Tania Knits too

The economy strikes close to home

2010-01-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

It is with a very heart I publicly announce that my beloved LYS, home away from home, and so much more, will be closing at the end of the month. The economy strikes again, this time on a very personal level. During the four years Bonita Knitting, then more recently Bonita Knit & Sew has been in business, I went from frequent customer to instructor and part time employee. I have spent at least two days a week there, communing with the fibers and making some really good friends. As we improved our knitting and crochet skills, we bonded while our projects emerged, accomplishing more than we ever thought we could. I’m going to miss it terribly and am going to try very hard to maintain those friendships as we scramble to find a convenient place to knit. We are brainstorming possible substitutes, but we all know it could never measure up to ‘the shop.’ I regret good will and camaraderie could not overcome the realities of a harsh ecomony. I loved the place and mourn its passing while remembering the wonderful time it existed as a beacon to my creative soul.

I resolve...

2010-01-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

We’re getting ready for Christmas, part two. Erika and Nathan were in Ohio last week, so we get to celebrate Christmas all over again. They and Heather will be here at 11.

Like many, I’ve been taking stock and making plans for the new year. My very trite resolution is to get back to eating well and exercising regularly. The gym and the trainers have already been paid, now to get back into my routines. This dizzy headache, coupled with feeling sorry for myself have wreaked havoc with all my good work of the past few months. The headache’s mostly gone, but I still have equilibrium issues. I’m scheduled for an MRI on the 13th. On Monday, I’m supposed to receive some portable heart rate monitor as part of being evaluated by a cardiologist. I’ve had two EKGs and a head CT scan in the past two weeks and the medical people are trying to figure out if the heart palpitations I’ve experienced are a result of being crazy dizzy or if they are somehow causing it. So far all tests are negative, so I’m not worried – much.

There I go, feeling sorry for myself again... On a geeky exciting note, I ordered a new desktop computer last week and it should arrive Monday or Tuesday. 6 GB of RAM and 640 GB of memory and a front portal where my 1 TB drive just slides in. I face the somewhat daunting but mostly tedious task of getting all the stuff from the old unit into the new, then learning how Windows 7 differs from XP and Vista. I did spend Christmas day backing up all my content onto the external drive I got as a gift, so I’m hopeful I can just plug that in and copy everything over. I’ll have my laptop to do my computing until the new unit is up and running to my satisfaction.

Another item of breaking news is that I’ve given in and starting texting. I spend so much time online, I figured if you want something, email me. If you really want something CALL. My cell phone plan has more minutes per month than Bob and I could use in 6 months, but it’s the minimum for the family plan. So calling is a great option. However, the texters in my life don’t communicate that way. They believe texting is less intrusive. I don’t know, constant bleeping of the phone with little notes that often require you stopping whatever you’re doing to tap out a reply is a lot more of a hassle than just answering a phone. But I like these people and am willing to communicate in every way to hear from them. So I am now a texter. I started out with a 250 messages per month and I’ll see if I need to go unlimited. I can get a phone upgrade in March, so if I do expand my tapping, then I definitely want a phone with a QWERTY keyboard.

On the knitting front, I’ve logged in 60 completed items. That’s less than the 90+ of last year, but I also completed larger more intricate items included 4 long sleeved adult sweaters, 4 short sleeved adult sweaters, 10 baby/child sweaters and 5 shawls. Amazingly, there was only 1 pair of socks. I completed 19 pairs in 2008. This last pair was my 98th overall, so I resolve to get past 100 in 2010. I need to get a firm grip on my WIPs. I get overwhelmed when they creep up into the double digits. I resolve to finish things before giving in to the enticement of a new project. The goal is to have no more than 6 going with 3 being ideal. I can also say that with making exercise a regular part of my life, I’ve been knitting less. Even with backsliding, I started 2010 about 35 lbs lighter than last year, so that counts for a lot.

My knitting life will be changing drastically in 2010 as my LYS is going away, a victim of the economy. Over the 4 years it’s been around, I went from frequent customer, to sometimes instructor, to part time employee. In a way, I was spending more time there than I really wanted to, but I loved it so. Now I will be regaining that time which will be channeled back into my family and craft hobbies. I resolve to get back into sewing and am starting that venture by teaching Heather to sew. Our 1st session is scheduled for the 10th after I acquire her new sewing machine. I also resolve to maintain the wonderful friendships made at the LYS and need to figure out a place where we can regularly get together.

Great Christmas Day

2009-12-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

We three had a wonderful holiday together. Of course we missed Erika and her husband Nathan who were spending time with his family in Ohio, but we get them back soon and will celebrate Christmas all over again next weekend.

It's no big secret. Bob's a fool for Christmas. He plans and plots and even ventures into malls. Our family does Wish Lists. We do not consider it crass or commercial. It's more of a, "If you're going to get me a present, but don't know what I'd like, here are a few suggestions." We were always careful to includes things the kids could afford from their own money when they were growing up and still include 'gift certificates' of time. Bob always liked to get coupons for car washes and I love the girls' day with the daughters. Last year one of those days was going over to Heather's apartment and watching a DVD together. We sat on the hand me down couch we gave her and watched it on my old TV, and it was WONDERFUL.

Heather came over Christmas Eve to cook her portion of the dinner. We traditionally have a ham on Christmas Eve, but with her being a vegan, other menu items must be included. Luckily, she takes after her father and loves to cook. She made an excellent corn chowder, had a baked potato with all the fixings and I made green beans and fried bananas. We were skeptical about her vegan version of Bob's cream cheese cookies, but they were really good.

She also surprised us by deciding to spend the night. For once, I was the last one up Christmas morning. Bob, the Christmas fool, was up at 5:30 am, but I stayed in bed until 7, then showered and put some make up on for all the photos I knew he'd be taking. We usually had our coffee and read the paper before the kids woke up and more recently, before they came over, but not this year.

The presents and company were fun and well appreciated. We chatted on the phone with relatives all over the country, visiting the best way we could given the vast distances involved. To top it off, when the San Diego Chargers played at 4:30 pm, they completely dominated the game, beating the Tennessee Titans 42 - 17. Oh, Happy Day.

2009-12-23T10:55:00.001-08:00

On Day 10, the headache's much better, but still there. Only dizzy when I got out of bed, but things settled down. Thinking of getting my nails done later. Pampering is always good, as is knitting and listening to podcasts. Have discovered David Reidy's podcast, Sticks and String. Interesting perspective from an Australian male knitter. I'm working my way from the beginning, so I'm 3 years behind!

I finished Nathan's socks last night. Was a bit dismayed to note the 2nd one is somewhat larger than the 1st. I never had issues with different tensions, but I guess the 11 months from start to finish was a bit much. Will throw in the washer and dryer before gifting and all should go well. I'm down to 6 knitting projects in progress, plus the 2 crocheted afghans. Not that bad since one of the WIPs is a sweater I have only cast on for. That really makes it #1 in the Queue rather than 'in progress'. I'm currently doing the Victorian shoulderette by Sivia Harding in black Cria Creek Alpaca. I've made this lovely thing 3 times already. After the black one, there's the one in oranges from Schaefer Heather. My ambitious plans are to have both done before the New Year.

I've had the best surprise this morning and am overwhelmed. Susan called on the way into the shop to warn me she was coming by to drop off my Christmas present. I got to open it right away and as usual, she was amazingly generous. I love the mug with the continental knitting reference. The red Namaste bag is literally a BIG present. I had admired it in the shop and although I have many knitting bags, I lusted for it. I showed restraint by not buying it for myself, figuring I'd get it after Christmas if it was not sold. Someone did buy it last week and there was a moment of silence as Susan and Monica and I sighed, knowing it was a sign we were not meant to own the lovely thing. Little did I know Susan ordered me another one as soon as it went out the door. I'll always think of her when I use it.

Another FO

2009-12-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday, it was off to the Dr. at the Tricare clinic to see if anything could be done about the headache and dizziness I have had for the past EIGHT days. I was feeling so smug because I anticipated if any head tests were required, I'd have to go downtown to Balboa Naval Hospital. Having been referred to that massive complex in the past, once even getting to spend the night, I loaded up my knitting bag with 2 smallish projects, a Wonderful Wallaby AND the SIL socks. I threw in a pair of DH's socks that could use some darning, and my Kindle, AND my Palm which I only use for the games, AND my MP3 player AND the charging cords for each including the one for my phone. Hey, I was a Girl Scout leader and know about being prepared. I even threw in an apple because the last time they didn't feed me for almost 24 hours.

Sure enough, the clinic doctor writes me a referral - after chastising me for not coming in sooner, scaring me with images of brain bleeds and even referring to Natasha Richardson who DIED shortly after smacking her head - and I'm off to the Emergency Room. I get checked in and into a bed surrounded by fabric curtains. I had to tell the story several times about how I conked my head last week, just to make sure someone at home was not smacking me around. I understand why they have to do this, so I don't get mad or laugh at them because if you knew my Bob, DH of over 30 years, you'd know he was the sweetest most even tempered man you'd ever meet.

The MP3 player comes in real handy to drown out the chatter among hospital staff, mostly about their Christmas plans, and the incredibly whiney kid in the next bed over. He has a stomach ache. His mother is convinced it's appendicitis and his father thinks she's over reacting (which ends up being the case). I just want to shout, "I have a headache! Shut the #@$% up!", but I'm staying calm by listening to my tunes knitting away. After the head CT scan, I settle in to wait for the results in my fabric room with the narrow bed, when Grace, my nurse, comes in to hook me up to an IV. That looks very hospital -y and since I'm already wearing a hospital gown because they apparently need to do an EKG on everyone who comes in the door, things are looking serious. Oh, not to worry, the ER Dr. just wants to make sure I'm hydrated. Oh, really... how about a glass of water? But they have their way of doing things, so I get hooked up. I did manage to select the spot where the needle went in. I did so based on what would interfere the least with my knitting.

So, I get my bag of goodies and by the time I'm done, the test results are back and there's no evidence of anything bad going on. I probably did have a slight concussion, but since a week had passed, nothing was evident. They let me go with a couple of scripts. The entire ordeal took 4 hours. Actually not that bad and I just about finished the Wallaby.

Later that evening, I took care of my headache the old fashioned way as Bob and I headed downtown to the Rock Bottom Brewery where we HYDRATE in a much more delightful fashion. We went to catch the Battle of the Bands between Cal and Utah, the participants in this year's Poinsettia Bowl. I figure I have a headache anyway, so some drums couldn't make it any worse. It was quite a scene and we had fun. Home by 7:30 where I put my feet up, bound off my Wallaby and tucked in the ends. I still have the dizzy headache, but now I have drugs....

It's not snowing

2009-12-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

As Facebook friends from the East coast post their snowy status along with pix to illustrate the magnitude of the snow, I too took a photo out my window. The most I could muster up weather wise was a bit of overcast with the 3 pm temperature outside my window a balmy 68 degrees. We do, however, have the Christmas spirit and have made the inside look all cozy with a more wintry look. This old house does not heat well, so we've got out our sweaters and snuggly clothes for when the night temps plummet into the low 50s, high 40s.

I'm trying to enjoy this week of peace and quiet now that all the shopping and 99% of the wrapping is done. It's time to listen to carols and await Christmas. But I've had a headache since last Tuesday, accompanied with vertigo. I've tried to gut it out and felt almost better on Friday, only to wake up Saturday both dizzy and headachy with more of the same today. I gave up gutting it out and have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I smacked my head pretty good on Monday and I'm wondering if it's a slight concussion. Anyhow, I haven't worked out since Monday and feel yukky about it. I have done quite a bit of knitting, finishing Erika's brown sweater, which for some reason I disliked making and am overall unhappy with the results. She took it away making all the appropriate happy noises, and I'm pleased to be done with it.

I have also been working on some plain socks for my son in law. Started them in JANUARY and had only turned the heel on the 1st one. I'm now on the 2nd sock and will turn the heel tomorrow. But this evening, I'm going to finish this pink blanket I started in October of 2008, only to run out of gas when it was 90% done. If you catch my drift, I'm determined to whittle down my works in progress to a more manageable level and vow not to start any new projects until I'm down to only 5 or 6. Ideally that should be 1 or 2, but I know me, and that just won't happen. I'm determined about the socks since they will be the ONLY PAIR I'll have made in 2009. Can you imagine? I'm usually good for 18 to 20 pairs a year. I'll have to do a year end review of what I have knit, since I know I've completed over 50 projects.

My exciting life also included some laundry today and I knit and listened to some podcasts while the dryer was going. I'm going to cook in a bit - a rare occurrence for me - so I'll leave you with a photo of the now clean socks we wore this week. I wash them inside out in a lingerie bag and run them through the dryer for a bit to fluff them up, but hang them up to finish drying. The brown pair on the right looked like it wanted to shrink, so they're on the stretchers.

It's almost Christmas

2009-12-09T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'm so behind on Christmas preparations. I haven't even done my cards and won't be getting to them until next week. I've don't the Amazon thing, but need to go shopping for a few more gifts for my husband and some stocking stuffers. What do you get an 85 year old mom for her December birthday and Christmas? She's got absolutely everything in triplicate, but loves getting gifts....

Meanwhile, my Fan Neckwarmer pattern, written over a year ago is still going strong. I started selling it as a Ravelry download earlier this week instead of via Bonita Knit & Sew. Easier accounting for all concerned. I had no idea it would continue to be popular. In the past few days, 4 copies have sold. Seems like free money. Now, if I could just get inspiration for another design... Hard to do with my WIPs numbering over a dozen and my Queue (projects with yarn already purchased and awaiting my attention). I am so in love with the many designs out there, if feel my little improvisations are not up to par.

New year's resolution will be to blog more often. Let's see....

Turncoat

2009-06-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Let's face it. I stink at blogging. Too much of a commitment. I'm addicted to the short bursts of Facebook. Tried Twitter, but don't care for it much. Facebook is easier to maneuver and fun to catch up with all kinds of folks from old classmates to my children.

I'm way behind on updating Ravelry as well, but it's definitely on my to do list.

Now that I'm exercising almost every day, it seems as if I don't have much time, yet I do spent hours at a stretch online. Witness the posting of 1000+ pix to Flickr when we got back from Yellowstone and Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I still knit quite a bit, but not nearly as much as I used to.

What's been happening?

I'm happy to report I'm down 35 lbs since the beginning of the year when I won a personal trainer 3x a week for 3 months. I kept the trainer, because she's great, but my budget only allows me that luxury 1x a week. Then I'm on my own. The weight loss has slowed down, but is still ongoing. I need to lose at least another 20. I was quite pleased to have enough stamina to enjoy my vacation, walking to and fro, climbing stairs and all manner of things one does when in a National Park. I was also happy to have actually lost a pound while on vacation. I may be getting the hang of this portion control thing. I sure hope so, because it's been quite hard to lose the weight this time. If I regain it in a few years, then it's probably going to stay on. It's hard enough at 57. I can't imagine starting over in my 60's. That said, I feel great and even look forward to exercising.

Celebrated 30 years of wedded bliss. Go Bob and Tania!

Got a new camera (note reference to 1000+ pix). Though still a point and shoot, it's a Big Girl camera with a 20X optical zoom and some manual options. Now I look just a savvy as Bob with his SLR.

Still teaching at the yarn store and enjoying the success of my Fan Neckwarmer pattern. It's still selling and we've passed 250 copies sold. Amazing.

Don't look for regular updates here. Slide on over to Facebook, where I'm taniasews. There's pix and links there. http://www.facebook.com/taniasews

My left foot

2009-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

I had never heard of a Morton's Neuroma. Luckily, my trainer knew all about it. My left foot has been getting numb at the ball of the foot for years after about 15 minutes of walking. No pain, just numbness. I'd mention it at my physicals and every doctor would look puzzled and go, "Hmmm." Last week I was doing a bunch of regular stuff wearing my sneakers, then went for my walk. Ow. It was annoying from the start and actually hurt by the time I was done. But I'm tough and do all 3+ miles. The darned foot did not stop hurting when I took the shoe off and still was tender the next day.

Trainer tells me what it is in flash. (A clump of nerves that have congregated in one spot between my toes. It gets larger over time and is made worse by shoes that don't let the toes have room to wiggle. Who knew?) She says to go to the doctor, get a cortisone shot, and it will be all better. I would have let it go, since a NEEDLE IN MY FOOT sounds extreme. But I'm doing this Get Fit thing on TV and figure that if the gym says doctor, I better high tail it to one.

As a Navy retiree, I go to a Tricare clinic for routine stuff, then get referred to Balboa Medical Center for speciality stuff. The process could take weeks, especially if Balboa does not have an opening and I get sent to a civilian doctor. I was quite happy to have the doctor recognize and agree with the diagnosis and have the cortisone handy. The shot didn't hardly hurt either. No fuss, no muss. He says if it's not better in a few weeks, come back for another shot. You can see the slight bruise between the 2nd and 3rd toes where the needle went in.

The foot's a bit sore, but was significantly better almost immediately. I went to my regular training session on Friday, did some treadmill with no trouble. She took it a bit easy on me, concentrating on upper body stuff. I'm working at the yarn store today, so can't get my usual walk in, but I'll be out there tomorrow, practically as good as new.

My 1st TV appearance

2009-01-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

It's kind of weird watching yourself on TV. I know I see myself in the mirror everyday and hear what I sound like when I'm talking to others, but watching yourself in action is strange.

First impression was that I looked old. I may be 57, but inside, I still feel 20. It's always a shock to note the gray hair and saggy skin. Then, of course, is the fact that I'm big. It is afterall why I won this contest to lose weight, but still... No amount of baggy shirt is going to hide the fact I look like a fireplug, especially when TV land has been informed I weighed in at 210. Sigh....

On the positive side, I was articulate enough to answer the impromtu questions without drawing a blank and sounded like I was confident and optimistic. Mostly I was happy I didn't say something stupid or inappropriate. Another good thing is I didn't sound heavily accented. I grew up in New York City, but have lived all over the states. It seems as if no one region stood out and I sounded neutral.

