Some Catching Up To Do

Howdy! I'm back. My work should be over for a while so I should now have some more time to do things like reading blogs and posting to my own sadly neglected blog. I may not have posted much this summer, but I sure have been knitting. I've got a lot of FO pics to take and post about. Here are a few things to start us off.

First up, we have the Frost tank from Rowan 30. I made one of these last year for Daughter#2 (see pic in my gallery), but it was getting a little tight in the chest for her, so I decided to use up the rest of that yarn and make a bigger size. We passed the smaller one down to Niece#3 who seemed very pleased to receive it.

Daughter#2 and Niece#3 in their matching Frost Tanks.

Here they both are modeling their tanks which they wore to Tanglewood two weeks ago. We went to hear a violin concerto by Dvorak and Beethoven's 3rd symphony, but we got caught in the continuous POURING rain partway through the performance (we were sitting on the lawn). Luckily, we had raincoats and umbrellas ready, but still -- it was a drag. I got leg cramps from sitting all squished up under my umbrella, followed by a wet butt after getting up to stretch my legs and sitting back down again. Oh well, the music was great (particularly the violinist, Hilary Hahn) and we did get in a very nice picnic before the rain started.

---

Next up, remember THESE annoying socks from early July?. The ones where my gauge was completely and totally off? Well, I ripped them back to the ankle and knit the whole sock on the 2.5mm needles (with LOTS of trying on along the way).

What did I learn from this experience? Well, let's hope I learned never to ASSUME that just because you are using the same damn yarn and the same damn needles that you will get the same damn gauge. [You know, it's stuff like that that just sucks all the fun out of knitting.] Anyhow, here they are finally, on Sister#1's feet. She seems to like them.

Trekking XXL, color 71, on 2.5mm ndls, with picot trim ankle.

---

With regard to current projects, I am working on Meg Swansen's Super-Spiral Shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I'm using some laceweight yarn I got this summer from handpaintedyarn.com. It's their Kettle Dyed Pure Wool Lace Yarn in the color Paris Night, which is sort of a purplish-grayish color.

This is a circular shawl that's worked from the center out. In this picture you can kind of see the center (bottom left) with the spirals moving out from there. I love how it's coming out so far. Sure, it's super monotonous knitting, but that's what I needed for the summer. Something I could just pick up and knit, and knit, and knit, and knit, and knit without thinking about it. And this shawl seems to be the perfect project for that.

---

Oh, and I received by prize yarn the other day and it is WON-DER-FUL! That yarn in the upper right corner turned out to be Artyarns Ultramerino4 (as a couple of you guessed). Also, Melissa wanted to know the color nbr of the Lorna's Laces. It's #18, Watercolor. And, no, I'm not trading it. ;)

I have already almost finished a pair of socks with the Socks that Rock, and I am loving that yarn. I've also started some socks with the Knit Picks Simple Stripes. The yarn is a bit splitty, but I really like the colors. Hopefully, I'll have finished pics of those next time.

---

Well, that's it for today. I'll leave you with some pictures my garden (which I should probably go water).

One final thought: Don't these flowers remind you of fried eggs?

---

Oops, one more final thought: I signed up for Sock Wars. I'll be on vacation in Maine that first weekend so I'm betting I get killed before I kill, but it should be fun anyway.

In which I get off my lazy butt and post something

So, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in quite a while. Nor have I been reading any blogs (or leaving any comments -- sorry, people). And I have no great excuse: no long vacation, no major illness, no overwhelming work schedule. I'm just a lazy blogger. Sorry about that (hanging my head in shame here). I just don't know how you dedicated bloggers can keep it up so regularly. Hats off to you.

Anyhow, I have been getting some knitting done. I finished the socks for Sister#1 (the annoying ones from my previous post -- the socks, not the sister). I'll be giving them to her this weekend, so wish me luck with the sizing. Also, I have very nearly finished a Picovoli tank for me. It think it's just a touch more "form fitted" than I would like. But it's cotton so maybe it will grow with washing. And I'm maybe 2/3's of the way into a spiral shawl (can't remember the exact name and too damn lazy to look it up). No pictures of these items, because again -- I am the essence of blogging lazitude.

You may be wondering what finally inspired me to post again. Well, because I was looking for a way to avoid work this morning, I decided I'd waste some time and check my blog stats (assuming they'd be way down since I haven't posted in eons). I was surprised that they weren't really down and started looking at the referrals. I noticed several referrals from Knittin' Mom, which I thought was unusual. So I visited her site and discovered......

I won one of the grand prize baskets of sock yarn in the Sock-a-Month Knitalong! Woo hoo! I am SO excited!

My prize. Yay!

