Time Flies

What a disappointing day: I woke up sick. Probably started about 5am, reached medication stage at 10am. I showered at 11am, still hoping to make my 'date' with fellow knitter on the coast. Just wasn't meant to be today. At noonish, I called to cancel, much to DH's relief. I think he thought I would push myself to go and regret it. He's right. I took my lead from him (for once), and from the pains in my stomach. Unfortunately, by 5pm I was still too puny to go to dance class -- last thing you need to do is belly rolls when you've had pains all day. However, by 7pm I was feeling much better and hungry. I am full, but feeling even better since I ate. And relaxed for the first time today. I can't believe I haven't posted in a full week -- but I have ripped and frogged so much this week I was just too frustrated to write. I forgot the second set of bind-off rows at the underarms of the Shapely Tank Top I'm modifying for a cropped top (for dance class). Now, it is all back on, the front is complete up to the should bind-off row, and I'm almost to the neckline bind-off rows on the back. Isn't it a mess? LOL I am determined not to pick up anything else to knit until this is finished. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that I am not happy at all with the wimple/smoke-ring/snood/hood I've been making for #2SD. I'm about ready to set it aside, grab the Cha-Cha and a fine carrying thread and make something for her from the Paton's Fabulous Fur booklet of patterns! And then ponder what to do with three balls of Paton's Divine! Something in me wants to make it lacey... is that crazy?? Monday's almost over; a whole week ahead of us all. Make the most of it! LC

Copy Cats: by the dawn's early light

See what happens when you need to rest your fingers from knitting and have had too much tea to drink so you aren't sleepy, little squirrel? More than you will ever need to know! At least I got #2Son up for his eight o'clock class. Another diddie for your amusement: The things you find in the shop windows of the French Quarter! LC

Real Friends Share

their yarn!! I have this pretty impressive friend who surprised me last Saturday with a bag of yarn from her stash. See my new pretties? The blue, pink, and varigated balls are cotton blends. Will probably hold onto it until I know whether my neices unborn child is a boy or girl; then whatever is left will probably be used in charity knitting. The varigated is so much prettier than the photo shows! I'm thinking of a cropped-top for dance class (will ask on knitlist for pattern ideas). I know the very pink ball is LB Homespun; not sure about the green boucle. I'm not usually much of a green person, but this is a surprisingly lovely shade. I did have to begin my stepdaughter's smoke-ring again. It was twice as wide as necessary. I didn't bother to frog it, just started with a new skein. Always one to try to 'make lemonade' I did a three-needle cast-off with the active edge -- first time to try that. It's long and thin, and I'm thinking of putting my new buckwheat hull pillow in it and seaming up the other side, then using it in the living room. Maybe I'll think of something else. On the new start, I used a cable cast-on (second time for that) instead of my usual long-tail cast on. Haven't touched the socks, though. Determined to get this last Christmas present done before I do anything else. Spent a lot of time last night reading other knitting blogs, setting up some more links in my sidebar from those I like to read. Am not through my list yet though! LC

Heels or Froggin'?

Been spending way more time reading about knitting than doing it, I guess, because I don't seem to have much to show for the past five days. I've finished two balls of Bernat's Divine working on my youngest step-daughter's smoke-ring/wimple -- I'm afraid it is too big around. The piece is 10 inches deep so far. I finished the second ball on Saturday night, but I've put off starting the third ball. I guess the best thing to do is take a piece of scrap yarn, thread it through the loops and try on the piece. I'm working on circulars, so that's the only way I can figure to see just what it is looking like as a whole. I do love the way it feels and looks. Very soft. Kind of chunky & bumpy. I'm almost ready to do the heel on the kids sock! Since I don't have a knitting or beading photo to upload tonight, I'll add a picture of my 'bestest' sweetheart. The four-legged one, anyway. LC

Hat's Done...

but I'm not happy with it. I guess it is just that it is too big. The bottom is too loose and I don't know how to tighten it. So much for 'cast on loosely' (which is NO reflection on the pattern, just me). I sort of used the London Beanie instructions, but I also followed the decreasing instructions in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears. Anyway, it ended up looking more like a woman's hat than a man's. So, off in the mail it goes tomorrow, along with the scarf of same thread (both for my NIL); a LB Fun Fur scarf & Bernat Boa hat for DN... Veggie Tales stuffed animals and some fleece pants for little precious one of theirs, and other assorted goodies. Off to find some other thing to not knit correctly. LC

Unbelievable!

I don't know which is more unbelievable: the trouble I've had with a 'simple' beanie hat or the fact that it is 28 degrees outside right now! LC

Hurrah!