We had to arrive at the gym before 6 am and were on for 4 live segments that lasted about 5 minutes each plus several promo shots in between. I didn't leave until past 9 am. For the 7:45 segment, I had already been on the treadmill for 20 minutes when Ruben came over to chat with me. I'm so glad I was not huffing and puffing. While waiting our turn to be on live, I only got to knit a few rounds on a pair of socks I'm working on, mostly because my hands were sweaty and the yarn would not easily glide through my fingers.

Here's the link to one of the segments http://www.sandiego6.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=567254@xetv.dayport.com&navCatId=2573

Katie and Tracy are the other 2 lucky viewers who are on this journey with me and the folks from the TV 6 station. Both are way younger than I am, with Katie on the left being younger than my youngest child. In this last photo you also see Colleen, my trainer next to Katie. She is just fantastic. She's urging me to do things and keeping me accountable, but not in any sort of bullying way. She never tries to hurt me. After 3 sessions I am sore, but it's not so bad, just a bit achy. I know when I've started to exercise on my own after a long hiatus, I'd be dead the next day. I'm happy to report that has not happened.

Now, if I could only lose weight. After 1 week, I am at the same exact point I was last week. But considering I ate out at 3 wonderful restaurants, I was relieved it was not worse.

The next TV shoot will be in about 3 weeks. I hope some results are visible by then.

Sore, but optimistic

2009-01-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

I am a bit sore, but not too bad. My sessions with the trainer are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On other days I do cardio on my own and some routines at home. I have had 2 sessions so far. Friday was a great get to know each other session with her assessing my limited abilities through some stretching and balance routines. I never thought about how hard it is to stand on one foot.

Yesterday was more sweaty with resistance training on the various machines interdespersed with different heart pumping things. 10 reps with light weights, then 20 jumping jacks, a short lap around the gym, then repeat. Each machine was paired with a different in between up tempo routine. All of those which I could do on my own at home with no equipment.

A trainer is a wonderful thing. She does all the stuff with the machines and keeps track of what I can do. She's with me for every minute of the session, making sure my posture and such are correct for the exercise. If I'm struggling, she immediately stops me and switches to something I can handle. I get to the gym before our session to do 15 minutes on the treadmill as a warm up then an hour with her. I can honestly say it was not bad at all.

As training aids, she suggested I get a heart rate monitor and a foam roll. Using the latter really helps with the sore muscles. I also have to write down everything I eat and drink in a log. I've got to do this for 2 weeks, then meet with the nutritionist. Just writing it down makes me conscious of what goes into my mouth. This is a 3 dinner dates at restaurants week and I am trying to moderate what I select, but I'm not going crazy and cutting everything out since I would never be able to stick to that in the long run. I figure going from exercising maybe once a week to at least 6 times a week is going to do wonders for my overall health with a side benefit of dropping some weight.

The first segment on TV will be this Friday, 23 Jan during the channel 6 morning show from 6 am to 9 am. I've got to be there before 6 am, allegedly bright eyed and bushy tailed. I've already met 2 of the news anchors, Marc Bailey and Lynda Martin. They are also participating in the Get Fit program and have their sessions right after mine.

OMG!!! I'm going to be infamous.

2009-01-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

I just learned I won a local TV contest:

Get Your Body Fit with Ruben!

Hey San Diego! Are you tired of making the same New Year’s resolution of losing that excess weight only to lose interest? Make this year different and Get Your Body Fit with Ruben!

San Diego 6 has partnered with Little Italy’s finest fitness experts, BodyFit, to help THREE lucky viewers get into shape with our own Ruben Galvan at no charge!

CONGRATULATIONS TO: Traci Doddy, Katie Hilen, Tania Marshall

I'm excited and a bit scared. My 'before' photo will be shown on TV tomorrow morning. For the next few months, I get a personal trainer, nutritional counseling and a personalized workout/diet plan. Can you believe it?

Happy 2009

2009-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Between Ravelry, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, it's easy to overlook this original blog. My life is just not that interesting to warrant all the documentation, so I lag.

My knitting life is on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/people/taniasews where I have my projects, stash, library and such up to date. That in itself is a remarkable achievement. I belong to 31 groups, have 61 friends, 142 projects, 196 books and 206 stashed yarns. In 2008, I completed 91 knitting or crochet projects. Of those, there were 19 pairs of adult socks. I also stopped lying to myself.. I don't just hang out at the yarn shop a lot, I work there. Very part time, maybe 10 to 12 hours a month, but it's enough to pay for my ever increasing yarn habit.

I have 4643 pix up on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/taniasews/ and most are public albums. Right around Thanksgiving, my photos of Rota, Spain taken from 1978 to 1980 came to the attention of some locals. By request, I went through our old slides and uploaded some more, but still have a bunch to go. The experience sure brought home how much more connected we can be via the internet.

Thanksgiving itself was weird. Not bad. Just strange. Our youngest moved out at the beginning of the month and as a vegan was planning a special meal with her boyfriend at his parents' home. She'd stop by for drinks after dinner. Now, tell me THAT'S not strange, meeting your baby for drinks..... Our oldest was at the in-laws in Ohio. So Bob and I decided to go to a restaurant for our meal. It was a wonderful buffet, but we had no leftovers and yummy smells that so make it Thanksgiving in our mind. Never again. We started out as a dynamic duo and make up our own family unit, so it's home from now on.

Because of that and having the kids for Christmas, we went all out. What's the point of having linen, china, crystal and all that stuff if you don't break it out for your favorite people? There were all kinds of presents, along with this special one. Erika got a gazillion buttons and painstakingly made this wreath. So much better than the felted poinsettia one I started and abandoned. I just feel the love with every button she placed, painted and glued down for me. Bob also got me this, a date to see Bette Midler in Vegas some time in 2009. I had made him pinky swear not to go overboard with our gifts since we've been splurging on ourselves quite a bit, but the man is a fool for Christmas.

Speaking of our favorite place, we went to Vegas in December. We like to go during the Rodeo because of all the good music, free concerts and really polite cowboys. We stayed downtown which was the launching point for the Santa Run. We didn't participate, but caught up with these guys on our way out of town.

Other 2008 highlights include the remarkable success of my Fan Neckwarmer pattern. So far, it has been marked a favorite on Ravelry by 458 people worldwide. I've been playing around with other designs and have written them down, but haven't put any more out there. I made myself a sweater from scratch which I love, but am intimated by the thought of trying to figure out the sizing for any body other than mine.

Our nest is empty. When DD2 left us, she ended up making the place more empty by taking a couch that I obviously liked in the showroom but didn't once I got it in the family room. A few weeks later, she got the old TV. Just the excuse we needed to spruce up the place in 2009. Buying stuff is way easier and more fun than what really needs to happen, like totally painting and recarpeting/flooring the entire house. Did I mention we have floor to ceiling and built in bookcases in every single room except the bathrooms? The new TV is our first flat screen with HD. Note, it's in my knitting room, the smallest room in the house. 40" with a couch about 6 feet away is like being in a theater. I made Bob pick out the replacement couch and he did good. It's quite classy for the garage converted family room, but it's yummy leather with a smell to die for.

Yep, we are living the good life. Hope your 2009 goes well.

My first original design!

2008-11-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

I did not know what to do with the Manos del Uruguay silk yarn I got while in Oregon. I looked all around Ravelry and didn't see anything that would work. I played around, ripped out, and was finally happy with my neckwarmer.

Husband and daughter were unimpressed, but Susan at the Bonita Knitting Store asked me to write it out. Then I posted the pattern for sale on Ravelry through the store. Whoa! On Ravelry, the project itself has 85 hearts, but the pattern has 250! I am amazed at its popularity. Susan has sold 20 hard copies in the store and at least 50 online. I am apparently all the rage in Denmark and Germany.

The original is in Manos, but I've made one in Gold Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple Silk (Vegas, Baby) and several from Louisa Harding's Grace, a silk and wool blend. It's what I'm giving the ladies in the family for the holidays.

The unexpected benefits of Shakespeare

2008-09-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

We take a road trip just about every year to explore this big ol' country at a slower pace than whizzing from place to place by air. This year the catalyst was returning to Ashland, Oregon to see us some Shakespeare. We had gone maybe 15 years ago with young daughters in tow, but with just the two of us, we were in search of a deeper, more leisurely focus. It was hard for a 12 and 8 year old who wanted to be entertained to stop and see the interesting details in an old Victorian house, notice how the streets meander through neighborhoods and to people watch, noting the overall difference in dress and styles from lovely San Diego. BTW, what is it with all these non-ethnic people with dreds and otherwhise bushy and unkempt hair?

So the trip's plan began with Ashland, a 2 day drive from home. That's a long way for a short stay, so Bob (who plans our explorations) added in the Redwoods, then four nights in Portland.

The excitement level is always high before a trip, but this time Bob outdid himself. Something woke him up at 3 AM, so he woke me up too by announcing he was ready to hit the road. Meanwhile, when I'm keyed up, I find it hard to get to sleep, so having crawled into bed at 1 AM, I was bleary-eyed and sluggish. A bit of coffee and we were headed north by 3:30 AM. We absolutely hate driving through Los Angeles, but we were on the Grapevine before 6 AM and to our overnight rest stop, Redding, by 2:30 PM. Bob prefers to drive and I normally knit, but this 1st day, I crawled into the back seat and tried to nap. On the very long days of driving, I take a turn at the wheel, usually for a 100 miles or so, then he declares he's refreshed and drives the rest of the shift. Bless him.

Not really being an outdoorsy type, Redding doesn't appeal to me much EXCEPT it has the best steaks I have ever put in my mouth. I remembered this from past trips and was not disappointed. The Cattleman's Restaurant is not to be missed. If you get there, order the baked sweet potato as a side because it comes with the best pecan butter. Yum. It was so good, we decided to eat there again on the way back. I even had the same menu item, the rib eye. Although one of our daughters is a vegan, we are meatatarians all the way.

From Redding, we detoured off the 5 to meander through the Redwood National Forest, pausing here and there. We stopped at the Lady Bird Johnson clearing and did the short 1 1/2 mile walk among the trees.

Ashland seemed much more picturesque than I remembered. On the first night, we wandered around in search of a micro brew and right on the main square I found a yarn store, The Web-sters. http://www.yarnatwebsters.com/. It was closed, but we had time before our plays the next day, so I planned to return. It was an unassuming store front, but I was absolutely amazed upon entering it. You see, I honestly had not planned on checking out any yarn stores while on the road. Geez, I work in one, taking full advantage of my employee discount resulting in my having a room full of yarn at home. I did get an Elsebeth Lavold book, #9 More Viking Knits, some Manos Silk, Jitterbug and Baby Ull in the pearl gray Heather wanted for the cabled legwarmers from Knit So Fine. Did you know Oregon has no sales tax?

OMG, 10 of my beloved LYS would fit into this place. I did not know what to look at first. They even had this huge back room where I noted an aisle numbered 22!

Mother of the Groom

2008-07-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

I got Diane to reluctantly pose for a photo. I told her she needed to get over her shyness in front of the camera because at next month's wedding, she's going to be the belle of the ball. Here she is at the Bonita Knitting Store once she found the perfect shoes. She looks fantastic and she isn't even wearing make up. Now if I could only get her to open her eyes.

More Staycation

2008-07-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Nature Center was good. The breezes off the bay were delicious and we wandered around for over an hour, seeing what there was to see and putting Bob's new camera through its paces. He also brought along his other digital camera and I brought mine. So the adventure was fully documented.

Still in an exploring mood, we went down to the Chula Vista Marina and Bayfront Park. I got pix of the boats in their slips and got to thinking of Terry http://sailingknitter.blogspot.com/ who I met while she lived there before she went off galavanting to the shores of Mexico. So this one's for you, Terry.

Other summer San Diego fun has included the Summer Pops on the 4th of July. The concert with Marvin Hamlisch conducting was good and the city fireworks decent. But the Pops fireworks scheduled after the municipal show were cancelled by the Coast Guard because of the small boats in the bay as they were leaving from the first show. Bummer. So the search for a good place to enjoy fireworks on the 4th continues. Due to city finances, nearby Chula Vista cancelled its show, making downtown even more crowded.

We went to the first of the three Shakespeare plays we have tickets for this season. It was a production of the Merry Wives of Windsor. Lots of fun and very well done. It's our summer of Shakespeare, as our August road trip vacation will have us attending two more of the Bard's plays in Ashland, Oregon. I brought along the special lap robe I made for the outdoor theater as well as a shawl, but the evening was perfect without the usual evening chill. Next time.

On the knitting front, I have been trying to keep things small, so as not to have anything heavy on my lap. I finished up this baby blanket from orange TLC Cotton Plus before it got too hot. Not intended for anyone. It's in the baby gift stash since it seems as if I always need one in a hurry.

Erika did give me lots of notice about wanting something special for one of her best friends. It seems as if all gifts lately were for boys, so I went ahead and made this ever so cute baby dress from Blue Sky Alpacas by Lynn Murchland. I used Panda Silk since it's machine washable. I was sure SOMEONE would eventually have a girl.

Wouldn't you know it? Once the sonogram results came back - another boy. So Erika selected a sweater very similar to this one from my patterns. But it was for a worsted weight, so I found this free Berroco pattern, Baby Poonam, meant for Berroco DK yarn. It is what I used and am generally pleased with the very soft acrylic and nylon blend, but needed to be careful because it does split easily. The sweater was a fun and interesting project, primarily due to the graph Susan Schlesinger generated for the classes she had at the Bonita Knitting Store. Whew! All the patterns easily laid out side by side. I also made it in the round using 47" circulars so I could Magic Loop it up to the armholes. I then went back and forth on the same needles, keeping the other half right on the circular. I also did the sleeves in the round working down from the armholes, so I had absolutely no seaming to do. Per Erika's request, I put the button openings on both shoulders. I have to admit I, too, prefer the symmetry.

More knitting fun was making these Pedicure socks. I made them up as I went along working from the bottom up to the cuff. I made a little I-cord thong, a reverse heel flap heel and a crocheted bind off with 3 chains in between each stitch to get a slight girly ruffle. I love my pedicures year round, but my old house gets cold and I don't want to ruin it by putting on socks too soon. The only downside to the project was using Tofutsies. It's my least favorite sock yarn. Splitty with very little give even though the colors are wonderful. I had to rip out the short row heel because it was just too tight. The heel flap gave me more stitches to work with. I think it would be good for baby items and shawls.

I did make an easy shawl for Diane, a knitting friend soon to be the Mother of the Groom. She'd finally found the perfect dress, but fretted about her arms being exposed, just like we all do. She mused aloud about making a shawl, but she already had several projects going for the August wedding. So with Susan providing the yarn, I knocked it out in a week as a gift from the Shop. It's the Fiber Trends Easy Lace Scarves and Wraps pattern I will be teaching next month. The yarn that matched the gown perfectly was Berroco Naturlin, a linen blend. It was not harsh to work with and softened up amazingly once I washed and blocked it. I hope to have better pictures after the wedding.

I made up more samples of this wrap for the upcoming class. It has the stockinette version as already pictured, and a garter stitch one. Both just flow off the needles.

I finally switched over to Verizon once my AT & T contract was up. I had switched years ago from them over to Cingular, but then it was bought out. Service issues and nickel and dime charges had me fed up. Most of my family's on Verizon, so it was a better choice. My new cool phone is also a music player. I put in a 2 GB card and loaded on some of my music. The pouch holds the earphones and the new phone sock protects it, especially in purses without a cell phone pocket.

Tah Dah! Done. All caught up. As fascinating as paint drying.

Staycation

2008-07-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ah, the joys of San Diego in the summer.

Bob and I went to 3 Padres games in June. Although they are having a dismal season, the owners should pay us to go more often. Of the 7 games we have attended so far, the Padres won 6 when we were in attendance. My secret as a lucky charm is to have some simple knitting in progress while watching. That, and the few beers we have at our favorite downtown brewery, the Rock Bottom.

I've been spending a lot more time at The Bonita Knitting Store. As much as I profess I don't work there, I really do. But it's still just the occasional class, augmented by an hour or two here and there, usually not more than once a week. I always help during the Saturday clinics, if I'm in town. Susan and I even did some classes on the road for San Diego County. We did have an all day inventory party on a Monday when the store is closed. That worked out really well with us getting all the necessary counts done without having to disturb the customers. It will become a quarterly event. Of course there was the constant temptation of handling so much yarn. Thoughts of simplifying the count by just taking it all home kept bombarding me. Personally, I was pretty good, but Janelle......

I went to the County Fair twice. Once was for a shift at the American Sewing Guild Booth right in the Home and Hobby area, my favorite. I sewed tote bags for charity while chatting with attendees. As 'pay' for my volunteer work, I got extra tickets, so Bob and I returned together on another day to watch a Demolition derby.

We also went to Vegas- again. This time we stayed at the Stratosphere, barely leaving the hotel to brave the 108 degree temps. We did take the Deuce uptown to catch the Comedy Stop show at the Tropicana. And lookee, my 1st Royal Flush in Las Vegas in YEARS, as any previously reported have all been in Laughlin. But just to show how luck is very fickle, the machines turned to total crap the next day, demanding I return just about all of my winnings. At least I came home with literally a few extra dollars. Hey, any time I come home with any of my budgeted 'gambling coupons' is a profitable trip.

More on "How I spent my summer vacation" later. Bob and I are off to a photo safari to the Chula Vista Nature Center. We have never been and Bob finally got a digital SLR camera and is still experimenting with its capabilities.

Hats and such

2008-05-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Lest you think it's only about socks, I've been working on headgear too.

I received a skein of Alpaca Sox yarn as a gift. It's 60% alpaca, 20% wool and 20% nylon and absolutely yummy. Luxurious for socks? Absolutely. But I feared it would not stand up to the wear and tear of shoes, walking and other indignities. I made the Webs Tam from the Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007 issue. Heather has been looking for a floppy tam that goes so well with her funky style. It had some serious knitting manuevers with make 1 purls throughout. I struggled with finding a way to purl through the back loop smoothly. The design is on a reverse stockinette background and with my combined style of purling and working in the round, I ended up purling conventionally for a lot of the lace work. But it sure is pretty....

