Sorry, the earth started moving at hyperspeed...

And I just couldn't keep up with it for a while!

But here I am, back again, and only a smidgen more sleep deprived than last time.  I have (finally) found full time employment again, and am keeping my part time job just because I like it for as long as I can.  Was thinking for only 2 months, but one of those has already flown by.  Maybe until school starts again.

What have I been doing other than working and sleeping you ask?... Well really not much.  As of Saturday the 30th of June, I began the Tour De Fleece challenge on Ravelry.  All the TDF challenge is comprised of is challenging yourself to spin daily and make your own yarnie goodness.  I have spun both days on my spinning wheel (which has yet to get a name), and this is my progress so far:

  It has gone from this lovely lump of Teal colored Merino Roving to half of a bobbin of single plied wool the first day, and a full bobbin of single plied wool on the second day.  Eventually this week or next weekend it shall turn into 3 ply yarn...  Today I am taking my drop spindle and some plain white wool to work to spin some there.

 I have also begun constructing my brother a fountain pen roll so he can keep his most used fountain pens in and easily identifiable location.  For this i have chosen a couple of Hawaiian print fabrics to use, and just need to go to JoAnn's fabrics tomorrow and get the threads to use.  Lets just say with the new sleeping/eating/working schedule i haven't had much time or desire to leave the house to do errands.  Sleeping has definitely taken priority over any other ideas I had about this summer.

Another thing I have started playing with lately is painting my nails.  I know, how girly is that?!  No one ever said i wasn't a girl!  I have started water marbling, and love it, getting the hang of it is easy after the first very messy try.  Right now my new favorite is doing a dark bottom coat, with sparkly tips, and a nice thick clear top coat.  I love them sparkles!  I am not much of a make up type of person, but this nails thing is a blast.  I guess its another way to be creative that I can show everyone else because my nails are always with me... Or so I hope!  My nails have never been particularly long or strong, But I'm trying to change that. I have been using some nail strengthener as well as a strengthening base coat that for every nail but one is helping.  The single nail not seeing much improvement is my right hand pointer finger.  I think its because thats the one hand and finger i do all of my poking/prodding/examining/opening with. Its still short and nubby and makes me sigh.  I have gotten into the habit of at least peeling the stickers at work off with my box knife to save my manicure... that has helped tremendously.  Now to get used to using various tools at my disposal for other things.


K is with her dad in Ohio for a week, just left Saturday, coming back this Saturday.  I miss her already, and am hoping she's having a good time.  Thinking about calling in between my jobs on my drive to see if I can talk to her.  If I call when I get off work, it will be way too late to talk.  Darn time zone differences. 


My garden is doing amazing!  I need to take pictures of it and my patio plants and show how much they have grown from earlier this year!  My Juane Flamme tomatoes have even set fruit that are beginning to ripen! Yay!  All the other plants are just blossoming right now.  I can not WAIT for fresh tomatoes!!


Well, thats just about everything for the run down of May/June.  Hope to write again before August rolls around!

And Thus, Gardening Season Begins!!

Wow, its the end of April already!  Where has the time gone?  Where have I been to not notice the time passing?  I haven't the foggiest.  But I do have an explanation for the last few days!

As of Friday, the community garden is now open!  Friday was our worker bee day of tilling, and weeding, and sectioning off the plots in the garden!  T helped our garden manager stake out the plots!  Ok, in reality he held the measuring tape on a stake as she measured out and staked the plots!  But he helped out so much!  He was also my weed dumper for Friday and Saturday.  It was so much fun to see how into things he got.  We even found a dead sunflower head with some seeds left in it, and he asked if we could plant some by the corner stakes in my garden.  So if we get sunflowers sprouting I know where they came from!

So I have officially worn myself out the last 2 days, and I feel like I shouldn't be this worn out!!  Friday I weeded the community strawberry bed.  It was almost completely over grown with grass and weeds.  There were 3 adults and a few children weeding the strawberry bed, and it got done in about 3 hours.  I started building the beds in my garden yesterday (Saturday) and sifting through the dirt to find the weeds and the grass roots.  I love this community garden, but I will say I am so frustrated that most of the other "gardeners" that participated last year didn't weed their plots!  Where my new plot is situated is about 1/2 my brothers, and all of the neighbors plot, as well as 1/4 of other peoples plots along the side.   My brother's plot was fairly well weeded and clear, but these other plots are HORRIBLE!!! Especially the 1/4 plots along the side... 100% weeds and I'm not even on the 1/4 plots yet!


I have 1 bed completely dug and weeded and even planted because T was just so excited to plant carrots that I decided we could plant carrots and peas early.  So thats all cleared and planted, and staked, just need to put up my fencing.  I have a second bed dug and weeded, but not planted yet.  Still sifting through the top layers to get what weeds I can out.  Its taking about 4 hours each bed to sift and dig, and by the end of hour 2 I feel shaky and sore enough to collapse.  AND  I still have anywhere from 4 to 6 more beds to dig!! This is a speed of 1 bed per day I've been able to clear out, and if I keep this up, I won't have a garden for the entire season! Especially since its supposed to be on and off rain and with me working 4 days this week, makes it hard for me to be in the garden when D is off work and able to get the kids.  If I were to keep the bed digging to weekends it would take almost a month for the beds to be dug!  I don't know how I am going to do this!  Well POOP!! I want to get this all done so I can get planting!  As well as the need to amend the soil since I don't know if anyone actually did that last year...


Maybe by the end of all this I will have lost weight/ body fat, and be as tan as those women who obsessively tan.  HA!  Yeah right.  But I can dream!  I promise I'll take pictures of the garden tomorrow after work, and after I change and go digging!! LOL!  Here's hoping for bed 3 and maybe 4 to be dug!!

SQUEEE! Its here! Its here!

This calls for a purple day!  My birthday present is finally here!  Thank you New Voyager Trading and Paradise Fibers!

My pretty pretty spinny thingy is here!  She needs a name, but I can not think of one at the moment!

Introducing my brand spankin' new Kromski Minstrel!

Isn't she just beautiful??

A pretty castle style wheel that I chose in a Mohogany finish because I just didn't feel like spending a month or two finishing one myself because I am impatient.  Who knew?

I was supposed to play with one before I bought it, but the store didn't have any set up, and rather than wait, I went ahead and purchased it figuring I could get almost the full price back if we weren't compatible.  But I'm not seeing that happening since she can easily go from gossamer/lace weight singles to worsted weight singles with ease.  I have spun about half a bobbin full so far.  Bobbins are the thingys on her lower right hand side, but when you're spinning, there's an empty one up top.

