Back from a lovely Holiday trip to California to see friends and family. The house is a mess with stuff thrown all over, and the pets are almost calmed back down again. I'm currently watching a lady wipe goo out of my laptop so that it can be re-imaged to Windblows 2000. Ick. This is taking longer than I expected.

I finished the blue on blue vest, and it fit and pleased my aunt. She now has it, and I hope she is wearing it in good health. Pictures later if this re-image ever happens. I worked some on the pink and purple vest. Again, I got ahead of myself and thought I could get it done this holiday. It is too awkward to work on when I travel, so I will have to make some quality time for just it and me.

Happy New Year.

Is it the weather, or holiday blahs?

I've not done much knitting since the weekend. I'm in a funk about the I cord for the blue vest, and haven't touched the KM blanket or the pink vest. How's that for news?

I looked at my project bars, and updated them. I took out the bear sweater project, as that is done, and got real about making Christmas socks for various people. I really did intend to make socks for my FIL and his GF. GF's sister raises sheep and spins. I thought she was going to send me some wool from her sheep for the project - to make it sort of meaningful. The price was a little high, but the connections were there, and I was more than willing to pay. Well, GF moved, and sister has not communicated with me. I guess if she figures the relationship is off, I have no business bugging her.

On a more positive note, I think I heard the wood ducks return today. This is about a month early for them. It was too dark to look, so I'm not really sure if it is them, or me just hoping for them to be back.

Not so much knitting over Thanksgiving. A full airplane, reading, cooking, skiing, and surprise, some beading. I bought a bead loom for my daughter, but started a little project myself while I was waiting for her to do something else.


Ooooooh pretty.

Now, the blue vest did get finished to the sholders during some driving, but I'm not happy with the way the I cord edging is working out. I seem to have made some assumptions about the guage of the I cord relative to the twisted garter that were incorrect. So the I cord is too tight. I finished the arm holes, and started on the front before I really evaluated what was happening, so I'm ripping away. Quite an experience, as the brushed mohair is sticking to everything. This puts the RRRRRR into Rip.

Ooooooh a comment. I knew I put that link there for a reason. Just have to post a response.

Yes, that knitting machine looks scary, but bear in mind, I'm working intarsia with a bunch of colors. Eighteen color changes per row if you are counting. If you were hand knitting it would look scary about now as well. Unless you were the kind of wierdo that weaves in ends as you go along. Actually, the mess that is pictured is quite under control.

To learn, I started with one color, then moved to basic 2x2 cables, then tried stripes. After that I did an intarsia heart on a sweater front. Then I tried the chicken sweater from a book called "animal knits". It got scary. It became a mess. I left it on the machine for three month's hoping it would go away. It didn't. I finally ripped it off the machine and threw it into the trash. So, there's the answer to what happens when things turn into a tangled mess. Avoid, then destroy. This may be a deviant aspect of my personality.

This is the first time "back in the saddle" since the terrifying chicken incident.

My knit guild has an impossibly huge supply of craft yarn that is being used for charity projects. We just drop by one of the storage locations, pick what we want and bring back what we make. I took a good sized shopping bag home when we sorted it over a year ago. I am taking advantage of this to develop my skills and confidence with the scary machine cost free. Because of the abundance of the yarn, I don't feel the need to conserve, so tossing a mess away rather than picking it apart and re-using the yarn is an option I can live with. And sometimes, I even end up with something to donate. When I began I made several toddler child sweaters that were donated.

So, everyone in the United States, have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

We're off to Colorado tomorrow. Yippeee. Our friends heat with a wood stove, so us southerners will be freezing our pants off. I just sorted all our long underwear, and I bought some jeans with some space so I can layer.

I checked progress on the pink and purple vest against last week. I may have done two whole rows. Hopefully, I'll have some sit by the fire time to finish this vest. I'm alternately annoyed and enraptured with this project. I wanted to be about done by now.

And I must have had trouble counting in Lousiania. About eighteen extra rows. It's looking nice I think.


Now, all these projects would be farther along if I had'nt gotten the urge to dust off that Bond knitting machine upstairs, and make a charity blanket for an ongoing guild project. For those of you toying with the idea of a knitting machine, understand that machine knitting is nothing at all like hand knitting. I thought that the thing would help me work through the embarassing amount of yarn I have collected. It's a bit faster than hand, but not as quick as one would think, unless you are doing straight stockenette. In fact, I had to get rid of the concept of "fast" before getting anywhere with the machine. It took a long and frustrating amount of time to get the feel for the thing. I still don't quite have the feel, to be honest.