After it was done, I blocked it using a large 12" dinner plate. I only used 48 grams of the 100 gram skein, so maybe will make another one for the other daughter...

I got a request from DD's boyfriend's mom for a baby boy beanie to be worn in Tahoe. DD, ever fond of cables, selected this pattern. I used Baby Soft, an acrylic sport weight and made the 6 month size. It's plenty stretchy and I made the roll up brim a bit long, so it should last for a few months.

And just for fun, I made a couple of Curly Cute necklaces. Use left over sock yarn and some beads and you come up with a really nice accessory. The gray one was my first and I think the beads overpower the yarn. The maroons one came out more to my liking. These work up quickly, but were hard on my hands, so I'm resisting making a gazillion of them for now.

Flat Feet and Left overs

2008-05-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

The Cool subdued Flat Feet turned out okay. I ended up ripping the first sock about 3 different times. First, I was working toe up and I made the foot too long. Then I messed up the heel on the 2nd go around and started over. THEN, I'm almost done with the cuff, try it on to see how long to make it - AND THE SOCK WON'T GO OVER MY HEEL. The zig zag of the Welt Fantastic pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks has very little give. So, it's frog to the heel once more, do less gusset decreases to get 4 more stitches. Then I adapted the Welt pattern to incorporate the additional stitches along the back of the cuff. With my notes, the 2nd sock worked up quickly. They are nice, but I still did not get that sense of satisfaction I achieve when a project is done.

This is why I do not do 2 socks at once. Things happen. I would have been sincerely upset if I had had to go through all that sock trauma twice. As you can tell, I have not been happy with the 2 at a time on one long Magic Loop experiment. Once I figure out how to do the heel, so I could help others out during the LYS's knitting clinic, I separated them and have continued working one at a time down to the toe. I've completed one sock and am almost to the toe of the second one. Another under inspiring project, mostly because the colorways don't match. Bob likes them, so I'll be finishing them in the next day or so.

I had some of the Flat Feet left over, so I gathered other odd balls of solid sock yarns and embarked on cobbling together a pair with the nubs. I did work them at the same time, but on separate needles, switching back and forth every yarn switch or two. Also, since it was a basic crew sock, I had no new pattern dramas. These flew off the needles. I love them lots and like them much better than all the socks the yarns were left over from.

Still on the Flat Feet kick. For the other colorway in my stash, I went toe up using Cookie A's Monkey Sock pattern. I'd read around Ravelry, the pattern worked just as well toe up, so I went ahead. Happy, happy with the results. I finished the first sock and it will stay a singleton for a while. It's on display at the LYS with the other Flat Feet to show how it knits up and how generous the yarn is. My sock has a cuff over 8 inches long and fits my size 9 1/2 toes.

Overall, I'm working on finishing my WIPs - just 2 plus the crocheted afghans, so I may begin my Christmas knitting and other smallish sized projects I plan for summer knitting so I don't have a big pile on my lap in my unairconditioned house.

I've got me some Flat Feet!

2008-04-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

This handpainted colorway is Cool Subdued
This is Cool Bright

These were on order for a couple of months. Come to find out the order was lost by the vendor and was rushed delivered in time for tomorrow's Sock Event. Since I had preordered mine, I did not to wait for the customers to get their pick first. These are each one of a kind with generic kinds of names.

2-at-a-time socks

2008-04-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

My reputation as the 'Sock Lady' is at stake. Susan at the Bonita Knitting Store taught a class using this technique. People expect me to KNOW everything about socks, so I got the book by Melissa Morgan-Oakes and am doing a pair of socks for my DH out of Comfort Sock yarn.

Like all new things, it will take me a while to get used to it. But so far, I'm not liking it so much. It's the managing of the 2 balls of yarn that's driving me crazy. Also, I thought the sock yarn colorway pattern was more subtle and not require matching. It does. DH says he doesn't care, but it's bothering me.

More Yarn Storage

2008-04-25T13:20:00.001-07:00

My VCR in the den/studio died. I must be the last person in the universe to get DVR. Along with that I took all those old tapes out of the shelves. My 'baby' is 23, so I figured I did not need every Disney tape known to man. I did give them to a good home. Oh, what to do with the extra space?

I have been moving as much yarn out of the Yarn Cave as possible. I like being surrounded by my stash as I knit or crochet. It inspires me as well as reminding me of all the good stuff I already have. I finally have my Cotton Ease at the ready.

I also got some really nice knitting themed pix from the web, printed them out and framed them. This is about the most perfect corner of the universe.

April is Modular Shawls month

2008-04-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Made the One-Piece Shawl from Modular Knits. Loved it lots, so made some in different colors. I even made a plain one from some Patons left over from a sweater project. I use this one hanging around the house while knitting or reading the morning paper. They work up quickly with largish needles [ 9 to 10.5] and about 400 yards of yarn.

Some day has arrived

2008-03-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

I couldn't stand it. I kept thinking about the empty space in my studio closet while there was yarn languishing in the Yarn Cave. I don't need to hide the stuff from anyone. Having it out of sight also meant it was often out of mind. I need to be visually reminded of all the good stuff I have because I spend hours every week at my LYS and with my employee discount, am seriously tempted by all the gorgeous fibers there. This means I'm sticking to my story - taking the stuff out of the Yarn Cave is not a ploy to make room for more.

I had hoped an additional hanging sweater storage unit would be enough for me to have my baby yarns and Cotton Ease stash out and on display. Who the heck was I kidding? Other than the Trophy Sunbeam wool in the top cubby (destined for Veste Everest), the baby yarns used every available space. The 80 skeins of old Cotton Ease went back to the Cave.

So far I'm sticking to my 'just 5' works in progress. The 2 crocheted afghans from my class and a pair of socks. I have officially put the other 2, a blanket and a shawl, in hibernation status until the massive afghans are done. I am currently working on square 21 of 48 on one and have completed 19 of 42 on the other.

The darker of the two is for Bob and will have an extra row to make it longer for his tall frame.

Flashing the stash

2008-03-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

In answer to the Ravelry Forum question of how do I store my ever growing stash, I updated the pix of my knitting studio and the YARN CAVE, that lovely hall coat closet with shelves tucked under the stairs. There's still some room in the cave and I got lots of ideas from the photos of others. I'm really trying to leave room in the studio closet, because it's technically the guest room, but in reality, it's been used for that twice in the last 15 years. So I forsee another hanging sweater unit if I don't knit and crochet faster. The cool canvas boxes with the windows are a recent purchase from the Navy Exchange. I'm storing some of my FOs there. This spending hours every week at The Bonita Knitting Store has increased my stash exponentially.

What's happening?

2008-02-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

Life has been good AND I'm spending most of my computing time on RAVELRY. I wander through patterns and yarns, talk to people on the forums, lose all track of time. But I do have a life away from the computer and the last month has been eventful.

My oldest is in the marketing department at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. As such, she can get into every production with one guest. We all take turns being her date. On February 10th, I got to see The Ten Tenors. Wow! If you ever get the chance - go. It doesn't matter if you are not an opera buff. No, not me in any way. But these ten Australians put on such an entertaining and outstanding show. They play their voices like finely tuned instruments, regardless of the language they sing in. They joke around with each other and the audience in those accents. All are young, most are stunningly gorgeous. Something for everyone. http://www.thetentenors.com/ The website even has a couple of tunes you can listen to. We subscribe to Rhapsody so I have been listening to their music at home from computer while I knit or crochet.

Valentine's Day is my husband's birthday. Our newest tradition is to celebrate his day in Las Vegas. We stayed downtown at Main Street Station. Our first time there and I think it's my favorite of the ones we've stayed at down there. Lots of wood and antiques. You go straight from the parking garage to check in then up to your room without having to run the gauntlet of the casino. They did not have internet access in the rooms, but did have free WiFi access in the lobby area with tables and power outlets for your laptop. On the Wednesday before Valentine's Day, Vegas had the strongest wind storm in recent memory. Gusts were up to 60 miles an hour. There was blowing sand everywhere and some damage around town. In the residential area, a mobile home flew over a concrete fence and landed on his neighbor's roof. Shades of Oz. We tried walking around, but when I heard a security guard at the Four Queens talking about windows blowing out, we went back to our hotel. For Bob's birthday, we went to the Improv at Harrah's, mid strip. They sat us in the front row, but didn't pick on us too much. Later I found out George Clooney and his latest squeeze, who used to be a Vegas cocktail waitress, also spent Valentine's Day in Las Vegas. But since they were not cruising the nickel poker machines, our paths did not cross.

I bring a certain amount of money to Vegas to last my 3 days. When I go to the ATM, I classify that money as my gambling coupons, so that losing them doesn't bother me as much. I am extremely happy when I return home with unused coupons. I set them aside, and usually blow them on yarn. I came home with most of my coupons. Which was good, because the day after we returned, The Bonita Knitting Store http://www.bonitaknitting.com/ had a Sock Yarn Tasting Event.

Cia, the Skacel rep, brought a bunch of yarns for people to play with. Susan took special orders for those not on hand. There were refreshments and ever so much fun. Sock knitters came from all over the county in that never ending quest for fiber. From the acylic and nylon Berroco Comfort, to the Panda with the silk in it, there was an amazing array to choose from. I'm unclear about the Panda Silk, since Trish, the one in the purple tee with her back to the camera bought all 10 skeins on hand of the colorway I was lusting after to make herself a top.

Alas, even though I had coupons to spend, I was not allowed to buy anything until the guests had purchased all they wanted. Not to worry, 2 skeins of Fortissima Mexiko came home with me, as well as some Disco Susan gave me as a giftee. I also special ordered some of this - FLAT FEET.

It's one of a kind hand dyed, machine knit sock yarn. It's visibly divided in half and each section is enough for a sock. You drap it over your shoulder like a dishtowel and just knit from it as you unravel. What a concept! Portable, easily stored and intriguing. I have an old knitting machine and the only thing I know how to do is straight stocking stitch. I may play around with some older sock yarn to see if I can mimic the results for my own use.

Also thinking of portability, I reluctantly delved into the world of Magic Loop sock knitting. I have to say I love my DPNs and won't be giving them up, but I am having a serious affair with this method. Especially for the toe ups. It was great when Bob and I took a Daytripper bus tour up to Los Angeles to see WICKED. In the past, I have dropped a DPN on the bus and have wandered around the floor between people's feet ISO of the lost utensil. No so with Magic Loop. I had tried it before, but unless it's Addi or Knitpicks Options, the joins on other circulars make it too annoying. Even with Addis, I still dislike the 2 circular needle method.

WICKED was amazing. Bob and I go to a lot of musicals, Shakespeare, comedies and other live theater. We both agreed, this was the best stage production we have ever seen. Oh my. I was enthralled the entire time. The stage sets and effects were spectacular, the singing, humor and storyline all fit perfectly. I want to go again.

We went up to Los Angeles on the Thursday before the Academy awards. It was an added bonus I was not expecting. I always watch the show, especially the Red Carpet pre shows. I was delighted to see the Red Carpet set up and to learn of the Oscar exhibit, where I got to hold a real Oscar. The thing is heavier than expected, 8 lbs. Notice it's tethered. You can't see the big security guard nearby in case some crazed fan wanted to take it away. I also got to touch the Red Carpet through a hole in the protective covering. Bob caught me being silly.

Back to my mundane San Diego life. I was lucky enough to win $100 from KSON [yep, I like country music], but alas, did not win the big prize of $10,000 in this morning's drawing. Of course, the first thing I thought of when I learned I had an extra 100 bucks was YARN MONEY.

Lastly, I spent 2 days, only 1 night, at Balboa Naval Hospital this Monday and Tuesday. I have an ongoing acid reflux issue that every few years causes me chest pain on my left side. I try to ignore it, but when it persists, it's off to the Emergency Room. This is the first time they kept me. I was poked, prodded, sonogramed and put on a treadmill. Not only do I have a heart I got to see for the first time in action, it's working great. Yay! Now I have to see some more gastro type people to sort out the other issue, but at least I'm not scared about the pain, numbness and tingling down my arm. Getting old sucks and I found out it's hard to knit with that oxygen thingy on your finger and an IV in the crook of your arm. But I managed, magic looping as best I could.

Blankets

2008-01-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

Whew! School has started and I'm working on three projects in the Crochet and Knitting Workshops I am attending. The knitting workshop is exploring EZ's Adult Surprise jacket. I'm doing the baby version in keeping with my 2008 goal of having a finished baby items stash so I won't be so frantic when a gift giving situation comes up.

The Crochet workshop is combined with the Level II class where the much anticipated Sampler Afghan is progressing at 2 squares a week. I've been so worked up about this and am finding it hard to limit myself to just doing the homework and not jumping ahead - which would defeat the purpose of learning more about the intricacies of crochet from the instructors. So, my solution has been to do TWO afghans at the same time! The original from Dark Horse Fantasy and the second, darker one from Berroco Comfort. Both are an acrylic and nylon blend. Some people have remarked the Comfort is very splitty, but I have not had that experience, at least crocheting with an H hook.

The crochet workshop is doing a Filet cardigan as its optional class project and I decided to try it. It's a simple stitch, but made to measure without a pattern. That's in Navy TLC Cotton Plus.

In all my class projects, I'm forcing myself to slow down to just work on the week's techniques, so I picked up a WIP that had been hibernating, the Hearts baby blanket from Fiber Trends by Evelyn A. Clark. [see baby stash goal]. It's a fun knit and I am already planning to make it in a variety of colors.

January is my busy month. I'm teaching 3 times at the Bonita Knitting Store: 2 groups working on the Valentine themed Falling in Love Scarf and my regular beginning sock class. It's also when I interview high school students applying for Princeton. I love the interview part. The writing up of the report, not so much.

Speaking of Princeton, we had a wonderful alumni event last week with Chris Young, starting pitcher for the San Diego Padres and his wife Liz, both Princeton class of '02. After lunch near the ballpark, the alumni group of about 50 got a fantastic behind the scenes tour of the park, including areas not open to the public tours. They graciously spent about 3 hours with us. Fascinating insights. Here's my 6'3" husband [in orange] standing near the 6'10" Young in the Padres locker room.

Lastly, I had a real 'Queen for a Day' for my birthday yesterday. We went to a Hollywood Pops concert at Escondido Center for the Arts and dinner with the entire family and their partners with an extra in law thrown in. In addition to tickets to see WICKED in Los Angeles next month, Bob got me these ceramic knitting themed coasters from CafePress.com. My knitting studio is styling. But the birthday's over and I need to finish the laundry and write up those danged interviews.

The best present for a knitter

2008-01-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

My daughter spent her first Christmas away from home this year when she went to her in-laws in Ohio. It was weird for us, but not too bad since I picked her up the next day at the airport and we had Christmas, part 2 on the weekend.

She brought along all the pix she took while away and I received a happy surprise. A photo of her husband holding her nephew, for whom I had made some items for, was WEARING a vest I'd made. Her sister in law had declined to learn the sex beforehand, so I made her a well-appreciated layette in cream. But once he was born, I sent along something boyish. I received a wonderfully written thank you note, but this photo is what a knitting gift giver lives for! I think he's a candidate for more of my efforts.

The last project of 2007

2007-12-31T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Peerie Brocade Cardigan with Class designed by my previous knitting workshop instructor, Charlie Hada, is DONE!!!! I started it last January and was determined it would greet January 2008 as an FO and not my oldest WIP.

Just like I suspected, it's wonderful and it will get lots and lots of wear. I used just over 20 skeins of Knit Picks Telemark yarn in Colonial Blue. I had purchased 21 skeins. It's a dense sport weight, so each 50 gram skein had only 103 yards. I was discouraged for a time, thinking I would not have enough yarn to complete it, then worried about mismatched dye lots after so much work. I started the last skein just as I began working on the garter stitch section of the second cuff.

It was a 'hard' knit. Each peerie pattern was graphed over a 16 stitch repeat. I definitely used markers because it was easy to get off track with the knit and purl designs. It was not a portable or mindless project. I did enjoy working on it and really like the end result of a seamless project. Yet, as it got larger I had some issues managing the monster. For example, I had a lot of good knitting time this summer when other workshop projects were not vying for my time. But I couldn't stand having this afghan sized sweater on my lap. Due to our mild weather in coastal San Diego, my old house does not have air conditioning. Being wrapped up in mass quantities of Peruvian wool was just impossible. It's heaviness also led to my hands getting tired, especially during my marathon home stretch.

I really do love it, just as I knew I would when I first tried on the sample my instructor brought to class last year. It was a long journey, but I'm happy to have undertaken it.

Pre- New Year's Resolution

2007-12-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

In January, I will be starting two new projects as part of my knitting and crochet workshops. The knitting class will be doing the Adult Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I had already started the Baby Surprise Jacket back in September, then put it aside. I'll complete the Baby version to learn the techniques and to build up my supply of baby items, often needed at short notice.

The crochet class will be completing a crochet sampler afghan. I'm really excited about this. We'll be doing 2 largish (8 to 10 inches) squares a week and expect to be done before the summer break. This one the instructor/designer made is in cream and greens Patons Decor. Mine will be in Dark Horse Fantasy in cream, taupe and brown.

Meanwhile, I've been working furiously to bring my WIPs down from a high of 12 actively in progress to 3 before the New Year. Right now the count is 5. I've started the second sleeve of the Peerie Brocade Cardigan I started last January and will be done by the weekend. I'll post pix then.

I did finish a workshop knitted triangle shawl I started in March from Kid Merino. Between one thing or another, it also got pushed to the back burner. Blocked, it ended up nicely huge. About 44 inches deep and 100 inches from corner to corner. It took 6 skeins. Before the edging I was at 545 stitches per row. It's a stockinette with eyelets every 10 rows and can be made to any size. The garter stitch edging was knitted on and took 3 evenings to complete.

