Later, that Same Day..........

This morning, I told you about working on socks toe up. I was very excited about these socks, actually. I chose the pattern Laburnum from Sensational Knitted Socks. I got them on the needle the right way and was merrily on my way to the heel.....see!

So happy was I that I even took them outside....

ah...so lovely my little toes.

In the afternoon, it was warm and I needed to take a lunch break from work. The kids were back from karate camp and hubby was on his way home to watch them while I finished working. I took the sock outside for some sun and to watch the kids in the pool.

They spent the afternoon there, in a basket.

I spent the afternoon working and then cooking dinner.

The dog spent the afternoon.....

Eating my socks, making a hole in the yarn and breaking it AND eating the needle. (Note the broken end!!). UGH! GOOD GRIEF!! WTF?

(calming down to my usual motherly, non-cursing self...)

Boys and girls, can you say, LIVID??

So, back to the drawing board for a third time with Ruby Slippers. I hope I can still reuse this yarn after frogging and refrogging and winding twice....better take out Butter Peeps instead tonight. Nice light color...probably top down it this time. I will work on them after treadmill, kids get bath and husband is sleeping.

Ok, in case I don't post tomorrow, I leave you with three pictures..
Dragon in a tree.

Life Among the Dahlias... Baby Fern progress here! More on this in a future post!



Dog doing time.....
No explanation necessary.

Bad, bad, Zoey....

Sheepy Power!

Last night, I finally got around to putting the finishing touches on the Sheepish Sampler scarf and taking her outside for a photoshoot. I am extremely pleased with this scarf. The yarn is superb (Debbie Bliss Rialto) the pattern is really cute and my DD loves her! I'm sure this scarf will be named before long...

Oh my, and what have we here?

And I thought I had to chase the doggie off the furniture. Better pictures coming but it looks like the dragon scarf is also finished. Ta Da!!

Will miracles never cease?

In other knitting news, since I have frogged the Asherton I decided to try something new with sock knitting. This would be new to me, not new to the craft. I'm attempting a toe up sock. I don't think that I will prefer toe up knitting although it has it's advantages such as not worrying about running out of yarn. Or, from another point of view, limited amount of little sock yarn balls strewn about the house. Plus, no worries about casting on too tightly and ruining the top. I'm just thinking that I won't have the heel in the right spot. I think you knit until the sock reaches the ankle bone. And then what happens.....? Well, stay tuned to find out. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. There must be a reason why most people knit top down. Stay tuned for some pictures of that. I'm going to do two at once, magic loop. I really have it in for myself.

And the Sheep Goes On...

"yeah, and the sheep goes on....needles keep pounding rhythm thru my brain..."

Note to those who don't know this one: Hear the real song here..

I am cookin' with gas on the Sheepish Sampler Scarf (betcha can't say that fast 10 times!) DD is utterly thrilled and keeps taking it away to cuddle it. The Debbie Bliss Rialto is very smooth and very nice and gives perfect stitch definition. All that in a soft, washable wool. It's smoother than Cascade 200. In fact, I would recommend this for nice baby garments or small blankets if you can spring for it. Luckily, I only needed four balls of this stuff. On sale though, a 3x4 foot baby blanket might only be $50, what you'd spend on a gift anyway and you'd get the pleasure of having this stuff slip through your fingers for awhile.

This weekend, I will be attending my Aunt and Uncle's 50th wedding anniversary dinner. Sadly, my parents are both gone. A few months back, I found some of the letters that my father had written to my mother during their 'courtship' when he was in the navy. He referred to taking a short leave to coincide with his brother's wedding. Imagine, I now have 50 year old letters. I like things from the past. I also have a few silver dollars from the 1880s but they're not in the best of condition, worn a bit smooth from my mother keeping them in her makeup bag. I'm going to ziploc them and stick them in my safe deposit box that I got two years ago and keep empty...still trying to find the time to get to the bank to visit it! I can't believe they're married that long. Wow. People really got married young back then! Should be a fun time. I can't knit there, that'd be rude. Can't even bring it for show and tell, that'd be rude, too. Maybe take it for the car ride though, show Sheepy the world from a car window.

In a few minutes, I will going to the ENT so that he could test my hearing. At my most recent doctor's visit, you know, the one that I went to because of my aching back? Well, she tested my hearing. (Malpractice is a biggie these days, don't want to miss anything, you know.) I didn't hear the 'low tones'. At all. None. Deaf as a post. None in either ear. So, I came home and made sure that I could hear all 88 keys on the piano, which I can; therefore, I guess I am not missing all that much. Can't miss what you don't hear, right? Huh? What was that? We'll see what he says. I don't even know what's that low. Too bad it's not jet engines. I hate when they fly over my house.