Here's a pic of my half full bobbin.  No continuity in the yarn yet, but that's ok.  Practice practice practice!  And some of it is over twisted, which I am aware of, but it took me over a week to fiddle with the drafting and the spinning on my drop spindle, so I can assume it will take about that long to spin with conformity of size on the wheel.  Its definitely different spinning with a double treadle castle style wheel vs the single treadle saxony style wheel that my mother had when I was growing up.  Saxony style is the one with the wheel off to one side and the bobbin/flyer off to the other side.  Much much fun to be had that is for sure!  D wants me to "start yarning" and make lots of money from "yarning" on my wheel.  I will sure try!  Got to practice first!

It is so relaxing.  I didn't realize it went from 3 to 8 pm so quickly!  It took maybe an hour to build, and an hour or maybe a little more to practice treadling and get a steady pace going.  Then I spent from dinner time (5ish) to almost 9 pm "yarning" aka spinning.  I can see me getting carried away having fun and forgetting that I have to work in the morning... Like right now.  So busy blogging I look at the time and go "OH SNAP! MUST SLEEP!"  since I wake at 4:15 am.  Not for any reason but to be sure I'm awake by the time I get to the store.  And have "Mommy quiet coffee time" by myself, maybe with the cat.

I think tomorrow I will be yarning until I have to go to work!  Oh the funness of yarning!  Yes I am totally making random words up to fill up my blog!

Good yarning night everybody!

What happened Google?

It has been beautiful outdoors this last week, and so I use a pretty shade of golden yellow to represent the sunlight that has been gracing our porch lately!

Alright Google, whats the matter??  I absolutely CAN NOT access blogger, or google.com from my desktop computer.  Gmail is perfectly fine.  Double-U, Tee, Eff???  I like using my desktop for doing my blog.  Much easier than scalding my lap with my laptop as it heats up and has no where to displace the heat.  On a side note, I have started spinning with my spindle... Like... All the time!  Love it while I wait for my spinning wheel.  I have this pretty pink and purple dyed roving I bought a long time ago when I purchased my spindle, but have never done anything with it.  Now is its time to shine!  I got a fair amount spun this week, so much I had to take it off and wind it on a cardboard toilet paper tube.  Yes, sounds disturbing, but not as bad as you'd think.  And yes, it is recycling as well.  I saved a bunch of cardboard tubes to use as seed starting pots, but got lazy and left them where I put them by the garage door.  So when my spindle got too full, I transferred the single plyed yarn onto it.  Now to make another bit so I can ply them together! Sa-weeet!

I am so excited to be getting a spinning wheel.  I ordered it on Sunday after I got my gift card, but it hasn't shipped out yet.  Or at least if it did, the update was never posted.  I am going to wait patiently until tomorrow after I see the UPS guy drive through our neighborhood.... And if he doesn't stop at our house, I am going to call and ask "WTF man?!  Website said shipped out in 24 hours... email said 48, unless something like 'sold out' happened, but that I'd get an email!"  Maybe their shipping person is sick or on vacation.  Maybe the wheel was sold just minutes prior to my purchase, and they're secretly out of stock in the mahogany color.  If that were the case I'd totally tell them to go ahead and send me either the Walnut or refund me the extra $ and I'd get the unfinished and finish it myself.  But any sort of communication would be super duper nice right now.  

See, I'm in the middle of what I have dubbed as "Exhaustion week".  AKA I helped my brother move Thurs thru Sat (even after work!), worked Friday & Saturday, Sunday was a big hoopla with the Easter and Birthday celebrations (all day event), then 3 more days of work, and now tests and school, and children activities tomorrow, as well as being shark week for me... Hormonal as all get out, which means I'm ANGRY.  Not at anything or anyone in particular, but just plain old angry.  Everything is making me angry.  Drivers, my dog, my cat, my family, some random stranger walking thru a parking lot.  I am just ANGRY.  And LOUD because I'm ANGRY.  Its rough, and I'm trying not to be LOUD at the family, but some times, like right now I just want to holler at the top of my lungs.  I have gone out for lots of walks, and am thinking maybe an hour to walk and contemplate by myself tomorrow would be wonderful... BUT.  All those activities! GAH!  Oh, wait, my husband has tomorrow off.  Hmmm... maybe if it is still nice outside.  But of course, with my luck it is saying it is going to rain.  Oh and not to mention that my phone died last week, took 3 days to get a new phone, and 3 more days to get the # transferred over.  Just. A. Pain.


No real knitting to speak of this week.  Got frustrated because I started a project for a friend who wanted a pair of hand knit socks.  Then she up and disappeared, hasn't spoken with me for over a month now.  Found out she moved without so much as a goodbye.  Guess I can sell the socks on Etsy or something.  Maybe.  These were specially altered to fit her.  Was in the process of knitting the feet of her socks.  Now they're tossed on the unfinished pile because she can't come and try them on to make sure they fit.  Maybe I will just rip them out again and make hats.  I don't know, at a loss about it right now.


Ok, well here's hoping things are better tomorrow.
 

Oh the joys of spinning!

So last night I had the pleasure of going to Paradise Fibers for their hand spinning class, to learn to spin some wool on my spindle.  I have tried by myself and watching on youtube and other random sites.  But I just couldn't get it.  The drafting and joining the wool parts confounded me.  It just didn't make sense, and didn't look like what they were doing on the video.

Last night was a class with Rachel, daughter of the owner of Paradise Fibers who was able to show me how to draft better, and smash the join together and make it spin together.  It was a great night of laughing and talking.  It was a very fun night!  Can't wait to spin some more yarn soon, just want to purchase some pretty colored wool.

I have been saying that I want a spinning wheel for the last few months, and D is encouraging me to buy one, with the agreement that I take some spinning classes to get more comfortable and make sure its something I want to do.  I took my first one last night, and there are 2 more classes for learning on wheels at the end of the month.  Now I need to decide on what model to buy!  I have 2 models picked out, one which I had the chance to spin on last night, and one which wasn't set up.  The Ashford Traveller castle style spinning wheel and the Kromski Minstrel, also a castle style spinning wheel.  The Ashford Traveller was set up, and I got to spin a little on it.  It was very comfortable, and really quite small compared to the old style saxony type that my mother had.  But I've had my heart set on the Kromski Minstrel for a long time.  I'm not sure why, because its very pretty, but taller than the Ashford.  Maybe its the draw of the more worked wood.  The spokes of the wheel are turned and very ... pretty.  Very much a gorgeous piece of furniture as well as functional machine. 

Oh the decisions!

The Agony and the Ecstasy...

What a beautiful Friday afternoon for a jaunt into Spokompton to see the fabled Paradise Fibers!  The morning started off rough with snow snow snow snow snow... And was still snowing when I left work at 9:30am.  Yes, I do work early in the mornings, but thats neither here nor there at this point.

So when my ex wanted to drop off my daughter at 11 am, and we had the rest of the day to goof off and dawdle around, I proposed a question to her:  "Would you like to go to a huge yarn store in Spokane with me?"  And after hemming and hawing, my daughter said "Ok".  It may have taken some bribing of buying her own yarn.  She knows how to work the system already!

