Truth. And owning it.

Meet Dorothy.
Right up front: NO WAY am I likely to come out looking good, once this tale is written down for all to read. For the record, I fully recognize this and am willing to admit once more, my character flaws. Compulsive. Obsessive. Flighty?
(Moves on to new obsessions with wild abandon.)

Stephani asked me about Dorothy's history the other day. Making me put into words for the first time how Dorothy came to be with me. It's kind of sad that she's just been here for nearly all of my daughters' lives. That they were probably too young to remember her arrival; too young and for so long ago that she's just THAT THING IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM NOBODY USES.

Long ago. (Whispering.) December 1990 and my name are written in the front of a book that came with Dorothy.

My husband gave her to me as a secret Christmas present. He enlisted his mom's help ordering her. Audrey lived on Cape Cod with her friend Jean. Purchased in Massachusetts, they had it shipped to his dad's house in Dixmont, Maine. For hiding purposes. It was such a shock to get it. I had been saying how much I would like a loom for a while; but one those wistful dreams of someday. Maybe. Maybe someday.

And then there she was. My most expensive present ever. Tom and I had always given each other gifts we picked out together in those early days. Like cross-country ski packages for each other. A waterbed one year. Bathrobes the year things were tight. Down payment on our house.
You know - useful things to be shared because we are happy to be married; happily together since December 1980. So how did my special gift end up in storage? Hardly used.

I went to the library and read up all I could about weaving on a tabletop loom and the first project didn't go so bad. Except it went on FOREVER. It's still in a " just removed from the loom" state, as I had no idea what to do with a really, really long table runner. With fringe. Placemats. Or one half of a door curtain if I did the whole thing again. NO!

The second attempt went terrible. Threads were cut from the loom and thrown away as a bad idea. Come to think of it, kind of like knitting now: I have no idea about choosing proper fibers. Clueless even. Ha! (Actual name of the quilting group I belong to ;)

Over time I seemed to have just moved on to other things. Things that came easier to me. Things I could teach myself; things that didn't go so dreadfully wrong.

Embroidery, handquilting, machine quilting, applique, cross-stitch, hardanger, plastic canvas, stamp collecting, knitting, getting african violets to live, a little painting & drawing; some photography & scrapbooking. Fabric Postcards!

All things I could read up on. Teach myself. LOVE. Do pretty darn well even as a bit of a perfectionist.

And then move on. Again.
Something new. Challenging. Different.

I had a teacher in high school who taught us by example never to be afraid to try something new. He said he had needed a painting for behind his couch as a young married man. So he taught himself to oil paint. I can still remember the beauty of the paintings he brought to class to show us. He said he painted for as long as he wanted. Until his house was filled with paintings. And then he moved on to other interests. New interests he was willing to try. (He also bragged about drinking champaign from a lady's slipper.)

He was about 80 if he was a day and goofy as hell! Taught "modern history" but we started with ancient wars with AC/ BC dates and never got past the beginning of Vietnam. I'm not sure what we thought modern was in 1977? I remember thinking it was not this.

Fast Forward:
I joined a Yahoo group for weavers a few weeks ago. Finally made first contact last week. A lady a few miles up the road has offered to help me give Dorothy another try. And the name of her local Guild.

As soon as I dust Dorothy off and read up a bit more, I'll get started once again. I've been thinking about it for a while now. Ever since I read a blog written by a crazy chick with a god damn hammer. Brave enough to try building something to weave on.

One more character flaw perhaps: Optimistic. Here's hoping the socks in my knitting bucket don't become UFO's. Maybe I'll end up weaving some very colorful Kool-Aid dyed wool one day?

Unintended Consequences

Kool-Aid + Yarn = Moments of Chaos
(How I spent Sunday morning!)

An old skein of white wool has lingered a while now in my stash basket - a freebie that I wasn't sure what to do with. I've had it in my head I wanted to try the Kool-Aid/Dyeing thing with the 3 probably very old packets of Kool-aid found in a kitchen drawer.

Online instructions for dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid were consulted. Probably should have read up on the process a little longer before deciding today was the day I would give it a try.

It was not without its moments. The line from Armageddon about a "god dam Greek tragedy" leapt to mind when the hank of soggy vinegar & warm water soaked yarn fell from its bonds. Into a tangled mess of knots that could easily have prompted the decision to deposit the entire slightly stinky (vinegar) mess into the trash bin. But not I. Onward.

Um. GLOVES next time for sure! Thank goodness for Comet, a nail scrubber & yesterday's sink full of dirty dishes or my hands would still be this Strawberry/Orange/Tropical Punch combo.

Also: Finished Socktoberfest Socks - pair 3.

Selfish. Compulsive Obsessive.

