part II

Crab attack
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Wordless Wednesday

lazy Saucey
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Dun, Dun

Like so much else lately, the announcement that the long running series Law and Order was being cancelled was quite abrupt.  Considering last night’s series finale; the familiar sound of Law & Order makes a good theme for this post.

This is my last week of working at the shop.  Right now it sort of feels like I’m a kid getting ready to start summer vacation, but I have to keep reminding myself that my job is done (Done!).  I will really miss everyone that I met and helped with their knitting along the way.  I had such fun working in the shop, learning about yarns, fibers and such, and especially teaching.  I will continue doing private lessons on a limited basis.  That’s a little scary and I’m not quite organized about it yet, but I’ll get there. 

I also have some FO’s. 

Remember the Skew socks, they are done…

Pattern: Skew, Knitty Winter 2009, (Lana Holden)

Yarn: Down Home sock by Knitivity; Aint Gail colorway

Size 1 needles / /Magic Loop

A very strange concept in sock knitting and they actually don’t fit badly, but they are really some weird looking socks.

Also, the Blue on Blue socks are done…

Pattern: My basic sock recipe

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted in Deep Blue and Antique Jeans colorways

Size 1 dpn

I started knitting these for the sock class I taught in April (not realizing it would be my last) I’ve been using them for my back-up on the go knitting and finished these Monday morning. 

Also, I have been sort of between projects and was in a real funk last week so I needed a quick and fun project… this little guy filled the bill.  I give you Claude the Crab.

So if you are ever in a giant funk and need a little knitting pick-me-up; I give the pattern two claws up. 

Pattern: Most Dangerous Crab, Knitty Summer 2009 (Amber Allison)

Yarn: Patons Classic in Bright red and Aran

Size 7 dpn

I’ve got a couple of other things on the needles and one project I’m getting ready to swatch that will make someone very happy.

That’s it for me today, I guess you could say that I’m done… done.

Happy Knitting!

 

Nana 

Life is Unpredictable

Well, I have some knitting to tell you about, but first, I have a story or two to tell. On Saturday, my DH and I went out to breakfast. This is not all that unusual, but it’s the first Saturday in a month we’ve been able to do so because I was teaching a Saturday class last month. We like to go to the local IHOP because they usually do the eggs right and of course; the pancakes are always good there. So, we had a nice leisurely breakfast and then as we were leaving, the strangest thing happened. I fainted. It wasn’t pretty. So we spent the next 4 hours or so in the ER so they could check all the things that might have caused me to faint (no idea) and see whether I broke my nose (inconclusive). I have a lovely souvenir of that episode:

I’m recovering well, the bruises are mostly faded and the cut doesn’t look quite so deadly now. Sunday I took it easy and believed things would get back to normal with a fresh new week. I started writing this post on Monday, trying to put a positive on the start of the week, but; when I opened my email on Monday I got some really bad news. The yarn shop I have been working at for the past couple of years has been struggling for the past six months or so (I knew this because I have had pay checks bounce a time or two) and the owner notified us that she will be closing the shop at the end of May! Whoosh - a whole new round of bad landed on our doorstep.

I can’t say it was a huge surprise because at our last staff meeting she indicated we might have to close at the end of the summer, but the suddenness really caught me off guard.

One hidden blessing is that if DH decides to take a job in another location (which he may do) it will make deciding much easier because I won’t have to worry about leaving mine. Yesterday at work many of my current and past students affirmed that they really enjoyed taking my classes and would wish to continue with private lessons if I am willing, so it gives me something positive to take away from the experience. I won’t surrender to the bad just yet!

One thing about being under a lot of stress is that I cope by knitting. So knitting has been going on at full speed. If I had posted this on Monday when I started I’d be showing you several WIPS. But since several days have passed, I can now show you a couple more FO’s.

First, I finished knitting my Vines and Leaves Cardigan last week. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I finished on Thursday, but couldn’t take a picture over the weekend because the sun was just not very cooperative. I don’t have the clasps yet, so you’ll have to imagine them.

Pattern: Vines and Leaves Cardi, Creative Knitting

Yarn: SWTC Terra (alabaster and gold)

Size 4 & 6 needles

The socks I showed you in progress on the last post are finished. I call them Spring in my Step, because the colors remind me of a lawn covered with dandelions (which seem to be everywhere this month).

