Thanksgiving

We had an out of town Thanksgiving dinner and got back late-ish last night.  Very low key but nice.  Just my parents and me and DH.  Everyone else was very busy with their own families and/or extended families.  We did get to talk with my girls (on the phone) after dinner and my dad and I won the spades tournament.  It was a very nice day indeed.  We are thankful for family far and near and for the bounties this year has brought.  I certainly didn't think a year ago that I would have done so much this past year.  I hope you all have much to be thankful for as well.  

 Oh, and Saucey is thankful for good news from the vet.  Her BS reading is down to 102 from previous 440 and weight is up 1 pound from when she was diagnosed.  We are going to work on her diet and keep her on the insulin for now, but the new goal is to get her off the insulin by getting her diet right. 

 Blessings to all. 

Too Pretty Not to Wear

I grafted the toes and wanted to wear these right away! Good thing it was early this morning. See; my toes are toasty on this snowy day. Bavarian (Pattern by Candace Eisner Strick from Vogue: The Ultimate Sock Book) Yarn: Claudia Handpaint Fingering in Thistle Needles: US 1.5 / Magic Looped

I still love this pattern. And I’m still trying to figure out if there is an error; but the good news is I found Candace’s email (from my class instructions from Stitches) and I plan on sending her out a message to figure it out. This pair really didn’t need to take so long to knit, but I paced myself on the first one for the class and I let other things (Goldilocks Socks) come between me and finishing the second one. I really need to go back to smaller numbers of projects on the needles at a time. Like only one big one and one sock project. I really have felt overwhelmed when I have too many things going at once and it really isn’t that practical for me. So, I’m going to try to scale back my knitting ambition and only peek at new patterns and yarns when the try to tempt me and seduce me into casting on right away. Like this and this and especially this (which has been breeding in my stash). I think there might even be a pattern/yarn match plan in there. But before any of that… I have a few little gifts and a sweater to knit. Back to it…. Happy Knitting

Just Right

May I present: “Goldilocks on a Fall Walk”

I'm really happy with how these turned out.  After all the fiddling with the size, it was well worth it.  You can sort of see what happened with the colors on the heels.  one side came out with the orange and carmel stripes and the other side is the blue and grey. 

And the colors oppose each other so it looks like I even planned for that to happen.  When I put them on the orange/carmel was on the inside and the grey/blue was on the outside.  The toes came out pretty close to the same too.  

Fun! 

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina

Size 2 needles / magic looped

Yarn: Thank Ewe Hand Dyed in Geology gifted by Becca of Forward Motion

And the best part of all....  the fit is “just right"

Not Quite a Pair

I finished two socks last week, but they are not quite a pair… I got one each of the Bavarian and Jaywalker socks finished and the second sock of each pair started.

I also knit a pair of mittens for a shop display … here is a picture of one of them. I finished the second one at work on Thursday and immediately set up the display at the shop, I did take a picture with my cell phone, I put that picture on ravelry, but it is not good enough to show here.

Trust me. And believe that there really are two mittens knit. Or come by the shop and see for yourself!

And most miraculously, I have started the hoodie for DD#1, and I’m happy to say that I’m off to a pretty good start!

I have a new beginning sock knitting class starting tonight, but I’ll be using the previous class samples for this one since I have my quota of projects OTN right now.

Saucey goes to the vet tomorrow for her first follow-up since starting the insulin so say a prayer or think good thoughts for her.

And here’s a sure sign around our house that winter isn’t too far off….

Happy Knitting!

I take that back

Hangs head in shame... I still contend there might be an error in the Bavarian sock pattern.... just not the one that I thought it was.... after studying the picture it appears the knot-like branchy cable is correct and not the smoothly crossed one... not that it matters anyway, I'm knitting it as written ... with mismatched cables. On the bright side, I have two more options to reinterpret the pattern in different yarn! PS.... If you haven't already, get out and vote!

