Yup, it has been one of THOSE weeks. I have lots of knitting projects going on. Most at that last dash finish line. This was supposed to be the finish line week. But then…….

I went up to water my garden, my fenced garden, my deer stay out of my fenced garden. Unfortunately, the raccoons figured out how to get into my garden. Those dirty dogs climbed my apple tree and decided to have a bite and toss a few apples around for the fun of it.  No way were those raccoons getting one more bite of my apples. So all plans were stopped and I picked every last apple from that tree!!!!

Sounds simple, but now I had a bucket of apples to deal with. A multiple of new projects were on my to do list. Applesauce for the ugly ones……frozen slices for future use……and finally apple pie, deep dish, with scratch Crisco crust. A day and 1/2 later and the apple crisis is under control. Plus we have a yummy pie.

The raccoons…..well they have moved on…..to my neighbors plum tree. 🙂

In the middle of all this I had socks to finish….tha’st right…I picked up those needles and pushed thru all five pairs of those baby socks. I did the striped ones last and made them into sport socks.

Phew….I think I need a glass of wine…..and a piece of pie!

That right, I had to put myself in a time out.  Work has been nuts lately and I took on this detailed research project. Can you say millions of data fields to sort, organize, and make sense of. All this was doable until…….I thought I should knit socks.

I have never knitted a sock, our daughter is the sock knitter of the household. Both himself and I anxiously await for Christmas morning to open our daughters gifts to us of beautiful hand knitted socks. Since she is the sock expert, I never felt the need to go there. Then Quince & Co. and Ann Budd did a really cruel thing. They announced a new sock pattern. Mind you, not one pair of socks but five pairs of socks, for a BABY!!! Just too cute!!  And……since our god-daughter just had a baby girl….of course I was going to knit socks. All five pairs of the socks.

I ordered the perfect purple and pink skeins of yarn. Printed off the pattern thinking what perfect little road trip take along’s. O stupid me. First off, if you have never knitted a sock, you probably want to start with a little larger size than a little baby size that takes really tiny needles, and just a few tiny stitches to cast on. Not me, I am going for what I thought would be fast and simple.

Did I say I have never knitted a sock…..there are special cast on’s for socks. Thanks to my very patient daughter for trying to teach them to me. One I have mastered, the other she just rolled her eyes at me and suggested I wait and learn that one after I finish all the socks with the first cast on.  Then there is the heel thing. I know short rows, but not yarn over short rows. I did not like the look of the yarn over short rows. So I thought I should modify the pattern with some other type of short row. I researched various types of short row heels on-line and followed the YouTube video’s to perfect the heel of the sock. Oops, there was a reasons for the yarn over short rows for a Baby Sock, it is called fat feet and ankles. Did I mention I have now knit the heel section five times, on tiny little needles with just a few tiny stitches. Did a mention the costs of baby socks is escalating by the quantities of wine required to rip out and pick up stitches of this tiny little sock.

So, back to the yarn over short rows. Next to the zig zag bind off. Another new technique for me. But finally this one was fun! And I love how the little sock has the look of an athletic sock because of the zig zag bind off.  To get to the bind off required another section of yarn over short rows/long rows just like the hated heel section. More wine please.

Success one purple pair complete, one pink pair with fancy feather and fan complete. And now they are in time out.

I know I have three more pairs to knit, maybe. One thing I know for sure. I hate knitting socks! Give me scarfs, hats, mittens, even slippers, and giant sweaters any day, just don’t make me knit socks.

Daughter of mine, I love you, and grey with multi flecks of color is my favorite new “socks that rock” color. Christmas is coming hint hint…….

So, I was all set to post a new pattern for you this week when……..this showed up on my Yahoo news roll, “Knitting community outraged over Olympic dig; USOC apologizes”  If you haven’t read it, you can read the full story here

Yup, the Olympic Committee chose to pick on knitter’s. Now I am not going to get into the middle of the right or wrong of it; as copyright of anything, including knitting patterns, is important to all of us. But….as himself knows……”don’t piss off a knitter”  We are powerful people who carry sharp pointy items with us at all times. We travel in groups, talk secret code… ” SSK, K2Tog”, and will kill for a perfect skein of yarn.

Just saying that maybe a few politicians should pay attention to what happened with the Olympic Committee this week. You know a knitter sitting on a candidate’s podium just might change my perspective of them. And if  a candidate was a knitter…….we just know how very special that person must be. Total that up to the number of us knitter’s out there and it could clearly make a win or lose difference.

So pull out your needle’s and knit with pride knowing that you are part of a powerful group of men and women that can change the world…..one knit, one purl at a time!

