Saturday, June 24

I can't believe it's the end of June already! Amazing!
I "survived" Talent on Parade Nationals...dancers danced well, brought home 2 Top 2nds and 3 1sts, so all is okay. I knitted 3 hats and started a Woolease boot sock for a friend during the 5 days in Des Moines, Iowa. Friend Terri is an awesome navigator...we found several shopping centers and used bookstores (her passion)...I didn't even look for yarn stores, as I'm still on self-imposed embargo until my birthday July 30th. We ate some very nice dinners, a delicious soup and salad bar at "Crystal Tree", split a nice reuban so we could each have PIE at Perkins, split a chicken/avacado salad sandwhich so we could each have CHEESECAKE at Cheesecake factory, and several very late night breakfasts at Perkins when comp didn't get out until 11pm and there was nothing else around. On the way home we stopped at the Mad Greeks in Lawrence (no, I didn't even go down the block to Yarn Barn), where I had spinach pie and tiramisu...yum....trying to be very sensible about what I eat this week!

Limping around with a strained medial ligament on my left knee..boy oh boy does that hurt! I am planning to do some cleaning and a little non kneeling yard work this am, then sit and ice it while knitting on the 2nd sock. After working with all wool, the woolease doesn't feel quite so nice.

I bought some colored pencils and am going to print out knitting graph paper and color out the pattern for the pink hat...I'm quite proud of that one...my own "design" .

AGGREVATIONS

Aggrevation doesn't begin to describe it.
1)I have to put about $1500 into my 1993 van because a/c blew out and took some stuff with it. I have road trips to make or I'd just let it be, don't really need air going from house to studio or house to wal-mart. Has to be done in time for me to leave for nationals.
2) my studio credit card got hacked, account has been blocked, can't get me a new card in time for me to leave for nationals.....grrr
3) bogus charge on my phone bill... a $5.52 charge for directory assistance from ILD Services, got it taken off but still....
4) too much to do, to little time to do it...
5) computer locks up every blasted chance it gets! We have paid for the windows "upgrade" to "genuine" ... it was genuine, but it's a long story...anyhow, we've paid but haven't had time to do it, and until we get it done, I'm basically handicapped.

Rainy Day Monday

It's pouring down rain this am, good for plants, bad for plans!
Festival is over, we did our jobs, had fun, I bought a piece of art for the studio, a little glass fused piece that says dance that artist is making for me...she had bliss and serentity and stuff like that but said she'd make me a dance one. Only $36 which was well under my self-imposed $50 art budget. First year I bought a heart and stars hanging, 2nd year a drawing of a ballerina, and now this....each a different style..fun. When daughter returns camera and I get the item I'll post a photo of it.

Working on my Rock and Weave STR club sock...not sure I like it at all, but it's a learning experience for sure..learned linen stitch and picot bind off. Also learned an i-cord bind off through helping a friend, quite sure that's much more trouble than it's worth!

Working on a little girl hat in a "design" of my own...doing it on the fly without drawing or color ing on charts so not sure how it will turn out..the hearts band is pretty, we'll see about the flower band...again...no camera!

Hot hot hot

Festival was soo hot yesterday! I drank tons of water, 1 diet doctor pepper, 32 oz of powerade.
For brunch I ate an apple dumpling (yum) whjich was an apple baked in a piecrust wrapping with cinnomon etc in side, kind of a one person apple pie!, for lunch a "European Stuffed Seafood Sandwich"...what I would call a calzone with shrimp, onions, peppers etc ... it was very good, a roasted ear of corn with lime pepper for snack, for dinner I had a chicken and artichoke gyro which was also good and for late night I had a chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick! ooo so good! ( know you are wondering how I have had time to knit or look for lost youn'uns. ) I have spilled something on myself each day so far. Our shirts are "safety green" which is kind of a floresecent glo yellow...Friday it was the salsa my Indian Taco was swimming in, and a mystery black spot, yesterday some of the cranberry drink Carol had....those little packets of flavoring that go in your water...well, Carol found "sparks" a caffenatied cranberry flavor..good but too strong for both of our tastes, we kept drinking a little and adding more water, and a mystery spot that may have been chocolate! Shout took out all but yesterdays mystery spot..fortunately it's little and on the pocket. We have 2 shirts each, but hubby has been dropping both in washer and dryer when we come home each evening, and I've decided since this one already has a stain that didn't come out, I'd just keep wearing it as I'm sure I'll spill something else today!