Pattern: Prism Socks

Yarn: Rio de la Plata Multicolor ply SP30 and Lang Jawoll (83.0043)

Size 2.5mm dpn

I also worked up the infamous Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman (Opinionated Knitter / Knitting Workshop) all of the adjectives other knitters have used to describe this project are apt. It was fun and relatively quick to knit. I added an I-cord edging to the border to give it a little polish. I might do this one again if I have need for a quick little baby gift. Yay EZ! 

 (still needs buttons)

Yarn: Collinette Cadenza Color Gauguin

Size 5 needles

I also started a little shawl, but I’m kind of winging it, so I’m not sure what this will end up looking like, I’ve ripped and reknit the pattern part a couple of times because I can’t get the edge stitches to integrate into the design the way I like, but I’ll come up with something that works.

I also have a two more pairs of socks started and am finishing up the pair I started for my last sock class.  The first pair I started was the Skew pattern from Knitty. This pattern seems to be the most appropriate thing I’m knitting at the moment considering all the events of the past week or so.   I originally started it in this yarn: 

(Knitivity Surprise Me Feb 09/chocolate covered cherries), but it started pooling like this

 and I had to abandon that and find a different yarn. I switched to Knitivity Aint Gail color way and am still getting some pooling but I don’t find it quite so ugly that I’m unwilling to knit further.  

 

The chocolate covered cherries yarn is being given another chance to redeem itself with the Annetrelac pattern but I haven’t’ started the actual entrelac portion yet, so we’ll see how it goes. 

So that’s what I’ve been up to.  The cats are unaware of all the drama in our life which is just fine. 

Saucey says, I got a good report at my vet appointment, can I please have a treat?

Happy Knitting!

Nana

In the Meantime

I’ve been busy trying to get a handle on my stash; I keep finding undocumented skeins whenever I go to put projects on Ravelry.  How can this be?  So in an effort to get things under control and make sure that I can match queued projects to yarn I have I started an inventory to compare the stuff in my actual stash to what’s entered in Ravelry. I’ve done 5 out of 8 drawers and am flabbergasted by what I’ve uncovered so far.  I suspect that it might be mating season or something, what else would explain where all this extra yarn came from?  Needless to say, I will have to make a day of updating after I get done with the whole inventory.  I’ve been photographing the missing yarn as I go.  I actually had more stash pictures than project pictures on my camera when I uploaded this time.

Yarn shock notwithstanding, it’s been good getting reacquainted with some of the things I have squirreled away and helping me focus on specific projects I should be planning.

Speaking of projects, I’m still working away on the Vines and Leaves Cardi.  I have one sleeve about ¾ the way done and one more to do. I’m hoping I can finish it by the middle of next week.  And in the meantime, I’ve managed to finish a couple of other things.

I took a short break between finishing the body of the cardi and starting the sleeves to work this up for our granddaughter in MI (who we’d like to visit sometime soon). It’s a belated birthday gift for her 2^nd b-day. Her mom and aunt call her "bug" so I thought this pattern would be perfect for her.

Pattern: Mrs. Beetle from Babies and Toddlers: A Knitter’s Dozen (XRX Books)

Yarn:  Jil Eaton Minnow Knits

I also finished these socks:

Pattern:  Diagonal Lace by Wendy Johnson

Yarn: Down Home Sock by Knitivity color Purl Grey

Size 0 needles / Toe Up

And started these:

 Pattern: Prism Socks

Yarn: Lang Jawoll (yellow) and Rio De La Plata 

I may have to adjust the stitch count on these, but I am really liking the effect of mixing these two yarns on the look of the pattern.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Do you know what today is?

Somebody special has a "birthday" today....

 

               showing her curious side

Our Miss Saucey is 10 years old!  

With Lukey (gone to the rainbow bridge five years ago)

Thought I'd share a few of her kitten pictures to celebrate.  We adopted her from the Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek, CA when she was 6 months old, so I guestimated her birthday to be in April and I picked a day I couldn't forget.  (My Dad's birthday is today too!) And now you know why she's a St. Louis Cardinals Fan.

Happy Birthday Saucey!

Was there anything else about today that we needed to remember?