The crocheted Short & Sweet cardigan from Panda Cotton initially intended for my Mom's Christmas present now resides happily in my closet. It was all done save the button bands, but I couldn't gather the umph to finish it. Luckily, she called from the East Coast requesting some Barry Manilow CDs. When I got on the phone with my brother to make sure he did not get the same thing for her, he advised me she was no longer the size I was making the sweater in. Saved by Barry Manilow! I did the plain single crochet button bands and 'tho a little big on me, I love it and have already worn it.

My quest to finish the Peerie Cardigan was interrupted by this Falling in Love Scarf, a Fiber Trends pattern by Evelyn A. Clark. I made it in GGH Soft Kid. I had special ordered the pattern from my LYS and suggested it would be a good Valentine's Day project. Next thing I know, I'm slated to teach it on Jan 12th. A terrific excuse to pause my completion marathon for some fun. It took 4 evenings. I messed up a few times through inattention and learned the hard way that mohair is a booger to frog.

I'm off to finish my second sleeve, then the second sock to my Aran Sandal Socks.

Felicitaciones!

2007-12-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

That's 'greetings' in Spanish. It's been an eventful couple of weeks. Here we are in all our finery for a Victorian Christmas celebration at the Hotel Del Coronado. The Lamb's Players represented a family [the Marshalls!] enjoying a Christmas dinner with all their friends [all of us in the audience]. Both in costume and character, they mingled among their guests singing and telling stories of the time, 1907. It was really well done and quite elegant. All of our men donned jackets and ties, so we had to properly document the event. Our oldest and her husband spent Christmas with his family back east, but I'm leaving in a bit to pick them up at the airport. We'll do Christmas, part two this weekend.

Bob and I have been married entirely too long. We've been dubbed 'cute' when we went to the dentist earlier in the month for oral surgery. Seems like teeth have an expiration date. What are the odds we would both need THE SAME TOOTH extracted and prepped for an implant? A few years back, we both got crowns on the same tooth at the same time. It's a bit of togetherness I could do without. Our stitches were out in time for Christmas and my bone graft seems to be taking. I'm still limited to chewing on one side, but things are healing up nicely.

Got to go to airport. More about holidays some other time.

Wash Day

2007-12-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

Unpacking from a Vegas trip means dumping everything in the laundry whether it's dirty or not. Even when it doesn't seem overwhelming in the casinos, the smoky smell permeates everything and is quite noticeable once you get home to a smoke free environment.

I took advantage of filling the washing machine [cold water and Euclan] and threw in the yoke sweater I had not wet block when I finished it. I soaked, then spun for a bit before laying it out to dry. As you can see, we have no pets, or this would be impossible.

It's that happy time of year in San Diego when I get to wear my sweaters, socks and shawls. Yay!

I love Vegas

2007-12-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Gambling is such a small portion of why we love Vegas and visit frequently. This is the 3rd year in a row we have gone during the first week in December to kick off the National Finals Rodeo. We do not attend the rodeo, but really enjoy country music. Downtown at the Fremont Street outdoor stages, there were free concerts and lots of people in Western Wear.

The first night we were there was also the first night of Hanukah, so there was a ceremonial lighting of a menorah at sundown, before the first concert. In the distance under the canopy, you can barely make out the Christmas tree being set up.

In conjunction with the rodeo, there's a huge shopping venue set up at the convention center by the Hilton called Cowboy Christmas. Here you can buy any and everything you could ever want to fulfill all cowboy related needs.

Bob said he finally figured out why he could never lasso anything as a kid. Real cowboys use stiffened ropes.

The super sized pick up is for hauling the luxury RVs with room for people and horses in extreme comfort. The price tag on this rig alone was $200K.

Cowboy folk have an outlook on life I quite appreciate.

How can you not like a town with a mayor like Mr. Goodman who shows up for most events flanked by two showgirls with a martini in hand?

We don't have our reservations for our next trip yet, but we are aiming for February around Valentine's Day. We make a game of counting all the brides and grooms.

One for you, one for me

2007-12-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

Retailers must love me. Other than yarn and supplies, I don't do all that much shopping. So around Christmas when I'm looking around online or in the mall for presents, I invariably find a bunch of things for myself I cannot live without. This shirt is a perfect example. I would have never come across it had I not been searching for a specific item for DH. The only trouble I had was limiting myself to just one knitting themed item. I got it at CafePress http://www.cafepress.com/ Just search for knitting, or whatever, and you'll get a dazzling array of tempting options. My birthday's coming up in January and I have a wishlist to compose....

Here's the new mixer, since I knew you were waiting with bated breath to see what a modern one looked like. DH said he needed a second mixing bowl for when he makes pies, so I got that at the Navy Exchange with my scratcher coupon (15%, woo who!) I always encourage his cooking endeavors.

It's 60 degrees in San Diego and it rained yesterday for the first time in months. Break out the parkas! It was raining so hard yesterday, I wimped out from driving the 20 miles to my beloved knitting workshop. There were over 360 accidents around town yesterday, up from the daily average of 50 or so fender benders. Traffic was often at a stand still.

Anyhow, with the chilly weather, I have been wearing socks every day. I have about 50 handknit pairs. Fun ones and those I had a great time making. But the reality is I keep reaching for the same few pairs because the colors complement what I'm wearing. Last year at this time I bit the bullet and made myself 2 pairs of plain black socks. I wear them every single week during sock wearing season. I wear a lot of jeans and I wear the blues a lot, but I don't have many socks with blue in them. So here's my after holiday sock to do list. I should also probably make some for DH in the boring colors he prefers. At least he's branched out to the wide muted stripes in the Austermann Step colorways.

Lastly, a little holiday imagery. This is the nativity set we got for our 1st Christmas when we were stationed in Rota, Spain. The mud dolls were made by local prisoners and are all less than 2 inches tall. These tiny treasures are celebrating their 30th Christmas with our family.

Holiday preparations

2007-11-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

I've only managed to finish a couple of crochet pieces and some swatches in the past few weeks. This star shaped centerpiece is from my crochet class. This larger one is for the dining room and I made a smaller one for the kitchen table. I took stock and although it seems I have been knitting and crocheting like crazy, nothing's DONE. Must be due to working on 9 things at once. But I am happy to report on this last day of November I'm mostly done with Christmas shopping, the house is decorated and cards are slated to go out this weekend. Now, if I could only put my butt in gear to work the button bands on my Mom's Christmas sweater, I'll be golden.

I have been attending my knitting and crochet classes and even taught a beginning sock class last week, so lots of fiber related fun is going on. Then there's the serious time bandit - Ravelry. I like it so much and it's getting better daily. My projects - at least those I want to share - are all up. Every bit of my stash is up, save the one basket of odds and ends I use for my homework samples. What's really addicting is all the forums.

Thanksgiving was great. It's the one big meal I am mostly responsible for. As is commonly known, I am not the family cook, so it's always nerve wracking for me to get everything in place at the same time. Bob makes the pies the day before and this year Heather make a potato and leek soup to augment the side dishes for herself and boyfriend, both vegetarians. So, to add to my frenzy, there's another cook in the kitchen. She watches every cooking show and is much more creative than I am, but when she turned off the double oven timer for her potatoes, little did we notice, she turned both ovens off. An hour later as I was wondering why the turkey was not browning on schedule, there was panic and I admit, tears. But it really wasn't a big deal with just the girls and their other halves in attendance. We plied them with drink. Bob joked about it being the revenge of the militant vegetarians.

Then I'm preparing the sweet potato side dish and our old faithful mixer dies in dramatic fashion. The beaters seemed to wrap around one another and seized up. I about killed my little hand mixer too to get that in the oven too. But it really was great because these are the tales that make the holidays special. The girls were quite happy the mixer was dead. Somehow the then stylish color of dirty yellow offended their sense of style and I always kept it covered so as not to hear them complain about it.

We celebrated on Wednesday, since Erika and husband were flying out on Thanksgiving day for a weekend wedding of a special friend in Pennsylvania. We armed them with turkey leftovers which they enjoyed in their hotel Thanksgiving evening with drinks from a convenience store, the only thing opened when they arrived.

On Thanksgiving Day, I relaxed and watched the Macy's Parade with my feet up instead of flurrying around preparing my meat stuffing. Forget Cyber Monday, I shopped online until my credit card cried, "Uncle!" The best thing is most of the stuff was on my doorstep by Monday. The new White Kitchen Aid mixer took a few days longer, but is now in its appointed place on the counter, uncovered.

Winner!

2007-11-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Not knitting. We're in Laughlin playing. As big time spenders, we play the nickel video poker slots. After more than a year without winning the big jackpot, I'm happy to report the dry spell is over. I just got this one at the Edgewater, AND I got one last night here at the Tropicana Express. Yay! more yarn money....

Seamless Yoke is done

2007-11-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

It took a little longer than expected to do the buttonbands. I made myself slow down to do them just right. Then to tack down the steeked sections with a nice even herringbone stitch. I steamed it a bit, but will hold off on a full wet blocking for now. I didn't get the top button in the exact spot needed, so I put in a snap. Overall, I really like it, especially after learning so many new techniques.

Now, if it would only cool down here in San Diego, so I could wear it!

I steeked it!

2007-11-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

With my heart pounding, I cut my sweater in class yesterday. My instructor was hovering and about 15 members of the class surrounded me, watching and giving encouragement. It worked! and there was no fraying of the edges. I felt like a rock star with everyone ooh and aahing over the results. Although I had brought my camera to class, I was so caught up in the moment, I forgot to ask someone to take pictures. I picked up the stitches for the button and neck band and should finish that tonight. The buttons from my stash I thought would work are not quite right, so I'll go out tomorrow to get some. I'll be doing the afterthought button hole.

I did get some pix of the sewing process in preparation to the actual cut. Being careful to catch the legs of the stitch is absolutely essential. It didn't take long, but was tedious. I stitched 2 rows on either side of the cut line. It was hard to resist the temptation to do 3 or 4 rows, but I was warned that could make it stiff.

With all the counting of things to upload to Ravelry, here is my needle inventory. Let's see, 75 circulars, 11 Flex, 9 Options tips and assorted cables. 69 sets of Double Points, 36 pairs of straights and the 2 vintage Boye sets. The yellow Boye set is the one I went into hock for back in college in the early 70s.

I was so happy last week when I went to the ISO and destashing board on Ravelry to find the 10" double pointed needles I have been looking for for several years. I got them on Thursday. These are the aluminum Boyes which are no longer made. I wanted the size 9 and 10s. These work well for hats and sleeves. I'm so comfortable with the DPNs, I often use them instead of the short circulars.

Sock Boot Camp

2007-11-04T09:15:00.000-08:00

It was an especially fun day yesterday at the Bonita Knitting Store. http://www.bonitaknitting.com/index.html The Tofutsie's trunk show spurred a sock themed event, the boot camp. Lots of folks came in and I got to reconnect with some knitters I had not seen in a while. I feel like such a proud mama when a student from one of my beginning sock classes comes in with socks to show off. Although not made by my own hands, they seem partly mine, too.

It was also Kathy's birthday and our celebration included pancit and cake. Her 'men' came in, hubby and sons, with flowers. Everyone was jealous because they were so obviously loving.

This past week brought me several special moments. In Crochet class Wednesday, a classmate's grandson had arrived two weeks prior. I had made baby Joshua a pair of Ugg booties. The thank you card with a photo of the tiny baby wearing them was priceless. I have the photo up on my bulletin board and it brings a smile every time my eyes wander over in that direction. It has also helped inspire me to get on with making some more of the booties. My daughter is going to a baby shower next week and has requested a pair. I should really just knock out a few pairs to have them on hand.

Since Wednesday was Halloween, I was happy the child development class came through our crochet class on their costume parade. Who wouldn't love 50 preschoolers in costume? I love kiddies in costume but in past years very few come to the door, so I got my fix of adorable cuteness.

I am also making good progress on my Elizabeth Zimmermann percentage sweater, the Seamless Yoke. The mechanics of colorwork is still not fluid for me, but I'm liking the results. With some pointers from my workshop instructor, Athena, I plan to be ready to cut my steeks next Friday. Stay tuned.

Another happy surprise was our guest in Friday's knitting workshop. Charlie, the previous instructor, is in town for a few weeks and spent the afternoon visiting. It was great seeing her and catching up with her adventures rebuilding her home in the woods of Missouri.

What a draining day....

2007-10-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

The phone woke me this morning. The last time that happened, my kid wrecked her car. It makes me jumpy. But it was the company we had hired to remove some things from our back yard last week before the fires made the air quality too bad to anything outside, much less physical labor. So far, so good. I was happy because it's the first step in doing some fun stuff to the back yard. The old, mostly empty shed was going, as was the side fence separating it from the rest of the yard. With a new, sturdy fence between my neighbor's and our pools, the second one would not be necessary. A bench, rickety pool slide, picnic table and clothes line were also slated for removal.

Things are going great guns when they drill into a copper water line. Oops! Shut the water off to the house and put in an emergency call to the plumber. Somewhere along the house's history, a fence installer poured concrete for a fence support right over a water line. A line that should not have been there in the first place, just 6 inches down. Seems like it was a long ago solution on how to get ample water pressure to the backyard sprinkler system.

The dismantlers, who were doing a great job and were not really at fault about the water, hauled away all kinds of stuff and I'm enjoying the bigger yard area. But now it's obvious that this old HUGE tree really needs to be removed at some future date because the roots are crawling under all kinds of important things, like the house. The roots had already bent the aforementioned water pipe, so it was 'fortunate' it got broken when we were here, as opposed to flooding us out. They leave us to the plumber...

The plumber does his thing which includes lots of drilling and soldering and now we have water AND a huge hole. Once everyone's gone, I get to grab my own shovel and a big bucket to rearrange dirt, filling in the hole and otherwise getting grimy.

You gotta love an older house. And this is just the first step in us giving it a face lift, but between the electrician who came a couple of weeks ago to kill the power going out to the shed, the actual removing of the junk, and an emergency visit by the plumber, the next step will have to wait for our bank accounts to recover.

An FO, finally

2007-10-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

You would have thought with being stuck in the house for the past week due to the lousy air quality and my classes canceled, I would have been knitting up a storm. But no. It seemed as if I had this overwhelming lethargy, especially in anything creative. Instead, I cleaned or reorganized stuff. Cleaning and related tasks calm me. I feel like I'm in control of a little corner of the universe. I went to the LYS on Wednesday to turn in some more hats for the Susan G. Koman fundraiser, then stayed to count the donations and otherwise tidy up. Susan thanked me, but I was happy to IN CHARGE of something!

I finished a pair of Walking Away Socks, a Fiber Trends pattern. I did the 'Reflections' motif. I like them, but in the future I will definitely start with a ribbing all the way around the top before jumping into the pattern along the back. These socks don't stay up as well as I would like. I used Knit Picks Essential Tweed yarn in the slate colorway.

I made myself finish the gray socks before starting another pair with this Austermann Step yarn. It's the #10, Melba colorway. I've been wanting this particular colorway for months. Even when the LYS ordered the sampler pack allegedly containing it, they would arbitrarily substitute other colors. I ended up ordering it from Patternworks at full price, plus shipping! It arrived last Saturday. You know I threw this skein in with the items packed for a potential evacuation. It will become a basic crew sock with a 2 x 2 ribbing for the leg and a st st foot. I don't have any plain socks OTN and I missed my favorite non-thinking portable project. I'm not getting into that situation again.

I also played around with my yarns so now all the sock yarns are stored so I can see each colorway. Such is the current level of excitement in my life. I have also been playing around in Ravelry, looking at who else is signed up in the San Diego area, who else has made the same things as I have and what yarns are the most popular. The top 10 yarns used in projects were an interesting mix. The top yarn by far was Cascade 220. Not surprising because it's a classic worsted weight. Second was Noro Kureyon, 3rd Patons Classic Merino. What got me was numbers 5 and 6 - Lily Sugar N Cream and Caron Simply Soft. I am so used to the lists with the most vocal decrying such pedestrian yarns, but am aware of the many people, especially in my crochet workshop, who are die hard Red Heart fans. It seemed to me the Ravelry folks were more like the 'in' crowd, but I like that they proudly flash their stash no matter if it's not especially cool.

Unpacking

2007-10-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Today's happy chore will be to unpack. I set up my computer last night and returned the part of my sock yarn stash that was protecting my monitor back to its assigned spot. I'll do the suitcase and photo albums today.

We are getting a bit stir crazy, as this is the 4th day we remain indoors with the windows closed. It's smokey and ashy out and everyone is still being asked to stay off the roads.

But things are good for us. I've got my knitting, books, computer and TV. Hey, I've got my home and get to sleep in my own bed. We hope we continue to have electricity. The large fire to the north of us is still really out of control, threatening other communities. The Harris fire that had affected us has been pushed back away from the neighborhoods it was threatening here, but it's still less than 10% contained. With the wind change that was good for us, the fire has returned east and is descending on the eastern communities where it first started.

We have it so good, but I do confess to initially being paralyzed when faced with the situation of having room in my car for a finite amount of stuff and deciding what to take and what to leave behind to face destruction. I know they are only things, but it's sobering nevertheless.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Keep them coming, especially for the less fortunate.

Much calmer now

2007-10-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Once I removed the back seats from the car and loaded up my photo albums, which number more like 30 binders, I felt ever so much better. Of all my possessions, including the yarn and computers, these were my first priority. (I took this photo after I unloaded the car and had already put away about 6 binders.)

Then I actually packed a suitcase for a week with jeans, sweats, t-shirts and toiletries. With room to spare, I went to my cache of handknit socks and put my favorites in the outside pockets. I totally dismantled my computer station into its components. My brand new flat screen monitor was carefully placed in an XL Ziplock shopping bag with a layer of sock yarns to protect the screen. I'm typing on my old laptop. We've got everything ready to take out to the car. If we get the call to leave, it'll just take 15 minutes to toss it all in the cars. I have more of the XL baggies in case there's room. Then it's more sock yarn to make me happy. You know I packed up all my needles.

The 'good' news is that tankers and helicopters are able to fly and drop copious amounts of water. The Sweetwater reservoir is about 1/4 mile away from the burning Mount San Miguel and it seems to have stopped the spread towards us in Bonita. I think I'll take a nap.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Please keep them coming.