I did a little touching up of my hank of Butter Peeps; as you can see, the colors are gorgeous.


Dream in Color Smooshy - Butter Peeps

I am so happy that I got Adobe Photoshop (Elements). You can even see the dirt on the silpcovers with this camera! Isn't she lovely, cantaloupe and yellow and peachy all mixed up. Such an appropriate name.

Stay tuned, she's going to be wound up into a ball and turned into socks shortly.....

The Sheepish Sampler Scarf and the Blind Dragon

Yesterday, I was off from work and yesterday...I was a very bad girl.

Being that DS got the Dragon Scarf, DD, who is completely enamoured with anything resembling a "Lamby", wanted a "Lamby Scarf". She had no school yesterday so I took her to the LYS to pick something out for the Sheepish Sampler scarf. Needless to say, she was between Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and Mirsaol Sulka and Miski. She loves her Lamby because of the way she feels and she wants the scarf to feel the same way. I bought two different types, the Cocoa is Sulka, more bulky weight than worsted but its supposed to be 'Heavy Worsted'. It's 60% Merino, 20% Alpaca and 20% Silk. It isn't twisted and isn't that easy to knit with but makes a divine fabric. The Cream is Miski, which is 100% Baby Llama and is most certainly worsted. I planned to use the Cocoa for the head and feet and ears and hope for the best but that didn't work out. Unfortunately, both of those yarns aren't available in the both of the colors I need. I couldnt' even get black!

So, after working on the head and part of the body, I decided that that wasn't going to work. I wasn't going to turn in my nice yarn at the shop..so I bought more! I got Debbie Bliss Rialto. Three balls in cream and three in chocolate brown. Being my back hurt and I couldn't bring myself to walk on my treadmill, I restarted the scarf. As you can see, I made the right choice.


The stitches in the scarf on the right are much too loose. Better photos are coming on this.

Meanwhile, Dragon is blocked and has stretched to a nice 60" length; however, he's STILL blind.


That's it for now, I have to get to work sometime this morning!

Knitting Update-Baby Fern and Dragon Scarf

The Dragon Scarf grew enormously when blocked. It is now a perfect 60" long. Today I will sew on on the eyes and the nasal tassals and take him out for a photoshoot. We're supposed to get yet another thunderstorm today and the dark lighting may make for a mysterious picture.

I've also picked up the Baby Fern Sock, the one I'm doing on size zero needles in Valley Yarn's Huntington (shh! I believe it to be the same as Cascade Heritage!) in a lovely dark green. It's a bit hard on the eyes to knit at night with this small a needle with such a dark color but they're coming along nicely. I was going to work on them a bit over this weekend but didn't get to them.

It was sewing time! Yesterday, Elizzabetty and I worked on a small knit top for my DD, the fashion plate. I was assigned a small homework project of doing the shoulder straps on my own so I will try that during the week and then I will show you my progress. Oh boy! I am so excited to be learning how to sew. To tell you the truth, I really thrive on the repetitiveness of knitting and crochetting. That is part of the reason why I think that I will like spinning. It can be mindless and rewarding. The other reason why spinning is turning me on is because I love things that are historical and having a nice spinning wheel in my house as a piece to admire would be lovely. Ah, beauty.

Speaking of beauty, the front of my house faces the north and it's always a few weeks behind the seasons. The lillies are just starting to bloom...

Yet the other plant, in the brighter light, is in full bloom...

And, the pansies are looking happy, like little smiling faces...

Such beautiful colors all around us.

"Life is just a box of...crayons"

An Almost FO!

Voila!

The Dragon Scarf is done. Well, except for the eyes and the stuff coming out of his nose. I learned two things from this project:

1. I don't like Morehouse Merino yarn. It just isn't spun, it's like knitting with..roving. Or, worse, dust. Maybe it's me, I knit continental. In order to 'pick' and get the yarn in the right spot and at the right tension, one tugs a bit with the left index finger. Well, there is a three needle bind off to make the spikes. It's really hard not to do that loosely. So, even though I used one and a half hanks of yarn, I had to sew in like 20 ends. That sucked. I like yarn with a tighter twist. In this case, SOME twist would've been good. It is nice and soft and so authentic that it comes with straw in it.

2. This was a really cute pattern but had no row gauge. I added a few repeats here and there to make a longer scarf and regretably, could've added a few more. It's nice albeit shorter than I'd like. There was plenty of yarn included with the kit to do this.

3. I noticed that I become a little discouraged if every row requires that I have to read the instructions. This silly little scarf took me nearly two months and should've taken like 10 days. There aren't all that many stitches!

