Chocolate

Change of plans. Erica says this pattern I test knit has been released. Since the post was ready and I had no work to do to post it this morning...

Pattern: Toto's Tote from Erica at Dreams in Fiber (my ravelry project)
Materials: 198 yards Paton's Classic Wool Merino in a deep Chocolate. About a half yard each of two blue fabrics for lining.
Made for: me
Needle: US7 32" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: Knitting - 6 May 2009; Sewing - 16 May
Completion Date: Knitting - 7 May 2009; Sewing - 20 May
Size: Roughly 10w x 11h x 3d

Notes: I obviously didn't make any changes to the pattern since it was a test knit so seemingly this will be a boring section. It was a LOT of fun and super quick to knit.

Sewing up the lining only took a lot of time because I was making the tutorial for lining the bag. I think it could easily be adopted to work for other bags with similar shape too. It can be found here. This is a flickr set so don't worry about that popping up a PDF or something. The link can also be found in my sidebar now. Feel free to ask questions or make suggestions for clarification etc.

Oops. I did change one thing. I accidentally sewed the matching handle pieces together rather then then sewing an inner and an outer lining together. I didn't really notice it enough to care and its not affected how I feel about the bag. I really like it and I've already added it to my bag rotation and started carrying it around with me. I've been considering making another too, just because it was fun and I have another skein of this yarn.

Under the weather

I was going to show off my finished (finally blocked!) yellow shawl, but today I am feeling a bit under the weather and don't feel like photographing it. So maybe tomorrow for that.

Ocean Gale

There is a little of everything in this post...

Pattern: Gail by Nancy Bush (my ravelry project)
Materials: .81 skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in Cloud Jungle. This is the very best photo of the color that I have. Very different from the cloud jungle that I used to knit Chris' Gentleman socks.

Made for: Me (maybe?)
Needle: US6 40" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 19 June 2009
Completion Date: 26 June 2009
Size: Scarf as opposed to shawl size. (Laci is very small...)

Notes: I only did 6 repeats instead of 7 because all of the Smooshy projects only had 6 repeats. I'm fairly certain that I could have gotten another repeat in. I'm not at all unhappy with this size though so I'm not going to worry about it. Otherwise I just followed the pattern as is until it was time to block it. I added a few extra points where I felt like it needed extra points. I really love this black and white of the design in the lace.

Now I need to discuss a small point on Laci's clothing. She's been dressed in basically underwear around the house. Chris has been experimenting with light or whatnot and he was responsible for her clothing. So she is hardly dressed at all. I needed clothes to take her outside and photograph the shawl. Well her stockings don't come off because he basically tore them when he put them on and it would be better not to adjust them and make them run. She's easier to dress if you can stick clothing over her head rather then removing her waist or worse her legs, so I slid her denim mini over her head. We needed a white shirt for her to model the shawl and really show it off. Well we couldn't find her white tee-shirt anywhere. So button down it was. So that leads to this outfit which is totally incongruent...

Also notice the sunflowers in the neighbors yard in front of her (tall things on the right). Those are the fastest growing sunflowers EVER. I swear they planted them as seedlings and three weeks later they were over 7 feet tall (now closer to 10). I've never seen them grow that fast and so Chris and I spent a couple of weeks speculating on what they really were because sunflowers don't grow THAT fast. Sure enough though they are sunflowers because they have those bright yellow flowers.

Speaking of crazy plants in the yard? The Hackberry trees (the source of our butterflies...) are covered in Hackberry gall psyllids. These are babies. They will come out into the world in September or October as a very very tiny bug that looks a bit like a cicada (locust). Annoying little buggers too. They make it difficult to let the dogs out at night because they want to get to the light.

Finally Abby enjoyed our playing outside to take photos of a shawl. We didn't stay out long. Too hot for her at over 100.

Flight of Fancy

Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Socks by Nancy Bush (my ravelry project)
Materials: 2 skeins Koigu KPPPM in New Mexico Wildflowers colorway I bought as a souvenir from my trip in February.
Made for: Me
Needle: US1.5 32" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 19 June 2009
Completion Date: 26 June 2009
Size: 11m

Notes: I think I probably changed the heel because the pattern wasn't available when I got there. Also I probably changed the toe for the same reason. There's a good chance I would knit these again. I love Nancy Bush patterns. I have several (all?) of her books. I think I'm getting tired of flashing socks up here and also tired of talking about them. I know Chris is tired of my knitting them. I'm considering that next month will be all about shawls or scarves and I'll skip the socks entirely? Maybe another set of washcloths for the car knitting? Who knows. I'm still working that out. In the mean time I have one more pair of socks that is about 2/3rds of the way through the first sock and just waiting for me to finish them. By the time those are done I guess I'll make a decision...