So I looked up the directions on Mapquest (BTW, never use mapquest for Paradise Fibers!  It puts  you at an adult warehouse in the skeezy part of town :-/ even using the actual address...) and after driving for too long trying to find the place, my hubs called wanting to go to lunch since we were in Spokane.  So we went to his work, found the CORRECT place on Google Maps, had lunch, and went to the fabled yarn store!

Now where the agony part comes in:

We were there all of maybe 2 minutes when I noticed a familiar sight.  The shelves upon shelves upon shelves of yarn were stored upon BORDERS bookshelves!  Granted, the shelves were turned around backwards so they could be labeled easier, but still... Stab right through the heart.  Headed back towards the front counting as I went... about 90% of the store is outfitted with former Borders fixtures.  Tables, shelves, the CD waterfalls, pylons, even slat walls!  Some of them still had the bright orange SOLD stickers on them.  For goodness sakes, their CHECK OUT counter was the former Border's Customer Service Table!  Still had the music ID panels on it!  At least our Borders took those off long before going out of business LOL!  But I did discover quite quickly, the pain of the realization was next to nothing... Was more of a "OH MY GAWD!!! They're going to fantastic use for my second favorite thing!!!"  Kind of like how it took 6 months for me to get my reading mojo back... It hurts less the longer you've taken to get away from the pain.

But the Ecstasy!  Oh the ecstasy of yarn!  Yaaarrrrn!!  Ok, I may just be a yarn zombie in disguise, but yarn is so much fun!  They have more yarn packed onto one floor than I have ever seen before!  And all sorts of brands.  Elspeth Lavold, Frog Tree, Colinette Jitterbug, Kollage, Louet, Cascade, and lots lots lots lots more.  They even had an upstairs for the spinning wheels and spinning supplies.  And Oh. My. Gawd.  So much stuff to look at!  It did help me narrow down my desired spinning wheels though.  Seeing them in person helped me visually because the size is not really comprehensive when you're shopping on the internet.  The pictures make them all look the same size, when in reality, one is super tiny and the other is not.

So now the Hubs has decided I need to take a spinning course (that Paradise Fibers happens to offer) which familiarizes you with the wheels and parts, and should help me decide which one I want to find myself using frequently.  I don't know if Hubs is thinking this through.  I think he's thinking if I make my own yarn that I won't have to buy more yarn.  But then I have to build up my spinning fiber stash so I can make all the pretty yarns to use... And that in itself is just as expensive as buying all the pretty yarns...

And so, my shopping excursion ended with buying some more sock yarn for myself, and a skein of worsted weight PINK yarn for K.  I avoided spending more money on needles I don't need, but the desire was great.  Almost made it home with some Addi Turbo Lace needles in sock sizes.  Almost made it home with Sox Stix.  But in the end, my rational mind won the battle of the "You don't need this, you already have plenty at home" argument.  Amazing!

And so, I conclude, that Paradise Fibers is a dangerous place for a yarn and spending diet, and that I must leave in order to be at work on time this morning!  Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Oh for the love of yarn!

I hate falling in love with yarn I can't afford.  Its like wanting the car that has all the upgrades until you look at the price sticker and have a heart attack.

I have fallen in love with the Hazel Knits Club exclusive color ways.  Which, BTW, you can purchase if you're enrolled in the upcoming clubs.  The hard part is deciding which one I just can't live without.  I want them all! ALL I SAY!!  Because they are that awesome!  I just wish I had two hundred or so dollars to spare for said yarn.  I can save up... That's a moot point.  But it doesn't flow with the "have it now" mentality we all have.  And besides, now we're needing to save up for other upcoming items.  Like a new, bigger car for me, or say... new baby clothes.

We've told the grandparents involved, and now we tell the world... Hubs and I decided to add a third child to the mix.  Nothing YET, but its in the plans to start trying in the near future!  One child is super excited, the other... well... he says that he's the baby, and no having more unless its a robot.  Well guess who will have his heart broken when its not a robot :(  But he has been asking why our cat isn't having kittens.  And why we can't just put her parts back in so he can have a kitten from her.  And how are kittens made?  And how do they come out of her tummy?... Oh the joys of having a curious 5 year old!  But in order to satisfy his baby wants, he wants a baby cat.  A good healthy way to satisfy the baby rabies.  

On crafting fronts, I finished another pair of socks!  Don't know if I will try to sell them, or give them to K who is begging for them.  We shall see!!!!

 And its hilarious, there is a reflection along the top of the sock blockers of the corner of the ceiling!  I spent almost an hour gazing at it trying to figure out what the reflection was!  They were fun to make, but I did get bored towards the end, so I made them a small size so they would be done quicker.  Fits child size 4 to women's size 6-7!  Now on to 2 more sets of socks I am making.  Another "just to challenge myself" and one for a friend who requested hand knit socks.


As far as gardening news, I just received my last shipment of seed packets for the year.  I want a million bajillion tomato plants!  Ok, not really.  I just want to try out new breeds to see what I like and what I don't.  I also want to try canning my own tomato sauce and maybe making spaghetti sauce this year!  Save money... Or try to anyway.  We are such spaghetti fiends here that we're going to need a lot!  Which reminds me, instead of buying yarn, I should be saving up to buy the canning pot to use on our stove, since we need a specific one.  Oh the joys of being American.  Want want want...  Time for me to get my priorities in order!


Ok, off to get my priorities straight.  Maybe just my house straightened.  Either way, I'm off to save the house from itself!  Have a wonderful week!
  

And there went another month... Where do they keep going?!

Oh February, where did you go? I missed you!  How could you not stop and talk to me for a while?!  /feelings hurt.

The shortest month of the year just FLEW by, didn't it?  I know I barely noticed it as it sped by.  The only reason I did take notice is because it was time to start my seeds for the garden!  So exciting... for me!  I have been working on a few items this month, tho none have been completely finished.  Oops, Oh well.  Life got in the way this month!  I have been working my rear end off on my computer classes and trying to get as close to a 100 percent as I can.  Doing good so far, and just hitting the midterms next week.  With work, seed starting, school, sick kids, animals, I don't know how I have even found time to sleep!

So what have I been working on?... Several things really.  Excuse me while I bust out the camera and the projects to show you. 

Being a good boy with his bone.

Being a not so good boy with a case of the troublesomes.

In the mean time to keep you entertained, here is a picture of Dozer keeping the seedlings company.  He is totally obsessed with the lights/dirt set up.  No clue why.

Please excuse the laundry basket in the background.  Its laundry folding day.  He absolutely adores chewing on his bone beside the set up.


As well as laying there being a punk beside the set up.  He had to go to time out not too long after this pic because he thought that popping the lid off the lower tray and eating the dirt (aka broccoli cell) was acceptable.  Hopefully he didn't get any of the seeds, or mommy will be mean and nasty.  That was my only packet of broccoli. :(

Other than that, on towards crafty things! A few items I am working on currently "working" on...