4. My Baby Fern socks miss me.

Here it is before blocking. I kinda made it a bit longer after it was wet!

Yes, I know, I shouldn't let him sit on the kitchen table but DS is very excited about this scarf. DD wants "Sheepish Sampler" but I don't have any suitable colors in my arsenal for that. I just noticed this... Interesting..maybe I'm not the only one who is complaining that there is no twist. I should try that.....hmmnn...

As for my aching back, I broke down and went to the chiropractor. My neck is a disaster area and actually has no cervical curve. In fact, it almost curves a bit backwards. It's really ugly on the x-ray....can't really fix that but that's ok. My lower back is hurting so much that my neck almost doesn't hurt. A plus to back pain! I mean, this was really bad, couldn't get out of the chair, turn in bed, get into my pants, tie my shoe, get in and out of the car. Yes, I was ready for the witch doctor but he didn't make house calls. I found a chiropractor who got great reviews and happens to be located very close to my home, on a road I must pass to get to my house and conveniently located by the Italian Pork Store (ahh!!!). So, I walked in. I went back for my second visit, skeptical. He showed me my x-ray and lumbar vertebrae number 4 was the only bad one. It was tipped to the right at nearly 45 degrees. I let him adjust me, still skeptical.

Well, today, there is some soreness but it's very tolerable. Just like a black and blue.

And, you know what else? I can bounce around like Tigger.

How the heck did he do that? I have been in pain for SEVEN MONTHS.

Well, my dear friend, Elizzabetty, is on her way over to show me how to sew. Next, we're both going to learn how to spin...hmmn.. Another costly endeavour.

Dragons!

I've been away a few days, pretty much unable to post. For those of you who don't know, I telecommute from time to time. I use my own Internet connection and it's like being at my desk. Do you remember the movie 9 to 5? "Oh, I think I just saw her at the water cooler!"..just like that. I was unable to connect so I called Verizon. They did, or at least said they did, diagnostics on my router and assured me that the problem wasn't the router. I begged to differ so they sent out the Verizon man for a house call. He fixed the problem in 36 seconds. It was the router. Now I have the new and improved baby sized router. It's cute.

One day at work, we were discussing how ugly routers are and how they are an eyesore in the house. It may be nice to start knitting Router Cozies. Laugh? Our mothers and grandmothers crocheted poodles to cover toilet paper. Today, they even have a pattern for a 'Sushi Roll'. You can buy the poodle pattern on eBay!

OK, so I have been playing with my camera, dealing with bad lower back pain, and working on knitting at a slow pace. I picked up the Dragon Scarf because I want to have a finished object. Here he is, headless still, about 50% done, all nestled comfortably. The pattern is very nice but there is no row gauge so I have no idea how long this will be. I am up 'somewhere in the middle' and methinks I will add one extra spike. That will make me nuts about having enough yarn to complete this. Worse case, he'll have a different color nose or something. Besides, others have said that this comes out kinda 'short'. My son is thrilled and can't wait for it to snow. I told him he has a long time to wait on wearing this.
I know you're just dying to see how good my photography skills are coming along. Being we didn't have an eye candy Friday because we were unable to post on Friday, we'll do an eye candy Saturday. I was playing with ultra fast shutter speed yesterday.

Zoey in action!

Cannonball!

Bubbles! (note: take a good look at his arm and chin, you can see the limitations of a digital camera. I enlarged this a bit but you can see how the edges aren't smooth. It has 'jaggies')

And, the shot du jour...Underwater Boy

I'd show you more of my doggie but she didn't want to participate. I mean, she had just had a pedicure...

Sorry about the bluishness. I grabbed the camera and snapped, didn't want to miss the pose.

The Walk, The Tidal Waves, The Dragon Scarf

Able was I ere I saw Elba. Palindrome, a reversible cable scarf. How cute. And, it's free. And, it uses relatively inexpensive yarn. I started it today out of my new Plymouth Royal Silk Merino and let me tell you, it's luscious. I know, it's New York, it's May, soon to be summer. Hot Town, summer in the city, back of neck gettin' dirt and gritty. However, I was considering making some scarves to give as Christmas gifts this year, particularly to teachers. Let's see how I do. Nothing like getting a jump start on the holidays!

Well, today, I did alot of things. First and foremost, yet another finished object! Tidal Wave Socks.