Another Look

0408100844a.jpg
Originally uploaded by nanaknits21

Here's a better picture of the Rivendel Socks.... I took this one with my cell phone, go figure!

Ahh, Technology

My computer and I have been at odds lately.  Last week it contracted a virus and although it's healthy again it has had some aftereffects.  Namely I lost some of my software programs.  One of those was the one that interfaces with the camera and basically lets me upload pictures.  After several futile attempts to reload the program, I contacted the company for help, but haven’t gotten a fix yet.  Now ordinarily I would just pop the memory card out of the camera and upload the pictures from there.  That didn’t seem to work either.  It took me until today to figure out that somewhere along the way a setting got changed on the camera and the pictures were being stored in the internal memory and not on the card.  So, human error this time, not computer error; and easy enough to fix; I copied the pictures to the card and popped it into the drive and hurray – Pictures!

So now I can bring you up to date on my knitting projects.  

I mentioned in my last post that I finished the Blue Pukas sweater: 

Pattern: Pukas from Knitters Magazine K98, Spring 2010 Yarn: Dream in Color, Some Summer Sky 

I also finished my Rivendel socks:

Pattern: Rivendel from the Eclectic Sole by Janel Laidman Yarn: Noro Kuryeon Sock, color S149 Modifications:  worked chart B rows 60-44 in place of chart A rows 1-16 

And this morning I closed the toes on these:

Pattern: Knotty or Knice Socks by Chrissy Gardiner, Interweave Knits, Fall 2008 Yarn: Koigu Premium Painters Pallet Merino; color Lilac (P703117)  

And, I’m still working on the Vines and Lace sweater and it is still happier.  

So there you have it, I’ve been busy working away, it’s my computer that’s the slacker.  

Happy Knitting!  

Nana

Moving Right Along

Well, I just need to say that March was a not-so-great month and April is already shaky. Our family has been experiencing some ups and downs. We made one trip to Des Moines together and hubby is back there again this week assisting his Mom after she had surgery. Adding to the stress, his sister recently delivered twin boys at 29 weeks gestation meaning they are still both in the hospital. Both boys are doing well and making progress as expected, but will probably be there a bit longer. His sister was on bed rest in very bad condition prior to the delivery. She is doing very well now but is very busy going back and forth with the babies and returning to work until the babies are released. So that’s all been very distracting for both hubby and I.

I did manage to get a little knitting done here and there; I think I’ve fallen behind my imaginary schedule though.

I finished the Blue Pukas sweater and am very happy with the outcome. You’ll have to take my word for it though because my computer is refusing to have anything to do with my camera. (so any pictures in this post are old).

I have two pair of socks on the needles, the Forget Me Knots and the Rivendel socks. I’ve turned the heel on the 1st Forget Me Knot, and am almost done with the second Rivendel sock.

 The pattern/yarn combination for the Rivendels is not quite what I expected but it is quite interesting. I started these the week we took the first trip to IA. The colors of the yarn matched the colors of the landscape along I-80 perfectly the day we traveled there. . (I obviously ignored the rules according to this
But fortunately we had a little rain and a little sun before we returned from the trip and it is amazing the difference two days can make, what had been very dry, brown, grey and dead looking started to green up around the edges and was beginning to look like spring might be on the verge.



Oh and remember the vest? I frogged it after I consulted a few knitting friends and the consensus was that it was bad and therefore needed to be ripped and re-knit. Well, I frogged it on Thursday and a new issue of Creative Knitting hit my mail box on Friday… guess what! There was a pattern for a really nice sweater that is really more my style anyway; a sweater pattern that calls for Terra yarn (Vines and Leaves Cardigan).

Yup! I cast on and started that as soon as I could. The project is much happier as a lace sweater!


Happy Knitting!

Nana

Not what I planned

Well I finished something, but not the something I planned to finish over the weekend.  (The evil uncooperative vest).

But I did finish these:

Pattern: Loksins by Cassandra Thoreson

Yarn: Cascade Heritage Hand Paint color 9962

Size 1 dpn

To make this feat seem more impressive, I might also add that I posted to the SAM 9 blog and Ravelry already too. Yay! I really enjoyed this pattern and would like to do it again in a plain yarn so I can see the details a little bit better.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Still Boring

But it’s starting to feel like I have some progress. Here’s a picture of the big V in progress. I have finished the fronts and back and have started the ruffle. Maybe I can finish it after all.