1)  A pair of gloves... with half fingers.  I found this pretty pretty pretty yarn called "Einstein Theory of Kermitivity (R=bT²) A very pretty variegated greens color.  This will be my first time attempting to make them with half fingers, as well as my first attempt at the mini-honeycomb pattern.  Not bad, but these gloves will definitely stay with me once finishing.  I noticed i messed up on the pattern for quite a few repeats toward the beginning, and I don't want to rip back so far.  Granted, I've only got one half way done.  There is still time to make #2 perfect... Or not so perfect.  Either way.

 2) My Feb KAL socks for Sock Knitters Anonymous.  They are a pattern called "Ivy" by Kate Blackburn.  I am using some Knit Picks sock yarn called Stroll in Sprinkle Heather.  I used to be all about this yarn.  Don't know what happened, but as of late, I am despising the Knit Picks brand.  It pills and fuzzes something terrible.  Guess I've been spoiling myself with indie dyed yarns.  The pattern itself is pretty nice, I'm enjoying the easy repeats while I watch myself some seasons of "Num3rs".  I may or may not have a crush on David Krumholtz and Rob Marrow.  The socks are a little over half way done, and I've been using my yarn box from Etsy I purchased myself for Christmas, and OMG how i love it!  Look how they fit inside, all nice and folded up!  Couldn't help but post a picture of the yarn box in its closed and pretty state.  I purchased it off of Etsy from WoodnGoods by Belle who is also on Ravelry and tempted everyone with her beautiful boxes!  It keeps both Dozer and Raisin out of the yarn as I am knitting.  I wonder if I ever blogged about the fiasco with Dozer back in Sept/Oct... The reason I got this yarn box in the first place!  *wanders off muttering about the dog*


 

3)  I started another shawl named Vlad, in the colorway "And then Buffy Staked Edward, The End" also by Indigodragonfly yarns.  Same makers of the Theory of Kermitivity.  This particular yarn is Merino/Cashmere/Nylon combo and so soft and pretty to work with.  Has some lovely shine to it as well.  Between Indigodragonfly and Hazel Knits I am all about indie dyers now.  Have to support my peeps!  

Other exciting news from the month of February!   I have signed myself up for some "Yarn Clubs" this year!  I was able to nab me a seat on the Indigodragonfly club.  Signed up for the full year with the Mystery Skein as well.  Glad I was able to within the first 24 hours of the club being open, because by hour 48, it was over 75% capacity!  In less than a week its over 90%!  Sheesh!  So exciting to see the colorways, and they'll probably be easily resold on Rav if its something I don't happen to like/feel attatched to.  Pffft, like that really happens.  I attatch myself to OTHER peoples yarns when they're up for sale... Why wouldn't I like my own.  Oh, and I also signed up for the Hazel Knits yarn club for the month of April.  Happy birthday to me!  I love how both clubs do the pattern and goodies with your purchase.  Can't wait to see what they all have!

Ok, there is your month long update!  Maybe since its a leap year I can squeeze one more blog into the month of February!  Here's hoping!

 

Me thinks I need a second blog!!

And why is that you ask?

Because, my yarn is being set aside soon to be replaced by.... Gardening!  Yes, it is the time of the year to plan out new garden vegetables, and to begin some seedlings of the slow to sprout variety.  I know, I know, I should be beaten for setting aside my yarn.   The great thing about gardening, is there is time between when things sprout to when they're ready to go to the garden, and then lots of time between going into the garden and harvesting.  But there are also plenty of weeds to deal with too!


Oh man I'm so excited about this whole thing.  I even offered to make up some flyers to distribute for the community garden I'm a part of.  Silly me, why would I ever offer that?  Because I've taken some Microsoft Office courses this semester, and am feeling pretty good about them, thats why!  I have made one, waiting for Hubs to get home to look at it and give me his opinion.  Then I might be making more!  Maybe more simplified ones!  AAANNNNDDD I'm going to hand them out around our neighborhood since we're all in townhouses with zilch for yards!  Maybe even see about handing them out at the local apartment buildings, posting them in gardening centers, etc!

Yeah, I'm being overly excited about it this year.  Yes I do have all my vegetables planned out for this year.  Yes, I may even have a "chart" already in development for placement of all the veggies.  And I may even be attempting to mix flowers into it this year as well, to lure the pollinators into my beans, peas, cucumber rows.

 Me?

Crazy?

Naaaah!!

So whadda ya think?  Should I start a second blog about gardening?  Since gardening and knitting are so different a subject?  Weigh in!  I need opinions people!  

Oh!  I forgot! Here are the pics of my finished socks!  And man are they comfy!

And so ends another month...

Gosh, I am amazed at how the month just flies by when I'm not paying attention!  I can't help but think, where did the time go?  Can't I just have a week of it back??

You may ask what I've been up to this last month that has had me away from the blog.  Apparently not so much that the excuse sounds good, but enough to make me feel like I've been doing more than I have...

Recent projects this month:

I finally sat down and finished my dad's socks.  You know, the pair that was supposed to be for Christmas that will now be for his birthday.  They turned out nice, and I really like them!  Its a pattern called "Masonic Lodge".  No, I did not have to stay in a locked room and only knit them at night under an oath of secrecy.


About midway through the sock, I ran out of yarn.  You know, no matter how much you plan, you never plan on something like that when you order yarn.  I thought I had enough yardage, to find out that my former favorite yarn distributor makes only 137 yards in this particular weight yarn.  WTF.  Really? Even with 2 skeins, that is only half a pair of socks.  Apparently their whole approach is "make them buy more, spend more".  Thank you, I did not need that. 

On a side note, I now have enough yarn left over I could potentially make him a hat as well.  We shall see if I feel particularly crafty.  Hats usually knit up quick unless I have 4 other projects going.  For that matter, same with socks.


For project #2, which is still in progress, I cast on a pair of socks for myself for the Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL (knit-a-long).  Yes, I've become a huge Ravelry-er.  Its my version of Facebook crack.  Except you have patterns to knit and crochet.

The socks I will make mine (maybe) are a pattern called Clover.  I chose to make it in a verigated orangey colored yarn.  It was on clearance and I stocked up because I fell in love with it. 

Clover is a lacy pattern with "tight" cabled pillars down the middle of the lacy parts.  I have fudged up on them, but without looking inch by inch over the length of them, I doubt anyone would notice.  And if anyone did notice because they're scrutinizing my work, they would hear from me just what I think they should do with the time they waste scrutinizing everyone else.  Oh, sorry, guess this isn't soap-box-a-thon.  

Then the last project I've been working on is my son's double-knit hat.  He wanted one just like his dads, in red and black.  Well its been a work in progress since oh, November.  Its taking more time to make because a) his head is so dang small compared to his daddy's, and b) well I've been side tracked by other things, and c)  I'm working at work and now at school too, so its been a bit of a struggle to find a happy balance of knitting, school/work, housework, kid work, etc etc.  But I've finally started on the decreases, so when I do sit down and work on it, it should be finished in no time.