Pattern: Tidal Wave Sock
Yarn: STR Lightweight, "Pebble Beach"
Needles: Knitpicks Options, size 1, 2.25mm
Started: April 4, 2008
Finished: May 4, 2008

So, for not, I am working on scarves. I am up to the tenth spike of the Puff the Magic Merino Dragon Scarf. The yarn broke. I'm supposed to spit on it to splice it back together. Yeah, right. I hate spit. I don't spit. I don't even like my own spit. This is why I played violin in school, no spit valve. Those of you who have waded walked through the trumpet section and slipped know exactly what I mean. So, Dragon sits there. I will need to weave that end in. I'm still not sure how much in love with Morehouse Merino I am. The pattern is fun, it isn't hard but you have to pay attention to what's going on. Plus, I could use a DPN instead of having three needles bopping all over the place every time I make a spike and have to do a three needle bind off.

So, to keep me busy for awhile, I'll work on Palindrome. I could use cable practice anyway.

In other news, today was the MS Walk. I didn't raise all that much money, unfortunately, but every dollar counts. I got the kids and the dog into it this year and had a great time. The walk is 1.8 miles. I was able to clock that on my new pedometer. I'm into the 10k steps a day thing and this little gadget, albeit a bit on the large size, is fun. Just in case I hadn't set it correctly, Elizzabetty was there with her GPS. She's a real geek. She tried to knit, walk and use her GPS at the same time. The walk takes us around the lake and only at the very end are we all that close to the edge. Good thing we had the GPS though, in case we got lost we could see how far above sea level we were as well as whether or not we were going to walk right into the lake.

Elizzabetty, MS Walk (and Knit?) 2008

Always at home with a cannon.

Did I tell you about my treadmill? Well, I got one of those, too. I didn't have to use it today because I did the walk and now my step counter is up to 12,468. I'm not so sure that that is correct though. I rode my bicycle today (for the first time in like 5 years) after having it tuned up and got a flat. I wasn't all that far away from my house when I got the flat but I did walk back. So, I walked, rode my bike, planted some flowers in front of my house, finished the socks, started the scarf, made lunch and dinner and did kindergarten homework. Oh, and I blogged.

Do I deserve a brownie now?

The Dragon Scarf and a Lesson in TV and Movie History

Hmmn...so, a new WIP. I started Morehouse Merino's Puff the Magic Merino Dragon Scarf, for DS, in Red, also known as "Huff". I have a few spikes done so far and I'm not so sure it's supposed to look like this. I was under the impression that the center stitch would be his spine, working it's way up to the top spike along the outer edge. I have never done '3D Knitting' (although I have seen 3D TV but that's a story for another day.) before. I have done 3D crocheting before and this just isn't working for me. It works but it doesn't look right.

Mine seems to be a little twisty. It's ok, I guess. No one is going to notice this except me and I'm sure that I'm doing it correctly. I'm not so sure that I like this yarn. There is virtually no twist to it. You can pull it apart like polyester stuffing....almost. It is very nice and fluffy and will probably be nice and warm. We'll see how it works out after washing and blocking. I'm not going to make myself nuts with this. Also, there is no row gauge so I have no idea how long this is going to come out. It's not very wide..yet. You start at the tail and work your way up.. and dragons have small bottoms.

Speaking of small bottoms, I bought another game show prize today to add to my collection of game show type toys. It's a nice Nordic Track Treadmill. I've always wanted one to hang my clothes on because I want to be in shape. Thin, fit, ready for the olympics. It has a few do-dads that I'll probably never use though. Even a hook up for an iPod. (Which I don't own, I still have a functioning walkman.) It also has some kinda technology where there is a personal trainer talking to you. I wonder if you can set that to a nice, sweet voice. With my luck it'll probably be some drill Sargent, Sgt Carter like on Gomer Pyle. He'll be out to get me.

Making this purchase inspired me to clear out some junk in my house today. It is going in this room, the room where I keep my computer, facing the TV. Yes, the TV is as old as my Walkman and doesn't have a cable box but we do have a VCR here and I can watch stuff on video tape or read. I never get to read these days. Maybe I can finally finish Harry Potter? I also have Verizon Fios, which doesn't send an analog signal. For those of you not in the know, it means that this TV doesn't work for Broadcast TV because I don't have a cable box.

Also, justifying this purchase to myself and you, my loyal readers, I nearly failed the stress test I took the other day. I was huffin' and puffin'. If they kept me on there any longer, I'd be weepin' wailin' like the women in "Oklahoma!". And the tech is going, "Keep going, Joanne! You have 75 more seconds at this rate". I felt like George Jetson, "Jane, stop this crazy thing!". It was pitiful. It was also pitiful that I had taken this same test with this same tech two years ago and did much better. I'm just so out of shape. Knitting isn't helping this situation so maybe a Nordic Track will.

Plus, husband wants one, too. It comes Saturday. We'll see....do you think I can knit and walk at the same time? Do you think I watch too much TV as it is?