Oooo...Also I've been looking at cross-stitch projects. I totally love this by Lizzie Kate but I've not yet convinced myself to spend the $100 (including the shipping $$) it would cost to do it. I'm blaming Dee for this since she sent me over to the Spooky Stitches SAL and I saw it there. Maybe I should just finish some of the stuff in my cross-stitch stash (not very extensive...) before I jump in to buy something else...

Experiment (and a Thank you!)

Someone suggested that I should try more difficult patterns to see if I was really knitting faster or if it was just that I was only knitting stocking stitch. So I decided that I needed to experiment with this idea. I should first say that I've had no more knitting time this week then any other week. Next week is another story because its a holiday week. Anyway, last Friday I cast on a pair of socks and a shawl. My usual knitting time for socks lately (stocking stitch socks) is four days. My shawl time usually a week or so. So how are those projects going eight days later?

The socks need only to have the second Kitchenered off. You can see the very small skeins of yarn I have left. They weigh just two grams. I actually thought I was going to run out and bought another skein (Koigu) from someone on Ravelry. That yarn isn't here yet, but apparently I'm not going to need it. I'll do a finished project post tomorrow and give you all the details.

The shawl is shown needing its bind off but I just finished that. I used nearly 8 grams of the yarn for the bind off. I was shocked about that. I have about the amount left of this yarn that I normally have done when I finish a pair of socks. More on this one maybe Sunday? I'm going to block it hopefully tonight. I'm going to try and block everything I haven't talked about yet this weekend. I need them to be finished!

So this is two skeins of sock yarn in eight days. I'm feeling that pattern might not matter in my knitting speed? Certainly the lace would be classified as at least an average difficulty pattern (according to Ravelry users who've done the pattern). And while the socks aren't incredibly complicated (I need something without a chart when I stop for trains...) they aren't just plain either.

Ok enough of that. I have a very cool new bag now. I was one of the winners of a recent contest on Cynthia's blog. She sent me one of her Green Couch tote bags. Oh my goodness isn't it just adorable? (See a close-up here.) I love it. Thank you so much Cynthia!!!

She also used this super cute tape on the package that has BIRDS!! I love it as much as the bag and I'm seriously considering cutting a little square to go in a frame for my craftroom...

More and More Stripes

On a happy note (because of some posts from an old blog) this is blog post 800! On a boring note this is a post about more striped socks...

Pattern: More and More Stripes (my ravelry project) Same pattern as the hospital socks.
Materials: .9 skein ONline SuperSocke 100 Melange-Color 20568 (A prize from Robyn for a blog contest.)
Made for: Me
Needle: US1.5 40" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 14 June 2009
Completion Date: 18 June 2009
Size: 11m

These are just the same as the hospital socks, so not much to say here. I didn't bother to match up the stripes because there was an annoying number of knots in this skein so some stripes of the same color are shorter then others and I just figured it wasn't worth the trouble to try and match things up. Its not that far off until you look at the toes...

Two Small Projects with little words

Water's Edge Cloth

Pattern: Wedding Washcloth (my ravelry project)
Materials: 1 Skein Yarn Chef Green Tea in the colorway Water's Edge.
Made for: me
Needle: US6 24" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 26 May 2009
Completion Date: 14 June 2009
Size: 10 x 10 after blocking
Notes: I just basically used the idea from the pattern and didn't really look at the pattern at all. Its soft and pretty though so I really like it.

:: :: :: :: ::

Kesäkämmekkäät

Pattern: Kesäkämmekkäät (my ravelry project)
Materials: .5 Skein Reynolds Whiskey
Made for: Laci
Needle: US4 24" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 12 June 2009
Completion Date: 12 June 2009
Size: Laci Sized
Notes: Thought these were cute and would look nice on Laci. Decided to knit them. I didn't make any changes.

Don't forget to sign up for the sock swap!!!

Single Sock Swap

(This is another interruption to my finished objects parade, but its such good fun...)

Last October I participated in Robyn's single socks swap knitting a very cute sock for Bertha and receiving one for myself! This is the one I sent to Bertha. The pattern is Jenny Wren.