Jelli Beenz 40% OFF
Shut up. I couldn't resist!

It's so purty. I cast-on for these after lunch yesterday and I've already finished one sock and the second one is at the start of the heel flap. Funny how it's just MY size.

I'm experimenting with needle size - went up to size 3 needles with 20 less stitches, using the lacey stitch idea from the Dublin Bay pattern. 72 stitches are just way too many, even on size 1's with any of the yarn I have on hand.

I'm starting to realize needle size as it relates to gauge is important when it comes to the feel of the knitting. Couldn't see why a skein of yarn that feels perfectly soft, comes out stiff as a board when I knit it.
Okay, so it's too tight because of the way I knit and/or on too small a needle.
It's that gauge thing, isn't?

Finished the socks from yesterday by snipping the tip of the short sock off with scissors and unraveling back before the decrease and adding 10 rows to the length. Done!

Decided to reward myself with a visit to our OYS (Only Yarn Shop) and buy a little real sock yarn. Except their inventory was low and (non-striping) sock yarn was out of stock.
5 skeins of Plymouth brand Jelli Beenz followed me home to celebrate Socktoberfest.

I'm experimenting with sock size (TOOK A WILD GUESS) since no colors had more than 2 skeins left. I might have had enough yarn to do another repeat or 2 in the lace pattern of the leg but I came pretty close to using all of a skein for sock 1.

Socktoberfest - Week 3

F is for FRAK?

WHY is SECOND SOCK 10 rows longer than FIRST SOCK before the decrease?

Either: I'm an idiot, can't count or can't remember what I just counted for the first sock length.

Or all of the above. I'm blaming this on the fact that I knit all of the first sock, before casting on for the second. It's only the 2nd time EVER that I didn't knit both along at the same time. I thought I wrote down the number of rows to knit before the decrease, but when I discovered I didn't: I thought I remembered. NOT.

My UNfinished mismatched lace socks from Barbara Walker's stitch book 2 are each 9 repeats long. UGH! Undecided whether or not to keep going so I took a break and cast on this basic sock pattern. Decided to try out this MARBLE James C. Brett acrylic from stash - acquired before I realized . . . well . . . acrylic kind of sucks.

It's a twisted ply (almost looks braided) and I wanted to see how it knit up. Used size 2 needles with 52 stitches. Ankles seem a little baggy but I may be knitting the heel flap too long. Not sure if my sense of proportion is there yet when it comes to fit. These feel thick & stiff; might work okay as slipper socks or winter Croc socks but will never fit into regular shoes.

Now I need to decide whether or not to rip the (finished) short one since it feels too short or knit 2 more just like these. Will probably go with RIP: Rip In Peace.

F's are finished for the Kindergarten Letter Friends project, by the way.
41 X 26 = 1086.
23 letters of the alphabet left.
Frak!

Socktoberfest progress

Pair 2 underway

It doesn't appear as if they'll match at all. The second one is taking on a variegated/stripe look.

DAMN!

I think it's called pooling when the colors swish around the sock in waves? I actually like that and was hoping for the second one to do it as well.

I grabbed up the unread weekend funnies to use as background to cut down on glare from the kitchen table. The Doonesbury cartoon tells of a new feature on their website - space offered to the Troops to voice what they think. Click on the Sandbox. Checked it out to see if it was real.

Libby's on the label, label, label?

Look under the lid, lid, lid!

Remember when the Libby's jingle went, "If [When] it says Libby's, Libby's, Libby's on the label, label, label - you will like it, like it, like it on the table, table, table."?

This critter, found attached to the inside of the lid was worth 2 free cans - so I'll keep looking for their Caterpillars in a Can, I guess?

Perhaps the level of sarcasm in my note, filled out on their "Contact us" form of the Seneca Foods website failed to convey a high enough level of customer concern.

The letter they sent along with 2 free can coupons called this their "goodwill" gesture.

Wasn't going to blog about it because now Steph will never eat peas again. But I couldn't help myself.

My "goodwill" gesture to them in this age of the blog: Sharing the news of their Goodwill with anyone who stops by. Free Advertising is priceless, no?

Comments:

RE/ Possible FAQ's not listed:

"Is the 2 inch caterpillar like worm
stuck to the top of Chicharos Sweet
Peas considered a source of fiber?"

"Does the 2 inch caterpillar like worm
stuck to the lid of Chicharos Sweet Peas
count towards the daily calorie intake?"

"Besides the gross out factor,
is my child's health in any danger since
her mom didn't see the 2 inch caterpillar
like worm stuck to the top of
Chicharos Sweet Peas until after the fact?"

You know. Because I checked with
your FAQ's first before trying
to make contact.