It's just what I needed to get me out of the funk that I've been in. Also, I'm thrilled because I haven't tried any of those yarns yet. I've especially wanted to try Socks That Rock for the longest time, but I kept telling myself that I really should use up some of my sock yarn stash before ordering more. Lorna's Laces has also been on my "must try" list. And that yarn in the upper right corner looks very nice -- anyone know what it is? I didn't even know that Cascade made sock yarn, so I'm interested in trying that. Those bright colors will make some fun socks for me or the girls. Also, it will be nice to try out the two kinds of KnitPicks sock yarn.

OK, enough excitement and chit chat. I've got to get back to work. Then I've got to finish ordering homeschool curriculum materials and organizing our schoolroom/office for the new school year.

I will try to get back to more regular posting and commenting soon. I hope you are all having a great summer.

Crap!

So, the plan was to secretly knit a pair of socks for Sister#1 for her birthday (which is at the end of July). I recently knit a pair of socks for Niece#1 which fit Sister#1 perfectly. I had another ball of that same yarn (Trekking XXL) and I took detailed notes about what I did to make those socks, so I figured this would be easy peasy -- I could use the same pattern and quickly whip out another pair. [Queue the music of impending doom.]

So that's what I did. I used the same type of yarn (just blue instead of purple), the same needles, the same number of stitches, the same number of rows, the same everything. [OK, I did a different thing at the cuff, but that's not significant.]

And here's what happened:

Craptastic socks that won't even fit over a ten-year old's heel.

Say it with me, "AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" Somehow I managed to knit the whole damn sock without noticing that it was extremely narrow. I was just knitting merrily away, so happy in my thoughts of how wonderful it was to be able to knit a sock without having to try the damn thing on all the time to check the fit. Sigh. Granted, most of the foot of this sock was knit in the dark in the car, in the movie theater, or while trying to catch up on some blog reading, but still. I really should have noticed. [Shoulda, woulda, coulda...]

I checked my gauge and it's 1/2 stitch (on the 2.5mm ndls) to 3/4 stitch (on the 2.0mm ndls) tighter on these blue Trekking socks than on the purple Trekking socks. According to my calculations, that should give a difference in circumference of about a half inch. Hmmm, that doesn't sound like a big enough difference to explain the amazing narrowness of these socks. Maybe I knit the foot on those purple socks with more stitches than I wrote down -- possible, but unlikely. Next time I see Niece#1 I'll have to examine those purple socks -- I'm really mystified.

At first I thought it might be that this color of yarn is thinner. But I just did a wraps-per-inch comparison and that does not appear to be it. I guess it's just me. I must have been 0.75 spi less stressed a month ago. Hmmm. Maybe that could be a new way to measure my stress level -- by knitting a gauge swatch with this sock yarn on US 0's. Kind of like a mood ring for knitters.

Persnickety's Handy Gauge Swatch Mood Indicator:

• 8-9 spi = super mellow (aka, too many cocktails),
• 9-9.5 spi = calm, relaxed (a rarely experienced state of mind),
• 9.5-10 spi = slightly on edge (my normal mood),
• 10-10.5 spi = overscheduled and stressed out,
• 10.5-11 spi = watch out, she's gonna blow!

---

In happier news, we had a birthday party for Daughters #1 & #2 today. This was their "friend" birthday party, not to be confused with their "relative" birthday party, or even the celebration that happened on the actual day of their birthday. [It's been a week-long celebration basically.]

Anyway, Daughter#2 helped me make this Piggy Cake for the event (they have a thing for pigs lately). Not the best workmanship, but kind of cute.

Piggy Cake

A Busy June

As you may have noticed, this blog has been rather quiet lately. June is one of the busiest months for me. All four of the people in this household have birthdays within the 30-day period from June 3 - July 3, plus there have been multitudinous other events to prepare for such as:

• Father's Day,



• a ballet recital,

Can you tell that Daughter#1 has had a growth spurt recently?



• a piano & voice recital,

Daughter#2 playing something from the Magic Flute

Daughter#2 singing The Rainbow Connection

Daughter#1 playing . . . ummmm (bad Mommy can't remember)

Daughter#1 singing The Candy Man (note the candy-themed outfit, with candy necklaces adorning her various body parts -- her idea)



• two graduation parties,

Half-brother#1 (I only have 1 of these, but I figured he should get a number just like everyone else) swinging at a giant smiley face piñata at Niece#1's party.



• many, many softball games,

Daughter#1 pitching

Daughter#1 at bat

Daughter#2 hitting the ball

Daughter#2 ready to run home



• a mini-vacation (more on that in another post),



• plus all the usual crapola (trying to finish up homeschool lessons, trying to find time for work, etc).