Well Robyn is hosting this swap again! Right now is the time to sign up if your interested. You don't even have to suffer from second sock syndrome. I don't but I do love receiving hand knit items so this is perfect! Here are the details pilfered from the Ravelry group...

Single Sock Swap :: Round 2!

Sign-ups: June 1st, 2009 until June 30th, 2009
Requirements:

1. You have two months to knit 1 full size adult sock in your pal’s size. It shouldn't take you that long, but its nice to have the window in case something else comes up...
2. The yarn cannot contain acrylic in it and must cost between US$15 and US$25 and the sock pattern must cost between US$5 and US$10. This amount does not include postage. You can spend more if you like but its up to you. [Note from Bea - I don't see any reason why the yarn can't be "bought" from your stash if you have nice yarn in the right colors for your pal. Just make sure it meets the $ requirements as far as value.]
3. Your pal will let you know what colors they absolutely love and what colors they totally hate.
4. You can send extra goodies in your package when you mail your swap to your pal if you’d like, but it’s not required.
5. Once finished you will mail the sock, the pattern (or a digital copy is always nice...), and the remaining yarn to your pal so they can knit their second sock.

This swap is for those who get Second Sock Syndrome or who just want to knit a sock for someone else and receive one back in the mail!

To sign up just email your information to Robyn: sockswap@robynsnest.ca after June 1st, 2009 and before June 30th, 2009.

Info to include in your email:

1. your name
2. mailing address
3. email address
4. your blog address
5. your ravelry id
6. your fave colors
7. your most hated colors
8. a list of any sock patterns you’ve been meaning to knit for yourself
9. a little something about yourself (Basically I said I'm 30, recently married, with two dogs and two cats. Easy peasy to fill that info in.)
10. Whether you are willing to ship internationally
11. The sock/shoe size you wear (as well as the length of the bottom of your foot, the circumference around your foot at the widest part as well as the measurement of your calf.)
12. Preferences for heel type, number of stitches you generally use for knitting socks, and any other information that you think your pal might find helpful.

Finally Robyn says: If you cannot commit yourself, please DON’T sign up then. This swap is not secret, and you are required to contact your pal within 72 hours of pal matches going out. If you have any questions for them at all, this is the time to ask them!

I do hope at least some of you decide to sign up! This swap was fun last time and a great way to get to know some other people.

PDF Ready for Download

I've added the PDF to my Bamboo Socks Ravelry Page. Its now downloadable! YAY!

The only thing is that the pattern hasn't been test knit. If anyone decides to knit it please let me know if you find any errors or see anything fishy about it.

Small Wonder

I have a bunch of finished projects to show from May and June. Stuff that was either blocking during my surgery and never got shown or stuff recently finished. My blocking boards came yesterday so I'll be able to finally block the stuff I haven't shown because I was waiting for those. Hopefully tomorrow night I'll have time to start that. In the mean time we have these that don't need blocking on the boards.

Pattern: Shalom (my ravelry project)
Materials: 1 skein Poppy Fields handspun by me
Made for: The Big Pink Pig
Needle: US7 32" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 24 May 2009
Completion Date: 26 May 2009
Size: Just right for a Big Pink Pig

You know I knit this so long ago I can't even remember all the adjustments I made to the pattern. I used worsted instead of bulky. I'm pretty sure I didn't knit as many rows of garter to start off. Also I knit one less repeat for the yoke and for each repeat I knit fewer rows. I knit a lot less length for the body obviously as this pig isn't that tall. Also I think I knit few rows at the bottom garter stitch section.

Chris' New Ride

Chris' lease expires in early August and we knew we didn't want to keep that car or get another like it. So he's spent the last several months looking for a new car that was as manly and cool as he wanted. And now, from the man who famously stated to anyone and everyone "I will never buy an American car," may I present the Camaro.

He wanted me to show a picture of the engine. Obviously I'm not as interested in that as him. Apparently these take like 6 months to get if you order them. Someone else ordered this one and the deal fell through so the dealer called Chris and we went over and snatched it up today. The dogs enjoyed inspecting it. Harnesses and leashes are just for show around here. Finally Abby is not running off when you aren't holding on to her. We've had a bit of trouble with that when she's being too crazy.

I'm editing to add some good dog photos from Chris. He loaded a bunch more photos onto my flickr account. Mostly I think so his Mom could see the car. Love this photo of Gus.

Abby on her fourth or fifth trip around the car. She was trying to figure out how to get in.

In the first shot at the top Gus is sitting in Chris' lap, Abby is walking by, and I am standing behind them all. This is Chris' view just a few seconds later. Also known as Gus sitting in his favorite seat.