0  37100 04213  5
G5MJ172K 2054  4240  PEAS

As the only PEA EATER of our household, Stephani will be happy to know the following:

Thank you for your e-mail concerning the
problem you encountered with Libby Peas.
We sincerely apologize.  I will notify the
packing plant of this problem and a follow
up letter will be sent in approximately
10 days.  Once sealed, the can goes through
a thermal process of over 250 degrees for
at least 20 minutes which kills any bacteria.

Seneca Foods
Consumer Affairs

So the caterpillar was heated to 250 degrees after he swam to the top of the can, trying to get out?

YUM!

They can't figure out how the automatic color sorters, designed to remove anything not similar in color to the product, missed it. Not sure if they thought I was making it up. I can assure them this caterpillar was plump and just as green as the peas within when he was discovered.
It has since withered & dried.

Libby's collectible?

Socktoberfest - Week 1

First pair complete!


Birthday socks for my 6 year old nephew.

Called my brother long distance Monday to request he measure the boy's foot.

These socks would almost fit my 23 year old at 7 1/2" long.

(His army/guard socks - his mom is in the National Guard and 2 months pregnant. :)

Below is a Sock History Questionaire being answered by many of the 1500+ sockfest lovers:

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? Class?
December 23, 2005 - grabbed up Mom's spare DPN's & dark blue skein of Red Heart yarn (too dark for her to see well enough to knit with anymore) as something to do while waiting for her at her eye doctor's appointment. Her vision is failing and I decided it was time I tried to learn how to make "Grammie Socks" as my kids call them. Mom's tried & true basic sock pattern.

She taught me mittens twenty years ago and I HATED doing the thumbs. Explaining my Blog's name when I took up with socks! Thanks to the internet, I have stretched my knitting needles to more complex sock patterns.
Designing my own now thanks to Barbara Walker books.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
I actually started 3 pair in between the 3 lessons it took for me to "get" socks. I kept working on the parts I could figure out until my next visit with Mom. By the end of January 2006 I had 3 pair finished. First pair already has a hole in them, that's been darned - but not very well - because I discovered a nailhead sticking up in the old wooden floor of the kitchen.

What would you have done differently?
Nothing really... it's all a learning process. Even discovering Red Heart yarn will not be my first choice in sock yarn has been part of the learning curve. Still struggling to find a balance between quality sock yarn & just too darned expensive. There has to be a happy medium considering how fast I can put a hole in socks!

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
Still trying out yarn brands. Will not buy Red Heart yarn again for socks, having proved for myself the stuff is like teflon. So far I've knit socks form Bernat, Patons & a skein of Opal (too expensive!) although I did manage 2 pair from one skein. Once washed I can't tell much difference in the Opal & Bernat or Patons - except the cost. I do want to try Real Sock Yarn others talk about. But first I have to use up some of the stuff I stocked up on when a local LYS went out of business.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I hate crocheting; it makes my pinky hurt! DPN's - cuff down; BOTH socks on a set of needles and knit at the same time. I know me too well and second sock syndrome will not be a problem so long as both are zipping along together.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
Flap is all I know; but I still dread picking up the gusset stitches and never breathe a sigh of relief until it's done.

How many pairs have you made?
About 30, although I've lost count.

Socktoberfest - Day 1

Barbara Walker book 1 socks complete

My first Socktoberfest goal was to complete the socks I've been working on (little-by-little) since the end of July.

Before starting anything else!

Finished socks on September 25th.
(modeled by new owner Stephani)



Patterns from book 1 used:

Lace Diamond Chain (pg. 222), center stitch pattern.
Cloverleaf Eyelet Rib (pg. 170), on either side.


And now let Socktoberfest begin!

3 sock patterns were cast-on and then ripped out before settling on my new design attempt. Either the number of stitches cast-on made the sock too big or the color of yarn was too striped.

(If a yarn label calls it's color "STRIPES" or "SASSY STRIPES" there's a pretty good chance the sock will look stripy. That I hate stripes tends to make me wonder WHAT WAS I THINKING? when I bought it. Half price at a Going-Out-Of-Business-Sale made it seem like a good idea at the time?)

I've chosen the Pierced Diamond Pattern (pg. 269) from Barbara Walker's book 2.

There's a design flaw at the back, where the rounds join.
The pattern is a "Multiple of 6 stitches plus 3" and I'm thinking now the "PLUS 3" should have been left off? It's not a continuous design all the way around the sock.
It sort of looks like, I don't know: Maybe there are 3 knit stitches too many down the back!

I've decided to leave it and call it a design element instead of a mistake.

Also cast-on yesterday are a pair of Army Socks for my nephew, who turns six October 15th.

SOCKTOBERFEST 2006

Yes, another Knit-a-long!