Mark's scarf is finally finished! I only had 12 rows left when I went to bed at 3am this morning, but no telling how many times I would have had to 'tink' it if I'd tried to finish it then. Today I decided it was sort of wide, so I seamed it down the edge and gathered the ends tightly together. Now I'm casting on to see if I can get a beanie out of the remaining yarn; if not, I'll just it away for 'kid' knitting. Did I mention it has been in the mid-70's here since New Year's Eve? I've had my windows open. January and I'm wearing sandals without socks. But, I'm not gloating or anything. No, of course, not. LC

Hello to 2 0 0 4 ! ! !

Tradition (or, some may say, superstition) in my home growing up was that New Year's Day should be a snapshot of the whole year to come. In other words, do all the things on that day that you hope/need to do that year. Mom always made sure to do a little of those 'have-to' things, as well as the 'want-to' things. I've always pretty much followed her way. So, each New Year's Day, I try to cook a little, clean a little, and definitely stitch a lot! I put a few more rows on the socks. The DPs still feel awkward, and twice I've grabbed the wrong needle to 'work' the next portion. Yikes! Fortunately, the stitches stayed put. We ran to Ryan's to eat -- I just didn't feel like cooking New Year's dinner. I'd forgotten to get groceries for it on Wednesday anyway, then we stayed up until 3am this morning, so it was easier just to go out. Fine with me, of course!! Took care of those Southern New Year's eating traditions: pork, cabbage, & black-eyed peas. Bad news is that it looks like I'll be tinking this year too. Last night at a friend's house, I missed a row of the pattern in the scarf I took to work on. Had to rip out all those rows today. boo-hoo Well, back to the scarf. I can't believe something so simple is taking so long. It would be twice as long (and therefore finished ) if I didn't keep having to tink. Once it gets long enough, I think I will work from the other end of the ball and see if I can get a beanie out of the remaining yarn. ... enjoying the scent of bayberry candle (another family NY tradition) LC

Good-bye to 2 0 0 3 ! ! !

Is the last day of the year a good day to try to learn something totally new?? Well, it isn't a Friday* so I guess I'll find out. My Bryspun double-pointed needles from Clevenger Creations arrived yesterday, so, of course, I had to try them. I had picked up two balls of Bernat's Hot Sox to practice/learn to make socks... there was also a child's sock pattern on the label, so that was handy. One ball is supposed to make a pair. So, here's as far as I have gotten. I feel all thumbs, but so far so good. I stopped to post on this last day of 2003, before I head out for dinner at friends. Will take the (Alternating) Twin Rib scarf along with me . . . . gotta pick up some Powerball tickets too. I listed the following on a forum a couple days ago as my resolutions for 2004:

(1) to remember birthdays ON-TIME

(2) to use my creative skills to give tangible results to those around me

(3) to delve deeper into my personal spirituality in order to attain resolution, for myself at least, over several personal situations

(4) to be content -- always my primary goal

Four is enough, I think: "Four has long been a number of completion, stability and predictability, as well as the representation of all earthly things." LC *Momma never started anything on Friday she couldn't finish before she went to bed.

I Promised, But...

I can't get a photograph to show what I actually did, and I'm not sure I will explain it well enough. I'm talking about the way I knitted Jenna's scarf. I had one ball each of Lion's Fun Fur in Hot Pink & Confetti. The pink was so dark and bright, I was afraid it would overwhelm the variegated, and I also though a back & forth (two rows) would stripe the scarf more than I wanted... so... I worked only one row in each color, slipping the stitches to the opposite end of the circular needles to pick up the next color. What this did (beside make for rather loose edge stitches) was to make three rows look like stockinette, then two rows of garter, and so on. Sort of neat looking, but a little tricky to keep up with. The close-up photo doesn't show what I did, and of course, unless you look closely, you can't see the stitching for the fur anyway. Just thought I'd share (some more of) my weird ways! LC

Beadin' Braggin' Bloggers

is a newly created (by me) webring for beaders. Once I discovered all the fiber artists who are sharing their talents on the web via their blogs, I knew it was something beaders could do equally as well. We'll see if there is interest. There's now a link to the webring home on this site, so pass the word to beaders you know, if you please. So, for some OBC (obligatory beading content), here are some quickie gifts I put together for my stepdaughters and niece. The idea is not mine; it came from a magazine (perhaps Woman's World, not sure). These sets of nine stretchy, seed bead bracelets are not endowed with magical powers, but one just might find magical things happening to one's health and weight if used properly. We are encouraged to eat nine portions of vegetables and fruit each day. So, every morning, place all nine of the bracelets on your left arm. As you eat a portion of fruit or vegetables, move one bracelet to your right arm. At the end of the day, are all the bracelets on your right arm? Then you got all your portions -- didn't do so good today?? Well, tomorrow is another day, Scarlett. LC

One More Finished!