So this urge is to get the hang of knitting machine intarsia. I started to get it, then the stitches started popping off the needles and the carriage began to jam every row. I remembered this morning that I need to hang some weight on the piece once it gets so far. Does it not look like a disaster? It's about a third done.

The stupid part is that I'm already dreaming about Fasset intarsia designs that I could work up on the Bond.

Gakkk is the sound of the week

I'm out on a two night biz trip, and my suitcase managed to get away and visit Hartford CT, and Columbus OH, before joining me at the hotel. This seems to happen when I absent mindedly pack my medicine in my checked bag instead of throwing it into my purse. When I finally met up with my bag, I found that the purple/pink vest was missing a needle, and could not be worked on. I sure hope that needle is in my living room chair rather than in New England.

On the good side, the weather is nice, and I've got the back seat of the rental car claimed for our three hours of driving today so progress will be made on the blue vest. For sure half the front will be finished, and the second half will have good progress before we return tonight.

And just for fun, and a bit late - Shiloh trying to figure out what happened to his walking path on Monday night after a day of torrential rain. We live near a bike/hike path that runs by a bayou. To the regular eye, it looks to be a lovely recreational area. To a civil engineer it looks like a flood plain. It's both. Gotta love dual purpose development. For reference, the "keep dogs on leash" sign was under water except for the last six inches.

Ahhhh
Don't we feel better now?

Jason at blogroll has restored from a backup files and all our precious links are back. I feel sorry for the poor Laura whose link was inserted by the nefarious geek. Congratulations on that pregnancy too, girl.

I will admit that my initial response was anger and hostility when I saw that my link list had been hacked. I calmed down considerably when I saw that all the other blogrolls I saw had suffered the same attack. A few hours later, I checked the news at Blogroll, and found that they were aware of the attack, and had put things to right. A traffic snarl on the information highway.

Progress.
Blue vest has the back done, and I'm working up the front. Garter stitch sure is slow, and it's pretty dense. The mohair makes it lighter. I'd be concerned about the weight if this were made in cotton as suggested in the pattern.


The pink/purple vest is at the armhole. I wanted to be there last week, but had to rip rip rip. With all the decreases, it ought to spurt along until I increase up to the back. It 's looking nice, but I've done the last five rows a few too many times, trying to get the shaping right.


And finally Shiloh sez:
My bed, my toys, my blanket and I'm happy.
><

busy busy
I had to drive to Austin today. I subscribe to Audible, and prepared for the long drive by burning the first half of "Life of Pi" onto CD's before I left. It worked really well, and lasted until two exits before home. Love it when a plan comes together. Pi is currently on a life boat with a live hyena, a live tiger, and a dead zebra and a dead orangutan. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Needless to say, not much progress made on knitting. I don't really like to drive.

Friday I had a three hour line of up useless conference calls. I worked on the donation vest, and almost got to the end of the first shoulder. I then learned that one of the analysts I work with, a very skilled person, has been laid off. Sunday, when I was walking the dog, it occurred to me that I had sloped the shoulder in the wrong direction. It seemed appropriate that the time wasting calls should be doubled by having to take out all the progress in the knitting too. Talk about a work funk. I try to improve my attitude, but it just keeps getting mashed by upper management.

Sunday night the thing got pulled apart, and I was able to re-knit about half of what was done. I wasn't going to offer a progress shot, as I was so irked, but it's a nice cool sunny morning, and I feel a bit better. Here it is in all it's purple and pink glory:


Saturday, we went to the Houston Space Center, so that daughter could attend a parking lot Pokeman event. I had enjoyed the Johnson Center tram tour before, and my husband had not taken it, so we abandoned her in the parking lot, and did the tour. I was sort of disappointed in that it's been toned down considerably since 9/11. You used to be able to view the real working mission control. I did enjoy the dinosaur exhibit that's running right now. Lot's of stories of people digging for a swimming pool and finding mammoth bones. Kind of weird to see dinosaurs at the space center, but we take advantage of what we find.

Daughter had a decent time, but was not happy about the judging standards of the karioke contest. We explained how fair really didn't have much to do with reality, and went to lunch on the Kemah boardwalk. I still haven't' had a nice meal at any of the restaurants there, and I wonder why we end up eating there at all. We did enjoy watching the J80's come in from racing.

What this has to do with knitting is that I did accomplish a few inches of the back of the blue vest.

Both vest projects have made progress, and little by little the family is recovering from the nasty flu.

The blue/blue mohair vest in one is at the armholes. I'll work up the back first. The GS vest I'm knitting side to side, and just finished the neck increases. At 4.5 stitches/inch it moves quite quickly.

Well, I'm mostly over the nasty flu, but still run down. Time to figure out what's important, and work on that.