Socktoberfest has begun and I plan to knit socks all month.
Admittedly, I feel something of a fraud, as socks are about the only thing I do knit. This month will not appear to be very much different from the last 10 before it. This blog entry reminds me the exact date of my first sock attempt was December 23, 2005... waiting for mom at her eye doctor's appointment.

I've been looking through my Barbara Walker books 1 & 2, planning to design another pair. ANOTHER PAIR, because YES I finished my almost knee-hi's using book 1! I want to get a picture of Stephani wearing them so the lacey-ness shows. Was afraid they would be too tight and resemble support hose, but she says they feel perfect.

And the 3rd Annual Letter People Project has begun. This year's two Kindergarten classes at the 14th Street School combine for a total of 41 - highest enrollment in years - plus a new teacher to get one as well. Letter M & T have been sent to school; F's are underway. Further proof I may need my head examined.

Tuned in to last week's Sunday Talk shows for just a few minutes. Long enough for "OH.MY.GOD!" to be heard through the closed door 3 times. Shouted loud enough for family members on the other side to question what the problem was. Republican Senator Frist was explaining why our country's idiot president needs to keep us safe by torture. Screw the Geneva Conventions. Screw the right to a trial, a lawyer, that whole innocent until proven otherwise thing.

And now it seems Republican's have been covering for Florida's Representative pervert, who decided he could terrorize our nation's 16 year old Pages sent to Washington to learn up close how the government works. Not well, it seems.

I can't knit nearly fast enough to make this administration go away.

Tuesday Sky under lockdown

Teenage Trouble

What our Tuesday sky looked like.

Sunday afternoon was the first indication something was up in our neighborhood. I looked out our living room window just in time to see a State Trooper drive into the yard.

As he searched our property with automatic rifle drawn, we learned there was an intensive search going on for a local 16 year old boy who grew up in the subdivision across the street.
It became a little like whispering a secret into 2 cans connected with some string - the story grew with each telling. The kid was either Superman, flying from one County to the next - alluding police at every turn or common sense was in short supply. He's lucky to be alive and damn stupid.

It would seem my cousin Leland is lucky as well. I felt bad for the kid right up until he was said to have [taken the back on an axe to my cousin's head.] Jeesh.

Yeah. He'll be living at the Mountain View Youth Center for a while.
They used to call it jail.

Speak FRIEND and enter.

In explanation of that last blog entry:
I'm trying to win a prize (again!) here.

Yes. It has some very explicit instructions, including no explaining the big ass words I tried to use correctly and in knitting related sentences. At least, explanations could not be in the same blog entry. Full details can be found there!

Also, since my entry was supposed to be knitting related, most of the other links hidden within go to knitting patterns I like. Most of which will be impossible for me to knit unless I re-learn socks from the toe-up. Which I DON'T see me trying anytime soon!

Next up will probably be the RPM socks, although I've been ProcrastiKnitting a pair of basic quicky footies from a free skein of yarn I found at the bottom of a box of yarn I was given. It's the softest stuff I've knit with in a while. The Paton's Kroy pair I just finished was the scratchiest stuff ever, but it did wash up soft - in a regular wash load!

Yeah, because I will not be hand-washing socks anytime soon, either.

And as to my quick research on this Yarn Snobbery thing.
(Meant only as tongue-in-cheek commentary, I swear! Only bloggers who claimed not to be a yarn snob were linked for the purposes of my attempt to win a prize!)

A quick search through Google found about 8,000 hits where people said YES YARN SNOB. (Or used those words together on their blog...only visited a few dozen sites!) Google found about 300 who declared NOT YARN SNOB. (Or again, used those words together on their blog.)

For myself: too poor to be much of a yarn snob! But soft, quality yarn makes a world of difference, doesn't it? Years ago I made a sweater for myself from acrylic yarn, I would suppose. It melted to itself like velcro from the inside and was never wearable. My only other attempt at knitting a sweater was twenty years ago for my oldest daughter. The neck band was so tight it about tore her head off getting it on or off. It's actually amazing she wasn't scarred for life by the thought of anything knitted by her mom.

She's okay with my socks, though!

Knitting Ent's Dilemma

Sock Knitters Lament

Not idly do LEAVES FALL. Shall this noviciate knitter of socks wish perhaps this paradigm had never come to her? Wish none of this had happened? So would all who live to see such instruction begin knitting a sock from the TOE-UP. But that is not for her to decide. All that is left to decide is what to do with the prototype given to her.

She always liked knitting socks CUFF-DOWN. Somehow it feels like going downhill. Shall she be forced to CAST this magnum opus aside for one more suited to her proficiency stratum? What is this PIQUANT they speak of? We have heard of it before. This exemplar written in secret code: A CHART! Never have we seen such days turn to weeks; weeks to month before the culmination of one doublet of socks. Baffled and befuddled by a chart, never before having knit from one. Shall she so soon attempt another?