Still here and fretting

2007-10-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

I managed to get a few hours sleep. As soon as the sun comes up, I'm going to remove the back seats of my PT Cruiser and start loading it up. I suspect a decent amount of my stash is going to find its way into the crevices of my car - and some of my favorite FO's. Bob's got a big sedan, so a lot of things will fit there. DD will load up her own car. Our destination will be married DD's apartment in the city. If not, the oceanfront.

We may not have to evacuate, but I'll have a lot more peace of mind once things are packed and all we have to do if need be is just walk out the door. It'll keep me busy and become a happy chore to unpack if it's not necessary.

Hope the winds die down enough to allow aircraft to make the much needed drops of water and retardant. 0 percent containment is not good, nor is 300,000 folks evacuated.

No sleep tonight

2007-10-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

The fires and evacuation orders are getting uncomfortably close. Good ol' Bob went to bed and is snoring peacefully. His calmness is quite comforting. The cars are not packed, but I have gathered what needs to go. Every time the news mentions Bonita Road, my heart jumps. So far, it's all about 5 to 6 miles east of us.

As I was thinking about to take with, I honestly thought about which projects and yarn to bring. I got a package from Patternworks today with 2 skeins of yarn I couldn't get anywhere else.

Geez, the news just said the fires towards Bonita, let's see if we've got to get going. Pray for the winds to stop.

Party, party, party.

2007-10-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

The Bonita Knitting Store had its second annual Pink Party last Saturday night. It was a come in your 'jammies to knit or crochet, eat some pink food, and otherwise just relax with friends. Growing up in NYC, I had never been to a pajama party. My daughters had them when they were younger, but this was my first. Such fun!

One of the regulars brought her mother in law visiting from Buffalo, NY. She showed us how to whip up a crocheted hat that many in her senior center make to donate to schools. Whenever a teacher notes a child freezing due to lack of necessary hats and scarves, they are able to give them to the needy right then and there. It's basically a rectangle of double crochets worked into the back loop. When it's long enough for the sides to go around a head, slip stitch the last and first rows together. Gather one end of the tube. Using chains, she made a squiggle topper, but you could do whatever you like or leave it plain. I made this one in a couple hours watching TV.

Here's some of the yummy food set out for us and Susan, the owner, preparing flavored coffee per request.

California on fire

2007-10-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

First things first.... we're fine and don't expect to be evacuated. The fire closest to us, the Harris fire, is about 20 miles east of us. It's making it smokey outside, but so far no homes have been threatened. There are several huge housing areas in Eastlake much closer to it than we are and none there have even been given a 'get ready to go' notice.

That said, I'm still a bit nervous. I've lived in the San Diego area since 1989 and this is only the second time the fires have been this bad. The last time, in October 2003, we were also quite safe, but we made lists of what we'd take if we had to go. Bob and I have always been photo fanatics, so I made sure all 20+ volumes of our photo albums were in the same place, as the 20 or so slide storage units.

We've all been told to stay indoors and off the roads due to air quality and the need for emergency personnel to have easy access. Also, we've been asked to stay off cell phones, as that's how the professionals on the front lines are communicating. The news literally asked all parents to confiscate their kids' cell phones.

Me? I've been knitting, crocheting and cleaning. I clean when I feel a need to be in control of SOMETHING, so I'll be tackling this old house, grateful I have one.

Time Bandit

2007-10-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

After much gnashing of teeth, frustration, and an entire day in COMPUTER HELL, my new and beautiful 22 inch flat panel computer monitor is up and running.

We had selected the same model DH got last month, causing me much hardware envy. As I began to pester "Santa" about how I've been such a good girl and really deserved one just like his, he replied I didn't have to wait for Christmas. Off we went to our favorite toy store, Fry's. I was giddy with excitement, literally jumping up and down. We got it home and so I wouldn't bother my beloved computer tech rep, left for an errand, knowing I had hours of delight awaiting me. Got back to a blank monitor. Not working and didn't want anything to do with my computer. Oh, we jiggled every connection, downloaded every driver, rebooted upteen times. Nada. Was my beautimous monitor a dud? No! The traitor worked quite nicely with DH's set up, which is just like mine. I wanted to pitch a full tantrum like a two year in the grocery store, throw myselft to the ground, stiffen my back, then kick and scream.

I called the tech gods at Fry's after not getting any help from the manufacturer. They suggested bringing it in the next day along with my computer tower. They swore I'd leave the place with a working monitor, even if it was not the one I had originally wanted. Holding on to that thought, DH and I were able to get to sleep. In the morning, the first thing DH said was monitor related. Oh yes, we are geeks of the most serious kind.

Due to this dire emergency, I missed my Wednesday morning crochet workshop so we could get to Fry's before others with insignificant problems took up too much time with the techs. It took us about an hour to get there although it's normally a 15 minute drive because it decided to rain - drizzle, actually. But in San Diego, where we have had less than 1/2 inch of rain in the last 6 months, wet streets are traumatic. Once we get there, the tech discovers in short order my video card is misbehaving. Off with its head! A new card, installation, and clean the baby up while she's open, have all conspired to dip into my yarn budget. But my originally purchased monitor works! When we got home, hooked everything back up (I remembered to take photos of the back of the computer so all the wires went back in the same holes), I sat on the floor with all fingers and toes crossed muttering, "Please, please work.." and it did.

So, a 10 minute installation took a day and a half. Then I seriously had to play with it once it was working. I ran slideshows of many of my photos on the big screen with at least 4 times the resolution of the old one. This morning I watched a video from my college and gleefully recognized several classmates I had not seen in over 30 years. But then I turned on the TV in the family room and the picture tube is going. I think I'm going in for our first flat screen TV as soon as my credit card turns over!

I have barely knit a stitch in over 2 days.

Coriolis failure

2007-10-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

I give up for now. After two major frogging episodes, all I got was a too long foot with baggy ankles and a binding tight spiral around my leg. My gauge was right and I know the number of stitches I need to go around my mid foot and leg, so the next time I attempt this, I'll do some more maneuvering But for now, I'm done. My brain needs a rest and my yarn wants to grow up to become something else.

I am intrigued by the construction and I see real possibilities, but I'm tired of fighting the book format and failure of my 1st attempts. I've made almost 80 pairs of decent socks, but my confidence is a bit shaken.

Right now I'm working on a lace scarf sample for a November class I'm giving at my LYS. It's from the Interweave Knits Holiday issue and sufficiently intricate to boost my confidence - proving I really have some knitting skills.

FOs completed while absent from blogland

2007-10-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

From my Knitting workshop class, my first real stranded colorwork in preparation for my seamless yoke sweater per the EPS calculations. I'm also going to steek the pullover into a cardigan. The hats went to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer fundraiser. I made great progress on the stockinette sections of the sweater while sitting at the booth at Bonitafest and on the train to and from Santa Barbara. I am almost ready to add some color.

The crochet workshop is also going well. I went ahead and made this placemat to practice the motif and the edging. A bit lumpy, but definite progress in honing my rusty skills.

This Noni bag is the Cascading Fuschias Really Big Market Bag. I used 2 strands of Navy Patons Merino for the bag and one strand of the colors for the flowers. The flowers took just as long as the bag to knit. I modified the straps to make it a shoulder bag.

I finally finished this plain pair of socks made from Opal Sommernachtstraun, a hand dyed colorway. This has been my take along project since I started it back in May.

Another Short and Sweet for me. It's from Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool. My first one was from a Yarn Pirate tencel wool blend that bled rather badly when hand swished. I took a friend's advice and let the Yarn Pirate folks know about the bleeding issue and promptly got a nice reply. It seems the first batches had some 'issues.' I was offered yarn as a replacement. Never to turn down the offer of free yarn, I got this yummy stuff within the week. I noted it doesn't contain any tencel. I suspect the dye was not sticking to this fiber as well as the wool. I felt a bit guilty since the garment is still usuable, though faded. The original yarn was a gift, so it's 'free' yarn to replace yarn I didn't pay for in the first place.

My brain and butt hurt

2007-10-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first day on Ravelry. Every time someone mentioned it on the Socknitters Yahoo group, I checked where I was in the queue. I felt like a stalker. I knew it would be this weekend.

I am a list maker by nature, so a place to show your lists off and have them all in the same format? Heaven. I must have spent 8 hours uploading stuff. I didn't have a Flikr account, so I had to do that too. I had to hobble away from the computer to pick up daughter and her husband at the airport. They had left town for a college friend's wedding. A couple of more hours and a back spasm later, I figured I better deal with this mess. That's the laundry I was allegedly doing while online. I'd gotten it out of the dryer quickly enough so as to avoid wrinkles, but the stuff just wasn't going to fold itself.

Then being distracted by the wonders of Ravelry land led to the near ruin of a new pair of socks worn just once. I made these from both Panda Cotton and Wool because I had received one skein of each colorway as a gift. The cotton is machine washable, the wool is not. Luckily I take my handknit machine washable socks out of the dryer while still damp. They looked awful small, then I remembered the wool content. In my defense, it has been the first time wearing socks since last April or May, but still... I couldn't get them on my feet! Then I remembered I had a pair of sock stretchers. Much tugging later, they dried and I could wear them. They are a bit slouchy from so much trauma, but are wearable. These are so October.

I forced myself to step away from the computer after 9 pm. There was TV to watch and I did not want to get a further behind in my shows. Last week in Santa Barbara had both VCRs working overtime to capture my favorites. I had to turn the computer off to reduce the temptation of looking up just one more thing.

To "relax" I picked up the Coriolis sock I was trying to figure out. Working with Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters is making my head hurt. I was about to finish the heel flap when I realized there was no way this thing was going to fit my 10 inch foot. Somewhere along the way I missed a key point. And no wonder, to work one pattern, I've got to flip around to at least 6 different pages. Argh!!! The schematic on page 51 refers to the sections of the sock [pathway] as toe, lower foot, arch expansion, heel and leg. The Master Pattern on page 57 says to make toe XX inches long, then start the arch expansion. Hey! Where did the lower foot section go? The toe instructions are found on page 126, then back to 57 for the arch expansion. I hadn't quite understood the calculation of a key number on page 112, so I came up with one too small. I then went through all the machinations on the arch expansion, but without the lower foot section being long enough, it just was not going to work.

I thought about it, realizing I did not need the socks for anyone, so a goal of learning something new, I frogged it back to the toe. I recalculated the key number, then compared where I thought I was going with the Coriolis instructions on the DIY network's website. The number I figured out is over half an inch longer than the one she cited for a 10 inch foot. I guess I'll just split the difference.

My beef is that if this is supposedly a Master Pattern why aren't the directions all in one place? Does Master Pattern mean you need a Master's degree to figure it out? Wait, I've got one of those and it didn't help.... But I am stubborn, so going back to toe and be sure to put in that lower foot section.

Ravelry at last!

2007-10-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't been keeping up with the blog and have now added a new internet commitment. My Ravelry invite arrived today. I am Taniasews. I'm happy to have the same name I have all across the 'net so I won't forget it. All I have done so far is done a bit of a profile and uploaded 2 of the 9 works I have in progress.

I know I've been remiss here and vow to do much better. Since I last posted over a month ago, we've been to Las Vegas and Santa Barbara. My classes out in El Cajon started, so that's 3 hours each for the Crochet and Knitting Workshops. The class projects, my own flights of fancy and a Christmas present have me bouncing around between WIPs. Then there's the new TV season where I am auditioning some shows and deciding whether to keep the old ones in the rotation. I have been knitting and crocheting like a fiend. I will get everything updated soon, I promise.

Gratuituous Sock Yarn

2007-08-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last month's Knit Picks order was mostly books. I could not resist their 40% off sale or the newest sock book from Ann Budd obtained from Amazon. In the book order I also threw in 100 grams of their Risata yarn which I wished came in more colors and 100 grams of their Essential Bare tweed. The tweed was amazingly soft and pretty much perfect. I placed another order and got 5 of the 6 colors they stocked. I also got 3 of the 4 colorways of the Essential multicolored. I don't know whether they are striped or not, but was intrigued since they were on a special page noting they were from the first dye run and were not quite right because they were not bright or deep enough. I like the muted mix.

I had to rearrange my sock yarn stash to make room for the 10 pairs worth of new yarn. There's got to be at least enough for 150 pairs in there. I have 'reduced' this stash by relabeling my acrylic sock yarn [Bernat Sox] as 'baby yarn' good for hats, booties and tiny sweaters. I got most of this on a Herrschner's sale for about $1 each and figured it would be good for gifts for those who don't want or appreciate wool in their socks. I need to get cracking on my sock production. I have only completed 3 pairs all summer.

One of the Tweeds, the Flint gray color DEMANDED my immediate attention. I've already completed the 1st sock from the Walking Away socks pattern from Fiber Trends. This is the Reflections design. I pretty much made it like the pattern which has a plain 1x1 rib on the front of the leg and this chevron design on the back. If I make it up again in another pair, I'm thinking of running the pattern along the front too, but wonder if it would stay up with almost no ribbing?

With my classes started, I've been amassing my supplies. I got my 7 skeins for the solid part of the EZ sweater for the knitting workshop. Even though I don't plan to start the crocheted afghan until the January semester, I couldn't resist ordering the 24 skeins I need for that. I had thought of using some of the 26 skeins of Wool Ease I have set aside for the Great American Aran Afghan, but since I needed 3 coordinating colors, I opted for the Dark Horse acrylic/nylon yarn that is unbelievably soft and yummy. Knowing me, I'll probably sneak in a square or two before January. The yarn for my workshop projects doesn't count as stash enhancement. It's SCHOOL SUPPLIES.

Easily tempted

2007-08-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

It seems as if any one project cannot hold my attention. I get unbearably excited about the prospect of a new yarn or a pattern and I have to satisfy the urge. I've got some goals about what I'd like to accomplish by year's end and sometimes feel the need to cast on for something I know I won't get to in months. Take for example this Vanilla Spice cardigan from Knitty. I'm definitely going to make it, especially since I special ordered the TLC Cotton Plus to make sure I got enough of the same dye lot. I cast on for in on July 11th, worked about an inch and a half and set it aside for more thrilling work. Now that it's on the needles, I have to do the same thing for about 15 inches. Ho hum. I'm leaving out the pockets and will be rounding the neckline. I think I'll make the sleeves 3/4 length - eventually.

With 4 rather large projects in the works in addition to socks, I overheard a comment at the LYS that the Short and Sweet Cardigan I had previously made would also look good in Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool. Hmm... I have 6 skeins I'd ordered online that were not the color I really wanted [my mistake]. I was going to use it for a shawl, but...... I furiously worked on this. Got it to the point that all I have left is a bit of a sleeve and the edging and POOF! Interest waned.

I did get further excited by this design by Angela "LaVonne" Best thinking it might make a good Christmas present for my Mom. I contacted the designer and she gave the stitch counts to upsize it to a 2X. I know I could have figured it out, but her counts confirmed what I was thinking. Next was deciding on which yarn would be best. Something easy care but not heavy. This pattern is meant for worsted weight wool but it just doesn't appeal to me that heavy. I tried it in TLC, Berroco Soft Twist and finally Panda Cotton, a sock yarn. Winner. It's so light and soft with the advantage of being machine washable. I ordered more of the yarn, and wouldn't you know it, this color's on backorder.

Bitten by the crochet bug and looking forward to a new class, I reclaimed some old Peaches and Cream kitchen cotton I had gotten for a TNNA workshop by an unnamed 'celebrity' who wanted the lace swatches for homework done up in this stuff, and played around with a water bottle cozy and coasters. I liked these so much, I made a set of 4 each as I gleefully ripped out the useless - and unused swatches.

For some reason, having 8 or 9 projects in the works has become normal for me. I used to be such a one project person.....

Back to school

2007-08-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Happy days! I'm the one headed back. This is the first time in 20 years I do not have a child starting school. This means no back to school expenses. For the last 8 years in addition to ginormous tuition payments, there were books and other fees that were a minimum of $600 a semester. Now that money is ALL MINE!! So if I break out in a giggle every now and then, please understand my joy.

This my 4th year attending the Friday afternoon Knitting Workshop offered at Foothills out in El Cajon. Ever since the January cruise with Deb Stoller, I've also been playing around with crochet, so I signed up for the Wednesday morning Crochet workshop too. It's a combined class with Crochet 1 and the more advanced Workshop group, some who have been attending for more than 20 years. Athena, who teaches both the knitting and crochet classes, said I was definitely at the workshop level in crochet in spite of never having taken any formal classes, but I'm hanging out near the beginners to listen in on their instruction. Several years ago I was forced to take a beginning sewing class as part of my fashion design program and I learned so many tricks that now I seize the opportunity to take beginner classes whenever allowed.

The sessions are 3 hours each, with most of the time interacting with other students and working on your own. It's a very social atmosphere. I feel such a part of my Knitting group and definitely the outsider in the Crochet class. With long standing cliques and a perceived rigidity in attitude, it's a definitely OLD class even though the ages of the students are about the same as the knitting group. Since Athena had been the assistant in previous years and is now in charge, some were balking at every difference rather than embracing a fresh approach.

The other thing I noticed was that afghans, doilies and starched ornaments were the order of the day, as was scratchy, bulky Red Heart and Supersaver yarns with some kitchen cottons thrown in. I absolutely love saving money, so bargain yarns appeal to me, but there has to be a certain level of quality to be worth my time. Gasp! I've become a YARN SNOB. I was working on a garment and when my table mate asked if it was in Wool Ease or Baby Soft, my reply of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool met with disbelief. Like why in the world would I bother with something that had to be HAND WASHED and BLOCKED? Another proudly showed me a rectangular granny square she was making as a gift for a new born granddaughter from a variegated heavy duty acrylic and all I could think of was that the heavy scratchy thing was going to smother the baby in the crib.