New Projects

I'm putting aside thoughts of faster knitting today in favor of actually knitting. I don't know that I'm done with the topic, but I haven't thought of anything new on it other then I wanted to ask if anyone has particular seasons when they are more productive or just make you feel more productive? Whether that is with knitting or other crafting or doing stuff around the house or anything else? The question just occurred to me right now so I don't know that I have an answer right off. I'm gonna think about it though.

So I finished my socks last night and needed a couple of new projects. Lets start with some Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I've knitted the cuff and the first 17 rows of the leg. This is Koigu. Its very bright and more colorful that I thought it was in the skein. I'm loving how it looks though. This is a souvenir skein from our trip to Santa Fe in February. Here is a picture of the cuff.

Ok what else? One sock is apparently not enough. I've also started Gail in Dream in Color Smooshy Cloud Jungle. Love this yarn. This pattern is pretty good too. I'm halfway through the second repeat. I think I should be able to do all seven because this yarn has just a bit more yardage then the Handmaiden Sea Silk that the pattern calls for.

I've also just received two new sewing books. I'm already planning to work on a project from one this weekend. I was also hoping my blocking mats would arrive today but no sign of them. Maybe tomorrow? I really want to get along with the blocking thing. I have two many projects piling up waiting.

Further Analysis

Seems that I have been upping the production from last year but that June last year was a big producer too. So maybe part of it has to do with June. Also I've apparently really been ramping it up since April this year. (Can I tell you how hard it was to get a chart in here? I had to resort to making an image in excel and pasting it in because I kept loosing formating.) I think this is an interesting analysis (thank you Ravelry for storing all this information). I'm certain that my knitting time hasn't increased by twice as much to account for doubling of yardage. I can't imagine that its increased much at all considering I have had the same job and home responsibilities for both years. I think I can call this proof of faster knitting. I think I'll keep this chart up and see how I change from year to year because now that I've done this much I'm interested to see where it goes...

***I'd include 2007 but January though July are only sort of in Ravelry because I wasn't a Ravelry member until July 2007. So I think that would sort of skew the data.

Clarification for the knitting faster post

Since it was asked and I don't have a certain person's email I thought it this would be a good way to answer. I took 2.5 days off work for the surgery. One wasn't a knitting day because it was surgery day and I did a cuff and 14 rows of a leg before the surgery (while platelet loading) on the hospital socks and then basically slept for the rest of the day. Day two I probably slept half of the day. The extra day thats left was used to work on the frogged second version of the yellow scarf and to finish the leg of the hospital first sock (which I would have done even if I had been at work).

So I don't know that staying home is having an effect so much as you'd think it would??

Knitting Faster

Three days in the making and it hasn't gotten any better for it because I forget half of what I was going to say anyway, but I seriously think I've started to knit faster. I can't really decide if I am happy or sad about this. I can see where this is a bad thing and where this is a good thing.

Say I'm knitting socks. A skein of yarn on average costs US$20. It used to be that I knit a pair of socks in something like an average of 30 hours (or more). So then it only cost me about US$0.67 for each hour of entertainment which is not counting the fact that I have a usable object when finished that further reduces that cost. Now it takes on average about 16 hours. Which is US$1.25 for each hour of entertainment. That's almost twice as expensive! Still such a good deal can hardly be had for any other form of entertainment so this isn't a totally bad thing. It does mean knitting is now much more expensive for me though.

Going the other way, I don't spend enough time with one pattern (sock, scarf, shawl, whatever) to get bored with it. Not that I get bored considering I'm in the middle of the 6th plain sock in a row. But then if I really really like the pattern I'm done with the knitting well before I'm over the pattern and I'll still want to keep going, so I end up knitting 6 plain socks in a row. Which probably will get boring for blog readers as I have very little to say about the pattern by the second pair let alone the third.

I'm sure there was another thing that could be looked at as good and bad as well but for the life of me I can't remember what I was thinking of on Monday! Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

I learned at first to be a continental knitter but then changed to English. I'm considering going back to continental and relearning it with the thought that I would slow down a bit because I'd have gauge and tension issues at first (most likely?) and therefore would be slower. I think it would be an interesting experiment for whatever amount of time "slow" existed, but I also think that since I "know" how to knit that gauge and tension will work themselves out quickly enough and I'll be right back to this same spot. It would be nice to be really consistent both ways I think.