And in her endless quest for the perfect sock template she stumbles into a new kind of war. What fiber content do you choose? Are you a flaxen thread braggart? Not a yarn snob? Would you look poorly upon those knitting from that which you deem tawdry & wretched? Perhaps like me, you choose to circumnavigate this disputation. It is not our hostility. But how can that be your decision...You're a part of this knitting world aren't you?

Whatever the determination, a new configuration must be chosen expeditiously for my first ever pair of socks...

wait for it...

HAS A HOLE IN ONE!

Every yarn must have it's moral?
Bequeath as proportionate as you anticipate to acquire. ;)
And probably time to knit along with a different DVD.

Stop the MADNESS!

"These would make great knee-hi's!"

Yes. That is the madness that came out of Stephani's mouth upon trying on her new Pomatomus.

Sara's first impression of my working Pomatomus was "They might make a good conversation piece" - causing me to keep knitting past her size 5 feet (meaning I could have been done sooner if she had showed just a bit more enthusiasm!) to the bigger size 8's of the rest of us.
Steph pulled them on her first morning home, declared them a gorgeous color and a perfect fit.
That would be when the madness fell from her mouth.

The actual madness is probably that my mind wandered off for a moment several times this week to wonder where one might add stitches to the pattern, keeping the design and yet allowing for some widening up the leg? Hmmmm........

I've slapped myself upside the head, so the wondering has stopped.
For the moment.

My 3rd felted bag is finished! I made it up as I knit along, but I'm not sure that the strap is sturdy enough. If much weight is put in I fear it will stretch long enough to drag to the ground. I knit it extra long to make up for the shrinking factor and it had the nerve to not shrink much?

I believe Steph has claimed this one for herself, as well? Although the strap design followed her suggestion of perhaps being a bit longer than the last one. So technically it was meant for her all along.

I'm finishing up my works in progress, sure but steady. By my next entry Sara's special requested Old Shale one color socks should be done. I'm just now turning the heel of the second sock, so it will catch up with the first. First sock is an inch or so down into the nothing but straight and (nearly) mindless knitting! A relief I can tell you after the K1, P1 pattern for the entire length of the pair of Pomatomus'!

I actually wound off the second skein of yarn for Sara's socks into 2 half balls so I could work on both socks at the same time. And then rewound the first ball so the color design was heading in the same direction. I may have the Knitting Sickness, but good? I'm almost ashamed to admit the number of sets of size 1 DPN's I now own. But if you have 3 pair of socks on the needles all at the same time and you continue to insist both socks of each set be started, so they might inch along together. Well you need a lot of needles. So it's a perfectly justified equipment stash enhancement?

I came across Eye Candy Friday photos recently here. Was so inspired by her Star Crust pie I went in search of star shape cookie cutters I could use for my own pie crust. Mine didn't come out quite as pretty as hers - but it was apple & it tasted good!

AND I WON AMAZING LACE CHALLENGE 5!!
Thanks to everyone who voted for me. :)

For the hell of it I may upload a recent rainbow photo - a couple of weeks old now!

Um. Ta-dah?*

Summer of Amazing Lace Socks!
Pomatomus:
FINISHED!
(Plus Saturday Skies on the coast of Maine.)

There's a month of my life I'm never getting back.
So why am I having Pomatomus withdrawal?

OMG! I should have 3 pair of these socks done for as many times as they were ripped out, started again; ripped back. Where do I begin again?

(Helpful note: when ripping out all 3 needles to tear back stitches, it would be HELPFUL if one takes NOTE of how many rows are being ripped out. Because one who can barely count rows, let alone recognize where they belong in the pattern - really needs to keep just as careful track of her UNKNITTING.)

Pattern is clearly marked

A little something for the seasoned knitter.
Daring but not exhausting.

Clearly, there were other words of warning, written right at the start of the pattern:

"somewhat vicious ... Stay alert..."

What pattern does NOT say:

Haven't knit in 15 years? THAT'S OKAY. A beginner could do this pattern!
Never read a chart before? No problem! Learn right here and now.
Had to google YARNOVER in May because you suspected you were doing it wrong? Well, you do it right now...most of the time. Right?

(Updated with less hideous picture of Pomatomus...along with my summer collection of "lace" socks. Plus ran spell checker just for the heck of it!)

Note * in subject title: Um. Ta-dah? was a subject title (still cracks me up!) of a blog I found recently - Dog Lovin' Knitter. Um. Ta-dah? deserves to be the new "Finished" standard for completed projects. Especially if outcome was uncertain right up until the end, previous skill level is admittedly lacking and you "like nothing more than a challenge (which may render me a bit unstable) to keep me off the streets." To quote a crazy chick with a goddamn hammer!!