But I think it will be good. I need to follow my own advice and be open to new experiences. In January, the Crochet 1 section will become the 2 level and the project is a sampler afghan I really want to make. Not for the blanket itself but for the 48 different squares. The workshop class project this semester is a spider style afghan with a lace border. I worked up a sample and when the border is taught, I'll work along with them. Other than that, it's personal crochet or knit projects for me as I try to fit in with students. I know there's a lot to learn from everyone.

The Knitting Workshop will be doing Elizabeth Zimmermann's workshop book and video. We will select one of the sweater styles in the book, use the percentage system to determine stitch counts. The yoke will feature Fair Isle techniques. I am really psyched. To start, we will be doing a hat on circulars with a couple of bands of color. I've got some pinks to work with, so it will end up in the Susan G Komen charity stuff.

Tiny knitting

2007-08-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

I've gotten distracted by going small. The LYS is also contributing items to local NICUs, so I started playing around with miniaturizing some patterns. It's addictive and appeals to my thrifty nature since I'm using leftover sock yarns.

I had already totally rewritten the Ugg Bootie pattern worked in the round and smaller sized than the original version worked flat. I was making yet another pair for my DD since all her pregnant friends want a pair. Word has gotten out to her church group. For the preemies, I knitted the pattern up 2 more times, each time playing with stitch counts and other modifications until I was happy with the results. The originals are done up in Berroco Suede and the smaller ones in Lane Cervinia sport weight acrylic yarn. Unless I switch to similar colored sock yarn, this is the smallest I can go.

We are trying to make up at least hat and sock/bootie sets and these are some other experiment results. There's a size disconnect between the pink hat and really tiny pink booties, so I'm making another pinwheel hat with 10 less stitches for that set. Then I have to figure out how to upsize the booties a little bit.

Lakia at the shop who has personal experience with preemies has classified the sizes as Lime, Lemon and Orange since the head sizes of the early babies are similar to the fruits named. The need is for the smaller sizes, but no matter how the experiments turn out, all sizes are welcomed.

I've also finished up a couple of items for the Susan G Komen fall fundraiser. My personal workshops start up again at the end of the month, so I'm trying to do as much as I can before I get bogged down with 'homework.' In knitting class, we are going to do an EZ sweater based on her percentage system using her workshop book. The yoke will have colorwork.

The shawl used the Moda Dea yarn we got in our Stitch and Pitch gift bag and the last adult pinwheel cap is in TOFUtsies yarn.

Reasons not to wear pretty clothes to Las Vegas

2007-08-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

First is obvious. In July it's so hot you'll wilt and look awful soon enough. The 106 degree heat - as seen on the sign above Binions- was countered by the subzero air conditioning in the casinos. I wore my crocheted Short and Sweet jacket over a tank. I love wearing that thing. A woman in the elevator complimented it, then asked if I made it. When I said yes, she said I could sell more on eBay. Luckily, it was my floor, so all I did was smile. How to explain it used $40 worth of yarn and took a week to make? Then there's sizing issues, color options and other issues ad infinitum. I consider it slave wages if I sold it for a minimum of $200.

I may have felt pretty wearing it, but it was my worst day of luck at the video poker slots EVER. I know luck has nothing to do with what you're wearing, but I'm never going to tempt fate again. I put on one of my Hawaiian shirts the next day. The machines were generous. I played all day and won enough to offset more than half of my losses. I keep telling myself that the money I bring with me to gamble are merely 'entertainment coupons.' My goal is to have those coupons last for my 3 day stay. It lasted and I brought home most of it, so I ordered some items from KnitPicks - gotta love those books at 40% off - and the new Ann Budd sock book from Amazon.

But back to the crocheted jacket. I unpacked it when we returned and it smelled like casino - cigarette smoke covered by air freshener. So I washed it for the 1st time. When I made it, I just steam blocked it. I let is soak in cool water with a bit of shampoo. It's Yarn Pirate superwash yarn and says to machine wash, dry flat. When I checked it, it bled terribly. All the blue was washing out. I rinsed it 3 times and the water still had blue in it. I was surprised since I'd worn it over a white tank with no color transfer. I wonder if it will now. It's drying out back and looks a lot more green than it did before.

It's been muggy here in San Diego, so it's small items on the needles. Here are more hats for the Susan G Koman fundraiser.

I can actually sew

2007-07-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've lost my sewing mojo. It was rough going making the latest batch of knitting needle holders for my LYS. It didn't help that my trusty Viking sewing machine was acting up so badly that what should have taken 15 minutes, took over an hour. The straight stitch kept skipping. Luckily, I had been working them up production style, so when it totally gave up all I had to do were the dividing sections which I could use a different stitch which worked fine.

Once I delivered some to the LYS with these leftover to fill the next order, I took the machine in to the shop. The repairman seemed hopeful it could be fixed. I hope so. I love that machine! A similar machine would run over $1200 and that's a lot of yarn money.

The aunt who taught me how to knit and my maternal grandmother both worked as seamstresses in the NYC garment district. I have a new found respect for the grueling work that must have been, especially when getting paid by the piece.

More fun is one of the latest things I've started. I use Google Reader to subscribe to my favorite blogs. Susan of http://theraineysisters.com/ posted this wonderful shawl, and I ordered it the next day from Sivia Harding knit Design. It's the Diamond Fantasy scarf or shawl. I have 2 skeins of Schaefer Anne that started out as a plain shawl, but begged to be made into something more spectacular. With over 11oo yards, I hope it ends up huge. One photo is as it appears on the needles and the other a preview of what it'll look like blocked. I just love that the edging is knit as part of the pattern.

Knitting for the Cure

2007-07-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

I've gotten started on my pink items to donate to the Susan G Komen fundraiser. After the October San Diego 5K event, hand knit or crocheted items from area LYS's will be sold with all the proceeds going to the SGK foundation.

The pinwheel style cap is from Tofutsies yarn. I used less than 30 grams of the 100 gram skein, so I can either get 2 more caps from the left over, or a pair of toe up footlets. The short socks are an adaptation of the Pink Ribbons socks with the ribbon motif worked 4 times around with only one repeat. I used Regia yarn purchased from Astrid in the Netherlands with enough left over for a cap or a pair of baby socks. All nice small projects easier to work in the summer heat.

Scarves give almost instant gratification

2007-07-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

I finish one or two projects and start five, keeping a steady 8 in progress. The Peerie cardigan started in January is in serious danger of becoming a UFO. I really do want to finish it, but now I think I won't have enough yarn, so like an ostrich, I'm ignoring the issue altogether.

I've completed 3 scarves. A simple garter stitch ruffled one from lace weight Kid Merino worked on size 11 needles. The garter lace scarf is from the last of the cruise yarn, Louisa Harding Grace silk and wool. I found the pattern in one of my Harmony Guides. I had started 2 other scarves with this yarn and had over 24 inches done and they were not the right fit for the yarn. It definitely wanted to become this. The decadent one is the Reversible cable scarf from Scarf Style called Vintage Velvet knit in Touch Me. Once knit, it went through the washer and dryer and softened up to an almost liquid consistency. I had made one in black, but when the red came into the store, it screamed Christmas to me.

Back to socks

2007-07-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

I've been seduced by lace, so even though I have several pairs of socks started, I haven't completed a pair since April. With brand new sock yarn, Knit Picks Risata [cotton, wool plus other stuff], I started the Leaf Lace Sock from Fiber Trends. It's by the same designer as the Leaf Lace Shawl, Evelyn A. Clark. I completed one in just 3 days. Rather than start the second one, I went back to a heavier pair I had started a couple of months ago. Based on Dad's Easy Cable Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks, I worked these toe up since I was unsure how far the yarn would go. Once again, I was taking advantage of the yarn destashing by Charlie, my knitting instructor who moved. It's worsted weight Grignasco Natural Yarn, a 50/50 blend of Merino and Alpaca. Finished the 1st one on the 8th, then the 2nd on the 10th. I thought they felt pretty good on the toes, but got so much yummier after washing.

Although the leaf lace sock is fun, I'm making myself do some charity knitting before I start playing around again. Besides, the sewing machines have been sitting out all week and there's stuff to be done there too. I love the nature of my retired 'in basket.' I recall the days of deadlines and reports and am happy to note all current deadlines are self-imposed, so I flit from project to project as my mood takes me.

The Circle of Death

2007-07-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Sounds like some Sci Fi movie, but it's actually a patch of dirt in my backyard where nothing grows. Admitedly, as a New Yorker, I know squat about outdoor plants, but I have tried seeds, bulbs and all manner of bedding plants that look gorgeous in the containers at the store. I see other people's blogs with their thriving plants, and this is the best I can do.

I went to the Navy Exchange last weekend and grabbed everything labeled "Full Sun." This is dedication, since I never brave the crowds on weekends AND it was a scratcher day. Usually the scratchers with the mysterious discounts are good for a week, but it was a special promotion for 7/7/07. Zoo does not begin to describe the nightmare. I am still traumatized.

Even with our drought like conditions, I've been watering extra in addition to the sprinklers. My experimental patch is marked off by bricks with a warning to the gardeners to leave it alone. I know they just laugh at me. I was hurt to the quick last week when I consulted them about additional watering time and the head guy said he thought I did not water at all! Look at my water bill! I snuck some ice plant in there and think if that doesn't stick, I should just pave it over.

Happy 4th

2007-07-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

After relaxing around the house, a dip in the pool and otherwise enjoying San Diego's weather of the high 70's, Bob and I went on a dinner harbor cruise to see the fireworks. I swear I told him at least ten times how glad I was we opted not going to Laughlin where we enjoyed the fireworks last year on the Colorado River. It was 123 degrees there. I can't even imagine.

Although it's been hot [for San Diego] earlier in the week, I plodded on working on the Peerie Cardigan, my oldest work in progress. I started it back in January and would like to have it done by the time I return to my workshops at the end of August, but with its bulk, it's hot on my lap. I've separated for the fronts and back which seem to go faster since each row of the body was 266 stitches. I've been working on other WIPs just to keep my interest up and of course started something else. A pair of Leaf Lace socks for me in solid green yarn. With all the sock yarn in my stash, I'm using the Knit Picks Risata [cotton blend] I got last week.

I was pleased to lend my Leaf Lace shawl to the Bonita Knitting Store as part of a display featuring Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool. I may just have to buy that shawl pin when I get it back.

Leaf Lace Shawl done

2007-06-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

I had 3 3/4 skeins of Elsebeth's Lavold's Silky Wool in green left over from the the top down raglan project. I thought I needed 7, then got 8 for good measure. Silly me wound them all up so I could not exchange them at the LYS, so I got the last one they had in the same dyelot for a total of 9, figuring it would be enough for something else. This is a Fiber Trends design by Evelyn A. Clark, the same designer as the Leaf Lace sock I made as a sample. I'm really impressed by this designer. Her instructions are the best I have found. This pattern offers size options, so I decided to go until I ran out of yarn.

I guessed on how many repeats of the leaves to do before starting the edging and I guessed wrong. I had 6 more rows to go plus binding off when it was obvious there would not be enough. Although the LYS had more, the dyelot was different and quite noticeable. I debated whether to rip out a lace repeat, but then consulted the very clear photo, noting the edging didn't have pronounced points, so I stopped and bound off with about 10 yards of yarn to spare. Looks okay to me.

This is my 1st shawl with an all over lace design rather than just a border. I'm methodically progressing in my lace knitting. Next will be an all over design in lace weight yarn.

This shawl also brought home the TRUE FACT that if it's midnight and you are sleepy, do NOT allow yourself to forge ahead and finish the row. I spent an hour and a half the next morning repairing a lace section I'd goofed up. I refused to tink the 357 stitches and stuck with it until I could "see" where the problem was.

Reclaimed yarn transformed

2007-06-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

The triangle shawl I had been working on during last week's road and train trip is done. Of the 359 grams I reclaimed from the sleeves knit up from alpaca yarn, I had 11 grams left. I was so relieved I guessed right about the amount of yarn needed for the knitted on edging. The final blocked measurements are 78 inches wide and 41 inches deep - a perfect size.

I'm Baaack!!

2007-06-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Bob and I had a wonderful road trip from San Diego up to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado returning via Laughlin, Nevada. Our driving days were 6 to 8 hours long, so I got lots of knitting done. I finished the leaf lace sock sample for the class I'm teaching in July and made great progress on the two shawls. I'll finish at least one, if not both within the next week, depending on sewing adventures.

We started our trip by stopping overnight in Camp Verde, Arizona where we ducked into Montezuma's Castle National Monument. It was an appetizer for the way more extensive cliff dwellings up in Colorado. For dinner we ventured into a small restaurant, The Salt Cellar. Once inside, it looked like someone's basement rec room, including pool table. Amazingly, the pizza and burgers were outstanding. As a New Yorker, I must say I'm a pizza snob. I like it plain cheese and am often disappointed because the sauce and cheese blend has to be just right or it's quite noticeable. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

We stayed 3 nights in Cortez, Colorado where the temps were moderate, between 50 and 80 degrees. The hotel had a nice indoor jacuzzi and there were several restaurants within walking distance in its Old Town area. Our favorite was the Main Street Brewery with its yummy microbrews.

Mesa Verde with all its cliff dwellings was mind boggling. Estimates are that in the area's heyday, there were over 30,000 inhabitants, more than in present day. Since the Pueblo indians had no written language, no one knows why they abruptly left in the late 1200's over 200 years before Columbus 'discovered' America. As I climbed around Cliff Palace, I marveled how they scampered around the rocks in such high altitudes. I wouldn't even attempt Balcony House since access was through a 12 foot tunnel that was 18 inches wide. The visitor's center had a wooden replica like they do at airports for carry on luggage. Basically, if your butt doesn't fit here, don't even think about it. Even if it had, I couldn't handle the confined space.

The next day we drove to Durango where Bob had planned we ride an old train up to Silverton. He thought we'd take a bus for one way, so I luckily grabbed my knitting. Since he loves planning our trips, I literally ask what's on the agenda for any given day. We opted to take the train both ways, but I was mightedly surprised to learn it was a 3 1/2 hour trip EACH WAY. The scenery was stupendous, but without my knitting, I would have gone crazy!

Silverton is an old mining town with barely 500 inhabitants. Its current livelihood is totally dependent on the tourists who mostly arrive on the 3 daily trains. It's at about 9300 feet, so there was still snow on the mountains. I had packed my white sweater for the mountain chill, but then learned the train ride was sooty, so I wore 3 shirts instead.

Here's Bob taking a photo of a wooden statue wearing pretty much the same outfit he is. Notice the snow at the top of the picture.

There were rain showers on our last night in Cortez. Since it rained less than 4 inches in the past year in San Diego, I went outside to watch and was gifted with rainbows.

The last 3 days of our trip were spent in Laughlin, Nevada. With temps hitting 112 degrees, we spent most of the time indoors except for early morning jacuzzis in the outdoor pool area. The slots were not too cooperative, so I have no big winnings to report. It's good to be home, but we're looking forward to our next trip, Vegas, baby, next month.

Projects update

2007-06-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

I've been reading everyone's blog, but have neglected updating my own. We are leaving for a week's road trip in the morning, so it's time.. Here is the top down raglan I've been playing around with since January. It's a workshop project using Barbara Walker's Top Down book. I am very pleased with it, although it's the 1st thing I've ever made that itches a bit. I have already washed it, but will wash it again and throw in some conditioner. I better, since I've been buying up all kinds of this Elsebeth Silky Wool.

This is my first crochet project, except for hats and scarves, since the 70's. It's the Short and Sweet cardigan from Deb Stoller's Happy Hooker. I wanted to use this Yarn Pirate Yarn I got as a gift, so I worked it very loosely to get the required gauge since the pattern was meant for DK or worsted weight and the Yarn Pirate wool and tencel blend is a fingering weight. I did a different front treatment and added a button. I am beyond happy with it.

I caught yet another cold last week, which just totally pissed me off since it's the 3rd or 4th this season and I rarely get more than one a year. I took to my couch coddling myself in hopes of getting better for some long standing commitments last weekend and going to my last workshop class of the semester to say goodbye to Charlie. While 'being sick' I did my 7th [yep, SEVENTH] Sitcom Chic cardigan. I needed a white sweater and since I can literally knit a lot of this with my eyes closed, it was a perfect project for my headachy, stuffy self. One week from start to finish. I tried it on with a Shapely Tank [White Lies] I made a couple of years ago and was really happy to see the colors still matched and could be worn as a twin set. Both are made from Vanilla Cotton Ease.

It was sad going to my last workshop session to say goodbye to Charlie who's moving to Missouri after teaching Knitting, Crochet and Needlepoint at the Foothills Adult Center in El Cajon since 1983. I've only been with her for 3 years and I've learned so much. Athena's been her assistant for 17 years and will be taking over. In addition to continuing with my Knitting workshop on Friday afternoons, I'm going to start with the Crochet group on Wednesday mornings.

Charlie's still getting rid of bits of her stash before moving next week. On Monday she gave me a bag with one small ball of yarn and 2 knitted sleeves from some long ago project. She said it was alpaca and mine if I wanted to reclaim it. When I ripped it all out and balled it up, I ended up with 357 grams of this yummy sport weight yarn. I immediately started the shawl Athena had as a spring workshop project that none of my yarns really wanted to become. The 1st photo was Tuesday night and the other last night. I'm bringing this shawl and another [Leaf Shawl from Fiber Trends] along on our road trip to Colorado, along with a sample sock for a class I'm teaching in July.

My baby's a college grad

2007-05-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of knitting and crocheting, but THIS is what I've been most excited about. My baby graduated yesterday from the University of San Diego with a BA in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. Anyone out there have a job for her? :-)

Baby boy stuff

2007-05-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

While 'waiting' for the info on the top down raglan, I had too much fun making some boy things for baby Jaedon. I put this in the mail to Columbus on Saturday. The vest is a Dale of Norway pattern made from Lion Brand Baby Soft. The socks from Panda Cotton. I made one sock of from the Baby Soft, but it just couldn't compete with the yummy texture of the Panda Cotton, so I didn't finish them.