Oh, yes, I have started school again.  Going to go for the Medical Administration Field.  Or really any administration field.  Right now I'm taking all online classes for the Microsoft Office Professional suite.  Power point, word, excel, outlook, access.  With a side of accounting thrown in.  Busy work, but its worth it to expand my job outlook right?  At least thats what I keep telling myself.


Throw in a visit from my brother from Oregon into January, and that is my month in a nutshell.  Busy, busy, busy.  And here comes February around the corner.  Jeez, where does the time go?!  If anyone out there ever creates a device that either sends you back in time, or slows the time down around you so you can get more done... Or even a cloning device, I'd greatly appreciate the chance to use it first!


Everyone have a great rest of the month!

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I started off the New Year a little late with a new post... 

A new year is a time for "resolutions".  Things we promise to do for the new year, which may or may not come to fruition.  Everyone attempts them, and some actually finish what they try!  Me:  Not so much.  Every year I say "I'm going to lose weight, get in shape, wear make up and do my hair every day", yet not much of that ever happens.  Yes, I lose weight for a little while, then gain it back.  Wear make up and do my hair every day for a month, then decide its too much work.  Etcetera, etcetera.  My resolutions?  To use the stash that I have to make things rather than buying more (gonna be tough), and to buy more products locally/semi-locally rather than via giant corporations (not so tough in the yarn/craft market), and of course the ever "Save money, don't spend money" resolution (ha!).  I'm not going to worry about my weight just yet.  My pants still fit (mostly).

Well this year on Rav, someone posted a "Get Real for 2012" thread asking people to go thru their stash, add up how many yards of yarn they have, and try to figure out how much knitting/crochet it would take to get thru the stash in 1 year.  Well it really is a wake up call as to how much  yarn one has, and realistically how much does one really need?  And yarn is like food for some people... You never can have enough!  I know when a new colorway comes out in my favorite yarns I do the "Ooooh Pretty! I can make *insert project that may not come to be here* for *insert family member* with that!"  I have foot tracings of just about everyone in my immediate family with the intention of making socks for EVERYONE!  A lofty little goal, but someday it might happen!


So I downloaded a link to my stash, added in the yarns that I had ordered prior to Christmas that have not arrived yet, and I got a little scared.  Yes, some of the yarn is Lace weight (800+ yards per 4 oz of yarn), but most is sock weight, that will one day become socks, hats, bags, scarves, etc.  The total for the yardage is over 35,000 yards. For me, it would take using up 740ish yards/week in order to get my stash to 0.  Socks only take 200-300 yards/pair to make depending on length.  Hats, roughly about 150 yards.  There were some people there with over 100,000 yards, and some that were too scared to add it up.  I think I'll be on a yarn diet until I halve this number.


New year is also a time for organization.  My brother decided to drag his stash out of his storage and organize it too... Apparently it was too much to deal with on Christmas day, so he hung out at our house most of the day.  I'd hate to add up the  yardage for him!  My stash consists of 2.5 bins.  Some hanging file folder bin things from Wally World.  Cheap but they work.  I organized it to 1 bin is all sock yarn, 1 bin is all palette yarn (100% wool, non machine washable), and the half bin of lace yarn.  Not bad all in all.  The problem being I have just discovered independent yarn dyers.  They are pricey, but for the size of the hank of yarn, they are completely worth it.  My top 2 right now are Indigodragonfly.com  and Hazelknits.com.  Indigodragonfly is from Canada, and for shipping, its not bad!  US airmail for $7+  (give or take for weight) and it gets to you in roughly 7-10 business days.  Hazel knits is from the Seattle area (semi local) and uses priority shipping which costs $5-10 depending on size of box no doubt.  They also offer free shipping for orders over $120.... No, I have not ordered that much from them to justify free shipping.... yet.  There is the future, of which I'm attempting to save money.  They both have scrumptious colors, and the sock yarn with cashmere in it has the same content base, same price... Gah!  I am in so much trouble, for soon I shall own a bit of each!  So much for the resolution to spend less money, and save more... Maybe I can be saving for  yarn?...


But I'm attempting something new (to me).  Repair rather than replace.  Especially things like work pants and shirts.  I just wore a hole in the thighs of my work pants, and discovered a pair of D's discarded khakis in just about the same shade I'm going to use to repair today.  Make my own patch... yay!  Doing that with the kids clothes as well.  Granted after Christmas and Birthdays, they need no clothes... Sheesh.


Anyhow, thats it for the update right now... Gotta go knit and repair, and watch girlie movies now that the kids are back to school!  Yay!

I'd like to use a lifeline, Regis

Lifelines.  What exactly are they?  If you're on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" then they are a way of narrowing down the answer using different with help.  If you're drowning, its a flotation device thrown to you by a life guard.  But in knitting, what are they?  

Well the answer is this:  They are lengths of scrap yarn you run through the active loops on your knitting needles using a tapestry needle every 10-20 rows to give you a "safe zone" if you mess up so badly you need to rip your work in progress out, you don't mess up or drop stitches when picking them back up.  It is especially useful if you every try lace work and/or a shawl.  There is a  brand of knitting needles known as "Voldeknits", tho any brand of cheaply made cable needles can be considered "Voldeknits".  They are known for having their cables come unglued from the needles in the middle of a huge project such as shawls, in the process dropping (losing) all the stitches from the needles.  A prime example of where lifelines are useful in knitting.

This is true for any sized project, including socks.  I started a pair of socks for my Dad for Christmas.  I am still only 1" into them, because after starting the pattern did I discover either a) I can't count or b) I messed up the pattern right in the gates.  I think its B, but who's to say it wasn't A... Or both for that matter.  Regardless, I wish I would have used a lifeline after starting the ribbing.  It would have been so much easier to rip out.  I did try and add a lifeline with a tapestry needle, but when it came to ripping out, I was finding out how much I caught the yarn i was pulling out... such a pain in the patoot!

I also wish I had used a lifeline in the shawl I tried to knit, but wound up frogging a week ago so I could use the yarn for a hat instead.  I was knitting along, following the pattern when I discovered I messed the pattern up at some point, and couldn't read my knitting to figure out where it happened.  I had used a complete skein of yarn, and was half way through the shawl.  I wound up setting it down in the middle of the row and leaving it for 2+ months.  Until someone asked for a blue hat.  Thus, it is now becoming a hat.

Yes, lifelines are completely optional in knitting as it is in "WWTBAM", but they can be vital! 

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house...

Guess it helps to actually WRITE in a blog, doesn't it.  I blame the early morning!