Amazing Lace Challenge 6 entry posted here; didn't link it right on their sign-in page and now it has scrolled down several entries.

New Rule.

Let's just clear up any misunderstanding HERE and NOW:

By the time I get to the end of this sorry little tale and fully explain NEW RULE, most of you will declare this is not a new rule. It's a GIVEN. Unless you have a broken male X chromosome (they call it a Y?) you know this.

This would be understood without restating it clearly or even writing it down for all time.

Apparently not. So here it is:

If someone - for the sake of argument let's say husband or as I like to call him: Spousal Unit 2 - of 26 plus years, gets up to let the dawg in at 10:38 p.m. and the dawg takes so long to cross the living room threshold that a neighborhood BAT decides to come along inside and fly from one end of the house to the other, proceed with the following steps:

COVER Spousal Unit 1's head with the blankets. (Genetically X speaking, this would be my preferred "there's a bat in the house" position of choice.)
Get a broom and towel/trash bag for possible trapping needs.
Dispose of creature by whatever means necessary.
Let me know when it's over.

Simple. Obvious?

Instead the following incident took place: I watched 2 back-to-back episodes of The Gilmore Girls (I believe we're nearing last year's Season Finally, gearing up for the new Season Premiere) and went to bed at approximately 10 p.m. At which time I seem to have fallen into a deep and immediate R.E.M. state of sleep. I believe there was a full length feature film running through my dreams by 10:38. I know this was the time the film ended from the digital numbers in red on the nightstand that came into focus, just as someone flooded the room with overhead search lights. For all I knew in my still incoherent state these were the lights I was supposed to follow and heaven help me: I was being beaten with a broom?

Yes, Lord help me. Someone chose instead the following BAT elimination procedure:

Throw on every light in the house.
Grab a broom.
Yank every blanket off Spousal Unit 1 and shout: GET A TOWEL!

Slam the broom onto the middle of the bed. (*)
Trap BAT against ...Or very near... My arse!

I'm am not kidding nor making any of this up!

I should mention at this point the humidity factor is hovering at near 100% and I'm wearing very little. My dream movie theatre has just been evacuated for some unknown reason and Spousal Unit 2 has trapped a bat against my ass. From here on he will be known as the fool - even though it's been done here. I think I will have earned some slight copyright infringement hereafter?

Now Sara and Will had arrived home at approximately 9 pm as Prince William is leaving on Friday for his post graduate school in Minnesota. She has at least one more year of UMaine Grad school commitment left. There is most likely going to be a Time of Great Sadness for the next year of long distance relationships, but we'll deal with it as it comes. They were moving his computer desk & chair into Sara's room, rather than storing it in his family's attic. For all I knew they had settled into the living room to watch more Battlestar Galactica DVD or something. And the fool wants me to get him a towel?

William had actually left by then and Sara was aware of the BAT as it had circled down to her room multiple times. She had pulled the blankets over her head by now in the Genetically X preferred "there's a bat in the house" position of choice.

(*) She does note this morning that she knows now what my ear splitting scream will sound like should our town ever be invaded by actual hostiles.

Generation (knitting) Gap

My youngest Next Generation is feeling a little left out of the Knitting Hands 3 Generation photo moment on Sunday. She'll be home from her summer Internship with Scholastic books in a few weeks for her Senior fall semester at UMaine.

Not to be ignored nor left out, she has sent me a picture of her creative use of the idle subway knitting needles. Since the practice ball of yarn is the same size as it was when it left many months ago, I'll assume it's safe to say I have not corrupted another knitting hopeful with my wonky style of knitting?

Miss you kid :) Will be happy to have you back home for a while. Soon!!

Amazing Lace Challenge #6

Challenge #6: Unlikely Model

The last Amazing Lace Challenge of the summer has been posted:

"You’ve laced all summer. Many of you have finished. Many are on the home stretch. It is time for your lace to be seen in all its glory; to be shown off to its best effect, to be unleashed upon the world, to be modeled by…well, by the least likely model you can think of.

Your challenge — your final challenge — is to post a photo of your lace being proudly worn or displayed by the strangest, funniest, or most unlikely model you can find. Maybe your model is alive; maybe it is an inanimate object. Maybe it is human; maybe it isn’t. It just needs to be clever and unexpected."

I give to you my first ever pair of blue lace socks, humble offerings laid at the feet of Lumberjack Paul Bunyan from Bangor, Maine.

