Jennifer's Journal

Make 1 Short Row Heel

2009-03-10T08:28:00.005-05:00

Well, the blog has been very neglected lately!!!!! Between Christmas knitting, work, holidays, and more work, computer time has been to a minimum. Knitting however has not been! I have taken my Rambler sock and actually developed it into a pattern called Twister. Even more exciting is that it is this months Sock of the Month at Twist! It will soon be available as a free pattern on Ravelry as well! So here is Twister!

With this sock, one of the things that I did, that took the most time, and working out the wording kinks is my heel. I did my own short-row heel. I worked really hard to simplify it. There are no wrap & turns or yarn overs, and you don't count the stitches in the middle, only the stitches on the ends.

Here is a tutorial on how to make the Make-1 Short row heel. This heel can be used in any sock toe-up or cuff down. It is a short heel, so in order to fit in your shoe better, you need to do some plain knit stitches on the heel side of your foot, continuing the pattern on the instep if you desire. I have used this on my girls and knit about 1/2 inch, and for me, I knit about 1 inch extra. You then get to find the Key Number. The Key Number is the number of heel stitches divided by 4; the whole number will be the number of stitches left unworked on each end. In my example, there are 22 heel stitches, divided by 4, the whole number is 5, so my key number is 5.

The first half of the heel is:

Row 1 (RS): S1, K to end, turn

Row 2 (WS): S1, P to end, turn

Row 3: S1, K until 1 stitch left unworked, turn

Row 4: S1, P until 1 stitch left unworked, turn

Row 5: S1, K until 2 stitches left unworked, turn

Row 6: S1, P until 2 stitches left unworked, turn

You continue in this manner until you have the Key Number (5 in this case) of stitches left unworked on each side. You will only have 2 needles, but for ease of seeing it, I put the middle, worked stitches on a third needle.

Now you begin the heel turn. This is done with the M1Join(RS) and M1Join(WS) which I will show you step by step.

Row 1 (RS): S1, K to 1 more than Key Number is left (in our example it will be with 6 stitches left on the left needle), S1Kwise (that 6th stitch gets slipped as if to knit)
M1Join(RS):

Pick up the bar between the stitches from front to back with the left needle. I work better with my right needle, so I pick it up with the right needle...

And put it onto the left needle keeping the needle going in from front to back.
Move the slipped stitch from the right needle back to the left needle. Knit the bar together with the previously slipped stitch through the back loop by inserting right needle into back slipped stitch and the bar from right to left

then knit them together (through the back loop)

Turn

Row 2(WS): S1, , P to 1 more than Key Number is left (in our example it will be with 6 stitches left on the left needle), S1 (that 6th stitch gets slipped as if to purl)

Make1Join(WS):

Pick up the bare between stitches from front to back with left needle I work better with my right needle, so I pick it up with the right needle...

And put it onto the left needle keeping the needle going in from front to back.

Move slipped stitch from right needle back to left needle. Purl the bar together with the previously slipped stitch.

Turn.

This process is repeated until all the unworked stitches are worked. The last row of each side, is worked the the bar between the heel and instep stitches. This helps close any gaps that are created when you go back to knitting in the round. My other trick to keeping any gaps closed, and this is mostly from trial and error, is that when you are knitting the first round all the way around the last stitch on the needle, and the first stitch of the next needle, I like to pick up another bar in the gap and knit it together with that first or last stitch. I also try to cross them (on the last stitch of the needle, pick up a bar that is more on the instep side and knit it together with the heel side, the first stitch of the instep needle, pick up a bar that is more on the heel side and knit it together.) I do that on both sides, and I am able to eliminate any holes that might want to naturally occur there.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, let me know, and I will try to answer them. The goal was to have an easy heel that did not require any wrapping or a lot of counting. And, it still does not produce holes when done twisting the stitches the correct way. I like it, and I hope you do too!

Yippee!! They are done

2008-11-23T20:35:00.003-06:00

The Big Black (Boring) Socks are done! I can't even remember when I started them, but I kept on them and I have finished. I did have to force myself to take them with me so that any time I wanted to knit while I was out and about that is what I should work on, and it paid off! And best yet, my Hubby will have nice warm toes for the winter. He desperately needed them, his other good pair (not handmade) wore a hole through, and he needed a new pair.

Note the yellow toes. The last pair of socks I made for him had 12" legs before the heel and took 4 skeins of yarn. I only had 3 skeins of black, so I told him he needed to pick a different color for the toes. He picked yellow. I thought at first they would be his Shocker (Wichita State) socks, but that is just the color he wanted. It was very rewarding to get to the yellow and know that I was almost done however. The black yarn is Wildfoote and the yellow is Jawoll.

I was also working on my August socks of the month for Twist. These are the Sake socks made out of Panda Silk. They are supposed to be geisha socks, but I don't own flip flops, so I have no need for a split toe. Also, I love the yarn and wanted them to be a bit longer, so I made the legs 6" long.The twisted stitches give it a beautiful texture! They are light and soft and very enjoyable to wear, especially on an unusually warm fall day!And, not to neglect the sewing... Debbie and I found this beautiful fabric for a Needle Nook Fabrics customer and put together this ensemble for Debbie.

The gown is a camisole, Kwik Sew 2930 lengthened, and the robe is a combination of Kwik Sew 3257 lengthened for the body, 2923 for the cap of the sleeve, and 3162 shortened to 3/4th length for the rest of the sleeves. The gown is out of nylon Lycra swimwear and the lace is a stretch lace.

As you can see, I did manage to get a lot accomplished this first week of winter sports. Now it is on to more socks, and I think I need to start a hat or two ... only time will tell!

Mittens !

2008-11-10T10:44:00.004-06:00

Twist yarn shop has begun a new knitting club of the month ... Mittens! Knittamittamo is the latest craze, and of course I had to join in on all the fun! The club started in September with the Very Cabley Mittens using Cascade Cloud 9 yarn. The yarn combines Merino wool and Angora. It is super soft and was a fun fast knit.As Jen of NuttyIrishmanKnits had suggested. I knit the cuff on size 4 (3.5 mm) needles and changed to size 6 (4.0 mm) needles for the hands. I am totally thrilled with how they turned out. Super soft and fuzzy!October brought about the Genmaicha by Kirsten Kapur. They are beautiful cabled fingerless gloves. The yarn for the month was Plymouth Happy Feet. This was another fun pair of mittens to make. I really love how beautiful they are, and I can function with keeping my hands warm. Sometimes it is cold in the basement at the computer, and I can wear these and they really help me stay warm. The best part is I can still knit with them on.
I still have a full skein of yarn left, so I am going to make a cabled hat to go with it named Shedir. I love the pattern, and it should be a good challenge as well.

November is bringing a bit of colorwork to the mittens. Bird in Hand by Kate Gilbert. I am planning on using Cascade 220 in a dark purple with grey for the contrast color. Should be a lot of fun. Also a fun, colorful challenge.

My Other First Sweater

2008-11-08T10:40:00.002-06:00

So my Big One's sweater was not actually the first sweater that I have started. The first sweater I ever started was a raglan t-shirt knit from the top down. It is the Neck Down shaped T-shirt # 233 from Knitting Pure and Simple made out of O-wool Balance. I started it in April, and then I had other things happen or call to me, and it rested from time to time. It had humble beginnings.

Then I got to the point where it was supposed to begin decreasing for waist shaping. I had one, okay well two, big fears. I was not sure it was going to fit nicely over my rather large chest without pulling funny. At this point, I determined that some bust shaping of some sort was going to need to happen. So, not knowing what to do, I took a break from the sweater. Then I discovered Bust Dart Math from Knitting Daily! Okay, so I now had a plan and was going to put in bust darts instead of the waist shaping, because that would also create the waist shaping. Here are the results of the darts. It was fitting nicely.

After I got the bust darts in, I discovered one big problem. I had gotten it over the bust nicely, but now it was shorter in the front than in the back. Now I needed to do some short rows in the front to even it out. That took a lot of trial and error. I learned a lot, but I did it! I finished my sweater. I was even able to wear it at least once before it gets too cold again!

It fits nicely, I learned A LOT! I can now say, I have made my own adult sweater, curves and all! Now that was a lovely accomplishment!

My First Sweater!

2008-10-06T12:19:00.004-05:00

So, this is actually the second sweater I started, but the first sweater that I have completed! This is for my Big girl. It is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Elizabeth's Percentage Sweater. I was using her book, the Knitting Workshop. I am using Cascade 220 Superwash. It is 100% machine-washable wool. I started with the body, and then made the sleeves and attached them at the underarm. This is seen here.

I then did a stranded fair-isle yoke as she instructs. I only used one contrast color in my yoke, and I charted the big snowflake pattern myself. The other patterns come from various parts within the book
It blocked out beautifully!
And it fit her even better! She loves it, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out.

Next stop ... Mittens, and socks, always socks, and maybe a hat or two...

Would have been FIRST...

