Seed Stitch Border

So, I am working on the sweater for the class that I am way behind on.  Last night I did the shoulders, modifying the cast off squarish binding to a short row slant that I think looks great. I’ve done a seed stitch border instead of the regular ribbing, because the sweater is so plain. I like it. Making it fit from the pattern has been interesting. It’s hard to do when you know it grows when blocked, but I think so far so good. Am loving the color. Can’t wait to wear it.

We visited Chantel in Logan this weekend and of course stopped in the LYS.  There was some cute mauvish superwash on sale, Ellie Rae, so I bought three skeins. K immediately started complaining about how I have too many projects sitting around, etc, etc, like husbands do. So to spite him, not only did I finish the back of my sweater, but I finished a simple triangular shawl with the Ellie Rae. It is so nice at work because it does get chilly there by the big window. I thought of leaving it there, but then I wanted it to wear while K and I cleared the DVR (it was getting up there, with a double Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead, Top Chef, etc.) so I took it home. It looks cute wrapped around my neck too, to tell the truth. This may be in constant use during my waking hours. And I want another one. Would like less of a point at the bottom, so I’ll work on that…..

Anyway, Friday night I finished up a little owl for Jude…he took it before I could take a pic. I asked him to send me one, but that isn’t working. I’ll try to get that this weekend.

In IF this weekend I taught my niece to knit. K’s mother had a bunch of Red Heart, so she started a hat. Nylon does have it’s purposes, and one of them is to remind me why I buy more expensive yarn.  It feels icky to knit with. I so wished I’d had some fabulous yarn to get her hooked with. Oh well, soon.

The things I’m into right now are polar opposites. Showtime has all the Dexter seasons

Shamelessly Stolen Picture, but just to get you to watch it, so I think it's okay.

on demand right now, so I am catching up starting in season three. Dexter’s gonna be a daddy?  It’s just craziness, you know? And way less violence from this guy huh? Maybe that will work out I guess.

Next is Downton Abbey, which K and I are pretty much obsessed with. Love it. It’s Gosford Park with a script.  And now Shirley MacLaine and her many lives worth of experience are going to enter into it.  I love the wife, played by Elizabeth McGovern.  The control she seems to have, coming from America to this society and giving up her fortune but still finding happiness. Where did

Another Pilfery...am I forgiven?

she come by that? Maybe Mom can explain it. The bad guys are sure bad, aren’t they. And then unexpectedly good. I love that.

Now that Big Bang Theory is on TBS or whatever, I seem to be watching it a lot more. Yes, I know I’ve seen them, but there are some shows and movies that I can watch a million times. It’s weird. Others I may like, but once is it. Like the move Secretariat. I swear…it’s on Starz or something and I’ve watched enough parts of it in the last month to have watched the whole thing 3 times! Can’t stop it.

So with all this viewing, you know I am getting  a lot of knitting done.  Finished a slouch hat for Hailee this weekend. They’d better send me a good pic of it soon! It’s pretty, made of a really light blue with cables in it.  Plus new mittens for Bronson, and a few surprise things. I’ll post as I go!

I knit a lot. Yeah, I’d better not even admit how much I do, because any non-knitter will not get it.  Every spare minute, I do it. I couldn’t watch t.v. or listen to music without needles in my hand without having a conniption. Waiting in line without yarn? Psychosis, utterly.  Chatting in a restaurant? Not without sticks and string! Once I tried to knit while traffic was stopped on the freeway (and no, that didn’t work out). I could go on and on. It’s so calming and charming and the product is so fun! Mostly that is.

I wish, wish, wish, I was a better knitter. That everything I created turned out exactly as

If I block them the same size, they'll turn out that way, right? Can you see how much tighter and better #2 is?

expected. That I knew somehow what I was doing wrong. I love my new hat, but why is it slightly too big and the edges slightly warped? I did a swatch, and it was right on!I blocked it as instructed.  What? Why is one glove bigger than the other….okay, why is every single second glove or mitten smaller than that first glove or mitten? No matter how hard I try to keep loose, it just doesn’t work! So I’m wishing they were perfect. Of course Elizabeth Zimmerman said it right when she said if you want perfect, go buy it, right? We are handmaking things…they should be personal. If that’s what I call it.