This Cinderfella could not quite get my first pair of lace socks to fit. And the base Paul stands on is out of my reach so I asked a visiting (tall) tourist type gentleman if he would place my socks at the lumberjack's feet. He did it with a grin and then got them down afterwards!
(Blue socks are at the tip of that giant looking pencil/log roller thing.)

AND I'M A CONTENDER!
Go vote for my Garden of Gladiolia's & Lace Socks from Challenge 5...won't you?
Oh, seriously! Grinning ear-to-ear just to be a finalist. But I need some votes, too!

Knitting hands

Three Generations of knitting hands

Antics with the Menagerie have put out a random contest call for photos of knitting hands. 

Not sure what they're looking for in the quest of perfect knitting hands, but pretty sure mine aren't it!  Continental style knitters are most wanted over there. I'm definitely not. We only have the action shots. If they see anything that really catches their attention, perhaps one of us will get a call back for the hands only photo shot. Yeah...okay. NOT! 

 Top picture is Mom; she explained that her mother tried to teach her to knit when she was very young, but mom is left handed and it didn't go that well. She taught herself later in life.

 Middle picture is me. I will admit to having a funky knitting style (probably) all of my own. I've decide to blame it on the fact that a left hander taught me to knit. There is NO wrapping of yarn around fingers for me...ever. I pinch yarn between finger & thumb and it runs down into my palm, where I keep it tightly held for tension. Too tight, probably. Did I mention I knit tight? ;) I let go of the working needle completely while wrapping the yarn and then I push needles with tips of fingers while completing the stitches. Middle picture is the What NOT TO DO While Knitting example, sure to be in the next Knitting for Dummies booklet. 

 I tried teaching both my daughters the basics of knitting and Sara is currently working on what she claims will be a scarf. Around 2010. 

P.S. That yarn wrapped around Sara's finger of bottom photo is her pretending she knits that way.

 I tried teaching Stephani when she was home on a break from NY once. She thought it would be really cool if she could knit on the subway. Didn't work out all that well. (I can still hear her long ago hissing pre-teen voice, "You are such a terrible teacher!" whenever I tried to teach some craft of the moment.) 

Our conclusion of the day was this: ANYONE who knits as queer as I do, has no business teaching others how to knit. They deserve to learn from a qualified instructor. (And I should do no further damage to the knitting world. ;)

I have built a great wall!

A Choka wall.

Choka: The Latest 35 Couplets

Turtle War? Wonder who won.
Just give peace a chance?

Turtle trek'd through my garden
Perhaps just to mock?

Trekking Yarn makes hiking socks
Something to knit next

Trek bikes in the Tour de France
Floyd won. Didn't he?

I'm a big fan of Star Trek
Next Generation

My favorite Floyd is Pink
Will I build a Wall?

Reagan said 'tear this wall down'
Will we build our own?

New Homeland Security
Terror alert RED

Fair and Balanced News blames me
War on Democrats

I'm doing 12-step program
Crazy politics

Watch less news.Learn to knit socks!
2 dozen pairs made

Learned to knit socks 12/05
Program working well

Pomatomus socks underway
Bang my head on wall!

How many socks does it take?
Get socks in word wall.

Not even halfway there yet
Until now that is?

What good is half of a wall?
Harder than it looks ;)

Should I go back to my socks?
Choka Wall virgin

How fast must I think couplets
Before duck awakes

Knitting socks might be faster
but I knit slow, too

Would a socks wall gain some fame
How about Red Socks :)

Baseball's red socks make men cry
Lost 5 in a row

There's NO CRYING in baseball!
Watch a Field of Dreams

Watch Kevin Costner movies
Water World is near?

What are we doing to Earth?
It's our only one.

Greenhouse gas effects us all
Unless science lies

Bury heads in desert sand
Just to steal their oil

Renewable Energy
Patriotic war?

What would John Lennon sing now?
Imagine a dream

The REAL night our music died
12-08-80

Googled John Lennon and socks
And there was a hit!

"...gonna be sellin' my socks
like Judy Garland...

...I hope that they get a good price."
More socks for the wall!

Will my wall be defeated
Submission Failure?

Are there knitters, knitting socks
Waiting for my wall

Laurie

At last! My wall is complete.
UNLESS? The Lorax. ;)

All me :) Now go write one with the word socks in it if you can. Remember it has to fit!!
Ha! Socks that fit!!! I slay me.

Treasury of Knitting Patterns

And other things

SCORE!

I had serious relinquishing issues with the library's copy of Barbara Walker's Treasury book 1.
I suspect the fine for losing a Library Interloan program book is steep - in addition to replacement costs. Well it should be. It was WRONG of me to consider even for a moment what it might cost if I ...er...lost their book. Even for a nano second. Even if I would never in a million years really do such a thing. Just reading the fine print to see how much it would cost: WRONG.