I was well enough to go to the TGKA SW Convention in Sugarland. I wasn't coughing my brains out at least. It was a small, mellow affair. The hotel was brand new, and there were still rough edges showing, especially with the banquet staff. The market featured mostly novelty yarns and kits, so no temptation there. I did enjoy the classes. It's good to work on new or different techniques now and then. I took a class on short rows and color, a lace class and two classes on Horst Schultz type techniques.

Special bonus.... at the breakfast, I won a door prize!

It's from Interlacements; hand dyed rayon ribbon and cotton/rayon yarn and a pattern for a linen stitch T shirt. I would never have purchased anything like this, but it looks fun.

Now, back to work. But first, here is a peek at the new vest I'm working on:

Blah
Daughter brought home something nasty, and the whole family is down with the flu. As the supermommy, I'm taking care of the family, as well as not feeling well myself. Treat the symptoms.

Did get the graph paper out, and worked out the vest I donated. I'm so glad that I discussed it with myself on the blog, as I confused myself on the bust measurement. Didn't remember whether the number I wrote down included ease. It didn't, and I learned that by reading my archives. Blog to the rescue. I redid the whole thing with another six inches and have cast on and done about twelve rows.

Here's six inches of the vest I started on Monday. It's a nice "conference call" or TV watching project. I'm pleased with how the space dye mohair is working in. To get the gauge I wanted, I'm working on rather small needles for the yarn; #3's, and the fabric is dense and firm. Hairy too. Still, it ought to be ligher than the cotton the design called for. Ought to be nice with jeans. Don't know if I'll keep it or gift it.


Happy weekend and keep on swatchin!

A picture of a swatch from the weekend. It's twisted leaf from BW2.

I also updated the picture of the diamond matrix, so scroll down and see how pretty.

I'm about three inches into a simple garter vest from IK, Summer 1997. Of course, instead of using something that resembles the designed yarn, I'm using vintage mohair and wool. I'm not sure who this will be for, but I have admired the pattern for being both clever and simple, and the mohair has been bugging me. I've had it about eleven years now. Pictures later, when maybe the shape, or the changing color effect of the yarn is more visible.

Good morning; I couldn't sleep, so I've been working all night. What's up with that?

Nice weekend. Spent five hours on my bicycle, and completed the 55 mile course on the First Annual Shriners Fall Classic. I made it through by shameless sucking wheels whenever I could, but most of the riders were too fast for me to keep up for very long. Not bad ride organization for the first time of the event, and decent turn out. Some issues, though. Like the map. Well, we didn't get lost, and the weather was beautiful. You have to love the color waves of bright lycra and cleverly decorated aluminium and carbon fiber present at a group bicycle ride. Almost as good as a big sailing fleet going downwind. I'm not much for equipment; I ride what my wonderful husband buys, and he dresses me as well. Saturday, I had a lovely new set of matching Texas shorts and a jersey. The outfit was cool enough to generate a road conversation with a gentleman cruiser. What fun.

Sunday, I did laundry and cleaned my desk. It has a surface that is flat. How about that? I also finished a few more swatches, and started my next "conference call" project. Not really into details right now, but my oldest yarn has been calling. Remember that color changing mohair from the late 80's? Well, I have four pads of it that want to get used up. Kind of a bummer as I have a few sacks of new stuff that I was itching to get into. No pictures; it's dark, and almost time to walk Mr. Shiloh.

Swatchy has been swatchy.
Not a good picture, but here is the diamond mesh from the 50/50 wool cotton. Yum. If I get a better picture, I'll replace this one. I doubt I can capture hou lovely it is, though

Vintage wool/shetland wool in the moss diamond and lozenge pattern from BW 2. Hard to see the stitch work. It actually looks better in the picture than in real life. Go figure. Probably not a go with this yarn. I'm doing the "ribbed leaf" pattern now, and it has more potential.

And some "Ceasar Check" from BW3 in really old mohair/wool/acrylic


Happy Friday to all

On Design.

Now, I am not a knitwear designer, and I don't play one on TV. However, I've rarely met a pattern that I didn't adjust. I'm just difficult, as I have this stash, and prefer to shop there rather than use the yarn called for. The only exception in the last fifteen years is the Henry8 sweater, now residing under my chair.

So, I've worked most of the swatch in the Klimatika and as expected, the yarn is working to a smaller guage than called for in the Gatsby vest pattern that I lust for. (IK summer 2003 if you need to look and have to magazine) What to do? Here is how I go about "adjustments"......