See:

Happy Knitting!

Nana

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a …. Post!

The top 10 reasons I haven’t posted in a while:

1. Knitting (or more like serial casting- on)
2. Some family things
3. Cats
4. Work
5. Work stuff that needed doing at home
6. Home stuff that needed doing
7. Lack of inspiration
8. The camera needs a new battery
9. Non-knitting (aka petting the stash)
10. The weather

Seriously, I know it’s sort of cliché to whine and make a bunch of apologies for not posting often enough, which actually, in reading others blogs it does seems to be in season.  There really have been a bunch of things going on lately that have kept me from taking the time to put my thoughts together and remember to take pictures and actually sit down at the computer and pull a post together.  I’ve had about five versions kicking around in my head all week and just couldn’t get the other parts together to actually write one. 

I finished a pair of socks.  These were my purse / work project during knitting Olympics so I had to put them on the back burner for that last week or so of the games.  It didn’t take long to finish these once I could devote a little bit more time to them. 

Pattern:  Rib & Cable Socks by Nancy Bush (Interweave Knits Fall 2005)

Yarn: Dream in Color Knitosophy in Strength

I really liked this yarn and am anxiously awaiting the reorder to arrive at the shop so I can stash some more in another colorway.  It’s the same base as Smooshy with a little bit different dyeing approach.   The pattern was good until I got to the heel and toe parts.  I modified the toe and would definitely modify the heel as well if I knitted it again. 

I got caught up on the knitting of my Big “V” vest, but made a mistake on the neck shaping of the fronts and need to rip back about 2 inches.  It’s currently in time-out; therefore no picture. (besides it is really boring)

I knit a cute intarsia hat for baby Sylvia, but had some serious issues with the pattern construction (knit flat-seamed).  Seaming hats is not a talent I possess apparently. This turned out so horrible that I refuse to even share a photo. But, I do have sufficient yarn for a redo. I put the whole project on hold for now while I rethink the process for knitting the pattern in the round. 

I made some progress on the Loksins socks which I cast on sometime in the middle of the pair of rib and cable socks.  Sock #1 is nearly finished and will probably be done tonight.(Yarn is Cascade Heritage Hand Paint)

 As of last Tuesday the Big V and Loksin socks were the only projects on the needles, so I got a little itchy and have since cast on for:

The Knotty but Knice socks from Interweave Knits Fall 08 (project name Forget me Knots) this is a pretty fun pattern once you get going.  I actually started it twice.  I cast on, knit the cuff and started the first pattern repeat thinking there was something not-quite-right going on.  Then I looked over the pattern info again.  D’oh.  I’m knitting a top-down version and sort of just winged it on the cast on. I knit the cuff in k1, p1 ribbing which looks pretty nice, but if you look at the flow of the pattern, it would have been better to cast on and knit the ribbing according to pattern rows 1-3 which then flows directly into the pattern.  The picture below illustrates that pretty well.  Top (on dpns) is the first go; bottom (on ML) is the second with the corrected ribbing.  I also changed needle size to get a little bit better stitch definition (and fit, too).  Little things can make a big difference. 

The Pukas sweater from the current issue of Knitters (more Dream in Color, loving it).

 (left sleeve)

And I’ve been working up the samples for my April color work class.   

Whew!  I think that’s it.  I know I have at least two more projects ready and waiting to be started. But… maybe I’ll try to finish something first.

Happy Knitting!

 

Nana

A Strong Finish

Well, I made it! I finished all three of my Olympic projects before the flame was extinguished. I had some concern about finishing in time after my second attempt to sew in the sleeves, but after some minor adjustments everything worked out just fine and I sewed the buttons on well before the flag was turned over to the Sochi contingent.

So, here are the results.

Pattern: Bi-Color Cables by Annie Modesitt (Inteweave Knits Winter 2005)
Yarn: Louet Gems sport in French Blue (dark blue) and Neptune (light blue)
Size 5 and six needles
Modifications:  The only modification I made was to substitute a knitted button for the crochet one.

(Versatile!)