I now own used copies of Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns - Books 1 & 2!
I put in a bid on Ebay and then gave up. That hardcover copy of book 1 went above $36. I googled "used books" and found this Fetch search engine. I paid $15 & $17. Smug grin here.

Both came in the mail on Monday (different sellers through Amazon). Opened the packages and Book 1 was HARDCOPY! Listed as a paperback when I bought it. Seriously happy, whatever the reason! Shown with the library copy - both marked @1968. Different covers?
Book 2 cover has a little more damage than indicated in seller's description, but pages look like they've hardly ever even been opened in either book.

Happy, Happy with my Knitting Library acquisitions. Even if I can't try any of the patterns out until a couple sock projects get finished.

And another thing:
The STUPID KNITTER fairy must be watching over me. I cast on 64 stitches for my second Pomatomus sock while waiting for mom at one of two doctors appointments she needed me to take her to yesterday. Forgot the pattern print out, so sat in the second waiting room with nothing to do after 3 rows of p1, ktbl rib.

Only problem is, there was supposed to be 72 stitches cast on. The entire 10 rows have been ripped out and done over. Guess it was a good thing I didn't have the pattern with me at the doctor's office. They may have tried to have me committed when I realized the error of my ways.

I apparently can neither count, read or follow directions when I do read them. I deserve to have my knitting needles & yarn taken away, as unworthy. I will fight the one who tries it though!

Out of control

How did I end up with 3 different sock projects underway?

There were to be NO knitting UFO's in my Knitting Bucket! My pledge for finishing one knitting project before starting another was working out pretty well.

Socks were being done in pairs. Being that everyone I know has two feet and generally wear socks on both of them. At the same time. Most of us even try to match them up, although there was the trend setting kid in fifth grade who dared to be different. The Punky Phase.

Longest on the needles currently are my design-a-sock pair, using Barbara Walker's Treasury book #1. Both are growing at a good pace, but they're not exactly traveling socks. There's no knitting these while riding in the passenger seat of the Wrangler. No bumpy roads while trying to keep two 6-repeat patterns & a 16-repeat pattern in correct order.

Then I decided to try the Pomatomus while spending a day at the lake, but it turns out that's not a pattern I can take my eyes off of for even a moment, either. No traveling knitting project there at least until I've gotten used to this pattern. It's now been Unknit 4 times. Not sure what pattern I was following, but turns out my glorious lake day knitting sock only had about 8 rows of the 22 that I did that followed the actual pattern?

I'm blaming it on the CHART! Once I typed up the instructions long form and stopped looking at the chart, things went a little better. And it's not as if the long form took up much more space than the chart. I may never be a chart knitter - without translation!

On Thursday we went for a rainy day ride. Visited an elderly Aunt in Unity and then poked around used book stores and thrift shops along the way to Waterville. So I shoved a set of needles and yarn for another Old Shale 2 Yarn Socks project into a totebag. Just in case!

3 sock projects - plus a felted bag that just needs half again as much strap as I've managed. Ran out of yarn with so little left to do and had to buy another skein. Really need to finish that before starting anything else!!

It's 2-weeks of vacation time now so there's been a little traveling. Price of gas is a crock; oil companies just make stuff up since the hurricane season is taking it easy this year.
Goddess help us when one does hit. ;)

Reading Da Vinci Code - a must read for women in defense of the Sacred Feminine. I have to say it's reading very believable and the religious call to boycott it sort of proves his point the Church will do anything to retain their male dominated control of power?

And did you know that our knitting goddess of patterns wrote feminist books as well? I just got Barbara Walker's book, Feminist Fairy Tales through the library interloan project!

Amazing Lace Challenge # 5

Where's Waldo?

The next Challenge for the Amazing Lace is posted:

"In honor of that slightly crazed I see lace everywhere mental state that'’s a symptom of obsessive lace knitting, your challenge is to post one photo on your blog in which your lace is a hidden or unexpected part of the picture."

Can you find all of Waldo's Lace Socks?
(5 pair finished since Memorial Day!)

For the longest time I could not stand to look at a Gladiolia. My only sister was killed by a drunk driver in July of 1983 and Glad's must have been the funeral florist's flower of choice; it seemed as if they were everywhere.

I hated them.

Several years ago I put a rock garden out beyond my kitchen window. An angel was placed on a stone bench next to a sun dial type arrangement of rocks.

And then I made peace with the humble Gladiolia.

When I dug up the ground for my new vegetable garden there were a lot of rocks! Big, heavy rocks just crying out to be important enough for their own garden space. The idea was this was to be an asparagus patch and the flowers would pretty it up. The asparagus were a miserable failure . . . but look at my pretty flowers!

The blue ones are quite exceptional this year, don't you think?