So, it is the Monday before Christmas.  Busy busy week!  I can't believe how fast the time has flown this month!  Knitting, cleaning, working, kids, rinse and repeat!  I have been overwhelmed with knitting recently.  Knitting some hats for Etsy, knitting Christmas gifts.  I finally had to tell my dad that the present I wanted to make him got tossed to the back burner, and he'll get it after New Years.  He seemed ok with that.  I hope LOL!  But I have 1.5 hats done for Etsy, hoping for another 1.5 before New years!  And I just need another inch or two on my mother's pair of socks!  My hands are starting to protest.

On a side note, the last two days I've had off (sat and sun) were spent cleaning, knitting, cleaning, knitting and wrapping presents. Granted, it only took about an hour to wrap them up, but I was also dividing the stocking candy stuffers into equal amounts and into cellophane bags.  That probably took the most time, because the kids are all about equality LOL!  "Mooooommmm he got more red kisses than i did!" etc, etc.  

And I've been (trying) to clean out a corner in our garage for our new freezer!  My parents bought us a freezer for a Christmas present!  Thats actually one item we were saving for this year too, so yay! So exciting!  But I never realized how much garbage type items get piled up in our garage over the course of a year.  Its amazing.  Like why in the world I was keeping my iHome box?! I don't know!  I tossed it of course.  But I uncovered a stash of shipping boxes that will be moved up into my closet for safe keeping.  And a stash of scraps from other sewing projects from years gone.  Going to sort thru those sometime after Christmas too.  Oh the items that can be made with scraps!


On other news fronts, the store I was temping for during the holiday season asked me to stay on.  Which is totally cool, but I would need to find a second job in order to get any sort of income worth living on.  Oh well.  Maybe gas station attendant? LOL!  Eventually I'll figure that one out.  Might have to go to the local yarn stores and start offering my sales assistance?... One can only hope!


Anyhoo, it is time for me to take off for work! Yay early AMs!  I am one of the few that work there that enjoy early morning shifts.  Everyone thinks i'm crazy, maybe I am, but the peace and quiet is so enjoyable!


If I dont make it on here prior to Sunday:


Feliz Navidad!  Merry Christmas!  Mele Kalikimaka! Aloha!

The Busiest Time of the Year!

It never fails.  Every year, the last month is the busiest time of the year.  Working long hours, cleaning the house, running errands, buying presents, everything is crammed into short hours of the day, as darkness falls at 3:30pm.  This month is busy busy busy.  Making gifts, making hats, making dice bags, making dinner, making time for family....

I am jealous of the people who seem so relaxed during this month.  Have they no family to suck all the hours out of the day?  Yesterday I felt guilty for sitting down for 2 hours to watch a movie.  So I attempted to cast on for a hat to make, and in the half dark I had to restart 3 or 4 times.  My bad, I know better.  I really do.  I just wanted to watch one movie with hubby and best friend.  I was able to get a good start on it today, while at niece's b-day party.  It was a swimming party, and well, I just hate bathing suits.  Means I have to shave places i don't want to shave.  So I opted to sit and knit.  But when we got home, it was nap time for the whole family except me.  So here I sit, every light in the house turned off while they all sleep on the couches.  I am so jealous, but if I go to sleep now, I'll be up all night.  And tomorrow starts the 4 am shifts.  Fun yet not at the same time.  They want us to be done with the truck shipments by the time the store opens at 8.  But if we finish by about 9, then I will have 2 extra hours to knit while waiting for T to get out of school, which works for me.

And here I feel like I've been ignoring my blog.  I know, its been a while, but such is life.  Well, to remedy the situation here I am blogging!

This week I've decided to try IndigoDragonfly's yarn.  They are a Canadian dyeing "company" who sell their items via their blog on Wordpress.  They are very... how you say... creative with the naming of their yarn.  They take a lot of inspiration from some very popular tv shows and movies and create colorways with them.  They make several kinds of yarn.  My favorite weight for the last while being sock yarn.  They have all sorts of blends using wool.  The standard merino wool/nylon blend, theres a blend of one with cashmere, as well as the straight up merino superwash yarn.  Superwash is wonderful if you are giving gifts to a person who may or may not want to (or know how) to hand wash a knitted item.  But they also have worsted weight yarn, lace weight yarns, and DK (double knit) weight.  I've heard them raved about on Ravelry a lot, so I decided it was time for me to try some.  Well, eventually.  After Christmas some time.

Speaking of Christmas I'm so excited!  I know at least 2 of my presents!  My mother talked with me about buying the family a chest freezer!  Something I've been bugging my husband about for almost a year now.  I want one so we can buy meat when its on sale and store it, as well as all the goodies from my garden, and my brother's garden.  I will have to clean out the corner of the garage, but who cares!  A freezer!  Whoopee!  The second one is my husband was sweet, saw me oogling a nice digital camera when we went Christmas shopping with his yearly bonus money (Thank goodness for bonus money!)  He bought that for me so now I will have a nice camera to a) take family pictures with and b) better pictures for my Etsy account.  I am so excited to play with it.  And the fact it was on uber sale makes it even better.  It has something like a 15x's zoom on it.  Something ridiculously wonderful I'm sure.

So this blog post is a bit more up beat than my last.  Its amazing what a decent Christmas bonus will do for an attitude.  That and the fact that the kids will now not be quite so disappointed with lack of boxes under the tree.  Just this year there is nothing BIG under the tree.  Like when T was 2, he had a whole wooden track set under there.  But this year will have to do with character jammies, movies, and a few posters of his favorite characters/movies.  Same for K, minus the jammies.  She has 100 sets already, I think she has enough, but she's getting a robe, movies, under garments (*cry* she cant be this big yet!) and posters.  Oh how they grow!  As well as they are each getting a hand knit item.  Such as socks or a hat.  Which reminds me, I should be getting back to knitting.  Happy crafting, and happy holidays everyone!

Let the Grabby Hands commence!

Tis The Season for Grabby Hands and the I Wantsies!

Welcome to the Christmas Season.... It is the perpetual Grabby Hand and I Wantsies season for children and adults everywhere!  Beginning Friday, the feeding frenzy of crazed shoppers begins for the next entire MONTH!!  Greed is everywhere like salmon during spawning time!  You can't walk 5 feet without a pair of grabby hands and i wants uttered out of mouths of babes and adults alike!  And I get to work the midnight shift on Friday.  Hear the exuberance in my voice?  Yeah, me neither LOL.


This year is the first year that I am gladly announcing... I am NOT participating in the greedy shopping frenzy.  We are so broke it's not even funny.  We are getting a "family gift" of Mario Kart (dont tell the kids) and ONE wheel for the Wii.  Each child shall have a pair of socks, made by me, and each child will get a movie that I purchased before Borders went out of business!  We won't have a tree, we won't have many presents, but hopefully my family will come to appreciate the little things of the celebration instead.  

Like having hot chocolate on a snowy night, with nothing but the Christmas lights and radio on while watching the snow fall.  Like taking a family walk around the neighborhood all bundled up to the nines to look at the neighborhood Christmas lights and decorations.  Like having a family snowball fight just because.


