chrisknits
Knitting on
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
There is a typical winter time knitting phenomenon for me. I end up making the same pattern 50 times over. Don't know why, don't know how, it just happens. My 2007 Flickr page shows 2 hats that caught my attention. I ended up knitting 2 of one and 4 of the other. And I knit numerous Fetchings. In 2008 I made 2 dog sweaters from the same pattern and umpteen Calorimetry. OK, so neither ever got to 50 times, but you get the picture. Also that year, I made 3 Baby Boleros, but they were interspersed throughout the year. What is it about a pattern that grabs me and holds me? I can't answer that, but I think I have found the 2009 version of it. Only, the 2nd one has already morphed into something else and the first one wasn't completely like the pattern either.
Mirelle has inspired me to do similar hats. The latest one has changed the star motif to a 18 st repeat instead of 24. I made a new motif to separate the stars. I deleted the checker board. I will use the fuchsia to make a color change in the middle of the star, I think. The yarn I am using is a mite thinner than the leftover Shelridge Farm yarn I used on the first Mirelle look alike. But I am using the same needle size, 4, and it seems to be working. I thought to double strand it, but when I cast on double with a size 5 needle it was too thick. Not having a 6 or 7 with me at the time, it became another small needle project.
And I have already decided what to do change on the next hat. Someone stop me now! I have 5 pair of clogs and 2 pair of felted footies to make by Dec 25th! My hands will be so gnarled by then who knows if I can even knit anymore.
OK, light week this week, and hallelujah for it! We have bball game and dinner at my Aunt's on Wed, but other than that I am free! But I do have to make dumplings and yeast rolls for Thursday lunch at my SIL's. Thank goodness for those freezer rolls that I just pop in a pan and let rise. The dumplings however are not so easy. So I will get up Thursday morning and start rolling them out and boiling them. Wish I could get some turkey drippings, but Hubster plans to smoke ours. Not sure when he plans to do this, but it is on his radar and two large birds are in my freezer!
Elder reminded me last night that we have to get out and get her dress for her Christmas dance on Dec 5th. There is no way I am going out THIS weekend to look at dresses! NO. WAY. But with only 11 days left, we will have to hustle it out to the mall for a dress. She is not a fussy one so we won't have the drama of not being able to find the ONE dress. I feel for those moms whose daughters are that particular. But no way will I drive over 30 minutes to find a formal dress for a school dance.
Off to knit and waste my day! Need to make an appt for an oil change, need to call Hubster to find out what I am supposed to do with the title and stuff for the Jeep, need to make a hair appt for the pup, need to drop off food stuffs at the Rescue Mission, and need to find a charity for the hats I have made and run the preemie ones by the hospital. And then tonight I will knit at Starbucks no matter WHAT my family tries to do about it!
Too tired to write a post
Sunday, 22 November 2009
So I will leave you with photos of our weekend retreat. Again, I suck at taking pictures of any celebration! The hat was started on Saturday morning and finished late Saturday night. It just flew off the needles. My niece claimed it. And perfect size it was. Pattern PDF I kinda followed. Changes were to do the beginning in 4 rows garter, not purl rows. Then the first row of the corrugated ribbing was done in all knit sts. I hate seeing the purl bump color change when going from one color to another in ribbing. Then I made a row of fuchsia checks in the brown background before starting the ribbon color band. Mirrored the placement of the bands after the motif and did 4 rows of garter to start the crown. I did the crown solid instead of striped. Now, if I can figure it out I will make a pair of mittens to match for her. Just need to narrow down the motif to fit a mitten hand. Do you think it was a hit? Mouse over the photo to see just how much she liked it.
Health care rant, if you are liberal you won't agree with me, so skip it and save us all a lot of drama.
It's the big Day!
Friday, 20 November 2009
One more grocery stop and all the food will be purchased. Then I will need to pack it in coolers or bags. I got smart and put the 5 loves of bread in the long plastic snap lid box. Less squishize that way. 5 loaves? Yep! For Baked French Toast and Sandwiches. Knowing some kids can eat 3 pieces of FT and 2 sandwiches, I would prefer to be over stocked than under. Now to get oil changed in car, drop off stuff at Goodwill, pick up some food stuffs from church, run to the grocery, come home and pack, obsess about what I might be forgetting, pick up Elder from bball practice, pack my knitting (I have no idea what to take), and head for church. Then drive 2 hours to our destination.
Oh, and somewhere in the middle of it all, feed the family. Guess I could do a roast if I brown it now and put it in the crock pot for the rest of the day. I have Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes in the fridge, and could do some green beans. Or not. Just don't want to feed them fast food again today. Yesterday was full of running, but I was able to make Lasagna. I had so much, I made up a baking dish to take with us for Saturday night. We plan to have Calzones, but some lasagna wouldn't likely be turn downed. Got broccoli in Elder by shredding it in my dicer and adding it to the meat sauce. It was so small she couldn't pick it out like she did the peppers.
Here are some FOs. The sweater and hat have been shown before, but this is the final choice for the Dec baby. The striped hat was more in keeping with the sweater. Just wish I would have had even just a tiny bit of navy left to use in the hat. But the navy, it is all gone.
And here are the latest clogs. These are for the Golf Coach. I have now learned that when using 3 different colors for a small pair of clogs, you cannot do the extra rows and have enough of the top color. You will run out as you get to the cuff on the 2nd clog. And then when you rip out the first cuff and then try to use the last sole color, you run out of that color when trying to finish the 2nd sole of the 2nd clog. So then you pull out the leftover top color and use one strand of each to start the clog for a few rows, and then switch to the solid contrast color to finish. Only, you still don't have enough, so you have to add in the top color for the last row of the 2nd sole on the 2nd clog. See below by mousing over.
Now, to remind myself of this fact when I do the next pair. I think I will weigh the clog at each stage to give myself an idea of how many ounces of yarn it takes for each section. Weigh my needle before hand to take it out of the equation.
OK, tummy is rumbling for breakfast. If this is the last post you receive from me, know that I was driven crazy by 14 hungry, angry, teens who ate everything in sight! You will likely find me at the local asylum. I'll be the one with the flour in my hair, spots of pizza sauce all over my clothing, sitting in the corner mumbling, "It just needed 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. So what went wrong!!!????"