2008-10-01T09:56:00.004-05:00

A very dear young friend of mine is very involved in 4-H, and was getting ready for the Sedgwick county fair. She asked me if I had any knitting that I would like to enter. She is working very hard to keep the art form available at the fair, and wants to promote knitters in the area! I was getting ready for a trip, so she took care of everything, I just provided the knitting. I got blue ribbons, more knitting was entered, and life was good. I was not particularly heavily invested, but it was still kind of fun allowing others to see my work, which I have worked hard on. Next came time for state fair. I was fully immersed in football two-a-days, and just thinking about adding anything extra in made my toes curl, but once again, Grace made it easy for me. I entered the same things below:

This is my bad hair day hat. It got a white (3rd place) ribbon and said good job. Not really all that much of a big deal! I like the hat, I'm happy, move on.

I also entered my rambler socks. This is a sock of my own design, out of beautiful yarn that mom bought me for my birthday. I am very invested in this pair of socks. I love them, I love how they feel and fit. I am very proud of them. This is what they look like:

The yarn changes colors in magical ways, and the two balls were not identical, but marry very nicely, and I love them. I am not hung up on having matchy-matchy socks. This yarn makes it impossible to know how they will turn out until you are done. That is the nature of the yarn, and I love that. My self-striping socks do just that, self-stripe. I love that, and I don't care if the stripes line up exactly, fraternal socks are just fine by me. They are still beautiful, and created by my own hands. That being said, this is the comment that I got from the State Fair judge:

Click on it, blow it up, it says "Would have been first but not a pair...

I did have one person ask if I left the second sock at home, but I did not! I take no offense what so ever to the people who did place and get ribbons. From the pictures I have seen (Football season - did not make it there in person) there was a lot of lovely work. I am glad to see that so many people entered. That is what makes the state fair wonderful. That said, quilters have no business judging knitting. The socks turned out the way that they did, because that is the nature of the yarn. They most definitely are a PAIR. And then to tell me that I would have gotten first, but instead did not even get a participation ribbon (not sure if they did that this year or not) is nothing short of frustrating.

I worked hard on my socks, and I am very proud of them. In fact, I am going to work on writing up the pattern after having so many ask about it. It may end up being a sock of the month at Twist at some point in time, but I am going to write up the pattern (not sure how to fit it all into my schedule - that is why I am starting now). This judge will certainly not deter me, or change how I want to make my socks, but it just stands to show, quilters are perfect to judge quilters, but only knitters should be allowed to judge other knitting work.

It is one of the reasons that I am working on this pattern, because other knitters like it, and have asked for it. Okay, I will get off my soap box now.

Summer Knitting

2008-09-07T20:56:00.010-05:00

Summer Knitting, had me a blast!

Summer Knitting, happened so fast!

Summer Knitting, all socks and hats.

Socks! Basic sock patterns, Glowing Toes, my Noro Sock, and My Mountain Berries sock (Crosshatch Lace found in this book) (souvenir yarn from Texas), and the Bamboo Sock. Some are from the sock of the month, and some are not.

Hats! Basic hat, Elizabeth Zimmerman colorwork hat (my first colorwork EVER :), Foliage, Zig Zag Beanie.

Click on the image to make it bigger and clearer, I am not sure why some of the pictures look fuzzy on the blog. (I will work on that later!)

Coming up next, along with more socks and hats, Mittens. Twist is now sponsoring a new Mitten of the Month Club. Should be grand fun!

Colorado - Finale

2008-09-03T08:37:00.006-05:00

Well, now that we are into September, and I am back to work, and have my first football game on Friday, I figure I should probably finish up blogging about our Colorado trip, back in June. I have truly enjoyed the look back though, and it has helped me savor the trip, which was so wonderful. But I am back in the swing of school and work, and now that games are starting my schedule is starting to stabilize a bit. (Well, one could only hope)

First, walking around Breckenridge, this beautiful flower was planted in a pot along Main Street. It was so pretty, I had to have a picture of it!

And being as Breckenridge is one of my favorite places to ski, and beautiful in its own right, here is a picture of the ski slopes from the parking lot off Main Street. I had even found a little yarn/quilting shop that had some beautiful hand-dyed sock yarn from the Leadville Ladies.

We also had to go back to the spot where we watched the sun set at Lake Dillon, because I turned around and there were two llamas in a backyard. As a knitter, I could not get over them. They are not your average backyard pet. If you click on the picture, you should see a light colored one by the swing and animal crate, and a dark brown one by the stairs. It was warm and sunny that day, so they were staying cool in the shade. Llama, Llama!
As we were leaving the mountains to head back into Denver, we stopped at Lookout Mountain and Buffalo Bill's Grave. I had told Hubby about it, but never got him there until now. It was neat to see all the different views, including Coors Brewery, the (in)famous brown cloud to the east, and the mountains where we had just come from to the west.
We then stopped and had a picnic lunch at Red Rock Amphitheater. Always a fun place to be, but now they have an amazing visitor's center below the seating that goes through a history of how the Red Rocks were formed, how the Amphitheater was built, and all of the musical acts that have performed there. It was a lot of fun, and a little break from the 1/2 hour rain storm.
We spent another few days in Denver seeing other sites. We went to the Denver Aquarium, which has tigers on display there. I would have never imagined tigers and fish, but there they were right in the center of it all. I do think my favorite fish were the archer fish who hunted crickets in the leaves above them by spiting, very accurately, and knocking them into the water to feed on. It was something I had never seen before.We took a tour of Hammond's Candy factory. It was fun, and fun to go back and watch the Food Network's Unwrapped visit to the factory. My "sweet" little one definitely enjoyed the sugar high! We also went downtown and visited the ESPN Zone. That made my Hubby's downtown trip. This is truly something you only find in Denver, a replica of Coors Field made out of Coors Light labels. We also enjoyed the sound scape's, coming out of the sewer grates between the 16th St. Mall and the Denver Center for Performing Arts.
We had a wonderful trip. We concluded it driving home on I-70. We happened to stop in Oakley, Kansas, which is the birthplace of Buffalo Bill. We thought that it was only fitting that we were able to see the start and end of his life, only backwards. So here is the statue honoring William "Buffalo Bill" Cody in Oakley, KS.

Now with the trip concluded, I can get back to all the knitting I have been doing throughout the summer, and you know that has not stopped!

But I thank you now for letting me share such fond memories of a wonderful trip. Now back to regular programming...

Colorado - Part 2

2008-08-07T14:15:00.002-05:00

So on our next day's adventures, we headed to Silver Plume, CO to catch the Georgetown Loop Railroad that runs between Sliver Plume and Georgetown. The train was really beautiful. This is the inside of the first car right behind the engine. That silver circle in the middle of the picture is the train's horn. That made that car quite noisy, so we did not sit there for the whole trip.

We did not stop for the silver mine tour, because the kids are just not ready for that yet. But we did get to see lots of waterfalls and beautiful scenery.
This is the Devil's Gate bridge which is not exactly a low bridge, and must be taken very slowly, but the view is breath-taking.
We crossed over Clear Creek at least 5 times. The water level was up quite high, and rushing very fast. This was due to the vast snow pack they experienced over the winter. It was amazing to see all the fast running water and snow in the mountains compared to the drought they are experiencing in Denver.
This was our view of I-70 and Clear Creek looking toward Georgetown from Devil's Gate Bridge.

Then on our way back to Dillon, we took Loveland Pass up to the top of the Continental Divide at a point of elevation of 11.990 feet. Then, my camera battery promptly died!

So we had to go back up the next day. There were beautiful views every way you turned. It was also a very cool 55 degrees up there, so we were in jeans and sweatshirts.

I got to teach my kids about the Tundra, and some of the unique plants that grow up there like these little yellow flowers.At the top, we looked down over the Loveland basin valley.And we were passed by a few hikers with skis on their backs heading up to ski down this glacier. If you click on the picture, it will come up bigger, and you can see the lines created by the previous skiers. Definitely not for the faint of heart, or unacclimatized to the altitude.

It was amazing seeing all the hikers, truckers (several were having difficulties with their breaks on the way down the pass), and bikers training up and down Loveland Pass. Definitely not an easy task to accomplish!

Colorado - Part 1

2008-07-27T15:40:00.003-05:00

Well, I have clearly been enjoying a technology free summer. I have hardly turned on the computer at all, and have kind of enjoyed that. I have had some guilt however from not updating my blog in so long. Since my last entry, my family has been to Colorado, I came home for a week, I went to Chicago for the American Sewing Guild's national convention to help teach two bra making workshops and help Anne out in her Needle Nook Fabrics booth, I came home to help finish up swimming lessons, and have been trying to recover ever since.

Our trip to Colorado was fabulous! I have not been home in 7 years, and this was a chance to show my kids some of my favorite things from growing up there. After we met up with my sister, we were able to take a drive down "Memory Lane". I drove by the old house, and could not believe the trees that I remember being planted that now hang over the street! I saw my old elementary school, drove by some of my friends old houses, and was even able to remember where they are even though they don't look the same anymore (Wendy and Amy's houses). I also could not believe that where we had to drive, at first down a dirt road to a grocery store, there are now two within walking distance from the house. And the mythical E-470 is actually complete. I drove by my high school, and found my favorite Chinese restaurant still in business, but the other adults in my car are not Chinese fans, so I just drove by. It was a lot of fun and memories, and a few adventures along the way. And we capped it off with dinner at Trail Dust Steakhouse. It was a nice end to memory lane complete with slide and dancing.