Since I'm stumped on the for and against issue I guess I'll offer up that I have proof of faster knitting. We'll look at production in the month of June. 16 Days. So far this month I have finished a washcloth (you saw the start of it but will see the finished soon), a pair of fingerless and mostly wrist-less mitts (which you'll probably see in the same post as the washcloth). I've also knitted two and 3/4 pairs of socks. Meaning 5 and a half socks. Half of a sock was knit today in a four hour meeting this morning (minus two rows on the way home when I stopped for a train).

Plus! I've knit two scarves. You haven't seen one of the scarves at all. Partly because its secret knitting and partly because its waiting for blocking because I have proper blocking mats coming to replace the ones that are deteriorated. You've seen one of the scarves started in May (the bright yellow one). Well I frogged that scarf and started over because I couldn't figure out what needle I used. I had a vague remembrance of having changed the needle (so I could use it for the Brea mod - also waiting for blocking). The needle I thought I used, the needle on the knitting, and the needle I indicated on my Ravelry page where not at all the same size. So I just decided to start over. So I recast on a BUNCH of stitches and knit what I thought was about a third of the skein, decided that I wasn't going to have enough yarn for the length I wanted, frogged, recast on again with about 2/3 the number of stitches. I got to the length I wanted just fine. This is what is left.

Anyone have any ideas what to do with the other HALF (actually .54) of the yarn? Its about 250 yards of lightweight fingerling. Apparently I would have had no problems with just finishing that second cast on amount.

For those trying to keep track I have knit somewhere around 2100 yards, something like 1.2 miles of yarn in the last 16 days. I'm floored by that number.

Oops

Forgot about a knitting thing tonight. Just getting in and its already bedtime. Tomorrow I will discuss knitting fast. Maybe? Hopefully?

The faces of Gus (health update too!)

(You wouldn't believe the amount of trash that blows over here into this corner of the yard from the house construction sites not far from us. Either that or its blowing in from the lake. We collect about a bag every two weeks of junk. What's there are packaging from shingles. Anyway I'm not here to moan about that...)

Its been a long day. I've worked late. Chris has worked late. I'm super tired because I did dinner and dogs on my own and for some reason my energy is still getting zapped at the very end of the day. That zapping happens later each night. Tonight it was about 830. Tomorrow maybe 845. I don't think this is totally unexpected because I work very long days to begin with and we aren't even two weeks out of surgery yet. Tomorrow my brain will be on again I think because I'll be home before it shuts off. I can happily report that I'm not having pain. My incisions seem to be mostly healed but aren't quite there yet. I have to base this on the one incision that the bandage has fallen off of because I've taken steps (tape and band-aids) to keep the others on. I'm not feeling any pain from then except the occasional prickly sensation and an unbelievable amount of itching. I think that is more due to being semi-allergic to the glue on the hospital band-aids then to actual healing. The part that itches is along the edge of the tape and not on the incision itself.

So all this leads me to the fact that instead of talking about knitting fast like I had planned I'm going to show the faces of Gus and flash a shot or two of Abby for your amusement. Then I am going to knit on the sock I have going on and discuss knitting with you tomorrow night.

A day at the races v.2

Pattern: A day at the Races Socks (my ravelry project) Same pattern as the hospital socks.
Materials: .9 skein of Austermann Step in colorway 01.
Made for: me
Needle: US1.5 40" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 7 June 2009
Completion Date: 14 June 2009 (Purposely kitchenered on the 14th though knitting was done on the 13th.)
Size: 11m

Notes: Honestly not a lot to say about this. I did knit most the second one yesterday at the racetrack. And of course I had a LOT of help with the photo shoot...

These are basically the same socks as the ones a few days ago. Except that I added 5 rows to the ribbing and 10 rows to the stocking section. This yarn has a much shorter row gauge so I need more rows to get it the same height. So mostly this post is just for pictures to say ok this one is done.

I thought it was pretty awesome that the first sock ended at basically at the exact spot as needed to start the second sock to match up the stripes.

A day at the races v.1

Today we were invited to go hang out at the local racetrack by my mother in law and her boyfriend. We actually have a really nice track. Also we've lived here for two and a half years and haven't been out to see it. Perhaps its about time?

We were seated in the box seats inside the building. There were some people hanging out outside the building but most people, I think, were inside. It was nearly 100 degrees (38 oC ?) outside with a cloudless sky doing nothing to block sun. There were 10 races today. One for each half hour. The time in between races was spent knitting on my part and for everyone else deciding who to bet on. I'm not a gambler but it was fun to watch and to hear the excitement and the energy of everyone in the building. Also everyone in our party did decently well at picking winners (or near winners). So that makes things fun too.