Growing up I don't really remember having lean Christmases.  I remember Barbies and model horses galore.  And lots of clothes.  But this year grandparents can make up the rest of that balance.


This is not saying I do not have grabby hands and "I want"sies.  In fact I do, now more than ever since we can not afford anything beyond food.  I long for a spinning wheel (Sequoia Spinning wheel or Kromski Fantasia), and some wool to spin.  Or a drop spindle to learn on.  I long for a fancy set of knitting needles.  Dyakcraft.com specifically.  I want a bunch of their needles!  Most of all I want my children to be happy.  I don't want them to realize how dire the situation for their Christmas is.  At least with K I can regift some of the yarn I'm not using, but with T, its a lot harder to explain that we can't afford all the presents he wants.


Sometimes being a grown up sucks.  Making ends meet is so much harder than I could have imagined.  And its not a fun road to travel down.

Socky Goodness!

MMMmmmm its time for some socky goodness!

Finally finished D's socks on the 16th.  Yay!  They look good, I like the pattern a lot, after being so unsure starting out.  And now I shall post pictures!  D already knows what the look like, he insisted on wearing them yesterday!  So... I guess it is a Christmas present in November.  Either that, or i'm going to snag them back and wrap them up LOL.  

Both socks done!

Close up view of the pattern

So onwards to another pair of socks!  This time for my mother!  I have this cute hand painted sock yarn that I bought online called "Evil Stepmother".  Its a variegated colorway that goes from a dark purple all the way to a light red-purple shade.  Don't know why, but that color just shouted "MOM" to me... Maybe its because I remember her wearing a lot of purple while I was growing up.  Either way, she's getting a pair of socks out of the whole deal.  If i can finish 1 pair of socks every 2 weeks, I might have Christmas gifts for 4 people!  Yay!  We're so broke right now, that no one is getting bought gifts.  Including the kids, which really stinks for them.  This year I did a horrible job of clearance sale shopping for Christmas.  Oh well.  They should be thankful for a roof over their head and food in their belly.  Which is helping me bust my stash of yarn thankfully.

Alright, of to a parent teacher conference for the kindergartener! 

Discontinued!

No no no, my blog is not discontinued despite what the title claims!

This post is about how all my favorite yarn lines are being discontinued at the same time!  I understand how yarn is related to style, which fluctuates quite often, but I will tell you this, trying to get my hands on some of the colors I have not previously had in certain yarn lines is putting a strain on my budget.  I am now officially on a yarn diet.  I will not be buying any more! I have plenty to work with, now I just need to sell some stuff on Etsy LOL!

A picture of the Imagination sock, and 4 skeins of Stroll sock on top

I have just discovered the yarn line on knit picks of "Imagination Hand Painted Sock" yarn (especially "Fairy Princess, second from left on bottom rows in photo).  It is my inner child's fantasy.  It has such color lines as "Mermaid Lagoon" and "Evil Stepmother" which are absolutely stunning!  My inner child squealed when we received the box of new yarn a few weeks ago.  They are so pretty and soft, and the verigations of color are beautiful!  Only to log on to Ravelry two days ago to discover they are discontinuing a whole lot of the colors I wanted, both in this line and their other hand painted sock "Stroll".  It frustrates me to no end, because it feels like they are doing this on purpose.  Granted, not just for me, but for other customers too.  I haven't been to big on the heavier yarns as of late.  For whatever reason, my hands prefer the smaller gauge yarns, and don't feel so worn out after knitting with sock yarn, as when I am knitting with K on her regular worsted weight yarn, my hands feel tired!  Maybe its also because I use huge aluminum needles that are more slippery than my wooden ones... But they're discontinuing whole lines of worsted weight yarns that I haven't even had the chance of trying!  I can't afford all of this!

In my mind, the conversation between the leaders at KP goes something like this:  

"Look Bob!  We had a big run on Imagination this week"  
"Great Darcy, lets discontinue it so they all scramble to spend a crap ton of money this week!  Who cares how the consumers feel."   
"But Bob, if we do that, then the customers might rebel against us!"  
"Yes, I see your point Darcy.  Lets discontinue some other brands or colors as well.  Maybe they won't think we're out for their money if we say its to bring in new colors and brands for more money!"  
"Gee Bob, you're so smart.  Charge them more for new lines of yarn that are the exact same as the old lines, and convince them the new lines are more 'designer'.  I like how you think Bob... We're going to get huge raises this year!"

*None of the above conversation happened, was over heard, or anything other than an act of my imagination to reason as why they're doing this.

I wound up breaking down and buying MORE yarn because I want those colors!  I like "Frog Prince" and "Pirate King".  I think a whole lot of people (or just me) will be getting lots of socks in the future!  Thank goodness for the Rav group "Sock Knitters Anonymous"... They have a monthly sock knitting challenge.  Maybe I'll challenge myself this year to make 6 pairs of socks...

This act by KP has definitely made me wary of their ways. I think Andrea @ CDA Yarn and Fiber will be getting more of my money soon.  Maybe after I use up a bit of my stash!  This out of control yarn habit I have better get under control soon!  I know in the near future, I will not have so much time to knit as I have in the last few months.  Mostly because the week of Black Friday, I'll be working tons of hours.  (Yay? I think not!)  And the night of Thanksgiving is going to be the roughest I'll ever have had.  I have to be at work at 11:45.  We open at midnight.  I'll be there until 8:15 am.  UUUuuuuuggghhh.  This is when I miss Borders the most.  Because even though we were open at 6 am, we were slow until afternoon.  Everyone was at places like Walmart and Target and Best Buy to get the best deals they could.  Now I work at one of those retailers, and I will have to deal with everyone wanting my help right now! And do I know where xxx product is? NO, I don't work that area of the store! I've only worked on the clothing!  Go find someone in that area to help you!  Bah humbug!


Ok, so my inner scrooge is coming out early.  Sorry about the sneak peek.  May my zen return before I rip a Black Friday shoppers throat out!


And on that positive note, just wanted to say D's socks are about half way done.  Just finishing up the gusset increases/heel flap. Once the heel is turned then its 4-6" for a leg, and I'm done.  Let me tell you what a trial it has been getting to the half way point!  Everything is so busy for me right now!  The kids are all signed up for 4H, our first meeting is in Dec with a group in Dalton Gardens (about 20 min from where we live now, but all the groups around our area didn't have the things K wanted to be involved in.  Better to have a group with 3/4ths the things she wanted to sign up for and be in a satellite group for 1 thing than be in a group with 1 thing she wants, and have to satellite out for 3 others...


Speaking of K and 4H... She signed up for knitting and cat this year, she wants to do crochet, sewing, non-horse, gardening, and something else, but for her 1st year, I figured it was better to under-work her rather than overwork her and her get frustrated.  T was signed up for Cloverbuds too, even tho he said he didn't want to LOL.  Too bad, Mommy makes the decisions here!  Ok, off to take care of the herd!  Everyone have a great weekend!
.