What do I like about the design and yarn?
*I love the diamond matrix texture pattern
*I like the body skimming shape
*I like the cabled edging on the bottom
*The yarn is yummy, and feels good next to my skin

What do I not like about the design?
*It's written in the flat
*The pattern calls for a 10 to 46 stitch reverse SS at the sides, and all the shaping goes into that gap. The only reason I can think that this is the case is to make the pattern writing easier.
*The arm holes look small on the model
*I'm not keen about the arm hole edge treatment.

Little realities of life -
*I'm short waisted, and shaped like a coke bottle. Not to mention still about 20lbs overweight. I'm not sure the shape would suit me.
*I would like the garment to be attractive now, and 20 pounds from now.
*I'm short on the stitch guage by about 15%

What I could do
Follow the pattern for the 48.5 inch bust, which would produce a 41 inch garment at my stitch gauge. This deals with the yarn, but not the shaping issues.

What I ought to do:
*Rewrite the pattern for my gauge, and in the round
*Extend the lattice pattern to the edges
*Insert a twist cable "seam" at the sides with a reverse ss on either side, where the increases will go.
*Figure it should end about two inches below my natural waist, and be about waist diameter, then increase in width to the bust diameter. This would provide the body skimming silhouette that I like.
*Increase the arm holes
*Substitute 1x1 ribbing on the arm holes; it looks nice on the neck, and would clean up the look of the piece.

Alternative approach:
Forget the whole thing. Keep swatching.

So, a peek inside my brain. Some people may call this design, but I can't go there. I love my knit mags, because they give me great eye candy used for inspiration.

The swatch is not yet finished - about ten more rows, but will be posted soon.

Good by bears! Hope you bring hope and joy to a child in the future.


Now, I'm down to two projects. Henry, and the Girl Scout vest. I reviewed some swatches with the winner of the vest, and she surprised me by choosing a direction that I didn't expect. More stash shopping, and swatching, and I don't want to do that until I have some time and sunlight on the weekend. So, Henry is coming out to be a chair project, and I'm picking a new project.

I am swimming in abundance. Here is a selection of the choices:
Vintage green wool/shetland wool from e-bay to make a sweater for a friend. He wanted "subtle". I'm thinking a knit/purl combo like the King Charles brocade or the tumbling blocks pattern from Barbara Walker 1.


Here is some multicolored wool from the bargan bin of the much loved Spindleshanks in Portland. Perfect colors for my sister, and enough to make a vest when paired with another wool. In this case, some amythest Brown Sheep sport from a sale display in Golden, CO from a few years back. I'm thinking a Turkish pattern from the Zillborg sock book, and I cord edges, but the purple may be too bright. Swatched already.

And some wonderful soft Klimatika from a recent Elann.com yarn binge. This is a 50/50 wool/cotton in Burgandy, and the "Gatsby Vest" from the summer IK is calling to me.


So, I'll be swatch'n Swatchy for a few weeks.

A lovely weekend in lovely Wimberly. The morning was overcast, keeping us cool while I taught about eighty Girl Scouts how to Virginia Reel. The first session was tough, as I had never taught before, but after a quick consult with my enthusiastic helpers, the rest of the session went well. It was wonderful when the first line took off on it's own. People showed up, sort of hesitant, but seemed to have a very good time.

Daughter and I went shopping in town in the afternoon. Wimberley is a young girls shopping dream, as it is packed with shops selling candles, value priced jewelry, knickknacks and perfumed soap. There were a few nice galleries, but we didn't spend too much time there. It started to rain in the afternoon, and we were tired, so back to camp for a girl nap and some porch knitting. The older girls could be heard whooping it up in the river in the rain. What fun, to listen to their exuberance and the rain, and have some time to work on the last bear sweater.

Here he is, hiding the fact that the sweater is missing an arm. It is quite achievable to finish for tomorrow night's deadline.


On the way home, we stopped to take pictures of the silly oil well decorations in Luling. This was my favorite:

To see them all, check the Luling Oil Well Gallery.

Bear sweater number three done. Remind anyone of anything they recently finished?

And here are the three dressed bears in a family shot.

I have one more naked bear, and I'm planning to do a little ribbed raglan with a roll collar from the left over Wildefoote. Should not have much finishing outside of the ends. Don't know if I'll have much time this weekend, but I've noticed that bears are pretty short waisted, and have short (2 inch) arms, so the sweaters go pretty fast. They also have big heads, and no neck. They don't complain if the armhole is too tight. They also don't squeal with delight, as their little heads are stuffed with fiber.

Happy Friday, and stay dry this weekend. I don't think dry will be part of my weekend, but that's what showers and washer/dryers are for.