So I hope that experience and time and practice will make me better. Hope springs eternal, right? Someday I will not have to rip out and re-knit a second mitten…someday. It’s like Judy said…Somewhere, Over The Rainbow, my mittens are both the same size. Sigh.

My feet are dry!

In better news, I did get fabulous new slush boots. I used to have a good pair of snow boots when I walked to my job downtown from the bus, but they got old and cracked, and since my vanpool was door to door, who needs em? Well, yesterday when the snow that worked like frozen rain and puddled in the parking lot where I must now park since I have to drive ruined my shoes, I went shopping. Yes, I know they’ll be cold, but darn they are cute! Love them!

Weekends seem so short, and the time just races. Hey-yo, as Chantel would say to make me laugh. Sort of an agreement type thing, which I know everyone reading would give, because who doesn’t want their weekend to last longer?

So Walker’s birthday party was Sunday, and I whipped up a little hat for him in his hockey teams’ colors and with his number on it. Think it turned out cute. Of course he’s so adorable, it outshines the hat for sure.  While skating at free skate some doofus 30 year old ran into Walker, knocked him down, kicked him in the head and skated off–Walker ended up in the ER with a concussion. So he was taking it pretty easy last night at the party.

It was fun to see the family and all the kids. We started planning Christmas…will likely repeat our Thanksgiving plan, but Mom offered to fry enough chicken for all of us, so we are going southern with biscuits, sweet potato fries, pecan pies, etc.  We are all pretty excited.

I had hoped to finish K’s new socks over the weekend—and I’m pretty sure he’d

Ribbed Patternless Socks

hoped I would too. But I did not. Am within inches though, so hopefully tonight. The thing about these is I’ve realized I no longer really need a sock pattern, as far as the basic toe, heel, shape, fit, etc.  I can just start it and knit it up on my own. It makes me happy to think that. K is very excited about these.  They feel very cushy and nice.

Chantel and I took a hit Saturday. Or was it Friday? We watched the current Supernatural and it was pretty much tragic, and lingeringly sad. Yes, we are depressed. Officially. And unofficially.

Next up, finishing the cabled mittens, getting Kiki’s Justin Bieber hat on needles, various other projects.

So Channi and I went to knit night last night at Blazing Needles in Salt Lake.  It was really fun, though smaller than normal. It may have had something to do with the wind storm that turned over 11 semis on the freeway and knocked out power to houses all down the valley. Anyway, was fun. Channi, my little editor, was even asked if she were pro Oxford comma…..I didn’t even know what that is. Now I do and I am very pro Oxford Comma.  Everyone in the group had all very different projects going, which was nice.

My cabled gloves are almost done, right? Well, not anymore. I frogged them last night. I had come to the conclusion that they were a bit too big, and I was going to run out of yarn before I finished. In my mind (I know that is not a recommendation), I enjoyed knitting them, they were relatively fast, and I didn’t want to buy another skein for an inch of glove. So I started ripping.  One woman at the end of the table said it made her feel ill to watch me do it. Channi was unfazed, really. She’s used to it.

We had an entire discussion about knitter’s tendencies to either ignore mistakes and go on, or to constantly rip things out and try to fix things. Let’s name them.  There are the LBK (laid-back knitters) and the OCK (obsessive-compulsive knitters). Guess which one I am?

Hopefully someday my skills match up to my expectations and I spend less time with frogs and more with finished beauties.

Today at lunch I am meeting someone to teach them to knit. Hope it goes well. She saw me knitting a couple of weeks ago and asked me to teach her. I have no idea how. Hope she gets it. Will report on it.

1. Remote Controls Are Not Your Friend; Channel surfing does not work. If you are on t.v., you have to live with the commercials.  Changing channels seriously interrupts what’s important. In a half an hour show are there 3, 4 maybe commercial breaks? No way that works out.  On Demand is better, because they usually have fewer commercials. Don’t try to clear out your DVR either! The reason to record is to miss the darn commercials, and you don’t want to …..well, you get my point.