The reason my mother in law likes the races? This is the first thing she had her boyfriend go and find. Its definitely movie theatre popcorn. Pretty yummy.

Oops, sorry that was a diversion. The races themselves of course are quick and they really are exciting. People get really into cheering for "their" horse.

This ambulance raced around the track after the riders. The horses look like they are going fast but not nearly as fast as they are going apparently. The ambulance has to really push it to keep up.

Fortunately, there was only one incident of concern that needed an ambulance. During the fifth race a horse stumbled and a jockey was ejected from the saddle over the head of the horse. Both horse and jockey landed on the ground. The horse got up right away and the jockey didn't. It took several minutes before he did get up and walk off the track without assistance. The horse was limping and they drove him off. I'm hoping it was only a sprain and not a break that made him limp.

Some photos of the horses, jockeys and races. My flickr set has a bunch more too.

They paraded the horses and jockeys in front of the crowd before each race so they could introduce them. Some of the horses (especially the fillies) had some SERIOUS attitude. You could see it as they paraded and didn't always behave. The all female races had a very difficult time getting into the blocks.

Also these ducks? So weird. There were two ponds. They kept walking back and forth and getting out at either end. If you haven't spotted them look closely between the two ponds they are walking in a single file line.

Its a lovely track with gorgeous grounds. The day ended with a gorgeous flower as we waited for the car from the valet. Tomorrow is v.2. The part where I talk about that knitting I mentioned above.

Lazy Afternoon

Anybody else notice that Gus' toenails could use a trim?

This is what we did this afternoon. Totally ran around with our tongues out. Well the dogs did anyway. Even though these photos weren't taken today its still the same type of fun we were having.

Storms

We got some serious storms last night and this morning. Very very windy and very very loud. I would say this is normal an April storm for this area. This morning on the way to work the sky was really really gorgeous.

This gave way to severe morning storms. But the lighting was really awesome. Sorry for the shaky start of the video.

All of the beautiful rainy morning ended up with this gray bleakness of drizzle until mid afternoon. I love a good rainy day. Except on these types of days I'd rather be curled up in bed with a good book and some knitting then sitting in my office working.

Hospital Socks

Apparently I am rambling tonight...

Pattern: Hospital socks (my ravelry project) Ha. I went to go find this pattern in my blog archives and realized that I've always done these plain socks toe up so I guess this is a new one.
Materials: Most of two skeins of Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett in reds/browns/oranges. I'm sure there is a name and number but I'm not sure what it is. If you are desperate to know please ask and then I'll go see if I can find a yarn band.
Made for: me
Needle: US1.5 40" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 3 June 2009
Completion Date: 6 June 2009
Size: 11m

Notes: Just a plain sock. I originally cast these on at the hospital toe-up. I knit that for a bit and then decided that I didn't like it. For whatever reason. I don't think it was a real reason. Just me being persnickety. So I recast on top down.

Mostly this paragraph is for me to refer to later but it is a very sketchy pattern. If you guys want a more detailed pattern I can do that but I know there are TONS of plain sock patterns out there. I started with 64 stitches in a ribbed cast on to knit k2p2 for 25 rows. I knit 25 rows in stocking stitch and decreased 4 stitches on the 26th row. Then I knit 24 more rows. I knit the heel flap in slipped stitch over 30 stitches starting with a purl row. I knit sl,k1 row followed by a purl row for 36 rows. Turned the heel and then picked up all the stitches along the flap and knit down to the toe. Just a basic toe down to twelve stitches. Kitchener.

One thing that I noticed when I wrote the paragraph above is that my ribbing for plain socks is almost always 1/3 of the number of rows I use for the sock leg. I like that. Its nice and comfortable. It stays up always no matter how tall I make the sock or how loose it happens to be. Also I don't usually decrease the leg at all but these were kind of loose. I actually think these horizontal stripes are making my ankles look really nice. Not chubby like I would normally expect. This is good because I have one more striped sock on the needles plus the pair after is planned to be stripey.