Grrrr. I thought I was cooking on the bear sweaters. When I finished the one on Monday, I quickly completed the body and one sleeve of the next. Then life started back up, and not a stitch for a few days. I realized this morning that all sweaters need to be done by next Tuesday's guild meeting. My brain thought I had more time. Well, once I'm done complaining, I'll work on the second sleeve and listen to a conference call. More of the same tomorrow, so there is hope.

In the mean time, I'm itching to start a new project. Almost have hives about it. I want to finish up the fiddly projects, and the committed projects before a new one starts. So, I'll be itching for another month at least.

Camping with the Girl Scouts this weekend in beautiful Wimberly, TX. Our annual Leader/Daughter event, so I only need concern myself with my daughter and myself. Well, I'm on the planning committe, so I will be running a session on the Virginia Reel. Daughter will be helping in one of the craft rooms. May rain, but I don't care.

Ahhhhhh, I cleaned my template, and now feel better about the new fall colors.

A well dressed bear, and his friend.

And in honor of the wonderful fall weather, a fall colors background.

And now we have a pair of socks. Well, they need about ten minutes with a needle and a pair of scissors.


I'll be dressing bears for the next week or so.

Blogging from Cajun Country

What was I thinking?

I fusted about the house to collect a heap of yarn for car knitting, and by the end of the trip I had turned a heel and gotten a bit up the leg of my sock. At that rate, I may finish my sock on the way home. I always do this. Well, I'm well prepared for for road work or a huge traffic jam at least.

We went to dinner at a reccomended Cajun restaurant, and it was delicious. Most dishes were fried or in cream sauce, and my catfish oscar was both. Yum. They also had a band, featuring a gutair, fiddle, accordian, and, I kid you not, a trangle player. Yes, right from Kindergarden rythem band. He sounded great; just the right sound for the group. And, yes, they sang in Cajun.

When good plans go bad then go good again.

Saturday, I had in my hand a new ball of dark blue sock yarn to use with the leftover Wildefoote for a bear sweater. Last night, I could not find the stuff anywhere. Could it be that this yarn prefers to be a sock, and not a charity bear sweater? Is it hiding from me on purpose?

But bad turned to good. While searching the yarn stash I found some one ball wonders from some old grab bags, and some other odd balls from an e-bay purchase, and Viola! some nice bear sweater combos. I also got into some ancient hand me down sock yarn and re-rolled it, finding several bad bits. I threw away the dreck, and salvaged the parts that seem to be happy to be used for any reason at all. I feel so clean now.

Daughter needed to go to WallMart yesterday for replacement school supplies so I bought a few more bears to dress. I'm all ready to drive to Lousiana now.

I was tickled and warmed by the reaction from Maltese Knitter to a little comment. Don't we all get into the blogging stuff "for our own satisfaction"? Do we all secretly want to learn that we have developed a following of admirerers? Thanks, MK, you made my day too!

And all you all out ther - the comment button is there for you to punch.

What a weekend. As expected, not a lot of knitting, but I managed to grab some time here and there to stay on schedule.

Friday found me behind schedule, but on the way to finishing the toddler jacket.

We spent Saturday at an amusement park that was closed to the public and open only to scouts. Great time; not too motion sick; girls had fun; no sunburn. Successful day. I went to bed at 8:30.

Sunday morning, instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to go on a group bicycle ride, we slept in. I was able to spend some time while the family was sleeping to finish the mice. So, they will go in the mail today.


We did go biking in the afternoon. What a nice day. My husband and daughter ride a tandem, and they were in fine form, leaving me behind several times. I'm fine with that, and while I was pedaling along, considering my next knitting project, and admiring the fall wild flowers, I saw people falling from the sky. Lots of them. I had no idea the ride took us next to a small air field that hosted parachute people. I slowed down, and watched about twenty of them and their colorful 'chutes land on the field just across the street. Way more colorful than cows.

So, the jacket did get worked in the car both ways, and I ended up with about ten row to go when we got home. I collapsed for a few hours nap instead of finishing. We got up and saw Pirates of the Carribean, and I was awake enough after the movie to finish. See?

All she needs is buttons.

Loved Jonnie Depp. He's on my "hottie" list.

And Bonus this week -
Road trip to Louisiana.
I don't think I'll drive, so I'll be finished with all the pesky little projects for sure, leaving only the Girl Scout vest, and Henry.

I'm feeling better now.

A plan forms.

Here are the projects and what needs to be done:
Toddler Jacket - 1 arm and finishing
Mice - Sew, stuff and mail
SIL Xmas Sock - one done, second half way thru foot
Bear Sweater - waiting for sock to be done so it can be made from leftovers
Custom Vest I donated to a Girl Scout Leader - swatch approval friday
Henry8 - one and a half arms to go.