Then next day we took the kids to the Denver Zoo. One of my favorite all time places. We even ran into an old dance friend that my sister and I had not seen in years. We did get to see everything we wanted to and had a wonderful time. I even got to see one of my favorite animals - the tiger. Isn't he magnificent?

Then we took the kids to that all necessary trip to Casa Bonita. Oh, but first we did have to make a stop at a yarn shop, The Lamb Shoppe, where I had a great time and came home with yarn for 3 pairs of socks (te he he he). At Casa Bonita, we did get to sit down by the cliff diving pool. A first for my sister and I. The food was the same as I remembered it. But the atmosphere was different seeing it through a parents eyes than through a child's eyes. We got to see lots of cliff diving and shows, the puppet show, and my Big One got to break open the pinata. We did fore go Black Bart's cave after I walked through it and jumped twice. The kids definitely did not need to experience that one yet. It was a lot of fun though!

I did do some knitting. I was able to finish my Noro Arrowhead Stripes socks that I had been working on.

It was a good thing two, because I realized that I had brought jeans to wear in the mountains, but no long socks. So I finished them up just in time to go up to the mountains.

We were staying in Dillon, but we needed to check everything out, and I needed to refresh my memory on where everything was. I knew there was another yarn shop in Frisco, What's Needling You, that I wanted to check out. But it was Monday, and it was closed, so we just stopped to get some ice cream. This was the view from where we stopped to have a snack.

Then we continued our drive, and this was our overlook of Breckenridge, which has always been one of my favorite mountain towns.
Then we went back to Dillon and stopped for dinner at the Red Mountain Grill. This was just a really cool restaurant. This is what it looked like on the inside.

And this was our view from the table.

We topped the day off with a stop by Lake Dillon.

We enjoyed sharing a mountain sunset with the girls.

I just could not get over how much snow was still on top of the mountains in June.

We had a wonderful, amazing trip, and that is just part one!

Socks!

2008-06-19T09:38:00.003-05:00

Clearly, I have not spent a lot of time on the computer lately! After all, it is summer vacation, and I have been busy. I have taken 2 young children on an airplane, gone to the beach at the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, TX, seen a major league baseball game, drank margaritas, and visited 2 yarn stores in Texas and bought souvenir yarn (more of that to come). All that was done in 1 week. So this week, I have been recovering, resting, doing laundry, and preparing for a road trip to Colorado, this time as a whole family. So, I have not really had the time to sit in front of the computer. I did however, have some great knitting time! And being as portable as they are, today, is all about THE SOCKS!

I will start by showing you the leftover shorties I finished. I used two different leftover balls of yarn, with my basic sock pattern and a 1.5" cuff, the beautiful Eye of Partridge heel, and this it what I got.

I was also working on Padded Footlets out of the book Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. I made this out of my leftover Cascade Fixation from my Broadripple socks, and added white to it. I did not pad the foot as the patten called for, but they did turn out quite beautiful and are very comfy!

I also began my May OYT socks. They are out of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn from Japan. It has beautiful colors and changes. I did not want to use the pattern for May, but have fallen in love with the yarn (even though I have to wash these by hand and lay flat to dry - normally, I am a superwash - machine washable - kind of girl). I still wanted to mimic some of the shapes of the herringbone pattern, and ended up with Little Arrowhead Lace by Charlene Schurch out of her More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I did a 1 x 1 rib for the cuff, and then on the leg, every 4 rows I switched which end of the ball of yarn I was working. I then used the outside strand for the short-row heel and toe of the sock. The socks are not at all identical, but beautiful just the same. I am currently working on the foot of the second sock, and am anxious to finish it and have a pair! Aren't the colors beautiful, and the lily next to them when I took the picture fit in just perfectly.

I also had fallen in love with the Cascade Fixation yarn from above, and have managed to hoard quite a bit of it. Most specifically, with the cotton, I think they make awesome summertime socks. So here is my basic short sock with a 1.5" cuff and Eye of Partridge heel. These are what I have called, my Rainbow Shorties.

And then, of course there was souvenir yarn from Texas. I will write more about that soon - but I will be hitting a few yarn shops in Colorado, so the stash will have to grow more first. But while I was there, I picked up some Jojoland Melody yarn from Twisted Yarns. I have used this yarn before in a different colorway for my Rambler socks. This time I have decided to make the Crosshatch Lace by Charlene Schurch out of the same More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I just love watching the colors change and the pattern is working up beautifully. The yarn is soft and yummy, and a lot of fun to knit with and wear.

Well, so many socks, so little time. But wait, I have a 10 hour car trip each way coming up, plus vacation knitting time, yarn shops, mountains, ... :) I can't wait.

Home Sweet Home

2008-06-04T10:28:00.002-05:00

What is it about the awe-inspiring and overwhelming response I get every year at the beginning of having two months off? I know that I have several trips planned. I know that I have activities planned to do with the girls. I find myself at that point where I start thinking of all of the things that I need to do over the summer, and all of the things that I want to do over the summer. These two lists are not even close to being the same, and amazingly, I don't think I could do them all, especially the things that need to be done, if I had an entire year off! So now the questions remain - how to I find the happy medium between the two lists? It is one thing to see things around the house and say, oh, I need to do that, and then go off to work for the day, promptly to forget about it. Then you are home and faced with it everyday, and it all seems so overwhelming! And then there are the dreamy moments when I get to think of all the possibilities. Those are fun moments, but there just does not seem to be enough time for them either. We shall see what the summer will bring. The possibilities are endless, but the time for it is not.

(Well, I have probably rambled enough - back to time-outs and doing a few of the things that are on the need to be done list)

I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

2008-06-03T15:28:00.002-05:00

Okay, May is over now, and life is both hectic and slower. Anyone who knows my schedule will know that the end of May makes me crazy. Every year on Memorial Weekend, is Kansas' State High School Track meet. It is the largest high school meet in the country, and all 6 classes compete for 2 days at Wichita State University. What you may not know is that I coordinate all of the athletic training coverage for the meet. This was my 7th or 8th year doing that - I have kind of lost track. I am always busy getting ready for it, and then am worn out afterwards.

Now that isn't to say that I have not been busy. I have finished two pairs of socks, made a dress and some panties for the little one, made a skirt and shorts - recycling a old pair of jeans that had holes in the knees - for the big one, and nightgowns for both. I have also made a few new bras for me and a new swimming suit. The exciting thing about the suit, is that it is made out of material intended for my Honeymoon (10 years ago), instead it will be ready for my Anniversary trip! If you are wondering, that was before I did any sewing, and Mom had made my wedding dress, 2 bridesmaid dresses, a Honeymoon dress, and a dress for herself, and she lived 500 miles away from me, and the wedding location. Needless to say, I was thrilled with everything that she did, and the suit was just not necessary. So now I got to do something with it!

So, my hands have been busy, but I have not gotten all the photos that I want to post taken yet, and I just have not been able to focus my eyes on a computer screen. But, I did feel like I needed to do some updating. Oh, and I cast on 2 more pairs of socks, and turned the heel on the BBS (Big Black Sock) for the Hubby. I felt guilty that I haven't posted in a while, so, here is that quick update. I will have pictures of projects in following posts. And just in case you were wondering, no there will not be a picture of the new swimming suit, at least not of one in a body, but I am still very pleased with how it turned out. It just took more fabric than it would have 10 years ago.

Knit here, Sew there

2008-05-15T10:39:00.005-05:00

Well, I have been doing a little knitting here, and some sewing there. I will start with the knitting. Here are my April OYT socks, Broadripple in Cascade fixation. I made them 2 " tall and in the cotton they turned out beautiful. It makes me want to do more socks out of this cotton. That and I can't believe that I am making socks out of US size 4 (3.5 mm) needles, when I usually do my socks on US 0 (2.0 mm) needles. It really makes them go fast!

I have also been working on what I call my Leftover shorties. They are short socks made out of leftover sock yarn. For this sock I have done 1 1/2 inches of 2x2 ribbing, and Eye of Partridge heel, and weighed the yarn for deciding when to switch colors for the toes. The first one turned out really well. This is a good basic, no-brainer sock, good for traveling, walking, and watching practices. Now I am busy planning on my May OYT's sock out of the Noro yarn. I am going to do a slightly different pattern, but it should come out with a similar look. My biggest problem is that I have to finish the second leftover shortie, because I need those needles to do part of this May sock.

I have also been doing some sewing, and actually for my own family this time. I was working on this outfit for my big girl. This is Kwik Sew 3542 done out of leftover pieces from another person's scraps. The leggings are capri length with a patten made off of a pair she already has.

This outfit turned out very cute, and she looks really good in the top. She is wearing the top with jeans to school. It flows nicely and fits her beautifully and makes me do a little happy dance.