Finished a childs sized checks and charms hat, and STILL have wool left over so will make another but change up the colors, I think I'll start with the pink this time. I am ready for the 8 rows of leg then heel of the STR club socks...it's an interesting technique, one that I'm not sure I'll repeat again,but I have learned how to do the linen stitch, which I'm thinking would make a great strap! or dense fabric for a little phone or ipod case. have a phone...no ipod.

Festival!

Yesterday was the 1st day of River Festival. I work the Lost and Found booth with my husband's Ham radio club. The core of the L&F is hubby, me and 2 friends from Great Bend. Carol and I both sit and knit most of the festival. I'm working on hat for great niece and the STR Club sock and she's working her way through her MIL's stash of redheart making charity scarves. Other than knitting, we listen to the music, and look for lost youn'uns and parents. Yesterday we had 3 cell phones and a wallet turned in, all claimed by end of evening and 6 kids. The last was a 9 yr old girl who had been dropped off in park with instructions to look for family friend! There were 9,700 people in the park last night! Finally had to involve police to track down phone numbers for a grandfather who came to get her! She was so panicky she wanted to walk to grandparents home. Like we could let this pretty little child walk anywhere at 9:30 at night. Honestly, you have to pass a test to get a DL but anyone can have kids!

Back today for a long day of sittin' and knittin' in 100+ heat...whew....

Checks and Charms finished

Checks and Charms set is finally finished....some really bad thumb holes that I had to "take care of" by weaving and snugging. I told hubby that these were absolutely never to go in the washer and dryer, that they would shrink down to doll clothing! Started a child sized hat with the left overs, didn't bother to look at the pattern and already made a "creative choice" regarding color work...ha! we don't need no stinkin' charts!

Interviewing another teacher candidate for the studio today, yesterdays girl was so sweet, but her skills were not as advanced as I needed them to be.

I'm excited to start working on new dances, it's like working endlessly on a sweater, finally finishing it, and picking up new yarn for a new project, you like the old, you are glad you did it, but new...what fun!

Made tortelli for dinner to serve with the left over pork roast and my fingers are so swollen today that I can hardly bend them to type...wow! should have looked at the sodium content closer! oh well, lots of water will help flush the salt out.

chugging along

Yesterday was the studio party day. About half the students showed up to get their trophies and photos. We had a good time watching the dvd, except that I thought we had only gotten cd's 1 and 3, and that we hadn't gotten #2, well...when I went to throw away the fed ex packaging, I realised that cd #2 was stuck into the bottom! oh welll....

Worked on mitten #2 of the checks and charms mitten. Finished sock #1 of FNLaurens purple socks...so not happy with the work on the leg, looks worse than 1st pair of socks...so tempted to rip out and start over but bday is June 12th!

Summer reg at studio tonight, going over in 20 minutes to work in peace and quiet on the forms I have.

RECITAL DAY!

Today is Recital day! Whoo hooo! Like having a baby 9 months of hard work pay off today! Our shows are at 2:00 and at 7:00, and are going to be pretty good. I thought last years was my best ever, and I'm not sure I can say that this year, but it's going to be pretty darn good.

Knit a few rows on the Lorna's Laces socks for FN Lauren lat night....I'm really tempted to rip back, as the 2 S 2 C method left me with such sloppy ladders and workmanship....I keep telling myself that FNL won't mind...but I think that I do...however, I have so many more interesting projects calling to me that I'm not sure I want to waste time "redoing"..sigh...

Kim in KCK the hat pattern is called Checks and Charms, it's from Knitpicks, a purchased one, not free but pretty close I think.

Hats and Mittens

Karims sweater all finished, even the ducky buttons sewn on...this is the hat before I realized it was big enough to fit his mom! Almost done re-knitting it in a more suitable size. Checks and charms hat is finished, having a little more trouble with the mittens. For some reason, the round joins are not nearly as nice on the mitten as on the hat. ..hmmm. Anyway, I'll finish the Hat, then the mittens, then I can start on my NEW STR CLUB SOCKS! Such pretty yarn, I had thought of giving club sock 2 to my sister, but when I saw it I knew it was mine..all mine.

Have an "order" for 2 pair of Woolease socks for a friend to take to ...ooh, brain freeze, big biker rally....can't think of the name..anyhow...need to do those by August. hmmm I can do it, just have to buy yarn...and I told my self I wouldn't buy any yarn until after my birthday July 30th...this presents a pretty problem...