I have a two hour training today and two team calls on Friday, so I ought to be able to get the second arm on this baby/toddler jacket and finish it off. I also have a Girl Scout leader meeting, so I can show the swatches for my prize vest to the winner for selection.
I'll also stuff and sew mice so I can get them out of the house

check and check

Weekend will be busy with Girl Scouts and a bicycle ride. Finish the toddler jacket if it was not completed, or work on the sock during the drives.

Next week, the sock gets finished, and I can get going on the second bear sweater. Got the bear; found the blue yarn to use. Bear sweater needs to be done for an October 14th guild meeting.

Then the only IOU/UFO's will be the Vest and Hank. The vest is in worsted and I should be able to finish it by the end of October. Probably earlier. I'll probably have homework for the TGKA convention I've signed up for.

Then, the hard part. What, on my extensive project list to tackle next? What in my astonishing stash do I want to work on? Hmmmmm

A peek at the toddler jacket:

Is it the shadow, or does the color reversal hurt your eyes too? I like that in a baby sweater.

Wish me success with my plans.
Happy weekend.

And another Monday.
Cooler weather, but wet. Maybe Henry can come out from under the chair. His arms need finishing, and I just couldn't bear having him on my lap this summer. However, I'm bogged down with little projects. They are bugging my brain, as I think they should be done soon, but there are soooo so many of them.

I have two more mice to sew and stuff - should be done by Wednesday.

I have the second Queen SIL sock to do. Got started on the ride to the regatta. Not bad?

In case anyone cares, the regatta weather was perfect, the crew was fun to sail with, and we pulled a second out of a fleet of six. Much fun, and not too many boat bites either.

I didn't finish the body of the new baby mosiac sweater, but the fronts are done. An office baby was delivered yesterday to the mom who thought she was in labor two weeks ago. I hope to finish this in the next week so they can choose it, or not.

I've decided for sure to reverse the colors on the sleeves.

Then there is the Precious Pal project - want to do one more bear sweater before the October guild meeting. I'm thinking another mosiac with the leftover Wildefoote and some navy sock yarn I've got in the stash. Something like an Itty Bitty Teddy Toyko

(Photo Credit: I ripped the photo off of Handkintter Sara Peasley's blog. And did I mention that I very much admire the jacket, and have it on a project list somewhere. )

So, the baby sweater first, then quick on the socks so I know how much leftovers are available for the bear, and whoops, what about the mice? How did I get here? Yeesh. Henry is staying under the chair for at least three more weeks regardless of the weather. Poor Henry.

Product Plug.
I occasionally have this, um, condition that is eased by the application of a product that contains stinky fish oil. It's really hard to get it off of my hands, but this nice salt scrub does that nicely and leaves a pleasant tangerine/orange scent in its place. The salt is suspended in some odd mix of soapy oily stuff that feels odd the first time, but leaves my skin feeling soft and moist and ready to pick up yarn. My husband has been using it to scrub off dead skin from his poison ivy conflict.

Nice stuff.


Way too busy at home and at work for much knitting. Hope to have the body of the pink mosiac toddler jacket done by the end of the weekend. There is a regatta on Saturday, and my skipper just offered me a ride out to the venue, so I have a few hours of car knitting coming up on Saturday. I'm thinking about reversing the colors for the arms. Don't you think that would be fun?

Arrgh. Monday again.
Nice weekend - cooler and not too much rain. Only at night, like Camelot.

My wonderful husband bought me a new ride.

He keeps me in nice equipment and clothes, but can't seem to pick up his stuff. Anyway, we took it for a spin on Sunday out west of town in the county that thinks shoulders on roads are a GOOD idea. And, guess what? We ran up behind a "Texas Traffic Jam". About 50 head of cows and calfs with six riders, walking down the road to another pasture. No way were we going to ride throuigh, so we coasted, and chatted with the cowboys for a spell. I'm soooo glad we came up behind them, instead of head on. Those Texas cows have pointy horns.

What does this have to do with knitting? Well, on the ride out and back, I finished half the front of this:


Busy week ahead - probably won't make too much knitting progress, but pleased to be working.

Whhhooooo

I have to join that "no yarn purchase" pact. (see Sweater Girl and Handknitter ) I cleaned my yarn room, and wow. It was as horrifying as it was delightful. I can knit my brains out for the next 50 years, and maybe make a dent. Well, knitted brains may be messy, but you get the point. My husband says that when I pass on, my daughter will re-sell all that e-bay yarn again. Maybe we should make the mills stop making new yarn until all the yarn in our closets gets used up? Nah.

I'm finding that when my husband goes away I sometimes get depressed, and hit e-bay or the mail order sites. I have some big boxes coming soon, and he was only away four days. Maybe it's all the stress from the company re-organization and merger rumours.