Update 4:00: I got an outfit done for the big one, so I needed to also do something for the little one, so here it is. I made her a little dress, dots and stripes, raglan sleeves, and a cute ruffle at the bottom. It combines the wild and girlie child that she is.

I hope she loves it!

Can you see me now?

2008-05-08T14:31:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I have been doing plenty of knitting, but I have also been doing some sewing lately! It is so much fun to have a client who likes some wild things. She has been so limited on finding pretty bras that fit properly, that now that I am making them, she can go wild! So this is her Camo bra!
She also wanted beige, but not boring beige.

This is tone on tone Cheetah!
And then there is my big daughter. She has her very first Kindergarten music concert tonight. We went over several times last night what she wants to wear to the concert today. She wanted to go plain and wear jeans. When I got to school to help her teachers with a special lunch, she was all sad and wanted to wear a skirt tonight. She is really lucky that her mom knows how to sew and she is small enough to put things together from scrap fabric that has already been prewashed!

Here is her new skirt, complete with attached undershorts so that she can easily wear it to school at any time! Not too bad for a quick hour before I head off to work again! Some days I can be superwoman! Just not everyday :)

And the knit goes on!

2008-05-02T11:23:00.003-05:00

Life has definitely been crazy! We have had company, I have been on two school field trips, and I have lost count of the number of baseball games I have covered in the last two weeks! But among all the chaos, I have managed to do some knitting!

First, I made this beautiful bad hair day hat! I needed something to put on my head when, well, my hair needs to be washed and I haven't gotten there yet, or in the morning going to the bus stop. This is a hat from my Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar 2007 called the La Mancha Watchcap designed by JoLene M. Treace. I did change the headband from garter stitch to a 2 x 2 rib. It turned out so cool! I made it out of Nashua Creative Focus Cotton. It just worked up beautifully. I also finally started my first ever sweater on April 23rd! I am so excited. It does not look like much yet, but it will. I am making this from the top down, in one big round piece, so there should not be much sewing anything together, just knitting. What you see here is the beginning of the yoke part of the sweater and the start of the raglan sleeves. Right now it is just a lot of increasing every other row. It is the Neck Down shaped T-shirt # 233 made out of O-wool that I got at Twist.
I finished my Peak Experience socks! I think they just worked up so nicely, and the yarn really worked well with the pattern.

They even almost match up, which was a total fluke, because I really don't care if they do or not!

I am most excited to finish them so that I could cast on my April socks for the OYT sock club. These are Broadripple made out of Cascade Fixation yarn color 9880 which is cotton and elastic. The yarn is so soft, and I am making my first attempt to Magic Loop them. So far so good, I just need to remember not to pull my needle all the way out when I finish a row.

I can't believe that it is actually May, we will see what all gets squeezed into this month with the end of school and State Track looming not too far away!

Finishing

2008-04-18T11:02:00.002-05:00

Yippee! I finally got some projects finished.

I finished these wrist warmers. They are based off of a basic pattern from one of Deb's friends, but I added a thumb. It was a total experiment because I did not put in a gusset for the thumb. I left 6 stitches live and picked up 10 more. I knitted around for 4 rounds on the US size 8 dpn's and then changed to US size 6 dpn's for 3 rounds, and decreased 4 stitches on two last rows. Turned out beautifully. I even wore them through last nights soccer games. My fingers were still free to work and run the clock, but I still stayed warm. A big thanks to my lovely Hand model, because I just can't manage to take a picture of my hands while holding the camera.

The wristwarmers are to match and go with this hat that I finished a few weeks ago. This is out of Knit Picks Swish Superwash wool so they are warm, but with super easy care. I definitely needed this with needing to be able to wear them for work!

I also finished this basic hat as well. And I managed to do it all watching games and walking between practices. Not too bad, and I love how the yarn self-striped. I did not know that the yarn would do it. This is also a Knit Picks yarn, but is from their Wool of the Andes Hand-dyed line, so it will have more normal washing care for wool garments. Beautiful all the same. And another big thank you to my lovely hat model. Once again, it took so many tries to take the above picture by myself, that Grace made it so much easier!

My needle order came in a day early, and now, what to start next? Too many decisions, too many projects, just not enough time!

I have also been busy filling a big custom order. I finished making 5 bras and 5 panties to match them. That just means that Bra money = Yarn money, so that all works out well! It sure is a good thing I have some way of sustaining my habit!

Knitting!!!

2008-04-16T20:02:00.002-05:00

Okay, so not much blogging has been happening lately because a lot of working late nights has been happening. That said, knitting has been happening, small bits at a time.

I will start with my March OYT sock of the month, Peak Experience. It is really looking very pretty. I did make a few changes and am doing the sock on US size 0 (2.0 mm) needles, with 80 stitches cast on. Part of that is to accommodate the fine Opal yarn colorway 2004. It may be small, but I am totally in love with the yarn and fabric made. I do end up doing most of my socks on this size needles.

While my Mom was here, I did manage to finish the first sock, and I cast on the second sock this morning.

I was also working on a pair of socks for the little one. They are based on a patten out of Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks book. The little one picked out the pattern (Double Lace Ribbing), and the yarn is leftovers from two of the big one's socks.

I managed to finish these on April 12th, and she wore them to school on Monday. She says they are just what she wanted! If only that will last her whole life, unfortunately, I know that it won't.

I also have to share some fun inspiration that Mom and I found. On her quick weekend here, we stopped to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy while we knit. This was what we found. The label had us totally hooked! And the wine was good too!

Now, the last blog entry that talked about knitting mentioned, and showed the very beginnings of my traveling project. It is a basic hat. I had no idea that the yarn was self striping, and am captivated by it. One of these days I will get a picture where the lighting really shows of the colors. This is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the Chisholm Hand-dyed colorway. This has been done at a few practices, and mostly non varsity baseball games and soccer games. Not too bad, and I only have 2 inches left before I start the crown.

I also have this handy new Go Knit pouch that I bought at Twist. It is the perfect size for a sock or hat, which are my traveling projects! I love it, and now my yarn does not get stuck on any velcro from my work kit! Well, and it is PURPLE.

I have also swatched for my April OYT sock in Cascade Fixation, cotton/elastic yarn. The pattern is Broadripple. This should be a lot of fun, and the yarn feels fabulous. I am going to do the sock as a short summer sock, and I may have to make other summer socks out of this yarn because it is so fabulous. This should also go pretty fast because, unlike my Peak Experience, this sock is going to be done on US size 4 (3.5 mm) needles. So now I am waiting for my Knit Picks needles to arrive. I am also going to try and Magic Loop the socks, which means do one sock on one really long cabled needle set. It is a new method for me, so I am excited about the new challenge.
I am also completing a set of wrist warmers to go with my basic hat that I made for work. I made some modifications, and added a thumb. So far the experiment is going well, and I will post more about that next time.

The few posts were really lacking on the photo ops, so I had to make up for it now. I hope you enjoy. I am having fun. But now, back to games, and knitting, and sewing, and more blogging to come soon. (I just have to find computer time when I am not exhausted and ready to crash!)

What a wonderful Sunday!

2008-04-10T10:16:00.002-05:00

Wow, has time gotten away from me! Between all the games I have covered and froze at, and now all the rain outs I have had this week, I have not had much in the way of computer time! In between all of this, though we had a lovely weekend! We were blessed with a surprise visit from my mom, thanks to good airfare bargains that she can sometimes find. I have to tell you, we had the most wonderful day as a family on Sunday, and Grandma got to be included! I will fill in all the knitting activities on my next blog, but today (a very rainy day) I have a different story to tell.

We had a beautiful day on Sunday, weather wise. It was in the 60s with just a slight breeze (this is Kansas people, so that is saying a lot). After we went out for breakfast at IHOP, we decided that we needed to go to the Sedgwick County Zoo for the morning! As we overheard someone else say, we needed to "return a few monkeys to the Zoo". (The girls were in rare form!) We started with the penguins and watched them swim and swim. The last time we had been there all they did was stare at all the people, so I think they are much more used to us now! We then walked along and saw all the animals. We had to see the Elephants, because, as the little one said, "they are big and gray". We also enjoyed the Gorillas, but the highlight of that portion was when the girls were walking ahead, being "the teachers", so excited to go play on the playground they neglected to notice the garter snake that wiggled right between both of their feet as they walked. Once notice, the big one moved in a BIG hurry! We then rode the train, stopped and saw the various farm animals and were on our way. I can say that I definitely see sheep in a whole new light. They had all recently been sheered, and I could not get over the beautiful color the sheep in the African Farm were and what lovely yarn it would make. I guess the knitting has truly gotten into the blood.

We had gone home, and in the afternoon, it was still so nice out after "naps" (I don't think one ever happened) that we went outside to play! The girls rode on their bikes, and then played in the grass with Hubby. When playing football, the big one is a great running back, their is no receiving by either of them, and that little one would make a great linebacker! Although you know she is coming, because she growls at you before she tackles you. I guess they have been watching Mommy's games a bit. That little one also has a pretty good defensive stance for basketball, because that is exactly what she does when the basketball got pulled out.