Pattern: Silk Smoke by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn: Windy Valley Muskox Qiviuk (Pure Quiviut) Color 4001
Size 4 needles
Modifications: shorter length

I knew this would be shorter from the beginning and planned to knit until I ran out of yarn.  I think I could have squeezed out one more chart repeat with the yarn that broke in frogging, but didn't want to have to deal with weaving in ends to this lovely lace pattern. Although it ended up being about 11” instead of the 17” specified by the pattern, I am thrilled by the result and love how soft and squishy it turned out.

I already showed you the white anklets, so I won't do that again.  I have to say that I'm glad I took the challenge.  It was fun and as many other said, it did make me feel a little more connected to the games (and what games they were!) and it made the Olympics just a bit more exciting.

Welcome March and happy knitting!

Nana

On Track

It really seems to help when you have a “deadline” for finishing up a knit project.  Since I made a goal to finish up my Bi-Color Cables sweater as part of the Knitting Olympics, the project has seemingly become a quick knit.  I’m sure there’s some fancy psychological term for all of that, but whatever the effect is, it’s certainly a good thing at the moment.

This weekend I finished up the body of the sweater and started the sleeves.  I’m knitting the sleeves two at once since I am working against a deadline.  I’ve got the body pinned out and blocking.  After I finish the sleeves, there’s still a collar to knit.  I’m not 100% sure that I will get this completely finished by Sunday, but I feel pretty good that I might be able to get most of the knitting accomplished. 

In my main event, I finished the Silk Smoke Ring last night.  The pattern called for it to be 17” in length, but my yardage was shorter than what the pattern called for.  Regardless, I knew I wouldn’t knit it that long even if there was enough yarn.  My finished cowl is more like 10”.  I probably could have squeezed out one more pattern repeat which would have made the finished length closer to 12” with the fragments from the frogging, but I felt pretty good about the length. Besides, that would have meant fussing with extra ends to weave in right in the middle of the pattern.  Not my cup of tea.

I took a picture of it blocking, but it doesn’t look like much, I’ll try to get an action shot once it’s dry and post a good picture.

I have a semi-busy week ahead, but I’m going to keep moving towards the goal. 

Speedy Knitting!

 

Nana

Is it Just Me?

Or does it seem like there have been as many unexpected results in the Olympics this year as expected ones.  We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs (and some really scary crashes too!)  Being a competitor in the Knitting Olympics is starting to make me feel like I’m right there in Vancouver with them all.

I got a quick start on my “Olympic run” when I quickly finished off the white anklets (see)

A little motivation goes a long way towards combating boredom!

But my early showing was just a flash in the pan …. I finished two chart repeats of the lace pattern on the smoke ring and realized that there was something very awry with what I was looking at.  Namely at some point in my wrestling match with the one long circular I was using (since I didn’t have a smaller circular in the needed size – imagine that! And actually we were traveling last weekend) I had managed to flip the knitting inside out and start the next repeat going in the wrong direction.  A rookie mistake to be sure!  After much agonizing and then some frogging and a little yarn breakage, I have gotten it restarted and it is back on track. I’m a little further behind than I had hoped at this point.  Here’s a picture I took before the mishap.

My sweater project is about where I want it to be, but I'm a little worried that I might have overestimated my ability to finish it by the end of the Olympics … we’ll see.   I didn't take a picture, but imagine that the fronts and back are divided and the back is done.  I had hoped to work the fronts simultaneously, but that might be a little too complicated, so, I'll keep working at it and hope for the best. Who knows, I could make a heroic comeback effort. As we've seen in the 2010 games, anything can happen!

In other non-Olympic knitting, I also finished the 3, 2, 1 Stripe socks before we left for our trip so I’d have one less thing to distract me during my Olympic quest. 

I really am happy with the way they turned out, and impressed with how well I gauged the amount of yarn I needed to do these.  I ended up with about a 12" piece of leftover yarn in one color and less than 5" in the other (cutting it very close), I'll be taking a break from the Noro for a little while, but some recent stash enhancement might have replenished a couple skeins, I'll be dreaming up new things to do in the meantime. 

Speedy Knitting!

 Nana

I went and did it

I took a deep breath and registered for the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics! I had been kicking the idea around of just sort of making the time frame a personal challenge when a couple of knitting friends declared their interest and since I generally have more knitting time than other people I decided I could rise to the occasion (I hope)I put this as my project, but I also intend to attempt to finish my Bi-color Cables sweater and hope to get those silly white anklets done before then as well.