I need help to stop now.

Slip Stitching away.
There is a fellow in the office whose wife thought she went into labor on Monday, and she still hasn't delivered. So, what do I worry about? I'm down to one girly baby sweater in my baby box. Oh no! I cast on for what looks like a toddler size jacket in a mosiac pattern using pink on pink. I'm loving mosiac patterns with garter edges these days. Mosiac has got to be on the top ten list of knitting magic. They look so intricate, lie flat, and are sooooooo easy.

I'm three inches into it. so look for pictures on Monday.

Too much excitement on the morning dog walk. We heard all sorts of chittering, and from a neighbor's yard out popped a coyote with a wad of critter in it's mouth. Then out popped a bunch of upset looking racoons. The coyote looked at the street, and took off back into the yard. I'm guessing that he had one of their friends in his mouth, and was taking it out for breakfast. Nice coyote. The neighbors told me to make sure I got my cat inside at night because sometimes these guys ran up the ravine. I figured they were full of it. Here's what he looked like, but I don't remember the tail being so fluffy. Maybe it was because I was trying to figure out what was in his mouth.


We found GingGong up the tree on Sunday. Thought she was doing a fine wood duck imitation. Maybe she knew something we didn't.


I do live inside city limits of a large city. Really.

A sock for a queen?


You can't quite tell, but this sock has some of the Mrs. Montegue lace from Barbara Walker's first book. According to BW, this was a pattern that was used for Queen Elizabeth's stockings. The notion I had was that my SIL is part of a Rennasance Faire guild, and does a lot of dress up and costume study. While this sock would not be worn in a Faire costume, it is the Queens color, and the Queens pattern - how fun is that? I'm not sure it's so great in modern sock yarn, but I'm about to cast on for the second one. Maybe I'm not thrilled because I have been overwhelmed with the drudgery of life, and everything feels either boring or tiresome.

Now, here is someone who is not feeling bored or tiresome:

I'm such a bad Girl Scout Mommy. Look at what I let my husband play with:

Notice the three leaves, and the tell tale "thumbs" on the outside of the outer leaves. You may not see the hair on the vines. If we don't hire the gardener to take it out, it will turn into lovely red orange leaves in a few months.

Another mouse has sprung from the leftover Opal. It's telling me there is one more in there, but to tell the truth, the skein is losing it's power over me. Do you see another mouse here?


And the Wildfoote sock has begun. Maybe there will be one finished by Monday


My daughter woke up with a pimple right in the middle of her forehead, and spent the morining in a pre-adolescent funk. She's really getting good at it. I'm wondering if adolescence will be worse than six months of colic.

Have a nice weekend.

And now an unusual commercial break. Every once in a while a truly amazing product comes along. My husband has been suffering from a horrible poison ivy rash. A tree in our yard had come down in a storm, and he got out his chain saw, and took it out. What a manly man! We didn't have poison ivy in our previous neighborhood, and he wasn't looking for it. The tree must have been covered with the evil vine. Poor guy. He's been sporting a rash suitable for the worst of the worst Internet dermatology pages. No, no pictures. Ick. Poor me, having an uncomfortable, itchy, oozy, unhappy husband. He found this stuff while doing an internet search looking for relief, and it has changed our week:

That Opal is bossy yarn. It will not let me cast on the Wildfoot until it is all used up. So, we now have a tiny Bear Sweater:
for
Precious Pals.and
Something that ought to have happened already.....

The leftover sock yarn mouse:

With all the self striping sock knitters out there, I'm wondering why this has not happened before. Maybe because it takes all evening to knock one out instead of an hour or less. That's the down side. The up side is that here is a perfectly good use for all those sock yarn leftovers that peek at you when you work through your stash. Cast on 50 stiches and it comes out about right. Consider a cable with a larger number of stitches. This is a six stitch braid, and it is somewhat petite. The one on the needle now will have a nine stitch braid. The self striping shows nicely on stockenette instead of seed or garter stitch. I have no clue if cats may prefer the tooth feel of the denser gauge sock yarn. Not sure I care. This guy seems worthy of cat spit.

And another thing that was going to happen - has anyone noticed that "short rows" are hot? Like articles in Vogue and patterns in Kitters with unusual uses? Kind of like the big miter square craze of a few years ago. I even signed up for the short row stripe class at the fall TKGA conference. Well, here it is - the prototype SHORT ROW MOUSE:

The pattern is not ready for prime time - adjustments need to be made. Stay tuned. I think this guy, with his flaws, is also cat spit worthy. Don't be shy about letting me know if you disagree. The comment function works some of the time, and there is always e-mail.