Still Struggling (warning: Longish Post)

So, the knitting pace has improved slightly, but I’m still struggling with finishing things. Just for the record though, the last week or so, I finished the Bye Bye Baby Bunting: [Pattern "Bye Bye Baby Bunting" by Dorcas Sokalow, available only at Prarie Arts and Fibers, Yarn Claudia Handpaint in Turquoise Jeans and Copper Pennies; Size 1 needles.] This was a “test” pattern I was working on for another knitter at the shop. It took me far too long to knit and seemed to be the source of some of my knitting frustrations. I just couldn’t stay motivated to work on it. I really liked the yarn choice for it, but due to my dislike of working things flat, combined with a very simple pattern repeat, I just couldn’t “love” working on it. Don’t get me wrong… It’s a cute pattern and would be a nice gift for someone expecting in colder climes or the winter months.

And I finished my Unbiased. I really like how it came out. This was sort of a whim to knit and the only problem I found was I just had too many other things going to work on it.

Pattern: Unbiased by Frabjous Fibers

Yarn: Frabjous Fibers Recycled Sari Silk

Size 9 Needles

It really shouldn’t have taken as long as it did.

Of the two pair of socks I’ve been working on, well, progress has been entirely too slow for my happiness. I am almost done with the first sock of the Bavarian that I’ve been doing for my advanced class. I really like this pattern, love the yarn choice and again, find it’s the distractions, and other knitting projects that are really keeping me from making progress. One thing about these though, there was a part of the pattern that just didn’t seem to be looking right to me. I just wasn’t sure and had to rip a couple times to make sure I wasn’t doing something wrong. I was knitting it exactly the way the pattern/chart was written, and still, something about it just didn’t seem to look right. I checked the errata for the pattern, no errors listed. Okay, I kept knitting. But that little voice just wouldn’t be quiet. So, I paid closer attention for a couple repeats and “click” the light went on. The chart is wrong. I tested my theory… yup! After 9 repeats of the pattern, I figured out why it looked wrong … the twist on the left should mirror the twist on the right… instead it is identical, which means the crossing comes out looking like a tangled branch instead of a smooth crossing the way it is on the right. Since I was in the 10th repeat and that error was done on the front and the back of the leg (15 times if you are counting) and nearing the toe shaping, I decided this is one time to “love the result” anyway. So I’ll knit the second sock with the same pattern error. But I made a note on the pattern for future reference, because I’ve decided I’d like a pair in another color as well.

The other pair of socks I’ve been doing has been pattern and size resistant. I swatched a couple different patterns before actually casting on, because I couldn’t find a pattern I really liked with the yarn. After settling on Undulating Rib, I worked about 2 inches of the pattern but didn't like the way it looked, ultimately, I ended up going with the Jaywalker pattern. So far I am happy with the result, but I’ve had to do some adjustments for the sizing. I’ve decided to name this project “Goldilocks on a Fall Walk” The first time I cast on they were too big, the second time (I knit almost the whole leg!) they were too small, third time they are just right (so far). The striping is beautiful though…. Fortunately, Jaywalker is an easy pattern to memorize and knits up quick once you figure out the sizing. These should hopefully behave now.

In addition to these projects, the swallowtail shawl is waiting patiently for me to find some knitting time for it and I started on a little class sample for a class I’m hoping to do in December, the Heart Sachet by Vicki Sever.

It only needs four more squares. This is actually a really quick project if you can clear your knitting decks and work on it exclusively.

Besides knitting, we did a little traveling over the weekend and got to spend Halloween with the Michigan kids. We went trick-or-treating and had a nice visit. Here are a few of the pics we took: I tried, but really couldn't get all four costumed kids together in one shot. The twins were dressed as Count Dracula (Aidan) and a Knight (Braylen) the baby was Marie (from the Aristocats) and Jason was a Transformer. We had fun and it was much more satisfying than the trick-or-treating we had here at home last Sunday when only three kids rang our bell.

And finally, I think the biggest distraction of all the last couple of weeks is that our sweet kitty girl Saucey was just diagnosed with feline diabetes. She is not the first cat we’ve had with this problem, so I’ve been a little down. She’s still a youngish kitty, so it is just really hard to accept that she may not live as long life as we’d hoped. She and I have been through a lot together so we have a very strong bond. I just don’t want to think too hard on it right now. We started her on insulin injections yesterday after we returned from our trip. It’s too early to say if she is responding or not yet. I’ll have to take her to the vet for follow up later in the month.