 (On your marks....)

Wish me luck!

Fast and Furiously knitting!

Nana

Getting Back on Track

I didn't get on board any Ravelympic teams or even sign up for the Yarn Harlot's knitting Olympics, but I think I'm going to get in on the competitive spirit of the games and try to get a few of my longstanding WIPS finished as a personal challenge during the Olympics.  My first order of business is to get some socks off the needles.  I had three pair going into the weekend, I've got it down to two now and intend to finish another tomorrow (sadly I need to cast on a pair during my class tonight, but that's how it goes).  The next order of business will be to revive my Bi-color Cable sweater project.

At any rate, let me show you the socks I did get done. Here are the Penguin socks that I promised my daughter a while back.  I'm thinking they might make it into the mail in time for Valentines!

Pattern: Pop-out Penguins

Yarn: Blue – Socks that Rock light weight in Blue Moonstone; Black – Socks that Rock in Korrpi; White – Louet Gems in white and Yellow – Sunshine Yarns from the Spring Color pack

Size 2.5mm needles (magic looped)

I made a few minor mods to the pattern, adding rows between the cuff and start of the chart and end of the chart and start of the heel.  The biggest change I did was to knit them in the round instead of flat.  It was quite the learning experience, but I am happy with the result. I think if I did this pattern again I would do the 3-D parts using an “afterthought” heel technique.  I found the short rows a little fiddly and they left a lot of little holes to be closed up at the end.

(love the little tail!)  

Otherwise I can say that these were a fun knit and I think my daughter will enjoy wearing them.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Perfection

Not here, but I got your attention didn’t I?

This is one of those posts where I am just rambling about what’s on my mind, so if you’re looking for knitting or cats, you’re out of luck today.

Here’s the thing; I was thinking about my ongoing quest to find the perfect organizational tool this morning. It never actually happens. I find a bag or a gadget or whatever that seems to have all of the right elements and every time I put it into use I find the “exception” that keeps it from being exactly what I want or need. Do you know what I mean? Take my planner for example. When I stumbled across it in the store, I thought, “hey, this one could work” It’s actually a “student” planner, so it runs from Aug 09- Jul 10… “okay, I can work with that” I thought… and I have so far (I’ll worry about what to do after Jul when the time comes). But soon after implementing it, reality set in. It’s largish about 8 1/2” x 5 1/2” which is not a bad size for a desktop planner, but proves a little impractical for carrying around with me unless I carry a really big purse (which sometimes I do, because, um, well, rabid sock knitter). That’s not actually the exception. The exception is an issue with my to do lists, last year I just used a smallish (easy to fit in any size purse) notebook and wrote out everything I could think of on a weekly list and marked things off or added to it as needed. This worked well because I had plenty of space to write and could carry over tasks when needed. I could also use two pages when necessary to list knitting projects on one and other stuff on the other. It gave me a good clear idea of things that I wanted to accomplish at a glance. The downside to that system was that I then needed a separate calendar. Thus, it was not perfect. So this year, I tried to “kill two birds with one stone” with the new planner. But… the little spaces on the weekly pages for each date don’t give me enough space to write everything down and there are no blank pages for the overview and master planning. Can you tell I used to be a Franklin Covey girl when I worked full time?

I actually still have the nice leather cover for my old planner and could buy the refills, but that’s sort of overkill for planning when to vacuum and what to knit, don’t you think? I think the thing weighs around 3 or 4 pounds when it’s got all the pages inside. (It used to lovingly be referred to as my “brain”)

Anyway, I digress. So my quest for a good system of tracking my day to day activities fell short of my needs. I’ve been struggling with how to overcome this issue and mostly losing. I often lose track of things I intended to do only to think of them much later and then I get frustrated with myself for being scatterbrained. I. Need. My. Lists!

I know there are electronic gadgets out there that can do some of that work and possibly in the future, that may be a solution for me, but until that is feasible, I guess I’ll continue the quest.

This isn’t isolated to planners and calendars. The same thing happens with purses, bags and other organization gadgets. I start out very hopeful and the thing seems so full of promise and then I discover the shortcoming. I sometimes wish I had more skills and all the right tools so that I could assemble all the right elements and develop perfectly customized things that would meet my needs and keep me exactly as organized as I want to be.