Socks for Nanny are done.
Thanks for the yarn, Lisa

I think I have enough of the Opal to make a small teddy bear sweater for the Precious Pals program. The dressed bear will be donated at the TKGA convention that is coming in October.

I also dug out some ancient Wildefoot, and plan to get busy on some more socks. Dang socks, I've not made any for about seven years. Now, I'm fixed on them again. Anyway, SIL does a lot of RenFaire, and makes beautiful costumes. I've been wanting to do a sock in the Mrs. Montegue pattern for her. Don't think they will be worn to Faire, as the yarn is purple, and she is not the queen.

And look how I caught GingGong this weekend:

Not sure you are going to get that tummy tan girfriend, but keep trying.

Well, I've finished knitting the guild vest to wear at the TKGA Convention over Halloween weekend, so I ought to register for the event, don't you think? Still fussing over the button choice. The picture is dark; it's cloudy this morning.


The sock is ready for the second heel to turn. No picutre until it's done.

I'm in a funk because for the first time in my 21 years at this company, I have been re-organized to a new group without any notice or input. I was pretty aggravated about it, even though this is pretty routine, and it's quite amazing it has not happened to me by now. I'm coming around, in that my skills can really help this new team, and there may be some new territory to be had. In the mean time, the end of the sales year is soon, so the only people who are really working are the ones who have a sale that can close in the next two weeks. The rest are waiting for the big re-organization that will occur in September. So, I have time to catch up on the training I've missed. Listening to training provides ample opportunity for knitting.

Have a happy weekend.

My face is red.

I'm soooo cheap, I have all free accounts, and today, I went over my limit and lost all my pictures..
So, I've upgraded.

You all should be able to see the button choices now.

Getting busy with the template, and avoiding real life.
I added Blogrolling for my link list, and should also now show up as "updated" on blogs that use that service. So many fun tools out there to muck up one's appearance, and waste time, don't you think?

Now, please, check my button page and help me choose for my silly vest.

Thanks

Help me pick my button!
I'm spending way too much time looking for buttons for the dumb TKGA guild vest. Please look at the choices, and come back and leave your vote eithe in comments, or e-mail. Thanks.

Good Morning.
It's the first day of school for our school district. We have spent the last few weeks collecting appropriate dress code clothes, a new backback with wheels and matching lunchbox as well as attending orientation. Now, it begins. Middle school

I'm not in the mood for pictures today. Let it be said that both active projects are progressing.

I know who's in a mood this morning. Miss GingGong came in from her morning prowl and found no food in her dish. She STOMPED to the dog dish to get a snack. I don't know that I've ever seen a cat stomp quite that way before. She had her way with the dog food, and I fed them both after my jog.

Snakes
Last night I was bitten by a beautiful red and black snake in my dream. It really chewed on my finger before I shook it off. The dream doctor didn't have a chart of poisionous Texas snakes, so I couldn't point at the kind that bit me, but since my dream finger and dream body was not swelling we both figured that the snake bite was not venomous. It didn't hurt much either. I came across it because I was in some sort of bicycle race, and the gutters of the streets on the course had piles of live snakes that needed to be shooed off. There was a nice brown/tan one and a green and black one in the pile with the red and black one that evenutally bit me. I don't really understand why there were so many snakes hanging out on a road full of people on bicycles.

So what does this have to do with blog content? Well, I took some pictures, and could not find the cable for my camera on my desk. I looked and found all sorts of stuff that I should be doing, and eventually looked under my desk:

Arrrrgh. There it was, with the cell phone charger, and HEY! there are my shoes!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled knitting....
I belong to a knit guild, and I have not gone to meetings since February because of Girl Scouts, business trips and vacation. I finally got in this last Tuesday. The TKGA is having a conference in our neighborhood, and the members decided to knit a vest, all the same pattern, but whatever fiber you wanted. I originally didn't really care for the pattern, but a few finished onece came in, and they were pretty cute. But the pattern called for ribbon, and I'm not going to buy ribbon when I have a spare room full of perfectly good worsted. For some reason, the group thing took over, and I did the Goldielocks swatch thing with stash yarn:
"This gauge is too large"
"This gauge is too small"
"This gauge is close enough, and I'll fix the pattern to make it work damnit"
So far, so good:


But.... what about the sock. The sock that will be Nanny's birthday present?

Shiloh says the colorway should be called "blenham", but I disagree. He is quite white after his bath, and the light parts of this yarn are very cream. And he does not have any grey spots. Maybe the "blenham with burrs in his coat who needs a bath" colorway?

And a parting shot - look what's cooling in my oven.

Atkins cheesecake. MMMMMmmmmmmm
All the fat, and no sugar.