The last 2 projects OTN are not really portable, so I started a simple airy scarf from Kid Merino to take to the Padres game on Thursday. Then, not having any socks in progress felt weird, so I cast on for a basic rib pair from some Opal hand-dyed yarn in maroons and dark green. I'd tried something fancy with it last year, but it didn't work out for a variety of reasons, so I ripped it out completely and rewound the yarn. I only have 4 rows done of the first sock, but it's one I can easily work on when out and about. There's no rush. Sock weather is pretty much over in San Diego.

I couldn't help myself, so I cast on for yet another pair. The Anna yarn in my stash has been pleading for my attention. It's in muted gray greens. I had heard online it worked up to a much finer gauge than usual, so I started out with 72 stitches and size 0 needles, instead of my usual 64 stitches and size 1, 1.5, or 2s. I've done about an inch of ribbing and am thinking of looking in my Sensational Knitted Sock books for inspiration for a pattern...

Oh, and I got my yarn order from Astrid in the Netherlands. It took 3 weeks instead of the usual 10 days and I was getting antsy. It's not as if I need any more sock yarn. One of the pinks are for a pair of Pink Ribbons socks for the Susan G Komen breast cancer fundraiser in the fall. The red are for the Christmas season. The dark pink was an experiment.. It's Opal Cotton and is darker than I thought it would be, but it's all good.

Sputtered progress

2007-05-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

The raglan is back on track after some frogging. I didn't like the sleeve as first done and needed to wait to see Athena at my workshop. Of course, if I had read the directions completely OR looked at the many photos I had taken of the sample...... Even so, the original sleeve was too long for me. Ripping back let me work the decreases more quickly.

Then, someone else in class had completed her raglan and I really liked the neck ribbing she used. It was the Double Island Rib from the 365 Knitting Stitches perpetual calendar. It's on June 14th. I used it instead of the garter finish suggested. The lace is different, but I think it works.

So now I'm on the home stretch. 4 more inches of stockinette, then the lace bottom.

The last 2 WIPs

2007-05-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is what I have left to finish. Just 2 sweaters. I'm not counting the fun baby stuff 'cause I'll be done with that soon enough. These are my winter workshop projects. I decided not to do the Spring shawl, so I could catch up and work on my summer projects guilt free.

The green one is a top down raglan. There really wasn't a pattern for this one as we did a gauge swatch with our preferred yarn and formulas from Barbara Walker's Knitting From The Top. I'm using Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool. One of the sleeves is done. The lace motif will be repeated at the hem. The V neck will have a simple rib finish.

This second one is the Peerie Cardigan, a pattern written by my soon to depart workshop instructor. It was published in the Fall 1999 issue of Knitter's.

There's a whole lot of knitting in this project. I fell in love with it when I tried on the sample Charlie brought into class. I'm using Knitpicks Telemark sport weight yarn at 6 stitches to the inch. Each motif is only 4 to 8 stitches wide and 5 rows tall with some background rows thrown in, so it's not really complicated, but is very interesting. I may have to finish this in the fall with Athena, who will now become the lead instructor. It may get too hot to have this huge thing in my lap during the summer. It's worked in one piece to the armholes and the sleeves picked up at the shoulder. Maybe THIS in a shorter version could work with my Cotton Ease. The instructions work for any yarn, any gauge.

It's a Boy!

2007-05-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

My daughter's in-laws in Ohio had their baby on the 24th of April. I made a well appreciated layette in neutral cream since they didn't want to know the baby's sex beforehand. Jaydon was a healthy 7 lbs. and I'm furiously knitting on some boyish items.

I bought a white shirt to go with the manly little vest. I'm making it in the smallest size, so it fits neatly on my 16" circulars. I hope to be done in the next few days so they can have it before he outgrows it all. I already told my own kids that if they ever have any babies, I will go absolutely crazy because baby items are so darned cute.

The true meaning of BFF

2007-05-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Best Friends Forever. That's what kids say, but THIS is the true meaning of the phrase. That's me standing next to Dona. We started Kindergarten together and were in the same grade until we graduated from high school in 1970. In 1979, she was my Maid of Honor and later visited us when we were living in Spain. We don't get to see each other often as we live on different coasts, but the connection is still there. She and her daughter [middle] were in Los Angeles visiting her sister [left] and were gracious enough to drive down to San Diego to spend the day with Bob and me. It's hard to imagine we've been pals for 50 years.

This is the earliest photo I have of us. Money was tight and photos a rarity back in the day. Dona is in striped dress right behind the class sign while I'm in the lovely plaid vest in the row behind her.

Mother's Day gift off and gone

2007-05-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

By request, my mom asked for another Sitcom Chic sweater. This is my absolute favorite sweater for comfort and wearability. I have 4 and Mom now has 2. Yep, I've made the danged thing SIX times - all from various shades of Cotton Ease bought in a frenzy when I learned it was being discontinued. It's been reissued, but at a higher price and in a totally different and muted palette. Nowadays if I want a cotton/acrylic blend in worsted weight, I go with TLC Cotton Plus. She received it in Thursday's mail and was quite pleased with it. Her other one is in black. Both are sized up to 2X.

I am constantly searching for another basic sweater for my Cotton Ease. I still have 4 colors I want to make cardigans from. I think I found it in the current issue of Knitty. http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/PATTvanillaspice.html I've got some CE in bright white I'll experiment with. I think I'll modify the collar from a V neck to crew so when I wear it open - as in most of the time - it will hang better. Of course I'll make them 3/4 sleeves. This pattern seems perfect, as it comes in a wide size range, from XSmall to 3X and it's knit up in my preferred way, once piece to the armholes with the sleeves knitted from the shoulder. Look, ma, no seams to sew! I will not start this [I must repeat this mantra often] until I'm done with my [just] 2 works in progress.

Aran Sandal Socks done

2007-05-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

The Aran Sandal Socks are done. I gave them to Charlie, my Knitting Workshop instructor last Friday. She was surprised and amazingly appreciative. I guess knitters don't get many knitted gifts. This was from some of her stash yarn she was giving away to make way for her move East. She was so sweet, saying she would wear them on Christmas and think of me. Next I need to make my matching pair and remember to wear them on Christmas too.

Guests don't need much room

2007-04-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is my final, final storage in the studio's closet. With the addition of the second hanging shoe holder, all of my sock yarn is on display. The storage container under the open shelves holds my acrylic sock yarns - for those allergic and some baby items. I filled up the empty space in the yarn cave with completed sweaters, freshly laundered and put away for the season - at least the wool ones. I love looking at all the yarn and imagine what they will become when they grow up.

Then there were Four

2007-04-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Crocheted Fillet Ruffle Shawl as written by Athena, my workshop instructor. The body took less than 4 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool. The ruffle and small border used 5 entire skeins. It took an amazing amount of willpower not to take the crochet class this semester, but I really want to get my WIPs done. I'm also committed to working on some items for the Pink Ribbons campaign this summer. Last year it was all scarves, but this year it can be anything in pink. I will do at least one pair of socks. I ordered some Opal and Regia pink yarns from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions in the Netherlands. Why is plain pink sock yarn so hard to come by? I scoured many sources when I made my own pink ribbons socks and ended up using Dale Baby Ull.
Austermann Step #12. I've been carrying these around since January, working on them here and there, mostly while getting pedicures. Bob's already worn them and they're in the hamper.
Free Panda wool and cotton samples. I didn't think they'd go together, but I liked the mix. When I was putting them away, I noticed one seemed longer than the other. Sure enough, somehow I lost count and one leg has an extra repeat. Since I used up all but 10 inches of the yarn, it's staying that way. Don't look too closely.
Yarntini 'gimlet' toe up socks with a short row heel. I did a Kitchener bind off for the first time. These are the socks I'm entering in the San Diego County Fair along with the crocheted shawl and the Braids cardigan I completed in November.

Can you believe it? I only have 4 works left in progress and am determined not to start another, the Spring knitting workshop shawl, until I've finished the 2 gifts I'm working on - the sweater for my mom and the socks for a certain someone. The Sitcom Chic for mom is coming along. I started the second sleeve which means I'm about halfway done since the sleeves get attached to the body at the underarm then the entire raglan yoke is worked in one piece. I'm on the second gift sock and hope to have it done by the end of the week.

I special ordered 10 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold silky wool in claret for the workshop shawl. When it showed up, the color is not maroon as depicted online, but red. I still like it, but not for the shawl. I had my heart set on maroon. I have to scour my patterns to come up with a worthy project. I've been staring at my yarns displayed in my studio and think I'll use the Anna yarn just frogged from a garter stitch shawl or some Yarn Pirate stuff I got as a gift on the cruise. Light or dark? hmmmm.... decisions.

I am such a geek

2007-04-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Since last reporting in, I've been to Las Vegas and back. The 6 hour drive each way afforded me much sock knitting time. I brought along the 3 pairs of socks in progress. Two are toe ups and it had been a while since I had done a short row heel. I got them all up to that point, then did 4 short row heels back to back to back. Now I'm on the home stretch of each. The video poker machines 'tho not overly generous, were pretty loose, so I came back home after 4 days of gambling with $3 more than when I left. I happily returned my budgeted gambling money to the ATM. It's just keeping that moola in storage, as we have already booked our next 2 visits in July and September to Sin City. In between, we'll be in Laughlin for a few days as we return from our June road trip to Colorado. I wonder which knitting projects will capture my imagination and demand to come along.

My knitting workshop is on Easter break and even though I have not finished the 2 projects from the winter semester, Athena, our instructor has tempted me with some shawl patterns. I have already ordered the Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool for the one I want to make. Since the color I wanted [claret] is not normally carried by the store, I'm buying the entire bag of 10 skeins. Darn the luck! I am so in love with this yarn. I plan to make a tank top with the extra, probably 4 skeins.

With all my works in progress, my many plans for the future and me toying with the idea of taking a crochet class, I reevaluated my current works in progress. I woke up Tuesday with a wild hair and totally frogged 2 shawls I had started last fall. The one on the left is from Schaeffer Anne and other Crystal Palace Kid Merino. Really great stuff, but I had rushed to play with the yarn and these are garter stitch. I think the yarn deserves better treatment, so it's been rewound and is now with its other lace yarn brothers and sisters until something more wonderful comes along.

MY BIGGEST ADVENTURE was not on the knitting front. We [as in DH] got a new laptop equipped with Windows Vista and all the latest bells and whistles. I haven't had much of a chance to play with it, but did take over the 5 year old laptop with its 256 mb of RAM and 20 GB hard drive. I put it on my desk upstairs and with its little wireless card poking out from its slot it was good enough to do my online chores. I got used to it although it was finicky. After numerous error messages, not shutting down properly or rebooting, I got so frustrated I decided I needed to buy myself a new laptop. You must understand there are only 3 people who live here and we have 5 computers. I didn't NEED one, but wanted it so badly I could taste it. I priced some, then DH got into the act telling me all the features I couldn't live without. So instead of $500, now it's $1200 for something I don't really need. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I REFORMATTED THE HARD DISK on the old one. I've never done this before, but went step by step with the recovery disks - and it worked!

It's taken a lot of time away from my knitting with all the reinstalling of programs and the gazillion updates. Even my Outlook Express started working again. The other thing wrong with it was the battery had totally died and it only worked when plugged in. Since everything has been working as it should for over a week, I found a replacement battery online from ebatts.com. I ordered it YESTERDAY and used the free shipping option. It showed up this morning! Now the baby has a real battery and with all the caca removed is acting just as it should. I had gotten an 80 GB external drive that's about as big as a deck of cards for Christmas, so all my music and pix are stored there anyway. I am quite the happy camper and am feeling very smug about the money I've saved.

Once again my interest was piqued by someone else's knitting project. Lakia at the shop started the Aran Sandal Sock from Socks, Socks, Socks and had a question about how to turn the heel. Alas, everyone seems to have this faith in me that I can just look at something and figure it out. The reality is it takes me a while to see what's going on and those damned heel instructions did not make sense [when in doubt, check for errata which cleared it up]. But it was too late. I got into the pattern and had to make it myself. I had always wanted to make these socks and I was recently gifted with the perfect yarn. So far, I've only completed one sock. The second one will wait until I've finished up some other things. I plan on giving it away and have until June.

I met some more great knitters last night. I finally went to the Knit @ Nite event in La Jolla. It's part of the North Coast Knitters. I joined the organization and look forward to the newletter and member directory. Heather Broadhurst and her pentagons were there and with so many other knitters and their varied projects, it was definitely worth the drive. I might even go up to Encinitas for some of their upcoming events. Ah, life is good.

Upcoming Knitting Events in San Diego

2007-03-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting few days. First, The Bonita Knitting Store, http://www.bonitaknitting.com/ my home away from home, has announced a couple of events affecting me. The San Diego County Fair is coming up and Susan has set a goal for the shop and its customers of submitting at least 20 items. As soon as she gets the decision whether I can enter as a regular person [the way I would if I submitted items via the Foothills Knitting Workshop] or as a 'professional' since I teach once a month at the shop, then I'll decide which items to submit. Right now I'm thinking of the Braids cardigan I completed last November and a gansey I made a few years ago. Although I used the percentage formula in creating the gansey and got the motifs from stitch dictionaries, I believe I can enter it in the original pattern category. Then, as the alleged sock diva, a pair of socks. I'm working on some toe ups in the Yarntini I got back in January using a ribbing from Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. If I had the time, I'd love to do the knee high socks featured in this month's Knitty. http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/PATTclessidra.html I have 4 skeins of maroon Knitpicks Essentials that would be perfect. The submission paperwork is due 2 May and the actual projects on the 20th.

The second event is the Stitch n' Pitch, a TNNA sponsored baseball game at Petco Park on Sunday, the 22nd of July. http://www.stitchnpitch.com/default.asp This year we have the cooperation of the Padres front office and more LYS's participating. I hope more than the few hundred who showed up last year make it this year. Seattle had 2,500 attendees and it would be great to have at least 1000.

While hanging out at the store this Sunday, an international visitor breezed in. Jo from Ireland found it via the internet and we had a blast. Since she's a journalist, her telling of the encounter is much better than mine would be. http://celticmemoryyarns.blogspot.com/2007/03/spinning-in-balboa-park-knitting-in.html

Meanwhile, I haven't been a slouch. I finished the Pinwheel sweater on the 16th. Not bad for having started it on the 3rd. The thing is huge and wonderfully comfortable. I can wear the collar up as a hood and in other variations. The back edge is knee length. I plan to use it with one of the pretty shawl pins I just bought because they will give me more flexibility than buttons. When it's cool enough to wear, I'll post pix of a human modeling it.

I also finished the pair of socks in Panda Wool. I worked these toe up because I was concerned about having enough yarn. Each 50 gr skein has 170 yards. I used size 1 needles and could have gone smaller. I did a lace rib from Schurch thinking if I ran out, it would cute as an anklet, but there was plenty.

The Cave

2007-03-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

With the house to myself, I took all the yarn out of the Yarn Cave to fondle and reorganize.

The innocent looking hall closet
The jackets are just camouflage.
Empty except for the baskets of acrylics and some other craft stuff.
The stash in all its glory. I don't think it's that extensive, as I'm mostly project oriented. The big pile on the couch is all the Woolease for the Great American Aran Afghan. Then it's 3 bags of sock yarn, 2 bags of machine washable baby yarns, and the Cotton Ease collection. The baskets are acrylics deemed soft enough to keep after major destashing a few months back. One of the bags above the baskets is sport weight project leftovers and the other 100% wool worsted weight leftovers possibly for felting.

After putting everything back more efficiently, I'm left with this very dangerous situation. I've got lots of room for more.

Distracted by fun sweater

2007-03-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

I was doing so well catching up on those many works in progress.... When I was playing around with my stash and setting up the closet shelves, I added this pinwheel sweater to my "To Do" list. Although the pattern calls for a spiral of colors, I have 6 huge skeins of Lion Brand Fisherman wool I felt would be great for sweater to cuddle in.

It stepped up from idea to must do right now when I went to the LYS and there was a class in progress working this very same sweater. As I helped some people get started, I couldn't stand it. Got home and started this last Saturday. It looks almost done in the photo, but I'm probably less than halfway. It needs another 7 inches around the circle so it will close in the front, then the sleeves. The most time consuming task will be the twisted Icord edge around the entire circle.

I did manage to finish the rework/repair of these old Regia socks. I had made them back in Oct 2003 and they were my first pair made in real sock yarn. They never fit right and annoyed me everytime I wore them. I frogged them back to the cuff and reknit them. Since I had already used the leftover yarn in another pair of socks, I needed to add a contrasting yarn to the toes.

After much fun playing with my stash, here's the final storage display in my newly named Knitting Studio. I used shoe hanging shelves for my pretty fun lace, scarf and some sock yarns. The sweater shelves have my works in progress. The patterns and notions needed for each project are together in each space. The empty floor space below the shelves seemed wrong, so this underbed container contains some of my sock yarns. The Yarn Cave is also much more organized, but is still pretty full.

Cutting sleeves

2007-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

The sleeves on the gray sweater were too long. At first I thought I could get by with turning the cuff and I tacked them down. But after blocking, the damned things grew. I knew cutting them should work IN THEORY, but it still was a leap of faith. Whew! It worked and I'm happily wearing the sweater as we speak.

Studio pix

2007-03-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Since it was picked up, I took more pix of my knitting corner of the universe. My computer is my true window to the world.
Baskets under the table store my notions.
Sewing Books on top and knitting references in the shelves below the window.

UFO finally completed

2007-03-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

I started this textured cardigan from Classic Knits for Real Women back in June. It's from Knitpicks DK Merino yarn. It's mostly stockinette with the occasional purl. I opted for the textured version instead of placing beads where the purls are.

Now that it's done and it's really comfortable, I can see I'll be wearing it quite a bit. But it's a basic, serviceable sweater. I have gotten sidetracked by so many more fun projects and luxurious fibers. The cruise projects really put a detour in my knitting plans. At one time I had 12 works in progress! With the completion of this cardigan, I'm down to a much more manageable 7 WIPs. Three are socks, so they hardly 'count'. Two are lacey shawls which I plan to save for summer knitting. That leaves my 2 workshop projects. These will be my primary focus for the next few weeks. Then I really need to start yet another sweater. I promised my mom one more Sitcom chic for Mother's Day.