You know how your gas gauge gives you that warning that you need to gas up, but you believe you can go that extra mile because you know your car and know just how many more miles you can go before you are really out of gas?  Yup, that’s what I did this past week…..but not in my car……on a knitting project.

It all started with a really cool vest pattern called MeadowLark. The pattern called for lace weight yarn held doubled. Love the pattern have some beautiful lace weight in “my stash”. But……the pattern called for 900 yards. I have 840 yards. This is Madeline Tosh Prairie, in Byzantine. I really want this vest out of this yarn. I can see this vest in this yarn.

So I did a little research on Ravelry to see just how much yarn everyone was really using. The numbers were pretty true to what it called for in the pattern, but……some of the projects chose not to add the i-cord around the armholes and front edges. Bingo….I can make this work…..or so I convinced myself I could make this work.

First I swatched, but did not block the swatch. I took it off the needles measured without steaming or washing, just guestimating that I was going to come out OK. I knew I would need this yarn so I carefully ripped it back.

Then the two strands of yarn problem. I had hoped that I could pull from both the inside and outside of the skein, nope, yarn was tooo sticky and kept knotting up. Did I say I needed every ounce, this yarn was not paying attention. Out comes the scale, and I wrap yarn into two balls, as equal as my scale would allow.

Off and running again. I cast on three times, just to be certain I wasn’t leaving too much of a tail. Then the full on knitting began. It was beautiful!

The pattern itself was a fascinating design, of picking up stitches without having to sew seams. It was looking good as I turned for the right front I started to panic……the balls of yarn were really small……there was a lot left to knit…..could I make it?

I took it with me to Thursday Knit Nite…..hoping for encouragement. A look of doubt, maybe, good luck, knit faster….was all I got. I checked for more of this yarn in this color…..I was committed to this vest.  No luck, I bought this skein last year…..it was not a this year color!!!

So, I did what I had to do, what every knitter has to do…….keep knitting.  I made it around the front, to the pickup of the back neck stitches, checking the remaining amount of yarn almost row by row….pushing thru, praying thru, drinking wine thru……thru to the finish line!!!!

Yup, I made it!!!!! Even the three needle bind off for the neck edge!  I had exactly 7 inches of yarn left on one ball and 11 inches of yarn on the other ball. Oh the exhilaration of pulling into the gas station on fumes!

It is blocking…..there will be no i-cord edging for this one. I don’t think I will miss it. But she is a beauty!

It was definitely “mother’s day” around here this past week. It all started on Friday with a call from Jeff letting us know his wife, our god-daughter, finally had their baby girl. Evelyn Vera…9+lbs and chubby cheeks. Both mom and baby happy and healthy.

On Sunday even more babies joined the world. I looked out on the water as our Canada Geese were pushing their 4 new chicks into the water for their first swim. Two hours later, this happened outside our window.

Yup…twins. Mommy deer got tired of us looking out the window and moved her babies along to a quieter location later that day. Frankly, I am happy for that as they would have eaten thru my flower bed in about five minutes otherwise.

So in honor of all you mom’s and baby’s here are a few wee finished objects……

Hat’s a girl must have a few hat’s. The pattern is a Churchmouse shop pattern. Easy rollup hat, done in DK and worsted.

And a summer sweater. That is Sock’s that Rock…one skein.

Can I say Evelyn is going to be one styled babe thanks to her “Auntie O”

Happy Mother’s Day!

I was at my LYS the other nite, with my favorite girlfriend’s doing what we love to do. Knit, drink tea, and of course talk about knitting with a bit of local gossip tossed in for good measure 🙂

The subject of finished projects came up. Many projects were “off the needles” but then had stalled. It is that “sewing them together” thing that was in the way of enjoying and wearing a beautiful finished project. So I asked how they normally assembled their projects. Needless to say, I now understand why it was so difficult for them.

They were trying to sew them by holding them in their lap, pinning them together, then crocheting or mattress stitching in thin air!

So all you struggling finish folks, let me help you simplify the process and get you back on track. First off, you need to sit at a table, you will need a couple of towels and be sure to block all your pieces before you begin.

Why towels do you ask? As you can see in the photo, I use the towel to create a bit of stickiness, it holds the piece’s neatly in place. You lay your pieces on the towel, aligning them to perfection, then pin them together and finally stitch your seams together. All while your pieces lay perfectly on the towel.

As you move up the piece you can slide the towel toward you, or left or right, whatever is comfortable for you. The stickiness of the towel is holding you seam line in place. Easy, quick, you are in control.