Note to 1.) Non-Knitter on Remote Duty:Think having someone watch it with you and work the remote will work? Okay, sometimes. But if you are watching anything you haven’t seen, and then miss something important while looking down at your knitting, beware.  For instance, husbands are really, really patient, until the 5th time you ask them to rewind because you missed that one bit.  Really. Mine never grumbles actually, but you can feel the tension a bit as I go on.

2. Know it, Love it, Knit During It: Best are things you love and have loved previously.I recommend Jane Austen, The Brontes,and musicals. At least I can sing and knit. Well, I can physically do it–anyone that has heard me knows I probably shouldn’t sing EVER. I also love series movies.  Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, The Godfathers, all provide plenty of knit time and the family likes it too. Last week I told K we should watch all the extended Lord of the Rings movies…..so for three nights I got time with my honey, excellent entertainment for 4 or so hours a night, and plenty of time to do my thing.

Gratuitous shot of Dean Winchester to lure you into buying 'Supernatural'

TV shows on video are excellent. I mean, pick one with 6-7 seasons and you are set for long term knitting. This is especially true  if you know them well enough to recognize cues as to when to watch. Like Chantel and I with Supernatural….I know when my husband-allowed-imaginary-crush Dean Winchester  will be looking good and I need to pause a bit.  What? You think that if I know it that well, I should be bored to death with it? Well the point is knitting, get it? It’s just a nice little companion to the main event!

3. Mediate Bad Kids Shows:No, I do not have small children. But I do

They are cute, but they have bad taste. Or kid taste.

have nieces and nephews who come over regularly. Usually I try to find other things to entertain them, but when they revert to ‘Fred:2′, Batman cartoons, and SpongeBob Squarepants, I get out the knitting.  So maybe this is not so much what to watch when you’re knitting, but more how knitting can keep you sane during bad shows.

4. Movies, Magic or Misery?: I have knit in movies. I have success and utter failure.  Depends on the lighting, the difficulty of the piece, and exactly where your interest really lies. Dropped a stitch in the new Jane Eyre, and didn’t realize it until I was home…Ended up fixing about 20 rows. Luckily it was plain jane stuff. I should have known that I would be paying more attention to that movie than my hands…Rochester is just…oh wait, that’s for another time. Anyway, knit carefully.

WARNING ; Never watch knitting shows while knitting. I highly recommend Knitting Daily on PBS. But I always get behind on it because it seems foreign to be in front of a screen with no knitting in my hands, but I miss too much of the show if I knit. And it’s lifesaving for a learning knitter. I highly recommend it as non-knitting viewing. If you can get your head around it.

Any questions?

Last night I wanted to go to a Stitch N Bitch group at seven, so I had 2 hours to kill between work and that.  I wandered over to Barnes and Noble in Sugarhouse. Their shelves of knitting books were so full, it was difficult to pull out books, and I certainly couldn’t get them back in. After perusing and lusting after many of the books, I settled down to read a bit of All Wound Up by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I have several of her books and will probably buy this on my nook.  She’s so funny, and really has a way of writing down things I have thought, but maybe not thought through.

I loved the essay on how she is boiling with contained rage when people tell her they don’t have time to knit–mostly while she and some person are waiting in line or at an office and she is calmly knitting and they are angry over the wait and bored out of their skull.  It’s true!! Half my knitting is done just while I’m waiting for something or someone! And she’s so right- why is it that the 4 hours of tv the average person watches per day not a waste of time, or time they think they are busy?  At least we are productive!!

Second point I loved: maybe we do meet enough of the requirements for diagnosing addiction, but the difference is, knitting doesn’t hurt us or anyone else. Sigh. I love it. Can’t wait to buy and read the rest.

It got me thinking though….how many hours a day do I knit?  She says she knits 2-3 hours a day on average. Yesterday I knit for 20 minutes or so in the morning, then about 20 at lunch.   At the group knit I probably spent an hour and 45 minutes knitting.  Today I didn’t do any in the morning, as I was gathering up my knitting stuff for class tonight. But I’ll do some at lunch and probably 2 hours at class. Tomorrow is knit night, so probably 3 hours there. Yeah, easily 2-3 hours a day during the week. Weekends….you’d think I’m crazy if I told you. But I’ll go there.