Back to Blogging

I've been really busy and haven't blogged much but have done some knitting.
Pink hat is classic elite just a basic hat, size 8 needles I think.
Yellow hat is Pretty Petals pattern in Caron Simply Soft, size 6 and 8 needles.
Socks are my STR Club Rainforest Jasper. I have really short fat feet, so I make short fat socks, just to explain to those that think they look a little funny.

Busy, busy

I'm so busy right now with Dancers for Cancer (April 23) , Middle School Choralography, Recital (May 27), trying to get Nurshing Home shows scheduled, find volunteers and $ for D4C, and my own daily life, including hubby, DD and cats that I'm feeling really scattered! Have too many knitting projects going, keep printing off new patterns, fighting the urge to buy more yarn...feeling kinda manic to be honest.

Going home to Omaha for Easter, hoping for a nice visit with mom and siblings and assorted inlaws and nieces and nephews.

Finished sock one of STR club sock, about 2inches of cuff. Can't wait to wear them, can't wait to see next shipment to see which one I should keep for my fair entry! I think they striped and pooled in an interesting way. I am also itching to try the pattern on a hat.

Kids, Kats, Knits

Frank and RickyFish took the opportunity to steal a few bites from the food container after I had just poured the new bag in and before I could shut the door of the bin. They looked so cute I let them nibble a bit while I got the camera.
I also realize how much bigger Frank is than RickyFish! who is a delicate little lady.








I knit these toddler socks of Knitpicks parade yarn. The yarn was left over from my hat and mittens and I didn't bother matching stripes. I think they are quite cute even if they don't match. They'll go in my charity box for CIC. Last year I didn't send any and felt bad about it, so this year I have at least one pair!








Karim's mom sent a photo of him exploring the taste of dirt! She said he was so quiet that she knew he was into something he shouldn't be! Don't we all remember that phase!















This is Karim's sweater blocked and drying. Next step is to sew together. I never feel like I do a really good job on this part.

Pet the yarn or pet the cat?

Frank was a little jealous of the attention I was paying to the STR Club package.! The yarn is so soft and pretty! I have had to have great will power. I had to finish the charity socks on the size 2 needles 1st AND I had to finish the chainmail hood and sleeves. I allowed myself to wind up the ball yesterday. Ran out of yarn for sleeves tonight, and ordered more. Was extremely fortunate to find this yarn for $3.97 instead of the $11.25 the theatre paid for it! Even with shipping the 2 skeins came to $6.48 each, still a savings. So...tonight I get to cast on my club socks! Yay me! Had an unexpected 2 hrs free at studio tonight so ran home to have a dinner with hubby...but he had a meeting, so I'm eating rerun goolash at the computer. oh well.

and the best news? DD's car is nearly finished (3 weeks now!) (got told today that brakes were metal on metal sigh...) so I will have MY CAR back by Monday and I can put my bumpersticker on it!

yeah....too cool...I know I'm weird, but hey....

STR socks :Laurens Lace Ladder

Yarn: Socks that Rock, 1 skein

Color: Rose Quartz

Needles: 1.5 Crystal Palace DP

Stitches: 48, 10 rows ribbing

Pattern:

Row 1:Knit 3, yo, slip 1, K2tog, pass slip stitch over, yo Repeat to end

Row 2: knit

Repeat for 12 patterns.

Knit 6 rows plain.

I wanted yarn to show so did heelflap in stockinette with 3 garter stitches on either side.

My total leg cuff to end of 6th row plain knit is 3.5 inches, total foot lenght is 5.5 inches.

Lace ladder pattern adapted from Jeanie Townsends Ruffles and Lace pattern .

New Hat for Felicity

Made Felicity this cute hat from leftovers from the Chunky Cable Purse. I like this yarn alot, it feels really nice to knit with. I think I have enough left to make another one, just hate all those little balls of yarn lying around being wasted.

Panicked myself the othernight, thought I had stopped the back of Karims sweater 3" too short. Re-read pattern in am, highlighting all relevant () items in yellow, and I was fine. Finished front last night, kept reminding myself, just follow the pattern, it will all work out okay, because the neckline just seemed really off... total 79 stitches, used 19 for the stage left side (right as you look at it) of shoulders/neck, put 26 on holder and used the remainder for the stageright side....but, I think I get how it works...has to do with the button band thingy.

Have been assigned to knit a cowl and sleeves for Lion in Winter to resemble chainmail. No twine and paint for these people, gave me 4 $11.00 skeins of this metallic stuff towork with! Swatched 4 needle sizes, think the 13 is the best but will show it to "boss" to make sure she's happy.

