's gone. (He says he doesn't read this blog. We'll see.) The guys have lost a season of Stargate (before they watched it) somewhere in the house. So all weekend long I have had to put up with them rooting around in my room and through my stash because none of them can believe that I don't know where it is and are therefore convinced that I hid it from them. Now, Finding Lost Things is one of my minor super powers, I admit. But in this case, I never touched it. I'm going to have to find the dang thing just to keep them from pawing the stash. They get it all a out of order and upset the delicate balance that allows me to find what I want relatively quickly.

On My Mind

I've been thinking alot about lace this week (just don't ask me about MS3). I'm working up my pattern for the Leafy Heather shawl, so watch this space (or maybe this space) for more details. I think I have the patterns worked out for Leafy Heather, I just have to iron out a few kinks with the edging and work up a few more charts. Heather is swatching the main lace pattern for me (hopefully) right now, and if it looks good, I should be able to finish up the charts and give her the completed pattern early next week. My Pomatomus socks have hit a snag. I don't know what I was thinking (or smoking, apparently) when I started working my instep after turning the heel. I need to tink back several rows. I'm hoping to get straightened out and start moving forward again tomorrow. We'll see.

In other news, Older Son had to watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers for his Sci-Fi class today. When Celtic Queen and I discussed what we thought were the best sci-fi movies all of mine were from the 70s. What's up with that?

KISS

This is something that's been on my mind lately. You see it all the time in the knitting magazines, knitters bemoaning the dearth of Men's Sweaters. And the designers try. They really do. But the result is always some monstrosity that no man in my life would be caught dead in. (And truth be told, probably not even then, some I've seen are so bad they could reanimate a corpse.) A week or so ago I was watching television (OK, ok, it was Stargate on dvd) and there on the screen was a guy in a sweater. (Orlin, did you see that episode?)
And after I got past the "Hmmm, that's a pretty good-looking guy" thing I was able to note that he was wearing a sweater. A basic small vee neck, full fashioned sleeve cap, otherwise plain stockinette sweater.
Alot like this. And it occurred to me, "THIS is really what men wear." OK, a classic Aran or cabled sweater, and maybe some stripes. But usually just a plain sweater in a murky man color (see photo). And we all already have this pattern, right? This is why there are no Men's Sweaters in the knitting magazines. So as a knitter, you really have to decide -- Make him a colorwork /textured monstrosity that will take you months to make and will spend eternity in his drawer/closet, or the B O R I N G plain stockinette sweater that he'll really wear. Knitters choice. But you have to ask yourself why are you knitting a sweater for him. So he'll have something he'll really wear? Or to show off your prodigious knitting skills? If you choose the latter, you can't really complain when he doesn't wear it.

Hmmmm, what is this? A bit of green lace??

Catch Up

Lots to talk about. Older Son has been commandeering my computer for school work, so I've been lax in my posting. I finished the first Pomatomus sock and started the second. I finished turning the heel on sock two and started on the gusset this evening. The Pseudo-Pod is stalled. I admit to a certain amount of knitting ennui. Maybe it's the heat, maybe I'm tired with these projects, who knows? I think it's the projects, though. Thing is, they're both small projects so I don't want to abandon them, they just need a little more work to complete them. So I'm trying to slog on through to the end, but it's not easy.


And the weather! It's been almost 90 degrees here! Not October weather at all. It's supposed to turn seasonal later this week. I hope so, I'm tired of summer already. Celtic Queen and I took the Celtings to a local farm for gratuitous pumpkin pictures and consumption of foods high in fat and sugar (the Hawaiian shave ice was a big hit). I also got some apples -- I'm very picky about my apple selections. I like a very crisp, slightly tart apple. My choice this time around was Empire. We went on a hay ride and there were fiber animals.
Sheep! And goats!
There was a llama too, but I didn't get a picture. CQ and I were the only people snapping pictures of the fiber animals.

Finally, I spent a very enjoyable evening with Heather watching Kaffe Fassett videos and eating some hot pepper mustard and peach salsa on pita chips (yum!). Almost like being at a workshop and as I pointed out, we can spend the difference on more yarn!

Weekend

Busy weekend! Here I am with the Big Winner! The Elder Celting has WON! the Metropolitan level of the Elk's Soccer Shoot. I got some shots of the action, too (but I'm going to leave some for His Mom to post. And speaking of CQ, it was her birthday yesterday. She's 28 (again). The Celting Consort says she's 28 and will remain 28 until the Celtings catch up. That's the Celtings and one and a half of my Sons in the background.
I gave her yarn, and uh, more yarn. Claudia Handpaints, Koigu, and some wool for felted slippers.
I also finished the first Pomatomus (sorry, no pic). I've cast on for the second, but have only knit a round or two. And I've lost my notions bag with my scissors, stitch markers, stitch holders, and Chibi in it. :( Think good thoughts that it will find its way home. Dave and the sons are maybe not best pleased with me because when I found I couldn't find it last night (and after asking for help in the search and being ignored) I went on a rampage, flinging things about the house in search of it. I've come to the grudging conclusion that it is not in the house, so am broadening my search afar. If you see it, let me know!