Usually Friday night a movie and knitting. Saturday I knit while I am at a hockey game of Walkers.  Then probably 3-4 hours during the rest of the day.  Sunday…knit, knit, knit, every spare moment, time broken only by cooking, shopping, cleaning, etc.  Sigh.  It makes me smile to think of it.

You’d be surprised how much time a person spends waiting, chatting, watching movies or t.v., sitting with family….all that I do- while I knit.

Didn’t want to say rejuvenated….how tired would that be?

My week off was lovely. Spent time with my Mom, which I haven’t had much of in the last few months. Had Thanksgiving at Amy’s and got to spend time with Kiki and Walker on Friday. Visited K’s parents in Idaho and saw some of his nieces and nephew.  I knit a lot.  Finished the Beret and Mom’s scarf, and then Channi and I had a knit off for the second sock of our pairs…Guess who won? I am extremely competitive people. Do not challenge me.  Of course in most things you’re safe. I’m not athletic or anything, but challenge me to anything knitted and I will not sleep until I win.  I know! I’m also not that great of a sport. Sigh. It’s something I am working on. Or living with….whichever.    

I also got my cabled gloves both to the point they have to be for class this week. I love them extremely much. Cannot wait to wear them for real. Love the pattern, having fun knitting them, and the yarn is to die for. I’m going to have to do more with Madelinetosh.

Since the purple ones are finished and I feel I need a pair of socks on at all times, I’ve started a pair for Kimball. He’d better be so happy, because I do have a long list of requests. But he is wearing out the first pair and really needs more to alternate with. This time I bought Pattons Kroy Sock yarn, so he will not have to hand wash and dry them. They should just go in the machine with everything else. How fun will that be?

So anyway, I’m back to work but feeling up to it, back to exercising and all that stuff I need to do but haven’t for a week, and back to getting ready for the holiday. I’m dreading them a little, because I know as soon as they are over, Chantel is moving out. As much as I am looking forward to having her room for the treadmill and K’s office, and not having to walk by her…uh, what’s the word for it….black hole of a bedroom, I am just about to cry to have her go so far away. I know, it’s only 2 hours, but it just seems like it’s Florida or something. It is going to be awfully quiet around the Hall domain.  Ugh.

Mom's scarf and the Beret

Or so K says. When I had two items blocking that I had finished on the same day, he said only a real knitter would be blocking multiple items. So there they are blocking. I’d actually worked on the beret a bit each day all week,  and finished it Saturday at the hockey game. Then I started Mom’s scarf and finished it on Sunday so I had them both blocking together.  The beret really stretched out, even though I didn’t pull at it at all. The ribbing got huge. It seems too big now. Must be the yarn, because it fit Kiki at the game before I blocked it so it should have fit me fine. Oh well, I want to make it again anyway. it was fun and is really pretty. I’ve had a lot of requests.

Next I decided to get back to work on the socks for me.  I finished one earlier tonight and am on the second one. I tried a short row heel this time, and I really like it. It looks like most commercial socks.  Quite a bit different from the slip stitch heel and really easy to calculate. I don’t think I need a pattern anymore for a basic sock, which is good. I kind of like it.  Now I just need to finish up the other for a pair. I love the fit..It is so comfy I find myself wearing the one around. And they are my favorite color too!

Short Row Heel

I will not discuss my disappointment at missing Knit Night last night. No. I will not blame or complain.

Okay, you talked me into it! Someone I shall not name came up to Salt Lake to go to Knit Night with me,  but had a horrible headache and the Dr. Pepper wasn’t helping and she started feeling nauseous, so we headed home. I was bitterly, bitterly disappointed, as was she, I think.  Guess what? That was not bad enough. There was a 5 car accident southbound, so we had to sit in the car forever…..and guess what, again?  So and so started to feel better. Too late. We could not get off the freeway and it was bad.

So Leafy!

Sigh. I went home and worked on my Rustling Leaves Beret, which I absolutely love working on. Why can’t all patterns be so fun and simple and beautiful? You know immediately if you’ve made a mistake, which is so nice.

Anyway, after today I am off for a week and really looking forward to knitting up a bunch of the things people have requested.

Kiki- hat for her and one for Walker

Susan- scarf

Jude- gloves

And if I get to those, Kimball wants more socks!!