It was a wonderful visit with Grandma, however short, so to cap off all the fun we had, the girls and I went out and picked these flowers from the back yard for our table. They were just too pretty not to share, especially since they are not going to make it much longer now!
Next time, I will catch you up on all the knitting that I did accomplish in any brief moments that I could find between, and during events and rain outs!

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok!

2008-04-01T11:09:00.002-05:00

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok!" must be said with great exasperation! Kind of like "I know, I know". This is the newest phrase from my 3yo! I seem to be told this a lot lately! Maybe it doesn't help that we are talking constantly about staying in our bed at bedtime. At least she is keeping her thumbs out of her mouth! As exhausting as the night times have been, she is still pretty adorable in the mornings. Today was her second day at her new preschool. Yesterday we had to peel her off of me, and today she was off with a few of the girls waving at me, "Bye Mom!" That, and she talked about her "exciting adventures" from yesterday all the way to school! It sure is a good thing she is so cute!

The big one is doing well too, with her assembly yesterday and being recognized in front of the whole school as one of the Kindergartners that knows all 51 of her site words. She even earned a real golden dollar for it!

It is a good thing we have telephones, because I am not going to be home much in the evenings thanks to all the spring events that have started. Last night I was at baseball, remembering clearly why I made a nice new wool hat. My head and ears were nice and warm, even when the rest of me wasn't. Now the Kansas wind definitely did not help that! I knew that there would be time before my game, so I made sure that I had something to work on. I started this had to have it casted on before I got to the game, and all the progress I made happened before the game started, and before I lost feeling in my fingers and needed to put my gloves on! This weekend I spent all my weekend knitting time swatching! I hate swatching! Unfortunately I know how important it is! This yarn is O-wool in the colorway 4008 which is a lovely ruby red. O-wool is a blend of Organic Cotton and Organic Wool 50%-50%. I plan on making a simple raglan sleeve, top-down t-shirt. This will be a first attempt at a t-shirt, which makes the swatching so important! I just don't like doing it!
I even washed it like I was supposed to, and it came out so nicely and washed up easy, so I am looking forward to starting it, now I just need to get all the needles I need for it!

Where is the break in Spring Break?

2008-03-28T10:59:00.003-05:00

I am not sure why they call Spring Break a break. Yes, there is a little time off of school, but boy am I exhausted after the fact. I think I need some time off after my time off!

I loved having some time with my big one, and it was nice to see the Hubby and have some of his family visit to celebrate basketball and Easter (it did happen in that order - basketball started first). I was so worn out after the fact that one night this week, I went to bed after the kids went down. Hubby knew I was tired, because I was not knitting. I was able to get some things accomplished this week though.

Through practice, I have been working diligently on my hat, thinking that I must be crazy making a wool hat for this spring when it was 70 degrees outside, then yesterday hit! Everyone was all bundled up, practices were short, and the wind was whipping, and it was back into the 40s. Oh yeah, spring in Kansas is ever changing. So, I got my hat done last night and am ready to start some wristwarmers. I made the hat out of a superwash wool from Knit Picks so that it can be washed and dried very easily. Easy care and sturdy wear. I made this deliberately to be for work, when it is cold outside! I have also started another sock, of course. Although this is not a good traveling sock, it is working out nicely as a sock while watching basketball. One of the Ravelry groups I am in is March Madknits, and several of us are working on Tournament socks. I have gotten one pair done in the first week, the red mock wave cable socks. So it was time to start a new pair. This is part of the Twist On Your Toes sock of the month club. It is now coming along nicely. I had to start over once, because it just was not working right the first time, so it got frogged (ripped) and started again.

It is definitely looking a lot prettier than my bracket is at this point!

Mock Wave Cable Socks

2008-03-23T17:32:00.004-05:00

Spring break has brought lots of adventures! Lots of time with my big one, especially with her out of school, March Madness, company, and upheaval of the computer. At my house, March Madness basketball sees the computer moved out to the family room so that all possible games can be watched, whatever is not on TV gets watched on the computer, thus it has been hard to update the blog. It has however provided a lot of knitting time! Since I spent so much time with the big one, I decided that she needed a new pair of socks. She has been wanting red socks since I first started knitting them. I also let her pick out the pattern. For the Sock Knitters Anonymous March Sock Down, I let her pick from different patterns by Ann Budd out of the Favorite Socks book.

Here is the sock in progress: The first leg

Close up of the mock wave cable pattern

One done!

Yeah, I got them finished!

And they fit beautifully!

Now, what project shall I start next. There is still a lot of basketball to be watched at this house! And I have to see if my bracket will survive!

Rambler socks

2008-03-15T15:49:00.003-05:00

Yeah!!!!! I finished my rambler socks! They fit and look so beautiful! The second ball of yarn did not have the same brilliant color changes, and it is much more subtle, but just as beautiful.
It was extra fun because I created them with my own pattern design, and I will definitely use it again. In fact, I have had some other ravelry users tell me they are going to try the same pattern, along with a few people from Twist, and my mom!

This was also my first attempt at a short row heel. It turned out nice, and the second sock was much easier than the first!Now I can start my March socks. Along with that, I have started a basic 3 x 3 rib hat in a superwash wool for easy care for wearing at work! Baseball season is cold once the sun goes down, and then there is the ever present wind! I had my first soccer game this week before spring break, and I was able to work on it, at least until I ran out of yarn on my first ball. That was okay though, I couldn't feel my fingers anymore anyway!

Cows

2008-03-15T15:07:00.003-05:00

As some of you may know, I have a great affinity for ... Cows! I know this is all thanks to my grandparents and their dairy farm. There is nothing more beautiful than a black and white Holstein! I had so much fun on the farm every summer when I was growing up. Even when I was 1000 miles away, my grandma allowed me to name the new calves that were born. I will say that was kind of strange when my dad helped Grandpa take the bull they sold that was named after my dad (and he is not a farm boy and will fully admit that!)

As you can see, I have always loved cows! I even had the best slippers when I was younger that were cows named Fred and Ginger (I also loved tap). Hmm, something tells me that I was in to naming things at that time - it seems to me that was also about the time that I named all my animal head covers for my golf clubs.

Well, this past week I was able to reconnect with my love of cows! It came in the form of a bra for one of my customers.

That bra turned out so cool that I had to go buy enough of the fabric for myself for a nightgown, and whatever else I can get out of it! I just have to say... cows are awesome!

Update

2008-03-10T21:35:00.002-05:00

Why is it that the age of 3 is such a challenge? Wednesday last week, my little one was in a particularly ornery mood, and we had a battle of both wills, and nightgowns. Well, just a quick update on the subject. She has now worn the nightgown, TWICE, with the undershirt, and twirled and declared herself a beautiful princess. It just goes to show me all of the adventures I have in store with my wild child.

Now if we could just sleep through the night again! We have been through 2 days this week so far, and no stickers. I really hope I get to give her a sticker tomorrow morning, that would do me and Hubby so much good!

Third in State

2008-03-08T20:04:00.002-06:00

I am so proud of my East High Blue Aces boys basketball team! We have been submerged for the last three days in basketball and traveling back and forth between Wichita and Emporia Kansas. Yesterday's semi-final game, was as close to a championship game as you could have asked for. And if the brackets had been set up differently, could have been tonight's final game. Instead it went down to the last 20 seconds of the game. We had already split in two overtime, regular season games with our close town friends/rivals, the Southeast Buffalos. We battled back in the 4th quarter and tied, and exchanged leads, and ended up barley losing the game. But I am so proud of my team. They picked themselves up and came in this afternoon ready to play, another town rival and played well. They took home the third place trophy and ended on a positive note. (I will have pictures to follow when our manager e-mails them to me)

Beyond that, it has been an adventurous weekend. Thursday night when I got home, the big one came out of her room in a total daze. The Hubby said that she was talking gibberish, and he couldn't figure out what was going on. She was also swaying back and forth wiggling her hips, and refused to speak to me. I took one glance at the glassy look on her face, and rushed her to the potty! She is just too much like her mommy! I told Hubby, if she ever does that again, just get her on the potty, just ask her grandma how I know this!

Then there is the little one. We have been trying this new reward system of star stickers for staying in bed and not screaming when she wakes up in the middle of the night, because after all, she is a big girl of 3. So far, we have gotten one sticker in a week, the goal is 5 a week for a treat. Last night, I got home, she woke up, and would pop her head out of her room a few times. Then I heard the thump, and swore she had fallen out of bed. I went to check on her, only to find her crawling out from under the bed where she was, "just looking". She followed that up with a little chorus of her own tune, and promptly lost any chance of a sticker this morning. We will see how tonight goes.