Off to KC today for a DMA workshop. Tap teacher, Germaine Jackson, knits socks too! Big dilemmna last night as I tried to decide which socks to wear with my tapshoes....decided on the Opal Tigers. Now, isn't that silly? Hubby was going to go with me, but something important blew up at hospital and even though it's a bio-med item, he has to stay in town and deal with it because "bio-med don't do weekends.", so our mini-vacation is not going to happen. sigh..

FO's!

I was cleaning out my sock drawer and was motivated to take a photo of the 18 pairs of socks I have knit for myself. The white toes are ones that I have reknit the toes rather than let go of the socks. Actually, I just remembered a 19th pair in the to be repaired drawer!


Chunky cable purse actually finished! Several false starts and pattern errors later, I have a purse!

Two of the scarfs from the $1.00 skeins. The bright pink was 1 skein, the other 2 skeins. I don't really wear scarves so may donate these to the Dancers 4 Cancer auction April 23rd.

This morning I noticed that I have dropped an edge stitch on Karims sweater! I have been slipping the 1st stitch and it must have slipped off! It's way down and I really hate the thought of ripping back that many inches on this sweater...sigh...I'm going to try to knit it up, but have my doubts. Damn. 79 stitches on a slippery addi turbo size 1.... I much prefer my Crystal Palace bamboo or even the Clover wood ones. I feel like I'm just crawling on the purl rows.

I was asked yesterday to knit some "chainmail" for our local community theatre. They are supplying the yarn, I have to knit a hood and sleeves. I found patterns for just those items, but the Utah Shakespeare company used #36 twisted nylon cord not yarn, so I guess I'll just have to make guage 2.5 stitches = 1 inch, 3 rows = 1 inch.

And the answer is.....

The directions are wrong! Seems they left out the "BO" before 8sts from 2nd short side. This was my next gonna try it thing so, tonight I will reknit the bottom flap again. sigh.. Gave my mom the yarn, needles and pattern as a gift, so need to let her know about the error.

Purse help and Stupid Tulips

Can't for the life of me figure out how this purse bottom is supposed to go together. Stitched it together twice and it's just not right. Frustrates me as normally I'm "pattern queen " who can read and understand any pattern! Pattern says:" Begin bag bottom, K1, Loosely BO 8 sts from side, K21 sts across long side and 8 sts from second short side. K across remaining 23sts. Turn and purl across. Work 7 more rows back and forth is st sts for a total of 9 rows. BO loosely, break yarn. Seaming. Using a single strand of yarn, sew flap to bag bottom on 3 open sides. I've sewed the long edge together and then "squared" off the opening. Looked really odd with the other non-cable side piece not squared. So, ripped out seam, and sewed squared off end, then folded and squared off other end, then sewed remaining long seam. Looked odder still. Took those seams out... I'm beginning to think I didn't understand the bag bottom directions, but I did what it said... Help anyone?



















My stupid tulips are all coming up wayyy too soon. It's been an odd and dry winter, and the tulips are confused. I gave up and watered them yesterday since it was 80! My big fear is that when we have our traditional St. Pat's blizzard and ice storm they will get popsiclced. In the grayer picture you can see the retaining wall that's collapsing. Summer project.... sigh....

BTW the sawdust looking stuff is biodegradable Feline Pine kitty litter. Great stuff! Turns into sawdust and you just use it for mulch. It does retain a faint "litterbox" ordor but I think that's actually supposed to be a deterent to some "critters"... anyhow, I like the idea of not filling up the landfill with kitty litter. I'm going to break down and spend the $ for more of the FP litter boxes (the sifting ones at Wal-mart won't work with the product, the spaces are too big. FP boxes are expensive, but the litter is super cheap!)

Finished gusset on STR sock, worked a few rows on Karim's sweater.

WIPS 2

Chunky Cable Purse ready to be seamed. I think I understand how to do it.
$1.00 skein yarn aquistion $11.00 for these pretty skeins. Not sure what I'll do with them other than scarfs. hmmm sugestions anyone?

Must get to actual work today...need to kick my tutu into gear. Since updateing my SBC yahoo browser it's very annoying that it searchs for every damn letter I type. Not so bad on blogger here but on hotmail the message screen jumps all over the place. Wonder if I can disable this function... what's up with searching for links that begin with s .... Stupid updates fixing things that were not broken and causeing other problems.

WIPS

Laurens Lace in STR "Soft Rock" Rose Quartz. An orphan skein from Toni Neil.
US 1.5, 48 stitches, adaptation of Jean Townsends Ruffles and Lace pattern.