Anyway, I've been busy. But I have gotten some knitting done. I've got a pile of completed projects to blog about. (OK, it's a small pile, but I feel good about it.) Here is the first on the list -- the Graduation Socks.

---

Pattern:

No pattern, just basic stockinette socks

Yarn:

Zitron Trekking XXL [75% wool, 25% nylon],
color: 109 (variegated purple)

Needles:

ankles done on 2.5mm, heel & foot done on 2.0mm, top of foot done on 2.25mm & 2.0mm. (Yeah, I like to make good use of my needle collection.)

Gauge:

8.5 - 9.5 sts/inch

Comments:

I made these socks as a graduation present for Niece #1, aka Oh, Jane. She has tiny little muchkin feet so I had to rip back a little to make them smaller at her graduation party, which just happened to be on Knit in Public Day. I guess that sort of counts as knitting in public. There were certainly several people there who were amazed by the whole sock-knitting process.

Oooh, the pretty purpleness -- as modeled by Sister#1, who, like her offspring, also has petite munchkin feet with dainty little ankles.
(Who, me? Jealous?)

Free Arrowhead Lace Headband Pattern

As I mentioned in my last post, making the Saving Grace headband has inspired me to look through my pattern books for other potential lace patterns that would work well with a worsted weight yarn for a quick headband. This turned out to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated. The use of worsted weight yarn meant that I needed to keep the pattern under 14 stitches so the headband did not become uncomfortably wide. I swatched a few options, but the headband below is the most successful one so far.

This headband is based on the Arrowhead Lace pattern stitch in Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It has a tendency to poof up in the middle (I didn't bother to block it), but it seems to flatten out when worn. Here's the pattern.

Arrowhead Lace Headband

YARN

Cascade 220 [100% wool],
color: 9455 (turquoise heather)

NEEDLES

US 7

GAUGE

approximately 5sts/inch

DIRECTIONS

Cast on 11 sts.

Follow the arrowhead lace pattern (using chart or directions below) until the headband is approximately 16 inches long (or long enough to fit around your head when slightly stretched). Bind off and seam ends together.

Arrowhead Lace Chart

Arrowhead Lace Directions

Row 1 (WS):k1, p9, k1.

Row 2 (RS):k1, yo, ssk, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k1.

Row 3:same as row 1.

Row 4:k2, yo, ssk, yo, slip 2 together as to knit--k1--pass the 2 slipped sts over, yo, k2tog, yo, k2.

Pattern & images © 2006 Tamara Stone-Snyder.
May be distributed freely for personal use only. Cannot be reprinted on the web or otherwise without permission.

A quickie

Looking for a quick knitting project to use up some leftover yarn? How about a simple lacy headband?

Pattern:

Saving Grace headband, a free online pattern by Dawn at Wild Yarn

Yarn:

Cascade 220 [100% wool],
color: 7811 (purple heather)

Needles:

US 7

Comments:

This was a great project -- super fast and easy, and yet quite lovely when done. The only thing I might do differently next time is to use a provisional cast on so I can kitchener the ends together and have no seam.

I made this headband for Daughter#1, and now Daughter#2 wants one as well. I'm happy to make more of these, since I have a whole rainbow of Cascade 220 that's just waiting for projects like this.

This pattern has inspired me to look through my stitch pattern books and find some simple lace patterns that might translate well to headbands. In fact, I found one that Daughter#2 likes, which I am currently working on. Pics of that soon.

House of Two Restaurants

Lunchtime has gotten a little more exciting here lately. The girls have been taking turns playing "restaurant". It was Daughter#2's idea. She started by writing out a menu and having us wait in the hallway to be seated.

[Click on the menu to view a complete list of the Lily Pad's offerings.]

Daughter#2 seated my party (which consisted of Daughter#1 and me) at a nicely set table with a view of the garden. She took our orders quite courteously and efficiently. She prepared all of the food herself (I was ordered to remain seated at the table -- and I was not about to complain). Our food was quite good, except for one small oversight. My peanut butter and banana sandwich had accidentally been made sans banana, so I had to send it back. The waitress took this in stride and quickly remedied the situation, explaining that she had been distracted by trying to make soup at the same time.

The pencil behind the ear was a nice touch.

My dining companion and I both agreed that our lunch was excellent and the service was outstanding. We promised our waitress that we would return again soon, especially after getting our bill and seeing how affordable The Lily Pad is.

What a bargain!

Of course, the next day Daughter#1 wanted to give waitressing a try, so she created her own restaurant.

[Click on the picture to view the menu offerings at Moo Bear's Restaurant.]

It was another enjoyable lunch. Now if I can just get them to do the dishes...