Finally finished Jenna's giftslast night. I'm not happy at all with the hat, and I reworked it three times. I shall tell her if she doesn't think she will wear it, I will just recycle the yarn -- it certainly won't hurt my feelings! Makes me think of that one Barbie I had with the pink fuzzy hat. She was the Fashion Queen Barbie, where you could change the wigs. Well, maybe it is sort of fun-looking. See: it made me smile! LC

For us??

Nero is the black kitten, Sasha's in the middle, and Brickle rules them all.

A late rising for all the two-legged family members, waffles for breakfast, opening of gifts, and a relaxing afternoon of knitting for me while the ham baked. We all had a happy day, hope you and yours did too. LC

A Merry Christmas Evening

HO! HO! HO!
From Our House to Yours!

LC

Wasted Days

I finally got through with telephone calls and email and other tidbits and got to my knitting mid-afternoon. I had about 5" done last night when my eyes started crossing (and NYPD Blue was over), so I went on to bed. Today I think I got about an inch farther, and realized I hadn't changed the pattern where I should have changed. R-I-P! Then, about two inches later, I realized that I still didn't have it right. I was doing k3,p3 on the wrong side. What a pain; I'm still taking out rows because I can't see where I messed up. I guess I shouldn't have tried to change the pattern every six rows. Should have done a plain 3- or 4-stitch rib. I wish I had made it 52, and kept the first two and last two stitches stockinette: I wanted it to curl just a bit at the edge. Then again, that might not have worked or looke nice anyway. So, I put it down, washed some dishes and made some coffee.... I could count it to worry about my best friend's husband. Lymphoma in his liver. Prayers of all kinds are coveted -- I wish someone would call and let me know what's going on. Last update I got was Monday at noon. It's a pretty blue Christmas around here even with my beautiful nine-foot, pre-lit tree white candy canes, plain gold and silver glass balls of several sizes, and ribbon streamers of white and gold, topped with a large white & gold bow. Only the top half is decorated, in deference to the family felines. I miss the old Christmas specials. LC

Busy Monday

It began early enough: 5:30am. with a call from my best friend. The doctors were not hopeful at all about her DH's condition. There was no sleeping for me or my DH after that. We've lost two good men out of our lives this year already. Telephone calls later in the day were very encouraging. We keep on praying. Still the morning was productive and then we headed out to pay bills, have an early lunch (yes, Mexican), and go shopping. The stores were packed today. Fortunately, I didn't have an anxiety attack... I was very patient too... just bored with the waste of my time by people who are oblivious to anything except themselves. Perhaps the warm weather helped... it was over 70F. "That's what I like about the south!" I don't have any problem at all doing without snow this time of year. I wove ends on FOs this evening, and began a Wool-Ease scarf for my nephew-in-law. Inspried by this Twin Rib, I decided to shift the pattern every six rows for a slightly checkerboard effect. I made some calculations and settled on a 48 stitch width on size 9 needles for a 20 stitch by 24 row, 4"x4" gauge. Stumbled across this quiz on someone's blog: You are glucose. People feed off of you. You are sweet, caring, and a source of energy for everyone around you. You can inspire others with your creativity and depth, and you can keep people alive when in times of famine. People love you...or at least the way you taste. ( Which Biological Molecule Are You? brought to you by Quizilla

Yup. That's what I'd have picked, glucose. Happy Solstice to All. LC

FO's, WIP's & Birthdays

I took a break this morning from the Fun Fur scarf I'm knitting for my son's girl friend (notice that is two words, not one), to cut out my 'harem' pants. I picked up some gold satin from the remant table at Hobby Lobby on Tuesday. Then I went back to the scarf; it should be finished tonight. I'm working it very strangely -- probably shouldn't even explain it, but I will when it is finished and I upload the photo. In the meantime, here's the pattern for the Tapered Scarf/Shawl I finished last evening for my eldest stepdaughter, Lisa, for Christmas. I used ONline's Linie 43 (4-50g balls -- though I had at least half of one ball left over) on size 15 needles. Loosely cast on 10 stitches. Knit 3 rows. Row 4: Slip the first stitch; *Increase, K2; repeat from * across row (13 stitches now on needle). Knit 3 rows. Row 8: Repeat Row 4 (17 stitches now on needle). Knit 5 rows. Row 14: Repeat Row 4 (23 stitches now on needle). Knit 15 rows. Row 30: Repeat Row 4, ending with an Increase (31 stitches now on the needle). Knit 20 rows. Row 51: Repeat Row 4 (41 stitches now on needle). Knit 20 rows. Row 72: Repeat Row 30 (54 stitches now on needle). Knit 40 rows. Row 113: Slip the first stitch; K1, K2tog; *K2, K2tog; repeat from * across row, ending with K2 (41 stitches now on needle). Knit 20 rows. Row 134: Slip the first stitch; *K2tog, K2; repeat from * across row (31 stitches now on the needle). Knit 20 rows. Row 155: Slip the first stitch; *K2tog, K2; repeat from * across row, ending with K2tog (23 stitches now on the needle). Knit 15 rows. Row 171: Repeat Row 155 (17 stitches now on the needle). Knit 5 rows. Row 177: Repeat Row 134 (13 stitches now on the needle). Knit 3 rows. Row 181: Repeat Row 134 (10 stitches now on the needle). Knit 3 rows. Cast off. Weave ends. Our newest kitty, Harley D'Nero, is two months old 'today.' When he was brought to us, having been abandoned and found crying in the bushes, his left eye was matted shut with mud, trash and infection. The vet estimated his age to be between three and four weeks at that time, so I selected October 21st as his birthday -- it is the birthday of my dearest friend from high school, Mary. He's giving the other family felines a run for it lately, and they have finally stopped (most of the) hissing at him. He dined on smoked turkey pickings and managed to nose into my cup of gingerale & orange juice! Since all the cats seem to be asleep, I think I'll hang the rest of the gold & silver balls on the tree and be done with it. Today my dad brought the poinsetta he'd placed in the church in Mom's memory. It's very beautiful. We may be in south Mississippi, but we have a fire in the fireplace today. It keeps the heater from running! LC