On a knitterly note, I truly have gone over the edge! We were on a chartered bus, so I was able to knit up and back and before our game on Thursday, no problem. Yesterday, I had added a basic 3x3 rib hat to my sock that I was working on, because it required less focus when we were waiting on the game before us to finish. I managed to stalk a person, because she had on the cutest hat with a very cool cable pattern to it, and I even tried to take a picture of it with my phone so that I could study it later. Only one problem, she was walking, and I was walking, and she didn't know I was following her, so the picture was so blurry, it looked like a cream blob. I guess I need to get better at my cable stalking! So the night ended on a somber note, then I got on the bus, and the lights did not work. I am awfully proud of myself though, I knitted for 30 - 45 minutes in the pitch dark by feel and counting to 3. Even better, when I got home in the light, I hadn't made any mistakes. I was floored. Then today, we were up and back in the daylight, so knitting both directions was not a problem. I am about halfway down the leg of my second rambler sock, and have about an inch and a half of the hat. I hope I would have done the Yarnharlot proud!

Back to School!

2008-03-05T20:13:00.003-06:00

Hooray! The big one is finally fever free and was able to go back to school today, much to her protests! That meant I was finally able to run a few errands, get a few things done, and make some more knitting plans!

I started the day by making the little one a little camisole to wear under a Dora nightgown that she got for her birthday that she says hurts and now won't wear. I have fixed it on 4 different occasions, still to no avail. So I made her the undershirt, which fits beautifully. She had the nightgown on and was fine until bedtime issues were not going her way, and she threw a fit again, balled, and made me want to pull all my hair out! The nightgown was angrily thrown in the trash, by me, and off she was to put something else on. Fortunately, the shirt that I made she still likes and is still on. My anger was definitely fueled by the thumb I found in her mouth. We successfully got rid of the paci, and I am already fighting a much longer thumb sucking battle. I am not about to have a second thumb sucker!

On a much happier, and knittier note, the big one has picked out a new pair of socks for me to make her. It is Ann Budd's Mock Wave Cable socks, and she has been wanting red socks out of this yarn for quite some time, so this will be my March Sockdown entry. Now I just need to finish the second ramble sock. (at least it is started)

I have also been braving the cold, as it has been cold and windy, and spring - outdoor sports have started. I have gotten this beautiful navy blue superwash wool (I can wash and dry it in the machines) and I plan to make a simple ribbed hat and some wrist warmers out of it for work! Far and away, I must say that around here, baseball season is so much colder than football season.

Can we please be healthy already?

2008-03-02T12:19:00.004-06:00

So, the congestion and fever garbage that has gone through the house has affected everyone now. The little one was home at the beginning of the week, and then I started not feeling so hot. I was eeking through the days, mostly because I had too, there was too much going on! Thursday afternoon though, we get a call from the big one's school, she has a temp and needs to come home and not come back on Friday. I had to get through a basketball game Thursday night, and I decided then, that the two of us needed a sick day, so I took Friday off, and we hung out in our room and watched movies. It was just what we needed. I had another basketball game last night to continue in the playoffs to state, and a soccer tournament to work, fortunately it worked out that I just needed to work the game and not spend 6 hours out in the wind before that.

Well, I did get some knitting done along the way on Friday! I worked my very first short row heel on the rambler sock. Actually I did it twice! For all my non-knitting friends, I must introduce you to two very scary knitting terms. The first is tinking. When you have to go backwards stitch by stitch, knit backwards spells tink! Not fun, but at least it is controlled. Now the other term is frogging. That is when you take out the needles and rip-it, rip-it. This is very scary because you have live stitches and losing one could be disastrous to your project. Well, I was working on my heel, and as I was almost finished, I realized that it was off center because I had counted wrong. So I very carefully took a deep breath, took out the needles, and frogged back to the beginning of the heel. I don't think I took another breath until I knew that I had all 40 stitches that I needed. I then took another deep breath when I finished the heel and it worked out beautifully!

Now this is a very different heel than the one I showed you before in anatomy of a sock which uses a heel flap. I am much more comfortable with that type of heel, but the idea was to challenge myself, and I did. I am very happy with how it is turning out, and here is my progress so far!

Now, I still have half a foot, a toe, and a whole second sock, but I am definitely having fun with this yarn and pattern!

On another note, my basketball team won last night, and we are off to state playoffs next week. So I have at least one, if not three hopefully, drives up to Emporia, Kansas where I can knit, at least on the way up, a bit too dark coming home!

Charade

2008-02-28T09:41:00.004-06:00

Okay, so it has been a wild week. Between State Wrestling, Basketball games, and getting the little one healthy, it has taken its toll! It is now my turn for the creeping crud that has made its way through the house and Needle Nook, and work. I don't think the weather has been much help lately. I took this picture off the front porch on Saturday.

It was snowing hard and fast. I did get a new camera however, and had to get a close-up of the snowflakes before I went back in.

We ended up with about an inch of snow. And then it was in the 50's on Sunday and was all gone again. I am just ready for the weather to make up its mind. Especially now that spring sports have started and I am outside again.

Well, I still managed to get some knitting done. I am sure that part of it is the deadline for the February Sockdown challenge on Ravelry. I know that you don't have to be done until the end of March, but I have two pairs of socks going for this challenge. So, here it is! I also finished the Twist On Your Toes February socks! The pattern is called Charade.

I did change the heel to be an Eye of Partridge for my Sockdown challenge. Here it is!

The only other adventures I had was that when I was finishing the first sock, I ran out of yarn with six rows to go. I tried it on, it fit, so I finished it there. When I finished my second sock ,(which ended up with a slightly tighter gauge so I don't know how this happened) I still had plenty of yarn left, so I very very carefully took out my bind-off, frogged (ripped) a few rows, gently picked up the live stitches, added the extra yarn into the toe, and finished the six rows I was missing. I now have two matching socks! And, because of fixing the toe on the first sock, and frogging to fix a hole in the heel turn of the second sock, I feel very brave! I can't believe I did it, but I did.

Well, I have a basketball game tonight, and don't feel so hot, so I am off to take a nap so that I can make it through work tonight!

Eyes of a Three year old

2008-02-20T16:24:00.002-06:00

Have you stopped to remember lately what it was like to be three?

We had a very big weekend this past weekend. My little one turned 3! It seems like that went way too fast. My mom was in town, and the three of us went on an adventure! We started at my favorite LYS, Twist. She was having a grand time making us tea with honey and making us snacks and putting us down for naps. All the while entertaining the Saturday evening gathering of knitters. We then were on our way to dinner. We decided to have Chinese for dinner, and she was very insistant that we eat there, and not at home. When we were looking through the menu and deciding what we were going to have, I commented on the fact that were were going to be getting tea. When the waiter took our order, she matter of factly told him, "You need to bring us tea." Then when he did bring it, he only brought 2 cups, so we had to ask for another. The little one got her tea! She also had to have some egg drop soup, fried wontons, and she tried the egg rolls, but did not like the cabbage. The red sauce was a big hit, and she enjoyed dipping everything, even her Lo Mein. We have not had such a quiet meal with her in a long time (usually she is talking the whole time - loudly). She was very into the meal and was a very good girl. If you have not experienced Chinese through the eyes of a Three year old, you must try it. There is nothing like it.

We were also amuzed when she told my mom that "she (my mom) was not a big girl, she was short like Mommy!" She also told her big sister that she has "options" for what she wants to be when she grows up. I didn't even know she knew what that word meant!

On another amuzing note, for Valentine's day, both girls got stickers. Pretty soon, my big one was looking at her kitty stickers and says "look I have a sticker of Mommy's favorite thing ... Yarn!" She was right. She does have stickers of little balls of yarn :)

February = Basketball

2008-02-16T10:34:00.003-06:00

In this house, and for my job, February = Basketball just as much as March does. This past week I have spent at least 17 hours just at basketball games, and that is pretty normal. It does sometimes make it harder to get to the computer, but I kept on knitting. I was so excited on Thursday, not because of Valentine's day, but because, I finished the first Charade sock!

It did however come with a few challenges! I was 6 rows from finishing the toe, when I had just over 12 inches of yarn left. Now, that is not enough to do 6 rows. At first I panicked, one because I was so close and did not have the other skein of yarn, and two, I did not want to have to buy more yarn for inevitably 12 rows of knitting. Once I started thinking clearly, I did the only thing I could think of ... I tried it on. It fit, was at the top of my toes, so I did my bind off, and that sock was done! And it even fit. I decided then that was one downfall of knitting a tight gauge, I use up more yarn because I have more rows. So now, one done and one to go.

In the meantime, I have been working on the rambler sock as well. I just love the colorway watching it change colors and rotate all at the same time is just facinating! Here, take a look for yourself!

Isn't it just beautiful!

Well, I also need to finish the pair of the Charade socks, so I cast on the second one. As you can see (It is the little band above the finished sock), I have a long way to go yet, but it is fun to watch something grow!

Kansas Weather

2008-02-11T10:15:00.000-06:00

Got to love Kansas Weather! Saturday the temperature was in the 60's, Sunday it dropped to the 30's, and to top it off, at 4 am this morning we got another surprise. Hail, thunder, lightning, the ever present wind, oh yah, and freezing rain. When I opened the garage door to go the the bus stop there was at least a half an inch of frozen hail stones on the driveway. It is somewhere between driving on ball berrings and a gravel road. Still slick as snot trying to get the big one from the car onto the bus and not have her slip. We didn't need any more accidents after the big goose egg she has on her head from trying to crawl out the window of her play house and running into the wall. I would definitely say that the wall won! At least the sun is out now, and everything can melt until the sun goes down and I have to drive home.