Sock it to me!

I have been working hard, or hardly working depending on the stance you're looking from.  I started a new job, just a temporary holiday help, and supposedly only 9 hours a week, but this week I've racked up almost 11, and I have Saturday too!  So I'll be getting almost 15 hours if i get another 4 hours on Saturday.  Putting up Christmas stuff is getting me into the Christmas mood already!

After getting home from work today, I was exhausted!  If I was asked a question, I couldn't answer because I was so tired.  I just became a zombie for a bit.

But that is not why you're Socking it to me!  This is why:

I finished K's pair of socks, with enough yarn to make a second pair!  This is the same pair in different lights.  The one on the cement is outdoors in bright sun, bottom one is sunlight in the house thru a window LOL!  Having finished that pair of socks has allowed me to start a new pair for D for Christmas.  And lucky for him, it is "M(an)(N)ovember" in one of the groups on Ravelry.com Movember.  Man sock November.  Whatever you want to call it.   I have started them yesterday.  Only yesterday?!?! Its hard to believe, but yes, only yesterday, I am working on a pair of toe-up two-at-a-time pair for him.  On Saturday I went to CDA Yarn & Fiber with T and visited Andrea and the pugs Chester and Bugsy to choose out the yarn to use on this project.  I tried to get T's input on the yarn, but he was so busy petting Chester and sitting with him he was no help at all.  He did what his father does "Yes" and "That is good" with out really looking at the choices.  Way to be taught early!

But in the end we took home a couple hanks of Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in the color "Moss".

.That is in the early Sunday morning sun.  As of this very moment, I only have 2 more increase rows before I'm done with the toes and moving on to the foot!  And if I finish this in the next week or two, I may have to start a pair for myself!  OR there is an option to make a second pair for D if there is enough yarn left (which there should be if the legs aren't too long).  Once I finish, I will say what pattern they are, but may not post a picture of the finished product, because this is a present.  Granted K's socks are presents too, but she's not online!  Its great having control over stuff like that.


Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween, and brought in lots of candy!  I know we did.  Optimus prime was a hit!  And to wrap up this blog post, I will post some Optimus pictures!

Haunted nights! Boring days!

One word for the nights agenda:  Scarywood!

Our local theme park, Silverwood, has created for the last 2 years a wonderous scary theme park for the halloween season.  Every piece of horror film freak outs have been included.  All the way down to the murderous clowns.  Obviously they're not really murderous but they are scary!  There is a mutated maze (mutated things jump out at you from the shadows), blood bayou (FREAKY haunted house, which is even worse this year i hear), and people who follow you around and sniff you!  That in itself was creepy... This is an adult only evening, no one under 13 is allowed in the park when its Scarywood.  Thank goodness.  This is a birthday thing for my friend H.  We have been friends 4 years, and really this is only the second year we really celebrated her birthday with her.  That, and I wanted to go to Scarywood LOL


But that is not all i have been doing.  Just two days ago (Wed) Husband has mentioned to me that he needs a hat for tonight.  That he didn't have one.  I KNOW I bought him a hat 3 or so years ago when he was working the winter season as an ATM repair man.  He had a huge heavy coat, gloves and hat and scarf that i bought him so he wouldn't freeze.  But where the hat, scarf, gloves went we have no clue.  They are not in our closets, they are not in the cars, they are not in the garage unless they are flattened to the ground underneath the shelving units.  So I made the decision at 9 am to make him a hat.  I hopped online, to Ravelry.com my favorite pattern and public knitting site, and searched away for a hat that would match my idea.  I had to wing it.  Make my own pattern if you will.  So far so good, its a little large and a little too long, but thats what he asked for.  I will post pictures after I finish it.  But I will attempt to describe it here.


My man's hat is a double knit* hat.  It is a combination of green and midnight heather colors.  Midnight heather is a navy-black blend with blue/green tones in it.  Very pretty.  It is knit in the round, and has stripes on it.    I am currently decreasing the crown, and the pattern I've been loosely following has been decreasing every other round, however I find that this is making for a VERY long hat, so i stopped doing that a few rows in, and have been decreasing every round.  If I ever make this hat again, I will modify it so the stripes are more uniform rather than a random "I'll change colors here" type thing.  But I like it so far... I'm about to switch to double pointed needles because there are too few stitches to make knitting in the round a good option.  The cable needles are getting more in the way than they are helpful. 


So my Rough pattern:
Using 24" cable needles size 7 or 8
2 colors Fingering or Sport yarn


CO 110 stitches (118 for larger head) using both colors, long tail method.  Make sure colors are alternating during CO (this is what took the longest).


The first color stitch on your needle will be your Main Color (MC), the second stitch is your Contrast Color (CC).  Knit all MC, Purl all CC.  I discovered that to get the two sided type of hat, you need to carry both color yarns over to each side as you knit and purl.  You're only going to be picking up one of the yarns as you work, but the other color will be along the correct side when you're not working with it to give it a solid appearance, as well as double sided. 


Knit 6 rows with MC on the front side, CC on back side.
Row 7, Knit with CC, Purl with MC for 2 rows.
Row 9, Knit with MC, Purl with CC for 6 rows.
Row 15, Knit with CC, Purl with MC for 7 rows
Row 21, Knit with MC, Purl with CC for 2 rows
Row 23 Knit with CC Purl with MC for 7 rows
Row 30: Begin Decreases. Go back to Knitting with MC, purling with CC and  Work 11 pairs of stitches Knitting MC, Purling CC.  On 12th pair, slip MC to right hand needle, take CC onto a cable needle to the back, slip next MC to right hand needle.  Take CC on cable needle, slip back to left hand needle, slip both MC to left hand needle, k2MCtog, p2CCtog.  Place stitch marker.  Work 11 pairs of stitches, do the slipping MC/CC again, but with MC,  slip 1 knit wise, knit 1, pass slip stitch over, and purl both CC again.  Work in this pattern until you come to the beginning of the work.  Once you have worked 8-9 rows of the MC, swap again, and you can finish out with the CC, or work a small stripe and swap back to the MC.


Now, if you want a super long hat, feel free to knit 1 row in between decreases.  However, if the head you're fitting is not that long, feel free to decrease on every round.  Or you can do what I've been doing, and decrease/knit half of it, then just straight decrease the rest of it.  Now when you get down to the last bits, and its hard to knit on a cable needle, you will need to switch to double pointed needles.  Continuing the MC knit/CC purl.  I have always ALWAYS done the kitchener stitch (grafting) for the tops of hats.  The pattern I was modeling this after just cuts a long end, and threads it thru the stitches a few times and draws it tight.  What ever way you like, works.  I will let you know how the kitchener stitch works for the double sided hat.  Along with pictures.


That has been my 36 hours in a nutshell.

Edited to include pictures.

*double knit: Lovely thick knit to create a reversible pattern.