So maybe that explains in a very convoluted way exactly what happened when we tried to use a switch to connect my hubby's laptop to the internet yesterday.  It didn't work out like we thought it would. 

Anyway, Thanks for letting me ramble.

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Diversions, Diversions

Having hubby home is wonderful, but it also has proved to be a source of distraction for me. Hours that I used to have to just putter around and knit or whatever is now time when he wants to go here or there or just have my complete attention. Not that I’m complaining about that, but rather I’m still trying to adjust to all the changes. I don’t expect to get too used to having him around all the time either, because eventually, he will find some type of job and we’ll have to work out a new routine again. But it has been a bit of a diversion for me changing my routine for the past year.

I have several finished projects to show off though! The first is a diversion of the knitting kind. When we had our staff meeting at work a couple weeks ago, Linda asked for a volunteer to knit up a sample in one of the yarns that wasn’t doing so well. So, since I knew we had a car trip coming up, I volunteered. I figured I could whip up a quick little project… and I did. (Never mind the fact that I could have finished a couple other things in that time).

Here’s what I made:

Pattern: Top-down Alpaca Mitts by Ann McClure from Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Small Indulgences

Yarn: Schulana Mosco in color Orchid

Size 2 (2.75mm) needles

This was actually a pretty fun pattern once I got beyond a few distractions. The layout in the book created a little confusion for me at first. The pattern included written directions for the lace pattern, a chart for the lace pattern and thumb gusset and written line-by-line instructions for the construction. The lace chart and written pattern were on different pages though. Also, the instructions for placing the cables on the palm were a little convoluted and confused me at the beginning as well as the pattern being interrupted by extraneous instructions. I ended up having to knit the right mitt twice. (I added an extra pattern repeat somehow the first time, which threw off the thumb placement). The pattern is well written in terms of the actual knitting instructions, but the flow of the pattern wasn’t good for me. I really enjoyed working the smocking on the wrist. Despite my issue with the pattern, I think they turned out really cute.

Despite finishing these so quickly (about three days) I hit a bit of a rut. Last Thursday on the way to work I was trying to figure out how many things I had OTN and stopped counting at about six. It was definitely time to finish some things, so I did.

I finished the third pair of Noro striped socks, the ones I called 1-2-3 Fun Stripe:

This was just a basic sock pattern with a six round stripe using Noro Kureyon Sock in colorways S164 and S102. Knit on size 1.5 (2.5mm) dpns. I actually ripped out half a sock to start the stripe sequence in a different spot with the S102 on the second sock, but am much happier with the end result than I would have been if I would have just left it that way. I have about 10gms left of the 102 and 15g of the 164… which will show up somewhere else eventually. (Wink, nod, smile) These socks sort of remind me of Fruit Stripe Gum that I used to like when I was a kid.

And

I finally finished the Squirrel mittens

I loved this pattern and would highly recommend it if you are thinking about doing a color-work project.  I redid the thumb on the first mitten to correct the tension problems I had originally.  I used ML for the hand part and switched to two circs for the thumbs which worked better for the small circumference. I love the inside of the thumb.  I think these will get worn today based on the weather report!

In the midst of all this, I have been knitting a pair of plain white anklets, which have served as my demonstrator project for the sock class that is finishing up tonight. They will probably be done soon. I probably won’t post a picture, because truthfully they are really boring.  I only knit on The Big V vest project at work (when I have time) and I’m also still trying to make progress on my bi-color cable sweater (I’m doing the bust shaping and find it needs too much focused attention and dedicated time to work on much right now).  I’ve also got a partially knit shawl lurking in my knitting basket and I just started working on the socks that I actually planned to knit in January… behold, the Pop-out Penguins have begun:

And last, but not least, I cast on another pair of the Noro socks for my purse project. No pic yet since all there is right now is a cuff.

That about sums up what’s going on and off my needles, I hope your January has been a productive month!

Happy Knitting!

Nana

Quick Update

Hubby is officially a "retiree" again.  We have been busy with a little traveling.  Hopefully this week won't be so hectic!  We're still trying to get a routine back now that he is settled in and the holidays are over.  I think maybe finding a "new" normal is what we're doing.  I'll have some knitting to show off once I get my pictures uploaded.  Have a great week!

Nana