Stay warm everyone!

Anatomy of a sock!

2008-02-10T19:59:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about my knitting, and my blog, and realized that not everyone who reads this is going to understand what I am talking about when I say that I "am ready to turn the heel" or other things about the process of making a sock. I also definitely think in terms of anatomy, greatly in part to my job. So I thought I would take you through the anatomy and evolution of a sock!

I am working on all my socks top down right now. That means that I start with the cuff, and end with the toe. The other way to make them is starting at the toe and working up to the cuff. I am still relatively new at sock knitting, and I have not tried it from the toe up yet. One advantage to the top down, is that if for any reason I ran out of yarn, at the toes, no one would really see them, and if I needed to do a different color at the toe it would not be a big deal. This is great with Hubby's socks, because he keeps asking for really long socks, so having a different color toe allows me to not worry too much about running out of yarn. His tan socks have lime green toes, and his Big Black Socks (BBS) will have yellow toes. He picked that one out himself.

On with the socks. This is the cuff of my Charade sock. It is a 2 x 2 twisted rib which just refers to how I make the stitches. I made the cuff 1.5 inches long.

Next I worked the leg. For this sock, and most of my long socks, my leg and cuff length measures 6 inches total. On my rambler sock, partly because I have some extra yarn from Mom, and partly because it is so stretchy, I may go ahead and make that total length 7 inches. Only time will tell. After I get the length that I want, it is time for the heel flap. That is not the only way to make socks, but is how I am making this pair. The heel flap is just what it sounds like. It is a square flap of fabric that goes on the back of the heel. This sock, I am challenging myself and trying a new to me heel. This one uses a stitch pattern called the Eye of Partridge. It really compliments itself nicely to the herringbone pattern of the leg.

This is what the sock looks like at this point. A big leg and cuff, with a square at the back of the heel.

Then comes time to do the heel turn. It is a series of partial row (aka short row) stitches that take a flat piece of knitting, and put a curve into it. This curves the sock under the heel.

After that, you have to join the heel back up with the rest of the sock. You can kind of see the triangle space that is just plain knitting. This is called the gusset. (sorry about the slightly out of focus, I am still playing with the camera and taking pictures of knitting - totally different than pictures of people)
After the gusset is complete, you are down to doing the foot. This is a big tube similar to the leg of the sock. Once you get it to about 1.5-2 inches from the total length you need for the foot, you begin forming the toe. As you can see, I just finished the gusset, and I haven't gotten to the toe yet. I will show you that once I have this sock finished. Then, you just have to do it all over again to make the second sock.

In case you are wondering, all the purple cording hanging around is really my cable to my needles. I like to do my socks on 2 circular needles. The other way to do it is on 4 or 5 double pointed needles (dpn's). I am trying that on the Hubby's BBS, but for portability and dealing with the kids, I find the 2 circulars easier, and less likely to lose stitches. Also, you may see pictures with this hanging thing, that is just my row counter to make sure I am doing the correct amount of rows.

That is the anatomy of a sock!

Progress

2008-02-07T19:58:00.000-06:00

Well, progress is sometimes slow, but it is being made! First, my Charade sock is to the point of starting a heel flap. Yea :) This is where I try something new which is all the more exciting! I have continued to play with my camera, and hopefully, you can see the beautiful herringbone rib of it if you click on it to get a better look. (I'm not promising it will work) I have been having camera adventures, and I can't decide if the problem is me or my camera. I am somewhat hoping it is the camera, because it is much easier in the long run to buy a new camera than to try to fix me! I have also been working on my Rambler sock. As you can see, it is starting to rotate :) The best part is the surprise as the colors change. As you can see, right now it is working on a green shade, and when it will change again will be the next surprise!

I have also managed to get some sewing done. I finished up a bra for a friend of mine. We always start the first bra in something basic to get a good fit before we get too fancy. Usually that basic color is pink, white, or what I call "boring beige" (not that there is anything wrong with beige - you always need some good basics). But not this time, today basic got to be PURPLE, and you all know I have a certain affinity for PURPLE! I think it turned out really nice, now I have to decide what color I will make the next time I make one for me!

Now, on with the heel flap!

Super Sunday!

2008-02-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

Boy, it was a super Sunday! I got to start the afternoon off with a trip to Twist, followed by a 24th Anniversary Celebration for Anne and Needle Nook Fabrics. I got to snuggle with my kids, and have a Super Bowl picnic. We made pigs in a blanket, tater tots, and had a grand time watching the game and the commercials.

Congratulations to Eli Manning and the New York Giants. It was a fun defensive game to watch, and it could have gone either way. Also congratulations to New York Giants Athletic Trainer, John Johnson, who will retire after 60 years of working for the Giants. That in itself is an amazing feet. He is 90 years old, and has been working with the Giants longer than the NATA (National Athletic Trainers' Association) has been around. Oh the changes and progress he has seen to the profession that I share with him.

The only thing, everytime they talked about Amani Toomer of the New York Giants, all I could hear in my head was Arnold Schwartzinagger say "It's not a Toomer (tumor)". Name that movie.

I also did get some knitting done, and here is how the OYT sock is going.

I am over half way through the leg of the sock.

By the way, Best Superbowl Commercial - Coke's commercial with the giant ballons where Charlie Brown finally wins something! :)

Socks and more socks!

2008-02-03T13:00:00.001-06:00

The great sockdown has begun! I was already planning on starting two new socks for myself this week, when I made a wonderful discovery. I found a new group on my ravelry site called "Sock Knitters Anonymous". They have great forums, and even have a monthly sockdown challenge. This months challenge that I am going to do is to try a new heel to me, that I have not tried before. The biggest keys, are that it has to be cast on in the month of February, and both socks finished by March 31st at midnight. It is a worthy challenge, and I will see if I am up to it. I started with casting on my rambler sock on February 1st. Here is the cuff that I have started.

I have said that this ramble sock is inspired by the hat that my Mom made me for Christmas out of the same yarn. Here is the hat.

This is why I can't wait to work on this sock, and mimic the rotating rib. I can't wait to see what they are going to look like! I hope I can do the hat justice with my socks!

So, to qualify for the sockdown challenge, I am going to try a technique called a short row heel. I have not done this before, and I look forward to the process. But as you can see from the top picture, I do have a ways to go before I get to the heel.

I have also started another sock, that I cast on on yesterday. This sock is for my favorite Local Yarn Shop (LYS), Twist's new sock of the month club called On Your Toes. This months sock pattern is called Charade. I was going to do it in a teal green, but the pink just kept calling to me. And, I am going to try a heel called the "Eye of Partridge" for this sock, so it will also qualify for a new type of heel for me. I started this sock yesterday while sitting and enjoying my time at Twist. It was movie night, and we had a lot of fun watching "Edward Scissorhands". I truly enjoyed getting to spend some time there. It is like another home! And, I got to make several new knitting friends. What could be better.

So now, my biggest test will not be doing the two new heels, but seeing if I can manage to get both pairs done by March 31st! We will see how everything progresses!

Little Hats

2008-02-01T21:40:00.001-06:00

Little hats are just so much fun! They take no time at all. I did the bigger version of this hat for the 6yo's teacher for later, but I decided that she needed one for now as well. It is still cold in March for little heads. I think it is pretty cute!

I did need a model though, and the only thing in the house with a small enough head was a Cabbage Patch Kid. Well, it is a little big on her, but you get the drift. I am hoping it lasts at least until it gets warm this year, and then she has the blue hat for next winter, and maybe even longer. The bigger hat did fit the 2yo.

I think the pattern is pretty cute though, and because it in multiples of 18, I think I can enlarge it enough for an adult. I might have to try that as well!

Now, it is sock time! I started the rambler socks today, and the OYT's sock yarn will be bought and started tomorrow! Yea :)

Yippee!

2008-01-31T13:04:00.001-06:00

Hot dog! They are done!!! I finished the bamboo socks in the wee hours of the night last night. I did get done before it started to snow, though. And here they are. Aren't they beautiful! I now have two pairs of hand-knit socks to wear in the winter. All of my first socks were little shorty socks. It felt like this day would never come. I guess that is just because I am excited about starting the next pair of socks.
The next pairs of socks will be my ramble sock, that I swatched a few days ago, and then my On Your Toes, February sock, Charade. I finished my swatching on the Jawoll, and now I just have to wait until February (probably Saturday at Movie night) to buy the yarn. I have also been swatching my new Cascade Eco wool for my Oblique sweater. Boy, I did a lot of swatching yesterday and today, but I need to know what needles to buy. It sure is a good thing that we had a snow day today. Unfortunately, I may still have to go to practice, but that decision has not been made yet.

I also finished my soldier hat! It is headed out to the army plattoon with this new care package on Friday. It turned out great! It is fairly simple with a 3x3 rib, but should also be nice and warm and easy to care for being a superwash wool.

Now, I can finish the second baby hat for the big one's teacher, and I can start my new rambler sock!