When I move to the sleeve, or in this photo a skirt, the towel is rolled in the center so it again will hold the seams in place, but also allows you to keep from picking up the reverse side of your garment.

Again you can slide it around on the table, to have your stitching work in a comfortable location for you and nothing falls apart.

OK enough hints, pull out those sweaters, grab a towel and get stitching! I am racing you to the finish line…..

I have a confession…. Ever since Sock Summit I have had a wee bit of a stash. It is highly organized and all is logged onto Ravelry so that I can cross reference to patterns and use when the yarn and the pattern are that perfect match.

I keep that stash in a cabinet under a window seat. All is neatly packed away in ziplock bags and out of sunlight. Perfect stash management right!

Also notice this is one door of two doors under the window seat. The other door is not mine, but belongs to a large bass speaker for the TV/music sound system, not a problem right…….oh so a problem!

While I am traveling, in NYC, shopping at Purl Soho…for more yarn of course…..himself decides to do a little work on the speaker set-up. Little did I know that the cables for the bass speaker run thru the back of my side of the cabinet. BUSTED!!!

Yup, himself had to remove “a hundred years worth of yarn” to get to the cable. He is “not sure what I was thinking as the colors were weird”.  “And I certainly don’t need to buy anymore yarn” Shall we say he lacks yarn design/vision, and truly no understanding of a little stash.

I have taken time to again put the stash neatly into the cabinet. And each time I pull from the stash, I let himself know that it is being utilized.  And just in case you read this blog……..a little confession……..a delivery from Catskill Merino Sheep Farm is coming this week.  My stash is running a little low……….LOL!

We finally got our one big snow of the year up here in the Pacific Northwest. Enough so that schools were out and roads were snow and ice packed. That means we were snowed in! The rule of thumb for our house is when the mailman makes it thru we know we can get out as well. We waited three days for the mailman………

The good news, we did not lose power and I had plenty of yarn! No bad news.

The Yarn Harlot must have known I was snowed in and wanted a little something fun to knit. I am certain she release her mitten pattern “Cloisonee” just for me…ya think?

It is the perfect stash busting mitten to knit. A dear friend had sent me some yarn bits for the holidays so I actually had some bright colors to work with. Karen, if you are reading this, the purple and red was yours.

The mitten pattern was fun to learn and to knit. A perfect little something to break up the monotony of staring at the snow.

In a couple of days, all the snow melted and life returned to normal. Mittens finished waiting for the next cold day and I finished my little Black Cardi!

Whats next? How about some pillows? Vogue Knitting just came out with some beautiful pillow patterns. I think they have my name on them.  I finished the afghan so now need to freshen up the pillows to blend with the new afghan.

I know, soon I will need to buy a new sofa to go with the pillows…….then will need a new afghan to go with the new sofa……we all know how the decorating saga goes………..

I made it!!! Even though I am a few days late…..I did it!!!! I finished all my UFO’s of 2011!!! The huge afghan is finished, to the delight of the cats. It is beautiful and when all was said and done worth the effort.

For those inquiring minds the pattern is from an old Leisure Arts booklet and the yarn is Vanna’s Choice. When you have cats the washability factor is a must. But….this is a really nice yarn for the price, and I will use it on other projects such as hats, gloves, slippers all that need that tough wearability.

So how am I beginning the new knitting year? Why in black of course. I had some black Sublime in my stash and it is becoming a beautiful little Maple Street Cardi from Interweave Fall 2009. I am thinking rhinestone buttons for this one.

And the first road trip of the year is taking me to NYC.  My take along knitting is the Ribbed Pencil Skirt from Churchmouse. In black of course, with a little dark brown edge at the hem.

Any yarn store suggestions near Times Square?

I promise to do a color change up soon. But for right now being “in the black” feels just right.

It finally feels like the New Year. The official begin of a new year for me is when I finally sit down and watch the Rose Parade. I know that to you all I am a day behind, but I am going to relax and enjoy my New Years Day moment with a promise to be back on track tomorrow.

What a year 2011 was! Lots of knitting, singing, cooking, traveling, and a successful work year as well. No complaints from me. I just hope the good karma continues for 2012.

A few 2011 photos for you,  my holiday cookie tray…..

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my favorite sweater……..

my favorite mittens……

my favorite hat……

my favorite shawl….

the item I have worn the most a skirt….

and the joy of having only one carryover project into 2012….the afghan.

My promise to me is to finish it up in January. I am 80% there. I can do this!

I hope you too had a great year of food, family, friends, and knitting.

Happy New Year!!!!