TGIF

Oh, my aching back! Four and a half hours in a commercial truck with DH yesterday delivering cabinets. Yes, I got to knit, but I'm hurting today. Gee, I didn't hurt at all after my dance class, and now this. Toiling away on stepdaughter's scarf. Should finish it tomorrow. Otherwise being lazy: watching the tube & surfing eBay.

My Chauffeur

The great thing about having (almost) grown children, is that they can drive when you are tired -- or want to KNIT! #1Son and I headed out with a long list today... we weren't totally successful, but we had a good day together, and were both amazed that the malls and stores were not very crowded. Today I did find both satin and chiffon for my costumes. Since we got home, I've been surfing eBay for instructions, patterns, and examples of harem pants & hip scarves. I picked up some 26-cent/yard (!) ribbon to do some embellishing on my stretch pants. I'd gotten white paint on them last year, but decided if I turned them inside out and embellished over the seam allowance they would be fine for class -- and make me feel a little more into the mood. Picked up a Yoga book (for warm-up/stretches) & also The Zen of Knitting. Met a knitter while looking at the books -- can't believe I didn't get her email or name! We cruised by the theatre before heading home; there were lots of folks out for the LOTR's opening day. DS said he'd go another day. Good boy. I'll go see Julia while my guys see LOTR... I'm content to read JRRT. LC

Time's Flying! So am I

Too much caffeine late Monday night kept me up until wee hours Tuesday morning, and then I didn't really sleep all that late, so, of course, by evening I was napping. A quick slip-out for Mexican and we were back home feeling very content. Now I'm up again, not able to sleep for having taken that nap. Oh, yes, and the iced tea. So, I'm pondering what have I acomplished. Got caught up on the KnitList digest, saw lots of nice eye-candy and learned a few things about elastic edges. Found some new free patterns/sites and made my first post to KL: why did my grandmother teach me to slip the first stitch of each row (or was it onlyl the first stitch of knit rows??) and then to go into the back of the stitch on the last stitch of each row??? "Met" a dancing knitter via email, and wrote my teacher to thank her for her kindness to me last night. I have finished several knitting projects (Christmas gifts), begun a few more, and totally ripped one big one apart and started over. I began with only a few stitches and am increasing to the adjusted width, hoping to eliminate the droopy corners. On the bright side, the yarn shows no distress. There was too much commotion tonight to work on that, so I kept on with the narrow scarf I began last night: two colors of Fun Fur (Hot Pink & Confetti) worked alternately on 11s. Son says it is "very Jenna." I'm not knitting it 'correctly' but it looks intersting. Will post a close-up photo. Off the needles is a Fun Fur (Tropical, Lion Brand) narrow scarf (two balls, size 11 needles, 15 stitches wide, straight knitting till I ran out of yarn) for my neice -- disgusted that I wasted so much yarn for fringe. What I had cut was too much, so I redid it with only one length per fringe instead of two. I just have to add some beads to the fringe now. What else.... oh, yes: two caps, each from one ball of Bernat's Boa (blue, purple), using the free pattern on the yarn lable. I like it because it just stretches out and stays there on your head without feeling tight. Spent much of last night and some tonight browsing the BD sites & eBay. Getting ideas about costuming and persona creation. Got four eBay packages off to the post this afternoon, too, so that's good. Would really be good if the rest of my stuff sells soon. Holy Sunrise, Batman! (that would be the GC variety, of course!) -- it's 5am, and I've got Christmas shopping to do tomorrow, errr, today... and maybe run #1Son to see LOTR:ROTK -- SCA will be there and there will be dancing. :D Oh, please, let me sleep well, but briefly, my angels!! LC