Lions and Lace

2008-01-29T10:01:00.000-06:00

My 2 yo roars. She always has. She growls and roars and talks in a "monster voice" all the time, and loves it. She thinks leopard print things are the very best. So when I saw this fabric with the lions on it, I knew I needed to make something for her out of it. Originally I was going to make footie pj's with a zipper, but I asked her what she wanted, and she wanted a nightgown like her big sister. So this is what I did for her.

Now, she is not all bark, and has a little princess in her as well, so she needed a ruffle and some lace! But she definitely needs the unexpected as well, so she got bright orange lace.

She absolutely loved it. The lace comes down and tickles her toes. She twirled and twirled and said that she was a princess! My little lion princess. That pretty much sums her up!

2 yo blues

2008-01-27T11:27:00.000-06:00

Boy, have I got the blues! Life must be really tough to be a 2 yo, because that must be why you want to take it out on everyone else! My 2 yo is having a particularly rough day! Daddy wants to take her to a Women's Shocker game and have some special time with her, and she wants nothing of it. In fact she was screaming and crying for 1.5 - 2 hours this morning. Needless to say, I am a heartless mother, and the big one gets to go to the game with Daddy while the little one gets to spend the day in her room. Lots of fun for Mommy!

I did get her purple socks done yesterday morning. I would have a picture of them on her feet, but she is in her room, and I don't want to give them to her, or talk to her for that matter. But they did turn out pretty cute!
Last night we did get to have girls' night, and once the little girls were off to bed, Deb and I got to do some knitting. I was teaching her Judy's Magic Cast On to make great circular swatches. So I got to swatch the yarn I got from Mom for my birthday. It is the most beautiful yarn.

While I was swatching, I decided to try the pattern I think I will use on the socks. It mimics the rotating rib on the hat Mom made me for Christmas out of the same yarn. I think it turned out beautiful, and I can't wait to start them. However, I do need to get my bamboo socks finished first, so that I can use my own needles to make them, instead of Deb's! The yarn does the coolest thing where it goes back and forth between purple and green!

In the mean time, I am also trying to get a hat done for the Army platoon from Ft. Riley that Twist adopted. I have already taken over some soap, shampoo, and shaving cream, and I want to get this had done in time for this next package as well. It is just a simple 3 x 3 rib done in a brown superwash wool. I am making progress, and almost half way through the hat to get to the crown shaping. So, maybe I can knit and my little one will decide she is done throwing a fit and want to join the rest of us. We can only hope, but I'm not holding my breath!

Little things :)

2008-01-25T20:31:00.000-06:00

I love little things! They are just so much faster - nothing like instant gratification for all your hard work! Yesterday, I did get a few things accomplished.

I got this nightgown made for the big one. She picked out the fabric, said she wanted a little lace, and in about an hour - voila! Nightgown. Extra easy since I made it off of a basic t-shirt pattern with just a slight modification.

Then, I got to sit down with the little one's other purple sock. I had gotten about 1 1/2 inches of ribbing done, and in just a bit of time yesterday, and about 2 hours today I am two stripes away from the toe - more or less.

Now if only my socks and the big black socks for the hubby would go so fast. I don't know what I would do with myself!

Also, a big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my mom who just this week finished knitting her first pair of socks! I am so excited for her! I can't wait to see them :)

Bras, Blogs, and Breathing treatments

2008-01-23T20:29:00.000-06:00

That title pretty much sums up the day!

I finished a bra for one of the girls that I sew them for. Yeah! It turned out pretty cute too, if I get the picture, I will add it into this post later. (It is of the bra and not the girl). Now, I have finished all of my current custom orders, and maybe I can do some sewing for me and my family - now I just need to figure out what to start with!

You can all thank my lovely friend Debbie for finally getting me a decent picture to put on the blog and my Ravelry site instead of the picture of my sock. THANK YOU! :) She took that picture, oddly enough, while I was working on the Needle Nook blog, so it was rather appropriate!

And then, I got to cap off the day with my girls coming to work while the hubby went to the Shocker game. It is a school night after all, and the big one just needs more sleep than she gets on game nights. We went out to dinner of their choice - McDonalds. It is so nice that right now at least they have cheap tastes in going out to eat! We finished off with two breathing treatments back to back and reading all kinds of stories while we did them. I do enjoy getting to read with them, however, I am getting a little tired of the Clifford puppy days "Christmas Angel" that I have had to read twice a day, everyday!

Now I hear my wool calling me. It is cold out tonight - supposed to get down to 5 degrees - brrr. Curling up with my knitting seems like just the answer!

Progress Made

2008-01-21T20:12:00.000-06:00

Low and behold! Progress continues! I was not sure that I was getting anywhere, especially with a crazy day off of school. After errands, and having to go to three different places to get Chinese food (one place is remodeling and one has closed sometime since I was last there 4 years ago - guess I should have gone more often), I got home and sat down to knit while doing laundry before heading out for basketball practice and games. I looked at the hat for the 6yo's teacher and realized that I only had about 7 rows to go. So I got the baby hat done.

The floor did not do it justice though. Which is a shame because it is so cute! So I found the next best small model I could. Somehow it just did not fit the Cabbage Patch doll very well.

So I thought I would try one more model - the 2yo, and it looks pretty cute. However, it would probably fit better if she did not have pony tails in, but at least you get the picture!

Otherwise, my bamboo sock is making progress. It has a heel flap, heel turn and the gusset decreases are over half way done.

And on another note. I was supposed to be working basketball games tonight, but because of the icy road conditions, they were cancelled. So, you know what that means - more knitting time tonight. :)

Sick Day

2008-01-19T11:07:00.000-06:00

Well, the 2yo was home sick yesterday, so I got to spend some time at home too. We did breathing treatments, read books, watched PBS sprout, and in between, I got some knitting time!!!!!

I got to do another 30 min on Hubby's basic black sock - got to do that in the morning with good natural light. Poor thing, he asked me about it, because he hadn't seen it yet, and I had to tell him it was only 3/4" long.

I started the little one's second purple sock :) and have gotten a good inch or so done on it. I also finished my heel flap on my bamboo sock - I didn't do the heel turn, because I prefer to do that when I can be uninterrupted in my counting!

I also started a baby hat for the 6yo's teacher. It is kind of fun to know a lot of people having babies right now, because baby hats seem to not take so long - that is as long as your not trying to knit on 4 different things in one day. But, that was how the day was going, so that is what I did!

Now I think I need a sick day all by myself - I don't see that happening any time soon. Especially when I want it so that I can sit and knit all day and not be interrupted!

Knitterly Note

2008-01-15T20:02:00.000-06:00

Okay, now on a happier note - one that involves more knitting, I did get the little one's first purple sock done!

And it fits her beautifully!

But now, I have to do the second one. My mind just has not been all there to cast-on, join in the round, and hope that I don't twist the stitches. So, I have been working on my bamboo sock. Boy did that last inch of ribbing take FOREVER! At least I have gotten it done and am working on the heel flap! Progress - definitely, perfection -who needs it anyway!

The Gift

2008-01-15T09:49:00.000-06:00

Maybe some people aren't meant to be in our lives forever.
Maybe some people are just passing through.
Maybe they got it all done faster than the rest of us.
They don't need to stick around for a hundred years to get it all done right.
They get it done real quick --- It's like some people just come through our lives to bring us something, A Gift, a lesson or a blessing.
That is why they are here.
The give the gift and then are free to move on -- and you have the Gift forever.

Hard Day

2008-01-14T16:11:00.000-06:00

I am having one of the hardest days ever at work today. I have been the athletic trainer at a local Wichita High School for the past 9 years, and I have definitely gotten very close with my coaches. This morning my soccer coach (the only coach East has ever had), passed away. It is with a very heavy heart that I post this. I know he is in a better place, but my heart goes out to his son, his family, and all the kids he has coached over the past 30 years. God bless you Coach! You will be missed.

Special Time

2008-01-12T20:46:00.000-06:00

I got the distinct priviledge to spend some special time with my little one! My husband and big daughter were off to the Shocker basketball game which left us to fend for ourselves. I think we did quite well! We had chinese for dinner, green Jello for dessert, and as the little one says it was "elicious" (delicious in toddler speak). And we capped off the night with Dora the Explorer movies - her favorite!

I was having a grand time too! I did her heel flap, turned the heel and picked up my gusset stitches on her purple birthday socks! Now if I could only get motivated to finish the second sock of my bamboo socks! I only have about 1/2 inch left of the leg - maybe after bedtime!

Well, I very well can't just leave the gusset the way it is now, so purple socks onward!

Shockers lost! :( Hubby and the big one are sad, but they still had a lot of fun!

2008-01-12T11:19:00.000-06:00

Hi, I'm Jennifer and I love to knit and sew and be a mom. Welcome to my crazy world as I juggle work, family, and my wonderful hobbies.

Lately, knitting has definitely become my passion as can be seen on my ravelry page. I have been reading the Yarn Harlot faithfully and have truly been intrigued by the whole idea of a blog.

I have also been helping a wonderful friend with her blog for her business and I decided if I can help make hers work, why shouldn't I have my own. So here I go!