Oh I also REALLY liked this yarn. Its pretty thick and cushy and soft on my feet. I also adore these colors. Its not as bright as anything else I'm working on but it made me really happy while platelet loading. I haven't knit much with any of the balled (as opposed to skeined) sock yarns just one pair of Step socks for Chris when I first started knitting socks. Think Opal, Austermann, or On-Line type yarns when I say balled yarns. Those ones that stripe with patterns and crazy-ness like Dee has all the time look pretty cool. I'm really liking this stripey crazy-ness and am happy to have some Austermann Step that definitely stripes and some On-line from Robyn (that I'm not actually sure what will do) that I'm excited to try now. Sometime after I knit my stash down I'll try some of the other types like this too.

Other then I knit these at the hospital on surgery day there really isn't anything special about these. I did get some dog attention from Abby, but Gus was having none of it and stayed on the other side of the yard. He's more concerned that the armadillo is back this summer. (If you click his picture he's almost big enough to see way over there.)

Twisted Gusset Sock

(Best color shot! Also Gus helping...)

Pattern: Kiila from Yarnissima for the Sock Knitters Anonymous Ravelry Groups May Mystery Sock (my ravelry project)
Materials: .85 skein Fiber Optic Foot Notes Sock Yarn in the colorway Spring Lilac OOAK
Made for: me
Needle: US1.5 40" Addi Turbo Circular
Start Date: 9 May 2009
Completion Date: 1 June 2009
Size: 11m

Notes: The first change I made was to add a bit more then an inch to the length of the foot on the large sized sock. Size 9.5 is just too small to fit. I made a guess as to how much I would need since when I did it I didn’t yet have the gusset instructions. I know there were several other knitters with longer feet that had the same problem of how long do you make it when everything else is unknown who had a bunch of reknitting to do. So I’m glad it worked out easily.

The second change that I made was to make the heel flap have some design for structure. Rather then knit it stocking stitch, I went ahead and did a slipped stitch which will hopefully give it some more durability. I’m glad that the gusset part of the pattern had several lengths so that I could get a nice long heel flap. I usually do 36 or 40 rows for a heel flap so this pattern really suited my habits.

The third change I made was that I wanted the leg to be longer. I added two cable repeats to the bottom portion of the leg before starting the gradual ribbing. I almost wish I had added a third cable too, but I dealt with that later in the ribbing.

The fourth change I made was to add three stitches (basically a k2p1 repeat, bringing stitch total to 65) to the ribbing at the back of the leg so that it would be looser where my calf widens since they were that tall. I added them to the plain ribbing portion after 15 rows of k2p1 ribbing after the last cable. I tried to make it grow out of the ribbing itself but my technique with right leaning increases could use some improvement. I have ideas for next time though.

The fifth and final change was to add in an additional 5 rows of straight ribbing to the top. This is what made up for not doing the third additional cable at the beginning of the foot.

Yarn? I can’t say enough good stuff about this yarn. I really really like it. It’s a fingerling to heavy fingerling. Very soft and smooth. The only caution I would give is to say that the colors represented in her Etsy shop are not even close to true to life on any of the seven computers I’ve looked at this yarn on. This particular skein showed up online much more pink and not so vivid. It wasn’t the exactly the same on all those monitors but it also wasn’t close to this purple either. Happily I liked it anyway when it got here and surprised me.

I think it makes terrific cables though I was admittedly a little put off with the knit through the back loop cables on this pattern. It made the left sides pull in a little too tightly and every thing leans slightly right. Also it left a gap down the right side of all the small cables between the twisted stitch and the not twisted stitch next to it. Basically they are a small line of holes that looks like I inserted a purl column on just one side of the cable. I don’t really like that but I’ll live with it surely. You can kind of see it in the above photo where there is some pulling between the cable and the stitches next to it.

Kambelle's Quilt

My first quilt. Gifted to Kambelle's Grandfather this morning. He loves it and he's trying to figure out how he can keep it and not give it to her. Hopefully Kambelle's Mom will like it too.

This is a crazy nine-patch quilt. There is an excellent tutorial on AllSorts which I stumbled on accidentally and just knew this was the right design. Super super easy to do. Pretty quick too. I took her idea to do the little borders and boxes as well. I think this turned out super cute. Its about 60x45. So it will be really decent for when she's rolling around on the floor and in the meantime for just cuddling up with her.

Here is sort of a picture of the quilting. You can see what I did in the borders on this, but you can really see how it went on the back. I'm telling myself I was going for the "homemade" look. Since its my first and lets just say my stitching wasn't always straight.

I stitched around each border and corner box and then around the big squares as a whole and finally into each ditch on the diagonals crossing the square. Nice and snug. I wanted that contrast thread on this side and this was the most pleasing of the ideas I had for the actual quilting bit. It mostly survived its first washing. I had one spot pull apart, one spot that needed requilting, and one spot I didn't notice I hadn't quilted until I was inspecting it after the wash.