I feel more in control now. I reorganized the Yarn Cave, have my Knitting Studio and can now knit til my arms fall off.

Knitting Studio

2007-03-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

I decided to get pretentious. I knit, compute, and otherwise spend most of my at home hours in the downstairs bedroom that had been my mother in law's back when she lived with us. This bedroom and nearby bathroom are off the kitchen and are why we got this house back in 1991. It was where the kid's got to watch TV or use the computer. At that time, the kids called it the den. I had always done my sewing, knitting and TV watching in the evenings in the family room. But as one has gone off and gotten married and the other is about to graduate from college and is rarely home, I've taken over the den. It's got all kinds of built in shelves, cabinets and draws. I moved my favorite couch in here. Since it's a sleeper, this is the guest room on the rare occasions family ventures west. I've always tried to keep the closet at least half empty so guests would have somewhere to put their stuff.

But I've taken all clothing out and store my needles and works in progress in the closet. Surrounded by all my books and patterns, with many more patterns on the computer and my notions in covered baskets under the coffee table, I decided my corner of the universe should more aptly be dubbed my Knitting Studio. The computer also doubles as my music system, so I knit during the day listening to favorite tunes. At night it's TV. Life is good.

Gift layette done!

2007-03-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

My daughter's sister in law is expecting her 1st child in April. It's the first grandchild for the family and I wanted to knit something. I let my DD and her husband go through my patterns to pick something out. My intention had been for a sweater and booties, but they fell in love with the entire ensemble including the blanket. Since the mother to be does not want to know the baby's gender, they picked an ivory color. I selected TLC Cotton Plus and 50/50 mix of cotton and acrylic that's machine washable. I would never give a handwash item to a new mother.

The TLC is a light worsted weight and the pattern I had called for DK. I made the smallest size, but it turned out 6 month size. The blanket had to reworked because it was supposed to be 19 x 24, ridiculously small. I added a pattern repeat and filler motifs to get the more standard size of 30 x 36". I knit up the blanket in a much looser gauge than the garments to make it more cuddly.

Although my DD can knit, she's so busy with her job, hubby and church, I knit 'for' her. It seems all her friends are expecting, so I have fun making a little something to include in the gifts she buys them. For the above expected baby, they got them a stroller too.

It took almost 8 skeins of the TLC for the entire set. I liked working with this yarn so much, I went ahead and ordered 24 more skeins of it to have on hand. I got 12 each of pink and blue so I could whip up something gender specific on short notice.

Las Vegas was fun as usual

2007-03-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know us, we trek up to Las Vegas at least 6 times a year. At this point, we consider it our vacation home. We don't have a condo or time share, but are the biggest cheapskates. This last time we stayed downtown and got free hotel for 3 nights at the Plaza. Not the fanciest hotel, but the beds are comfy and the rooms clean. We enjoy the hustle and bustle of all the different people and activities. Each time we go, it's a different experience. We always go during the week, 'cause it's less expensive. I also look forward to the 6 hour drive since my DH prefers to drive and I get to knit both ways.

For the past several years we've gone for Valentine's Day and my DH's birthday in February. We count the number of brides and grooms from all walks of life and of all ages. One of the gifts DH got was a book on how to play video poker, our favorite. We studied up on the statistics on what to keep and discard. It's comforting to have a plan at least. We play the nickel machines. I told you we were cheap. We played until fatigue and sore arms made us rest. Although not big winners, I'm happy to report that 4 days of gambling to my heart's content only cost me $52. We'll see if that holds true when we go up next month since we are staying uptown and the machines are less generous than the ones downtown.

The main activity Vegas was preparing for this time was the NBA All-Star game the weekend after Valentine's Day. It was the first time it took place there and it was all the news programs reported on. They expected as many people as they get New Year's Eve. They went all out and even dressed up the Statue of Liberty at New York New York in an East jersey and MGM Lion in a West jersey.

2007-02-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

I tried the code to get this Quizilla result on the side bar of the blog, but it FUBAR'd the entire thing. All I could do is cut and paste. Here are my results:

"You appear to be a Knitting Goddess. You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with reward, you simply want others to love knitting as much as you do. If someone wants to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them. If someone wants to learn short row shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in knitting, only opportunities to grow. Everyone should have friend like you around if they want to learn to knit, and there's a good chance that your passion has rubbed off on a few others.
http://marniemaclean.com"

I rather like the idea of being a knitting goddess. Back when I was working, my last billet was as a head of a school that was reorganized. There was much agony about my title, as each nuance would mean a different range of mandated powers and responsibilities. [gotta love the military] The resultant title was DIRECTOR, but during the tedious process I let it be known I much preferred GODDESS. My school was on the West Coast, the other on the East. From the beginning, my east coast counterpart always referred to me as "goddess" which was our private joke. It's good to know I've maintained my goddessness even in retirement.

Cruise Projects

2007-02-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

In between knitting on my workshop 'homework' with 2 different sweaters and the baby items promised to in-laws, I've been sneaking in a fun knitting day here and there to complete some of the projects started onboard.

This slip stitch scarf is the product of the yarn tasting event. 12 different yarns, 20 yards each. Acrylic, silks, ribbon and all sorts of fun stuff that somehow all work together. I had not done so much slip stitch in a project, especially with colors.

The too cute evening bag is from silk yarns. The ruffle's yarn is pre- beaded. The new skill in this project was the Turkish cast on. I went ahead and lined it. Now I need a special occasion to use it. I had selected the green mix since one of my workshop projects is a top with lace accents from Silky Wool in a similar green.

The Sea Sock was designed for us by Debbie Stoller. It has several colorwork techniques. The intarsia section has a cruise ship and a ball of yarn with knitting needles poking through it. The top portion is worked flat then joined. Although interesting, I'm not sure I'll make the second sock since I don't like the back seam. I understand this is the way argyle socks are done. I'm going to have to figure out how to make the join invisible.

Knitter's Geek Code

2007-01-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

I was reading the current Knitty's surprise articles and came across the Knitter's Geek Code.
http://www.knitty.com/issuespring04/FEATgeekcode.html

Spent a fun half hour figuring out mine:

---Begin Knitter's Geek Code Block---
Version 1.1

KCmR+++$ Exp++(+++) SPM++(+++) Addi++ KPO++ Boye Syn Nov-- Cot++ Wool++ Lux Hemp? Stash +(++) Scale++(+++) Fin+ Ent? FI- Tex++ Lace+ Felt+ Flat Circ++ DPN+++ Swatch+ FO 80 in 06 GaugeF(W) KIP++ Blog+ SNB EZ+ ALTSwCr

---End Knitter's Geek Code Block---

Sinfully decadent

2007-01-28T14:47:00.000-08:00

You probably can't see how wonderfully soft and yummy this reversible cable scarf is. I made it this week, despite having numerous projects started. It's from Muench Touch Me yarn then felted. This was scarey since the yarn is so pricey. 5 balls runs $70 retail, but I had to have it. It only shrinks about 10% blurring the stitch definition some. Comes out of the wash a bit hard, but it goes in the dryer until it's almost dry. It's so soft it feels like liquid.

I enjoyed crocheting so much, I started another shell scarf from Debbie's Happy Hooker book. I bought 2-50 gram skeins of Knitpicks Swish superwash to experiment with and this is the perfect project to see how it works up and wears.

Looks like Tiger's going to win the Buick.

Retirement ain't for sissies

2007-01-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

The cruise was outstanding! We had so much to do between the classes and all the ship's events and activities, I came home on Friday exhausted. But no rest. The next day was my birthday, so there were presents to open and new toys to play with. The family got together for Brunch on Sunday and more presents. Between the cruise, the shop, home and brunch I was sang to 4 times. I sure hope that doesn't mean I'm aging faster. I enjoyed the champagne, but had to settle down because I was teaching at the Bonita Knitting Store that afternoon.

Activities on the cruise included the Captain's dinner where we all got prettied up. That didn't last long, as we were scheduled for a pajama party. Here's our celebrity knitting instructor, Debbie Stoller of Stitch and Bitch fame. What a fun person and good teacher. She was at every knitting activity, taught all day Thursday, scuba'd in Catalina, rode a horse in Ensenada, then went clubbing onboard while some of us slept. Susan's in the red robe and Annie from Santa Fe is on the floor. This was in the ship's library and many of the ship's guests thought we were quite the show. Some wandered in despite the Private Party sign.

On Monday morning, I went to a make up session of my Knitting Workshop so I could get past a glitch at the beginning of my top down raglan. Then I had to interview a high school senior who's applying to Princeton. I also had folks sign up for private lessons both Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday, Bob and I took a Daytripper bus tour up to LA for a tour of the Federal Reserve. Under tight security, I got to see a BILLION dollars cash. Friday we got an early start again as we headed out to Torrey Pines for the Buick Invitational. Saw Tiger and we went out to dinner.

Yesterday, I taught the first Lace sampler class. Didn't get through nearly as much as I had hoped, but it went well. I had to rush from the store so we could make 7 pm dinner reservations with the daughter, her husband and in-laws who were in from Columbus for the weekend.

Today, I'm resting. My agenda for next week only has one more applicant interview and my regular Friday knitting workshop. I hope to make progress on my TWELVE works in progress!

Cruise pix

2007-01-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

Blogger was giving me fits, not allowing me to upload more photos. Here's the group on our last night. 4 cruisers missed the photo.

Mimi and I dressed up for the Captain's Dinner.

Every evening when the steward turned down my bed, he'd leave a towel toy. We all compared notes and it was different for all.

I helped out during one class and got this as a reward! Enough for a shawl or some other luscious thing. Here's all the loot from the goodie bag. This does not include the five project kits.

I convinced Kathy to trade some yarns like kids on Halloween working to upgrade the goodies. She took the purple mix skein so I could have enough to make a pair of socks with this superwash merino.

The crochet class produced this really cute scarf.

Busy in a good way

2007-01-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

I leave for my knitting cruise in the morning. Am packed except for some morning toiletries. I did manage to finish my two pairs of black socks although I redid the toe on the second sock of the second pair three times.

I'm riding shotgun with Susan, the owner of the Bonita Knitting Store, up to Long Beach. I bought some bamboo sock needles just to be sure I'd be able to have a project handy that could go in my carry on. For some reason, the only restriction was metal needles. I'll be working on a pair for my husband out of Austermann Step #12, Earth. I just can't tell you how excited I am he has condescended to wanting a pair that has stripes!

There will so many knitting goodies and classes aboard the ship, I will barely have time to explore. Sleep will have to wait until I get back next Friday. We prepaid for everything, so every class will include all materials and yummy new to me yarns.

The knitting celebrity is Deb Stoller of Stitch and Bitch fame. We start off with a book signing and cocktail party. She will be teaching classes on Wed and Thu. Crochet for Knitters, Workshop in Sweater Design and Color Tips and Tricks. The staff of the Bonita Knitting Store will be doing a Luxe cable scarf with silk yarn, an evening bag with beaded yarn and a class on finishing. Other actitivities are a Bitchin' Pajama Party and a Yarn Tasting event. AND these are just the knitting related events. We are also spending one day in Catalina and one in Ensenada. Whew! All this in 4 days.

As if that were not enough to get me into creative overload, I got to go to TNNA here in San Diego because I teach at the yarn store and sometimes man the store. I limited myself to 2 classes since somewhere in all of this fun I had to get ready, do laundry and otherwise prepare to leave my loving honey on his own. Since we retired over 10 years ago, I've gotten so used to having him underfoot that I'm already missing him.

At TNNA I took Adventures in Lace Knitting, a 6 hour session from Myrna Stahman. I was disappointed with this one. 3 hours would have been plenty and I could have done without the student intros which took over an hour! As a former educator who taught folks to teach adults, I just did not think it was the best use of all of our time. The class this morning in Cable Variations by Melissa Leapman was OUTSTANDING!! She should have had the 6 hour block. New tricks and new skills with fingers flying as we did swatch after practice swatch.

I walked the floor with all the upcoming products and was delighted to learn Addi is now selling lace needles. Their circulars with wickedly pointy tips. Life is good.

On a kinda weird note, a few weeks ago I did a swatch on Southwest Trading Company TOFUtsie yarn. I really did not like it for a variety of reasons which I wrote down in a critique I provided to the store. When someone on the Socknitters Yahoo group asked about it, I repeated my negative personal opinion. This was countered by at least 4 very positive experiences. Hey... it was my opinion. At TNNA the rep from the company sent me a full 100 gram skein with a request to give it one more try. hmmm.... how did they track me down?

2007-01-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

Bob and I celebrate New Year's at 9 pm local per the ball dropping in Times Square since I'm originally a New Yorker and we can't stay awake until midnight. There was champagne and us being silly, but the party was over by 10 pm!

We started the day with a wonderful champagne brunch at Humphrey's by the Bay. They were the ones who provided the snazzy party favors and a lot of champagne. We had to walk around for an hour or so before we could head back home to watch the Chargers win.

I've got lots of knitting goals for the year. Finish the sleeves on the gray cardigan, work on my winter workshop project - a top down shell, finish 2 shawls in progress. Then I've got a layette for an April baby and I promised my mom a sweater by Mother's Day. Then there's the socks..

The 2007 sock list:

1. Black Fortissima cotton socka- the second black pair
2. Redo toes on pair that were really too short
3. Brown subtle stripes in Austermann Step - this is too exciting since they are for Bob who said he liked the way this yarn striped!
4. Maroon Knit Picks Essential
5. Gray tweed Fortissima cotton socka
6. Taupe Kroy
7. Bright pink Kroy [a bit wild, but still a solid color]
8. Blue tweed Fortissima cotton socka [can you tell it's my new favorite cotton blend?]
9. Opal hand dyed. A dark colorway. I figure by now I'll need some pizzazz.
10. Light mauve Opal for spring.

I've cast on the 2nd pair of black socks. I want to have these in time for the cruise which is less than 2 weeks away. I got the tickets and boarding info right after Christmas. It's really going to happen. Got some new clothes and an extra memory card for my camera. I'm ready!

Presents

2007-01-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

The only knitting items I got for Christmas were Volumes 1 and 5 of the Harmony Knitting Guides. Now I have them all. Thanks married daughter! When my youngest was wondering what to get me, I was pushing a gift certificate to the LYS since with my employee discount, it would go a long way. But alas, she got me an MP3 player. The MP3 player is really good because I wanted a second one to have for just music. I download audio books from NetLibrary and listening to them works best when they are the only thing on the player. So the new one is for music to go walking and the old one is for novels to listen to while I'm knitting. I spent a good part of the week after Christmas listening to the unabridged version of The Other Boleyn Girl - all 23 hours of it.

Hubby got me the 60 GB portable hard drive and a new Palm. Although I have a back up external drive for my PC, I wanted one to take along on trips when we bring the laptop. We take LOTS of pictures when we travel and usually download them to the laptop at the end of the day. I'd feel a lot more comfortable also backing them up. I also loaded this hard drive with my favorite photos and all my knitting files, so even on the road I'll have my references. My Christmas scroll - the gift certificate my DH gives everyone every year - is a trip to Mesa Verde National Park. We'll go in the summer after the youngest graduates. Can you say, "Goodby tuition!"

Then there's the Palm. It took 2 days to get everything transferred and updated which included photos of the people in my address book so when I look them up, I can see their little faces. I'm such a geek. THEN I downloaded some games to preview. I liked 2 of them so much, I bought the full versions. So instead of knitting my huge 'to do' list, I'm literally playing with my new toy.

In my defense, it's basic socks we need and are not nearly as much fun to knit. I did finish these before the new year.

Christmas with the kids

2007-01-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

We do not have a lot of family here in California. It's always been just the kids and us. This year we were lucky to have the addition of a son in law AND is was 'our turn' to get them for Christmas.

I got lots of fun toys, but the kids had a blast playing a board game called Quelf.

Waiting for Christmas

2006-12-17T18:30:00.000-08:00

I've got almost all the presents wrapped. Still waiting for a couple of deliveries by the UPS brown elf, but am practically done. It's my favorite time. I can take in the Christmas spirit and knit like crazy while I'm 'waiting' for the big day. Both girls will be home for Christmas Eve dinner and the opening of presents on Christmas morning. This year we have a happy addition of a son in law, so it promises to be great fun.

I'm working on plain black socks for me and a plain light brown pair for my husband. I think 2007 is going to start out with basic socks in solid colors. The others are fun to knit, but when I need a plain pair to go with an outfit, I HATE wearing store bought socks. I'd like to have 2 pairs of black before the mid January knitting cruise.

Somewhere in there I want to finish the gray sweater awaiting the sleeves. I'm going to TNNA and the 2 classes I've signed up for have homework for a total of 11 swatches.

Oh, and I finished the winter band for the vest. I've decided a plain band along with fall and winter ones are enough. Who wears a wool vest for spring and summer in San Diego?

I got yet more needles, this time the size 1, 2.5 mm DPNs from Knit Picks. It made my original needle case explode, so since I had a couple of these already made up, I spread out my basic DPNs into smaller carrying cases. My big needle roll is breathing a sigh of relief. My original DPN needle roll which served as the prototype now on sale at the LYS is gone to the trash.

No more scarf deficit

2006-12-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

Didn't have any of my own, so I made four.

The blue and silver ruffled garter stitchscarf is from Needful Yarns Piccadilly.

The gold is just garter stitch with Crystal Palace Fizz Stardust yarn.

The blue denim reversible cables is a Lion Brand free pattern [slightly modified] made with stash Paton Classic wool.

The skinny black scarf is from Berroco BOHO. You can't see the 3 different textures. I did a vertical rib working the long way. It used 2 skeins.

My daughter got a new phone and requested a phone sock for protection made from a bright yarn she could easily find in her purse. Bernat Sox yarn.

Then I finally finished the second sock to my Austermann Step #04 pair. I'm wearing these right now and they feel wonderful.