The next one is coming along too. I've about a fourth of the top finished and I'm pretty excited about it.

Finishing a relaxing weekend

Tomorrow things return to normal around here. I'm going back to work tomorrow. The only thing that I'm worried about there is that my stomach is still bloated and I'm wondering how my dress pants fit. My jeans are looser then the pants. We'll see I guess. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow and think about laundry and all the normal household stuff. Its been a nice (well as best it can be) break.

Gus on his favorite chair, the ottoman.

Today we just hung out. I knit a LOT. I read a LOT. I played fetch a LOT. I enjoyed myself a lot. I think that really sums up our weekend actually. Tomorrow I plan to talk about a quilt and then we'll get back to the knitting thing.

Abby watching Chris upstairs.

Slipping away

I seem to be letting time slip away this week. Which seems to me to be just right. Its been a long weekend of rest and relaxation as it should be. I've not stretched myself to meet deadlines or done anything I didn't feel like doing. I've been enjoying time with Chris and the dogs and cats and my knitting. I've been reading up a storm. So I'm ok that the day has slipped away and I'm just moments from bedtime but just now sitting down for a post. You might even say the dogs have also gotten in the spirit of relaxation. Sleep is the only thing Abby wanted today except to play flashlight.

Getting better

I want to thank Dee for her advice about the hot tea. The stitch in my side has been slowly dissipating all day. I'm totally feeling better for it too.

Here is a picture of Gus for Angeluna. The poor boy has been so sad because I usually sit down on the floor for a little while everyday and obviously I haven't been about to. Frankly even if I could get down on the floor its just a little dangerous because bulldogs are clumsy and usually sitting on the floor means fetch and tug. Maybe not so good for stitches?

I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to take a few photos so I can do a working on post. I've got a whole bunch of new stuff to talk about and some older stuff that is either waiting for blocking or is already blocking but I can't currently get down on the floor where it is to unblock it.

Flowers

Flowers from my coworkers! So sweet of them. Aren't these just lovely?

You can see my sock that I started yesterday at the hospital in the bottom left of the photo. Its finished now and just waiting for Kitchener on the toes. I'm going to convince Chris to get my darning needle from my knitting bag across the house.

I'm not doing to badly today. Haven't needed pain pills. Mostly I have pains when I stand after sitting or laying down. At that time I am also hunched over like an old crone. Happily this seems to go away after 4 or 5 minutes of walking around and I can unbend myself without pain. Also I am now starting to feel sore in my sides. It hurts like a stitch from running when I try to breathe deeply or laugh too much. Otherwise I feel great and am totally looking forward to tomorrow when I am allowed to shower again.

I'm home

Feeling fine now that I've slept off most of the meds. Not really in any pain at all, just a tinge of soreness around my belly button. I'm sitting in the living room watching the dogs attack Chris as he throws a duck doll for them. Tons of fun!

Surgery

So you guys remember that optical migraine I had a couple of months ago? Apparently, that was the onset of gallbladder problems for me. Yeah. I know. Seems totally unrelated to me too. None the less its what started my being sick. I've had nausea, a slight pain in my upper stomach area, and dizziness for the last two and a half months off and on. They tried some medicine to fix it because I had a severely irritated stomach lining too so they thought that might be the issue. Those didn't work so the next option is to take out my gall bladder. This is not an open surgery where they cut a huge gash in your stomach. This is going to be a laproscopic surgery with just a few small cuts and they take the gall bladder out through your belly button (basically). Recovery is a few days instead of weeks and it doesn't even require a hospital stay. Though I am having it in the hospital because I need a platelet transfusion before they can actually do surgery (meaning we have to be there at 6am - Chris won't be thrilled with that because I told him 830am before). This is the same way they did my appendix a few years ago to. I'm glad they did away with the open surgery business (when they can) because I can't imagine having two huge gashes across my stomach. Nor can I imagine the healing time for either surgery that way. How long does a c-section take to heal? The appendix scars are so tiny you can barely see them now.

Surgery is tomorrow morning. I've got a plain sock ready for two hours of platelet loading. If I can't post anything tomorrow night I'll make sure that Chris does.

Bedtime

Its my bedtime and I just realized I hadn't posted anything to the blog yet. So here is a throwback.

Worshiping the heat. Abby at 6 months old, just before we moved house. Abby isn't alone in her adoration though.